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Rustle.
Under the sunlight shining down from the ceiling inside the dungeon, a woman with a face that seemed almost fragile at first glance was looking up at it.
The skin of her face revealed under the black parasol she turned with girlish gestures was so white and transparent that it seemed it might disappear at any moment.
The black dress enveloping her body shone by itself even in the darkness, making her presence stand out even more.
"My. An uninvited guest."
The moment she discovered and directly faced her with somewhat surprised eyes.
'That...!!'
Arpina's senses sharpened acutely.
All the magical power she had accumulated, her soul, warned her about that woman.
'This is it...!!'
And at the same time, she felt her soul cheering deep inside.
She could instinctively tell.
That something great was before her eyes that could easily erase the demon's contract.
"Must regain..."
'It...!'
An intense impulse engulfed her entire body.
A deep thirst to regain a part of herself that she had lost, which she hadn't even been aware of due to the overwhelming sense of powerlessness, welled up.
The moment she faced her, she could clearly realize.
'Monster!'
That this woman was something that would make her 'perfect'.
'The ultimately perfect piece...!'
That she was something far nobler and greater than even that 'Noble Abelus'.
"You...!!"
Arpina's green eyes, having summoned magical power throughout her body, emitted streams of light.
At that moment, she needed nothing else.
The only impulse wrapping her body was to seize that woman's soul and obtain her body.
Bang-!
-Kyaaaak!
-Kraaak!
From the shadows all around Arpina as she flew up after kicking off the ground, countless demons sprang out.
"Yes. That's right. You were called a Dungeon Lord!"
Whoosh-!
Zzzzing-!
-Kyaaak!
Along with a sharp laughter Kihihit-, fire and ice summoned from Arpina's hands rampaged.
Magic absorbed from a professor of the Royal Magic School and a noble criminal swept away and annihilated the demons.
'Huh?'
And the next moment, Arpina realized that 'her' presence had somehow moved away from her.
"Where are you going-!!"
At Arpina's fierce cry, the black-clad woman who briefly looked back at her showed a sneer on her gentle and fragile face.
"What an impetuous woman. How vulgar."
Contempt and mockery.
Until five years ago, she had never imagined that others could direct such things at her, but somehow it felt natural coming from this woman.
But more than that.
That attitude, that subtle coquetry.
"Hihi... You're throwing a tantrum!"
It excited Arpina.
"Think as you like."
The woman walking away with her face hidden behind her parasol while brushing back her long hair.
However, she moved away from Arpina at a speed unimaginable from her leisurely appearance.
'She's running away.'
Swoosh!
With that certainty, Arpina's body shot forward rapidly.
Unlike the woman's steps that seemed to glide across the floor, it was a wasteful explosion of magical power that destroyed everything around as it advanced.
However, Arpina still felt great satisfaction.
'I feel light.'
This was Arpina's self-assessment of her body's condition.
Having just escaped from her sense of powerlessness, she was now in her best condition since leaving the demon realm.
'With my current self!'
She wouldn't be helplessly defeated even if she met the previous Abelus.
She might even be able to fight more fiercely.
Of course, it was a misjudgment made while intoxicated by the exhilaration of magical power activated at full force after a long time, but at least she believed it to be true now.
-Kyaaak!
-Tak!
Many undead and demons blocked her way.
All sorts of skeletons rushing in without any formation, Greenskins rampaging in a frenzy having lost their reason, and monsters and demonic beasts.
"Indeed impressive!"
Feeling the quality of those demons being clearly higher than that of an ordinary 'upper-rank Dungeon Lord', Arpina erased her doubts about the fleeing woman.
She had no way of knowing that these were merely hastily summoned summons for buying time.
"But that's all you've got!"
Kwararrung-!!
-Keaak!!
-Kraaak!
As white lightning summoned from her hands illuminated the corridors inside the dungeon, wooden furniture all around shattered and its fragments rose into the air like mist.
The same happened to the numerous demons in its path, scattering like dust.
"This won't! Be enough to stop me!! Cute little miss!"
"I see. It seems so."
By now, the dungeon had led into a large room.
The black-clad woman who dispersed the lightning directed at her with her parasol nodded her head while wearing a smile so faint it looked kind.
And at the same time.
"Where!"
Arpina's nape turned cold.
A sharp energy that seemed to scrape her flesh. She felt it digging into her neck.
Kwaddeuddeuk-!!
The moment she hurriedly twisted her body, a dark red sword light grazed past her neck.
It cut through the air and carved a deep trench in the floor.
Chuk...
Platinum blonde hair flowing down from under a black hood.
A black knight stood there with a deep smile spread across their lips.
Arpina's eyes sparkled as she gauged the trench carved in that spot and the magical power emanating from the knight.
'An ace...!'
An elite-rank Death Knight, or Dark Knight.
She instinctively knew this knight was either the dungeon's strongest or one of the strongest.
It was a correct judgment.
If judged by the standards of an ordinary upper-rank dungeon.
'But too weak!'
A sneer appeared on Arpina's lips.
The knight's strength was powerful even just from what she could sense.
To the extent that it would take her some time in her current weakened state.
But that was all.
Especially before this impulse now enveloping her entire body, it was nothing.
"What a cute ace."
Shaaa-!!
Flames rose once again from Arpina's hands.
These flames were different from the other magic she had used before.
Those green flames, like her murky eyes, created strange shapes as if encroaching on space while flowing along the surrounding air.
"How obedient. You're trying to buy time while your master escapes, right?"
"...!"
In response to Arpina's taunt, dark red magical power explosively rose from the knight's entire body.
Seeing this, Arpina, enveloped in green flames, sneered once again. No matter how powerful they were, a mere elite-rank couldn't match her.
'Yes... just like then.'
Arpina's brow furrowed as she recalled when she had rushed at 'Noble Abelus'.
It was an unpleasant memory.
"How foolish."
To shake off that thought, Arpina looked at the black-dressed woman visible beyond the black knight.
She was standing on the opposite side of the room, watching the fight without running away.
Her expression still looked kind, but her eyes were different.
That gaze, like a being who had lived for ages looking at something trivial, made Arpina's blood boil.
'I want to break her...!'
Imagining the moment that noble face would contort, a vicious smile appeared on Arpina's lips again.
Bang-!!
That was the moment.
In the instant Arpina was distracted by the black-clad woman, the knight moved.
Anger was etched in her eyes as she closed in instantly while exploding the ground, and dark red sword energy burned fiercely on the sword she held with both hands.
Since Arpina was also not in perfect condition, if she had allowed the approach, it might have been somewhat of a threat.
"Your movements are good, child!"
Kiaak!
However, the difference in levels was stark.
Green flames that seemed to cover the world rose from Arpina's entire body after she avoided or blocked the sword strikes several times.
As if alive, it grasped the black knight's entire body.
Like the fist of a giant god.
Fahhhhh-!!
"Kugh...!"
Pain as if her entire body was being crushed, flesh melting or stretching, and her soul being pulled out.
It was not the kind of thing that could be endured, but the knight's screams flowed out restrained until the end.
At that strong endurance, Arpina smiled even more widely.
This knight too would have been good enough to be her 'collection' in normal times.
"Wait! After I take your master's body, I'll cherish you! We can't let that pretty face get scarred, can we?!"
"You...!"
Hearing the knight's angry cry, Arpina leisurely examined the black-clad woman on the other side again while laughing madly.
The woman's expression visible from afar was now filled with some bewilderment and 'fear'.
The first change in expression she had shown since Arpina saw her.
It was exactly the expression Arpina had seen Dungeon Lords show when their 'ace' or dungeon core was in danger.
"Kihi-!"
Twitch.
Realizing she was pushing her into a corner, Arpina twisted her hand with an even more triumphant feeling.
"Kugh-!!"
Whoosh!
The groan of the knight enveloped in green flames echoed through the dungeon, then suddenly disappeared, wrapped in a black shadow.
The Dungeon Lord had retrieved her ace.
'As expected, it was the ace! She must have been reluctant to lose it.'
"...If you had left her to die, you might have lived a little longer..."
Arpina's eyes narrowed as she realized this, then soon curved prettily.
The madness in those eyes remained.
"How interesting."
The black-clad woman closed her parasol for the first time.
"So. What's next?"
"You!"
Green flames enveloped Arpina's body.
In an instant, it transformed into a huge shape like the wings of a phoenix.
Magical power so immense it could obscure the dungeon's ceiling.
"「Fingers of the Abyss」."
The black-clad woman swung her parasol in response.
At that moment, the space around her distorted and twisted.
As if a mirror was shattering, space split and countless tentacles poured out.
Beings each containing powerful dark magical power wriggled as if alive and stretched towards Arpina.
"Ha-!"
'So you do have some power!'
Feeling the magical power contained there, Arpina realized she was no ordinary Dungeon Lord.
However, this was another factor that further fueled her excitement.
It was like a drug that increased her expectations for the body she would obtain soon.
"It's not enough. Not enough! Little miss!"
"Oh my..."
The black-clad woman's eyes widened in surprise.
The green flames were burning away the black tentacles and growing larger.
As if devouring her power.
"Your body! Your soul! Your power! Everything is mine-!"
With a face strangely distorted by approaching victory and greed, Arpina wielded both green flames and black power simultaneously.
While wielding magic, the epitome of reason, there was no light of reason in her eyes.
"At this rate..."
A look of dismay appeared on the black-clad woman's face.
There was no longer any composure in her expression.
"「Dance of the Dead」."
The hem of the woman's dress fluttered and split into hundreds of shadows.
Shadows filling the space as if performing a group dance.
"Where are you trying to go!"
All those shadows flew towards Arpina herself, but at the same time, the black-clad woman's body was also being enveloped by shadows and about to disappear somewhere.
Realizing this, Arpina's fingertips quickly drew green patterns, then as she flipped her palm, magic circles instantly covered the entire floor of the chamber.
"Oh no..."
The shadows covering the black-clad woman's body disappeared at once, and her body swayed.
The green fire had blocked the darkness's escape route.
"Neither master nor subordinate had enough composure in the face of crisis!"
Tak. Tak.
Arpina, having devoured even the shadows, walked towards her in a stronger state than before.
Her green eyes shone even more intensely.
Along with the joy of victory, a sense of fulfillment at finally obtaining what she desired enveloped her.
"Perfect...!"
Arpina smiled while caressing the hair of the black-clad woman who had fallen and become docile.
Unlike her own dull hair that she originally had, this woman's hair contained a very beautiful radiance and shone by itself.
The same was true for her skin which had looked pale.
That skin, sparkling as if containing starlight, was fascinating Arpina.
"This is... You're mine now...!"
Arpina's hand stretched out towards the black-clad woman.
Green magical power extended like threads, digging into the black-clad woman's entire body and grasping her soul.
"..."
A faint smile flashed across the lips of the woman who had been quiet, but Arpina was too certain of her victory to notice it.
Swish-
At the moment the soul threads connected.
Arpina felt doubtful.
'Too easy...?'
For such a powerful being, her soul should have had a matching toughness.
However, until making contact with the soul, she felt no resistance at all.
"Foolish one."
But it was already too late.
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"Foolish one."
The black-dressed woman who was thought to have fallen raised her head.
In her eyes, purple light was burning like hellfire, and darkness entwined with violet sparks flowed from her entire body.
Tup!
"This...!"
"It's not that you dug in."
The black-clad woman who caught Arpina's hand smiled elegantly.
However, black vapor was already escaping from her eyes and mouth, terrifying the beholder.
"I drew you in. Arpina Maelstrom."
"Aaak-!!!!"
The moment the black-clad woman spoke her real name, which she couldn't possibly know, she realized her situation, but.
The scene her soul was seeing was already changing.
Srararak-!
A soul being sucked in as if swirling into a huge vortex.
The soul threads she had cast, the magical power that always followed her control, had instead become shackles pulling her in.
-No...!!
Desperate resistance was useless.
As if being sucked into an abyss, Arpina's consciousness fell into some space.
Saaaa...
Her consciousness was suddenly standing in the middle of a vast space.
On a liquid spread out as vast as the sea,
-This place is...
After briefly examining the bottom from the blade of grass supporting her, she soon shuddered and stepped back.
-Kyaaaak-!!!
Because the things she thought were liquid screamed the moment they made eye contact with her.
-What is this...!
She sat down on a leaf to avoid them and looked up at the sky.
There was an endless darkness there, and countless strange lights rising from within that darkness.
-Thanks to you, I too get to see my inner self directly for the first time.
Turning her head towards the familiar voice, Arpina could only be astonished.
There was no fragile and gentle black-clad woman there.
-This is...
-Until now, I've only heard indirect descriptions from them.
What she saw was, at least, in human form.
An incredibly huge human.
However, the elements decorating the exterior of that person were completely different.
Blink
Blink
What she thought were lights were countless eyes, too many to count.
Eyes with black sclera and purple irises.
Wings with those numerous eyes were covering the sky and looking down at her.
Shururuk...!
At the tips of the wings, too many pairs to count, countless 'somethings' wriggled in the darkness.
The size of 'that' resembling wings was beyond imagination, and the presence felt from it was more powerful than anything Arpina had ever faced.
-I thought it would be like this, but it's not a very pretty sight.
In the middle of it all was 'she', smaller than the wings but incomparably larger than humans.
A being wrapped in chains that seemed to embody the void itself.
That huge and great being possessed such powerful soul force that only someone like Arpina, who could handle soul power, could even face it.
At the same time, she could understand that it felt larger the more one knew.
Nevertheless, her tone was still gentle and refined.
-It's embarrassing to show, so tell me your impressions.
That huge curve was calmly looking down at her with its arm resting on the edge of a hemispherical bathtub that rippled like a water surface.
Although there was only indescribably colored emptiness instead of eyes on that face, she could tell it was looking down at her.
Only when that giant body touched the edge did she realize she was inside a bathtub.
-Beautiful...
Amidst all this, Arpina exclaimed in admiration while drenched in fear.
Even in that unimaginably huge form, the black-clad woman was still beautiful.
-Huhu. What an unexpected compliment.
The monster's voice was still that of the woman.
But at the same time, the pressure contained within it was tightening around her entire body.
-Do you understand now? What you coveted.
Only then did Arpina realize how foolish a choice she had made.
After the shackle around her neck was broken, her wings were torn, pain engulfed her entire body, and a spider web was tied over her soul.
-...Ah.
What she thought was a prison before was just a loose shackle.
Compared to now, that was infinite freedom.
What she thought was her soul cheering when she saw her was actually a scream of terror.
As a result of learning fear but not acknowledging it, she couldn't react properly even when seeing other fears.
Clank!
This place.
Someone's soul that no one knows about became her 'home'.
-Now it's time for you to feel threatened by me. Little solitary spider.
-Hahaha...
It was her end.
She couldn't hold onto her fading consciousness as she felt Libertas's power digging into her body.