The ocean of collected eyes still floated throughout the entire golden space, but instead of displaying multiple visions of the future like the times previous, it only displayed a single vivid vision for me to witness. “A-A-Annihilation…” I stammered in shock, “Wh-What the hell is this…!?” utterly baffled and embarrassed from the vision appearing in front of us—reactively looking away out of respect.

“Ahh, Voa! You’re here! Come and look at this. It’s quite the arousing future for us to behold, don’t you think?” Her amorphous form excitedly billowed at the explicit sight of two naked elves sensually bathing together and passionately kissing in a lake of blood.

“W-What’s happening here, Anni? Why is there only one vision this time? Who are those two? And how did you even get in here?” I questioned in confusion, seeing no other visions of the future after quickly glancing around the space again.

“Oh worry not of the details, my dear Voa.” Annihilation said dismissively.

“Wait, is this really why you haven’t been answering me, ‘cause you were too distracted watching naked elves making-out?” I jokingly reasoned.

Though strangely she ignored my question and instead wrapped herself around my body and dragged me closer to the vision, asking “Tell me, what do you see?”

“Are you seriously asking me to stare at naked elves kissing in a lake of blood right now?” Feeling morally hesitant to do so.

“Hmm-hpmh.”

“Hah, are you sure it was your previous vessels who were perverted, and it wasn’t just you who is?”

“Think of me what you may, but make no mistake Voa, it’s you who’s secretly peeping in this particular vision.” She smugly pointed out, “Now stop being coy—tell me exactly what you see.”

I know I’m not an immoral enough of a person to secretly peep on others taking a bath, regardless if I were to only accidentally stumble into them like the vision seemed to show, so it really made me wonder what caused me to do such a thing; but as I finally gave in and viewed the vision for what exactly it foretold, I realized this was no ordinary place I found myself in.

“Th-This place… This is the Blood Dungeon...” The distinct crimson and bloody scenery was unmistakable.

“And?”

“And this lake...this must be the lake the Blood Stalker told me to stay away from because it was too dangerous, ‘cause Big Boss and Blood Water were too strong.” Vaguely recalling what the Blood Stalker I freed warned me about.

“And the elves?”

“They’re monsters disguised as elves, aren’t they?” Identifying one as an incredibly voluptuous and beautiful crimson-haired elven woman, and the other a captivating androgynous elven man with golden blonde hair.

“Hmm… More or less.” Annihilation answered suspiciously.

“Well whatever they are, one of them must be Blood Water, and the other Big Boss, right? As in the Dungeon Boss?” I inferred.

“Seems like you forgot this, but Eicio unknowingly divulged their names as Xull and Vas when you were in his Limbo before, though your assumption of one of them being the Dungeon Boss does coincide with what I observed from the other alternative futures of this vision.”

“Alternative futures?” I repeated in surprise, “Does that mean you saw other visions?”

“I did, although after witnessing this particular vision in which you helplessly die in this Dungeon, I dismissed the others and only concentrated on seeing alternative futures where you don’t die here.” She explained, “And as you can see, this is the only future in which you momentarily survive this Dungeon—well at least the only future your very limited sight can currently foresee.”

“I...I die here!?” I exclaimed in disbelief.

“Gruesomely.” Annihilation answered so matter-of-factly.

“B-B-But how? In fact, why am I even in the Blood Dungeon again in the first place?!” Only just noticing that I carried with me a bow and sword I’ve never seen before, as well as my hair being a fair bit longer and partially dyed in white; assuredly confirming in my mind that this isn’t a future anywhere near the present time.

“I’m not sure myself of your exact reasoning, though you did appear to be quite determined to slay the Dungeon Boss no matter what in the others visions, desperately fighting alongside the dozens of other adventurers who barely survived and accompanied you here.”

“I came here with adven—”

“Yes, except they all died gruesomely as well. But forget that fact, look over there.” She directed my attention to a small island near the lake edge opposite myself—past the pair bathing.

It was an island mostly made-up of blocks of chiseled stone, with no trees and only small patches of crimson grass growing between the cracks of the stone. There also appeared to be an old stone shack haphazardly built fairly close to the shore. Yet the most notable thing on the island was a giant crimson crystal obelisk floating directly in the centre; tethered to the stone and earth by four thick obsidian chains, engraved with glowing runic symbols all along the crystal's surface and chains, and clearly emanated a tremendous amount of magic from its sole entirety.

“W-What is that thing? Some sort of giant magic crystal?” I speculated, honestly clueless to what exactly it could be.

Annihilation chuckled menacingly and billowed in excitement, stating “If that wasn’t your reason to come here before, it now should be! Not only for our sake, but also for the sake of Novus as a whole!” vaguely explaining, “As I suspect an inevitable calamity has already been set forth to return the Lands of Novus back into the chaotic days of old!”

“Huh!? A calamity!? What the heck is that supposed to mean?! What exactly is that thing?!” Feeling rightfully concerned of the giant glowing obelisk.

“Oh, would you look at that! It’s time for us to return to Novus already!” And in an instant, I was forced back out into reality.

“Hey, don’t just go and ignore me again! Answer my questions, Annihilation!” I adamantly demanded, tired of being left in the dark with no answers and only more questions.

Manifesting her visage out from my head, Annihilation reached out and carried my suitcase into my hand and said, “Do not dwell on knowledge and a future not yet set or certain, my naïve little Voa, less you wish to squander the present you have not yet lived and manipulated to our content.” She cynically laughed out loud as a magic circle suddenly appeared above my head and instantly teleported us in another blinding flash.

The horrid stench of blood immediately overwhelmed my nose, the distant screams of thousands of monsters filled my ears, and the pouring bloody rain drenched my entire body in blood once again; though laying directly at my feet was Odelia’s lifeless and twisted body exactly how I left it. “Just like Nulla said, no time has passed on Novus.” I thought to myself, throwing my suitcase into my Inventory and quickly picking up Odelia’s body from the ground, “But still, I have no time to waste, I’ve gotta get out of here as soon as possible!”

Quickly discerning the direction of the exit again, I activated Sprint and ran straight towards it; however without even a minute passing, I already came across a horde of 50 frenzied monsters chasing right after me. I eventually outran them with my increased speed, but I only came across larger and larger hordes as I carelessly sped through the forest without any subtlety, bringing much more attention to myself and needing to use Archer’s Dash to avoid the countless savage attacks directed at me.

With hundreds, maybe thousands of frenzied monsters instinctively pursuing directly behind me, I saw in the distance where the blood forest ended and the natural forest began. “There it is!” I excitedly thought, but I was quickly dejected at the sight of thousands of more monsters standing in my way. I momentarily wondered if I should fight my way out, but I shook my head thinking “No! I don’t know how many more monsters could be coming, or even if I’m strong enough to fight them all right now. I should just focus on escaping and reaching the Dungeon border.”

Using the monsters' frenzied states against them, I fearlessly sprinted directly into the incoming horde and simply allowed them to collide with one another, recklessly attacking themselves more than me. And expertly maneuvering in between the monsters, I evaded as many attacks as possible, only dashing away to avoid attacks that could severely damage myself or land against Odelia’s body. Then as I neared the border of the Dungeon, only being a few meters away, I used-up all my remaining Stamina and Mana to push through the hordes of monsters, and finally activated Leaping Shot to propel myself over everything on the last stretch.

You are now leaving the Lv.10(Max) Open Dungeon. Your Regeneration has returned to Normal.

Sighing in relief, I didn’t give the monsters waiting below a chance to attack and instantly activated Return Home, teleporting myself and Odelia straight back to House Ven’Thyl. Though due to our incredible forward momentum, we ended up uncontrollably tumbling out of the teleportation circle in the library and crashed right into the nearest bookshelf—I shielded Odelia’s body with own as the shelf and books fell on top of us.

Panting in exhaustion and bearing the tolerable pain of the few wounds and cuts I gained, I said to Odelia “It’s okay now... We’re...we’re home... I’m gonna save you...” Pushing the bookshelf right off of us. Then picking her up once again, I headed straight towards the doors leading upstairs and desperately shouted to hopefully be heard, “Help! Help! Verana! Aelthar! Shurtyrr! Amariina! Someone, I need your help!” With no one responding to my plea for help, I assumed they all must’ve been asleep as it was already past midnight, but I soon gladly heard their hurried footsteps and faint voices rushing straight down the many flights of stairs.

“Are you all sure you heard the Lord’s voice calling for our help?” Amariina questioned, “I didn’t hear anything?”

“You should open your ears, Ama. It was a call loud as day.” Aelthar replied.

“Yes, yes, sorry Ael.” Apologizing for her doubt, then asking “But what do you guys think could’ve happened?”

“Well I find it hard to believe someone as strong as O’de allowed something to happen to the Lord, even if they insisted on going to the Blood Dungeon during Gom’s Bloodmoon tonight, so I suspect something or someone must’ve interfered with them.” Shurtyrr concluded.

“You should know Odelia has long stagnated herself from reaching her utmost potential, but whatever the case may actually be, I would warn you all again not to underestimate the godly effect of the Bloodmoon, or one of the unconquerable Millennium Dungeons.” Verana advised them, with everyone groaning at her lecturing words.

However, as they came charging inside the library, they were all left utterly stunned and speechless from my blood-soaked state and the appearance of Odelia’s lifeless and twisted body. “H-H-Help…Odelia needs help!” Gently setting her body back on the ground, as they all quickly realized just how serious and severe the situation actually was.

Aelthar, Shurtyrr, and Amariina all began to panic at the sight; blaming each other and themselves. “Aghh…! I knew we shouldn’t have let them go by themselves, we knew it’d be dangerous tonight, but still we…” Aelthar clenched his fist in guilt, angrily shouting “How could I have allowed this to happen?”

“N-No, this can’t be…” Amariina stammered, “I-I should’ve gone with them…I could’ve protected her, like she’s always done for me...”

“I should’ve personally obtained more for them…” Shurtyrr lamented, “More potions, stronger weapons, better armour, just more…”

“Enough, you three!” Verana interjected, silencing them with a loud and stern voice, “What is done is done. Regretting anymore on things we should’ve or could’ve done is pointless and futile. We can now only go forth and promise ourselves never to make the same mistake again, in hopes we never live with any more regret than we already have to, for our long elven lives will surely be made miserable otherwise.”

“Yes, Verana.” They all answered regretfully.

Verana then turned her attention to me and calmly asked, “Now my Lord, can you tell us exactly what happened to you both out there? Down to the last detail, if you would.” I nodded, relaying everything that happened to us in the Dungeon, although I did choose to omit everything that happened while I was stuck in Limbo.

“I see…so it was Blood-Altering Poison that caused Odelia to become this twisted. How problematic…” Verana pondered in thought, but after seeing the guilt on my face, she said “Do not blame yourself for this either, Lord Eyes—or for her death.” Gently placing her hand atop of my head and effortlessly cleansing my entire body of blood and injury.

Aelthar knelt down beside Odelia and sadly caressed her lifeless face, remarking “Odelia was quite quick-witted, she must have figured her death was the only way of keeping you alive and safe, the only confirmed living Heir to the Elves. And seeing how you are currently present in front of us, my Lord, it would seem she made the correct and noble sacrifice for the good of our Kingdom.”

“A-Ael, how can you say that as if she’s already gone!?” Amariina questioned emotionally; she then turned to Verana and asked, “Verana, can’t you just revive her like you’ve done for others so many times before, I know you can!”

“It is not that simple this time, dear.” Verana became saddened at the admission.

“W-What about with this?” As I pulled out the Tear of an Elder Cyclops from my Inventory and presented it to them, “I know this can revive the dead, so why don’t we use it to bring Odelia back to life?”

They all appeared shocked to see me holding such an item, but Shurtyrr spoke first, saying “That is indeed a very powerful and sought after revival item, my Lord, but simply reviving Odelia is not our issue.” Explaining, “For even if we were to revive Odelia at this current moment, her body would still be afflicted by the Blood-Altering Poison, and would simply resume the process of transforming into a true uncontrollably and bloodthirsty monster.”

“Then if that’s the case, we just need to cure the poison first, right? And then we can revive her?” Looking to Verana in hopes she would do so, but shockingly she shook her head no.

“Like Verana said, my Lord, it is not that simple.” Shurtyrr elaborated, “In all the decades of dedicating myself to understanding and mastering all things poison, even I cannot comprehend the complexity of this monstrous living poison, and have yet to discover a single cure for it; nor has anyone else in history for that matter.” detailing, “As not only does Blood-Altering Poison spread and affect a person’s body much faster than most other poisons, but it also changes their very cells on a fundamental level, permanently mutating them into one's much more aligned to that of monsters found in the Blood Dungeon.”

“That is also the reason why even a Healer such as myself can never fully purge a person afflicted by that poison, for it’s impossible for my magic to revert someone that has already been permanently mutated, and can only restore them back into their mutated states.” Verana explained.

“So what? That’s it? We’re just gonna give up and leave Odelia dead like this?” Pointing to her lifeless and twisted form, “I mean thought you guys were family? You can't give up! There has to be something we can do!”

“Yeah, there has to be!” Amariina shouted in agreement.

“We said it was not simple, not that it cannot be done.” Shurtyrr reiterated.

“But you just said no one in history has found a cure?” I pointed out in confusion.

“No one known in history.” Shurtyrr corrected, but seeing Amariina and I even more confused, he clarified “The Tale of the First Banished Exile? Do not tell me you two have not heard it? I mean I know to most it may have just sounded like an old elven fairy tale made up to scare children, but I assure you it is indeed a very true story."

"Shur, they were both born and raised outside the Kingdom, remember?" Aelthar reminded him.

"Ahh, right. Apologies." Shurtyrr then happily relayed to us the short version of the story, "The gist of it is, there once lived an Ancient Elven Mage who practiced and mastered the now Forbidden Magic called Blood Magic. He was not inherently evil at first, but be it the wicked nature of Blood Magic, or his thirst and hunger for power, he was ultimately driven mad and began experimenting on the creatures and people of the lands in secrecy; committing countless unspeakable and heinous crimes. However after the Great King Ven’Thyl learned of such crimes, he personally sought after and challenged the Ancient Mage to a duel that could not be refused. And with an overwhelmingly victory, the Great Ven'Thyl showed his benevolent mercy, only condemning the Ancient Mage to an eternal banishment and exile from Elven Lands—a traditional punishment that still stands to this day against criminals convicted with heinous crimes. Though of course seeking revenge against the Great King and the Kingdom that cast him out, it is said the Ancient Mage vengeful created an all-powerful poison that could corrupt anything afflicted by it into a bloodthirsty and twisted monster, and now simply waits for the opportunity to capture children who do bad deeds against others.” adding, "But the very last bit is only to scare the children."

“Uhh, cool story, but what does that have to do with anything?” Questioning the mentioning of the fairy tale.

“It has everything to do with it, my Lord.” Shurtyrr grinned.

Verana then took over and said, “You see, Lord Eyes, our House has every right to believe the Blood-Altering Poison was never actually meant for others, but was instead intended for the Ancient Mage himself to use to obtain the power to finally enact his revenge against the Great King and the Kingdom, meaning he alone has the cure.”

“Huh? What makes the House believe that?” Puzzled by their conclusion, "And what do you mean he has the cure?"

“Oh that is simple, as we have asked him this in person, Lord Eyes." Verana knowingly divulged, "For although he and his name have long been erased from the records of history, he yet still secretly lives in the very heart and depths of the Millennium Dungeon of Blood." And mind instantly recalled back to the captivating androgynous man I saw bathing in the lake of blood.