Levi stared at her. He frowned, then tilted his head. “Man. After all that buildup, I really thought it was going to be something dramatic.”

  She rolled her eyes at him. “It’s more than just that. I’ll take it that you’ve heard of the apocalypse. Which takes us to Kuja’s theory. As he watched his fellow fishmen lose their minds, as he felt his own slowly deteriorate, he began to wonder if there was a time limit to how long they were meant to protect the dungeon. Knowing of the prophesies of the apocalypse, even long before any of us otherworlders started showing up, Kuja began to wonder: was he only meant to protect the dungeon until the end of the world began?”

  “Uh-huh. Still not following,” Levi said, squinting.

  Isa sighed. “Why do I bother… To put it simply, he wondered if he would lose his consciousness when the apocalypse began. And not only him, but all the dungeon bosses all over the world. Imagine it. If every dungeon boss suddenly lost their sentience and became nothing but a beast…”

  Levi’s eyes finally lit up as the pieces connected. “Ohhh. So basically, the dungeons all suddenly become way easier, just as us isekaied folk show up with super ultra powerful skills to stomp all over them. If he’s right, then it’s almost as if whoever created the dungeons, created them specifically to deliver loot and levels to us isekaied folk.”

  “Not only that. But also to reveal the truth of the world.”

  “The truth of the world?”

  Isa shook her head. “Even I don’t know. Kuja wouldn’t even whisper what he thought it was. I have my own thoughts, but I have no idea if any of them are right. But if we reach the dungeon’s end… we might find out.”

  Levi nodded slowly. “I buy the monsters-getting-suddenly-weaker thing being some kind of wild conspiracy, if it happens. The truth of the world…? I mean, come on. What does that even mean? You gotta give me more to go on.”

  “The two could be associated,” Colin pointed out.

  Isa nodded. She pointed at him.

  “Yeah, I mean, I get it. I’m not stupid. I just… you know. It’s a little too mysterious for me. It’s like when a so-called fortune teller starts out with, ‘you… has something gone wrong in your life recently?’ Of course it has. No one has a perfect life. Everyone can think of something. That’s what this feels like. The opening line to a cold reading. I need more to latch onto. Some real… meat.”

  “But that’s what prophesies are. Vague cold reading lines,” Colin pointed out.

  “Not all of them. That one girl… you know the one. We killed her friend.”

  “Uh…”

  “I turned her friend’s friends into the Armalgam?”

  Isa raised her brows. “Beg pardon?”

  “Yeah, that one. I know who you’re talking about, it’s just, her name…” Colin furrowed his brows. “The Thug lady was called Jessie… uh… oh, that’s right! Taylor.”

  “Taylor! Yeah. She gave us some real meat. Wrote out the whole end-of-days thing pretty clearly. Twelve Champions, raining blood, black sun, all very crisp and clear. By the way, by my counting, we’re up to nine out of twelve Champions summoned. Three left until the world starts eating it.”

  “Nine? It’s worse than I thought,” Isa commented.

  “You were lying dead in a manor for a few years,” Levi reminded her.

  “Mmm. True. I was only aware of six summoned Champions. Blatt of the Blade, Stacey of the Harvest, Kyo of the Wild, Mew of Magic—”

  “He’s confirmed? Also, be real with me. Is he a cat?”

  “I don’t know. I’ve never met the man… or woman. Where was I? Ah, yes. Mew of Magic, Igor of the Heart, and of course you. Which would make you Levi of Death.”

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  “Levi of Death…” Levi twisted his lips. “Not sure I like it. It has “Stacey of the Harvest” vibes. Not very intimidating.”

  “Champions are not chosen for having names that fit their roles,” Isa stated dryly.

  “Oh, I knew that already. If Igor of the Heart taught me anything…”

  On the opposite side of them, the iron doors ground open. Isa looked up. “Our rest is over. We must move on.”

  Levi nodded. He stood, stretching. “How deep are we going? How many floors?”

  Isa paused. She looked ahead of them. “I’ve only been to the bottom of the third floor. I defeated the boss, but I never advanced. The fourth floor is not a place accommodating to vampires.”

  “What, does it have a sun or something?” Levi asked.

  She grimaced. After a moment, she waved her hand. “Regardless, the fourth floor is… not somewhere you can rush into, after you beat the third floor.”

  “What? Isn’t it supposed to be a smooth descent? Level up enough on one floor to smash through the next?” Levi asked.

  Isa shook her head. “It’s the same across all dungeons. Whether you’re a member of this world, or an otherworlder, there is a point where the dungeon will no longer provide enough experience that you can progress to the next floor. There are multiple solutions. You can grind the floors, like I did. But that takes weeks, if not months. The more typical solution is to leave the dungeon you’re in, and enter a different dungeon. Progress those floors until that dungeon ‘breaks,’ then leave the dungeon at the ‘break point’ and go find another. Like that, you can wind your way down through the dungeons, progressing all of them evenly, until you reach the bottom of all of them.” She paused. “Of course, as I mentioned earlier, no one has.”

  Levi tipped his head. “This break-point thing, is that what you meant when you said that fifty-some floors of one dungeon were equivalent to three of another?”

  “To some extent,” Isa said, lowering her head slowly.

  He lifted his head, gazing ahead of them. A narrow, dark hallway wound into the earth. No signs of a dark swamp, or any monsters, appeared. “And I suppose this inability to reach the bottom ties into the ‘truth of the world’ that Kuja believed in?”

  “Yes. Why prevent anyone from progressing smoothly to the bottom of any dungeon? Why require them to visit all the dungeons and complete them at the same pace? Why not allow someone to reach the bottom of any given dungeon?”

  “It does beg the question, I’ll allow that,” Levi said.

  “Beg the question? Who is this fancy man, and what happened to Levi?” Colin asked, mock-shocked.

  “Who is this chatty guy, and what happened to my shy and silent Colin?” Levi replied.

  “I’m used to you guys. I have no problem talking now,” Colin replied.

  “Yeah, yeah.” After a moment, Levi squinted. He walked into the darkness, leading the way. “What about that Blatt guy? He could cut air itself. You’re not going to tell me he couldn’t defeat the dungeons.”

  “He…probably could. But he has no interest in it. Everyone is weak compared to him. He has no need to grow stronger, and, well, a dungeon…”

  “Isn’t the most pleasant place to be. I get it,” Levi said, nodding.

  “He doesn’t believe in the truth of the world, either, so there’s absolutely no reason for him to try,” she added.

  “Is that a cult, or something? The way you say that…”

  Isa laughed. “There’s only a handful of people who believe in it. Kuja isn’t the only boss monster to come up with an idea like this, and I’m not the only otherworlder who found it possible. No Champions believe it, to my knowledge, which might be why the dungeons haven’t been conquered.”

  Levi nodded. “Well, it’s worth considering. And I, as a man who must take on the whole pantheon’s challengers, might as well take on the dungeons. I need to level up and get stronger. So perhaps I will delve them to the depths. Perhaps I might.”

  “Are you on a fancy-speaking kick?” Colin asked.

  Levi swatted him. “I’m the kind of person who subconsciously copies the accent of the people around me. I can’t help it.”

  Abruptly, Isa paused. She stared at Levi. “Do you have to wear it like that?”

  “Like what?” Levi glanced around, then looked down. The Armalgam hugged his back, as usual, but its new fifth arm was too large to easily fit around his body. Instead, it dangled behind him, hanging palm-up just behind his legs. From the front, the effect was of having a hand reaching between his legs, palm facing upward, ready to grab… something.

  He looked back up. “It’s got to go somewhere. I can’t put it left or right, or it’ll throw my back out. I can’t put it up, or I’ll have a hand hanging in front of my face all the time. Plus, that goes against gravity. So we go with gravity, and voila. It’s out of the way, and yet, ready at any moment. A unique trait of this placement, so to speak.”

  “You don’t say,” Isa muttered, raising a brow.

  “What?” Levi turned to Colin. “It’s not that bad, right?”

  “It is.”

  Levi glanced down again, then sighed. He flicked his fingers. The arm shifted, curling around his waist, layered on top of the Spinal Cord. “Now I look like a fatass, and both the Spinal Cord and Handy are tough to get to. Are you happy now?”

  “Yes,” Isa said.

  He turned to Colin. Colin nodded and gave him a thumbs up.

  Levi sighed. “Fineeee. Ugh. You guys don’t appreciate convenience and a battle-ready state.”

  “Battle ready, eh?” Isa commented.

  “You’re the one thinking filthy things about my battle arm,” Levi said. He paused. “But I mean, if you want to experience filthy things with my battle arm—”

  “We’re nearly at the end of the tunnel. Prepare yourself,” Isa interrupted him.