The Silt Witch
It was do-or-die.
Never in my life did I think I'd be betting my survival on a failed enhancement. The vampires were on the verge of being skewered to death, so drawing aggro was my top priority. I deliberately stomped my feet, making as much noise as possible as I stepped forward.
The reaction was instantaneous.
"A Death Knight?" someone muttered.
One by one, they turned their heads to look at me. Unlike the ordinary folks I'd encountered first, these guys had some backbone; not a single one took a step back. Their level indicators glowed a cautionary orange. To them, I was nothing more than a monster to be subjugated.
It's all up to RNG now.
Whether I lived or died was in the hands of the heavens.
A chilling, pale-blue light slowly swept over the party members.
A knight of death—a Death Knight.
Confirming its presence, the squad members watched Sergei, waiting for his hand signals.
"What's the plan, Captain? Do we keep going, or do we bail?"
A True Ancestor vampire and now a Death Knight. The facts were clear. Lingering here any longer would only put their lives at risk with nothing to show for it.
Without a word, Sergei raised his sword toward the Death Knight.
"He was once a knight. And I, too, wield an old sword that was once ordained."
"And?"
"I must grant him his freedom. That is the way of chivalry."
"You're barely even a knight anymore, Captain. Don't blame us if you die."
"Do not worry. If things look south, I fully intend to run."
No other living presences were detected behind the Death Knight. The vampires were technically alive, but they were essentially incapacitated, sprawled across the floor. Of course, for a human to clash swords with a Death Knight in single combat was practically suicide—but that rule did not apply to Sergei.
Before Sergei, a former knight of the Imperial Royal Guard, a mere Death Knight was nothing to fear.
"I beseech thee, Solari, grant peace to this pitiful soul."
Though they both once wielded the swords of knights, it was his duty to put this creature out of its misery rather than let it serve a Lich.
Wielding a sword in a cramped cave imposed many restrictions. To minimize those limitations, Sergei opted for half-swording, gripping the blade like a short spear. Through countless dungeon raids, half-swording had become his primary style.
Conversely, the tight space would severely hinder the Death Knight.
Hummm—
The faint blue light enveloping his blade flared into a brilliant, sun-like radiance.
Crack!
Suddenly, the solar light vanished.
To be precise, the sword itself shattered like glass, vanishing without a trace. From the tip of the blade down to the pommel, everything was gone.
A mental disruption trap?
Judging by the lingering sensation in his palm, it wasn't an illusion. There was no strange energy in the air, nor any residual trace of mana.
Sergei's bewildered gaze locked onto the Death Knight. Though he couldn't begin to fathom the cause, his instincts screamed that this creature was responsible.
Snapping back to his senses, Sergei drew his shortsword. The moment he did—
Shatter!
"...!"
Once again, the sword burst into fragments, leaving absolutely nothing behind.
An anomaly completely beyond human comprehension had occurred twice in a row.
The heavy clanking of armor drew nearer. Sergei had no choice but to back away from the advancing Death Knight.
...So this is the power of the 7 Abyssal Palaces.
Seven labyrinths that human intellect could never hope to measure. Not all Death Knights were created equal. Foolishly, he had failed to consider the possibility that a Death Knight within the 7 Abyssal Palaces could be an irregular entity.
It was then that a soft chuckle echoed from beneath his feet.
The fallen True Ancestor vampire's crimson eyes curved into crescent moons.
"Foolish human. Do you still not realize who the master of this dungeon is?"
"...What?"
"He is the boss of this dungeon. And you, ignorant of that fact, dared to speak of granting him peace? To challenge him so arrogantly... you have fearlessly walked straight into a dragon's lair."
The Death Knight was the dungeon boss?
In the 7 Abyssal Palaces, of all places?
Then why on earth would the boss appear at the very entrance?
The more Sergei thought, the more questions piled up. But she wouldn't lie just to confuse him. To monsters, a dungeon boss was their absolute king. Even a guardian or a lieutenant pretending to be the boss would be a grave insult to their lord's honor. Knowing that such an impudent lie would mean certain death, no monster would dare claim it—especially not in a dire situation like this.
The Death Knight simply continued his slow, measured advance.
Just watching him made it difficult for Sergei to breathe.
Only now did he realize. That leisurely stride wasn't even a display of confidence. It was closer to a profound, unwavering boredom shown to a mere insect.
They say a cornered rat will bite a cat, but even that desperate struggle required a shred of fighting spirit. Sergei's mind and body were so utterly consumed by terror that he couldn't budge a single inch.
I was... an absolute idiot.
To think he had actually believed he could escape the 7 Abyssal Palaces alive, as if his life had no value. The price of his arrogance would undoubtedly be catastrophic.
"Captain!"
"Get out of there, quickly!"
Sergei snapped his head around.
His squad members had witnessed the entire baffling sequence of events. Yet, without a moment's hesitation, they were rushing toward him.
Having one's eyes well with tears of gratitude was something that only happened in fairy tales. In reality, such camaraderie in this situation meant nothing more than a dog's death.
"Stay back! If you come any closer, we all die! Get out of the dungeon! Run if you want to live!"
His thunderous roar made the squad members halt in their tracks.
With his back turned to them, Sergei drew a dagger from his thigh strap.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Blood splattered with every stab to his own thigh. His legs, which had been trembling like a leaf, finally stopped shaking.
"Listen well! I shall be buried here today! There is no room for more than one in this grave! Go, now!"
The hesitating members squeezed their eyes shut and bolted toward the exit.
Good. At least they listen.
Perhaps lingering regrets held them back, as they glanced behind one last time, but Sergei had already turned around to face his end.
And the Death Knight standing before him...
Wait, why are they treating me like the bad guy here?
I was utterly dumbfounded. Who was the one that broke in first and tried to slaughter the vampires?
Because of that, I had deliberately avoided using physical violence. I only destroyed his weapons, hoping we could talk things out. I even walked slowly so he wouldn't get scared, but they went and spun some wild fantasy in their heads and ended up in this ridiculous state.
Grab!
The man suddenly lunged forward and wrapped his arms around me in a tight embrace. It seemed he was trying to buy time for his comrades to escape.
Ugh, this is disgusting.
Could there be any physical contact more unpleasant than being passionately hugged by another man?
"Gack!"
In a fit of irritation, I shoved him away, sending him flying.
Cough! Cough!
The man crashed into the wall, coughing violently. Honestly, even this didn't completely soothe my anger. I walked over to where he lay, grabbed him by the collar with one hand, and hoisted him up.
"Never return."
Whoosh!
I hurled him toward the entrance, and he vanished into the darkness.
That should get him to screw off. Honestly, I had briefly considered killing him, but decided against it. No matter how pissed I was, murder was a bit much.
"You are truly powerful, Sir..."
It was Isabella's voice, the only one who was relatively intact. But "relatively" was doing a lot of heavy lifting; she was still sprawled on the ground, unable to support her own body.
Though she tried not to show it, Isabella looked utterly dejected.
And I knew exactly why. She had been so hyped up after awakening as a True Ancestor, only to get completely thrashed right out of the gate and nearly die.
Well, I almost died too.
An 8% chance and a 16% chance. Even a math-challenged humanities major like me could see that failure was the only logical outcome. But since it wasn't a 100% guarantee and my life was on the line, I had been absolutely terrified. What if the enhancement actually succeeds? I kept worrying.
In the end, it was a massive relief that the consecutive enhancement failures broke the enemy's will to fight. If he had kept attacking, I might have accidentally succeeded at least once.
But does this mean I'm lucky?
Surviving because of two consecutive failures... I couldn't tell if my luck was good or bad.
But the fact remained: heaven was on my side. A Death Knight with the heavens on his side—how do you stop that?
I knelt before Isabella and extended my hand. Dazed, she took it and pulled herself up.
"Do not be disheartened. The opponent was simply strong."
"...Thank you for your kind words."
To be honest, I hadn't expected the vampires to be this sincere. Even if I was their savior, we had just met and had no real bond. They could have easily turned a blind eye and run. If it were me, I would have prioritized my own survival over any savior.
But they didn't.
Not a single one of them had tried to flee. Especially Isabella, who risked her life to fight a Level 52 opponent—her courage was truly commendable. Though she wasn't of much help, her devotion was crystal clear. When someone is willing to lay down their life to repay a debt, you can't help but acknowledge them.
"In the end, I have incurred yet another debt."
Ah, so that was the real reason she was so down. Indeed, having her life saved twice already, she must have felt incredibly ashamed.
"I have a request. May we remain by your side, at least until we can repay the grace we received today?"
Like hell you can.
I understood her pride, but I had my own circumstances to worry about. Now that a subjugation force had breached this place, I needed to pack up and leave as soon as possible.
But before I could say no, a faint light filtering in from the outside caught the corner of my eye.
Is it dawn already?
Wasting time with the vampires, listening to their cliché backstories, and then dealing with the subjugation force had eaten up the entire night.
Isabella and the other vampires stared at me with wide, sparkling eyes. But rather than their expressions, my gaze drifted to their wounds.
I can't exactly tell people who got hurt because of me to just screw off.
Besides, having a group around was safer than lurking here alone in the dark. I let out a cold sigh and nodded.
"Thank you, Boss!"
"We will make sure to be of use!"
"Just focus on tending to your wounds," I replied, waving my hand dismissively.
Will another subjugation force show up in the meantime?
Maybe I was being overly paranoid. It wasn't exactly common for three different groups to raid a place within two days. It was like getting ganked three times in two minutes in the top lane—pure, unadulterated bad luck.
Please, just leave me alone for a single day.
Fortunately, night fell without any further intrusions.
It was a pity, but it was time to say goodbye to the vampires who had kept me company. It was fun while it lasted, let's never meet again. Just kidding—I'm sure we'd cross paths again if the opportunity arose.
Or so I thought.
"It seems we have another intruder. It is only a single individual, but they are heading straight this way."
It's barely been a few hours, and another bastard is breaking in?
These guys really must think this place is a dungeon.
I seriously needed to get out of here.
Anyway, a single intruder. At first glance, a single person might seem reassuring, but it was their intent that worried me. It wasn't exactly common for a lone person to trek through the forest in the dead of night just to enter a cave.
They surely had a clear, defined purpose, much like the subjugation force.
But there was something far more important I needed to know.
I kept my distance and stared toward the entrance.
Rather than the number of intruders or their intent, their level was what mattered most. I always prepared for the worst-case scenario. And assuming the opponent was overwhelmingly stronger than me, the absolute worst was highly likely to happen.
For a second, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me.
But even after closing and opening them again, the number remained unchanged. Level 72.
I'm screwed—no, stay calm.
Who knew? Maybe they were like the previous guy, heavily reliant on their weapons. As long as I could fail some enhancements, I might be able to resolve this somehow.
However, rising behind that level indicator was a wide-brimmed, pointed hat—the unmistakable symbol of a mage.
Of all things, a mage. A mage, against whom my Enhancement skill was completely useless.
With a Level 72 mage heading straight toward me, what on earth could I possibly do?
Nothing but lament my tragic fate before getting vaporized by an explosion spell.
I held back the vampires who were preparing to confront the uninvited guest and racked my brain. This was far beyond anything they could handle.
This time, I have to resolve this through dialogue.
This is not a dungeon, and I am not a boss. If you kill me, the only thing you'll gain is guilt. I don't have a single shred of hostility toward you, so please just let me live.
I rehearsed all sorts of lines in my head. To avoid any misunderstandings, I even left my greatsword behind. Raising both hands high, I slowly walked forward.
As the distance between us closed, the mage's face came into clear view.
For some reason, her face looked incredibly familiar.
Charlotte?
An outfit that was the textbook definition of a mage. Sharp purple eyes. An appearance that looked exactly like the game's graphics brought to life. Her face was youthful, looking as if she had just reached adulthood, and she was breathtakingly beautiful.
But she's a total psychopath!
Charlotte was an infamous named boss. The ruthless Silt Witch, Charlotte. She was none other than the guardian of a specific floor in the Ten-Tier Abyss—the second-highest ranking dungeon among the 7 Abyssal Palaces.
The strange thing was, the Charlotte I remembered was well over Level 80. Looking at her now, she seemed slightly younger.
Could I have been reincarnated into a past timeline?
No, that didn't matter right now.
While I had endless questions about the timeline and why the Silt Witch was here, finding a way to survive was my absolute priority. I gestured to the vampires to stay back. If we accidentally rubbed her the wrong way, we would all end up as a pile of ashes together.
Before I knew it, Charlotte stopped right in front of me.
The sheer pressure was enough to make even my non-existent balls shrivel up in terror. Her sharp gaze felt as if it were piercing right through my throat.
"Are you perhaps—"
"We can skip the introductions. I will state my business first."
Suddenly?
I didn't know what was happening, but I felt a wave of relief. If it was the Charlotte I knew, it wouldn't have been strange for her to immediately blast me with magic, yet she was giving me a chance to speak. And if she had business, it meant she wanted something.
I would agree to whatever she wanted and get her out of here as quickly as possible. Before I had a heart attack.
"Will you accept me into this dungeon?"
...Excuse me?