Coming to a different world- Story of the [Grim Reaper]

Chapter 17 - Question

AN:
Just a random update, because I feel like it.
I hope you enjoy!!
______________________________________

When we reached the end of the staircase leading to level 100, Ilya and me -still holding hands- saw a long corridor about 3 meters (9,7 ft) high and 2 meters (6.6 ft) wide, made of dark grey stone.
Little gems were embedded into the wall, exuding a faint blue light, making the corridor look really earie.

I walked a bit in front of Ilya, so that I could protect her if something happened and walked forward, one sword unsheathed.

Suddenly, a soft crackling noise came from behind.
I swiftly turned around and saw some kind of blue electric current heading towards us.
It looked a bit like a scanner from a sci-fi movie.
I pulled Ilya's hand and covered her head and body with mine as much as I could.

But when the current hit us, it only gave a small, tickling feeling.
"That's strange", I mumbled.

Checking my surroundings, I saw another current coming from the other side, but this one stopped quite a bit in front of us and began to change shape.

In less than a minute, the current had changed into the projection of a man.
He was quite tall and looked to be around his fifties; he hadn't much hair left, had a large moustache and wore something similar to a suite.
All in all, he looked like a noble, but his eyes were playful and didn't match his appearance.

"Congratulations on arriving here on the final floor, young adventurers"

The man-shaped current had a deep and calming voice, which was quite nice to listen to.

"Who are you?", I asked suspiciously.

"Hmmm...", It looked like the man had to think really deeply,"right now, I'm a reflection of a man, merely a large pile of memories and emotions controlled by magic. But before I died, I was known as Iruado, creator of the Irua dungeon".

"You created this place?"
I was quite skeptical towards that statement.

"Yes, that's correct. But to keep this last level safe from thieves and corrupted people, I became the guard of the last level".

Two questions immediately rose up:
"What is it you protect then and why are you the last boss and not some crazy monster like on the last level?"

"I protect the treasures I had when I was alive. They range from extremely high-leveled magic to insanely strong artifacts, even if I say so myself.
Secondly, in all these hundreds of years I have been a guard here, two groups of people have made their way up to here. Both of them were after the treasures in this dungeon, but when they met me, I killed all of them.
Because they were not worthy"

"How do you determine that?"

"I ask them a question, and then verify their answer"
The man's voice had a sudden happy undertone, as if he was recalling some good memories.
Maybe about killing those other guys?

"Then, can we know what question you ask?"

"You have to know, once I have asked my question, you can't back off..."

"No problem"

"Alright then. The question is: Why have you conquered this dungeon?"

I immediately responded:
"To live".
To survive, to have a future; in other words, to live.
That was exactly the reason I was here now.

The old Iruado turned his head to look at Ilya:
"And you, Miss?"

Ilya's response was also immediate:
"To follow the one I love"

I looked behind me with a soft gaze.
It was an answer I didn't expect, but it was better and nicer than I could've imagined.
I held her hand a bit tighter, making Ilya look up to me and smile.
I was really lucky, I realised, to have found someone as wonderful as her.

The old man's eyes started to shine in a dark blue light:
"Wait for a while, I'll verify your answer"

After a while, the man's eyes went back to their normal form, and he smiled to us:
"I have to congratulate you, once again, for conquering this dungeon.
You have past my test.
In the past 900 years since the erection of the dungeons, you two are the first to actually conquer one.
Because you're the first ever, I'll award you greatly.
If you go through this corridor, you'll arrive at the final room of this dungeon, where you can stay for one month.
After that, the dungeon will start to break down"

The man started to dissipate into small blue lights.

"My time with you has passed.
I hope you may live for a long time after this.
Although I doubt you'll have much trouble with your amount of strength"
And with those words, the old man dissapeared.

The moment the man dissappeared, the corridor became much darker, which made me a bit gloomy.

Suddenly, my hand was pulled forward. I looked up and saw Ilya laughing at me.
That's right, I thought, I haven't a single reason to be depressed.
I have everything I need right here with me.

I returned her smile and together with her, I walked to the end of the corridor.
There stood a large door, as large as the corridor we just walked through,with two panels.

Touching one of them, the panels evaporated into blue lights and only left an entrance.