Chapter 58
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 58
Chapter Title: Lesson 13. I Need to See You Kneel - 3
-----------------------------------------------------------------
When he opened his eyes in the dungeon, there was an unfamiliar figure right in front of him.
As Light couldn't move properly while keeping an eye on her.
He desperately wanted to draw his holy sword... but since he also firmly wished to overcome his reliance on it whenever something happened, he simply gripped the spear his friend had given him tightly for now.
"What's your purpose? Why did you follow us in? Are you in league with that Ortima bastard too?"
"...An apology."
She looked around with an expression of wonder, then sensed the spear tip pointed at her and let out a small sigh before replying.
"I have something to apologize to him for."
"Him?"
"Ban Yu-won."
"...What?"
As Light, who had no way of knowing someone had tried to interfere with Ban Yu-won's magic, made a dumbfounded face.
But Aire, his conversation partner, turned her back on him without helping him understand.
"Then I'll be going."
"W-Wait... hold on a second."
"?"
Aire, who had been about to leave naturally, tilted her head at As Light's urgent call and looked back at him.
As Light was the one who wanted to tilt his head.
This was an unknown dungeon where even he, the contractor of the holy sword, couldn't guarantee his life—yet this woman planned to act so boldly on her own!
Though incredulous, As Light pointed to the earring on his ear and said,
"I can track where Ban is with this. Let's go together."
"...You believe what I say?"
"No, that's why you didn't explain the situation and just threw out the main point, knowing I wouldn't believe you right away?!"
As Light finally exploded, but Aire clamped her mouth shut as if even opening it consumed energy and nodded.
There was no way she was going to explain in detail what had happened between her and Ban Yu-won, even on her deathbed!
'This is driving me crazy. When the hell did Ban get tangled up with some elite from a higher dimension like this...'
As Light couldn't figure out what she was thinking at all.
But one thing he realized was that, suspiciously from the start, Ban had quite a few women getting hooked on him!
Lucelle, who had been subtly targeting him from the beginning, went without saying, and even Dokgo Yeon, who had been so solemn when they first met, now fluttered like a spring breeze whenever she was with Ban Yu-won these days.
He too might fall in an instant if he wasn't careful—kindness was absolutely not to be trusted...!
"Anyway, if you have no intention of being hostile to us... you're welcome to travel with me."
"Then lead the way."
Aire spat out those two words and sealed her lips again.
As Light felt like she was staring intently at the earring in his ear, but that lasted only a moment.
At the noble lady's attitude, which showed no interest in him whatsoever and no desire to exchange more words, As Light let out a sigh on instinct.
"Hoo, why has this kind of treatment become more familiar...?"
In the world where he was born, he was at least somewhat loved by everyone.
He had come here bearing the expectations of the entire world...
As Light pursed his lips, feeling like he'd become a side character, and took the lead.
If he could sense magical power, he could intuitively grasp the direction and distance to the other Rebellion members through the earring.
'Can't distinguish who, but two seem together, and one is moving alone. Probably Lucelle sticking to Ban.'
He recalled that the moment they were sucked into the gate that appeared as the dungeon generated, Lucelle had kicked someone away and desperately grabbed onto Ban Yu-won.
Dokgo Yeon was someone As Light didn't need to worry about, so he roughly knew where to go to rendezvous with Ban Yu-won.
The minor issue was the maze walls blocking their path.
"If we loop around this maze, we'll end up getting farther from where Ban is."
"I'll handle it."
Aire, her sky-blue hair fluttering, simply placed her hand on the wall in front of them.
Sky-blue glass orbs, Wizard Orbs matching her hair color, swirled around her, amplifying her magic power.
"No way, you can decompose the maze walls like Ban... Ah."
—Shwaaaaa
As Light forgot his words and gaped.
It wasn't the refined authority like Ban Yu-won's.
Just overwhelming magic power forming ice-element magic.
A portion of the maze wall, which should repel ordinary magic power cleanly with the power of the constellations, froze solid, then shattered into pieces the next moment.
Of course, the fallen fragments gathered with will to reform the wall, but the chill permeating the area suppressed them.
"...It has regenerative power. Hurry."
"Ha."
Beyond the cleanly opened passage, a bronze-skinned monster that had flattened itself to the ground in terror at the absurd display of magic power came into view.
Aire calmly passed by the monster and headed forward, while As Light followed behind in disbelief.
'Our kingdom had quite a few strong mages too... but this level wasn't common.'
Could this woman possibly be stronger than Dokgo Yeon?
She didn't seem like an enemy, but that didn't mean he could fully let his guard down.
As Light considered drawing his holy sword from the air even now, but concluded that even if she had ulterior motives, joining up with the group using her help was better for the moment, so he held back.
"Not going?"
"No, I'm going. Let's go."
As Light, dawdling, turned to see Aire urging him on, felt unnecessarily annoyed and pouted as he replied—
"...I get it now."
"Wh-What?"
Aire, who had been staring at him, suddenly narrowed her eyes and said.
As Light's heart sank.
"High-level sorcery."
He could see a flicker of interest appear on her previously expressionless face.
What high-level sorcery?
Did she notice?
"Sorcery?"
As Light, unaware that his party members had long since figured out his identity, tensed and opened his mouth.
"Let's go."
But she said no more and hurried ahead.
She walked lightly as if stepping daintily, yet her pace was surprisingly quick.
Before long, they reached the opposite wall, and watching Aire freeze it, As Light sighed again.
'I miss Ban.'
To shake off this strange woman, they needed to rendezvous with Ban Yu-won as quickly as possible.
It wasn't that he was depending on him or anything.
Definitely not.
'No one's here.'
Dokgo Yeon let out a faint sigh after checking her surroundings the moment she entered the dungeon.
It would be a lie to say she wasn't worried about the Rebellion members, but worry wasn't a word that suited her well by nature.
She preferred to move her body herself rather than sit and fret over someone, making sure no one had to worry at all.
'Perfect. They must think they can mess with us undetected inside the dungeon...'
She drew the dark silver shortsword at her waist and smiled whitely.
Ban Yu-won had said not to kill him out of concern for the Ortima family's revenge.
But in a sealed dungeon like this, who could figure out who killed whom, no matter who died?
Of course, the Ortima family, who had set this trap so openly, might persecute her and Rebellion even without evidence.
But on the flip side, weren't they the ones targeting their lives with such despicable acts, even though Rebellion had done nothing wrong?
It might actually be less trouble later to kill this young master here.
'Ban Yu-won thinks he's so rational and intellectual, but he's just hesitant and soft-hearted. Ripe and gooey as a sweet persimmon.'
By dragging in other academy students and setting this trap while targeting their lives, Ortima had crossed the line.
But Ban Yu-won was still trying to respond appropriately.
Just like in the previous academy—gathering solid justification and evidence to repel them with just and clean methods.
That proved he had never competed for survival with others before, never harmed anyone for his own goals.
The man, similar to her in many ways, differed from her in that crucial aspect.
'But differences don't matter. For now, it's fine if he stays as he is.'
Dokgo Yeon thought Ban Yu-won's sense of justice was naive, but she also found his immaturity and foolishness endearing.
She even wanted to protect him so he wouldn't change like her.
That was one reason she intended to kill Ortima.
Because she knew if she didn't kill him here, he'd harass them with even dirtier methods.
And that would inevitably change Ban Yu-won's responses—and his mindset.
She didn't like the idea of him changing because of someone other than her.
'Sentimental. He's not even my subordinate.'
She let out a quiet sigh, scattering her thoughts, and spread her senses to locate her target.
In that process, she caught many things, including some unexpected ones.
There was a clear intruder mixed in who was targeting not her, but Ban Yu-won.
Was it dangerous?
Should she go protect him?
After a brief thought, she shook her head.
He wasn't so fragile that she needed to step in personally every time.
'He has his loyal beast by his side too... I'll handle my business.'
She moved.
She slashed the maze walls left and right with her shortsword and advanced through the gaps.
Unlike the tower walls she couldn't cut no matter how hard she tried, these were easy.
It proved with her body that the tower's power far surpassed the constellations' authority.
—Kreek, keeeeh...!
"I'll take your fear."
From the dungeon beasts that cowered before her ferocious aura, unable to charge or flee, she drew the source of the energy she wielded and added it to her steps.
With every step, she annihilated all living things around her, absorbing their magic power and emotions to grow her presence.
Even as she charged straight through the labyrinth, unleashing considerable energy, her power didn't diminish but swelled greater—this was the function of the divine art she had mastered.
"Hm? Didn't expect you'd come from that direction."
Her power's display was bizarre and unconventional, almost as if actively announcing her presence here.
Soon, a massive presence that read it approached her.
Exactly as Dokgo Yeon intended.
"Dokgo Yeon."
As they came close enough to see each other with the naked eye, the opponent spoke.
Staring at the young noble backed by one of the top ten families from the previous dimension with her black eyes etched with a cross, Dokgo Yeon likewise named him.
"Ortima's whelp."
She used polite speech with everyone—a stubborn habit formed in her childhood surrounded only by terrifying adults.
But there were times she didn't.
Like when she intended to kill someone.
"Lucien, Lucien Rune-Palmer Equinas Ortima. Remember well the name of the man who will be your husband."
"A good-for-nothing who's accomplished nothing with his own hands since birth, acting superior atop a shaky scaffold."
Husband? There were limits to ignorance.
Dokgo Yeon snorted and continued slowly.
"When it finally collapses because you can't keep balance, your nose breaks big time."
"No words you won't say before the man who'll be your husband. You need etiquette training."
"Does the prison built on your family's power look sturdy to you?"
Dokgo Yeon's ferocious aura gradually gathered inward.
To an outsider, it might look like she was exhausted from unleashing too much energy consecutively while traversing the dungeon.
Lucien Ortima judged it so as well.
"Even in this state, your spirit remains high. That's why I like you even more."
He had demanded this stamina-draining dungeon structure specifically to sap her strength.
One of Exodus's sponsoring constellations, the Wandering Night Lantern, had faithfully met his requests.
Satisfied with the result, he planned to tell his family to provide some funding to Exodus.
Though they were poor, lowly things rummaging through lower dimensions and plundering...
Though they delusionally dreamed of toppling the tower without knowing their place.
A ruler must know how to use even lowly things for their purpose.
"Hoo..."
As if his delusions were none of her concern, Dokgo Yeon exhaled roughly.
If Ban Yu-won were here, he would instantly realize how foolish Ortima's judgment was.
Because he could clearly read the thick killing intent concentrated throughout her body and the death deepening within it.
"You've made my plan easier."
Like loading a bullet into a gun, Dokgo Yeon sharpened and compressed her energy without waste, smiling as she spoke.
"I prepared to face hundreds, but to think you'd come alone before me."
"Planning to charge? Well, if you don't grasp the meaning of wielding the dungeon-dominating constellation at will, you can bare your teeth like that."
Ortima lightly clapped his hands.
Space warped.
The dungeon's energy began to press down on Dokgo Yeon.
"Then let's start your etiquette training. First, how to use honorifics with your husband."
Ortima raised his hand.
His ability to wield the constellation's power dominating the dungeon's energy and interfere with the world's providence suited him well.
When he failed to overwhelm her with his authority in their previous clash, the method Ortima devised to defeat her was bolstering his authority with external power.
And it seemed quite effective in practice, but—
"Wha...?!"
The moment it touched Dokgo Yeon's body to force her, it all fizzled out before the black energy erupting from within her.
The aura she had shown at school seemed like child's play compared to this dense magic power.
Death.
"You bitch, did you hide your power—?!"
"People don't change."
Dokgo Yeon said, biting back her arrogant smile.
Slash—the shortsword in her hand gleamed black as it cut through the air.
Ortima's outstretched right arm was severed from the shoulder and rolled on the ground.
"Guh, kuh-ha...?!"
"So I have no intention of educating trash like you."
Of course, Dokgo Yeon had no plan to stop there.
Death bloomed in her grasp, roaring silently as it opened its maw.
"Vermin."
She declared with a bewitching laugh.
"Die right here."