"Whew—finally... back home safe."
When Greg stepped officially into the dungeon and felt his talent start working, he experienced an unprecedented sense of security.
Although the surface world was filled with sunshine, delicious food, and crowds of people, his -10 Luck stat made him feel that this dark, damp place felt much more like home.
"I wonder when Silvia fell for me..."
Recalling Silvia's sudden, bold moves in the Central Courtyard that afternoon, Greg still felt his throat go dry.
He walked along the familiar path toward the campsite while thinking back with lingering fear.
The situation at the time had truly caught him off guard.
Fortunately, driven by his unwavering belief in dreaming of a harem, he had forcefully suppressed his instincts with reason and barely managed to deal with the scene.
Now that he had cooled down a bit more, he was all the more glad for his wise decision at that moment.
Because on his way back, he had suddenly remembered that Excalibur—the essential partner meant to accompany him as he dominated this otherworldly realm—was currently wrapped in a holy light special effect emitting a steady, sacred white glow like an LED strip due to Divine Punishment!
So until he found the current Saintess of the Church of Light to resolve this issue, he couldn't send Excalibur out on any cave exploration missions.
This was simply a disgrace to transmigrators everywhere!
Greg roared in sorrowful indignation in his heart.
He didn't even dare imagine if he had acted on impulse that afternoon, swept away by Silvia's direct assault, and followed the atmosphere to bring her back to camp. In the heat of passion, with a steamy mood and sparks flying, just as he was preparing to mount his steed and show off his transmigrator prowess, he looked down—
Shing!
A holy sword, sacred and dazzling, looking capable of purifying all evil desires, suddenly unsheathed!
That image...
"Hss—!"
Greg sucked in a sharp breath, stumbling on his feet and nearly tripping over a protruding rock on the ground.
He felt as if his toes, driven by overwhelming embarrassment and a premonition of total social death, had curled hard enough inside his boots to carve out a fan art illustration of an adult Silver Wolf packed with artistic tension!
He shook his head vigorously, as if trying to banish that horrifying fantasy from his mind.
Now was not the time to indulge in lingering fear and embarrassment.
"At least I passed Silvia's hurdle for now, but... it's still too early to rest easy."
Greg reined in his thoughts, his expression turning serious and solemn once more.
He looked up in the direction of the campsite, quickening his pace.
Conquering the second layer, increasing his strength, dealing with the Headmistress, guarding against Catherine, managing his relationships with Vivian and Lilith...
A huge pile of trouble was still stacked up waiting for him to handle. It really was a long and arduous path...
Carrying these complex and heavy thoughts, Greg finally passed through the last patch of low stalagmites and spotted his tent, which looked exceptionally welcoming in the dim light.
As soon as he entered the campsite, Greg immediately saw Nightmare sitting on several stone tablets.
She remained in her mysterious black cat form. In the dim underground environment, her fur seemed to absorb all light, leaving only her eerie green eyes flickering with an inhuman, mysterious luster in the shadows.
She sat leisurely atop those stone tablets, her head bowed as she unhurriedly licked the fur on her front paw, like a noble lady enjoying an afternoon of leisure in her palace garden.
"Your efficiency... is genuinely scary."
Greg remarked with complex emotion:
"It's only been a day, and you found two more... In your eyes, this dungeon must be like your back garden where you can unearth whatever you want."
He paused, unable to hold back the doubt in his heart:
"By the way, Hajimi, what on earth do you plan to do with so many stone tablets? Play jigsaw puzzle with them? Don't tell me you intend to feed them all to me like last time?"
Nightmare finally stopped licking her paw and raised her eerie green eyes to look at Greg. Her gaze was calm and rippless, yet it gave Greg an inexplicable... bad omen.
"To feed thee, of course. And all in a single dose."
Nightmare's voice was ethereal as always, yet carried a matter-of-fact calmness.
Greg: "...???"
The expression on his face froze instantly.
"Holy crap! You've got to be kidding me?!"
He pointed at the pile of stone tablets exuding an ominous aura, then at his own nose, his expression colorful.
"Eat that much?! Are you trying to murder me?! You know swallowing just that tiny bit of the Mother of Depravity's power last time left me passed out for a day and a night!"
In Greg's mind, the terrible sensation from last time—where forcing down the stone tablet and Breath of Slumber made his soul feel repeatedly impaled by countless cold, slimy tentacles—involuntarily surfaced once more.
He never wanted to experience that feeling a second time, let alone in a doubled dose!
Watching Greg's posture as if facing a deadly enemy, a hint of amusement seemed to flicker in Nightmare's eerie green eyes.
She swished her tail and said:
"Do not be so tense, my other half. What I said just now... well, indeed was a joke. Hm, roughly... a half-and-half kind of joke."
Greg: "...Half-and-half?! Meaning half of you is dead serious?!! At the very least, you should let me absorb it gradually in batches!"
He felt his blood pressure soaring. Could this unreliable goddess be reliable for once?!
Stepping with graceful catlike strides, Nightmare leapt lightly off the stone tablets, walked over to Greg, and gently brushed the tip of her tail against his calf.
The gesture made Greg subconsciously take half a step back.
"There, there. Thou truly needest not worry overmuch."
A soothing touch entered Nightmare's voice:
"Though I know not the exact reason, thou seemest... indeed to possess a strange... adaptability or perhaps immunity toward their power."
"Were it not so, for thy action of forcibly consuming that tiny fragment of power last time, the price paid would never have been as simple as losing consciousness for a day and a night."
She paused, her eerie green eyes looking earnestly at Greg as she continued to explain:
"Furthermore, the boosting effect of the same external force upon thee rapidly diminishes with repeated absorption, much like developing resistance to medicine."
"Thus, the amount thou absorbeth at once can only increase, not decrease. However, by my reckoning, absorbing the power within these stone tablets all at once will by no means trigger a backlash that causes fainting like before. At most, thou wilt merely experience some discomfort."
Listening to Nightmare's analysis, Greg's tense nerves relaxed slightly, though his brows remained knitted tight.
He stared hard at the pile of stone tablets, then looked back at Nightmare, struggling intensely within.
If absorbing it this time would still leave him unconscious, he had no intention of taking the risk. After all, last time he had no choice, but this time he did.
However, if merely enduring some discomfort could boost his strength, he was still willing to give it a try.
Finally, Greg took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Raising his head, his eyes regained their resolve as he looked at Nightmare and nodded slowly.
"Alright."
His voice was a bit dry. "I'll trust you this once, but..."
He stared into Nightmare's eerie green eyes, his tone becoming unusually grave.
"Don't lie to me. If I end up passed out like a dead dog after absorbing these, I won't believe another word you say, no matter what it is!"
Rate on N.U.
