...so peaceful...

"Garami~? You here?" - Mira

"Yup~. And I'm enjoying life~." - Garami

How...WONDERFUL! I love you, Filyn!

What a fabulous plan! Use Damavand as a transport cheat by conquering Dungeons all over Invidia with the full force of Babel? Is she a genius? No, Blot must have helped her. Those two gotta get married! They were made for each other! Ah, but their child may be something scary, so I'm counting on you regarding that, [Chastity]~.

And the best part of the plan? Until the 1st phase is over, we're practically on vacation!! Filyn said that we who participated in the Yamatai Grand Festival/Nightmare have to "recover from our many wounds"! It's simply an excuse to let us slack off and just send some named monsters to take care of the Dungeon Cores of the captured Dungeons! Ah, my boss is the best...

"You on drugs?" - Mira

"...no. Just ecstatic over a week of no work." - Garami

"That's the worst joke I've ever heard. No work? Then what's this shrine of dark evil about?" - Mira

"Just killing some time." - Garami

For those who aren't up to speed, we're currently inside the former shrine of Baron Oshun, the Lesser God who's pals with Ciara. I never knew what to do with it, but the meeting one week ago let me discuss the problem with Flamel, the top of the Alchemists' Union, and he had some studies on Dungeons with divine aspects! Who'd knew?

To summarize, those studies said that some large-scale Dungeons may house a temple, shrine, church, or whatever you may call it. And inside this temple (or shrine or..., you get the rest) resides a deity of some kind that has a connection to the Dungeon itself. Some people refer to these deities as "those of the Chaos lineage", the Lesser Gods that follow Chaos, and they consider these Dungeons to be Chaos Dungeons, one of the reasons being that these Dungeons grant special rewards such as classes that can't be found anywhere else.

Flamel's studies, however, proposed a different theory. That these deities did not create these Dungeons, but the opposite. The Dungeons, fragments of the God Chaos' power, had created a new Lesser God within themselves. These Lesser Gods may even be considered to be the avatar of the Dungeon itself. 

Flamel's proof for this theory was that none of the god-dwelling Dungeons provided events like the forge-Dungeon in the desert, nor was used as a trial of some sort like the jungle-Dungeon Mira and the rest cleared. 

Then there was my possession of a divine shrine in Damavand that justified Flamel's theory, so he handed me all the documents with the hope that I could bring this secret to the light of day. 

That's what I've been busy with these last few days, along with the secret project with Flint and Onyx. Updating Damavand to the divine-tier~.

As a result, the former cave in the cliff now looks more like the inside of some demonic church. Black marble-like rock makes up the floor, walls, and roof. Candlesticks illuminate the gloomy passages with purple flames, and various demonic-looking statues are placed here and there.

A black mist-like miasma is also permeating the passages, that have expanded to the point of turning into a labyrinth. The miasma can even be added to the other Territories. Not that it harms anyone related to Damavand. Heck, even the labyrinth rearranged itself to allow easy passage to the shrine when I arrive.

As the finishing touch, water filled with the Darkness attribute is flowing through canals throughout the shrine and maze. The pool from before I "redecorated" the shrine is still here, acting as the source of this "Abyss Water". 

"That explains the horror-maze back there. Wait, how could you even make a "god", Lesser or not?" asked Mira after I completed my explanation.

"By using something that can be worshipped in one way or another. Like the Demonic Sea." - Garami

"Worshipping, huh. That sounds...wait, what did you say?" - Mira

"The Demonic Sea." - Garami

"Wait, wait, wait! That's the place you, Zaria, and Filyn fell into, right!? How's that anything close to being divine!?" - Mira

"Not on its own. But remember that I talked about those Guild Homes I won from defeating the agent-Curse Creatures down there?" - Garami

"Ah...those that were destroyed after the Quest was finished?" - Mira

"That part still irks me, but yes. One place was spared though: a place that looks like a pumping station. It works like one too." - Garami

It's the same place I defeated the crystal cow CC agent. Dejidem notified me one day that the pumping station was still standing and its ownership is still in my possession. We took a look around the place and discovered that the place could be used to alter or move the contents of the Demonic Sea, with certain limits, of course. 

The most important factor is the ability to purify the curses that make up the Sea, so I pushed the on-switch with so much force that I almost broke it. The purified seawater is filled with divine Darkness attribute, so much that using it as a catalyst to create a new Lesser God would be possible. Dejidem even agreed with my theory, so it should work.

...and purifying the Sea may bring some clues about Azi's seal, but that's something I'll keep a secret for a little while longer.

"Well, it's gonna take some time before the deity is fully formed and develops an ego," I said as I concluded my lecture.

"Hmm......, and you are staying here because...?" - Mira

"It's sorta calming here~." - Garami

The shrine feels so calming for me, so I brought with me several items like a sunbed and a cooling box to spend my free time here. Maybe it's because of the thick Darkness aether? 

We've still got 21 days left before phase 1 is finished, so let's lazily enjoy our freedom~.

"I get the chills from staying here, but whatever you say...hey, can't we do something together? I'm bored, and I've finished with my Territory already." - Mira

Oh, that's right. I used that redesign ticket for the Dungeon right after the meeting. It was to prepare Damavand for war while giving me the chance to produce named monsters without having to think about the preparations with every "Sub Master" getting their CP to use...

"Mira, let's go on a date." - Garami

"That's sudden, not to mention strange of you. Normally it's I who drags you on a trip." - Mira

Ah, yes. Like the first time in Velantas. She dragged me out to "have some fun", but along the way, when I bought some jewelry for her, sat down with her in the local park, sharing drinks, and so on, she suddenly dragged me into a hotel and acted like a beast in heat. 

Maybe I'm a natural woman-killer? No, probably just Mira being Mira. It wasn't funny to learn that "female pleasures" didn't move my heart that much though. Wonder how that works now that I have [Charming Devil]?

"I'm sorta committed to examining the new Dungeon setups, so why not have some fun while doing it? An 11-day long date-trip, how-?" - Garami

"Okay!" - Mira

Before I could say "how does that sound?", Mira had already agreed on it. This is gonna be enjoyable~, or truer said, it has to be. The upgrades Damavand got from all the level-ups and the Rank-Up ticket allowed me to increase several of Damavand's stats to the point of me not knowing what all the new stuff is. 

Not to mention all the Dungeon-related stuff we brought with the Prize Points from the Yamatai Grand Festival. Karnel gave me all his Prize Points so I could buy the Beast Monster-line for Damavand. Then there were several new attributes added to the Dungeon, including the Undead attribute I chose as the Lv.20 bonus reward. 

I asked Revi and Flint to share some points and managed to buy the Lightning attribute for 1.500.000 Prize Points. Then Mira bought the Gold attribute (I was both surprised and not when hearing about that) for 1.100.000 Prize Points. Alf brought the Moon attribute for 1.100.000 Prize Points, then Noire came along with the Crystal attribute she had obtained after trading away 1.000.000 Prize Points. 

After all this, Damavand's current status is like this:

Pretty wild. And speaking of wild, the number of attributes...that's right.

"Mira, before we leave, mind giving our local god an offering?" I asked as I pointed at the Japanese-looking offering box.

"...............fine. It's like with the Wakoku-shrines, right?" she asked after a long pause. Good girl.

And as for why the box is Wakoku-styled (let's call it that), it must be an effect of the shrine being located within the borders of Wakoku itself. I mean, I didn't design any of this. It changed its interior on its own after I pumped up the purified Demonic Sea to this cave.

Mira threw some loose change into the offering box and clapped her hands twice. And a second later, she turned around and shouted:

"Hey, why did I clear a Quest just now!?" - Mira

"Alright, time to check out the first Territory~." - Garami

"Listen to what I have to say!" - Mira

Nope, since I need to tell this to the other guys, so it's better to tell more people right away and have them spread the word. Now, where should we inspect first? ...let's go with the order of acquisition and start with Damavand-Tomb~. Wonder what Iron has done with that place.

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Kigal-Note/Monster Skills: [Charming Devil]