"Where are we going?" I asked worriedly.

"How do you know of Alpha-Sierra-4857194?" she asked. "You haven't been around nearly long enough to hear of his story. Did you meet him somewhere?"

"Yes, I met the person, who told me his dungeon ID and first name," I said.

"Then I'll call him Daniel. That will make it easier for you. Stay away from him. He's very dangerous, and we still don't know what kind of artifact he acquired."

"What happened?" I asked. What, exactly, had my father done?

"I cannot say. Please, let's go meet my master."

Her master? That's the controller. This must be really severe!

Victoria led me through about thirty different floors, each time transporting to an odd-looking space.

"We've arrived," she announced before vanishing. I felt the fog of the void surrounding me.

"Hello, Roberto," a woman's voice echoed.

"Controller?"

"Yes. That's me. I apologize, but I must ask you to never speak of this matter again. Only those of level eight authority and the fairy queen know of this matter. She'll be here shortly."

Soon, I heard the fairy queen's voice. "Roberto, I'm so glad you're safe. I heard who you were researching."

"What's the matter with him? He looked normal in both level and skills. He also seemed like a non-magical person when I met him."

"He is a vicious criminal, please stay far away from him," the fairy queen said.

"I'm sorry, but I cannot say any more," the controller said.

"I trust him," the fairy queen stated. "He is Isabella's wife, and, since he ran into Daniel, he should know why we're so serious."

"Fine, if you really trust him. System, upgrade his authority by a level."

[level 8 authority confirmed]

"Now, you can listen," Controller said before continuing. "A few centuries ago, there was a human, Daniel. He was on floor twenty-five. Come, follow me."

Controller led us to the floor, and, using her dungeon authority, opened a passageway. On the other side, there were multiple rooms, but they looked charred and damaged.

"Floor twenty-five is the first major boss, which must be fought every twenty-five floors. Victoria's clone is on the hundredth. Anyway, the floor used to be larger to prepare people to defeat Mure, the dragon of the floor. Usually, people fight a clone. This man, however, was able to injure Mure's true body gravely. Mure herself is still recovering from such damage. He was the target for an unknown artifact from his world, and the pursuers tricked a level five authority assistant into forcing them to appear in the same place. They went to take the artifact, but it was so powerful that the entire dungeon floor shook. Numerous rooms, as you can see here, were destroyed permanently, forcing us to lessen the space available. Some rooms even fell along with the man, who we hadn't seen for some time. If it wasn't for your liquid, the floor might have never been revived."

"What did he do to get him banned?"

"He refused to stop using the artifact. We couldn't have him harming other important assistants, and he continued to come back and try to destroy the dungeon, saying something about his wife. The fairies mobilized to try and repair what they could, which is how her mother knew about this. It took many level-eight authority assistants to finally calm down the uproar, and we banned Daniel forever. He is no longer welcomed here, and we fear he still holds a grudge. With your new authority, you can contact me directly. You can also go as high as floor 140, even though no explorers have ever made it past 130. You know, currently, the highest explorer is on 125. I don't think they'll ever pass it."

"Thank you," I replied, but she had already vanished, and I already arrived back at my space.

Immediately, I went home. The girls were all nervous in Persephone, having seen the power of the controller.

I, however, was going to confront my father. I felt it was time for him to do some explaining.

"Father," I began. "Why did you set up so many runes?"

"Runes! How do you know of runes? Could it be, my genes caused you to also become an apprentice runemaster! You must have at least gained >!"

"Father, or should I say Explorer ID 9991 from Draconis Locum Sanctum Est, what secrets have you been keeping?"

His face turned pale. "How do you know of that name?"

I knew, at level eight authority, dungeon assistants could represent the dungeon and display a certain badge to showcase their authority. At this time, I displayed mine.

He turned even paler.

"Dungeon," he sneered.

I brought my girls over at this time and undid the aura suppression matrix, showing my full vampire and angel power.

"What have they done to you!" he roared, his anger evident.

"Nothing, now please tell me what is going on here!" I told him.

"I guess I have no choice," he relented, facing the wrath of my family.

"A few hundred years ago, I married a lovely woman. Shortly after, I found a powerful artifact. Some unscrupulous people wanted it for themselves, so they chased after me and killed my wife. Blinded by vengeance, I killed them all. On my planet, although I was a strong human, dragon-type races were the rulers. There were rumors that black tower's twenty-fifth floor boss was related to them, so I challenged him. He laughed at me, but I found a path to his true soul, attacking it. When my pursuers arrived on the floor, there was a large fight. Eventually, sections of the dungeons fell through the void. You know, I'd have never thought that you would be exploring the dungeon. How long has it been for you?"

"Less than a year," I truthfully said.

"You see, I had many powerful artifacts on me, but none compared to that one. It merged with my body, prolonging my life but preventing me from ever advancing in power. I soon arrived, with the dungeon pieces, in the ocean. The place I previously visited was from Black Tower. I had to destroy it, though. Also, I secretly started the current religion we preach. You see, I saw the great catastrophe would not befall this world for many centuries, if ever. Even so, I decided that I had to be prepared. We eventually infiltrated the government to spread news once it does strike. Centuries later, I met your wife and told her the truth after we married. Don't worry—she's from Earth.

Lately, I've been noticing some small changes. Usually, people from other worlds can't come here before the great catastrophe hits, but it looks as if some of my enemies have returned. They are intending to trap us in this house and force us to fight. That billionaire you met—he is most likely in charge. He even did something to your soul, as I can't see through it."

I tried hard to not laugh.

"Father, I'm the billionaire," I said, taking out gold bars. "I set up the barrier around the neighborhood to protect you all."

"But, there were runic combinations on each plank. Furthermore, the energy used wasn't just MP. It seems this enemy has even caused my son to lie. Maybe, the dungeon itself acted upon your soul."

"Father, look at me. I am no longer human. Of course, I can use other energies."

"No longer human? I could tell looking at you. There's no way your something else."

To convince him, I spread my angel wings.

"Wings? What kind of skill gives you wings?"

"I told you: I'm an angel."

"I still don't believe that, but at least you have some skills."

"Will this convince you?" I asked, combining the cooler, water source, and small light to create glowing ice.

"I don't know how that's possible! Such rune skills should have taken years to master, yet you said it only took you less than a year!"

"I'm just skilled in runes," I told him while reapplying the aura suppression rune.

"Also, they aren't just my friends," I said, motioning to the girls. "They are my daughters and the members of my platoon as a Captain in the Angel Army: Warrant Officers Aurora, Kylee, and Krystal."

"Nice to meet you, angels," my father said meekly.

"It's not like it will hurt you," Aurora said, turning away.

"I can't believe my son is so grown up! You no longer need me to protect you." He began crying

"I'll always need you," I said, comforting him.

After the conversation, I told him a little about my dungeon trek. I didn't completely trust him with such matters, after the explanation from the controller and fairy queen, so I left many parts out, including the sources and becoming dungeon assistants. I also left out Ice Hydrangea, Persephone, the fact I was also a vampire, and my other secrets that only the girls knew.

"Does Emily know about this?" I asked.

"No, she doesn't," he replied after pondering for a few minutes. "That twig you chose was set as a trap. Since Emily's getting older, I thought she may have been able to sense mana by now and would choose it, not knowing why. I never expected you to, nor that you actually knew I trapped the mana in it."

"You made the twig?"

"Yes, I did."

"Father, maybe, if you want to go back dungeon exploring, I can explain your situation to the controller and Victoria. They may be able to help you."

"Who's Victoria?"

"An assistant in the dungeon, above the generals."

"You see, the wounds run too deep. I don't think we'll ever reconcile. Please keep my matters a secret. I used one artifact to alter your grandparents' memory to make them think of me as your child, but I don't think it'll work on you."

"Your right about that," I said, laughing.

I was glad it was cleared up, but I was worried, once the Great Catastrophe descended, if my father would be able to protect himself. I only knew of a few of his skills, and I couldn't see his stats, so I had no idea. We would have to wait and see. For all we knew, it could take years or decades.

My family agreed to keep it a secret from the dungeon and angel army. We didn't want to start a war. Also, we were all wary of my father—why had he never told me? Something just seemed off, but I couldn't tell what. There are also Keith and Levi. I don't think my father can defeat them both.

I no longer had to hide my trips exploring the dungeon, which would make it easier to go and come back. For the first time, I told my parents we were entering the dungeon.

The eleventh floor's first room had a narrow passageway leading to a ring of six large volcanoes. The exit on the other side was blocked with a message.

「volcanos conquered ０/１０」

It looked like we had to go through all of them before continuing. We began going counterclockwise, with the closest one first. We crawled through a narrow opening to find a cavern.

There were a few pitfall traps and arrow-shooting traps, but they all were "inferior" since I could disable them. In the center of the cavern, a metal pipe radiated heat, and lava flowed through it.

We ascended a set of stairs, which were slippery, to reach the second level of the volcano. The heat was even worse here, but there were still, oddly, no monsters—just traps. Bella, luckily, explained that this floor is the first to have traps and, as such, fewer monsters spawned.

The third floor was similar to the first two, except lava began firing at us, forcing us to dodge both the traps and it. I almost got hit by one burst of lava!

[gained lava resistance. Gained fire resistance.]

[level up! Lava resistance level 2! Fire resistance level 3!]

[authority confirmed! Lava resistance level 3! Fire resistance level 3! Burn nullification level 1!]

It was safer for me, and I could even walk around in a sea of these molten rocks. The next floor actually forced me to. It was covered in lava as we neared the summit. The girls flew to avoid it, but the exploding bubbles were still difficult to deal with. Finally, we reached the highest floor of the first volcano.

The molten rocks started conglomerating. Ten or so converged in a circle, connected by flowing lava. It was an Aestus Maglord! After the first formed, three more also arose.

I used > and > to deal with the fire in the center and Blackmail to slice the rocks in two. Unfortunately, that just caused them to split into two separate monsters. My family helped with the other three, and they got the same result. They continued to shoot fire at us, while we could only dodge. The strength was less, but the sheer number made it more difficult. While dodging, Aurora tried to deal with one, but, like before, it split in half. It continued to divide until there were thirty-two. Now, there was barely any space for more to spawn.

We also could barely dodge, so we had to think of another solution. My next attack was > combined with >. Finally, the rocks stopped. I continued going through each enemy with the four-skill combo until only one remained. Suddenly, the circle inside increased in size. The fire was now like a web, which could be shot out all at once. Just like a spider's web, it stuck to the walls where it was shot. I had never used that particular ability of my >, and now was as good a time as any.

I jumped from one to the other in order to get closer and finally decompose the rocks. I had to add in >, but, eventually, the final one was gone.

For some reason, all four dropped something! The first three were EXP shards. Each were worth five points! The final one was a skill, melt rocks.

Melt rocks

Level: 1

Requirements: fire resistance lv 3, burn resistance lv 3, lava resistance lv 3

Description: melt any material the hand comes in contact with

Once again, I gained the skill after it would have been useful.

I was glad to have finished the first of the ten, but before we could leave, a box appeared in the center of the room. It didn't look like the expected treasure chest—it was made of cardboard.

Cautiously, I picked it up. Inside, there was a letter from Victoria.

"This is one of my favorite games. I made it a little harder for you with that last one, so here's compensation.

-Victoria"

Inside, there were two EXP shards for each of us.

The lava went down the metal pipe, and the roof opened. We ended up in the center of the volcano, surrounded by quickly cooling rocks. We flew up in the generated steam and swiftly went down into the circle.

「volcanos conquered 1/１０」

We next went over to the next volcano, and the bottom was filled with lava on the very first floor. The center had the same metal piping, continuously spewing new lava. We carefully flew past the sea, bypassing numerous traps meant for those who were unable to achieve flight.

From the lava sea, a few beings rose up. Shogerdames, as they were called, had a body that looked like a polished obsidian stone, with five small arms. Inside of each arm was a fiery crystal, which generated fire. I used water whirlwind so many times that it increased in level. We luckily didn't have to fight too many in order to ascend.

The second floor had pillars with blades of red-hot metal spinning so fast they almost turned invisible. Luckily, my > allowed me to see clearly. For one second, I used Eternal's time-slowing powers. I was able to analyze the entire formation and the correct order of dodging, ducking, and jumping needed to safely pass by.

After explaining the strategy, I used > along with the water source rune. This created a foggy atmosphere, making the blades easier to spot. We then meticulously followed the correct path until getting to the elevator on the other side. It had only one floor option, floor three, but there was a keyhole below. As soon as I touched it, the system rang out.

[level eight authority confirmed]

The elevator started to descend, instead of ascending. It brought us below the current floor, and I watched a display above the door. It switched to indicate the floor numbers, decreasing steadily until reaching floor zero.

Finally, we heard the telltale ding, and the doors opened.

I looked around, and there were many strange devices all around. I couldn't tell what most of them did, but I did find a few I could figure out. One of them looked like it controlled the lava levels in the volcanoes. Another controlled the sources.

As I was looking around, I suddenly heard someone call out to me.

"I haven't seen you around here before. Who are you all?" she asked. "You know, this place is restricted. I don't know how you found it, but you won't be able to leave. First off, put your hand here."

This lady presented a stone tablet, with the indent of a palm. I was preparing to fight her, but this didn't seem harmful. I put my hand in the center. Immediately, I heard the system.

[level eight authority confirmed. Unlocking first ring]

"I'm so sorry," this girl suddenly changed her attitude. "I never heard of a new level-eight authority figure. I'm sorry, I tried to attack you before knowing all the facts. I'm Delightful Bliss Succubus Kimberly, a level eight authority assistant. I'm responsible for the operations in this room. There's quite a few of us. Once again, welcome to floor zero."

"Thanks," I said. "But what is floor zero?"

Kimberly continued her explanation. "Here, there are about fifteen level-eight authority figures. In the entire dungeon, there's less than thirty. Anyway, this is the backend of the dungeons. All of the intricate details of each floor are here, along with recording logs of all that has ever happened."

She motioned for us to follow her as if she was giving a tour. She brought us to a room, instead, that had live feeds of numerous other rooms. She pointed to one and began explaining.

"When you put your hand on the device beforehand, you unlocked the first ring. This shows that you can enter the outer rooms in this place. If you ever need to, we can try to check further access. At level eight, not all of us can enter the inner rooms. This room is an outer room. Here, we store EXP shards and make new ones from complete orbs."

The picture that appeared showed mountains upon mountains of EXP shards, as well as orbs. They sparkled in different colors. I could only recognize six colors: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 10 points.

Kimberly motioned to the screen, and the image changed. It now showed veins of energy flowing throughout the room and going upwards."

"This is the primary source. It controls all of the elemental sources in the entire dungeon and manages the list of those who can call upon them."

"Can I edit that list?" I asked.

"Of course you can. Why?"

"There's someone who I don't think should have access anymore. How do I edit it?"

"Easy. Since you're on floor zero, just think what you want to do and point at the screen."

I tried to do so, and I saw a list. I filtered it by planet and ID number before finally finding Keith. There was a slider next to his name for each element. I switched it to "off" for electricity, the only one active.

I also asked the demons if I could turn everything to "on" for myself, but they explained that doing so would prevent me from conquering the sources for myself.

Kimberly spent the rest of the day, as well as the next, explaining about a number of rooms, including those that keep the terrain settings constant, lists of those with different authority levels, artifact and weapon storage, and others. The most interesting room had a stone tablet with manual sliders that listed the default drop rates for certain items. According to Kimberly, it changed often depending on the whims of whoever's in charge. The floor zero beings often switched jobs.

27% overall

75% EXP shards and weapons

20% potions and recovery items

3% spell and skill books

1% ingredients

1% other

Finally done with the picture tour, I went back up the elevator to the correct place in the volcano. During this time on floor zero, my family had been in Persephone, so I called them back out. Additionally, I had the coordinates for floor zero added to my coordinate book—it's in a separate space, apparently.