Mimir, who had been running his mouth in a feeble attempt to save his own life, shut up and looked at Kim Jin-Woo. He began, âWhat doâŚâ
âItâs exactly as you heard. Iâm one of the fragments left behind by the Wandering Lord,â Kim Jin-Woo cut him off.
Barely able to speak a word, Mimirâs eyes continued to roll around. It was evident from the surprised look on his face that he was finding Kim Jin-Wooâs words hard to trust. He stutered, âI⌠Iâm pretty certain that it was the One-Eyed Lordâs name Milord inheritedâŚâ
âYouâre not wrong about that either,â Kim Jin-Woo replied.
By now, Mimir had a stupefied expression as he started to mutter like a madman. âThatâs impossible. It canât be. The vessel of the Wandering Lord having the name of the One-Eyed Lord!? That could never be possible!â
The truth was that Kim Jin-Woo had inherited more than the name of just the One-Eyed Lord, but he felt no need to tell Mimir that information. Just telling Mimir about the fragment of the Wandering Lord was more than sufficient to direct the conversation where he needed it to go.
He said, âWhether you believe it or not, no matter how hard you may try to deny it, itâs not going to change the facts.â
âThat⌠That means the reason why the mask went to seek Milord wasâŚâ Mimir trailed off.
When he heard that, Kim Jin-Woo belatedly remembered having the Hypocriteâs Mask in his possession and started to look for it.
âD-donât take it out!â
However, he quickly stopped rummaging when Mimir screamed at him to stop, the impâs face turning pale.
âI-if everything Milord has said is true, thatâs all the more reason you shouldnât wear that mask!â Mimir exclaimed as he fearlessly approached Kim Jin-Woo, grabbed his hand, and clung to it. He continued, âWhen two fragments meet, the larger one will devour the smaller one. Just like how Milord absorbed the fragments of the Ancient Lords.â
The fragment of the One-Eyed Lord, Ustus, had handed over his power to Kim Jin-Woo and was annihilated, and the same had happened to the fragment of the Lord of Brilliance.
âDonât ever put too much faith into the power of the Highlord and put it to the test. No matter how much of the Highlordâs power Milord may possess, the result wonât change. Thatâs how fragments are and how they function,â Mimir warned Kim Jin-Woo repeatedly in a more serious tone than ever before.
âWas that what you were aiming for from the beginning?â Kim Jin-Woo muttered toward the mask, his expression contorting as he remembered the message that had urged him to wear it.
If he had believed the message back then and put on the mask, it would have been the Wandering Lord standing where he was today, not him. When he realized that, he felt the anger and hatred that he had barely managed to restrain rising again.
Although he had been able to avoid having his body taken over, nothing had fundamentally changed. He now had to spend his whole life carrying a bomb that could explode at any moment. An unintentional weakness had formed.
That fact made him terribly uncomfortable, and he tightened his grip on the mask in anger, growling, âFeels disgusting.â
Despite the force of his grip that could make even hard rocks turn to dust, the mask was completely unaffected. Seeing that, Kim Jin-Woo only became angrier.
âIt seems like something that weâre unaware of is happening.â Mimir was gloomy as ever, but he seemed to have not forgotten what kind of circumstance he was in, as he quickly spilled everything he knew to Kim Jin-Woo. âThe Usurper sowed the seeds into the Subterraneans that were born on the Deep Floors. It was because of that that they were allowed to survive in this harsh Underworld environment.â
It was due to the seeds planted by the Usurper that each of the Deep Floor dungeon babies, who otherwise wouldnât have survived in such a harsh environment when compared to the Lesser Floors, had their own special abilities.
âBut there are a few things I donât quite understand. The Usurper is the one who bid farewell to ancient times. I really donât understand why that same Usurper sowed the seeds of the Highlords all over the Underworld when they were practically his enemies,â Mimir mused.
âBecause the Usurper and the Highlords werenât enemies in the first place,â Kim Jin-Woo replied.
âExcuse me?â Mimir looked dumbfounded, as he had once again heard something that didnât make sense to him.
However, regardless of Mimirâs curiosity, Kim Jin-Woo continued speaking, as if he were talking to himself. âBut now, Iâm not so sure about that either.â
The reason the Highlords had had to leave the Underworld was to fulfill the grand plan that had been initially promised, and with their own deaths, that promise had been fulfilled.
But the Usurper was different. If the Usurper had truly kept his end of the bargain, there was no way the Underworld would be in such a miserable state as it was in right now.
âThe True Name of a Lord is an absolute that encompasses the origins of existence. Because he was called the Immoral Lord for such a long time, the Usurper must have forgotten his True Name,â Kim Jin-Woo said.
Mimir opened and closed his mouth several times in hesitation before finally asking, âWhat exactly did you see there?â
Kim Jin-Woo stared at Mimir without answering. Hatred and madness swirled through his deeply sunken eyes. Mimir quickly bowed his head in shock as if he had seen something he wasnât supposed to, and hurriedly muttered, âI-I asked something I shouldnât have. Please donât mind me.â
âI saw Twilight,â Kim Jin-Woo suddenly said.
Mimirâs eyes widened and his jaws dropped upon hearing the unexpected answer.
âAnd I saw a piece of the broken dream,â Kim Jin-Woo continued.
âWhat doâŚâ Mimir began.
âWhat the Ancient Lords wanted was a more perfect world.â
Kim Jin-Woo wasnât even looking at Mimir anymore as he spoke. His eyes dimmed as if they were looking somewhere far into the distance.
âThey hoped to unite the torn, fragmented and imperfect world, and they werenât afraid to join forces.
He revealed the memories of the past that HliĂ°skjĂĄlf had shown him.
âBut they failed. As a result, a horrific catastrophe befell the Underworld. The sun and the moon, which dimly lit the Underworld, began to fall. By then, âTwilightâ had come to the Underworld.â
It was a story from the past that Mimir might have heard about.
âThe Lords, though badly wounded, were ultimately able to survive the Twilight in the end. But that wasnât the end. The tilted sun and moon eventually fell, and âNightâ had come to the Underworld.â
But there were also ancient secrets that Mimir certainly didnât know of.
âHaving exhausted all their strengths, the Lords couldnât survive the Night, and were eventually killed by it. The only survivors were the One-Eyed Lord, the Wandering Lord, and the Lord of Benevolence.â
They were able to eventually drive the Night away, but in return, the One-Eyed Lord had lost his last remaining eye, and the Wandering Lord had lost both his legs. It was only the Highlord of Benevolence who had been able to preserve his full powers.
âThat was when the real tragedy began.â
Rather than thanking the holy sacrifices made by the Ancient Lords, the survivors sought them for the leaking powers that flowed from their bodies. The One-Eyed Lord and the Wandering Lord, injured by irrecoverable wounds, had been too weary to defend themselves against the madness of the survivors. The Lord of Benevolence had also lacked the strength to handle so many at once all by himself.
âThe Lord of Benevolence couldnât bear to see the madmen filling their stomachs with the powers of the holy Lords. Thus, he decided to unite all their powers inside of himself and become their leader. He transformed the powers of the Lords into Noblesâ Seals and personally handed them over to those immoral beings. That was how he prevented the powers of the Lords from being completely absorbed.â
The powers of the Lords who had met their demise were fragmented and scattered all over the Underworld. However, they would be able to regain their powers by taking the seals away from the Nobles should they return; thus, they were still able to continue existing in a sense.
âThat was how the Nobles were born. The Lord of Benevolence eventually became Usurper the Immoral Lord, and waited for a long time for the Lordsâ return.â
All Mimir could do was to continue listening in silence, his jaw open in disbelief.
âAll of this catastrophe began from the ideals of the Wandering Lord, as the only Lord who saw another world and started having a feverish dream.â
Kim Jin-Woo grabbed his chest when he felt the mask wiggling in his possession.
âAnd that terribly stupid and selfish wraith didnât give up on his fantasies until the very end, when his body was ripped to pieces.â
His eyes, which had looked hazy as if he were lost in a dream, suddenly turned cold.
âThat means the disaster isnât over yet.â
After a while, Mimir was barely able to piece together a few words. âThen⌠The Wish Stone that went to the surfaceâŚâ
âThatâs right. It was all planned from the beginning.â
The mere existence of the Wish Stone, which embodied the Mysteries of the Underworld, on the surface had blurred the boundaries between the two worlds of the surface and the Underworld. And using the excuse that the surface had stolen the Wish Stone to start a war, the Lords could freely use Terrans as vessels.
âBut why TerransâŚâ Mimir wondered.
âA mighty force can sometimes be a shackle. One of the reasons their past plan failed was because the surface didnât tolerate the existence of the Highlords,â Kim Jin-Woo replied.
However, if such Highlords were born using the bodies of Terrans, the surface would no longer be able to deny and reject the Highlords.
âEven at this moment, disaster is approaching,â he continued. Kim Jin-Woo hated to admit it, but he couldnât deny that he had contributed to the impending calamity.
Due to strange circumstances, heâd had to move a labyrinth to the surface, and although his surface labyrinth wasnât as powerful as the Wish Stone, it had still been able to have a significant impact on breaking down the boundaries between the Underworld and the surface.
Kim Jin-Woo frowned bitterly as he continued, âNow, the Third and Fourth Restoration remain, and after that, whether we like it or not, the boundaries between the Underworld and the surface will completely collapse, and the world will become one.â
Because he wasnât the Wandering Lord himself, Kim Jin-Woo couldnât tell if that was a good thing or a bad thing. But that was exactly why he had decided to prevent the Restoration from successfully occurring.
That was the only way he could get revenge on the Lords who had treated him as a puppet.
âMimir,â he began.
âYes, Milord.â Mimir looked completely confused because he had been bombarded with unfathomable facts one after another, but he quickly regained his composure upon hearing the subtlety in Kim Jin-Wooâs voice.
âIâll give you one last chance,â Kim Jin-Woo said.
âPlease give me your order,â Mimir replied.
Kim Jin-Woo spoke as he looked at the bowing Mimir. âFind the Wish Stone thatâs on the surface. Find it and bring it to the Underworld.â
Mimir didnât readily answer. After all, it wouldnât have been easy to find the Wish Stone even in the Underworld, let alone the surface.
âI know you have connections to the Terrans, so use all your abilities to complete this task. Thatâs the only way you can live,â Kim Jin-Woo said.
âIâll do as you will,â Mimir sullenly responded, as if he had already expected this.
âBut before that.â Seeing the look on Mimirâs face, Kim Jin-Woo then revealed his real purpose for seeking the imp out. âYou must fulfill your duty first.â