~ Chapter 34: Shanteya’s battle ~

[Shenner’s point of view]

 No! No! No! This dungeon maze was all sorts of wrong! It didn’t even have a decent mirror! All of these walls were all wavy and reflecting our images, making me dizzy and confused with each step I took. There were also the traps and monsters roaming around this place that we had to worry about. This Dungeon built too many spike traps and flamethrower traps on these corridors! It was a pain to get past all of them!

“Grrr!” the creepy growl came from behind us.

I took out my dagger and threw it at it. Sister Elovier was in the way, but she managed to dodge just in the nick of time before my cute blade made a nice cut across her cheek. She glared at me, but I didn’t care, she always forgave me, especially since today we were hunting for the bastard who killed my sweet child!

“Watch it!” she scolded me.

“I hate that growl! I so hate it!” I puffed and walked past her to retrieve my dagger.

The little blade managed to get itself stuck in the reflective wall.

“Anyway, we should try going left next… This place is making me dizzy…” Elovier said rubbing her forehead with two fingers.

“Bang your head on the walls, sweet sister! That will help!” I suggested with a giggle.

She glared at me “You are really mad, aren’t you?” she asked.

“Maybe?” I replied with a giggle tilting my head to the left.

I was going to enjoy skinning alive the bastard who killed my own flesh and blood. Shanteya, that swine, that traitorous little imp was going to pay as well, but in a different way!

After retrieving my dagger, I followed Elovier through that idiotic maze, and we turned left, right, right again and then we encountered what could only be described as a message meant to annoy us.

“Congratulations! You are lost!” I shouted after reading the message.

“The Dungeon is mocking us.” growled my sweet sister.

But I had to admit, this Dungeon Lord was intent on getting under our skins and annoying us to the point where we screamed in rage. I already did a couple of times, but this was already the third message we encountered. I was sort of starting to get used to seeing them.

The others were: ‘Aaand… you’re lost, aren’t you?’ and ‘Are you bald yet?’

How dare that Dungeon so much as suggest a beautiful el’doraw like me would ever grow bald! Such a rude dungeon! I was going to carve my name on its crystal corpse and then kick it in a lava pit!

“Let’s try this way…” Elovier said with a sigh, and I was right behind her, thinking about all the delicious ways I was going to make Shanteya and this Dungeon Lord suffer… slowly… and painfully.

“Hihi!”

[Shanteya’s point of view]

 As I stood in these dark, cold corridors, sharpening my daggers and carefully checking the poison I planned on using on my targets, I realized that I haven’t assassinated or murdered anyone for who knew how long? Did I forget how to hone my killing intent or did my blade simply turned dull?

Closing my eyes for a moment, I let my thoughts fly back to the time when Master first picked me up. I was scared, I didn’t know what was going to happen to me… Then I remembered how he took away all my pain, how he smiled so gently at me, how he embraced me in his caring arms. His kisses were always sweet and gentle, pure and perfect. Master never forced himself on me and even when I allowed myself to be used by him like the other men usually did, he refused. He stopped himself, he wanted our embrace to be one of love rather than one of lust and carnal pleasure.

Strange, but what man in his right mind would refuse to bed a willing woman? I thought, but the answer to my question was rather obvious.

This world was filled with many men who would willingly cheat on their wives with the first woman who teased them just a little bit. I should know, for I was one of those women. My duty… or rather my mission was to pull the men away, to make them lower their guard and then stab them in the heart. Thanks to their lust and carnal desires, it was a very easy job for me.

Those men always wanted me undressed and with my legs spread in front of them. They always jumped at me without caring how I felt or how I saw their disgusting act… Even the scars on my body mattered little to them as long as I could offer them the release they so hungrily desired. Thus, it was easy to pull them in my arms. Once their lowered their Magic Armor, my dagger slipped between their ribs and into their heart. With a single twist, they gave their last breath, and my job was done.

Master was the only one who refused to behave like them.

Master was the only man who didn’t take me in his arms with the sole desire to seek pleasure from my naked form.

Master was the only one who treated me like an equal and cared about my feelings, my thoughts, my opinions even when he had no reason to do so. I was his slave, he was my master, but he saw no such connection. Master saw me as a friend and someone he wished to love. He saw me as someone who deserved his gentle and loving embrace no matter how dirty and sullied I believed I was.

Time and time again, each night, each morning, each moment spent alongside Master, I was proven how careful, how caring, how loving, and how generous he could be. The teachers saw his kindness and caring as stupidity or maybe weakness. That’s why when they spoke about harming Master, I didn’t hesitate to threaten their lives. Before they could harm Master, they had to go through me first. I would fight to the death. I would climb up a mountain of poisoned needles if I had to. Whatever it took, I would defend and protect Master from anyone and anything!

Why? Because… I love Master… I love Illsyore… I thought and opened my eyes.

My resolve was set, and my targets were chosen.

The two el’doraw women who came to kill me would end up as the ones being hunted instead.

My blade was ready. My poison was smeared on my daggers. My Magic Armor was up. The boost of strength I received from [Bond of Trust] was there as well. That skill granted me a power I could have never dared to dream of before, but it was one meant to be used ONLY for Master’s sake.

“I’m ready!” I declared.

Master wasn’t around, but I was certain he was somewhere nearby, watching me from above as I was about to dance once more to the song of death.

As I walked through the dark corridors, I used the suit Master enchanted for me, and carefully searched for the two assassins. The traps and monsters in this maze didn’t react to me. The imps and wolves walked by me as if I wasn’t even there. The traps didn’t click when I stepped on them either. It was as if this entire maze recognized me as one of Master's allies. It was an advantage for me. I didn’t have to worry about traps and monsters. My enemies, however, weren’t as fortunate.

Fifteen minutes after the hunt began, I finally found them. They were fighting a bunch of imps that used dire wolves as mounts. They weren’t such a big threat to them, but a Master Rank would certainly find them dangerous and troublesome to say the least. Too many of them could even overwhelm an Emperor Rank. Master definitely didn’t hold back on the difficulty of this maze.

For another ten minutes, I followed them carefully and analyzed their attacks. One was using dual daggers, while the other was using a dagger and sword combination. From what they were saying, one was named Shenner and the other Elovier.

I remembered the rumors about them. They were among the best assassins in the guild. They were born to a lower assassin, but they were trained together with a few others by the Guild Master himself. Once they reached adulthood, they were given as the personal women to an assassin belonging to the Black Shadows. They were the strongest assassins and the Guild Master’s personal guards. Becoming their women or part of their group was the only way to keep the other assassins from using you for their own pleasure.

As far as I remembered, they were at least Emperor Rank, but it didn’t matter for me. With Master’s strength, this maze, and my own resolve, I was already a lower Supreme Rank. I could defeat them.

I’m going to kill them… I thought and then moved in to begin my attack.

From that pack of imps and dire wolves, only three imps remained, which focused on attacking the one called Elovier. She killed the first one with a fast swipe to the chest. In that moment, I jumped at her, dagger pointed at her back. My speed was far greater than what I had before, but I could control it with ease after all the hunting I did in the forest.

“Huh?” she noticed me, but it was too late.

The blade touched her Magic Armor. It was stronger than I anticipated, and my attack went past her chainmail armor. My attack failed. I jumped forward and landed behind the other two imps. She moved her sword towards me, but an imp jumped in the way. The blade of the sword cut the imp in half and then took a swipe at the remaining one who tried to attack her from the side. The imp was decapitated with one blow and in that moment, the one called Shenner tried to stab me from behind. I jumped to the left and avoid the dangerous dagger. I retreated two steps back, always keeping my dagger up and preparing myself for another attack.

“Well, well… Look who we have here! Shanteya the whore!” said Shenner as she turned around and smirked at me.

I ignored her petty insult and kept my focus on both of them.

“This will make things easier for us, however, your speed is a bit of a surprise. Did you use a [Boost] skill?” asked Elovier and pointed her sword at me.

I didn’t answer and kept my guard up. Behind me was a fire trap and a spike trap. In front of me were the two el’doraws. The walls around me were clean and the ceiling was cleared of traps. The two destroyed all of them to make their battle with the imps easier.

“Not answering? Keh! Do you even know who we are? Huh? Do you?” Shenner asked pointing her dagger at me.

“Garbage.” I replied calmly.

She twitched at my insult.

“I’m going to skin you alive!” she threatened me.

“Shanteya, Master has a question for you.” said the one called Elovier.

“He’s not my master anymore.” I replied squinting my eyes at her.

“That’s a very bad joke, you know? No one, and I mean NO ONE leaves the guild!” she threatened me.

“My loyalty remains towards my current Master till the last breath I take.” I declared.

“Keh! Let’s just kill her already!” Shenner urged her sister and shrugged.

“Not yet. Patience, sister!” Elovier glared back at her and then looked at me “Shanteya, Master wants to know why you are still alive.” she asked.

Normally, I should have been dead by now, but I’m still alive after all this time. The curse didn’t work, and they want to know why. I thought as I looked at her and then at her impatient sister.

“Answer me.” she ordered.

I smirked.

“Because YOUR master is a pathetic, impotent, little man.” I taunted them.

“YOU ROTTEN SHIKAK!” shouted Shenner and jumped towards me.

Our daggers clashed, but for me, hers was much slower than mine. I tilted my blade and pushed her deadly weapon away from me. During that moment, I noticed some peculiar runes engraved on the middle of the blade. It was an enchanted weapon.

It’s either a Magic Armor Nullifying Enchantment or a Magic Armor Ignore Enchantment. I thought as I stepped to the side.

With a fast move, I grabbed her by the wrist, pulled her towards me and aimed my other fist at her face. The movement was done in a fraction of a second, and the blow connected. Her Magic Armor suffered some heavy damage, but it wasn’t shattered yet.

The other sister, Elovier, attacked me in that moment. I jumped back to avoid a kick to the stomach and then used my dagger to block a throwing knife aimed at my stomach. When I landed on the ground, I saw the el’doraw sisters rushing towards me; one to the left and the other to the right. They moved slow, but my previous attacks made it clear for me that I had to put a bit more force into my strikes.

Clenching the hilt of my dagger, I rushed towards them. Using speed to my advantage, I deflected Shenner’s enchanted dagger and tilted my body to the side to avoid Elovier’s. Grabbing the latter’s hand, I pulled her towards her sister and stepped back. The two stumbled into each other, but they managed to restore their balance before tumbling down on the ground. I jumped at them and with a high kick, I struck Elovier in the face. She blocked by lifting her hand guard up. My kick was powerful enough to send the el’doraw flying back about two meters.

The two sisters were separated, so I took my dagger and aimed it at Shenner. She tried to stab me as well, but while I dodged hers, mine pierced through. Her armor shattered, and the thin blade pierced her guts.

She grimaced, and I pulled the dagger out, then turned around and aimed for her throat, but I had to jump back. From the corner of my eyes, I saw three throwing knives that were sent flying at me by her sister. I didn’t know if they were laced with poison or enchanted, so I moved out of their way, not taking the chance.

“Khak! That shikak!” cursed Shenner while spitting out blood.

“Sister! Pull back! Something’s…” I didn’t let her finish, I rushed towards her, forcing Elovier to take a stance.

Our daggers connected, pushing mine away from her chest, but it still was close enough to scratch her Magic Armor. I tried to punch her, but she lifted her hand up, blocking my attack.

In that moment, I heard the other one chant a spell. Before she had a chance to finish, I grabbed Elovier by her hand and tossed her towards Shenner. The el’doraws tumbled on the ground, and the chant was interrupted.

I had no idea what sort of spell they were going to use, but I couldn’t take any chances. The only one I knew was [Fireball], but in a combat situation without a vanguard, it took too long to cast.

They are good… I thought.

Shenner tried to stop the bleeding, but my poison was a fast-acting agent that numbed the local area and kept the blood from coagulating. The only way to stop it was to use a specially made antidote. I didn’t doubt the fact that they might have one, however, I wasn’t planning on letting them use it, so I ran towards them with my dagger raised and killing intent focused on them.

“Shenner!” shouted Elovier as she tried to stop me from reaching her sister.

The woman tried to pierce my chest with her sword, but I let it slide past me. I turned and struck her with my elbow in her left side. Her Magic Armor absorbed most of the impact, but she was still pushed out of my way. I didn’t knock her off her feet, but now she could do nothing to stop my assault.

Raising her dagger up, and with a rage-filled expression, Shenner tried to attack me, but I dodged. I moved to the left, ignoring her dagger as it missed me, going straight through my Magic Armor like it wasn’t even there to begin with. Before she could jump away, I pierced her side with my dagger, letting it slip through her ribs and into her lung, thus, stopping her ability to cast spells as well.

“NO!” screamed Elovier when she saw me going behind her sister and pulling the blade out of her chest.

No mercy… I thought as I moved my dagger to her neck and pushed into her throat.

It was a short and fast stab that made an open wound and sliced open her jugular vein. Her red, warm blood gushed out, spilling over her armor and all over the floor. It was a fatal wound from which not even the best of healers could save her, well… except for my Master. He was the only one in the nearby vicinity who could heal such a terrible wound.

Even so, I wasn’t done yet. Under the terrified eyes of her sister, I kicked the dying Shenner into the spike trap next to us. Without her Magic Armor on, she had no way of defending herself against the deadly impalement.

Looking to my left, I saw Elovier, who came rushing at me.

“YOU SHIKAK! HOW DARE YOU! HOW DARE YOU!” she screamed at me, but I felt nothing from seeing her suffering.

The el’doraw was strong. She used her entire might or rather a self-boost.

Did she have a [Boost] crystal on her? I asked myself as we rolled on the ground, trying my best to keep her dagger away from me.

She was furious. She was enraged. Like a mad demon or beast, she tried to kill me and end my life just as I ended her sister’s, but even in that moment, I felt nothing. I was calm. I was focused. I knew my Master was offering me support through traps and possibly even very presence.

“I’ll kill you! I’ll rip you apart!” Elovier kept threatening as she struggled to push the tip of her dagger closer to me, but I didn’t give in.

I feel like I’m toying with her… I thought as I watched her raging at me.

It was strange, but I wasn’t using my full strength yet. There was still more I could bring to the battle, and I had yet to unleash an attack upon her. This was the first time I seriously fought another sapient individual after receiving Illsy’s boost, and I was expecting to encounter a bit of trouble, but for some reason, it felt like sparring against a child.

It’s time to end this. I thought.

With a powerful shove, I threw her off of me. It was strong enough to make her slam into the ceiling and then fall on the ground. I got up at the same time as her.

Elovier prepared her dagger and spat blood on the ground.

Glaring at me, she said “I’m going to kill you and then I’m going to destroy the stupid Dungeon Lord who dared…”

I didn’t let her finish.

For the first time since I started this battle, I felt a bit of anger. In the blink of an eye, I was right next to her and uppercut her with all of my strength. The blow connected to her jaw, shattering her Magic Armor and sending her flying into the ceiling. A loud boom was heard, and a crater formed on top of me.

Spitting blood, Elovier fell on the ground, but before she touched it, I kicked her in the stomach as hard as I could. This blow connected as well, and she was sent flying to the other side of the corridor. The metal wall stopped her advancement, but it got bent and both her flesh and bones suffered terrible damage.

My last move was picking up her sister’s enchanted dagger from the ground and tossing it at her. The blade went straight through her forehead, pinning her on the wall and silencing her for good.

I watched her for a moment to make sure she was dead, but it was very doubtful someone could survive something like that. My enchanted gear told me as well that there were no more life signs around me.

Sitting up straight, I dusted off my clothes and carefully sheathed my dagger. The fight was over. The Broken Doll of Phantom’s Rage assassin guild had won… No, I wasn’t the Broken Doll anymore, I was Illsyore’s Slave and Maid. The one who won was Shanteya Dowesyl, follower of the Godlike Dungeon Lord Illsyore.

“Congratulations, Shanteya.” his gentle voice was heard coming from behind me.

He was back or always had been there, ready to help me if I ever needed to.

I smiled and turned around.

“Thank you, Master!”

[Illsyore’s point of view]

Shanteya’s battle was intense, but far different from what I had expected. There was no carefully laid out plan or advanced spells being used, it was an honest to goodness fight. At those speeds, it was a bit hard to use anything else, but then again, it was logical not to use any long chanted spells when the enemy could either dodge or close in the distance in the blink of an eye. For someone like Nanya and Dankyun, however, things were a bit different. Those two could use short chant or chant-less spells, making their combat strategy a bit more diversified and complex.

Still, there were a few moments when I believed that Shanteya might lose. I was ready to jump in and absorb her before they landed the critical hit. After curing her, she could try again or change her strategy. With my current Magic Energy Regeneration, it was actually a rather good strategy. Fortunately, we didn’t need to use it. Shanteya won and in a rather flashy way too.

That was… amazing! I thought.

“Master, what are you going to do now?” she asked me.

“Oh! First of all, I would appreciate it if you can stay around this place for a bit longer. I’ll fix everything those two girls broke, and once Dankyun and his pets enter this labyrinth, try to take care of everyone who comes your way. You are free to kill them all as you please. I will keep watch over Dankyun and make sure he doesn’t come your way.” I explained to her my plan, but I left the part about me constantly using spells to attack him from around the corner.

“As you wish, Master!” she bowed her head to me respectfully.

After taking a good look around the maze, I noticed there weren’t that many things to fix. The el’doraws pretty much skipped most of the traps and killed any monster they encountered. My repair skills did the job nicely, and I decided to leave Dankyun a gift at the entrance of this level. I picked up their dead bodies and absorbed their weapons and coin purses. That was my loot from this battle. Afterwards, I flew over to the entrance and placed their remains right in the middle of the first corridor leading into the maze.

I also added a small sign on the wall that had the following message written on it: ‘Unfortunately, Dankyun you are so ugly you managed to kill them from a distance. Like, seriously, where did you buy your face from? A garbage dump?’

It was a bit mean and probably lame as well, but I didn’t care. I wanted him to get angry and mad, to know that I wasn’t willing to spare any of his subjects if it meant defending and protecting those close to me. It was about time I acted like a Godlike Dungeon and did as I pleased.

Huh? Act like a Godlike? I thought for a moment as I realized what sort of thoughts were running through my mind in that moment.

Those were thoughts of conquest and abuse of power. They were egoistical and tyrannical, resembling the darkness hidden inside of me.

That’s wrong… you shouldn't use power like this… I thought and shook my head.

It was probably just another weird case of ‘Dungeon instinct’ syndrome, but I had to be careful not to act upon such thoughts, or I might end up hurting those I loved in the process. It was the basic law of cause and effect in all the movies I saw.

That being said, I decided to give Dankyun another warning, just in case I wasn’t clear enough.

‘Those who advance be prepared to forfeit your own lives.’ then right under it, I wrote another ‘Draconian soldiers! Following an incompetent leader like Dankyun isn’t worth your lives! Be smart and leave this place!’

With an approving nod, I checked up on Shanteya and then flew out of the dungeon to check where everyone was. They weren’t that far away from me. Just a bit closer and they would reach the entrance to my dungeon.

How I wished I had my [Infernal Glacier X60] right about now. I mean he’s right over there! I could charge it with 4000 Magic Energy Points and finish off his entire army in one go! Then all would be left would be him… Ugh! Give me my spell back! I groaned and just spawned one simple and random trap in front of them just to annoy them.

Once this whole thing was over, I planned on having a long chat with the darkness inside of me and see what was up with it.

There was the worry that it might be able to hear my thoughts, but its actions and words made me wonder about that. If it was capable of reading my thoughts, then why didn’t it appear earlier?

Something’s up… There’s something that strange guy didn’t tell me… I thought as I looked towards Dankyun’s convoy as it approached the entrance to my dungeon.