Epic of Caterpillar
chapter-1536

When Floresse learned about what happened to the Dark Labyrinth she couldn't believe it. She had been living her entire life with such an enormous place that provided both challenges and resources to her fiefdom. Even before she was even alive, this thing was already here. It has been here perhaps way longer than most of the elves, perhaps appearing right after the era where the gods began to die one after the other.

Quite honestly, despite having been using the Dark Labyrinth for her advantage all these years, she always lived with the fear that it might one day go loose, filling her town with countless monsters. Her soldiers and tamed monsters constantly cleaned the dungeon, but the rate in which the monsters popped up back again was incredibly quickly. It was a constant job and quite tiring at that, she had to always be taking care of it to not go out of her control.

…Because if it did, she could only think of the terrible tragedy that might happen to all the people she had been protecting and raising in her fiefdom.

Elves were long-lived, but they still did things and worked hard to survive in the world, although a bit slowly, they were diligent and also their rulers were often very commended to their people. Floresse was no exception to this rule.

She knew that the Dark Labyrinth's true origins were that of the Corpse of a Dark God that has been rotting beneath this soil for eons now. Its rotting body has filled the land of the elves with the richness of its overflowing magic, but also, the miasma it had affected the other side, turning it into even worse Wastelands, arid deserts, rivers and lakes made of poison, and more…

The Dark Labyrinth was a mere byproduct of this Miasmic Substance, unknown to all until the Gods perished. But the era before the gods' death was already forgotten by many, and she was born after such a tragedy occurred. With only the last God here. Luminous had offered Floresse many times that there might be a way to close or seal the dangerous Dark Labyrinth, so it wouldn't be a treat any longer.

However, due to her feeling of greed and also of responsibility, she didn't wanted the Dark Labyrinths to be sealed. Although she knew that she was stable even without it. Thanks to the Dark Labyrinth her fiefdom has become an enormous capital city. People from all around the world came here to explore the dungeon, and she was also able to afford even more resources to expand her territory and arm her soldier and nations with more and stronger magic equipment.

Because she knew her fiefdom would always be the first thing invaders would attack. Due to the position of the Fiefdom, it was a given. Many other dukes named her territory the "shield nation" due to this. Thanks to the Dark Labyrinth she had been able to strengthen her troops to such an extent. Although deep down she knew of its dangers, she couldn't stop now, that she had been embraced by the darkness that the dungeon created within her heart, a darkness of greed not provoked by any Demon Lord, but fueled furthermore by her own insecurities about a turbulent and grim future.

Elves live very long, and they see through their eyes the world change. How delicate the balance of nature is. And how… the world constantly dies. She was worried out of her mind about this, she knew in the future, things would only become grim. And as the new Demon King emerged, braver and more monstrous than any of the others from before, she felt afraid… Perhaps the grim future was finally here.

And as Elfina and her Summons alongside the last God managed to defeat a Demon Lord that infiltrated her place and even used the Dark Labyrinth as her hideout, Floresse couldn't help but desire the sealing of the dungeon more, but also her greed and fears stopped her, thinking that if she did that, there wouldn't be any other source of income anymore that would be as stable as the labyrinth's floors and its endless supply of monster materials and meat, all necessary for the prosperity of her people.

However, as things continued moving forward, the humans were approaching. Provoked by the destruction of one of their allied Kingdoms that had kidnaped Elfina, the Empire of Humans, led by powerful humans holding he legacy of ancient heroes and magical artifacts enhanced by them were approaching by the thousands. Floresse had no idea if her army alone would be enough to defeat them or hold them off. She had received the assistance of even the Queen and the King's armies, but after being attacked by a Demon Lord recently, she wasn't confident they had that much army to help her, and she was quite right at the end, as their resourcefulness wasn't that much as she had originally imagined.

But she could had never imagined something more shocking to learn the Dark Labyrinth… disappeared. Amidst all the things she had been worrying about, this one hit her the hardest, like a truck falling over her head. It felt shocking, and she was left quite literally speechless for a long time. Even after hearing how everything happened, she still couldn't properly believe how this happened.

The Dark Labyrinth she feared so much, yet that she also used to her advantage so muchs he had become dependent on it simply… disappeared, without leaving any clues left behind at all, or anything of the sort. It was merely that, nothing. It felt nothing at all. It felt, as if that thing never existed in that place, yet… within her heart, she felt both relieved and also attacked. It was a strange and conflicting feeling that only put her more fearful about the future to come…

Floresse sighed, as she looked into the window, looking at the horizon with eyes filled with contemplation.

"Perhaps… this was merely a punishment for my actions of using the Dark Labyrinth to my own greed…" She sighed to herself, thinking about her life, what was waiting for her in the near future. "Kireina… I hope you keep your promise."