Chapter 45

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Chapter 45

“Next to this, the god of greed and conflict appears…”

This time, without Andra telling him, Dustin turned the plate in search of a marker with a horned beast and weapon. It was the same after this. Andra added a myth about the marker, and Dustin repeated the turn to find the marker.

The god of neutrality, the god of wisdom and ideals, the god of justice and harmony, the god of mischief and love, the gods of day and night…

In the order in which the nine gods were born, they turned the disk to find the sign until the last god, but this time the plate did not return to its original position. When the plate stopped spinning with a rattling sound, Dustin lifted his hand from his handle. Did it work?

Not long after, there were shaking in the dungeon. It was heavier and deeper than the shaking they felt when the altar was descending. Boom, boooom… There was also the sound of something closing. It’s like plugging a hole. Thanks to this, Andra could not erase her anxiety, and she looked around the dungeon.

‘No way…’

It was at that moment. Water started pouring randomly from the ceiling and walls. The streams of water spewed out a lot of water in a short time, but the momentum was strong.

In an instant, more than half of the cliffside was filled with water. Seeing the water rushing at a frightening speed, Andra screamed. The sound of something closing a while ago must have been the closing of the door of the waterway flowing under the cliff. Otherwise, the water could not have pooled so quickly.

‘As expected, it was a trap!’

No wonder it was so easy! No matter how much she thought about it, she was just thinking that the puzzle was too easy. Wasn’t it a difficulty that they could solve if they only knew the myth? She should have suspected beforehand. There was no way Nera, the god of greed and conflict, could have given such an easy puzzle.

‘Then how do we solve it?’

Andra looked at the circular plate nervously.

Signs of the nine gods. Among them is the mark of the primordial god. If not in the order in which the nine gods were born, in what order? This time she lifted her head and looked at the statues. Nera, with her face visible, was on the far left, and the gods she didn’t know who they were, were lined up next to it.

‘Don’t tell me it’s the order in which they sit on that chair?’

She prayed it wasn’t, please. In that order, Andra and Dustin will never be able to solve this puzzle. How can they tell the gods apart by the appearance of the stone statues? Even with Nera, the god of greed and conflict, whose face was exposed, the appearance of the stone statue was quite ordinary. Picking up any god and they’ll believe it to be that god.

‘It’s completely different from the Nera I saw.’

Nera was much taller than Andra and had the bones of a beast over her face. With every move she made, the jewelry dangling from her ears jingled, and the jeweled ropes wrapped around her shoulders were so long that they dragged to the floor. Is that a stone statue with a small body and simple clothes of such a god?

It is impossible to judge God simply by appearance. Andra began to roll her head to find another way.

While she was contemplating, she realized that the cliff was covered with water and ran over to where they were standing.

“Damn it, it’s more water again.”

Dustin looked at the continuously pouring of water with no sign of stopping, and muttered his words out like he was chewing. If it continues like this, they would drown. They have to get out of here before the water fills up completely.

“I think we should get out of here right now.”

“…….”

“Andra Avellin?”

When Andra didn’t answer, Dustin turned his head to look for Andra. Then he stood still and looked at Andra, who had her gaze fixed only on the round plate. At that moment, she let out an exasperated laugh. Was she really reckless or bold? Or maybe she gave up on her life. He roughly grabbed Andra by her shoulder and turned her towards him.

“We have to get out of here right now.”

“I’m thinking about it.”

“What are you thinking? We have to escape. Can’t you see the water is filling right now?”

The water was constantly filling up. Dustin grimaced at the level of the water that now covered the insteps of his feet. Andra hit Dustin’s hand and pointed to the disc.

“Then we have to solve more puzzles. You have to stop pouring water to survive. Do you really think we can get out of here the way we came?”

She had already put in the gold coins. It was as if they had declared to this dungeon that they would attack it from now on. Is the dungeon going to let them go as they are? Even this place was under Nera’s jurisdiction. She couldn’t have let them go.

Andra looked at Dustin with a disgusted face. Was his brain that empty or was he just that simple?

“There is nothing that can’t be done. You haven’t even tried it yet.”

“Then go and try. Whether we can get out of here in the usual way or not.”

Andra pointed the tip of her chin to the entrance in the distance. Dustin frowned at this.

“You have nine lives, don’t you? So are you going to stay here? If you can’t solve the puzzle, will you die?”

“I will solve it. I can solve it.”

“You’re killing yourself like an Avellin. Don’t hesitate and follow me. Don’t blame me for not going to save you later.”

Dustin grabbed Andra’s wrist and led her. Let me go. Andra struggled at the strength of the strong grip. However, the difference in strength between the two was evident, and Andra’s rebellion had little effect on Dustin. He grabbed and dragged Andra. Andra was easily dragged away from the disc.

“Dustin Airak, this oaf! You’re always like this. Always trying to solve anything with brute strength.”

He grabbed her wrist so tightly that it felt like it was going to break. Tears welled up in Andra’s eyes. Even so, Dustin, who was walking ahead, did not know that. Rather, he was giving more strength to his hand that was pulling her as Andra’s rebellion grew stronger.

“It’s been like that ever since! Trying to solve it by force! Are you still a knight? All the lowly northern bastards are the same! You think that if you use a sword, you can do anything! While being nothing more than a swordsman who is no different from a barbarian!”

“Say whatever you want. I heard a lot of your swear words now, it’s stuck in my ear and it’s nothing.”

“You filthy bastard! After all, all you can offer is that ignorant power, right? That’s why you push yourself like this every day! Completely ignoring other people’s intentions!”

Now it was Dustin who didn’t respond to Andra’s words. He shut his mouth and simply dragged Andra forward. Let go, let me go! Andra clenched her fist and slammed it down towards Dustin’s hand that was holding her right wrist.

“Do you know why I hate you so much? Because I can’t talk to you! Have you ever tried to listen to me in the first place?! You were busy ignoring me every day! You’re just a bastard wearing a human mask. No, actually, even an animal can’t do it!”

Her wrist hurt so much. Tears seem to cover her eyes.

“Who do you think you are, you ignore me every time, who are you! How did I become like this? I even learned to curse because of you! It’s a total mess!”

It wasn’t that Andra had been swearing at Dustin from the start, arguing with him, and getting mad at him indiscriminately. As an Avellin of the East, and also as a daughter of a noble family, Andra in her early years tried to treat the Lord Dustin, with etiquette.

Although it is said that the families were in constant dispute, there are laws that must be kept between individuals.

But there was one thing Andra overlooked.

Where did the roots of Airak come from, and why did her father and older brothers hate it when they say Airak?

“Ah, Lady Avellin, who got the princess disease because the Marquis raised her?”

“You look ugly. Doesn’t it look like someone squashed your face on the floor?”

“It is said that you were born after devouring your mother. A birth as brazen as that brazen face.”

The Young Lord of Airak, who had just arrived from the north, was very effective in destroying the image of the ‘nobility’ that Andra had built up during her life in a short time. It was because the northern nature’s wild and savage disposition came as a shock to Andra, who grew up in the mild and prosperous eastern part. It was hard to accept.

The original Airak were a nomadic family who wandered the vast and barren northern part of the country. Of course, as time passed and as the blood faded, they were unified as the current Ishur Empire.

At the time of the founding of the country, the first king, Hailf I, started a new dynasty with the help of Tade, the chief of the Borgin clan, a nomadic people in the north. Hailf I married his youngest daughter to Tade and conferred to them the title of Northern Frontier with the surname of Airak, and began to support the North as promised.

This was the moment when the nomadic peoples of the north, Airak, were brought into the empire.

“The Lord … is vulgar in everything you do.”

“There seems to be nothing else to talk about.”

Dustin was relentless. He had the outward appearance of a noble, but inside he was nothing but a ruthless swordsman. It was only when Andra met Dustin that she realized why people looked down on northerners as vulgar blood, and why they cursed them as descendants of barbarians.

“It’s like this every time I get involved with you! I’m a noble Avellin, and if I’m with you, I feel like I’m on the same level as a petty Airak!”

Thud, thud. Andra gathered her power and slammed her fist. Dustin then turned around her and lifted Andra like a bale and carried her over his shoulder. Her reaction became wilder as her gaze changed in an instant and her body floated in the air. This bastard! You think I’m an object!

Dustin whispered with a low voice.

“Stay still. Unless you want me to stun you.”

“Stun? You crazy bastard! Vulgar and savage bastard! You must be a descendant of a barbarian!”

“Andra Avellin, I warned you. Don’t make me say it twice.”

Andra was taken aback by the word ‘warned’. It boiled her anger even more. She stopped her struggles, huffed, and pointed to her entrance in front of her.

“Don’t make me say it twice! You have to solve the puzzle, you have to solve it! Otherwise, you can’t escape from here! Do you think you can open that entrance?”

“If you work hard, you can break it.”

“Yes, that power also started from this dungeon! Do you think that will work! My magic doesn’t work right now!”

Dustin’s steps stopped. Magic doesn’t work? As Dustin hesitated, Andra did not miss the moment and screamed even more.

“Yes! If I could use magic, I would have used it a long time ago! No power works here. Why do you think I’m doing this!”

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