As she spoke, a woman with short purple hair stepped slowly out of the shadows deep within the cell. Dark circles ringed her eyes, suggesting she hadn't rested in a long time, and her pupils resembled pools of murky mud.
Flashing an eerie smile, she said, “Whatever, it doesn't matter. Isn't it a good thing that two little lambs delivered themselves right to our door?”
Seeing her, Victor couldn't hold back any longer and asked, “Who on earth are you people?”
At those words, the purple-haired woman raised an eyebrow in surprise. “You... don't know who we are? You don't know what this place is?”
Looking at Victor and David's expressions, she saw they clearly weren't lying. A moment later, she clutched her stomach and burst into laughter. “Haha, hahahaha!
“If Tarik knew his meticulously designed underground labyrinth was cracked by two guys who didn't know a thing, I wonder what kind of funny face he'd make! That's just too hilarious!”
After laughing for a while, the purple-haired woman wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and said, “Sorry, it's been far too long since I was this happy. As a reward, I'll let you die knowing a little more.
“This is the Holy Blessing Society. Under the leadership of His Highness the Saint, we will bring great purification to this city!”
Victor immediately retorted, “Purification? Whatever it is you're trying to do, do you really think the official authorities of the Kingdom of Tarapaca—the people from the Special Service—will let you get away with it?”
The purple-haired woman replied, “The Kingdom of Tarapaca? Didn't a new queen just ascend the throne recently? She definitely has to consolidate her internal administration first. How could she have time to bother with this place? The sky is high and the emperor is far away. If you ask me, right now is the best possible time to strike!
“By the time we wrap everything up and flee far away, Her Majesty the Queen will probably only just be getting the news.
“As for the local Special Service? Just eight squads, eight Rank Fours. Nothing to be afraid of!”
Victor's brow furrowed. He could tell she genuinely wasn't afraid, which made things terrifying. This cult wasn't even afraid of eight Rank Fours?
Seeing Victor's expression, the purple-haired woman grew even more smug. “The pathway we walk is above yours! The power we possess is far beyond your imagination.”
She grinned and said, “We don't even need His Highness the Saint to make a move personally. We Four Great Protectors alone are enough to wipe out those eight Special Service squads.
“Cursed Path of the Earth, 【Tarik】. Although I don't usually like him much, I can't deny that he's strong! He casually created this colossal underground space over ten meters deep and spanning over a thousand meters!
Tons of earth can be easily shaped by him. Both attacking and defending are as effortless as breathing. On top of that, his close-combat capabilities are exceptionally formidable—a body hard as solid rock, immense strength. If anyone assumes he's just a squishy mage and rushes in for melee, that scene would probably be quite entertaining!”
“Tarik...” Victor murmured. Clearly, that was the black-robed man who had just been hunting the three of them down. David added, “Then wouldn't Freya, who was left behind alone with him, be...”
The purple-haired woman suddenly glanced at David, a look of realization dawning on her face. “Oh~ Is that so? No wonder you managed to run all the way here. That guy was busy playing with your other companion?
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. Her name is Freya? A cute young girl, I bet. But by now, she's probably being tortured horribly.”
Shifting briefly to War Freya's perspective: she knew nothing about any protectors, nor did she care how formidable this Tarik was according to others. Right now, her eyes were fixed on the ground beneath her feet to avoid stepping on the corpse and having it stick to her shoes.
War Freya then continued moving forward through the underground labyrinth. As for Freya's main body, with the assistance of Mind Freya who had doubled back, she had likewise entered the state of 【Psychological Invisibility】, and the two made their way toward the exit.
She could leave the rest to War Freya; it was better for the main body to retreat to a safe place first.
Shifting back to Victor's perspective, the purple-haired woman continued, “As for me, Cursed Death Pathway, or more precisely, 【Cursed Death Mage】. I'm a little bit stronger than Tarik. Instead of worrying about that companion of yours, you'd better worry about yourselves.”
At this point, Victor finally understood. This person had spent all that time praising Tarik just to deliver this punchline—using him as a stepping stone to brag and make herself look even more impressive.
Yet there was no denying that her move was quite effective. At the very least, he felt the pressure mounting rapidly. Victor drew the pistol from his waist, swallowing hard.
The purple-haired woman, however, wore a nonchalant expression. With a casual wave of her hand, dark green light flared on the ground both in front of and behind Victor, intricate patterns illuminating. She said, “If the entire underground space is Tarik's domain, then this dungeon is mine!
“Every inch of this space is brimming with my curse power, covered with occult arrays I've drawn. The entire dungeon was originally an altar meant for sacrificing to the gods, but if it's used for combat, it'll do well enough.”
As she said this, the purple-haired woman kept smiling. Clearly, it was far from just ‘doing well enough.’ Indeed, the moment the green light flared across the floor, both Victor and David felt intense discomfort, as if two completely healthy men had suddenly fallen gravely ill.
Their limbs lacked strength, and their heads spun dizzily.
The purple-haired woman also raised her right hand. A ball of dark green light coalesced at her fingertips, radiating a chilling, terrifying aura. Any living creature that saw such concentrated death energy would feel instinctive fear; even though David didn't know what it was, his body began trembling uncontrollably.
Steeling himself, David said, “Victor, aren't you an extraordinary too? Why does the gap look so huge?! Hurry up and use your super luck to take her out!”
Look at her—with a wave of her hand, the whole battlefield shifted, and with a point of her finger, a devastating ultimate move was forming. But what about Victor? His superpower was luck? Can you eat luck?! Can it one-shot someone who obviously looks this terrifying?
Hearing David's words, the purple-haired woman spoke first. “Luck? So you're a Gambler of the Destiny Pathway? Heh, it's useless. Luck may be impressive, but it's not omnipotent. It's not like an extraordinary could appear out of thin air and one-shot me, right?”
...
Rate on N.U.
