Chapter 20: Let’s Step into the Dungeon of Instant Death, Part 3

「.. The sun has already fallen. We shall camp here for today.」

After repelling the two giant centipedes, Aur’s group went further into the forest, stopping only when the trees began to be tinged in red when the night was fast approaching.

「Camping as in..no way, sleep!? In the middle of this enemy territory!?」

「That’s right.」

Zana shouts as Aur takes the table and te chair out of his bag again in preparation for dinner.

「When they were still trying to capture my Dungeon, pretty much every group of adventurers made camps inside it, so it’s nothing really that new to me.」

「But it’s still going to die instantly when your protection runs out, right!?」

「Aside from where I fell asleep, the boundaries were not cut off, and my blessing was not lost. Rather, rest would be essential in our current situation.」

「That’s .. well, yes.」

Zana was unable to understand just how can Aur keep his calm about him in an unfamiliar enviorment where they could be attacked at any moment and even one wrong step could spell their doom. On the other hand..

「Eve, are you okay?」

「I, I haven’t really done anything to be useful..」

Eldav stood at the camp’s side, visibly dejected.

「The opponent is the Sun God. He can’t do much to us when the sun goes down.」

After all, even Sofia, the 「Hidden Goddess of the Sun」 couldn’t do much during the night even before the four pillars of the Sun God were reunited, so it should be the same for him as well. It might be said that this is one of the few weak points of their otherwise omnipotent enemy.

「Putting that aside.. will we really be able to sleep like this?」

Their current base is an ice corridor created by Zana’s ice magic. Naturally, the floor was covered with hard, cold ice, prompting Zana to believe that a proper rest in such conditions was anything but impossible.

Until Aur flexed on her and took out his entire bed out of the leather bag.

「Don’t worry, we’ll be able to have a good night’s sleep.」

「I want something with a canopy!」

Rames shouted almost instantly. And sure enough, Aur procured a canopy bed just a few moments later.

「This is totally different from the camping I am used to.」

「You don’t have to worry about anything. My men will keep an eye on the encampment throughout the night.」

To tell you the truth, Aur didn’t even want to imagine how high were Zana’s standards when it comes to setting up camps

「I’ll be counting on you then.」

「Understood, Lord Aur!」

He gave his orders to four Black Alvs who came out of the leather bag as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

「*Sigh*, what even is this camp?」

「You have a problem with Black Alvs guarding us? I thought they are going to be ideal for the job since they sleep through the day and operate mostly at night.」

「That’s right, we are the nocturnal types!」

One of Ellen’s subordinates exclaimed brightly when Aur finished speaking.

「Well it doesn’t matter to me all that much as long as I’ll be able to have a proper rest throughout the night. Pleased to meet you and I’ll be counting on you.」

「Yes ma’am! We shall guard this place with our lives!」

The leader of the four assured Zana and send all of her comrades to the corners of the camp and as the remaining one who had the richest breasts, she went into Aur’s canopy bed.

「Oi, what do you think you’re doing?」

「Providing special protection to Master Aur.」

「No, you just want to have sex with him!」

Zana shouts at the Black Arv, who explains in a soft voice.

「Don’t get the wrong idea, Zana.」

Aur said, breaking in between them.

「I didn’t call Chloe and the others here just because their chests are big. The four of them is a team that always acts together.」

「Yeah, right! That does it! I’ll stay up all night to make sure none of them sneaks into your bed!」

However, Zana was the first one to fall asleep in less than ten seconds due to exhaustion and the comfort of her futon.

「What the..?」

It was just after midnight. Having finished the intercourse with the four Black Alvs Aur, who was asleep until now woke up, sensing that someone has entered his bed.

He didn’t have the opportunity to explain that to Zana, but he didn’t had sex with those for fun. He used sex as the means to replenish the magical power he used up during the day. After receiving the magical power from others this way, he needed to rest to properly convert their power into his own, so as a consequence, everyone was utterly exhausted when the deed was done.

「Master....」

However, the one who was here with him was not one of the Black Alvs.

「Eldav? What happened?」

「Sorry to bother you at such a late hour ... I just want to talk to you.」

Even after she was released from the Collar of Control’s influence she remained weak-willed and fearful of everything around her, so for her to come to Aur on his own volition was pretty unusual.

「We can talk about whatever you want. This canopy prevents any voices from leaking outside.」

「Why did you take me with you?」

Eldav asked with a voice filled with helplessness.

「I haven’t been of any help so far. I’m just a useless human.」

「Good grief.. do I really have to explain that to you?」

Aur was honestly a little disappointed with her not knowing her own worth.

「You really don’t realize that this ice Dungeon is being maintained by your power?」

When she heard him say that, she Eldav was thoroughly shocked.

「With my..?」

「Yes, Zana’s ice is created at a tremendous speed, but it doesn’t last that long. It’s the kind of thing that disappears after a while.」

The ability to maintain magical power is something entirely different from keeping its output steady or its speed high.

「Doesn’t it have to do something with pressure and weight?」

「No .. not exactly ..」

Eldav’s magical power output and speed are relatively low when compared to individuals such as Rames or Zana, but even Aur himself was not clear on the specifics.

「Right now, you are maintaining the ice that covers the entirety of this Forest Dungeon.」

It was also an ability beyond human knowledge.

「But .. anyone can do it if they tried..?」

「Could they? I dare say that most people wouldn’t be able to maintain even one room of this Dungeon for half a day before their magic run out.」

Meaning that speed and quality of power were nothing if the caster was unable to maintain it for longer periods of time. When it comes to creation magic, endurance and resilience will always triumph.

「Basically what I’m trying to say is that there is no one here who can substitute you.」

Eldav didn’t said anything, but she began to tremble instead.

「That .. that can’t be ..」

「Zana’s ice magic is fast and can be combined with my Labyrinth Magic, but it can only be used on such a large scale thanks to Rames’ almost inexhaustible magical power capacity. But the most important factor here is your power, since it allows us to do something that those two cannot.」

To be precise, it is possible to do so if you collect and maintain dozens of magicians. But such a scenario was too unrealistic even for them to pull off.

「I don’t have that kind of power ..!」

But Eldav simply denied this.

「I .. a woman who hasn’t done anything. Who has no power.」

「Now that’s interesting.」

Aur smiles happily.

「So you are saying that I am wrong?」

「Eh....?」

Eldav’s eyes just opened wide.

「So you say that you disagree with me saying that you are a valuable asset to my team, am I right?」

「That is .. uhm ..」

Eldav struggled to find the right words.

「Yes. I think this is your misunderstanding, master.」

But he answered him clearly.

「I’m not confident in myself.」

「You shouldn’t be.」

However, her lack of confidence was so strong that she denied it even when others praised her. That is how powerful her self-loathing was

「This is my guess, but have you always tried to get out of that collar?」

「....Yes.」

A collar that seals the soul, forcing the one wearing it to be absolutely obedient to the one who created it. Eldav could only think while being unable to move even a single finger. She wanted to get out. She wanted to be free. But that freedom was forever beyond her reach.

「But all my efforts at freeing myself were wasted!」

「That’s right.」

Aur nods his head. That thing was not something that one could break free of by himself.

「But that effort was not wasted. It helped you raise your sustainability.」

She spent a tremendous amount of time praying just to get out. Prayer is a form of magic and one of only a few that trapped souls could use. She must have been praying all this time even when her consciousness was sleeping, resulting in the increased control of her own magical power without her even realizing it.

「This is a power that is unique for you and you only. So you should feel proud of it.」

「Really .. I have such power ..?」

That means that she didn’t give up until the very end. And that effort did bear fruit in the end, just not the one she was expecting. That is why she had no reason to hate herself so much.

「Unbelievable.」

「Well sorry, but not sorry.」

Aur laughs honestly.

「You don’t have to believe me. Either way, it doesn’t change the fact that I need you. Tomorow I’ll have you work for me as usual.」

He couldn’t believe in anyone because he couldn’t believe in himself and he was perfectly aware of that. Whether the evaluation of his actions was objective or subjective, it was all the same with him.

「Don’t be so cold.」

Aur calls out to Eldav, who trembles with the weight of responsibility placed upon her. So in order to forget about it for today and have a peaceful night of sleep..

「....Yes.」

With that, Eldav fully entrusted herself to the warmth of Aur’s body.