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[Gyooooh!]

“You guys don’t like them either.” I muttered to myself as I hit the floor. I jumped up into the air and moved to the monster with Ubiquitous, floating in the empty air. As Ubiquitous had reached the advanced level, I could now stay in the air for a bit with it, increasing my mobility. If I took out the Wings of Jinma like this, maybe I could even fly if I really needed to as a last resort.

My opponent’s level was higher than even 230, overwhelmingly strong compared to the other monsters I had encountered so far. The monsters around it were rushing towards it to fuse. If I let it grow any stronger than this, it would be hard for me to fight it. I rushed forward, flames wreathing around my body. The wing-like Demon’s Claws protruding my shoulders flapped behind me.

[He looks like us.]

[How funny, look at how angry he looks.]

Their whispers annoyed me. These monsters who had corrupted their souls, driven by their irrational hatred and anger to bring down all others down to their level, would dare compare themselves to me? ‘Well, not that it matters. Their attacks do not affect me, anyway.’ I split my Demon’s Claws into several branches, stretching them out to the monster in front of me, cold and fire clashing.

[Kiiii!]

This giant monster’s power was stronger than mine, but I immediately devoured the part of his soul that I had torn off during our clash. Given that and the number of monsters flocking to us, I had no need for food. I embedded some of my Demon’s Claws into my greatsword to strengthen it as the monster’s arm reached me. I jumped to its chest, stabbing my flaming greatsword into its torso.

[This doesn’t feel right…]

Thorns made from my soul sprouted out from the edge of my greatsword, penetrating the monster’s defenses and blooming inside it. Blood began pouring out of the monster, soaking me in gore.

“Wow.” My sword and clothing absorbed most of it, but the blood on my bare skin was not. I could taste it running down my face, laughing as I enjoyed the taste of it. ‘This may be my last day on the Rookie’s Battlefield, but I’m having a blast.’

[Kiaaah!]

The monster seemed to have noticed that if this continued, it wouldn’t last long. It snapped at me with its open mouth, just as it had bitten through the elf’s neck before. I didn’t try to avoid it, projecting Demon’s Claws all over my body; they stuck out of my skin like thorns, making me look like some sort of weird hedgehog. With my greatsword in hand, emitting an enchanting light, I intended to put all the power I had acquired here to good use. I charged straight at the ceiling of the mouth of this monster who had mistaken me for prey.

[Higher Demon’s Claw became Lv10 and evolved into Highest Demon’s Claw. The strength of this skill has become abnormally high, and owners of a weak soul will panic when confronting you. The ability to shape the soul has increased.]

I stayed my sword when there were no more monsters around. The wind, which had been blowing strong up until now, had stopped entirely. The battlefield was completely peaceful, with no trace of battle remaining after I had consumed everything. Looking out at the fields around me, it almost felt as if the battle had all been an illusion. But it wasn’t; traces of it still lingered in my soul and my inventory.

“Hmm.” I examined the red muffler, the only thing that elf had possessed that I had acquired. The reason why I had wanted to keep it was simple; it was the one thing that elf had that I couldn’t appraise.

[Pure-Blood’s Loyalty (812/820 – Defense 480]

That was all I could tell about the muffler. Even though it appeared to be made of simple cloth, the increase it gave to defense was absurd, and the name felt suspicious. I had no intention of wearing it myself, but maybe Rain would like to see it.

“Well, let’s go grab sleeping beauty.” I removed the steel lid I had placed upon the pitfall and looked down. I had made the trap myself, but it was a lot deeper than I had thought. I could see Mireina, somewhat faintly, down in the distance, looking up at me.

“Caesia!” She shouted. She was still alive; thankfully, this had been enough to keep her safe from the monsters and the Madness Noise.

“I can’t get out!” She cried out. I jumped down with a sigh, using Ubiquitous half-way down to land next to her. It was a bit narrow down here, but Mireina immediately burst into tears and hugged me as soon as I landed.

“Caesia, you’re alive! I thought you were dead.”

“Well, if I died, you would’ve been stuck down here, I suppose.”

“No, I was worried about you!” It was a bit annoying to hear that; it was always hard for me to deal with people who worried about me. I tried my best to soothe Mireina before I used Ubiquitous to take us out. We still had a big problem to deal with, unfortunately—namely, the Knights of Elekatra. Sooner or later, they would learn of that elf’s death and send more personnel out to investigate. That would be dangerous for Mireina, even if she hadn’t been directly involved in the battle. If they found out she had a connection with someone who had been interfering with their plans… it wouldn’t end well for her.

“We should talk about what’ll happen from now on.”

“You mean about those scary people?”

They didn’t recognize you as one of their kind. If you aren’t careful of them, you’ll die.” I sighed, deciding I should tell her what I had been thinking about since I had arrived.

“I might not be returning here again.”

“Not returning…?” Mireina’s pupils dilated, her eyes shaking a bit. I was expected that she might be a bit shocked, but this was actually a bit surprising. She reached out and grabbed one of my hands, pulling her face close to mine.

“Are you saying we’ll never meet again?”

“Well, it’s possible. But before that, we have to get out of here and avoid their detection.”

“Why…?” I couldn’t tell her about my evolution. When I clammed up, she became sulky and bowed her head down.

“Yes, I suppose that’s how it is. If it’s Caesia, I suppose that it’s possible.”

“I have no intention of convincing you that I won’t be able to return.”

“No, I believe it.” The words came out quickly.

“After all, you weren’t a Rookie in the first place, so you’ll just stop being a Rookie again, right?”

“…” I almost drew my sword right then and there, but the time I had spent with her stopped me. I knew she held no hostility toward me.

“How…?”

“Well, it’s easy if you just look at you. You feel different from the rest of us.” There was too much I didn’t know for me to guess what had given it away. Maybe it was because I had acted with my heart, hadn’t been suspicious enough, that she had noticed. A bitter laugh came out of me.

“Today, I became sure of it since that person from the Knights of Elakatra was here for you. I thought that they had to know about someone as strong as Caesia.”

“I see…” It occurred to me that Mireina had taken a beating today, too, while I had thought that I had it under control. No… maybe I had been thinking of Mireina as my ally this entire time and been relaxing because I felt like I could rely on her.

“So now, you’re going away.” She gave herself a small nod, a blank expression upon her face. She gave my hand that she had still been holding a squeeze, looking at me and forcing encouragement into her voice.

“Then I’ll leave here somehow too. Let’s meet again outside.”

“What?”

“If you’re not allowed to enter this place, then I have no choice but to leave to meet you, right?” I was a bit taken aback but decided to keep my reaction to myself. If I told her I thought that was absurd, there was no telling how she might react.

“So, you’re not allowed to meet with other girls until I get out there!” Any concern I had was quickly overwhelmed by her.

“A hundred years… hm… no, can you wait about two-hundred years or so?”

“No, I won’t wait.” It wasn’t a joke on my part about the time it would take, not so long for an elf but more than a lifetime for a human. I felt like I should cut this off at the root and refuse her.

“Why?!”

“You’re just saying that you won’t be able to leave.”

Only

“No, I mean it! This is a once in a lifetime thing for us, after all!”

“You said yourself I’m not a Rookie.”

“So?” Faced with Mireina, who was tilting her head as if she were genuinely curious about my line of thinking, I realized I still had some hidden prejudice against the elves. Could I really tell her that feelings for her had arisen in me? No, unless I meant it, nothing I said would provoke a positive reaction. Besides, it would be extremely difficult for her to break free from the Rookie’s Battlefield. I pushed away my thoughts, knowing I had to choose my words carefully.

“I have to go now. Run away if things get too dangerous, you hear me?”

“Hey, wait a second! Answer me before you go!”

I returned to the dungeon quickly, unable to waste any more time. I had to conquer this dungeon through and see the end of it with my own two eyes.

“Where is this?”

…No, I had a job to do before that.