How to Survive as a Dungeon Manager in Another World

Episode 21 – Kalmash (1)

The land where the primordial balance was broken.

The final line drawn by the Elves.

A region untouched by light, the boundary where primordial chaos begins.

That is Kalmash.

It could be said to be the fundamental source of the Blackmoor’s transformation into a demonic wasteland.

Therefore, this journey demanded utmost caution.

Even knowing the original story wouldn’t save you here, where a moment’s carelessness could mean death.

A thorough preparation was required.

And first,

“Rudine.”

“Hm?”

“Let’s depart.”

“Okay.”

Rudine Carlyle.

My reliable guard and, perhaps, my emotional recharge station – I needed her.

And the cowardly fox.

“Adina, you’re coming too.”

“Me? Why?”

“Should I call Rudine?”

“…”

My heart wanted her to stay and guard the house, but this time, she was necessary.

To avoid getting lost in the chaos-ridden Kalmash, her racial trait, the Spirit Eye, was essential.

And so, having completed these crucial preparations…

Valkan, clicking his tongue, unfurled a scroll capable of teleporting us to the Headquarters Circuit.

“Please place your hands on the scroll.”

*Fwaat*—

A burst of light emanating from the scroll cleaved the space.

“…We’ve arrived.”

We had instantly reached the Headquarters Circuit.

And now, here.

“You’ve come? It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

The Archlord Arkan, strolling through the plaza, greeted us with her signature innocent smile.

She glanced at me and my companions out of the corner of her eye, before shifting her gaze to Adina, the White Fur.

A curious smile adorned her features.

“What brings you here? And with so many guests in tow.”

“There’s a favor I must ask.”

“A favor?”

Her gaze fixed, Adina seemed stricken, shrinking behind me.

Amused by her peculiar reaction, Arkan chuckled, then returned her attention to me.

“A Baekmo descendant… It’s been a while since I’ve seen a member of the Sacred Beast Clan. Well, fine. A favor, you say? Let’s hear it then. I’m rather curious what kind of request a human like you could possibly have. Haha.”

Straight to the point, then?

I met her question head-on, without evasion.

“I need to cross the Boundary.”

“The Boundary… You mean Kalmash?”

“Yes.”

Outwardly, I faced Arkan with composure, but inwardly, turmoil reigned.

The sole passage to Kalmash lay within the Grand Warlord’s territory, and to cross it required her permission, as the land’s sovereign.

When Balkan first revealed this fact, I was so dumbfounded, I couldn’t even speak.

It was just a simple passage permit, but crossing the Boundary was no trifling matter.

To enter that place was practically akin to marching to one’s own death.

And doing so without a proper retinue, traveling so haphazardly… surely it wouldn’t sit well with her.

“Cross the Boundary? Just the four of you?”

“Yes.”

“Haha, you’re truly out of your mind, aren’t you?”

The Grand Warlord let out a mirthless laugh, as if dumbfounded.

“Do you even know what lies beyond the Boundary?”

“I do.”

“Really? So you’ve been beyond the Boundary before, have you?”

“No, I haven’t been there.”

“…What?”

My words seemed contradictory, yet they were not untrue.

I knew what lay beyond the Boundary from the source material, but I had never actually been there myself.

If she had the ability to discern falsehood, then she should know there was no lie in my words.

“This is problematic.”

The Grand Warlord sighed deeply.

A moment of awkward air hung between them, followed by a voice, low and gravelly.

“Well, opening the passage isn’t exactly a difficult task… but there are the Order’s regulations, after all. And I am its chieftain.”

“What’s your point?”

“That passage, it was agreed upon at the council to close it. Unanimously, at that. If I were to open it for a mere human, wouldn’t there be an uproar?”

“If you, a Great Lord, were to open it yourself, there’d be no gossip.”

“Indeed. But why would I? Is there any reason for me to bother with such a thing?”

Not worth the trouble, is it?

Well, she wasn’t wrong.

The woman before my eyes was Grand Sovereign Arkan.

Occupying one of the Six Heavens of the continent, her strength reaching for the sky, an existence beyond measure.

For a moment, I’d forgotten that such a being was quietly abiding by her position as Grand Sovereign.

She wasn’t someone who’d simply comply with a request.

But I, too, could not back down so easily.

Even as we wasted time, Elfriede was surely being consumed by the chaos.

And so, I thought.

If there was no reason to bear the bother, then I would create one.

“As you said, you have no reason to help me.”

I stared at her, impassive, and opened my mouth.

“But I promise you this.”

The more one transcends, the more one becomes numb to the stimuli of the world.

Arkan was no exception.

For her, everything in this mortal realm was utterly tedious.

But within her lay a dormant desire, an endless longing for something, anything, to shatter her boredom.

Therefore.

“If you open the passage, it will be… amusing.”

A mere handful of words, but they were enough to stir Arkan’s heart.

“…Amusing?”

The Grand Sovereign narrowed her eyes.

A gaze that pierced through my true intentions bored into me.

“Are you sure?”

“Aye.”

“My standards are, shall we say, rather…elevated?”

“I assure you. The mere inconvenience will be a trifle, readily borne. Refuse my offer, and you will surely regret it.”

I could say it with conviction.

Elfriede Trivia.

To gaze upon ‘it,’ sealed within the flesh of she who would be the seed of ending, how could anyone deny their curiosity?

Thus, the words I speak are not bravado, but heartfelt truth.

Truth gleaned from whispers of a future yet to pass.

And the Grand Overlord knows this as well.

That every word I utter, measured and without hesitation, is devoid of falsehood.

Her discerning eye has confirmed it, time and again.

“Ha ha.”

A soft, innocent smile gracing her features.

And with a voice as clear as spring water, she offered:

“Very well, I shall open the pathway.”

The First Lordship.

Heart of the Lord Council, location of its central command, and the only district within Blackmore possessing the trappings of a true city.

Of the five Lordships, only the First resides within Blackmore, ensuring that none save a handful of key personnel know the precise location of the Council’s headquarters.

And within this First Lordship, traveling to its westernmost reach, one finds the city’s final boundary revealed, a gateway which permits passage beyond.

The entrance to this passage is sealed by the Pillars of Genesis, erected by the Elves in ages past. Now, save for the original novel’s protagonist, only Arkan can unlock its secrets.

And now.

Guided by Arkan, we moved inexorably towards the western edge of the First Lordship.

As we drew further from the city’s core, the buildings thinned, yielding to vacant lots and stretches of desolate land.

How far did we walk?

‘We’ve arrived.’

In the distance, something colossal began to emerge.

Obscured by a swirling mist, a gigantic pillar seemed to pierce the very heavens.

Two main pillars guarded the flanks, and upon them rested a lintel, completing the form of a gate.

With each step, the gate’s image grew clearer, etched against the fading light.

The pillars, towering towards the heavens, each possessed a stark black hue, their surfaces etched with indecipherable glyphs.

Ludine’s eyes, gazing upon the pillars, were soon stained crimson.

The aftermath of her Scarlet Eye’s awakening.

“Luke.”

“What is it?”

“Those pillars…”

The world seen through Scarlet Eyes was simple.

A division between the living and the unliving.

But the sight that entered her gaze was…

“They’re alive.”

No sooner had the words left her lips than Arkan raised a hand.

His right hand, extended with caution, touched the pillar’s surface.

“!!!”

*Swhooshhh.*

A torrent of mana rippled outwards from Arkan, ceaselessly expanding.

As if taking that signal as a command, the glyphs carved into the pillars scattered a black sheen.

The ebony haze leaking from the patterns swirled like a turbulent stream.

It filled the spaces between the pillars, weaving together to form the shape of a colossal gateway.

“This is insane…”

Adina tucked her pointed ears back, her body trembling.

Hidden behind, with her head buried low, she muttered about the ominous energy and regretting having come along.

*Clang! Grinnd…*

Suddenly, chains sprang forth, wrapping around the pillars, intertwining as if possessed with a will of their own.

And a putrid stench, like rotting corpses, began to reverberate from all directions.

“Ugh, uhh…”

Adina’s trembling intensified.

Ludine, still with her Scarlet Eyes activated, stared intently at the gateway.

“Haaah.”

Arkan released a short sigh, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand.

As she withdrew the surge of mana, the black torrent that had filled the space between the pillars began to blur.

As it blurred, something came into view—a desolate land stretching endlessly beneath a sky devoid of light.

What was this place?

“…Kalmash.”

We had finally arrived.