What Noctiluca couldn’t have imagined was that, in front of that golden flame longsword, her once-prized Abyssal Magic Armor was like a piece of white-grade equipment before a divine artifact.
She didn’t use any flashy combat techniques or earth-shattering Mana fluctuations.
That gray girl merely took a step forward and swung her longsword in a casual cross.
With a crisp crack, a cross-shaped split appeared on the chest of Noctiluca’s heavy armor, revealing her fair skin from the outside.
“Come on, don’t tell me it’s going to be a landslide defeat just like that?”
Before Noctiluca could finish her trash talk, and as she planned to retreat to let Eternal Vision absorb more of the girl’s power, the cross-shaped crack began to spread rapidly, like a spiderweb under a time-acceleration spell.
“You’ve got to be kidding me. When I was dueling that guy Gray, his lightning and slashes only managed to chip off a bit of paint from my armor!”
Of course, that was because Abyssal Demon Steel had all-element and physical resistance, but the girl before her seemed to casually deal True Damage.
Two seconds later, Kars’s massive magical armor shattered, turning into countless purple light particles that dissipated into the darkness of Eternal Vision.
Deprived of her armor’s protection, the golden-haired girl was left completely defenseless before that terrifying swordsman.
“Guh!”
Kars instinctively crouched, hugging her head, and closed her eyes tightly, waiting for that sword to cleave her in two and trigger the Teleport Crystal, sending her back to the labyrinth entrance.
But the expected pain of her body being cut never came.
After a long, endless silence, Kars cautiously opened one eye.
The mysterious girl, whose face was obscured by a gray barrier blocking perception, didn’t continue her attack.
Her longsword pointed diagonally at the ground, and the sharp aura that had seemed capable of cutting space itself had faded away.
The two were now only a few feet apart.
Taking this chance, Kars finally got a clear look at the girl’s physique and other details.
“Huh? Wait.”
She blinked, her gaze involuntarily sweeping from top to bottom over the girl’s body, then she looked down at herself.
About 5’3 tall, somewhat slender limbs, and a chest as flat as a board.
A strange sense of camaraderie welled up inside her.
“What’s this all about?”
Kars couldn’t help but grumble inwardly.
“All that intimidation, and the so-called human limit’s body is just a flat little loli too?”
‘Guess being flat is the mark of a true master! That big-breasted dark elf assassin really is on a different path!’
Just as Kars was lost in thought, the mysterious girl suddenly moved.
She didn’t speak, simply raised her hand and pointed at the pitch-black void above, then “looked” at Kars, who was still crouching in a dignified guard position.
Kars blinked, swallowed her saliva, and asked tentatively, “You mean… you want to get out?”
The gray girl gave a slight nod.
“Let you out?”
Kars’s expression shifted.
That strange feeling of familiarity vanished instantly, replaced by deep wariness and caution.
‘Are you kidding me? Outside is Gray and Mammon’s battlefield! If I let a monster like this out, what if she decides to side with Mammon?’
Sure, Gray had some strength, but the girl in front of Kars felt like a being from an entirely different dimension.
If she went out and teamed up with Mammon, Gray wouldn’t stand a chance against the two of them.
Even with the Teleport Crystal, the pain of taking a hit was real, and Kars instinctively didn’t want that guy to get beaten black and blue.
What if he got traumatized and never recovered?
Though it might mean she wouldn’t have to worry about him catching her and doing unspeakable things anymore, wouldn’t it make This Seat look pathetic if her archenemy’s spirit was broken by some magic monster she hated from the labyrinth?
Beating Gray is This Seat’s exclusive privilege, not something for some cheap knock-off or an ally out there to enjoy!
Seemingly reading Kars’s concerns, the mysterious girl tilted her head slightly.
Although Kars couldn’t make out the expression under that gray obscuring her face, she somehow felt the girl was conveying a sense of confusion, like, ‘How could you ask such a stupid question?’
Then, the girl shook her head, sheathed her intimidating golden-blazing longsword, and her “gaze” seemed to pierce through the barrier of Eternal Vision, looking toward a certain direction outside.
Without words, without expression, Kars somehow felt a surprisingly human-like trace of… tenderness?
“You put away your sword… So you mean if you go out, you won’t hurt Gray… Wait, how do you know I’m thinking about Gray? Are you reading my mind?!”
Faced with Kars, who had realized something was wrong and was making a dumbfounded face, the gray girl tilted her head again, giving Kars the illusion that she was looking at her like she was an idiot.
“Tch, since when did This Seat, a Calamity Pillar, feel so defeated by a faceless mute?”
Seeing the girl point at Eternal Vision’s space again, Kars sighed and shook her head helplessly.
Her situation was awkward.
Fighting was out of the question—that girl had blown away her armor with one skill earlier, and Nocturne had been blasted who-knows-where.
If it came to a real fight, she’d probably be sliced into ribbons in under three seconds.
Plus, Kars worried that if she didn’t voluntarily dispel Eternal Vision, this girl might forcibly break through by some means, just like Gray had forcefully torn the space open with his Lightning Element.
That would create a catastrophic Mana turbulence.
If it affected that guy outside…
“Fine, fine, you win. This Seat will let you out, alright!”
Kars gritted her teeth and stood up.
Under the girl’s gaze, she quickly dispelled her Authority while frantically cleaning off the remaining Calamity Pillar aura from herself.
“Let’s get our stories straight, okay? Once we’re out, don’t lay a hand on Gray, and don’t say anything stupid—not that you can talk, anyway.”
“Anyway, all this is that old bastard Mammon’s doing. When you get out, take your revenge. Mammon’s a big demon in a red suit with a monocle. I’m just an Innocent Priest who was dragged in here. Got it?”
Even Kars was surprised she could make demands so brazenly to someone far stronger than herself.
It was as if, deep in her soul, she had some kind of trust in this girl that surpassed all others.
Like trusting herself.
Facing Kars’s muttering, the girl simply stood quietly, the longsword at her waist emitting a faint golden glow, as if urging her to hurry up.
With the Mana supply cut off, the dark space around them receded like a tide.
Kars and the gray girl’s figures reappeared in the BOSS Room hall of the Third Labyrinth.