Act 3: Hell Door
ACT 3 Hell Door
“Now the rest is over so start looking for the stairs to the next floor!”
The soldiers scattered at Ark’s command and started searching. Unlike the upper layers of the secret dungeon, the Abyss was a natural cave. Therefore the structure was very complicated and it wasn’t easy to find the way to the next area. Sometimes they had to wander for 10 hours before finding the path to the next floor. While the 60th floor had swamps and a ravine, it wasn’t complicated like a maze. Looking for the way wouldn’t be difficult. However…..
“There’s no path on this side!”
“It also isn’t on this side!”
The soldiers scattered all over the place shook their heads as they reported back.
“What? What did you say? There’s nothing?”
“Is this the last floor of the secret dungeon?”
The soldiers asked with a look of expectation. It had already been a fortnight since they entered the dungeon. They were already sick of wandering around and being in danger. But Ark just shook his head.
“No, that’s not it. Vega was just a middle ranked boss. There should still be another boss in this dungeon. So there will definitely be a passage somewhere.”
That’s right. That was the reason why Ark thought the 60th floor wasn’t the lowest one. Only middle ranked bosses had appeared so the secret dungeon wasn’t cleared yet. He had also obtained another stone sculpture from Vega. The sculptures had dropped from bosses so there was no doubt it would be used in the dungeon somewhere.
“It is clear there is still a secret in this dungeon. If there isn’t a route to go down then it must be something else. If there is nothing then we’ll have to go back to the labyrinth and search carefully. Look through every corner of this floor. If there is no route then look for something strange.”
“That’s true. Hey, search in every corner more carefully!”
The soldiers considered Ark’s words and shouted. The monsters weren’t the problem in the Abyss. The dungeon itself was one enormous trap. Who knew how dangerous the Abyss would become if they had to search a few more days? They would rather go downstairs and die then have to go through that labyrinth again. After Ark’s threat, the frightened soldiers used magic to create light and searched the 60th floor again. After a while, the soldiers who were investigating the side the lizards came from came running towards Ark.
“Ark, I found something suspicious!”
The soldier had found a small cave. On the outside it just seemed like a crack in the wall but it was actually quite a wide cave after entering. But the deep cave wasn’t a passage. It was just a room with a wide space. Yet there was something strange on the opposite wall of the cave.
“What the, this is?”
Ark looked at the wall and tilted his head to one side. Unlike the other walls, this one was carved 10 cm inwards. The size was about 3 metres high and 1 metre wide. Although he looked carefully, there was no other device. Just the rectangular structure which had been carved into the wall. And more walls.
“Something like this can’t be naturally created. In other words, someone must’ve made it. Obviously there must be a secret hidden here. Eh? What’s this?”
While touching the wall with his fingertips, he felt something strange. When he removed the surrounding earth, he felt a small iron plate. Small letters were carved into the iron plate. The carved letters were in unintelligible characters. However Ark knew how to decipher those characters. It was with Knowledge of Ancient Relics! As expected, where he touched the characters there was a shallow light and the deciphered contents appeared.
The beast who was born in darkness and lives by eating.
But uncertain people won’t be aware of his presence.
If you have firm belief then inscribe his image here.
But keep something in mind. This existence will cause you endless despair.
‘Beast? Inscribe the image of a beast on the wall?’
Ark was even more confused by the contents of the iron plate. Why was it suddenly telling him to inscribe the image of an animal on the wall?
‘Inscribe on the wall? Then I have to draw an image inside this rectangle? But how do I know what beast to draw? Was there a hint somewhere in the dungeon? Like a mural or something drawn somewhere…….’
It was a serious problem. Ark was presently on the 60th floor of the secret dungeon. In the meantime he had explored dozens of kilometres. If he didn’t find a clue on the 60th floor then didn’t it mean he would have to search from the beginning again? It was unreasonable to even think it. In addition, the soldiers in Dark Eden wouldn’t easy obey.
‘Wait…..mural? A mural? Come to think of it…..’
Ark tilted his head and looked at the wall for a while. A thought came to his head after remembering the word mural. The recessed wall was in the shape of a rectangle. It was as if someone had taken a mural off the wall.
‘Then there was originally something here. But why did someone take off the mural? That’s right, the iron plate didn’t say I needed to draw it. I misunderstood the words. Don’t I just have to return the original mural here?’
After thinking that, something flashed through Ark’s head. The ten stone sculptures in the form of slabs that he collected! When investigating the slab, he had seen something carved on the surface but he couldn’t identify its shape.
“Perhaps?”
Ark quickly pulled out the slabs and placed them in the rectangular recess. That’s right. The slabs were the murals that had been taken away from this wall. Once he knew that, the steps afterwards were simple. Ark placed the slabs back in like a jigsaw puzzle. A large image started to form on the wall. But Ark felt more confused after he managed to insert the 10 slabs.
“What, what the? Am I short one slab?”
Even though all ten slabs were inserted, an empty space was left in the centre.
“What the? I need more slabs? Is there another middle ranked boss? No, I can’t even defeat the boss on the next floor if I can’t solve this puzzle? Nevertheless, the lack of a slab……is there a boss that is hiding?”
Ark looked at the nearly completed wall mural and scratched his head. Suddenly he felt something strange when looking at the mural. The empty space had an overall triangle shape. The shape and size was similar to something he had seen before. But where? He stared at the wall mural and searched through his memory. After staring for a while, Ark finally remembered what he forgot.
“Wait? This form is….that’s right, I’m sure of it! Radun, the Bloody Slate!”
Ssak ssak ssak, ssak ssak ssak ssak!
Radun spat out a slate onto the floor. It was a slate with a deep red colour that seemed to drip blood. This slate hadn’t been obtained in the secret dungeon. Lumines had handed him this slate after freeing the Draconians from Magura’s subordinates. But he had needed 200 Knowledge of Ancient Relics to confirm it so he had forgotten about it. Surprisingly, the Bloody Slate seemed to fit perfectly into the mural.
“Looking at the shape, I’m positive this is right!”
Ark grabbed the slate, causing it to vibrate and a new message window rose.
-You have identified the Bloody Slate using Knowledge of Ancient Relics.
-Bloody Slate containing the secret of the Abyss (Level: 0)
An unknown dark power can be felt from this unrefined stone slate. While the slate looks rough at first, looking closely you can tell that it has been carefully trimmed. A weird shape is depicted on the surface but it cannot be clearly determined. The purpose of this slate is still unknown.
‘Yes!’
Ark inwardly cheered as he checked the information window. After the name was different, the description was the same as the other 10 sculptures he got. In other words, the Bloody Slate was part of the mural.
‘For the slate Lumines gave me to be a part of this mural……’
Then wouldn’t the dungeon boss be related to Magura who disappeared hundreds of years ago? He had suddenly obtained hidden information about the Lore quest. No, the boss hiding in the lowest layer of the Abyss might even be Magura himself. According to Lumines’ words, Magura was an evil which existed before the Dark Lord. It was obvious after considering the name of the dungeon, Cradle of Ancient Evil.
“Well what matters is that I’ve found the last key!”
Ark placed the Bloody Slate into the empty space. Finally the image of the beast which the iron plate mentioned had been completed. It was the shape of a huge wild dog with black fur. A black wild dog was often considered an omen of bad luck in the old days. When the Bloody Slate was inserted, it formed the red eyes of the dog. So the image of the beast was finally completed.
Ku ku ku ku, ku ku ku ku!
The cave started to shake violently. Rocks fell down from the ceiling like hail.
“What, what the?”
“The cave is collapsing!”
Ark and the soldiers quickly rushed outside the cave. The cave fell almost at the same time.
“What is this? A passage wasn’t created and it just collapsed……”
Ark looked at the collapsed cave with an absurd expression. Although the cave collapsed, the huge wall mural which was still standing started to crack. Then an enormous rock fell down and a strange shape was shown. Door……it was a door. An enormous door which reached dozens of metres. But it wasn’t an ordinary door. The door was made from humans. Thousands of humans with looks of suffering on their faces made up the grotesque doors! The soldiers were at a loss of words after seeing the eerie doors.
“Hell door……”
Someone groaned and muttered. That’s right. It was just like the Hell door described in Dante’s work. The soldiers of Dark Eden were overwhelmed by the terrible door. Even Ark was a bit lost when he thought about it. Only Isyuram and the rehabilitation members were the exception.
“