I didn't manage to get much sleep, but being a dungeon core it was at least enough to alleviate the soreness and tiredness of yesterday's ordeal. The sun still has yet to rise and it will be a little while longer before the time in which I am supposed to meet back with Ceres and the others, so I decide to look over the dungeon to see in how bad a shape the dungeon is.

Looking at the remains of Tobes through [Menu] really drives home the devastating attack that Ceres unleashed. Even the mountain has permanently been reshaped, and I am honestly beginning to wonder if not only Tobes but the mountain itself wouldn't have become just a huge crater if it wasn't for the fact the ground is considered a dungeon floor.

The trees however have been obliterated, even the lake halfway up the mountain has shrunk considerably... Wait... I check the [Monsters] section of [Menu]. It's the giant crab, it must have taken shelter in the lake before the attack, and the ground around the lake must have protected it from the blast.

That makes him practically the only non-sentient monster in my dungeon left alive, not counting the rift monsters, of course. Looking at the list of [Monsters] however is quite disheartening. Even among my named monsters the list is only a small fraction of what it was before.

Some monsters were spared as they were at one of the girls' dungeons, but almost all of the xp gathering groups that were training in Ceres's dungeon have been wiped out. The loss of monsters has decreased my xp consumption back down to levels in which Akil's xp covers it again, but if we can't get the humans to come back to Tobes we won't be able to recoup our losses for a long time.

As for the dungeon itself, there are a few rooms that appear to have been altered, and by the looks of things it must have been where the failed cores had attached the tunnels to the dungeon. Lilah must have altered the rooms last night so that the tunnels would begin to break-down.

We have a substantial amount of weapons, armor, and supplies stored in the dungeon inventory, so to be on the safe side I start breaking down some of it to make sure we have enough xp in case of an emergency.

There is still a lot left when I am done, and I didn't even touch the things we pulled from the shops and storehouses of Tobes, but I have run out of time, and I need to go meet with Ceres and the others already.

I equip my gear, transfer down to the edge of my dungeon near Ceres's dungeon, and see that the amount of people has quadrupled overnight, but that is still not even a small fraction of the population of Tobes before the attack. I don't see Ceres or Dyson yet so I go greet some of the townsfolk.

They seem exceedingly nervous as I approach and greet them. Most of them won't even look me directly in the eye anymore. I don't know if they will stick around though, because the longer I talked to them the more nervous they seemed to get. From what I can gather they only returned to try to salvage what they could from Tobes, but since there is nothing to salvage they are already talking about abandoning Tobes altogether.

I tell them that the dungeon is still there, and with the items it supplies it would be worth the trouble to try to rebuild Tobes, but their nervousness only increases to the point in which I might as well have two heads, so I feel the best thing I can do is bow out of the conversation.

I continue to have several more similar awkward conversations with other groups of people, and although none come out and say anything to me directly, I can tell they are putting a lot more validity into the rumors about me. Some of them going as far as quieting others down when I approach.

When I finally catch sight of Ceres, she is standing on top of the steps of one of her buildings calling the attention of all those who are still in Tobes.

Ceres: “Everyone, I wish to speak with you all!” -She says and waits for everyone to gather before she continues.- “First of all I want to start off by saying, you are all welcome to use the university's buildings as long as you need to, until we can begin the process of rebuilding Tobes.”

Talking about rebuilding Tobes seems to cause more than a few of the people to begin talking back and forth. Ceres gives them a few moments then clears her throat and continues.

Ceres: “Listen, everyone here knows me, or they at least know of me. I'm not only the headmaster here at the university, but also the unofficial leader of the Mage's Guild, and in turn the Adventurer's Guild, but there is something about me that you don't know.”

Ceres looks over the crowd and takes a deep breath before saying. “Last year I was killed, and it was only due to the dungeon up in the mountain that I am still around. I am now, for all intents and purposes, the master of my own dungeon which runs along side the dungeon up in the mountain.”

Ceres's revelation causes the townsfolk to raise a commotion as they quickly begin talking among themselves. Ceres gives them a few moments again before she fires a spell off into the air, creating a loud booming sound that causes everyone to jump and become silent before she continues speaking again.

Ceres: “Now what you do with that information is up to you, but you can also believe me when I say that I know for a fact that the dungeon in the mountain had nothing to do with the attack that occurred on Tobes, and it did everything it could to protect Tobes and its citizens, including the means for the townsfolk to evacuate. That also means that when I say we will rebuild Tobes better than it ever was before, that is exactly what we are going to do!”

Ceres really just stuck her neck out for me, and if it was up to just me I would stand next to her and tell them about my dungeon as well, but as close ties I have with the kingdom and Belinda's family I couldn't say anything without at least giving them an advanced warning.

I do however join Ceres on the steps and say. “I can't speak officially for the kingdom, but anyone that seen the battle yesterday could clearly see the dungeon tried to protect Tobes and lost as many monsters as we lost citizens, and dungeon or no dungeon I trust Ceres, so if she means to rebuild Tobes, I will as well!”

It isn't exactly an admission of being associated with the dungeon, but it isn't a denial either. The rumors about me might not go away, but this might be enough to buy me some time to at least have a conversation with Belinda's father first.

The townsfolk that remain begin talking among themselves again, and Ceres ushers me into the building and says. “Well that should give them plenty to gossip about for a while.”

“Are you sure you are alright telling them about you being a dungeon core?”

Ceres: “After today it might not matter anyway, but even if we do make it though today alright, I am rather confident they would not be able to hurt my dungeon even if they found it, so I don't see a problem with it. Besides I think I have watched humans long enough to judge how they are going to respond to the news.”

“Well... I hope you're right.”

I send Belinda a message letting her know about Ceres telling those that remained, about being a dungeon core. After all it is already an established fact that Ceres has support from Gowen, so if something goes wrong I don't want Belinda's father to get blindsided by this.

Belinda isn't nearly as surprised as I expected about the news, but after sending messages back and forth for a few minutes Ceres says. “Well I just received a message from Dyson saying they are on their way, so we better get started.”

I send Belinda one last message telling her we are going to go attempt to bring Madam Erin back, and she sends me one back telling me to be careful while Ceres and I make our way back outside.

After exiting the building, it seems like nobody has moved, since they are still talking among themselves, seemingly unsure how to process the information they received. Dyson's sudden appearance however snaps them out of it long enough to jump. You can tell by the looks on their faces that when they start talking again their topic hasn't changed, but Dyson has been added to their discussion.

Dyson studies them as he walks by them, and though he mostly ignores them, they can't do the same for him since they need to step out of the way. He arrived with upwards of two dozen humans, as well as Angela and Desiee. Even Speedy and Byson are among the group which is trailing shortly behind Desiree and Angela.

“What's all this?” -I say while they approach.-

Dyson: “Ask the boss lady, she is the one that said to bring them.”

Ceres: “While we go to recover Madam Erin, I have something else that needs to be done, and I figured that after the battle yesterday you wouldn't have the manpower, so I asked for Dyson's assistance.”

“For what?”

Ceres: “A distraction so we can rescue Madam Erin unhindered. Now we need to hurry, so if you tell them to head inside they can meet with a few of my people and they will take it from there.”

Dyson nods and sends the group that followed him into the building. Ceres then continues by saying. “Now, Two-Twelve can you take us to speak with Akil?”

“Wait, you know Akil has flat out refused to help with this matter.”

Ceres: “I believe after Akil hears what I have to say I believe he might change his mind.”

I thought Akil saw everything, so what could she say that he doesn't already know? But I don't voice my concern because if there is a chance that Akil will help I will gladly take it, so I transfer us all down to Akil's room.

Akil is lying in the same spot and position he always is, but he at least makes the effort to bring his face from behind his wing this time as he says. “I distinctly remember you saying you would let me sleep as long as I liked if I helped you last time?”

“I said once we rescue Madam Erin.”

Akil: “It doesn't matter, I know why you are here and you already know my answer.”

Ceres: “I don't know what they are planing to do there, but if you know where they took Madam Erin, you can't tell me you would sit by and let them get away with what ever they are planing?”

Akil: “You know what you are asking of me and what it would cost to use that much power.”

Ceres: “I do...”

Akil: “The question is, does Two-Twelve?”

“What are you talking about? What cost?”

Ceres: “If Akil uses enough power to send us to where Madam Erin is, it is likely his mate will know exactly where he is at. That means after he uses his power he will have to leave your dungeon.”

“After the loss of Tobes I can't maintain my consumption without Akil's xp...”

Ceres: “There is far more than just Madam Erin's life on the line now. Dyson and I already spoke about it, and if we have to, we have agreed to supply you with enough xp to get you back on your feet, but this has to be done...”

“Fine...”

Akil: “It looks like you all agree, but there is one more catch.”

I start to ask “what?” but my surroundings contort until everything is just a blur, and by the time my vision clears I am standing in empty darkness. I say that but even though there is darkness as far as the eye can see there is a floor giving off a faint light making this place look identical to a dungeon core room.

It is much larger than my dungeon core room and the faintly lit floor stretches out in all directions as far as the eye can see. I am not sure where we are, but only Ceres is standing next to me and she quickly curses.

“Where is Dyson, Angela, and Desiree?”

Ceres: “I assume that is what Akil meant about a catch. He didn't trust Dyson enough to send him here...”

“What about the failed cores? Are we going to be able to do this without Dyson?”

Ceres: “We don't have a choice.” -She quickly looks around and then points.- “We go that way.”

“Are you sure? It all looks the same.”

Ceres: “Trust me.”

I following Ceres though the darkness but after five minutes I ask her. “Where are we?”

Ceres: “Can't you tell? It's a dungeon core room.”

“I've never seen one so big...Whose dungeon core room is this?”

Ceres: “My sister's, or I guess you can say, it's the world's dungeon core room.”

“What do you mean the world's...” -Ceres cuts me short shushing me.-

Looking out in the distance I can see a faint source of light. Ceres motions for me to be quiet as she carefully continues towards the light source while watching her surroundings closely. With darkness in every direction except for the light source I am not exactly sure what she is looking for but I follow suit.

With each step we take towards the light, it grows disproportionately to the distance we are traveling. Within a few steps it grows to the size of a person and I notice it is pulsing like a dungeon crystal. We continue moving forward until it completely covers our field of view, and that is when I hear a voice.

We proceed forward more carefully now, until we see a few figures in the distance. Two men appear to be arguing back and forth while a third bear-looking person is on their knees nearby. I lightly tap on Ceres's shoulder and she nods.

There is nothing between us, so we can't exactly sneak up on them. Ceres pulls out a sword almost the same size as she is seemingly from thin air, causing me to draw my sword as well while moving forward. I expected the figures to spot us right away, but they are so distracted that we make it quite close before then.

One of the figures is wearing Dyson's armor and sword, so I only assume it was the beastkin that captured him, the other man is older, wearing thick and heavy robes, and they seem to be arguing about what to do next until they spot us.

The man with Dyson's gear draws Dyson's sword and says. “How did you get here?!”

Ceres: “It doesn't matter how we got here, just that we are here.”

The older man says: “Of course it would be you that found your way here, but do you honestly think you are capable of stopping us?”

Ceres: “I didn't have any problems mopping up that mess you were pulling at our dungeons.”

The one wearing Dyson's armor says. “That's the bitch that killed Aislin!”

The older man says. “Calm yourself, even if she is capable of using another attack like that, do you honestly think she would risk it next to the world crystal?”

Ceres: “He is right about one thing.” -She says to me quietly.- “Even with the power I got left, taking out even one of them will be questionable, so you have to find a way to free Madam Erin while I distract them.”

They shouldn't have been able to hear Ceres but the old man smirks and says. “Is that so? In that case, I am almost done, so deal with them while I finish.”

The man in Dyson's armor says. “We haven't gotten Dyson back yet, you promised me his dungeon!”

Older man: “I told you, you can have Madam Erin's dungeon, I won't be needing it after all.”

Fake Dyson: “Ugh! Fine, but you owe me more than just the dungeon when this is over!” -He then launches himself forward faster than I can follow, but Ceres manages to step in front of him halting his advance with her sword.-

The massive sword Ceres was holding shatters but not before stopping the man in Dyson's armor. It doesn't seem to faze Ceres at all though, as she releases the hilt and swings her arms around. Half-way through her swing a large two-handed mace appears in her hands and crashes into the side of the man wearing Dyson's armor.

Ceres: “Hurry, we need Madam Erin!” -She calls out to me.-

The man was surprised by the blow to his side, but Dyson's armor protected him from any harm, so when I start to move towards Madam Erin he tries to block my path. Ceres drops the two-handed mace causing it to fade from existence while whipping around a whipsword like the pair I summoned for Desiree.

The sword extends in a whip like fashion and wraps around the man's neck forcing him to have to turn back to Ceres allowing me to run to Madam Erin's side. As I reach Madam Erin I can see the man wearing Dyson's armor has easily freed himself from the whip-sword and has begun attacking Ceres again.

Ceres seems to be holding her own, causing weapons to appear and disappear at will, so I turn my attention to Madam Erin. Madam Erin is hunched over while on her knees with both of her hands bound, and I don't see how she is managing to stay up as she appears to be unconscious.

As I try to wake Madam Erin the older failed core completely ignores us as he seems to be manipulating a screen in front of him between him and the world crystal. Nothing I do seems to cause Madam Erin to wake up, but she does seem to be breathing, at least.

Since nothing else works I try casting a healing spell on Madam Erin, but that still doesn't do the trick so I call out to Ceres. “I can't get her to wake up!”

Ceres: “Cut her bindings!” -She calls out just before deflecting a blow from Dyson's sword.-

Dyson's sword shatters the weapon she is holding and this time it doesn't seem like she managed to completely block the momentum. Ceres's shoulder is quickly covered in a large pauldron that forms just like her weapons do. It however does her no good, as Dyson's sword goes right through it severing Ceres's arm clean off.

Ceres doesn't even call out in pain as her arm disappears just like the weapons she drops. The purple color of her eyes shines bright as an arm quickly forms to replace the one she just lost, and in it is a large spear that she trusts at the man wearing Dyson's armor.

I turn my attention back to Madam Erin and try to cut the bindings holding her hands, but even with the appearance of rope it is like trying to cut a metal chain with a butter knife. I decide to switch over to magic and even though it damages Madam Erin's wrists and hands a little bit I finally manage to break loose her bindings.

As Madam Erin starts to wake up the man wearing Dyson's armor swings his sword with a downwards slash but his target was clearly not Ceres. The air between them splits and a void opens threatening to swallow everyone up.

Madam Erin wakes up enough to grab my arm before the void pulls me in. There is nothing to hang onto however so even Madam Erin begins to slide across the floor. Ceres eyes shine even brighter as a greatsword forms half-planted in the ground, and she uses it to brace herself from the pull of the void.

I cast a spell forming a small stone wall between us and the void, but immediately the corners begin breaking off. Madam Erin quickly shoves me into the floor next the wall and tells me to hang tight before jumping over the wall.

I can do nothing as the wall continues to crumble breaking off larger chunks of it each time. I can't see Madam Erin, Ceres, or the man wearing Dyson's armor, but the older man is still working his hands in front of himself feverishly while seeming completely unaffected by the pull of the void.

The wall breaks enough that I see Madam Erin wrestling with the man wearing Dyson's armor, only to let go of him just as Ceres blasts him with a large ball of purple flame causing him to loose his own balance falling into the void he created.

As Dyson's sword and armor disappear into the void the fissure slams shut. I however can't help but wonder that even if we manage to make it out of here alive, what Dyson is going to do to us when he finds out we lost his sword and armor...

Madam Erin and Ceres appear to be alright, but Ceres's eyes have almost completely returned to their original color now. I quickly pull myself from the floor to join them as Ceres calls out to the older failed core.

Ceres: “It's over, you have lost.”

Older man: “That's where you are wrong, the idiot just had to buy me enough time, and that is exactly what he did.” -He says while slamming his hand forward on the screen that only he can see.-

The pulse of the world crystal quickly speeds up and when it does it begins to ripple like a wave leaving a human size area in the center exposed. Without the light pulsing in that area you can see that the crystal itself is as clear as glass, and resting inside is a large female figure completely void of characteristics, much like when a new dungeon core is born.

Ceres: “That is your plan?! Do you know what that will do?! If you kill her it will completely wipe out [Menu], kill every dungeon core, and wipe skills and magic from the world!”

Old man: “I'll replace her and become a god! I will enslave [Menu] to my every whim!” -He says pounding on the screen again causing the featureless figure to be pushed from the crystal, causing it to collapse on the floor and we receive a message.-

[Menu] interface removed system failure imminent.

Ceres: “We have to stop him!” -She cries, rushing forward.-

The old man quickly casts a spell, Ceres eyes shine with the last bit of purple light, and she manages to dodge the spell and plunge a dagger into the old man's chest, but Madam Erin is hit hard and crashes to the floor.

I'm not sure if Ceres was able to end the old man in a single hit, but I decide to risk it and run to Madam Erin's aid instead. Madam Erin has a large gash starting at her shoulder extending all the way to her waist, and even for a dungeon core there is too much blood, enough to see just how severe the wound is.

I quickly begin casting a healing spell on her, but she pushes me away with one of her massive arms and struggles to get to her feet. She then hobbles over to Ceres, as she listens to the old man's last words, whom is now lying on the floor.

Madam Erin: “Is he dead?” -She says with one of her arms on her shoulder and the other wrapped around her stomach almost as if she is holding herself together.-

Ceres: “Yes...” -She says letting go of the old man letting his head hit the floor. She quickly moves over to check on the featureless figure laying a few feet away.- “It's too late...She was never meant to leave the crystal, her body isn't equipped to live outside of it.”

“You said if she died then the dungeon cores would die as well right? So what do we do?”

Ceres: “We will have to do what he already tried to... We'll have to replace her.” -She then motions seeming to interact with a screen in front of her.-

“For how long...?”

Ceres: “Permanently...”

“There has got to be another way.”

Ceres: “Dammit!” -She says hitting the screen in front of her.- “It is still recognizing me from before I became a dungeon core so it is rejecting me.”

Madam Erin: “What about one of us?”

Ceres: “They were trying to do it to become a god, but it isn't that simple. You would become [Menu] there is no telling what would happen to you, or if you would even still be you.”

Madam Erin: “You make it sound like we are dead either way, so I'll do it. It's better than dying while doing nothing at all.”

“Hold on! That might have been the leaders, but there are still plenty of dungeon cores that were working for them, and they aren't just going to go away. You would be able to protect everyone far better than I can, so I should do it.”

Madam Erin: “Forget it pup, you got far much more to lose than I do. You have a family waiting for you back home.”

“What about Cambion and Elexia? You have a family as well!”

Madam Erin: “I'm not cut out for that sort of thing like you are. Just remember what you promised me the first time I took you to meet Elexia.”

Ceres: “We don't have any more time. Madam Erin, you should be getting a message. Accept it and then the crystal will take you.”

“Wait!”

Madam Erin takes her arm off of her shoulder to hit something in front of her and she then presses against the crystal. The crystal pulls her inside a few feet and Madam Erin curls into the fetal position with her eyes closed. I start to move towards the crystal but I am hit with what feels like a giant weight, dragging me down as I receive a message.

New [Menu] interface established, all [Menu] parameters reset. Current parameters determined as corrupt. Resetting to back-up parameters.

No no no, wait wait wait... There!

Justicar System reset error, reset failed

Dungeon Core #5 [Ceres] reset error, reset 66% complete

Dungeon Core #135 [Maeve] reset error, reset 50% complete

Dungeon Core #212 [Archjusticar ----- Gowen] reset error, reset 33% complete

Dungeon Core #245 [Inari] reset error, reset 16% complete

Dungeon Core #344 [Dawn] reset error, reset failed

Dungeon Core #400 [Dyson] reset error, reset failed

Dungeon Core #443 [Twilight] reset error, reset failed

Everything is resetting left and right, this is the best I can do.

“What just happened...?”

Ceres: “I think it was Madam Erin...”

“What about the weight I am feeling...?”

Ceres: “If I had to guess...” -She says while opening her [Menu].- “That's it, [Menu] reset that means, level, skills, xp, it's all gone.”

I quickly open my own [Menu] and it has changed by a lot. My dungeon xp has been wiped out, my level has reset back to one, almost all of my skills are gone, and my basic abilities are a mere fraction of what they were, including my hp and magic. I still have all of my spells, but I no longer have enough magic to use them.

Two-Twelve

Name: Archjusticar ------ Gowen Dungeon: Elemental Stronghold Crystal: Small Polychromatic Diamond

Level: 1 XP till next Level: 100 XP: 0

HP: 61 MP: 25

Strength: 61

Agility: 61

Endurance: 61

Sword Arts: 61

Evasion: 61

Leadership: 61

Spell Power: 86

Concentration: 86

Spell Arts: 86

Mental Defense: 86

Resistances: Confusion immunity, Charm immunity, Fear immunity

Armor: [Enhanced Dark Steel Scalemail]

Equipment: [Luxurious Clothes], [Master Quality Mythril Sword]

Skills:

Archjusticar (Rank 3): Becoming the Archjusticar of the Elders allows the use of the [Archjusticar Menu]. Ranks do not increase by level but by performing tasks to increase the integrity of [Menu]. Decreasing the integrity of [Menu] can remove ranks, and Archjusticar is one of the few skills capable of having a rank of 0. If the holder of this skill performs an action that reduces the integrity of [Menu] while at rank 0, the skill will be removed.

Archjusticar’s Retribution (Rank 1): A special skill granted to the Archjusticar that grants the ability to bind, unbind, or change ownership of any monster held by another dungeon at the cost of 50% max mp. Sentient monsters can be unbound, but cannot be bound or have their ownership changed without approval of the sentient monster.

This skill is only available as long as the holder of the skill remains the Archjusticar. Usage of this skill may directly affect the [Archjusticar] skill. Using this skill to improve the integrity of [Menu] may result in bonus justicar points or an increase in the [Archjusticar] skill’s rank. Using this skill to decrease the integrity of [Menu] may result in a reduction of the [Archjusticar] skill’s rank.

Ceres: “This is seriously not good.”

“What do we do now? I am not strong enough to even fight a group of goblins now...”

Ceres: “We have to get back, everyone and everything in the world has been affected by the reset. There is going to be chaos...”

“How do we get out of here?”

Ceres: “Getting out will be much easier than coming in...Except you probably don't have enough magic to use your [Gate] spell anymore... Luckily Madam Erin managed to prevent the justicar system from resetting, so we should be able to use the justicar teleport.”

“Dyson will be our only bet, if we teleport to any of the girls, we would be unable to make it back home...”

Ceres: “[Menu] said his reset failed, so maybe he is still has all of his abilities.”

I confirm the teleport, and we return to where Tobes once stood, and there seems to be quite a bit of confusion going on, and I am slammed with a bunch of messages from the girls, Belinda, and pretty much every other dungeon core that I know. All of which wanting to know what happened.

And here I thought saving Madam Erin was going to be the hardest thing I did today...