Dungeon Prowler : One Man Army

Chapter 402: heartless

The rewards for passing the levels beyond the 95th floor were mostly symbolic or items that would help in the process of divinity creations, items that would adorn the library back at home, sitting there and waiting for someone willing to give them attention, the final item Yunan received for defeating the 99th floor guardian was the body of a complete phoenix, one that has never been tainted by the mana corruption. The phoenix was immediately consumed and used to purify the phoenix bloodline and subsequently purify Ignis as well, although the lack of phoenix type monsters in the latest floor was not helpful to her, the final gift from Tartarus felt like a remuneration instead of a reward for completing the challenge of the divine realm.

Taking the next step would finish Yunan's oldest unresolved quest, delivering the Black Fate to Tartarus and taking her out, either killing her or fusing her with the other hearts. The four hearts in the outside world have been hiding in seclusion, their fifth, on the other hand, worked tirelessly to help the world stabilise, all in all, Yunan was standing at the step of making a very big decision, what would he do with the first artificial life form created by Hephaestus.

The door opened on its own, an invitation from the heart of Tartarus, the Black Fate led the way into the next private dimension, the place that could overlook and influence everything touched by the power of Hephaestus, taking the step felt like travelling to a new universe, the laws here were different, maybe it was the same mathematically, but the feeling it gave Yunan was different from the feeling he had while inside universe Hosana, he assumed it was a seed, to be grown later on and develop into a complete universe, just like his pocket dimension, except that the pocket dimension called home would never birth life, it can only sustain it.

What Yunan saw was an office room, cubicles stretched to the horizon and beyond, papers flew between cubicles and the occasional shout of anger or despair would resonate, drawing the ire or the pity of those close to the screamer. The strange room was full of these cubicles, bursting would be an understatement, there were so many in all directions, up, down, east or west, with each cubicle, only being 6X6X6 feets or 2X2X2 metres, each housing a demigod or a god, and each working diligently on whatever matters were handed to them.

Walking between cubicles should have lead to nowhere, but Yunan had a guide, the Black Fate on his finger, the silent ring that accompanied Yunan most of his journey now radiated some faint light that led Yunan through the maze of cubicles to reach an isolated little flower garden, where he found the little girl he saw many times before. She sat there with closed eyes and something super fluffy covering her like a blanket, she gently rubbed what Yunan assumed to be the head of the strange creature.

"You finally came? Do you know how long have I waited for you? Hurry up and do your thing!" the look on her face was one of annoyance, but Yunan still stood there doing nothing, he looked around at the garden, the weird flowers, took in the sight of the hedges and trees, he smelled the fragrance and generally let himself absorb the location and its essence.

"Nice place you have here, how about you follow me outside?" the question posed by Yunan took Tartarus by surprise, evident from her gaping maw and her disbelieving expression, she could only respond with a bit of embarrassment. "I can never leave this place, my father has yet to grow strong enough, I have to wait until my universe is ready".

Yunan's response was to grab her by the collar and use phase shift to drag her away from her safe spot, he took her to his place, threw the little girl into the arms of Reina leaving behind a few words: "she is spoiled rotten, don't heed her requests, I will be back soon". With that Yunan phased out towards the lonely mountain where he would find Mina and the rest of the hearts waiting for him.

"Alright, I did as you guys asked, I found Tartarus, what is next? Your quest is about to be finished, any last words?" the sudden presence of Yunan in the secret chamber under the mountain almost gave the hearts a heart attack, even Helios looked unprepared for once.

"So, you made it to the last floor, what is next?" Asterion was oblivious to the ramifications of the words he just heard, he, therefore, looked much more comfortable than the other 3, Helios was first to give in and accept followed by Mina and after some resolve, Yggdrasil also resigned to her fate as well.

"Long story short, it's time for you to die" Yunan answered the question concisely he then looked at everyone present before saying his final words to them. "The world no longer needs you, even as symbols you have lost your worth, I will use your lives to make something so explosive it will shake the pillars of creation, one last bit of brilliance before the world leaves you behind". After saying his last words, Yunan waved his hand and the four turned into 4 artefacts, a hammer, an eye mounted on a lighthouse, a tree sapling and a ferocious idol of a roaring beast.

Life still pumped in the four hearts, but now they showed their true forms, no matter how much life they had in them, they were nothing but artefacts in the end. Yunan smiled derisively at himself and his thoughts before waving his hand again and collecting the four hearts into his palm, he whispered some words to them that shall remain secret, the four artefacts gave out a bright light before turning dull again.

His words to them were, a promise of sorts, a prophecy only he can claim to see, only he can claim to have what it takes to fulfil, and to the four who were being marched to execution, those words meant to the four enough to show one last sign of their willingness to become sacrifices. With the hearts in possession, Yunan returned home and immediately went to the forge, summoning Balin and Hephaestus to assist him, with the heart of Tartarus as the base and the hearts as the catalyst he created his first living item, a divine weapon that can only be described as revolutionary.

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