Chapter 132 – Floor 19. Splitting Fate

The feeling I got the moment I first saw him.

‘Strong.’

Not only I, but also the seasoned knight Albert and Blue Tongue, who could shatter biological forms and draw out elemental power, all instinctively took tentative stances with ambiguous expressions.

The demon who introduced himself as Masterio looked old at a glance.

His hair was streaked with gray, wrinkles deeply etched across his face, and though his muscles filled his body, the lack of fat gave him a somewhat lean appearance.

“Oh, Levi! It must be over a hundred years since we last met!”

“Long time no see, Masterio.”

The demon”s gaze shifted slowly to Leviana, cradled by a butler puppet, and his face brightened.

His greeting carried the warmth of meeting a long-lost friend.

Leviana received Masterio”s hearty greeting with a casual familiarity, as if it were nothing new.

“Heh. I thought I”d never see you again before I died, but here we are.”

Masterio looked at me, nodded approvingly, and smiled contentedly.

“Yes. I expected a so-called hero to pass through around this time.”

“…You predicted this?”

The bearded demon nodded affirmatively at my near-whispered question.

“Few heroes leave their names in history, but nameless heroes who vanish mid-journey number not tenfold, but a hundredfold. In that sense, you are fortunate.”

He likely referred to explorers who never reached Floor 30 or those who reached it but never returned.

I narrowed my eyes slightly and asked,

“Then, has anyone reached here in the past three months?”

“…Traveler, as you know, this place has been sealed off for decades. Even if control was seized, the view remains intact, so that would never happen.”

“There is.”

The Infinite Gallery of Knowledge.

Essentially under Leviana”s control, her near-certain testimony as curator.

Yet the demon smiled meaningfully and contradicted Leviana”s assertion.

“What?”

Leviana looked flustered, as if unaware, but Masterio only chuckled and stared at me, unwilling to say more.

‘What”s going on?’

“Don”t be mistaken. You are surely worthy of hearing the answer to this question. The one unworthy is me.”

“I have no interest in riddles.”

I growled, unable to understand his words, but the demon laughed it off, unconcerned.

Somehow, I felt insulted, as if I were merely an amusing spectacle to him. But I wasn”t a deranged psychopath who”d stab and then be pacified by a laugh, so I let it slide.

“Anyway, come in. This will be a long story.”

The red-skinned demon tapped the surface of the spaceship, presumably the one Dotorius arrived on.

*Tap tap*

A crack formed on the smooth metal surface with a *screech*, and a square gap opened like a door, revealing an interior corridor.

Though a bit large for a squirrel, it was small by human standards, so the bulky demon got stuck in the corridor, struggling before disappearing inside.

“…”

“…”

“…”

Albert, Blue Tongue, and I exchanged awkward glances, then nodded simultaneously and decided to follow.

“Though I think I”ll get stuck in there.”

Blue Tongue went in first.

***

The spaceship”s interior was surprisingly spacious and comfortable.

Whether medieval or not was unclear, but given the arcane-punk world, it likely had automatic air purification and temperature control. Aside from squirrel-themed wheels and tubular water containers, there was little discomfort.

I left Blue Tongue, who was unusually whining, and sat at a table half my size, watching Masterio pour tea.

“You may drink now. It”s a rare tea I cherish.”

“Uh… alright…”

The tea Masterio served tasted like ordinary black tea.

Usually, demons like him would drink magma or something, so I supposed I”d misjudged him as a hardcore racist.

The five of us sat close inside the spaceship filled with the subtle aroma of tea.

Albert, a true racist, kept silent, displeased by the presence of so many other species, while Leviana coldly let her steaming tea cool without drinking.

In the end, only Masterio and I drank the hot tea.

“Bringing Levi here means you”ve successfully dealt with the intruders upstairs?”

“Yes. Though I”m not sure if they deserve to be called intruders.”

If Levand and the Clump Lord didn”t know how to counter them, the boss waiting on Floor 30—the Wailing One”s incarnation—was an even more hopeless foe.

They were among the least completed sub-boss challenges.

“Compared to the evil you”ll face now, those were mere impurities. Especially with this.”

“This?”

“My old friend”s sword fragment.”

The thick, calloused hand of a blacksmith lifted, and the mimic”s lid clattered as ‘memories’ spilled out into Masterio”s hand.

The pommel, handle, and crossguard.

Obtained from the giant crocodile Besha, the beheaded ogre, and somewhere in the mountain spirit”s domain.

Pieces bearing the mark of Jeff, a figure always mentioned in flavor text.

“You”re the first to gather all these.”

Masterio caressed each piece, eyes closed as if lost in reminiscence.

Leviana”s brow furrowed slightly, still seemingly not understanding, but she made no move to ask.

“You probably know where the last fragment lies.”

“Yes.”

After defeating the pet crocodile on Floor 5, discovering the beheaded ogre”s corpse on Floor 6, and braving the lava on Floor 15 to retrieve the final piece,

Masterio would receive all the fragments and forge ‘that.’

The last fragment to complete the sword.

It was…

“The power source of the corridor below.”

“What? I don”t even know about that…”

A special artifact—Jeff”s Fate Splitter.

The black sword key to unlocking a new route, not the normal ending, causing the Infinite Gallery of Knowledge to collapse with a special event upon completion.

“This Infinite Gallery of Knowledge was originally a scabbard built to hide my first and last divine artifact, the Fate Splitter. I designed it from the start at the request of my closest friend.”

Leviana looked clearly surprised, as if unaware of this story.

“A fortress to guard the last fragment until someone gathers all the pieces. Once complete, the forge will craft the Fate Splitter anew.”

The demon wore the face of a warrior burdened with a sacred mission.

A heavy expression, yet one filled with joy and relief.

“All this was my friend”s arrangement. You”ve probably met my friend as well, haven”t you?”

“…Yes.”

I recalled the one who had thrown me into this world without permission.

The madman who sat in a white room, staring blankly at a static-filled CRT TV.

Jeff.

“Is my friend doing well?”

“No, he”s bored to death. Or maybe already dead.”

“Hahaha! That”s right! If he were happily living his life while leaving this to me, I might have gotten angry and slipped up, but that won”t happen!”

Suddenly, I understood the strange feeling I”d sensed from Masterio”s words all along.

I also understood the familiar attitude of the suspicious merchant, a demon like Masterio.

Probably no one but someone like me could understand.

“Ugh… I can”t make sense of any of this.”

Albert groaned, but Masterio”s gaze remained fixed on me, as if knowing I was the only one fully grasping the conversation.

Receiving the demon”s intense, passionate stare was overwhelming.

“So, what do you want from me, Master of Hell and friend of an ancient hero?”

Masterio placed the Fate Splitter fragments on the table, and the atmosphere grew heavy as if the previous mood was a lie.

『Divine Being, Masterio』Level: 30☆

Health: 872/872 ■■■■■■■■■■

【One of only five demons said to exist in the world. The weapons born from his hands are forever etched in legend.】

“Forge the Fate Splitter anew for me. I want to slice that tentacle bastard and go home.”

The demon”s face twisted into a gleaming smile of madness at my reply.

“Anytime!”