~ Chapter 37: Breaking the limits ~

[Nanya’s point of view]

 When Dankyun appeared before us in Illsy’s room, I knew I was out of time. My seal was still there, keeping my true power and abilities locked away behind a steel door. There was no room for hesitation, there was no need to ponder about the consequences, I had to be free of that seal, or all of us were going to end up killed by that monster. This was the final battle, our last chance, so I pushed my body, my mind, and my soul to their limits trying to break that stupid seal. Magic lightnings crackled around me, licking the floor and getting too close to Illsy’s body for my own liking. My muscles, bones, and inner organs were starting to hurt thanks to the torrent of Magic Energy flowing through them. Nonetheless, I was well aware that undoing this seal wasn’t supposed to be met with so much effort and pain. This was merely the result of my own stubbornness. Once I had all the Magic Energy I needed inside my body, all I had to do was pull the ribbon off my tail and hope it wouldn’t kill me.

If I didn’t deny my true nature and power for so may years, maybe the unsealing process would have lasted only a few minutes at most, not hours. All I could say was that I was a fool… A fool who continued to believe that I would end up being hated because of who and what I was.

Many adventurers already proved this to be true.

Honestly speaking, I was afraid of that even now. But why? Why did I have to be afraid of others? Of how they saw me?

Loneliness was the answer…

I was afraid of ending up alone, or worse, hunted.

Normal people living on these lands never hold such fears hidden in their hearts, but I did, and it constantly reminded me that the friends I cherished now could always turn their back on me, just like Dankyun did… turning from lover to murderer.

Will Illsy be the same? was what I thought in those moments of intense battle.

The only thing stopping my fears from taking control over my mind was the belief that Illsy wasn’t like the other Dungeon Lords or even like the other men out there. He constantly showed and proved to think differently, to be caring, kind, and gentle to the point of stupidity.

Illsy isn’t Dankyun… He never was… I reminded myself.

Hm, maybe that was why I let Rufus go despite his treason… I couldn’t make Paladinus and Angius turn against him just because he didn’t want to take my side. Maybe fear was what pushed him into a corner and made him pretended as though he didn’t know Illsy’s true variant. Indeed, Rufus showed me through that very simple and painful gesture of his what it meant to be controlled by fear and see Illsy the same as the others, when all he did was constantly place himself in danger for us.

Even if I left the academy as soon as I heard of Dankyun coming here, was that the good choice? Could living in hiding and fear even be called ‘living’?

No…

Well, if there was a moment to step over all of these doubts and fears, it was now! With Dankyun baring his teeth at us, and his blood thirst spreading all around him like an endless sea, I had to let go of everything and maybe just maybe hope for a change, for a miracle.

The battle was intense from the very start. Illsy’s powerful beams of light tried to keep him pinned down. For a Dungeon so young, it was beyond incredible and amazing what he could do. If Illsy had the chance to build 20 or 30 more floors, it would have been enough to stop even an entire party of Supremes. Then again, he relied a bit too much on his traps and not enough on his monsters. Usually, the lower the floor, the stronger the monsters. That was the rule, and they were the bigger threat. Even so, those he spawned were far more powerful than those found at the fourth floor of any dungeon. At the 70th maybe, but definitely not at the fourth. Even then they were far too weak against someone like Dankyun.

Did he really become so strong in the past few decades? I asked myself while watching him fight Illsy.

It was a short fight, unfortunately. He did something, he used a weird Spell Crystal, and before we knew it, the dungeon was gone. All I saw was Dankyun standing in the middle of a charred field and laughing like a madman. He seemed amused by what had happened.

Where are we? Where’s Illsy? I asked myself and turned my head to the left.

From the corners of my eyes, I saw the shine of his green Crystal Body. It was laid on the ground, tilted to the left. Right next to him were Shanteya and Ayuseya, who both were looking rather surprised by where they were.

How could this be? Where are we? I asked myself and then, when I looked to the right, I saw Illsy’s black, metallic cage.

We were back at the academy, or what was left of it after Dankyun’s Supreme attack. Nothing but rubble and ashes could be seen all around us. It wasn’t an illusion, and I was sure that Illsy didn’t move us from where we stood, I would have felt it. What I was witnessing was the outside world, and we were here only because Dankyun used some sort of displacement spell.

Upon a careful scan of the area around us, while Dankyun was having his fit of laughter, I saw the glimpse of a small transparent crystal. That was the proof I needed to confirm the spell he had used. It was an extremely rare one and even Tuberculus used it only once in his entire life.

The Displacement Spell was a very troublesome one that few mages bothered to learn, but if applied in the right place at the right time, it could save countless lives. It was mainly used to infuse empty Spell Crystals and then pass them over to someone strong enough to charge them. A minimum of Emperor Rank was needed for this spell. It took long and could only be used once, making it rather inconvenient for many adventurers.

The Displacement Spell, however, had a very significant and important advantage. In a Supreme Party, once they reached the Dungeon Core and wished to destroy it, but it was heavily protected and very powerful, then by using this spell, they could remove the core itself from that room via teleportation and place it in an empty one.

Three conditions had to be met though…

First, there had to be two identical Displacement Crystals, one in the Dungeon Core room and the other in the room the party wished to transport the Core to. Second, the crystals had to be infused with enough Magic Energy to support the transport. In general, the longer the distance, the more energy had to be stored inside of them. To reach such a distance, the amount of Magic Energy needed was beyond ridiculous, but he wouldn’t have used it unless he considered the off-chance possibility that he would lose. That or he did it just for the heck of it.

Even so, this meant that the only way Illsy could defend himself now was with his Magic Armor, but that was far from enough against someone like Dankyun. We underestimated his strength and speed. I didn’t even think of the possibility that he would use such a Spell Crystal. I thought he would strut over and attempt to bash Illsy with all of his might just to prove himself superior to him… This situation… It was my fault…

“Ah! This was so funny! What a pathetic Dungeon Lord! Kukuku!” laughed the maniac.

My tail whipped the air in annoyance. I looked him in the eyes and with a single pull, I undid the gift from my mother: The Ribbon of Seals.

Thus, my true self, my true nature, my true power was going to be revealed, but at a price…

I felt the energy surging through me, crackling through the air in the form of black lightning, shattering the stones it touched. The aura was thick and dark, revealing my desire to kill, an insatiable, unstoppable desire to slaughter and murder my enemies filled the very core of my soul. My body changed as well, the flesh tearing and reforming as I grew. Claws, sharp teeth, spikes, scales, and black wings formed from the flesh of my body. My tail grew, ending with a spike filled with corrosive venom. Unfortunately, my breasts and bum increased in size as well. My armor would have been ripped apart by my growth if I didn’t immediately use my Godlike creation skill and changed it to my old armor: The Night Guard. Spike plates made out of an enchanted, black metal covered my chest, arms, and legs. Although I was showing quite a bit of skin and cleavage, this armor was designed to both entice the minds of mortals and lead them to their grave. My hands, legs, and tail were the armor and weapons I needed. Sharp, curved blades extended from my fingers, turning them into deadly claws.

Nanya the teacher was gone, and now only Mad Destroyer Nanya Demonarkiar the 2nd was left. A cold-blooded killer, a stalker in the darkness, a beauty without a match, a perfect hunter, that was what and who I was now, a demoness… or rather half of it.

I stood up on my clawed feet, letting out a hiss while doing so and hiding my wings inside my body, I didn't need them now. My black demonic eyes looked at the darkness ahead, at the one called Dankyun, the prey I wished to rip apart and disembowel. The one who tried to disgrace me. The one who cheated me. The one who stole from me. The one… the one who dared harm my husband…

“DANKYUN!” I shouted with a growl.

“Hm? You finally unsealed yourself, Nanya! Now you look just like the ugly monster I remember you to be! The deceitful and pitiful Mad Destroyer, a demoness with black blood! So, what do you… ugh!” he said, but his words didn’t register.

For me, they were only noise tossed in the background.

I didn’t let him finish and jumped at him. The ground below my feet shattered and cracked as more than 1000 points of Strength showed their true worth.

Status… I thought.

[Name]: Mad Destroyer Nanya Demonarkiar the 2nd

[Species]: Half Dungeon/Half Demon

[Race]: Godlike/Demon Queen

[Level]: 369

[Strength]: 1178

[Agility]: 1223

[Intelligence]: 978

[Magic Energy]: 5890

[Magic Energy regeneration]: 45 points per second

What a mess… Such low stats because of that idiotic seal… I thought while looking at those values.

Magic Energy was exceedingly low. The regeneration lost a few points too, and it appeared as though I actually lost a good whole 74 levels. That last bit might have been more due to my inactivity than the seal, but I didn’t deny the possibility either.

And yeah, I may have lied a little bit when I told Illsy I had no idea what he was on about when he spoke of Magic Energy Points. Unfortunately, hiding myself under the disguise of the Godlike Teacher Nanya was more important than being correct and truly helpful to him. It was a good call though because I learned of his true nature, of what sort of man he was. I could tell immediately when he tried to lie to me, but the funny thing was that he never did.

With the Status window in the corner of my mind, I struck the draconian Supreme with my claws. Their sharpness was supposed to cut through anything, but my former sword prevented him from taking any damage when he blocked my attack with it. I growled and kicked him in the right side. The strike connected and sent him flying through the air, about 10 or so meters away from me. I didn’t stop there and as soon as my feet touched the ground, I rushed towards him.

My desire, my aim, my prey, all of them were him.

I wanted to kill him…

“GRAAH!” I launched myself at Dankyun.

He raised his sword. I grabbed it in my claws and struck him with my left foot. He blocked with his right arm. Using the tip of my tail, I tried to pierce his stomach, but his Magic Armor proved to be too thick and his physical armor too sturdy. I only managed to chip away a little bit at it. If the spikes and blades attached to my armor weren’t enchanted to ignore a part of an enemy’s Magic Armor, I might not have been able to do even that. I would have been forced to repeatedly strike his Magic Armor until it shattered.

“Get off!” he shouted and tossed a fireball at me.

I jumped back right at the very last second and as soon as I landed, I began to cast a wind spell infused with 500 Magic Energy Points.

“Just die!” I growled and launched the attack at him.

The two spirals of wind were formed in the palms of my hands. They were shot straight at him, but he blocked the attack with his sword. Although most of the damage was nullified by it, the force was still strong enough to push him back a bit, farther away from Illsy’s core. A fog of black dust was raised between us.

As soon as my attack was over, I focused 1500 Magic Energy points into my body and used [Body Strengthening], raising my [Strength] and [Agility] by another 500 points. [Magic Armor Strengthening] was activated as well and infused with 500 Magic Energy Points. [Fast Reflexes], [Attack Prediction] were also used, lowering my Magic Energy pool even more. I was getting dangerously low, and I was already allowing only 20 Magic Energy Points Regeneration to work towards it, while the remaining amount was used to constantly refill my Magic Armor.

These buffs strained my body a lot. There was a chance I wouldn’t even be able to move for a few days after this because of the pain and slow healing, but I didn’t care, I wanted to kill that bastard. My own dark fog formed around me to make this intent clear, adding a bonus to all of my attacks. I never took it into account because it was an unstable value.

My speed nearly doubled and the power of each of my strikes had greatly increased. I was like blur and struck like a meteor. Dankyun didn’t even have time to react to the first attack, which I managed to land right on the left side of his armor.

I heard a crack. The physical armor was damaged.

Another strike went to his stomach, sending him crashing into the ground. He gasped and raised his sword in the air. It was too sluggish for me right now, and my punch went straight past it and into his chest. His Magic Armor was once again unable to stop my punch, and his chest plate was dented a bit as a result.

He gasped, and I struck him again.

Seven punches landed on him one after another. None of them was blocked. I jumped back and grabbed him by his left leg. I lifted him up and using him as a club, I smashed him into the ground. I smashed him again and then I pierced him with my tail. This time, the crack spread and the material shattered. The poisoned spike went through, stabbing him in the gut. As soon as I felt the warmth of his flesh and blood, I released my corrosive venom inside him, damaging his innards.

“AARGH! YOU SHIKAK!” he shouted and grabbed me by the hair.

Pulling hard, he tossed me off of him, but I landed on my feet.

“HISSS!” I didn’t hesitate and ran at him, ready to split his armor apart.

I thought I had the upper hand in that moment, I thought I was going to finish my revenge, but I was wrong… The bastard pulled something out of his pocket and pointed it at me. By the time I realized it was a Spell Crystal, it was too late. A powerful purifying light was aimed at me, blinding me, and making me stumble on my own feet, tumbling down in front of him.

The debuff decreased all of my stats to half in an instant. Dankyun didn’t even need to call out the attack, I knew what it was. Every being with demonic blood running through their veins knew what it was.

The spell was something only the highest priests on the continent knew how to use. It produced a powerful light attack aimed at what the mortals perceived as darkness or rather demonic magic. While it did require the permission of a god to learn it, in truth, it was actually just an Emperor Rank buff type of magic with a focus on light rather than shadow. Since my body was sensible to the first and highly resistant to the latter, it meant that I could be heavily weakened by it.

If I wasn’t a half dungeon or a demon queen, I might not have even been able to move at all. It could even stop the heart of a lower demon. That sort of thing was used only against demonic armies or undead hordes. To use it all on a single demon was considered both wasteful and illogical. It was an overkill against a lower one, but against powerful demons like me, it only lowered our strength greatly for a short period of time. Dankyun was getting desperate it seemed.

“Ugh!” I groaned as a powerful pain surged through my chest.

Looking down, I saw my own sword pierced between my breasts and going straight through my chest.

“I told you I would kill you, Nanya…” he said with a big grin and twisted his sword.

“AAAH!” I screamed in pain as I felt my rib cage getting ripped apart, and my red blood gushing out from the gaping wound.

“Fear not, demonic swine! Your death shall be seen as a blessing upon these lands.”

We were both bleeding from the wounds we inflicted upon each other, but I was in a worst shape. At least he didn’t stab me right in the heart, but the sharp edge of the blade wasn’t far from it either.

“Y-You will come with me…” I said as I tried to reach for his throat with my clawed hand.

“No.” he slapped my hand away and then pulled the sword out of my chest.

I coughed, and blood flowed from the corners of my mouth. With a powerful kick to my left side, he sent me tumbling on the ground towards Illsy’s Crystal Body. It hurt so badly I wanted to die, but with the last bit of strength I had, I used my claws to scrape the ground and stop myself before I slammed into him. My spikes and claws could go straight through his armor and accidentally damage him.

I stopped at about 6 meters away from him, but it hurt. It hurt so bad…

Clenching my teeth, I tried to get up or at least cast a buff to self-heal.

My stats weren’t looking too good either. The status window showed exactly how bad I was doing.

[Level]: 369

[Strength]: 74

[Agility]: 25

[Intelligence]: 978

[Magic Energy]: 924

[Magic Energy regeneration]: 22.5 points per second

And the points in strength and agility were still going down, Magic Energy as well since my half-dungeon condition forced me to consume it the moment it detected that I suffered from an injury. The same was for my half-demon self. This gaping wound in my chest, however, couldn’t be cured with my current Magic Energy.

Illsy’s [Divine Aura] was also too weak to repair my wounds, but it wasn’t like there was no hope left. If Dankyun somehow vanished from this place, there was a chance for me to survive, but that was highly unlikely.

Curses! Is this how it ends? I thought as I looked through barely opened eyes at Illsy’s green Crystal Body.

Funny, but I can’t see you responsible for this… You tried your best to stop him, didn’t you, Illsy? I thought and then I heard Dankyun stop next to him.

“Time to die.” the draconian said.

“NO!” shouted Ayuseya.

Despite being told that she was weak, despite holding no power against someone like Dankyun, the draconian woman still tried to attack him. I thought she would be knocked back in a moment, but her punch actually landed a hit and sent Dankyun flying a few meters away.

“Ugh!” he groaned, and the princess knelt beside me.

“Nanya! That wound and all of that blood! What do I do? What do I do?” she started to panic.

There’s nothing you can do, you silly girl… I thought, but I was too weak to speak.

She carefully turned me around with my face up, and I saw the crystal tears gathering in the corners of her eyes.

“If only I took those healing classes!” she frowned and started to look around for a place where she could lay me down.

She noticed the small piece of crumbled wall just a few steps away from us and took me there.

Oh yeah! Do I still have that crystal with [Rejuvenation] in it? I asked myself, but the only thing left in the pouch strapped to my left leg was the white one. It must have fallen out somewhere on the ground during my battle.

“Had enough girl talk?” asked Dankyun, catching our attention.

Before facing him, Ayuseya carefully laid me down, with my back leaned to it.

We both looked back at the draconian who calmly walked towards us. I only saw a scratch on his left cheek. The injury I caused him was gone as well. Judging by how he looked, I immediately understood that he used a healing Spell Crystal right before he got attacked by the princess. Although, Ayuseya had the power to scratch a Supreme? Since when?

“Dankyun, you are a monster!”

“Oh my, don’t be so rude, princess.” he sighed and shook his head.

“Ugh… if only…” I tried to stand, but the wound was terrible.

“If only you had your fully unsealed power. Yes! Yes! Blah blah! It wouldn’t have made a difference, you know?” he interrupted me and smirked.

“Don’t think you won’t pay for what you did here…” said Ayuseya, but before she could finish her words, Dankyun dashed towards us.

Because of my lowered stats, I wasn’t able to see his attack, but it wasn’t me he went for. I blinked, and he was right next to me. The monster’s sword, my sword, was stabbed in Ayuseya’s stomach. Warm blood poured out from the wound, staining her clothes and falling on the ground.

“Princess, for the last time, I don’t give a Merion’s tail about it! Your life, your entire existence is useless and always has been! You aren’t worthy of your title, you aren’t worthy of your people! You are garbage! The only reason I wanted you was to get into the royal family. That’s it! You are lower even than a shikak!” he told her and then pulled the blade out of her.

“No… ugh…” she tried to speak and spat out blood. “You are wrong…” she looked up at him and there was still a spark of fire in her eyes.

“What a pathetic and delusional prin… no, draconian slut!” he then laughed.

“Your words mean nothing to me…”

Although she was holding her wound and barely standing, she didn’t give up on the fight.

“Keh! You bore me.” Dankyun declared and attacked her with a powerful and fast strike, he cut off Ayuseya’s right arm from the shoulder.

She clenched her teeth, but didn’t scream from the pain.

“Just die already!” shouted the draconian annoyed and then rushed over and punched her in the stomach, injuring her even further, but with that last strike, she fell unconscious.

“Now, it’s time for you. Hm, no… on second though, I’ll leave you for the last. I did promise you a slow death, after all!” he laughed. “First, this Dungeon Core!” he then looked back towards the green crystal.

“Don’t…” I said, but I clenched my jaw. Begging to this monster would only give him pleasure.

There’s nothing we can do… I thought as the last bits of hope left me.

“GAAAH!” screamed Dankyun as soon as he got within 5 meters of Illsy’s core.

The draconian’s armor was shattered in the blink of an eye.

“What in the?” he growled. “What manner of sorcery is this?!” he said annoyed.

Sitting up, he took out another crystal and replenished his Magic Armor again, but this time, he had two more ready to use just in case.

“Well, it won’t matter in a moment.” he said with a smirk on his lips.

He dashed towards the core, and the aura immediately zapped him again, however, at his speed, he was going to stab Illsy before it could kill him.

No… No! I thought and “N-No…” I coughed, spitting out blood.

“DIE!” Dankyun shouted.

“NO!” this time, it was Shanteya.

She stepped in front of the sword and grabbed it with both of her hands. The tip pierced her armor and stabbed her guts, but it didn’t go through.

“No! NO! NOOO! DANKYUN!” shouted Illsy from somewhere far up in the sky.

It’s too late… I thought.

[Illsyore’s point of view]

 Speed was of the essence in this struggle, but I was limited only to about 40 km/h. I would reach them in ten minutes or so at that speed, but I knew I had to fly faster.

“COME ON!” I shouted and pushed my invisible form towards those blinking life signs, but I didn’t know how to do it.

I couldn’t do it, but I had to fly faster.

“COME ON! FASTER! FASTER!” I screamed.

I don’t know if it worked or my perception was warped a bit, but those ten minutes turned into far less. I reached the edge of the burning forest and entered the field of ashes and smoke where Dankyun’s Supreme Skill struck the ground.

Flying as fast as I could, I finally got a glimpse of what happened while I wasn’t there, and what I saw both shocked me and horrified me at the same time.

“What’s this?” I said in a trembling tone of voice.

Nanya was changed and had a gaping wound in her chest. Ayuseya was on the ground, bleeding and with a hand cut off. And Dankyun… Dankyun was rushing towards my body.

No… I thought.

For a moment, I felt like that was it… That was the moment of my death, but then Shanteya came from behind my body and stopped the sword just as it was about to impale me. It happened so fast, I didn’t even notice her. Unfortunately, I also saw the blood staining her clothes and spilling on the charred ground under her. She was injured… Nanya, Ayuseya, and now Shanteya… The three women I tried to protect and save ended up taken away from me.

“No! NO! NOOO! DANKYUN!” I screamed.

This monster took EVERYTHING FROM ME! I shouted at the darkness.

Anger boiled inside of me. The dark fog poured over my entire territory, and Dankyun continued to be under heavy attack from my [Divine Aura]. I even heard it shatter once, but it quickly restored itself.

“NERU AM UR!” I shouted.

[Warning! Skill Locked!]

I didn’t care. I stared at the message and willed the spell to appear. My anger was pouring on the system as well.

Don’t mess with me! I shouted in my mind.

[War-warni-NG! DON’T! Skill Looocoklocked]

The signs were buzzing like the screen of an old television.

My body cracked. Red veins appeared on it, turning the light I emanated from a pure green to a mixed one of red and green.

“What’s this?” said Dankyun surprised.

His armor shattered again.

“Replenish Magic Energy!” he consumed another crystal “Do you really think you can stop this sword!?” said Dankyun a bit angered.

“NERU AM UR!” I shouted and didn’t care about what the message said, I just poured my magic energy, all of it, into that attacked.

[DON’T! We won’t let you! We won’t let you!]

[Don’t!]

[WAR-NINgi]

[D-D-DON’T]

I DON’T CARE! I shouted at the top of my lungs inside my mind, shattering the message windows before me. I could feel it, the spell was unlocked again and forming around me, selecting Dankyun as the one and only target the Infernal Glacier spikes were supposed to kill.

“DIE!” I shouted.

“Die.” said Dankyun as he used another [Dash] in front of Shanteya.

The blade pierced her body and entered my body. In that moment, my spell vanished, my auras vanished as well, and I was pulled into my crystal body.

[WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! FATAL INJURY DETECTED! WARNING! UNABLE TO HEAL! UNABLE TO HEAL!]

The messages poured down in front of my eyes while my vision was getting blurry and red from Shanteya’s blood.

“I-I’m sorry… Illsy. I failed you…” she said and that was the last thing I heard.

No! No! No! I shouted trying to reach out to her, but everything turned dark around me.

Everything vanished…

All the anger, all the fury I had… they both vanished as well. There was only darkness before me, but just as before, I was the only spec of light there, a soul floating in an ocean of nothingness…

It’s over… They are dead… I thought and tears rushed down my cheeks.

There was only one thing certain now. I was dead, and they were dead as well… There was nothing left that I could do… nothing.

I lost…

Did you? a strange voice was heard coming from within the darkness.