I Conquer Hell and Heaven With 666 Trillion Coins

Then looked at the riddle again.

"Promise would fit," he said.

Humphrey said nothing.

"But an idea fits better," he added to his own words.

Humphrey’s eyes brightened.

Dean continued, speaking slowly as he pieced it together.

"An idea can be broken without being touched. It can be given to someone without being held, kept inside your mind without being stored anywhere, lost without anyone stealing it, created without hands, and shared without becoming smaller. An idea can bind people together, unite armies, destroy kingdoms, and survive the person who created it. But if everyone forgets an idea, eventually it disappears from the world."

Humphrey smiled.

"Correct."

The silver key floated toward Dean. He caught it.

"That’s two," he thought.

Dean stood again, more slowly this time. He walked to the door and inserted the second key.

Click.

Two keys and two locks.

Two riddles remaining. Humphrey picked up the golden key.

"Riddle me the third one, chap."

Dean sighed.

Humphrey’s eyes gleamed.

"I have cities, but no houses. I have forests, but no trees. I have rivers, but no water. I have mountains, but no stone. I can show you where you have never been. I can tell you where you are. I can guide you toward a place I have never seen."

Dean stared.

Humphrey continued.

"And the more you use me, the more accurate I may become. Yet when the world I describe stands directly before your eyes, I become almost unnecessary."

Dean thought.

"A map."

Humphrey smiled.

Dean immediately frowned.

"Yes..." he said instantly and added, "You really should stop giving me riddles that have two answers...this is cheating."

"Correct," Humphrey said, smiling.

Dean rubbed his forehead. He was starting to understand Humphrey’s pattern.

Dean looked at the walls.

"It’s a representation of it."

Humphrey’s smile grew.

"A map represents cities, forests, rivers and mountains without actually containing them. It can show me places I’ve never visited, tell me where I am, and guide me somewhere even though it has never physically been there. The more information it contains, the more accurate it becomes. And once I’m actually standing in the place it describes, I no longer need the representation."

Humphrey raised the golden key.

"Correct."

The third key floated into Dean’s hand.

"This was an easy one, but again...two answers in one riddle. That is cheating." Dean said as he walked towards the door.

Halfway there, he stopped.

His ribs hurt like crazy. He waited and took a deep breath.

Then continued.

He inserted the golden key.

"Click."

"Three," he thought.

Only one remained.

Humphrey picked up the white key.

His expression changed. Dean noticed immediately.

"Oh, this one’s bad," he thought.

Humphrey smiled.

Dean leaned against the door for a moment.

"Give me a second," he said.

"Take as long as you require."

Dean closed his eyes. He was preparing himself.

The room was silent. His body was tired. His arm hurt. His ribs hurt.

But his mind was clear. He opened his eyes.

"Go."

Humphrey raised the white key.

"There exists a prisoner who has no cell, a king who has no crown, a road which cannot be walked, a weapon which cannot be held, and a door which cannot be opened by force."

Dean listened.

"There exists a creature which dies when named, a treasure which becomes worthless the moment it is possessed, a question whose answer destroys the question, and a truth which becomes false when spoken."

Humphrey’s gaze met Dean’s.

"All of these are one...So, what is it?"

Dean said nothing. He looked at the floor. Then the walls. Then the three keys already inside the door.

He thought, and thought, and thought.

For minutes.

Humphrey didn’t interrupt him. Dean eventually sat down again.

The pain in his body was distracting him, so he closed his eyes and ignored it.

Prisoner, King, road, weapon, door, creature, treasure, question, truth.

All one.

"Concept."

Humphrey shook his head; it seemed like Dean was close, and since this dungeon was not going to be passed till he found the answer, the frog waited.

Some more time passed, till it reached about 20 minutes.

"Knowledge," Dean said suddenly with high hopes.

A small smile showed on his face.

But no, it was not the answer.

Dean opened his eyes.

"Meaning," he said suddenly.

Humphrey remained still. Dean slowly stood.

"It’s meaning."

He looked toward the door.

"The meaning of imprisonment can define a prisoner without a cell. A king without a crown can possess the meaning of authority. A road that cannot be walked can still have the meaning of direction, and a weapon that cannot be held can still carry the meaning of violence or power. A door that cannot be opened by force can represent opportunity," he explained.

And then took a deep breath before continuing.

A creature dies when named because naming something gives it definition. A treasure can become worthless when possessed because its meaning changes once desire disappears. A question loses its meaning once its answer is known, and a truth can become false when spoken because the meaning behind the truth can be altered by the person hearing it," he added to his words.

Humphrey stared at him and then, slowly, he smiled.

"Correct," he said.

The white key floated toward Dean.

Dean caught it.

"Four," he said to himself.

He looked down at all four keys, three at the door and one in his hand. He walked toward the door.

Slowly, he inserted the final key.

"Click."

For a moment, nothing happened. Then all four keys began glowing.

Black.

Silver.

Gold.

White.

Lines of light spread across the door’s surface, connecting each key to the others.

The four separate pieces formed a single symbol.

The door trembled.

Then:

"CLICK----THRUUUK!!!"

It opened.

A massive corridor stretched beyond it. Dean stared. Humphrey hopped toward him.

"Four riddles."

He pointed toward the keys.

"Four answers."

Then he pointed toward the open door.

"One door."

Dean smiled faintly.

"Precisely. You did great, chap, I shall say."

Humphrey adjusted his hat.

"Each answer alone was insufficient. Only together could they grant you passage."

Dean looked into the corridor.

Then back at Humphrey.

"What’s next?"

Humphrey smiled.

"Nothing."

Dean blinked.

"Nothing?" he asked, shocked.

"Not immediately," Humphrey responded.

Humphrey pointed toward the corridor.

"You have passed the third puzzle."

He then pointed toward Dean’s injured arm.

"And you are still injured."

Dean looked down at it.

"Fair."

"So you shall rest before continuing," Humphrey said, looking concerned.

After all, this wasn’t a dungeon that kills people...Like not all of them.

When you look at it, a real behemoth would literally kill the current Dean with one hit, but it didn’t.

Aphrodite, which is the current admin of the dungeon, didn’t wanna kill anybody, but if someone was dumb enough to die, it wouldn’t be her problem.

It was just...The dungeon was crazy hard.

Dean nodded after hearing Humphrey. For once, he didn’t argue.

He took one final look at the four keys.

Then slowly walked toward the corridor, with Humphrey following beside him.

He wasn’t moving quickly. He couldn’t.

He felt like he was progressing.

One examination, one puzzle at a time.

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