n

n

n

nNikolai was displeased by her choice. He wanted this damned archer to suffer for fooling him and luring Sergio into the trap of Helnes Family. But, in the beginning, he did not hate her even though she attacked him with a holy arrow.

nHowever, it was different when he saw her with Valkyrie. The reason behind all of his suffering was the careless whims of that woman, who thought she was a god that could not be struck down.

nNikolai wanted to leave Sergio's life forever because he knew that he would keep hurting the alchemist, endangering him even more than in his past life. It was the decision he carefully chose after admitting that he cared about his friend even if they had nothing to do with each other.

nHowever, this lying, deceiving, and scheming mute wanted Valkyrie to use the alchemist. This was not a safe path for him because Valkyrie would discard whoever she could not use. Furthermore, Nikolai knew of her final goal.

n'I can take down the dark being,' gestured the mute with a frown. Nikolai was not satisfied with such an answer. This archer always acted paranoid, cynical, or simply vile for not trusting her.

n

"Your friends wanted to sacrifice you anyway, huh?

" grinned Nikolai, almost laughing.

"You chose to be with people who could not care about you any less.

"

n'…do I know you?'

nThe archer was silent before she gestured, her eyes furrowed. Nikolai did not reply. He had to decide what to do with this archer, and all he could think of ended with death. However, he didn't want her to die.

n

"You cannot be unfair in this dungeon,

" said the spirit as she walked beside Yuxi, who did not realize that a demonic spirit was eyeing her.

"This girl chose to sacrifice herself, and the conditions have been met. She needs to fight against the dark being.

"

n'I am the dungeon master, right?'

n

"I assigned you, Dark Being,

" laughed the spirit.

"I got bored of breaking humans, so I want you to show me something different. These games do not amuse me. So show me something else.

"

n'I will, but this woman needs to live for a while.'

n

"I can tell that you hate her, but why do you insist on leaving her alive?

" the spirit looked Yuxi in the face.

"This is your type of woman, huh? So you want to do nasty things to her first?

"

n'I will kill you,' Nikolai's eyes were cold. 'I will show you why the alchemist deserves to be the winner, so nothing else matters.'

n

"Fine, you can pause this challenge.

"

nThe spirit flew away while Yuxi stared at Nikolai with wariness. Her hands never let go of the bow, and the stench of holy divinity was sickening.

n

"You don't need to fight this monster, human,

" said Nikolai, and Yuxi was confused.

"I have another task for you.

"

n'And what if I refuse?'

n

"The right to challenge this dungeon is not cheap. You need to finish the fifth challenge before being able to leave.

"

n'…what do you want?'

n

"I want you to accompany me,

" smiled Nikolai as he waved his hand, and a different door appeared.

"Your party members already think that you are dead, so we are not in a hurry.

"

nYuxi frowned but followed behind him. Nikolai knew that she did not trust him but simply knew he could have left here to rot instead of taking her anywhere else.

nThe moment the two of them passed through the door, they were in a different room. This was the room Sergio and Valkyrie were trapped inside.

nAs soon as she saw the two people she cared about the most, Yuxi rushed toward them, but she slammed headfirst into an invisible barrier. The mute was thrown, and Nikolai felt no regrets of not warning her.

n

"These two entered my dungeon earlier than you did. I believe you recognize them.

"

n'Let them out,' she gestured with a red forehead. Nikolai grew tired of her gestures, but he did not want to heal her muteness, even though he could.

n

"I gave them a choice. I told them the risk. The man knew better than entering this dungeon, but the woman convinced him to follow her commands.

"

n'Miss Valkyrie is not reckless.'

n

"You know very little of her,

" said Nikolai as he waved his hand. Then, like a movie, the time rewilded inside the room, and he showed Yuxi the riddle he gave them.

n'The answer is simple. Miss Valkyrie should…'

n

"West Church.

"

nThe words her master said made Yuxi pause. Her eyes widened with realization as a grin appeared on Nikolai's face, but he reminded himself to be careful.

n

"You should know that she lied, don't you?

"

n'She must have misremembered it…'

nThe mute tried to defend her master, but even she knew that it was futile to do so. This woman would never forget anything or make such a silly mistake. There was a reason that she lied.

nHowever, Nikolai did not know the reason too. So the alchemist proposed a reasonable hypothesis that the dark being was where the church was not because this was a demonic dungeon.

n

"With her lie, it is established that the dark being is behind the left door. However, the difficult choice is now. Who goes through which door?

"

n'Why do you give such an impossible choice? You are the sick one here.'

n

"This is a challenge,

" smiled Nikolai.

"And this is a demonic dungeon. Valkyrie has realized that we are watching her, and that must be the reason that she lied.

"

nYuxi did not object.

n

"Your master knows that this dungeon must be far from being righteous and that to obtain this power, she needs to be a villain.

"

n'However, even to pass, she will not…'

n

"You know that she will, archer. You know better than anyone that this woman will not stop until she gets what she wants.

"

nNikolai stared at the beautiful face, which hid a ruthless, terrifying character. It was a stroke of luck for him to end in this position and witness the rise of Valkyrie. However, if he ever became her enemy with her awareness, then Nikolai knew that she would not spare him.

nThis beast will dig through his secrets and eat his flesh until nothing is left but bones. Valkyrie used this tactic, this unwavering belief that her cause was right, to behave in this way.

n

"Your master carried a noble pursuit, I admit,

" Nikolai was honest with the archer for the first time.

"I admire her resolve to make the world a better place through this. However, does the outcome justify the means?

"

nYuxi slowly rose from her spot and held her arms together to block the scene. Nikolai knew that it tore her apart to see her master betraying the kindest person she had met.

n

"I know that you want to die,

" a voice broke the silence between them, and it belonged to Valkyrie. The two of them shook, even Nikolai, as they turned toward the scene.

"I can tell by the marks on your skin.

"

n

"When did you…

" Sergio was confused as he backed away with fear.

"Why are you bringing this up now?

"

n'What are they talking about?' her hands were shaking as Yuxi gestured to Nikolai.

n

"The alchemist… is suicidal.

"

nThe words made the archer freeze in place as if it did not make sense. Nikolai gritted his teeth because he knew that it made no sense for this person to hate themselves, but they did, and it hurt that there was no way for him to change that.

n

"It does not matter how I knew, but the reason I am telling you this is because I want you to die for me,

" Valkyrie walked toward the alchemist with a smile.

"I have many ambitions, Sergio. Of course, I treasure you, but this treasure is something I need.

"

n

"The Transformation Arts?

" gulped Sergio as he backed away, his hand reaching out toward his gun.

"Boss, this is not funny.

"

n

"The alchemist refuses to believe that she is betraying him,

" Nikolai stared with wrath.

"However, this sick person does not want to sully her hands with his blood.

"

n

"Aaa…

" shouted Yuxi without any coherent words, only uttering what her vocals allowed her.

n

"Those are exactly it. I need them to save many humans. Are you sure that your life is worth more than what these arts can save?

"

nThis made the alchemist flinch. Nikolai wanted to attack her this instant because she used his image of himself to make him decide the impossible: to sacrifice himself.

n

"I know you don't think like that. I lied earlier about the West Church because I wanted to see if you could tell. You are not a believer of the Trinity, and that gives you less of an advantage in this world.

"

n

"This whore…

"

n

"You failed to see through my lies, revealing how naive you are. Yuxi loves you, but I don't see why anyone would ever feel anything towards you.

"

nNikolai sighed and smiled. In a different timeline, Valkyrie would have been the one to clear this demonic dungeon instead of Hyde. However, she did not know that he was the dungeon master.

n

n