Reincarnated With A Glitched System: Why Is My MP Not Running Out?

Chapter 2169: The Dungeon’s Origin

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After my father finished explaining what had happened back then, Ignatius nodded slowly. Over the years he had finally matured enough to become someone you could speak to normally, without him throwing a tantrum or acting overly prideful.

"...Hmm, I know," Ignatius sighed. "I... I regret what I did... there’s really no justification for it. I was simply being a stupid lizard at the time. Maybe I was desperate to prove to my peers that I could take you on, so I followed you all the way from the demon continent and waited until the perfect moment to strike. It was mostly because my father had kicked me out of the dragon territory. My elder brother had argued against that decision and was taking care of me outside the territory for a while, but then I escaped on my own and... well, he couldn’t find me again until that day in Eastgrain, when the Evil God Cultists somehow contacted him... or rather, when the Evil God of Dungeons himself did."

It was shocking that Ignatius was talking about this while getting all frustrated. Wow, he’s really grown over the years.

"Looks like he already knew about you being my daughter’s familiar," my dad said. "He likely told your elder brother that you had been enslaved or something similar. But in the end you were still somewhat ’alive’ and fine, right? Hah, I haven’t seen that giant dragon since then. His power was truly magnificent and massive... but didn’t Sylphy forge some kind of contract with him?"

"I did... I am more than strong enough now to hold it after my recent evolution," I answered. "But we should leave that for another time, I think. He’s a busy dragon, and I don’t want to bother him unnecessarily."

My dad nodded in agreement and then looked back at Ignatius. "And well, that’s what happened. As I already told you, I didn’t want any more trouble after that. We... well, despite what Sylphy saw from the outside, we were honestly terrified. We were paranoid that at any moment someone would come after us or our children, and that paranoia was proven true at least three... maybe four times. We really never had any time to rest."

Ignatius met his eyes directly. "I’m sorry for what I did. I had no idea what you were all going through... I was an insensitive dragon back then."

My father smiled mildly and crossed his arms. "Well, if you’re going to apologize, then I’ll do the same. I’m sorry for killing you so suddenly. The moment I saw you, I thought about feeding you to my daughter. Maybe I was still driven by the remaining anger from my friends dying, and by the fact that you were part of... well, the army and everything that happened. But that still doesn’t justify it. I shouldn’t have done what I did, and for that I am truly sorry, Ignatius."

"...Hah, well, this is awkward," Ignatius laughed quietly, growing larger so he could meet my father’s gaze more evenly. "Just like your familiar, I would be completely dead right now if it wasn’t for your daughter’s miraculous powers anyway..."

"Yeah..." my father nodded. "I should have tried to just put you down and talk things out properly. I was far too impulsive back then..."

Beelzebub was buzzing quietly behind me the entire time as he listened to everything. He narrowed his eyes but did not dare to speak out the way Ignatius had. I could tell he did not feel like he deserved any apology. I think he still regrets what he tried to do back then, yet he does not want to address it openly, and I honestly do not want to force him either.

"That Dungeon then... why did it form?" Celeste asked, crossing her arms as she boldly tried to move the conversation back to its original topic. "Sorry if I sounded rude, but we should hurry."

"I know," my father nodded. "Well, it’s complicated. We buried Flamie here."

"His body was buried under the dirt, stone, and snow of this mountain," my mother added softly. "I also purified his corpse so it would not rot or turn into a monster. And yet... due to the massive amount of residual Mana and Dragon Power that began to decay over the last two decades, a Dungeon was born around it, or perhaps from it."

"..." I remained silent for a moment, simply watching the gate. "Dungeons form on their own, or... are they created by him?"

"There are theories everywhere," my mother replied. "Some say it’s the former, others say it’s the latter, and some claim it’s both. As someone who has power over dungeons, do you not know?"

"I think they can form on their own as well, but there was certainly some deliberate intention here," I said, reaching out and touching the gate with my hands. I could clearly feel the thick dragon energy swirling inside.

"I believe he did this specifically to spite all of you... and that powerful boss inside was probably also manipulated by him. He empowered that boss to the point where it became something even you could not handle easily!" I said.

"You think so?" My father wondered.

"Yeah!" I nodded. "He’s been trying to kill not just us from the new generation, but you as well...! It’s just that people treat Dungeons as this natural phenomenon that could never go wrong, something they already fully understand."

"..."

"They never sit down for even a moment to consider that there is a man behind all of this, watching them, controlling every monster if he wishes to, molding and shaping entire dungeons to his will with nothing more than a thought," I sighed. "His power is immense because his presence and divine authority exist inside every single dungeon on this planet. And do you realize how many of those there are?! People also keep killing monsters from them endlessly, which creates a constant cycle of energy for him to absorb and repurpose however he wants."

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