Chapter 14: The Price of Salvation
The golden screen flickered, instantly pulling up the requested information. The answers Asher had demanded appeared in crisp text, but the reality behind those words felt like a bucket of ice water dumped over his head.
{First Wife Kelly.}
{Cure Location: The King - Doomsday Dungeon. [RANK: SSS-RANK].}
{Second wife Sara.}
{First Cure Location: The King - Doomsday Dungeon. [RANK: SSS-RANK].}
{Second Cure Location: Mental Destruction Dungeon. [RANK: SSS-RANK].}
{Third Cure Location: Gods’ Grave Dungeon. [RANK: ???????].}
{Third Wife Juliana.}
{Cure Location: Mental Destruction Dungeon. [RANK: SSS-RANK].}
Asher sat still, his mind going back, his gaze fixed on the locations, completely and utterly stunned. The initial high of reaching C-Rank and gaining a Celestial Physique evaporated in a fraction of a second. The cures existed, yes, but they were locked behind the gates of literal hell.
At that moment, he understood why the three families gave up on their daughters; such a dungeon wasn’t a playground. To retrieve these items wasn’t just expensive—it was considered a geographical impossibility.
’Two hundred years ago, a massive crack appeared on the planet, revealing the endless space within. On that day, the sun turned blood-red, and from it, Monsters poured into the world, bringing with them death and destruction.’ He recalled the history lessons drilled into every child. The apocalyptic event that reshaped their reality.
’Due to this, five out of the ten countries got completely wiped out. That was the darkest moment for humanity... But the crack not only brought monsters, it also grants people the opportunity to awaken powers, and abilities which gave humanity a fighting chance.’
’After a decade of endless battle, the first Awakeners sacrificed their lives, sealing the crack, saving the remaining five countries. Peace returned, but it didn’t last.’ Asher stared at the dungeons listed on the glowing screen, his gaze dark and heavy with the weight of humanity’s grim reality.
’Five years after the closure of the crack, dungeons started appearing on the planet, and from it, creatures; both humanoids and Beasts flowed out again, but this time around, Humans were prepared. The guilds with powerful awakeners worked together, and deal with these dungeons... But.’ He narrowed his eyes, tracking the systemic flaw in humanity’s survival plan:
’All the dungeons were from SS-RANK, to F-Rank... As for SSS-RANK.’ He closed his eyes, exhaling softly as the darkest Chapter of modern history surfaced in his mind:
"The very first SSS-RANK Dungeon appeared three years ago. This dungeon appeared on a small island located at the center of this world map... The five countries noticed this, and assembled all their SSS-RANK Awakeners. That team was the strongest team in history, having a total of one hundred SSS-RANK Awakeners." He turned his head to look at his closed door, visualizing the quiet, broken woman sitting down outside.
"Sara was 18 years old back then... She was one of the youngest talents who had ever reached such a rank at such an age. I don’t know what happened, but she joined this expedition to the first SSS-RANK Dungeon. Back then, everyone thought one hundred SSS-RANK Awakeners are enough to take one SSS-RANK Dungeon, but humanity was so wrong." He clenched his fist, feeling the powers of his new core, realizing how utterly insignificant it was in the grand scheme of things.
"Weeks after the Expedition, only twenty out of the hundred SSS-Rank returned, the whole 80 died on that island... But these twenty who made it back, they couldn’t be counted as Survivors. Each of their cores were damaged, and destroyed, most lost their limbs... As for Sara, she lost her ability to speak, hear, and her core was damaged." He unclenched his hand. The sheer trauma she had endured on that island was beyond anything he could fathom. She had touched the absolute pinnacle of human power, only to be thrown into an abyss of despair.
"The five countries later marked the island as a Dead zone, forbidding all ships and planes from getting a thousand miles from it. And this Dungeon was named Doomsday Dungeon."
He stared at Kelly’s and Sara’s Cure’s location, fixating on a specific detail the history books had never mentioned:
{Cure Location: The King - Doomsday Dungeon. [RANK: SSS-RANK].}
"Why is the cure located on that Island, and what does the King mean? Is the cure with the Ruler??"
Asher stared at his hand, feeling the energy moving in his body. He wasn’t a fool; even one hundred SSS-RANK Awakeners all fell on that Island, including Sara... His talent was only SS-RANK, no matter how he trained, he will never reach SSS-RANK, unless he moved his talent to that rank through more System investments.
"Even with SSS-RANK strength, going to Doomsday Dungeon is still a death sentence. Saying the truth, an SSS-RANK Awakener can escape a battle alive, even if he or she is up against two SSS-RANK Monsters. This means, the creatures on that island, they should have at least three hundred SSS-RANK... Luckily they aren’t that smart, so this world is still standing." He held his jaw, processing the tactical anomalies of the world’s greatest threat.
"Aren’t Smart? That’s a stupid concept... An SSS-RANK Awakener has the ability to fly, if there are three hundred on that Island, why are they staying still? There must be something I am missing." He muttered, looking up at the screen again. A terrifying suspicion bloomed in his chest—the monsters weren’t trapped; they were just waiting.
Waiting for what??
{Cure Location: Mental Destruction Dungeon. [RANK: SSS-RANK].}
"Juliana and Sara need this... But this dungeon, I haven’t heard of it." Asher raised an eyebrow, staring at the name. It wasn’t on any known map or registry he had studied.
"Mental Destruction Dungeon? Seems I need a very powerful mental defense to enter this dungeon." He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck to ease the mounting tension.
"My wives are my road to power, and wealth. But to cure them, it seems I will have to risk my life. But Sara’s last cure... That’s even more eerie."
{Third Cure Location: Gods’ Grave Dungeon. [RANK: ???????].}
’Even the system doesn’t know the rank of this dungeon. Is there truly a dungeon higher than SSS-RANK? If such a dungeon appears on this world, humanity will be gone overnight.’ He stood up. The scale of the dangers lurking in the shadows was suffocating.
’No!! I need to invest in my wives... Juliana is easy to please. Kelly doesn’t know anything apart from food... But Sara.’ He sighed deeply. Providing for them was one thing, but establishing a genuine, healing bond was entirely different.
Sara already gave up on herself, and life. Is there anything he can give to earn returns from her? What do you give a woman who has lost her voice, her hearing, her power, and her will to live?
BANG!!!
The next moment, a deafening gunshot rang out all over the place, shattering the quiet night and stunning Asher in place. The time for planning was over; the consequences of the market had finally arrived at their doorstep.