The mont my mace smashed down on Adri’s face, all the countless objects that had been floating through the mansion clattered to the ground.
I’d seen this pattern about four tis now, so this should be the point where she finally goes down.
Just in case, I raised my shield to prepare for any sneak attacks, but Adri didn’t reappear.
Instead, a door leading out of the dungeon appeared, along with a table displaying my rewards.
So that’s it for phase two, I guess.
If I leave the dungeon now, the dungeon raid will be over, but I still haven’t saved Adri.
Which ans, there’s still more work to do.
This took longer than I expected.
Searching through every single room while clearing the dungeon naturally took up a lot of ti.
If I could’ve skipped through the monsters like in a regular dungeon, this wouldn’t have dragged on for so long.
At this point, it’s not just a matter of whether I’ll get any sleep before the exam, but whether I’ll even make it to the exam hall in ti.
I’ve lost track of how long it’s been, but I really hope I at least have ti to get back to the dorm and wash up.
「Have you managed to hold out well?」
‘More or less.’
Even if I can’t endure sothing, my skills force to hang in there.
Even if I wanted to collapse, I simply can’t.
But honestly, this level of difficulty feels manageable, even without the skills.
I’ve been through similar training over and over again in the Allen household.
Sure, Fosel’s training was brutal, but it wasn’t pointless.
Passing the entrance to the dungeon, I headed toward the place I’d visited the last ti I cleared this mansion dungeon.
The iron door was locked tight, but the key Vissy gave slipped in, and the door opened without resistance.
I’m almost done. Let’s finish this quickly and get so rest.
I was born into a family of necromancers. As a child, I didn’t realize this was anything unusual.
My mother. My father.
Everyone in the family used necromancy, so how could a little girl, just learning to walk, think anything was strange?
When I first learned necromancy and showed my skills, my parents were overjoyed.
They said I had talent. That I would be the one to bring honor to our family.
They hugged and smiled.
So, I practiced harder, wanting to make my mother and father proud.
Normally, this kind of story would follow a girl who discovers her ideals after venturing out into the world, but unfortunately, I never got the chance to realize mine while I was alive.
Before I could figure it out, the Church’s knights ca and burned our family to the ground.
At the ti, I was too young to understand what was happening. I was just locked in the basent by my parents.
They promised to co back and get when it was over.
So I waited.
Living in the basent wasn’t too difficult.
There was water.
There was food.
Aside from the fact that I couldn’t go outside and had to be alone, I was fine.
I was lonely, but I endured.
I kept believing in salvation.
Studying necromancy, hoping that when I grew up, my parents would be proud.
One day.
Two days.
A week.
A month.
There was no twist to the story.
The child born into a necromancer family died alone in that family’s ruins.
That’s all there was to it.
Creak.
The sound of a door opening outside woke Adri from her thoughts.
Huh? I could’ve sworn I just...
Adri sprang to her feet.
The face of the demon who hunted her flashed through her mind.
No matter what attack she tried, it was effortlessly dodged.
Even when cursed, the demon just laughed as if nothing had happened.
That smug grin as it taunted her.
And without hesitation, it had crushed her head.
Is it coming?
What should I do?
Where can I run?
Does running even matter?
If it’s that monster, it’ll chase no matter where I go, won’t it?
What is that woman?
Adri hated that small girl. She despised her.
But more than anything, she was terrified of her.
That monster who shattered all logic, who made no sense.
As the voices outside grew louder, Adri’s trembling body stiffened as she suddenly rembered where she had seen that face before.
‘Wait.’
Do I... know that monster?
How?
She wasn’t a mber of our family.
She’s a being that stands in opposition to necromancers.
So how could I possibly know her?
In the midst of her confusion, Adri’s hand reached up to the ribbon tied in her hair.
This...
‘Is this what you were looking for? Go ahead, take it.’
...
And then it all ca back to her.
The events that had occurred after she beca a specter.
The days she spent alone in the mansion, now in ruins, with no idea why.
The loneliness that made her long for company, even though everyone who saw her ran away.
And then one day, the appearance of Vissy, who spoke to her.
The girl who destroyed the dungeon in this mansion and gave her the ribbon.
The door burst open, and Adri looked up to see the girl, casually resting a mace on her shoulder, smirking.
“Lucy...”
Vissy had called her that, hadn’t she?
It seed like the girl hadn’t expected to be addressed by na.
She raised an eyebrow before her lips curled into a smug grin.
“Hmph. What a surprise. I thought you’d long since lost your mind, old ghost hag.”
“Who are you calling a hag?”
Adri scowled, clearly unhappy with the title.
It was a familiar expression.
The grumbling, bad-tempered girl.
And yet, she was once an exceptional necromancer who taught players the art of necromancy.
Adri.
I’d always thought I’d run into her again at so point, but I didn’t expect it to be this soon.
Guess I have our petty dark god to thank for that.
‘Do you rember everything?’
“Lonely old hag. Do you rember now?”
“Who are you calling an old hag, you damn brat?”
I could tell she was furious, but co on, by age alone, she’s practically a grandma.
Even if you added up both my past and present lives, I’d still be younger than her. She’s old enough to deserve the title.
And besides, what could I do? The sugaki skill makes call her that.
‘Let’s go. Vissy’s waiting for you.’
“Stop grumbling and let’s go, hag. Your granddaughter’s waiting.”
“Ugh... Now I get why Vissy doesn’t like you.”
Adri sighed deeply, muttering to herself. Guess she’d been complaining about plenty when she wasn’t around.
Not surprising. It’s hard to find soone who’s suffered as much as Vissy has because of .
“Hey, kid.”
‘Yeah?’
“What’s up, lonely old hag?”
“What happened here today... Don’t tell Vissy. Especially not about .”
At first, her request might have seed odd, but I knew why Adri was asking.
She puts on a front when she’s around Vissy.
To be more specific, before becoming the dungeon’s core, she had no mories of her life and acted innocent.
And even now, after regaining all her mories, she still wanted to maintain that innocent image in front of Vissy.
Because she genuinely considered Vissy a friend.
‘Got it.’
“Fine. Since you’re so desperate, I’ll do you that favor, old hag.”
“I’m not desperate! You little... ugh...”
She made a motion as if pounding on her chest, looking exasperated.
If she weren’t a ghost, I’d honestly worry about her blood pressure at this point.
After our brief conversation, I led Adri out of the room.
She was no longer the dungeon boss.
Now that she had regained all of her mories, she was just a grumbling ghost who cared deeply about her one and only friend.
All that was left was to get her out of the dungeon and reunite her with Vissy.
Then I could finally take my exam.
As Adri continued to grumble about being called a hag, we finally reached the front entrance.
Ding.
A sound rang in my ears.
I didn’t need to wonder who it was.
There was only one person petty enough to ss with at a ti like this.
[Agra is watching you.]
Oh, hello there, petty dark god.
I’ve been waiting for you to show up.
The stalker who had been watching raid dungeons around the Academy every single day, and now decides to make his move at the very end?
Honestly, there’s not a single decent god out there, is there?
Oops. Except Armathi this ti—he actually did his job for once.
I almost lumped him in out of habit.
Anyway, evil gods are always the worst.
As soon as the ssage appeared, the exit and the rewards table disappeared. At the sa ti, a group of armored undead erged at the mansion’s front door.
They were nothing like the knights who blocked before.
The bloodstained armor they wore... these weren’t the sa mansion guards.
The way they held their weapons.
The way they stood in formation.
The way they glared at .
They lacked nothing. These were true veterans.
“Those cursed knights from the Church.”
「Tsk. For knights of the Church to fall to an evil god and beco undead... pitiful.」
Are these the sa people who raided this mansion?
That explains why they didn’t back down, even when they saw the divine power in my mace.
Child blessed by the gods, stand aside before the undead.
Necromancers must be erased from this world.
Refuse to step aside, and we will deem you a heretic.
A heretic? ?
I couldn’t help but laugh at the ridiculousness.
If I’m a heretic, then is there anyone in the Church who isn’t?
Whatever I do, I probably represent the will of the gods more accurately than these guys.
“What the hell are you talking about?♡ Pathetic knights♡ Acting all arrogant when you’ve never even heard the voice of a god♡”
I said it, but I wasn’t entirely sure I could take them down.
They didn’t seem quite as overwhelming as the alchemist I’d faced before, but they weren’t pushovers either.
If it were a one-on-one fight, I could maybe give it a shot, but there were too many of them.
Knights trained in formation don’t fight like individuals.
They beco a single, nightmarish entity.
I’d seen it back when I trained in the Allen family. I knew all too well what knights could do when they banded together.
They could hunt down like I was nothing.
Even if I had the advantage here... this wasn’t going to be easy.
But.
Well.
Backing down wasn’t an option.
I didn’t go through all this trouble, endure all this pain, just to walk away empty-handed.
Sorry, but I’m far too petty to just take the loss and run!
The mont I made my decision and raised my mace, the objects I’d previously scattered across the mansion began floating into the air once again.
“You know, kid, I expected you to run. But you’ve got more guts than I thought. I’ll give you that.”
Hearing Adri’s voice behind , I could only stare at her in disbelief.
This wasn’t supposed to happen.
Adri was still the dungeon’s core.
Even if she retained her power as a boss, this wasn’t sothing I’d ever seen happen before.
This was new.
Since the mont I entered this world, variables had constantly threatened my survival.
They had thrown into crisis after crisis.
And now, for the first ti, one of those variables was actually helping .
“What are you staring at, brat?”
‘You sure talk big for soone I just beat down.’
“Wow, the hag I crushed is still talking big. Must be old age making you delusional.”
Now this... this is going to be fun.
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