Chapter 1657
Calypso didn’t move. Her eyes only widened for a moment, before that same smile returned. She stumbled back down. I had a hand on her shoulder, and I kept the sword in her as I guided her to the ground.
“So… you figured it out after all.” She spoke through labored breaths, seemingly completely calm.
“The sabretooth tiger is just a decoy.” I didn’t have to look to know that the sabretooth tiger was turning to smoke, disappearing without a word. “You’re the true Dungeon Master. The human core was the core of the dungeon that the humans came from, the same dungeon the fey destroyed with a meteor. The Champion’s Gauntlet came after, and it formed a different core. When your animal gauntlet was finished, you’d give up the human core, but your dungeon’s core would remain safe.”
“When they summoned me from my world to this one, the job I had selected was Monster Tamer. I always had an affinity for beasts. They were far easier to talk to than people. Can you guess what my class was?”
“You were some kind of language arts person…” I muttered.
“Communication, of all things.” She chuckled. “What do you think you’re going to do with my core?”
“It’s a dungeon. The human core is only lore. You said it yourself. I couldn’t take it with me, I was copying and translating the contents. You’ve had the lore in here for centuries. A translated copy of the lore already exists in your core. All I need to do is absorb that!”
Calypso lifted her hand, and as I heard rumbling behind me, I panicked for a second, only to see that she caused the walls around the saferoom to open up. This allowed me to see the final mural, the one that I hadn’t looked at before. It was the image of the blond champion, and she was in the arms of a man with a crown!
“I was summoned to this world against my will. The fey spoke of evil demons and demon kings, and they earned my sympathy. It wasn’t until later that I realized that these so-called demons were humans. They had pitted me against my species. Of course, they didn’t know I was human. They thought my yellow hair was a special color. The King even… had me give them heirs to strengthen the noble line. By the end, I was little more than their slave.”