Chapter 2077: Nephilim’s Mission
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Outside the dungeons, in the long passages leading to them, Nephilim had flown out as quickly as possible at Sylphy’s own request. She left everyone behind despite her tremendous strength and the help she could have offered.
She clenched her teeth and shed a silent tear, her heart heavy with worry for her master. Yet her order had been absolute. When everything seemed lost and she was on the verge of a rampage, Sylphy’s voice reached her, a small, butterfly-like fragment of her soul had merged with Nephilim’s, granting her a new purpose.
"Nephilim, don’t worry about Beelzebub, me, or anyone else. We will fight with everything we have and survive together. I know what to do now. But please, go outside and tell my parents what’s happening. Lolth will likely go on a rampage and try to destroy Evercraft. You’re the only one who can warn them. Once you reach them, don’t return—help the citizens fight whatever she summons! Please!"
"Master..."
Nephilim had no way to protest such a request. She immediately set out, leaving everyone behind while regret gnawed at her. Feeling like a coward, she flew at lightning speed toward her goal—one of the dungeons where the heroes had gone to cleanse the miasma.
Sylphy’s soul fragment had given her a mental map, which she consulted at once. Along with the illustrations, it contained a list of every dungeon and the status of those inside.
The Burning Forest Dungeon. (Sylphy and Aquarina’s party is here.)
The Poison Swamp Dungeon. (Still Cursed)
The Stone Cathedral Dungeon. (Zephyrus’s party is here.)
The Insect Nest Dungeon. (Still Cursed)
The Giant Beast Dungeon. (Still Cursed)
The Underwater Abyss Dungeon. (Cleared by the Heroes. Free of all Curses)
The Volcanic Hellscape Dungeon. (Cleared by the Heroes. Free of all Curses)
The Aberrant Jungle Dungeon. (The Heroes are here. Likely already cleansed by now.)
The Underground Tower Dungeon. (Still Cursed)
The Dragon Tomb Dungeon. (Still Cursed, Origin of the Curse)
"The Dragon Tomb Dungeon!" Nephilim clenched her teeth, staring at the list with burning anger and resentment toward Lolth. "She was there the entire time. She was the origin of the curse, and somehow this monster has grown tremendously strong in such a short time! Just what is happening?! How is this possible?! How did no one notice before? And why are the gods doing nothing?"
She quickly recalled another vital message Sylphy had shared before she left—one that revealed the horrifying truth behind all these tragic events.
"The Gods never cared about us to begin with. We are leftovers of their experiments. They benefit from our faith but have no desire to protect us, let alone fight for us. In this era, they will not even choose more heroes than us. We are likely the last! This is because... as I learned from the records within the dungeon cores, the gods are already in the final stages of finishing a weapon capable of destroying the planet’s surface and seizing its core! Much like the Evil God of Dungeons, the only thing they care about is the source of energy that the planet’s core possesses! The war has lasted thousands of years, so everything feels slow to us, but it is happening—and it has already begun!"
"The Evil God of Dungeons has sealed all dungeons and, with the power of Lolth’s curse, has spread powerful divine curse monsters. He is cooperating with her because of her ability to rapidly reproduce and create aberrant offspring through her evolved divine curse. She plans to use all the infected dungeons as nests for these monsters... and the cursed people will likely turn into monsters as well! I have already designed a cure for the curse. This is a special magic formula. You’re the only one, aside from my mother, capable of conjuring it due to your high Celestial and Divine Affinity. Once you find my mother, please share it with her too! Her vast experience and knowledge will allow her to quickly create a wide-range spell that will heal everyone!"
The reason Sylphy, Aquarina, and the others could no longer communicate was that the Evil God of Dungeons was actively blocking all magic signals. This also made teleportation between locations impossible and left everyone completely isolated.
That was why Nephilim, with her immense power, had been tasked with delivering these messages, finding the heroes, rallying them together, and saving Evercraft—while Sylphy, Aquarina, and Nepheline dealt with Lolth and Dimenion in the Burning Forest Dungeon.
Nephilim had also asked about the young warriors, Sylphy’s brother and his friends. Sylphy had given her a message for them as well.
"Everyone is strong, and my brother is actually stronger than me. He simply never used his full power out of fear. I believe he’ll survive and protect everyone else. But if you pass by their dungeon or see them, quickly send one of your drones to communicate and tell them what’s happening!"
As Nephilim flew, she finally reached the entrance to the dungeon where the heroes were. Her eyes widened when she felt a powerful divine curse leaking from within. It seemed the heroes inside were already battling something that was releasing curse miasma everywhere.
Yet nothing was emerging from the dungeon. This left Nephilim perplexed. Could it be that the heroes were fighting off everything being produced inside so that nothing could escape? If so, without a proper counter to the curse, even they could eventually fall.
"I have to help them! Heroes or not, they aren’t invincible. They must need support!"
She kicked off the ground and shot forward at lightning speed, shattering the stone beneath her as she reached the dungeon’s interior in a single second. Inside, a gigantic beast loomed before the heroes, surrounded by thousands of smaller ones, all radiating cursed divine power.
"IT’S OVER, HEROES! YOU CANNOT KEEP FIGHTING FOREVER, HAHAHAHA!"
"Stop!"
Nephilim roared as she saw the heroes coughing blood. The curse had already begun infecting them, and even the strongest among them had no true counter yet. They were relying on Faylen’s chains, but that could only take them so far.
Instead of fleeing, they had stayed and fought to protect the outside world. For that, Nephilim felt deep gratitude.
BOOOM!!!
With her battery at full charge, she pierced straight through the monster’s chest, tearing it apart and unleashing a blinding explosion of anti-curse light that consumed the vessel of Lolth.
"W-WHA...?! WHAT IS THIS LIGHT?! THIS IS—GYYAAAAAHHHHH!"
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