The Artist Who Paints Dungeon
Chapter 256

During that time, Ather had been deep in thought.

No matter how I think about it, it's obvious that I’ve been given a role.

He had hurled curses at the Evil God and challenged him to a duel—and yet he was still perfectly fine.

That role might just be that of a plaything, but he had a bad feeling about it.

More than anything, Argio had shown him his heart.

That’s not the kind of mercy you show to a mere toy.

So then, did the Evil God truly want him to open the tomb?

Or does he simply not care?

His long contemplation made Ather’s days monotonous.

He would charge in, trying to read the Evil God’s true intentions, get thoroughly beaten, survive again, study the ruins, and ponder the future.

Then one day, a small and fragile presence entered the Evil God’s tomb.

“...Hero...?”

“...Saintess...?”

It was the young-bodied Saintess who called him a “hero.”

There shouldn’t be any more Saints born into this world.

How could a Saint appear in a world abandoned by the Creator?

Yet Ather, who had lived carrying the mission of a hero, felt it clearly—this small being was indeed a Saintess.

Then she must be a Saintess who serves a god other than our Creator...

There was no scent of beasts about her, so she was clearly from another world altogether.

He was startled by the sudden meeting, but it wasn’t something he couldn’t accept.

Thanks to Argio, he had already become aware of beings from other dimensions.

Now that the world had flipped and the Evil God had usurped the Creator’s place—what was left that could not be accepted?

For a while, they just looked at each other.

An awkward silence hung between them.

“......”

“...Are... are you human?”

“I am human.”

Apparently, this small Saintess had seen the beasts from Above.

She’d said they looked human.

It was absurd to Ather, who had fought them with death in mind—but that was the reality.

Ather lowered himself to meet the Saintess’s gaze.

“Would it be all right if my wretched self, a lowly servant of my father, asked your sacred name?”

“...I am Aram, the youngest daughter who serves my teacher, the Moon.”

“The Moon, hmm... That one does not appear in the shallow pool of my knowledge.

Where have you come from?”

“I crossed over through a dream...”

Aram herself was confused.

“Isn’t this a dungeon?”

“If you mean one of the dungeons created by the Demon King, then that would be accurate—but this doesn’t seem like one.”

“Demon King...? I’m sorry, um...”

She needed time to sort things out.

“...Shall we talk for a while?”

“I shall obey the words of the Saintess.”

Ather was from an age where social ranks mattered.

A noble aura, coupled with being a Saintess—such a person deserved proper respect.

He introduced himself even more formally than he had to Argio.

“My name is Ather.”

He recounted his story briefly.

What had happened here in the past, the trials he had faced, what had happened to this world, how he had been resurrected, and what he was doing now.

After hearing everything, Aram nodded.

“A dungeon... is essentially a dimension.

It was once a planet where humans lived.

So far, there’s been no confirmed case of a dungeon open on Earth that still contains surviving humans from back then...

But if what you’re saying is true, then you’d be the first interdimensional human.”

“If you don’t mind, may I now hear your story?”

“Ah, I’m sorry. I got too caught up in your story.”

Aram bowed politely with a ritual greeting from the Moon Sect.

“Again, I am a Saintess of the Moon Sect, a humble human who calls herself the daughter of her teacher.

I came here because my teacher began to show signs of abnormality.”

As she explained how she ended up in this dimension, Ather’s brow furrowed.

“...So, you willingly put yourself to sleep for the sake of your dimension’s future?

To study and investigate this unusual dimension that can only be reached through dreams?”

“Ah, yes.”

“Alone?”

“...You can’t really share dreams with someone else, can you...?”

“...I don’t mean to sound presumptuous, but you really ought to think more about your own safety.

From my limited knowledge, even in another dimension, a Saintess of a religion should not be easily hurt or allowed to fall.”

“I-I’m sorry.”

“There’s nothing for you to apologize to me about.”

She wasn’t like the self-righteous, arrogant Saints he remembered.

He was grateful for that.

Ather swallowed a sigh of relief and continued.

“You mentioned being assigned a guide in the dream.

Where is that person now?”

“I didn’t abandon them!

I-I just asked to be allowed to explore alone...”

“...Even as you say it, doesn’t that sound a little off?”

“...The very fact that request was accepted probably means it was the dream’s owner’s intention...”

“And the owner of that dream is the Evil God who resurrected me?”

“That... seems to be the case...”

“......”

“......”

Ather’s face twisted.

“Learn how to be cautious.”

“I am being cautious!”

“Then why haven’t you run away from me, # Nоvеlight # someone resurrected by the Evil God?”

“Because you’re a hero...!”

Saints could instinctively sense the vessel of a person.

“You said yourself that you’re the hero of this place.

I couldn’t detect any lies in that, so I believed you.

I could also tell that your concern for me was sincere.”

“Even if you sensed all that, there are still things you must avoid.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking all knowledge belongs to you.

Human wisdom can never surpass that of a god, and human fate flows according to the god’s will.”

“I understand that too.

But even knowing that—if I don’t act, how could I ever achieve the things I set out to do?

I came here accepting the possibility of failure and disaster.

Because I want to do what I must.”

“That’s exactly what makes it dangerous.

If you can think that far ahead, you should be even more careful.

Do you really not understand what part of you frustrates me?”

Ather let out a sigh.

“You don’t realize how precious you are.”

“I do know that! I know how important I am...!”

“That’s not the same.

You may be important, but that doesn’t mean you’re precious.

Do you not understand how essential peace and love are to humans?

Don’t carelessly trample on that value.

It easily becomes arrogance.”

“......”

After hesitating, Aram said,

“...You sound a lot like my teacher.”

“You mean your Moon god?”

“No, my human teacher.”

“...It’s a blessing to have someone who can tell you that much.”

His tone was as formal as before, but the sarcasm was unmistakable.

Aram understood it clearly.

“......”

But she couldn’t bring herself to get angry about it—not when it meant insulting her family or sect.

It wasn’t that she wasn’t upset.

It was just that in recent days, she’d come to feel the problems of the Moon Sect deep in her bones.

This park above had shown her primal joy.

It had made her feel desires she didn’t even know she had.

It had helped her sense, learn, and apply what she truly wanted.

...The Moon Sect’s family members were all ruining themselves.

They were frogs in a well.

I won’t fall for that temptation now, but still...

Humans did need that kind of primal joy.

Even if it had no use, no necessity—people needed to chase romance, to waste resources, to feel more emotions.

How could one discover truth without even understanding themselves?

Whatever the dream’s owner had intended in creating this amusement park, the fact remained—Aram had learned from it.

“...You know the master of this amusement park well, don’t you, Ather?”

“I told you earlier—that being is the one who resurrected me.”

“What kind of being is he?”

“......”

Ather let out a long sigh.

“He’s an Evil God.”

That name meant pure rage.

“Did you look through the ruins on your way here?”

“Yes. The language was different, but there were chances to learn to read while in the park above...

The ruins described the atrocities he once committed.”

“If you go deeper into the ruins, you’ll learn why such an Evil God was born.

The being who resurrected me is different from that past Evil God.

But as long as his heart still exists, eventually, he’ll revert to what he once was.”

“You’re afraid of that, aren’t you?”

“The Evil God killed my family and friends.

He burned my village.”

That horrific form and shrieking voice full of rage still burned in his mind.

“So before that disaster strikes again, I want to kill him somehow.

But of course, I couldn’t.

I threw myself at him time and again, ready to die—

And yet, he kept letting me live and left me here in these ruins...”

“W-wait, are you saying he’s imprisoning you?”

“No. I’m the one imprisoning myself.

The Evil God... has changed.

He created a whole new world.

I didn’t have the courage to look at that world.

So, with his mercy, I chose to stay here.”

“You think of yourself as a relic of the old world.”

“I’m a ghost who should’ve died back then.

I can’t help but want to remain in the past rather than face the future.

All that I am is bound to these ruins.”

“...Then what do you want to do?”

“...What about you, Saintess?”

“I don’t really know.”

Clutching a white pillow, the Saintess murmured,

“What do I want to do... What can I do?”

“I’m in the same position, so I don’t have any advice to give you.”

“That’s kind of sad...”

“What did you see and feel in the amusement park?”

“...Well, first, I learned how the place is structured.”

A kingdom made up of three beast tribes.

There was even a Holy City open to any “guest.”

The fox tribe’s servants welcomed visitors and helped them do whatever they wanted.

“It’s a place designed to ruin people.”

That whole park above.

“My world has a word—utopia.”

“I know that word. It means an ideal place.”

“I’m glad you do. That’s exactly what it felt like.

Even though such a thing could never truly exist.”

“Do you want people suffering from reality to live happily forever?”

“I don’t think that’s right.

People can’t be happy forever, not really.

Even if they spend their whole life dreaming a perfect dream—someone will eventually shatter it.”

“...I mentioned I was trapped in a thorny prison for thousands of years.”

Ather added,

“I told you it was because I couldn’t endure the pain that I summoned the Evil God.

It was me who destroyed this world and brought calamity to your dimension.

But even if I went back... I would summon him again.”

The reason was simple.

“Because I wanted to live.”

“...Even if that meant summoning the Evil God? No matter what disaster it brought?”

“I struggled through endless pain, and there was no other way.”

That was what had driven Ather mad.

“My Creator got tired of our stupidity and abandoned me.

No one came to the forsaken ruins.

And I could never open the prison on my own.”

“But calling the Evil God through the hero’s mouth... that must’ve been incredibly painful.”

“That’s why I tried to take responsibility.

Even if it meant offering myself to kill the Evil God.”

Of course, that had been impossible.

“But even now, I continue researching ways.

Why did the Evil God let me live?

What role do I have in fate, and where does it end?

What can I do within it?

How much of it can I take responsibility for?

I’m still agonizing over it.”

“......”

“You too, aren’t you?”

“...Yes.”

There was no such thing as eternal happiness or a perfect dream.

“In the end, people must stand up on their own.”

Some might choose to run from reality their whole lives.

Some could be content with dying while always running.

But not everyone could do that.

It wasn’t that they shouldn’t—they simply couldn’t.

The longer they stayed unaware, the greater the damage would be.

Aram didn’t want that future.

“That’s why I want to know my role in fate, and what I can accomplish.

That’s why I came all this way.

I wandered through the vast amusement park, studied its history and language, and finally made it... here.”

“To endure the poison of the Black Forest and the ominous aura of the ruins...

You truly are worthy of being called a Saintess. Remarkable.”

“It wasn’t easy, but it was possible.

I was lucky, whoever planned it out.

I came here to understand everything about this dungeon.

So I can save my siblings and make the world better.”

Their goals aligned.

“If resealing the dream’s master is what it takes to return the world to normal—then I’ll do it.”

“Then... will you allow me to help you bear a better responsibility?”

“This feels like some... kind of play, like we’re just following a scripted fate.”

“It’s damn unpleasant, but it can’t be helped.”

They both knew this was the fate the Evil God had wanted.

But humans were beings who raged against fate.

No one knew what fate such defiance might summon.

Even if they couldn’t overcome it—if they could just achieve what they wanted, that would be enough.

If they could protect what they wanted to protect, that would be enough.

And to do that—

“......”

They needed the master of all this fate.

“...Argio.”

“So you’ve called me again.”

“It looks like all the actors you wanted for your stage are here now.”

“Seems that way.”

With a smile as if he’d been there from the beginning, Argio looked at Saintess Aram.

“Is this our first time meeting?”

“......”

“Or... not the first?”

“...Teacher.”

“I’m not that man.”

“......”

Aram gave a hollow laugh.

“...I guess I was feeling too lucky.”

She could no longer tell when the divine fate had begun.