In the Land of Leadale - Volume 5 - Chapter 5

Chapter 5 - A Discovery, Self-Sacrifice, a Tough Enemy, and Rage

Then the group arrived on the nineteenth floor.

They traversed the sixteenth and seventeenth floors without much difficulty and didn’t run into any traps. A few monsters appeared here and there, but even Cloffe and Clofia handled them with ease. The corridors had grown considerably wider, so Cayna surmised the traps were probably inside the small rooms.

On the eighteenth floor, they encountered a lot of small ogre-type monsters such as goblins and imps. Cloffe and Clofia once again dispatched these effortlessly, but Cayna stepped on occasion to help with the larger volume. Simple Fire Magic usually did the trick. Clofia glared odiously as Cayna rained down a hail of fire arrows with only a few words. Cloffe tried to admonish his sister, but almost everything Cayna did infuriated her.

More ceiling traps awaited Clofia on the eighteenth floor. Her head developed a new bump over the one that finally stopped swelling, and her eyes pooled with tears. Things only got worse for her, so Cloffe strongly suggested he lead the group instead.

Leaving monster duty to the werecats, Cayna took up the rear and decided to confirm if memory served her correctly.

“Kuu, about before.”

“Hmm?”

Kuu, who was cheerfully humming to herself on Cayna’s shoulder, looked puzzled.

“You interfered with my spell and set it off on your own, right? How’d you do that?”

The fairy cocked her head and bent at the waist, then twirled her arms for good measure. Cayna wondered if it was some kind of dance but really didn’t have the slightest clue.

It was apparently Kuu’s thinking pose. After twisting to the left and right, Kuu thrust out her chest with a proud grin that said, Nailed it.

“Uh, no, I’m not saying you nailed it. I’m asking why you did it.”

After Cayna repeated her question, Kuu pressed a hand to her mouth and pondered something. Then her eyes welled with tears.

“Was I bad?” she asked.

“N-no, you weren’t bad. Really. I wanted to thank you. I didn’t mean to put you on the spot. Don’t cry, okay?”

Feeling like she just picked on a little kid, Cayna patted Kuu on the head and tried her best to console her. Clearly, asking more questions of the fairy and her limited vocabulary wouldn’t yield any answers.

As Cayna expected, the idiot holed up on the bottom floor was the only person she could ask. She vowed to add this item to the beatdown she had lined up for him.

At any rate, their current issue was what awaited them on the nineteenth floor.

Whooooooooooooooooooooooosh.

A dumbfounded Cloffe and Clofia stared, mouths agape, at the powerful white winds blustering past.

“Right, this,” Cayna mumbled wearily.

Unlike previous floors, the terror of Mother Nature was in full force here. The trio were greeted by rolling, snowy hills and a driving blizzard. The sky was thick with dim gray clouds, and not a single shadow or seam could be seen along the presumed ceiling.

For players like Cayna, these dungeon scenes were entirely commonplace. There wasn’t anything special about finding a field here. The sky, the forests, the mountain ranges in the far distance were like CG wall projections, and the layout actually wasn’t much different from the eighteenth floor.

There were no passageways, however, so the challenge was finding the next flight of stairs. Considering the size of the hills, the ceiling was pretty high up. Although the cold was unpleasant, it was far better than some frozen hellscape where they’d be exposed to frostbite.

“U-u-u-u-u-um, L-L-L-L-Lady Cayna. What is this place?”

“Hmm. Looks like your average dungeon floor to me. Nothing unusual here, right?” Cayna answered plainly. Cloffe and Clofia shuddered.

Cloffe noted her composure and didn’t bother telling her this wasn’t normal in the least. Even if Cayna had told them such sights were common two hundred years ago, it would feel no less strange. He couldn’t help but wonder if similar dungeons were prevalent. Rare, underground structures from that era had been previously discovered, but no sightings like this had ever been reported.

If one plunged deep enough, identical dungeons could be found all across the continent. Nevertheless, modern adventurers were so stunted that they could never hope to reach that far.

The one person among them who not only had firsthand experience with the dungeon but actually helped create it stepped into the soft snow and looked around. It was dim, and visibility was poor. Even the hills didn’t look like much more than bumpy, white silhouettes against the dark sky.

As mentioned earlier, the biggest pain in a dungeon like this was finding where the stairs to the next level were buried. The staircase itself was probably packed with snow, too.

Will we have to dig…? I don’t have a shovel, though. Magic?

“You have a tracker beast, do you not?”

I can summon my kirin after I take out all the Active monsters. We might have casualties otherwise.

Casually chatting with Kee, Cayna set off through the snowfield and began digging in a spot a stone’s throw away from Cloffe and Clofia. She poked through the snow with her magic staff, and anyone lacking basic knowledge of these types of dungeons would think she had lost her mind. Cloffe watched Cayna without any idea as to what she was trying to accomplish. Clofia tugged at her brother’s clothes.

“What is it?”

“Brother, what’s your relationship with that woman? You speak so politely to her… Is something going on?”

“Oh, right. Yeah, I guess I should tell you before your rudeness crosses the line.”

Just as Cloffe was about to reveal Cayna’s connection to Clofia’s beloved Queen Sahalashade, they heard a strange thud from behind.

With the greatest of caution, the two turned around to find three pairs of coal-black eyes staring at them. The werecats quickly jumped back to get a better look at the newcomers, and the discovery confounded them.

They wore buckets on top of their vertically stacked, rotund bodies, and gloves hung from their tree-branch arms. Checkered scarves around their necks, coal eyes, impressive eyebrows, and carrot noses—no matter how you sliced it, these were definitely snowmen.

Realizing this was their territory, Cloffe readied his weapon. After a quick glance around, he knew they weren’t alone. A mass of similar shadows hovered on the other side of the blizzard.

He had no idea how these foes appeared out of nowhere. Cloffe wouldn’t dare let his guard down, even in the middle of a conversation.

While indeed snowmen, their official name was Snow Demon. At level 100, these magical creatures were a considerable challenge.

Snow Demons preferred wintry plains and could move anywhere within their element. This allowed them to silently ambush prey from behind, and unless you struck their slime-like core, defeating them was a herculean task. Snow Demons were born from snow, so swords and arrows didn’t faze them in the least. No matter how great the swordsman, swinging one’s blade on frosty, unknown terrain wouldn’t do much good. After all, even a maimed snowman could simply absorb the surrounding blizzard and revive itself.

Clofia rushed to Cloffe’s aid and sank her arrows into the Snow Demons, but to no avail. As the siblings stood there at a loss, their foes barreled across the snow toward them. The intense onslaught would jolt them to the very core.

Avoiding a direct attack was simple enough, but the werecat siblings had to stumble across the unfamiliar snowscape. After a hit or two, damage accumulated, and the pair fell to their knees. As they looked around them, Cloffe and Clofia watched the Snow Demons swiftly multiply. Five became seven, and just as they counted more than ten, non-snow-bunny Clofia slipped and rolled around as the Snow Demons glommed onto her.

They immediately pounced on Cloffe’s back next, and he sank under a pile of snow.

“Ngh…”

Cloffe glanced beside him and watched Clofia hopelessly plunge into the snow as well. He tried to move but failed. Just as all seemed lost and he would soon meet an icy end…

Magic Skill: Iyah Flare Shot

…several crimson rays cut through the blizzard and struck the Snow Demons. Their heads and torsos melted on impact, and the creatures scattered in every direction as they were mercilessly mowed down.

When Cloffe stood and raced over to Clofia, she was covered in snow but managed to rise up from her own hollow cavity.

Cayna watched the Snow Demons flee in desperation.

“You won’t get away that easy,” she said with a wave of her arm.

Summoning Magic: Load: Flame Spirit Level 7

“We’ll find the stairs if we melt all the snow, right?”

A fiery torrent surged from the crimson magic circle in front of Cayna. The scattered flames boiled like magma, and the moment they fell across the snowy plain, giant clouds of steam rose up to create holes.

Flames spewed endlessly from the magic circle and flew in all directions. Even the earth beneath the snowmelt made a bubbling noise as it boiled and evaporated. Then everything turned red until a giant, burning gorilla finally burst out of the circle with shoulders squared. It was level 770 and nearly as tall as a two-story house.

The gorilla Flame Spirit, Solar Prominence, was made mostly of magma, and flames erupted all over its body. Since it produced a never-ending heat wave, the surrounding temperature skyrocketed upon its arrival. This had no effect on Cayna, the summoner. However, she cast Flame Resistance on Cloffe and Clofia to protect them.

Kuu seemed perfectly fine as she joined Solar Prominence in a mighty roar.

The gorilla landed, and every last drop of water evaporated beneath it. Even the stone floor started to melt.

“GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!”

Solar Prominence howled and beat its chest as blazing rings of fire surrounded the summons at several meter intervals. There was no trace of the Snow Demons left, and the once-wintry landscape was already nothing more than a stone space.

The rings moved in rhythm with the Flame Spirit’s arms and, with an upward swing and wild howl, thickened and shifted from red to bluish white. In short, several pale hoops surrounded the beast as it raised both arms high in the air. The only option left was for them to come back down. The gorilla struck the ground with gusto, and the blueish rings sank into the cobblestones. They melted straight through the floor, and cracks spread all over until the nineteenth floor completely caved in. Every last bit of debris that came in contact with the blue-white rings evaporated.

As the floor’s destruction caught up with them, Cayna cast Fence around everyone and added Float to slow their descent. Fiery dregs continued to fill the air, and scattered bits of building bubbled and dissolved midflight.

Its purpose now complete, Solar Prominence grew quiet as its existence faded into nothing. With one mighty swing of its arms, the gorilla had ruthlessly destroyed two entire levels and sent the trio to a corridor on the twenty-first floor. Melted stone dripped incessantly from above like a leaky roof.

“Uh-oh. I might’ve overdone it.”

““……………””

Cloffe and Clofia stared wordlessly at the broken ceiling and catastrophe around them. Even if neither knew the spirit’s exact level, it was obvious that whatever Cayna had summoned was no chump. It shattered two floors in a single hit. They didn’t think anything capable of destroying dungeon floors of unknown material and solidity in the blink of an eye would just roll over.

Cayna’s only intention was to summon Solar Prominence to help melt the snow, but it was apparently so excited to be summoned that it went all out.

Cloffe once again failed to hide his disbelief. The queen’s aunt possessed extraordinary powers, and he could only be thankful that Cayna hadn’t turned her full strength on his sister yet.

This aforementioned sister had feebly collapsed to the floor. The thought of that same power smiting her filled Clofia with terror.

Cloffe walked over and offered her a hand.

“Here, let me help you.”

“O-okay… Thanks, Brother…”

“All righty. Looks like it’s full speed ahead.”

The dungeon air still scorched from the aftermath. Not minding in the least, Cayna trotted ahead.

Cloffe pulled Clofia to her feet and sluggishly trailed behind. His sister was walking along in a state of shock as well but remembered their conversation before the gorilla interrupted. She asked Cloffe to continue where he’d left off; the revelation was enough to rattle the very foundation of her worldview.

“…………Huh?”

“Lady Cayna is Queen Sahalashade’s aunt.”

“……………What?”

As Cloffe pulled his sister along, Clofia recalled her previous behavior. Her mind went blank.

They neared the twenty-second floor. Clofia’s head hung low, and Cloffe continued to tug her along. Cayna led the way, the siblings obeying her intermittent warnings as they traversed the twenty-first floor. The trio stuck to walls, cleared uneventful corridors, and avoided running into any traps.

Their guide, Cayna, didn’t understand the sudden lack of obnoxious comments but could hear Cloffe telling Clofia about her relation to Sahalashade.

Well, she’d deal with that later. This floor was their current problem.

As they descended the stairs, the three were greeted by a pitch-black space with a faint light all the way at the end. Cayna tried using a Light spell, but the glowing orb in her hand was snuffed out in a second.

“An anti-magic field?!”

For whatever reason, even the werecat’s magic floodlights had significantly weakened upon entering this floor. As soon as Cayna recalled the phenomenon she deemed to be the culprit, her face darkened. Cloffe and Clofia’s support wouldn’t be nearly as effective now.

“Lady Cayna, what is this ‘anti’ thing you speak of?”

“It’s an anti-magic field. It means there’s a good chance we can’t use magic on this entire floor.”

“We can’t use magic?!”

Incredulous, Cloffe and Clofia raised their hands overhead to see if she was right. By their increasingly thunderstruck expressions, their shock was palpable.

“H-how is this possible…?” Cloffe asked.

“It’s not that unusual, really… Oh, right, I guess you don’t have this sort of thing nowadays!”

“C-correct. Situations where one cannot use magic are limited to audiences with royalty and nobility.”

“It’s not like you can’t use magic in those places, though, right? Won’t you just get thrown in jail if you try without permission?”

“Yes, well, I cannot deny that.”

“Gweh.” Cayna grimaced at the bad news.

She was suspicious of how Kuu could still fly around like normal but chalked it up to fairy magic just being a bit different. Cayna then turned her attention to the light far up ahead and peered into it. Thanks to her various skills, she could see a single path cutting through the darkness.

“I knew it. Opus being Opus, he’s telling us to take the one dark road. However…”

Cayna extended her magic staff and poked the inky black ground. As she suspected, everywhere else was an empty cavity. If you slipped, would you arrive on the next floor or fall into the pits of hell itself?

She warned Cloffe and Clofia behind her of this fact. By this point, challengers could only hope luck and physical ability were on their side. Cayna said a brief farewell to this lively room rife with event flags and stepped forward.

Cayna’s Intuition immediately sensed danger, and she ducked her head. Half a second later, she heard something faint fire off on her right, and a silver light passed through where her head had just been. It vanished into the darkness on her left.

“Is he trying to kill—?!”

BOOOOOM!

Before Cayna even had the chance to complain, the flying silver light that disappeared to the left set off a huge explosion and released a smoldering shock wave. The two watching from behind thought it was an extremely thick arrow, but it actually seemed to be some kind of ridiculous explosive. The shock and heat chipped the wall and sent bits of stone flying.

Cayna’s Equilibrium skill and Kee’s defensive shield protected her, but it was no less of a surprise. Cloffe’s and Clofia’s faces twitched at the sight of the lethal projectile.

“Um…”

“Wh-what in the world is going on…?”

“Damn youuuuu, Opusssss! Why the hell did you put missiles in here?!”

As she said, it was a missile. An item that really didn’t belong in a fantasy RPG.

Cylindrical arrow-shaped ones were called missiles, and round throwable ones were pineapples. You only had to be a midlevel player to access the quest needed to obtain the skill, but it was a weapon that inflicted damage equivalent to one-fifth its creator’s level. If someone like Opus or Cayna decided to make one, no player below level 200 would stand a chance. The advantage here was that the level required to use these items was low. Even beginners could take down an enemy with ease if they got their hands on one. Needless to say, pineapples made by Limit Breakers were a highlight at auctions.

And such an item just mercilessly flew out of nowhere. Since its creator was a certain someone, there was no question Cloffe and Clofia would have been blasted away if they’d taken a direct hit.

Cayna looked back at the siblings and quietly ignored the fear in Clofia’s eyes. She beamed and proposed the best plan she could come up with.

“Run for your liiiiives!!”

““R-riiiight!””

They were only able to confirm reaching the other side, but that first attack was apparently the only lethal one. Anyone would be on edge after being shot at like that.

Realizing she fell for the mastermind’s scheme hook, line, and sinker, Cayna sighed and suddenly felt very tired.

They descended the stairs at the end of the corridor and reached the twenty-third floor. This was not an anti-magic field. However, there was still the chance of lethal traps, so Cayna said they should check the path ahead.

“In—in that case, I shall act as reconnaissance!”

“Vetoed.”

Wondering where the hothead she knew suddenly went, Cayna frowned and cut Clofia down point-blank.

“Why?!”

“Weren’t you listening? There might be more missiles and mines. It’s too dangerous.”

“But with my skills, those traps—”

“Argue all you want, Clofia, but we don’t have a vote after getting caught this whole time. Let’s do as she says.”

“…But, Brother…”

“I’m telling you to drop it.”

“…Fine.”

Clofia tried to get Cayna to see things her way, but Cloffe’s harsh rebuke put her in line.

“I apologize, Lady Cayna. It feels like we are only weighing you down.”

“Maybe, but it’s not really your fault. Actually, I’d be more worried about sending you two back on your own. Think of this as a learning experience.”

“I’m terribly sorry for the bother…”

“Don’t sweat it. Anyway, I’m gonna go scout ahead, so just wait here a bit.”

“Understood.”

“……”

At the bottom of the stairwell, Cayna cast Isolation Barrier in a corner of the passageway to create a temporary break room. She headed deeper into the floor and left the siblings on their own. They leaned against a wall and caught their breath after the mad dash upstairs. After she calmed down a bit, Clofia spoke glumly.

“…Wh-what do you think I should do, Brother…?”

“Do you mean about Lady Cayna?”

“…Yes.”

Clofia seemed to wilt as she brooded.

Although Cloffe told her the truth, he never thought it was anything to get so worked up over. From what he could tell, Cayna was an amiable force of nature who shunned power and privilege. Most people too strong for their own good had a tendency to look down on others, but that wasn’t the case with her.

Normally when you tell someone you’re a foreign spy, they get nervous and avoid you. However, not only did Cayna not care about this revelation, she even befriended him and his brash sister. Cloffe wouldn’t hesitate to say she was the strangest person he’d ever met.

Furthermore, he now understood why the queen warned him not to get on her bad side. Cayna did things Cloffe had never heard or seen before, like summoning the aid of a bone-chilling beast at no cost to herself. Nevertheless, considering her “overdone it” comment, evaporating those two floors probably wasn’t even the most she could do.

Cayna was a powerhouse, and when she (unaware of his motives) allowed the duo to accompany her into the dungeon despite their obvious inferiority, he thought he’d struck gold. However, now he couldn’t help but feel guilty that she was protecting burdens like them. Even if it was out of duty, Cloffe wanted to punch his past self for asking to come along in the first place. He couldn’t speak for Clofia, but he had multiple regrets.

“We can only bow our heads in apology.”

“Wh-what do you have to apologize for, Brother? I’m the only one at fault here!”

“My inexperience has caused a lot of problems for Lady Cayna. That’s all.”

“Excuse me?” came a voice.

“That’s not true, Brother!”

“Hello?”

“Haven’t you noticed the difference in strength between us and Lady Cayna? We’re just in the way, Clofia.”

“Well, yes, I suppose…”

“I said excuse me!!”

““Who keeps talking—?!””

The two whipped around in surprise at the sharp voice and were doubly surprised to find a stranger standing there.

“I cannot pass when you are in the middle of the road.”

Cloffe and Clofia had started out along the wall but fell so deep into discussion that they ended up blocking the path. The newcomer was a beautiful elf woman with a mischievous smile. She had lovely gossamer hair that was black as night and indigo eyes. Her long locks tumbled down her back, and she carefully held a paper parcel in her left hand. Her gorgeous proportions were the envy of every woman, and she wore a maid outfit that would make anyone to scratch their head and question if they were really in a dungeon. To be honest, it was a surreal sight.

Even adventurers like Cloffe and Clofia faced deadly enemies at every turn here. It wasn’t any place for a housemaid to check off her shopping list.

The fact the maid was inside their shield made the pair even more uncomfortable. Cayna had erected the barrier to keep out anything malicious. If she entered it with no trouble, she had to be harmless.

“Pardon me. A fine day to you.”

The elven maid with the paper package politely bowed to the flabbergasted pair and disappeared off into the dungeon.

“What’s up, you two? You look like you’ve seen a ghost or something…”

After the siblings watched their visitor leave, Cayna returned from the opposite direction. They saw her and collapsed in utter exhaustion.

“Hey now, what’s with that reaction?! I’m a person, you know…”

“…No, I just felt like I was hallucinating…”

“I saw the same thing, Brother… It must have been a daydream!”

“You might be right!”

Cloffe stared off into the distance, muttering and rubbing his brow. Clofia grabbed his arm and was babbling nonsense.

“…What’d I miss?”

Cayna had no idea what was going on other than that the two were clearly confused.

As the trio continued down to the twenty-fourth floor, the siblings caught Cayna up to speed.

“A black-haired elf maid passed by?”

“…Yes, that’s correct.”

The three of them stuck close together as they chatted and moved forward—well, the four of them if you included Kuu. The fairy had planted herself on Cayna’s shoulder, but far from contributing to the conversation, it was anyone’s guess whether she even understood it.

Cloffe walked beside Cayna while Clofia brought up the rear. They were discussing the mysterious stranger from earlier while Clofia said nothing. She merely trailed behind them like a small, frightened animal. Cayna found this way more suspicious than anything else.

At any rate, there was only one black-haired elf maid who came to mind.

“That must have been Siren…”

“Is she an acquaintance of yours, Lady Cayna?”

“Ah, yeah. In a manner of speaking anyway… She’s the personal maid of my friend who locked himself up in this dungeon. If you spotted her, that must mean he’s here, too.”

If that was indeed Siren, she was most likely heading outside on a routine shopping trip. Cayna wanted to yell at Opus, If you’re going to send a maid on a round trip from the thirtieth floor, get off your own sorry butt! Unfortunately, he loved exploiting others so much that it wouldn’t have done much good anyway. Besides, since Opus was the dungeon’s creator, Siren almost certainly had some sort of item that allowed her to avoid the monsters and traps.

Opus was as much a veteran player as Cayna, and Siren was his personal maid summons. Seeing as her character design was based on “every man’s fantasy,” she was naturally a hit among male guild members. Her personality, supposedly the embodiment of the perfect woman, was elegant, gentle, and bursting with maternal instinct. Siren was a maid summons who made you think, I want her to take care of me!

“In any case, you can just ignore her.”

“Ignore her…? But she’s clearly quite unusual.”

“I mean, Siren’s a maid summons. She’s also a tough vanguard who could totally take me on.”

“…Understood. We shall leave her be.”

Even at half the summoner’s level, a level-550 vanguard like Siren would be a challenging opponent. Cayna specialized in rear combat, so a close-range battle leveled the playing field.

Not realizing this, Cloffe mistakenly believed the maid was as powerful as Cayna and decided it was best not to get involved any further.

Cayna pushed Siren out of her mind, then stopped to turn around and look at Clofia. The werecat jolted, and she froze like a convict just handed down a death sentence.

“Hey, c’mon. Say something, Little Sister. Isn’t this the part where you snap, How can you let some dangerous friend of yours run free?!”

“Uh…well…”

Clofia ducked her head to avoid Cayna’s eyes and mumbled incoherently. Cloffe stepped between them to interrupt his sister.

“I am terribly sorry, Lady Cayna! This is all due to my indiscretion!”

“Why are you jumping in to apologize, Cloffe? What are you, the secretary of some bribed politician?!”

“No, my brother is innocent! Lady Cayna! If my life will appease you, I gladly offer it! So please, I ask you to spare him!”

“Like I said, I have no clue what you’re talking about. What do I look like, some evil overlord who gets a kick out of torturing people?! And wait—why are you being so formal all of a sudden?!”

“No, I beg of you! Please, at least spare my sister! I shall spend the rest of my life in your service!”

“Now you’re offering to be my slave? How evil do you think I am?!”

“In that case, please sell me off instead!”

“Stay out of it, Clofia! This is my problem.”

“Stop trying to take responsibility for my own misdeeds!”

The conversation had devolved into a sibling quarrel and left Cayna in the dust.

Kuu tilted her head. “Fighting? Why?” she murmured before flying off Cayna’s shoulder.

The siblings’ blame game erupted into a mutual tongue-lashing. Cayna watched the two with a sigh and snapped her fingers. Fists dropped from the ceiling and slammed down on both their heads.

Cayna hadn’t suddenly remembered how to operate this dungeon; she’d used one of her Insta-Spells (or shortcut keys from the Game Era) to manipulate the surroundings and stop the siblings. That same method had ended plenty of fights back in her guild days.

This was Clofia’s third bonk on the head since entering the dungeon. Tears filled her eyes, and she crouched down in agony.

“L-Lady Cayna…,” Clofia moaned.

“First of all, I get it. You guys are close. Cloffe, tell me what you did that caused all this.”

“Y-yes…”

Cayna crossed her arms indignantly and glared at the suffering pair. Cloffe was frozen in fear. Clofia was racked with guilt and on the verge of tears. Cayna stopped glaring at them and just sighed bitterly.

After explaining that he told Clofia about her relation to the royal family, Cayna’s expression soured even more.

“I mean, it’s true Sahalashade is the daughter of my little sister (no relation), which makes her my niece. But it’s not like disobeying me means you’re disobeying the queen.”

Back in the game, Cayna’s relationship with this little sister figure was more of a mentor/mentee situation. They weren’t actually related, biologically or otherwise. Unsurprisingly, this was pretty much impossible for her to explain.

“Right now, I’m just your average adventurer who’s not involved with running any country. That means you’re totally free to be sarcastic and insult me like always. Do I look like the type of self-serving jerk who would hold my niece’s position over your head?”

“…N-no, you don’t.”

Clofia was absolutely terrified; Cayna felt sad. The werecat’s barbed tongue made her so much easier to talk to.

“If I want something, I save up my own money and earn it. If someone lays a hand on my family, I chase them down, tie them up, and make them regret even thinking about it. If I don’t like something you’ve said, Clofia, I’ll push back on the spot. I actually like that attitude of yours, though. Not many people give it to me straight. Oh—don’t get me wrong, though, I’m not into that sort of thing in a weird way. If I’m mad, I’ll tell you. I may be elf royalty or whatever, but I’d never accuse anyone of treason. Cloffe or Sahalashade didn’t warn you about me doing anything like that, right?”

“Y-yeah.”

A bit of life had returned to Clofia’s eyes, and she sounded more like herself. Cayna was relieved to see she was starting to relax again.

“So just keep mocking me like always. I’m sure Sahalashade will understand. And I’ll get mad if she does try to punish you for it, so no worries.”

“A spanking?”

“Yeah, good idea. I’ll give her a spanking.”

Kuu’s suggestion set Sahalashade’s punishment in stone.

If a mere adventurer dared to treat the queen in such a way, they would be labeled a traitor to the nation before the first swat. Hopefully this spanking remained purely hypothetical.

“Lady Cayna, I think it would be wise not to speak of such things.”

“Hmm. Will the government come to arrest me? I’ll wait until no one’s around, then.”

“I mean, we cannot know for sure if someone is listening, so please do not say it at all!”

“Okay, okay. I gotcha. No need to get so upset, Cloffe.”

After pacifying Cloffe as one might a nervous horse, Cayna looked over at Clofia. She seemed to be brooding over something, and Cayna reached out a hand to pat the werecat’s head. Clofia stepped back and dodged her at the last second.

“…Darn, I missed.”

“Ah, n-n-no. I’m not running away…”

“Is the loudmouth I know really gone?”

“Y-yes… I apologize, Lady Cayna…”

Cayna was shocked by this new, skittish Clofia. It was a real shame. She preferred the snippy Clofia who reminded her of a feral cat.

“Oh well. It looks like…things will never be the same between us. Maybe I should visit Otaloquess once in a while so you can get used to having me around.”

“I suspect the queen will hear of such plans beforehand.”

Don’t bum me out me like that. I can see it now…

Predictably, Kee’s comment sent Cayna into a spiral of dejection.

“Please let me know when you do. I shall offer a room for you in our home.”

Cayna couldn’t help smiling at Cloffe’s formal hospitality. If she took him up on his offer, Clofia would probably claim she had “business” to take care of and run off somewhere. It was better to show up unannounced. Cayna would need to make a game plan for her next trip to Otaloquess.

“Kuu too! Kuu will come, too!”

“You couldn’t leave me if you wanted, Kuu.”

“Luka too! Luka will come, too!”

“Lu? Yeah, another group trip sounds like a good idea.”

Cayna promised another outing as Kuu tugged on her hair, and the fairy twirled around her with glee. Although Kuu had joined them on the last trip, she was invisible the entire time. Whether or not people could see you greatly impacted the experience.

The twenty-fifth floor. The annoying idiot was just up ahead.

Cayna decided to make camp in the dungeon since she was traveling with company. This was the fourth day of their journey. Surrounded by artificial light, the trio ate Cayna’s meat-and-vegetable pie. Kuu only nibbled on a tiny ruche fruit. It was almost the size of her head, but one lasted her two or three days. Fairy biology really was an endless enigma.

“Maybe I should just bust through the floor?”

After relishing the pie Cayna made with her Cooking Skills, a bug-eyed Cloffe and Clofia stared at her as she mumbled absurdities to herself. As far as they were concerned, “bust through the floor” meant the return of the giant fire beast from earlier.

“U-um…L-Lady Cayna? Will you perchance use that again?”

“Sheesh. Lighten up already.”

Clofia’s meekness was disheartening. Now that Cayna’s connection to the queen was out in the open, it didn’t seem like she’d be dialing back her modesty any time soon. Cloffe had offhandedly explained that his sister’s admiration for the queen “bordered on worship,” but this only made Cayna want to knock him out. She told herself she was just looking for a punching bag and composed herself.

“Time heals all wounds. She will come around before long,” Kee admonished.

Nevertheless, the insults Clofia had hurled at Cayna hours prior felt like ages ago. At this rate, the only people who didn’t give her special treatment were Elineh, Arbiter, Shining Saber, Cohral, Quolkeh, and Exis.

As Cayna continued dealing with her headache of a situation, a sign popped up on the path behind her: DIRECT ROUTE TO TWENTY-EIGHTH FLOOR.

Alarm bells went off in Cayna’s head as she approached it, and she couldn’t tell if the path itself was a trap or if touching the sign triggered something. No one knew what dangers awaited them at the end, either.

If they assumed something was there, Cayna was obviously the best choice to scout ahead. However, she grew conflicted at the thought of her companions soon becoming a delicious monster meal if she left them alone. In the end, Cayna decided her best option was to summon a beast that could set off every trap for them.

Even so, she had to choose wisely since the creature might revert to its wild nature if it strayed too far on its own. In that case, the summoner would lose control. She didn’t need to call a high-level monster only to end up fighting a sudden boss battle.

After mentally reviewing several candidates, Cayna consulted with Kee and chose a suitably self-possessed summons.

Summoning Magic: Load: Skidjack

A squid slithered out of the azure magic circle and stood upright on ten tentacles. Reaching five meters high, its enormous body crammed against the ceiling and bent the fin on top of its head. The creature’s sparkling body was like transparent blue quartz. If it hadn’t been a living creature, one might have mistaken it for an intricate work of art. This summons excelled in special operations and had a diverse set of skills not limited to water.

Cayna spared her companions a backward glance as they stared at it in wonder. Then she issued instructions to the squid.

“Set off the traps ahead and reach the floor below. If you find anything waiting to ambush us, eliminate it and—”

“Allow me to atone for my insolence!”

““………Huh?””

Cutting Cayna off, Clofia suddenly shot her hand up and dashed toward the signpost. It happened too fast for Cloffe to react. Even Cayna, whose eyes were on the summoned beast, wasn’t fast enough.

Clofia tapped the sign. A clink sounded, and the road around the sign was cut into a circular slice. It slid away like a piece of Baumkuchen. A new, sign-less road protruded from the opposite wall and filled the gap. It was like a revolver loading more bullets.

“What?!”

“Clofia!”

Even as the two tried to reach her, Clofia disappeared into the wall.

On the other side, Clofia, who had just been whisked away, road and all, gaped at the new corridor she found herself in. There was a downward slope behind her and a steel ball in front of her. It was the size of three people in diameter and had a spotlight on three sides. The road she just slid in on had broken apart and embedded into the wall. The sign kept the orb from rolling down, but only by a thread.

She realized the future waiting for her would not be a pleasant one and broke into a cold sweat. Yes, this was her punishment. Her comeuppance for raising her sword against an exalted, noble bloodline.

Regardless, she couldn’t die here. Clofia tried telling herself this was because such punishment wouldn’t atone for her deeds, but in truth, she was just plain terrified.

Clofia took one step back, then two, and watched the sign, her last line of defense, cruelly flop forward. She let out a squeak, but her pride would never allow her to curl into a trembling ball of fear and wait for death.

The dense, massive people-squasher obeyed the laws of gravity and began to rumble forward. Clofia stared at it and realized there was only one option.

Abandon all dignity and let instinct take over. She could take it or leave it.

“EGAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH?!?!”

Clofia tried to steel herself, but she let out a bizarre scream as her fight-or-flight instincts kicked in. Clofia didn’t even notice as she raced down the steep hill. Anyone who saw would swear she shattered records.

Turning their heads diagonally to the lower left, the pair on the other side of the wall followed the Doppler effect of Clofia’s screams, followed by the sound of something large rolling by. This, too, faded as if in hot pursuit.

“…I know you’ve got a lot on your plate right now, but try to assess the situation!”

“Now is not the time for that, Lady Cayna! Clofia is…! My sister is…!”

Half-crazed with worry, Cloffe started pulling at his hair, and he struck the wall with his sword. Sparks flew as a metallic sound rang out, but naturally it was almost impossible for mere mortals to destroy dungeon walls.

Although Clofia chose to charge ahead, Cayna’s principles wouldn’t allow her to abandon the werecat. She instructed the squid waiting nearby.

“Dig straight down with all you’ve got! Go save that girl!”

“Shulululuuu!” the squid answered, but it sounded more like a breath.

Its ten tentacles skillfully coiled, uncoiled, and coiled again. Glittering crystal blue shifted to green, and their natural properties transformed. A moment later, any part of the squid in contact with the ground released a cloud of smoke and an irritating odor that burned the eyes. The summoned squid began to slowly sink into the ground. Its body was producing a concentrated sulfuric acid that melted the floor.

In no time at all, the squid had created a hole two meters in diameter and dropped to the floor below. Cayna and Cloffe glanced down it and watched the squid start eating through the twenty-sixth floor. Cayna grabbed Cloffe by the scruff of the neck before he could jump in.

“Why are you stopping me, Lady Cayna?!”

“Wait until the squid is done. If you touch that, you’ll be a sticky mess, too!”

“Whaaat?!”

Still, Cayna was tempted to do the exact same thing. Based on what she’d seen on the twenty-fifth floor, the squid could melt two floors in no time at all.

Cayna protected Kuu, who was now huddled in her clothes with her eyes closed, and impatiently waited for the creature to finish its work below.

The twenty-eighth floor.

Midway through Clofia’s downhill run, the path transformed into a pool waterslide before sending her on a vertical trip through a spiral tube. The steel ball of death halted as she entered the tube and it began to return to its original position. She was surprised to see such sportsmanlike behavior from the very thing that tried to crush her and wondered why it even bothered in the first place. She couldn’t say whether steel balls had any integrity, though.

After slipping and sliding, Clofia was thrown into the twenty-eighth floor from midair and landed in water several meters below.

“Gwagh?!”

It was only a few centimeters deep, which made for an uncomfortable landing.

Although in considerable pain, Clofia sat up and glanced around. Rather than an inorganic, manmade dungeon, she found herself in a limestone cave. The ceiling was several times higher than earlier floors, and a mass of stalactites hung above her like icicles. The milky white structures gleamed and acted as a third light source by amplifying the surrounding illumination. The area was bright as day thanks to the phosphorescence in the air and faint gleam coming off the water’s surface.

In truth, this area was also manmade. However, it had been eroded by two centuries of water droplets falling through the narrow cracks.

The dome-shaped space glowed from top to bottom, and Clofia couldn’t help but admire the fantastical scene. She also remembered that her life had been miraculously spared.

However, just as she sighed with relief, the surface of the water around her stirred. Several odd, dense shapes rose from the shallow pool without warning.

“…Huh? What?”

Regardless of what might be hiding below, the water couldn’t conceal anything more than a horseshoe crab. Even so, Clofia was bewildered when she saw several distinctly human shapes rise from the shallows. By the time she urged her sore body to get up, they had already surrounded her. These creatures of the lake were deep green, scaly, bipedal lizards commonly known as lizardmen.

A spawn plank had been installed on the bottom of the pool and was set to activate as soon as anyone entered. No enemies existed prior to her arrival, and even the glittering water was a deception meant to hide the plank.

There were over thirty lizardmen, each over two meters tall and wielding either a spear or sword. Very few could handle such numbers on their own. They raised their heads as one and stared at Clofia through slit eyes. Now the hunted, she cried, “Eek!”

She was out of the frying pan and into the fire. The lizardmen flicked their red, reptilian tongues and waded through the water to close in on the poor werecat who fell into their den.

Frantic, Clofia tried to run but was surrounded on all sides. Her enemy had the upper hand and blocked all escape. After only a few steps, she was boxed in and swiftly caught. They dangled her by both arms and got up close. The monsters played with her face as if tempted to find out what she tasted like, and the smell of their rotten fish breath made her gag.

“Shaah.”

“Sheh-sheh-sheh.”

Several lizardmen discussed what to do with their catch while pointing their weapons at Clofia’s throat and stomach. Wondering if this was her punishment for all the terrible things she said to Lady Cayna, Clofia resigned herself.

Just then, a long blue piece of augite dropped through the ceiling.

The skidjack had finally dissolved three entire floors. It landed next to the lizardmen holding Clofia, coiled its tentacles around them, and immediately snapped their necks. The squid then returned to its usual form and used one tentacle to save Clofia as she fell from the arms of the lifeless monsters. Thanks to this, she was spared another sore bottom.

One of the lizardmen called out a command of “Sheh!” and their swords and spears all simultaneously bounced off the skidjack’s skin. When the squid leaned forward and shook its head, several unfortunate lizardmen fell into the water after being vertically sliced by its bladelike fin. Others who tried to approach were caught up in its tentacles and bent in half at the stomach. The monsters had assumed it was an average squid and paid the price. Realizing they were outmatched, the lizardmen went on the defense and put distance between themselves and the skidjack.

However, their next opponents were the fireballs and light spears that rained down from overhead. Once the acidic solution finally weakened, Cayna jumped down to unleash her magic. Cloffe followed behind her but wouldn’t land for a while longer since he was using Float. The second Clofia came into view, his panicked expression revealed just how worried he’d been.

The frantic lizardmen tried to flee, but a hail of fireballs prevented them from moving forward or back. Lumped into one large mass, the confused monsters burned up as one.

When Cloffe at last floated down through the hole in the ceiling and landed on solid ground, he retrieved his sister from the squid and carried her like a princess. The recent chaos had put her in a state of shock.

“Argh, geez! Enough already! There’s more enemies?!”

Cayna single-handedly tossed a clump of ten fireballs around her and used the other to shoot about a dozen light spears in a single swing-like machine-gun fire. A series of explosions followed and took down the multitude of lizardmen surrounding them. Bored with the current one-sided battle, the skidjack focused on protecting Cloffe and Clofia.

However, their location guaranteed there were waterspouts galore, and everyone was soaked by the time all was said and done. The lizardmen were pretty much eliminated, and Cayna checked for any sign of movement. Even if they cleared out the floor, more monsters would spawn before long. It was best to get a move on. Cayna instructed the skidjack to find the stairs to the twenty-ninth floor and sent it away.

Once they were out of the water, Cayna used Dry on everyone. She had obtained this skill while taking on a request from “a fishing village that, although famed for its dried fish, could no longer produce the specialty due to long rains.” This odd quest had you “search for the spell and dry out the fish.” It was a pointless Throwaway Skill that served no purpose in the game at any point afterward.

However, now that she was Cayna, it was one of her most essential spells for a variety of reasons. As demonstrated at that very moment, it could dry clothes while you were still wearing them. It could also dry laundry inside on a rainy day and create dried fruits.

“You never know when something might come in handy, huh?” she murmured with an amused smile.

“Indeed,” Kee replied with equal surprise.

At any rate, Cayna’s current priority was lecturing Clofia about her reckless suicide mission. She wanted to give the werecat girl a piece of her mind (several for that matter), but Cloffe beat her to the punch.

He swung his fist onto Clofia’s head, adding to the other bumps she’d earned thus far. Clofia sat on her heels as her brother’s scolding commenced.

“Do you have any idea what the hell you just did?! Even if you were nasty before, who said you had to atone by yourself?! Lady Cayna forgave you and said you have nothing to feel bad about, so arbitrarily deciding to redeem yourself was completely pointless! Why are you always, always like this?! Don’t you know I was worried sick?!”

It was more like venting than scolding. This was apparently also Clofia’s first time seeing her ever-composed brother express himself so openly, and her eyes were wide with shock.

“Don’t…scare me like that…”

“B-Brother…”

His face finally crumpled, and rare tears fell as he embraced Clofia. Whether it was because his feelings moved her or because she was experiencing a post-adrenaline crash, Clofia sobbed as well.

Cayna had been worried, too, and was glad to see her safe and sound.

“Still, I feel like I’m destroying this dungeon more than anything else…”

“You did pierce through two floors and then three more.”

Both the nineteenth and twenty-fifth floors had not-so-small holes in them. As someone who left destruction in her wake, she had no right to loftily ask, Hey, Opus, you gonna keep this dungeon going or what? Even without fancy gadgets, Cayna was more than worthy of her title as the Silver Ring Witch.

Cayna was almost positive she’d get an earful from Opus when he discovered the mess she made, but she decided to focus on the bottom floor just within her reach. As the group climbed down to the twenty-ninth floor, they entered some kind of auditorium. The entrance to another passageway was directly across from the stairs.

Something was likely waiting up ahead. Moreover, whatever happened from that point forward was unrelated to the siblings.

“You two,” Cayna called to the pair.

Cloffe and Clofia were still hugging each other and looked over at her. Suddenly self-aware, they flushed and quickly separated. Cayna chuckled and gave a smile before continuing.

“I’ve got a personal matter to take care of up ahead, so you can rest here.”

“Are you saying we need not accompany you?”

“Yeah. I’m just gonna go drag this one moron out of his hole, then we can all go home.”

“…Understood. We will be waiting for you, Lady Cayna.”

Cloffe paused for a moment, then nodded. Clofia opened her mouth to speak, but no words came.

A set of stairs wasn’t far down the second corridor. The walls glowed faintly as Cayna descended the long, long flight, and she arrived at a lavish, double-sided door. It felt like a final boss room.

The elf maid standing in front of it, however, told otherwise. She looked at Cayna, placed her hands in her lap, and bowed elegantly.

“It has been some time, Lady Cayna.”

“I thought I might see you. You’re looking good, Siren.”

After exchanging basic greetings, Cayna asked the first question that came to mind.

“Is your master up ahead?”

“Yes, he is. However, you must first undertake an event.”

“Opus wants me to beat a midboss before the final battle, huh? He can never resist the urge to make my life harder…”

“Indeed. According to my master, this is a rite of passage. I do apologize for the imposition.”

“Rite of passage, huh? Guess there’s no skipping that,” Cayna muttered irritably before facing the door again. On her shoulder, Kuu gave her a look that asked what they should do. Cayna responded with an inspiring double fist pump.

They didn’t have much choice. Even Siren had a concerned look on her face as she bowed once more. The door behind her simultaneously opened without a sound. You would normally hear some kind of creaking for stylistic effect, but Opus evidently wasn’t concerned about that.

Waiting on the other side of the door was an elliptical battle arena approximately the size of an indoor sports stadium. Fist-sized lights floated here and there, and as Cayna ventured farther inside, several shadows spread out at her feet.

When this floor was first created, there was a goddess-like statue enshrined at the very center. Cayna remembered always fighting with Opus over whether they should use it as a golem, but it was now nowhere to be seen. Even from the entrance, she could see a dark humanoid figure at the edge of the stadium.

“By the way, if my two companions follow me here…”

“Yes, I will explain the situation and keep them away. You needn’t worry.”

“Really? Thanks, much appreciated.”

With Siren in charge of Cloffe and Clofia, Cayna felt like she could focus. Knowing those two wouldn’t get caught up in her battle was the best part about this place.

Cayna turned to give a light wave behind her, then headed for the figure deeper within. The entrance closed soundlessly, but she didn’t notice.

She had already used Search when she first spotted the figure and confirmed her opponent to be a demon slightly over level 800. Despite the 300-level difference, a rearguard specialist like Cayna couldn’t take a vanguard enemy lightly. She could strike first from afar with magic, but considering this foe was Opus’s personal pick, she was more than a bit suspicious. She didn’t have to go along with his schemes, but you could never be too careful.

Cayna activated Battle Pack I and took out two Rune Blades from her Item Box. As she approached slowly to find just the right moment, the enemy came into focus.

“Gya-ha-ha-ha-ha! You are my foe? My name is Drekdovai. I bear no grudge against you, but my master’s word is absolute. Unfortunately, I must end you.”

“…An Underworld demon!”

He was a black dragoid three heads taller than the maximum player height. As further proof this was no average dragoid, he had six arms and countless red protrusions on his back. Good thing he didn’t have wings. Something that huge would only get tossed around the sky.

Drekdovai the demon dragoid held a halberd in each of his two uppermost hands and scimitars in his two bottom ones. The middle ones were empty, but it was unclear whether he would try to grab her during the fight or if he kept them free to give himself an advantage.

Her foe being what it was, the dragoid’s vitality and strength stats were much higher than most of its race. Drekdovai’s power and resilience were the direct opposite of Cayna’s.

“You sure are a nasty piece of work.”

“Mage or not, I shall give no quarter.”

Seeing as he warned her in advance, the dragoid appeared to be a true warrior. Drekdovai flashed a set of red fangs and charged toward her without a moment’s hesitation. His agility despite his massive frame astonished Cayna, and she poured magic into her Rune Blades. She just barely dodged the halberds that came down from above while simultaneously using a Rune Blade to ward off the scimitar on her left. Her strength only failed her when she tried to block a scimitar attack from the right. It lightly grazed her left shoulder.

The stinging pain surprised Cayna. Kee’s protective wall didn’t seem to be working. She tried to ask him about it, but there was no answer.

This was Opus’s work. He knew all of Cayna’s abilities and had taken measures against each one. She was at a disadvantage in close combat, as usual, and always came prepared. This wasn’t half as bad as the time she got attacked by a horde of one hundred players, even if they were low level.

“Wasn’t expecting that.”

“Heh-heh. If you wish to surrender, now is your… Oh?”

Cayna backstepped as if she felt no pain at all and put distance between them. Drekdovai looked back slowly and nodded in satisfaction at the sight of her injured shoulder, but his expression soon grew bored when he watched a white light envelop the wound and completely heal it.

“Regede, I take it? In that case, I shall vanquish you with a cut powerful enough to surpass it.”

“Could you maybe not?”

Drekdovai once again came at her full force. Cayna tried to dodge but switched from evasion to defense when she saw the bottom arm scimitars draw an arc toward her like an embrace. The only escape was backward.

When there was enough distance between them, the dragoid used centrifugal force to swing down the halberds from his upper arms.

Magic Skill: Load: Split Iyah Bomb

Cayna avoided the scimitars’ pointed embrace by sending herself flying like a lightweight car directly hit by an army tank. Drekdovai, the aforementioned tank headed straight for her, veered to the right when his chest exploded. After all, Cayna had managed to fend off his halberds and left scimitar and take care of the right scimitar with explosive magic.

Cayna flew parallel over the ground for several meters, then adeptly twisted her body around to stab her Rune Blades into the ground, come to a quick stop, and lightly land. Drekdovai stumbled a step or two but showed no obvious signs of damage. She stared down her opponent and continued to cast spells.

Magic Skill: Load: Boa Lu Ludo

“Gwagh?!”

Several lightning bolts surged from Cayna and sped toward Drekdovai from every direction. His weapons deflected half, and only two had any effect. But the damage was minimal, and his enormous body didn’t even sway.

“That freaking idiot. He sent me an enemy that’s basically immune to magic…”

“Gwa-ha-ha. I am a mage killer.”

Cayna heaved a tired sigh and put one Rune Blade back in her Item Box. Then she took her magic staff out of her earring and extended it. After adjusting it to a length she could wield one-handed, Cayna faced Drekdovai and dared to rush in on him.

The dragoid never expected a mage to charge at him like that, and his eyes widened in shock. His scimitars came down on her magical transforming staff but halted upon impact. Drekdovai had been certain he could shatter the staff to pieces, but one needed the almighty power of the Admins to lay so much as a scratch on an EX rank weapon like Cayna’s.

The tip of the magic staff landed a damning blow on Drekdovai’s face, and he staggered. Cayna then hit his defenseless stomach with Magic Skill: Load: Zan Laga. The lightning around her transformed into spears and fired off in quick succession. The distance between them grew with each blow as the dragoid slid backward.

“GWAAAAAAAAAGH!”

However, he suddenly stopped as if rooted to the stone floor, and he screamed as red light poured from his back, eyes, and mouth. The light spears sticking out of him disappeared, and wild crimson eyes stared at her.

“Gah, Berserk?! That’s definitely not good…”

The Berserk skill was the embodiment of physical prowess and no joke when it came to warrior-type demons. Strength and vitality stats more than doubled while intelligence and agility tanked. It was a player’s last resort in a tough battle of brawn.

Unfortunately, it also made you extremely susceptible to magic, and you were stuck in fight mode until the effect wore off. Still, since your physical strength more than doubled, it was an effective method during a final boss battle with victory just in sight.

In this demon dragoid’s case, his body swelled up even more, and he gained extra muscle. In addition, the blades on his weapons extended and seemed to have increased range and attack power. They apparently came with the demon as a set.

“Ugh, this is why I can’t stand demons!”

Regardless of her complaints, it wasn’t like the enemy was about to go easy on her. The armed demon once again readied himself, and she carefully looked for signs he was about to make his move. Although she steeled herself, the stats weren’t in her favor.

“GRAAAAAAAAGH!”

“?!”

The demon howled and came at her with such speed that she hardly had time to react. Almost beyond the speed of sound, her Rune Blade audibly sliced the air and saved her from a halberd by the narrowest of margins.

Although she managed to dodge, even the wind pressure of the attack scraped Cayna’s skin. She used an Insta-Spell to cast more magic.

Like earlier, she put distance between her and Drekdovai by simultaneously setting off a massive string of ten or so Iyah Bombs.

…At least, that had been the plan, anyway.

The dragoid appeared from the flames unscathed and readied his halberds and scimitars to mow her down.

“GRAAAAAAAAGH!!”

“Gwagh?!”

She had jumped back while the bombs were going off to avoid fatal injuries. However, his immense strength overpowered her, and slices ripped through her chest, stomach, and hip. Cayna was tossed like a broken doll, and she rolled across the ground. A spray of blood followed in her wake and soaked the ground beneath her.

Drekdovai’s eyes narrowed at her injured form, and he gave a deep laugh. Language was normally beyond one’s control in Berserk mode, but Cayna didn’t know what other skills the demon possessed. It was better to assume this was one of them.

“Painful, isn’t it? You’re in agony, right? Might as well die here.”

“…………”

Drekdovai spoke to Cayna as she lay motionless on the ground, but the thick magic that poured from her crumpled body directly afterward put a questioning look on his face.

“…………Painful? Agony? Over something like this?”

A faint white light enveloped Cayna, and her condition instantly took a turn for the better. Expressionless, she stood slowly yet gave no indication of pain. In fact, her wounds soon healed as if time were being rewound.

Cayna’s gaze was no longer calm; her eyes glinted with a cold, ruthless light. In that moment, she recalled the tragic scene after the plane crash. The night when she fell into such intense grief that pain and suffering lost all meaning.

“Opus really knows how to piss people off…”

Active Skill: Mega Stat Boost

“Hmm?”

A blue phosphorescence enveloped Cayna’s body and morphed into a set of azure plate armor. A last-resort move, this temporarily multiplied the user’s stats several times over but halved them for twenty-four hours afterward.

“GRAAAAAAAGH!!”

Drekdovai seemed to sense that something wasn’t right; he lifted his halberds overhead and jumped, aiming to slice Cayna’s head in two. His attack bet everything on speed and gravity.

However, Cayna’s magic staff had an undulating blade along its surface, and the halberds came to a halt in front of her. She pushed against the Berserk weapons and stood her ground. In fact, a single glance at Cayna put Drekdovai on the retreat; something about the look in her eyes gave him a bad feeling.

Cayna tossed the Rune Blade in her right hand behind her and gathered up more blue phosphorescence as she twirled her staff.

Weapon Skill: Full Swing

Craaaaaaaack!

“Hwagh?!”

Just as Drekdovai took one step toward freedom, Cayna’s glowing blue staff struck him at hyper speed and launched him in the direction of his escape with a satisfying sound evocative of certain sporting equipment. Flying into a tailspin, the dragoid slammed into the wall and even sank into it by several centimeters.

However, since these injuries weren’t the least bit lethal to Drekdovai, Cayna smirked and yanked his body out of the wall before casting another spell.

Special Skill: Load: Triple Spell: Begin Count

The number 30 appeared within wire-framed spheres over each of Cayna’s shoulders and began counting down the seconds.

Drekdovai chuckled to himself; he figured he would only have to endure this spell for thirty seconds. Just as he readied his defenses, the dragoid felt an immense amount of magic directly behind him, enough to rival Cayna’s. He turned around in surprise and was greeted by a fairy the size of a grain of rice who cast her own red magic circle that was about ten meters in diameter.

“Kuu is mad, too!”

“Who the hell are you?!”

Clueless on how to respond, Drekdovai began raising his halberds overhead but was swallowed up by the glow of crimson arrows that burst from the circle without warning. Caught in its direct line of fire, the projectiles impaled him and easily sent his hulking frame flying. Drekdovai soon struck the ceiling.

“G-GYAAAAAGH?!”

Even with him plastered to the ceiling, the tide of arrows didn’t stop. They penetrated his hard skin and skewered the dragoid. Drekdovai screamed in anguish as several hundred needles pinpointed and attacked every nerve.

The arrows abated not long afterward but left him severely injured. When he glanced over at the last place he saw the fairy, she was still there with her magic circle. He thought he might catch a break, but the attack had only just begun. Drekdovai expected to merely fall from the ceiling, but his eyes went wide when he felt something tug him.

Although Cayna had been momentarily dumbfounded by Kuu’s insane attack, she turned her attention to the giant falling body and cast successive rounds of Weapon Skill: Pull. Defying the laws of gravity, the dragoid was thrown sideways at top speed as Weapon Skill: Full Swing sent him flying once more. Moreover, this time her weapon of choice was not the magic staff but a fiery, spiked iron rod. It made contact for a mere instant but felt like a hot branding iron.

To make things even worse, he was bleeding from head to toe. Covered in painful burns, Drekdovai was launched into the air. Just as he was about to smack into an obstacle, yet another Pull spell forcefully altered his path and dragged him back down to Cayna. Struck by a third Full Swing, he slammed into the roof with a thunderous roar.

“Guh…”

Drekdovai was repeatedly dropped, pulled, and thrown into the ceiling and walls with a violent Full Swing. Kuu would occasionally fly in as backup to barrage him with arrows and douse him in salt water.

Cayna could think of someone else who would do something as reprehensible as pouring literal salt on a wound. Kuu was adorable on the outside but merciless inside.

Once Triple Spell was finished, Drekdovai looked like a torn-up dishrag. Even so, his Berserk was still in effect, and he kept a sharp eye out for any possible opening. His halberds and scimitars were broken after the countless beatings, so he was now weaponless. However, he estimated he could still take on one girl and a fairy.

Cayna quickly obliterated that pride with her next skill.

Special Skill: Star Guide I

This was one of several skills that demonstrated her might as a Skill Master. It allowed skills like Triple Spell, which were normally limited to once per day, to be used more often. Of course, a Star Guide I meant there was a Star Guide II. When such abilities made an appearance, advantages like numerical logic and stat difference were pointless. Their effects were so powerful that taking on its caster was the height of foolishness. Cayna had done her best to keep it tucked away during the Game Era, but now that Drekdovai had unearthed past trauma and incited her wrath, restraint was no longer in her lexicon.

Drekdovai was dumbfounded; Cayna’s fiendish grin could send shivers down even a demon’s spine. Another wire-frame sphere surrounded her, and she stretched her arm out toward the dragoid for the umpteenth time.

His final moments involved a disastrous pummeling and a hail of arrows.

“Excellent work, Lady Cayna. Are you injured?”

“Haaah, haaah…”

Cayna’s breath was ragged from adrenaline when Siren gently approached her from behind with a towel. Cloffe and Clofia followed the maid but were still a good distance away. They had apparently walked in during the fight and were terribly worried.

The wounds Cayna sustained during the battle were already healed thanks to Regede, but her cloak and equipment were coated in blood. Kuu sat on her shoulder with an invigorating smile and hummed pleasantly to herself.

Cayna took deep breaths to calm down. Unable to contain her Opus-fueled rage, she looked back at them with a terrifying smile. The pair behind Siren cried “Eek!” and stiffened. Cayna did her best not to look at them and focused on Siren instead. You do know what will happen if I don’t meet Opus soon, right? her vicious gaze told the maid.

Predictably, Siren broke out in a sweat and took a step back. She quickly pointed to the open door on the other side of the arena.

“Please proceed that way,” she instructed with a bow.

“I assume there aren’t any more bosses waiting for me?”

Since Mega Stat Boost was still active, Cayna’s Intimidate would make the average person foam at the mouth. However, Siren’s pride kept her from fainting.

“I would never lie,” she answered with a bright smile. At least, she thought it was a smile, but anyone else could see her face was twitching.

Still indignant, Cayna stomped toward the door, traversed the gentle curved stairway, and arrived in a room that seemed to be directly beneath the arena.

Before delving into the dungeon, she thought about what she would say when they finally reunited. Unfortunately, rage had stripped her of all reason, and one punch just wouldn’t cut it anymore. Stewing with silent fury and a dead look in her eye, Cayna kicked the door open with vengeance. Mega Stat Boost was still active, so the door sailed through the air and shattered into a million pieces. The physical manifestation of her power made her more terrifying than usual, but fortunately none were there to witness it.

Well, except one victim who was about to experience her wrath firsthand…

“…Hrm?”

There he was. The old demon friend she’d been searching for.

As always, he was dressed in his favorite color—pitch black from head to toe.

“Mm? …Oh, crunch, crunch if it isn’t munch, munch Cayna. Long time no see, chomp, chomp. Life been gulp treating you well?”

“…………O……pu……sssss.”

Cayna was already at her boiling point, and his attitude didn’t help.

She gritted her teeth, her voice dripping with hellish resentment. Opus cocked his head, mistaking her as overcome with emotion from their reunion.

“You’re pretty beat up now that I take a good look at you. Something happen?”

He sounded concerned, but his posture was another story. Currently sprawled across his bed, Opus had a thin cracker in his mouth and was getting crumbs all over the sheets. The paper bag by his pillow had to be the one Siren was carrying from her shopping trip when Cloffe and Clofia ran into her on the twenty-third floor.

At any rate, he probably should have taken their reunion a little more seriously.

Cayna, meanwhile, was out of what little patience she had left.

“I’m gonna hack you to pieces.”

“Buh?”

Magic Skill: Load: Ancient God’s Blade

“Just hold on… Wha—?!”

Phosphorescent particles gathered in the air around Cayna, and a shining staff materialized in front of her. When she gripped the weapon with both hands, an enormous crystal formed at the top. Although the light staff was called a “blade,” it had no edge to speak of. Be that as it may, its true power would be obvious soon enough.

The polyhedron crystal floating above the tip of the staff slowly constructed a giant, broad blade a short distance away. The weapon glowed white and pierced through the ceiling until only the hilt of the straight sword was visible. The blade alone was three meters thick.

The light staff was approximately one meter high, and the crystal above it was about the size of a person’s head. The three-meter-wide blade pierced the ceiling of the room and came up through the bottom of the twenty-ninth floor. Siren, Cloffe, and Clofia, who were waiting in the arena above, watched the tip of the monstrous light sword slice through the floor, and they paled further. If Siren hadn’t grabbed the werecats’ hands and shouted, “It’s dangerous! Run!” they would have likely been torn up with the floor.

Cayna slowly brandished the weapon and approached Opus with a fiendish expression.

Her eyes empty, Cayna aimed the Ancient God’s Blade, whose tip was still sticking up out of the room, at Opus’s brow and gave a powerful swing downward. The target’s face twitched as he fell off his bed.

The Ancient God’s Blade sliced the ceiling, walls, bed, and floor with ease. The thirtieth floor was the sturdiest part of the dungeon, yet it cut the walls like a knife through tofu.

“Hey, wait, what do you think you’re doing?!”

“Shut up! After all the trouble and anguish and suffering and hardships you put people through, I came all this way, but YOUUUU…”

Following up on the momentum of the first attack, Cayna swung her giant sword sideways to take a slice out of Opus. The demon fell to his stomach, and the attack grazed past his horns as the room was cut diagonally in half. He moved to stop her rampage but heard something fire off directly next to him and jumped back.

The sound came from a log-sized crimson arrow that dropped in beside him and lodged into the floor. Realizing what this meant, Opus retraced the arrow’s path. He saw a fairy and magic circle hovering in midair.

“Geh?!”

“Kuu will help, too.”

Apparently Cayna wasn’t the only hostile party here.

It wasn’t clear if Kuu’s “help” involved murder or something else entirely, but regardless, Opus now had to deal with deadly arrows on top of Cayna’s attempts to turn him into mincemeat.

“Wait! Hold on! Let me explain!”

“Let you explaaaaain?”

Two flaming red eyes glowed from within Cayna’s shadowy figure. She was the spitting image of a predator who made no distinction between right and wrong.

“I helped you both out in the open and in secret to make your life easier!” Opus yelled.

With his back against the wall, he was really in no position to be making excuses. Plus, his all-black getup made him look like a giant cockroach.

“You should’ve just stayed out in the open. I didn’t have to suffer alone!”

“Ngh…”

Her words left him speechless. Indeed, he could have been there for her without sticking to the shadows.

“That’s why I sent you the fairy—to help you out…”

“I thought you just forgot about her. How was I supposed to know she’d need a name?!”

“…Nghh.”

Each of Opus’s excuses magnified Cayna’s rage. In this maniacal state, she wouldn’t be able to think or listen until she calmed down. He was only adding fuel to the fire.

“And about that noble who stalked you…”

“Opus.”

“Y-yeah…?”

“You can explain later. First, I’m gonna punch you in the face.”

“Punch!”

Neither the fairy’s arrows nor Cayna’s sword were conducive to punching. Given the crazed look on her face, Opus realized conversation would get him nowhere.

There was no more point in arguing. The giant blade came ruthlessly crashing down. The attack, liable to split the room and Opus himself in half, hacked through the walls and ceiling and tore the arena to pieces.

Opus ran for his life, and the three-meter-long sword and log-sized arrows chased after him every which way. It never crossed Cayna’s or Kuu’s minds that their onslaught might inflict more damage or bury everyone alive.

In less than five minutes, the twenty-ninth and thirtieth floors were rendered a pile of rubble.