(Today’s still okay, it’s five thousand words.)
The three of them turned without hesitation and sprinted down the wooden corridor they’d come from.
Their footsteps and ragged breaths echoed through the empty passage.
Behind them, the “clang…clang…” of metal crashing continued unabated.
The Steel Angel didn’t seem to be pursuing at full speed right away.
It moved with heavy steps, its twin swords dragging on the ground and scraping out a piercing noise.
Like a predator toying with its prey, it followed at a steady pace.
Its tightly shut eyes made its expression unreadable, but the tear-streaked steel face carried a constant mockery.
They reached a corner.
Glancing back at the Steel Angel’s unseen form, Vellandelle pointed to the left.
They silently ran in that direction.
They rounded the left corner.
Yet only moments later, the giant Steel Angel chose the left without hesitation, its figure appearing steadily at the bend.
Its gaze seemed to pierce the walls, locking firmly onto them.
“It’s useless. She can sense us.”
Veronie looked back.
Her elven instincts brought a suffocating sense of being wrapped in invisible chains.
“Let’s keep running for now. We have no other choice but to hope for a chance to shake it off.”
They passed through an old cell, then squeezed through a narrow ventilation shaft that only allowed one person at a time, finally tumbling into a room piled high with abandoned torture devices.
“Where are we?”
“Execution Site.”
Veronie’s fingertips flickered with firelight, illuminating their surroundings.
They were now in a room filled with discarded instruments of execution, stained with rust and smeared with dark and crimson marks.
Scratches lined the walls, as if capturing the agony of those executed here.
“Look, there’s a piece of paper here.”
Vellandelle turned her head.
There was indeed a piece of paper—more accurately, a crumpled ball.
A sheet with writing had been crushed by someone and tossed into the corner.
Veronie picked it up and unfolded it.
“It’s a Note. It seems related to the Diary we read earlier.”
“Really? Is this the continuation?”
“No.”
Veronie shook her head and began to read:
“Life in the Dungeon is dark and hopeless. Despair festers in such an environment. Many change in just a month, unable to see hope. They lose themselves, perhaps this is what it means to go out of control?”
“Leodo also seemed to be having issues. To prevent losing control, I advised him to keep a Diary to hold onto himself. I hope fewer people lose themselves. Even as a Judicator, I don’t want to be the one to end them with my own hands.”
Though it seemed connected to the previous Diary and suggested the Note’s owner was a Judicator, there wasn’t much more information to glean.
The rest was unknowable.
The group fell silent, each lost in thought.
Veronie wandered the room, searching for more Notes.
As a scholar, she instinctively wanted to unravel the Dungeon’s secrets.
“Clang…”
A sharp sound echoed nearby.
They all looked up, startled that the Steel Angel had found them again so quickly.
Why?
Was it because they’d made noise just now?
But no, Veronie’s voice had been soft.
It shouldn’t have heard.
Vellandelle had just reached the door when she froze.
Through the crack, she could see the Steel Angel’s massive form passing slowly outside.
The sound of metal boots on the corridor floor made their hearts race.
What puzzled Vellandelle was that, despite being able to break down the door at any moment, the Steel Angel merely paused, then continued walking at a deliberate pace, as if offering a chance to escape—only to wait around the next corner.
“This can’t go on.
How does it keep finding us?”
Though the door remained closed, Vellandelle was certain the Steel Angel knew they were inside.
It hadn’t broken in only to toy with them.
“It’s toying with us.
It must have some way of tracking us.”
A thoughtful gleam flickered in Veronie’s emerald eyes.
“We have to find a way to break its lock, or…find something that can restrain it.”
She recalled legends of Steel Judgement, searching for any weaknesses.
Karansa gripped her sword tightly, her breathing unsteady from repeated skirmishes and frantic fleeing.
“We can’t kill it or shake it off. What can we do?”
Vellandelle looked to Veronie, hoping she’d think of something.
Vellandelle knew her own limitations—she wouldn’t figure this out herself.
“He treads death, smiting all sin. He resists suffering, cleaving dawn. He scorns corruption, his heart and soul undying…”
No matter how she thought, there was no solution.
No one had ever faced a Steel Angel before, so there were no records or weaknesses to exploit.
Still, it couldn’t be invincible.
Even a Lich with a phylactery weakened with each death.
Much less an ordinary ancient Angel.
“Wait. When He returns for the last time, He will fall in The Master’s Embrace, and the Master will offer comfort to His most loyal warrior.”
Veronie paused, then her lips twitched, feeling her discovery was useless.
“Veronie, did you find a method?”
“No.”
Faced with Vellandelle’s hopeful eyes, Veronie could only shake her head.
She didn’t want to let Vellandelle down or see her hurt, but she was powerless.
“The number of Steel Judgement’s revivals is limited.
If you kill it enough times, it will die.”
“What! Then that’s it—we just defeat her right here!”
Karansa’s eyes lit up.
She blurted out the words without a second thought.
Vellandelle smiled wryly.
Sister Karansa really should think things through.
“Sister Karansa, you forgot, it’s an Angel. If it revives to true Angel-level, we can’t even escape.”
“I see.”
Karansa nodded awkwardly.
“Um…I think we could try sealing it instead. Even if we can’t kill it, at least we can confine it.”
“Let’s try. It’s our only option right now.”
Veronie nodded, approving Vellandelle’s idea.
Vellandelle carefully pushed open the door and glanced around.
Fortunately, the Steel Angel had only passed by and wasn’t lying in wait.
“Don’t go in front.”
Veronie frowned, pulling Vellandelle back.
Vellandelle looked at her in surprise, not understanding what was wrong.
“What’s wrong?”
She asked in confusion.
Veronie’s lips moved, but she said nothing.
She simply walked ahead of Vellandelle.
“It’s nothing. Just stay behind me.”
Karansa blinked, not seeing the problem, but nodded anyway.
“Yes, Miss Vellandelle looks so young. Just be good and stay behind your elder sister.”
Vellandelle, despite her alluring looks, still appeared more childlike compared to Veronie.
She puffed out her cheeks in protest.
She wasn’t that small!
Even if most of her past-life memories were hazy, she’d lived two lives!
The Steel Angel had possibly gone right at the fork and vanished from sight.
They certainly weren’t going to chase after it.
If it came, they’d try to seal it; if not, so be it.
“If it doesn’t follow, let’s take this way.”
Vellandelle pointed left.
The other two had no objections.
However, whether by fate or by Vellandelle’s words, a piercing cry echoed once more.
“Clang! Clang!”
The giant Steel Angel returned.
Its massive body and four ruined wings unfolded, pressing down on them with overwhelming force.
“It’s here!”
Karansa shouted, quickly stepping in front of them, her Knight Sword shimmering with biting frost.
Veronie spoke quickly to Vellandelle.
“I’ll restrict its movement. You prepare Power of Wind and Snow. Karansa, support and look for a chance to help seal it.”
Before the words faded, the Steel Angel charged.
Twin swords screamed, slicing the air with even more speed and Power than before.
“Life Shackles!”
Brilliant green light spread from beneath Veronie’s feet.
Countless emerald vines, inscribed with the runes of Life Canon, burst from the ground, twining like spirit snakes around the Steel Angel’s legs and arms.
These were not physical vines, but their binding Power was immense, seeking to sap the Angel’s strength, not cause harm.
The Steel Angel’s movements faltered.
Its swings slowed as it shrieked, metal shining as it struggled to break free.
Veronie hadn’t expected it, but the Power of Life Canon truly seemed to work.
“Now!”
She shouted, pale from maintaining the spell.
Vellandelle didn’t hesitate, channeling the Authority of Wind and Snow within her.
She compressed all the cold into a single point.
The air blurred.
A pale current surged forth, like the breath of the Frozen Abyss, racing toward the Angel ensnared by vines.
“Crack…crack…crack…”
The sound of freezing filled the air.
From where the vines held it, the Steel Angel’s heavy metal body quickly iced over in deep blue frost.
The Power of Wind and Snow was like a beast, swallowing the Angel—crawling over its body, coating its wings, and finally sealing its tear-streaked face in ice.
It froze mid-swing, transformed into a massive statue.
“Did it work?”
Karansa gripped her sword, watching the ice statue warily, not daring to relax.
It had frozen the Angel before, but knowing now what it was made her uneasy.
Veronie exhaled, feeling the resistance in the Life Shackles fade beneath the ice.
She nodded, though her gaze remained grim.
“It’s sealed for now. But the Power is fading. Some mechanism inside is fighting to break free.”
Vellandelle panted.
That attack had drained her.
And she could feel, beneath the ice, the Steel Angel’s body burning like a tiny sun, resisting the cold.
“My ice can’t last much longer.
It’s…it’s adapting to the low temperature!”
As if to prove her point, a faint hum came from within the ice.
Cracks crept across the frozen armor.
“Reinforce the seal, or leave now!”
Karansa urged.
Veronie looked around, spotting ancient runes on the stone walls.
“Push it to the wall. We’ll use the structure to trap it. Vellandelle, maintain the ice. Karansa, help me.”
They moved at once.
Vellandelle drew on the Power of Wind and Snow to hold the ice together.
Karansa and Veronie, using Curse Power and magic, heaved the heavy statue toward the runed stone.
Just as they pressed it to the wall—
“Crack!”
A fissure split the shoulder armor.
A shard of ice fell away, exposing glowing red metal beneath.
A finger twitched.
A cold will invaded their minds, tinged with anger.
“God’s messenger does not fear the freeze!”
Without a word, the three met eyes and retreated.
They understood now.
The Steel Angel adapted through repeated attacks, gaining resistance each time.
Now even ice couldn’t stop it.
No point in fighting further.
“Go!”
Veronie shouted, grabbing Vellandelle’s arm.
They fled.
Was it her imagination, or had Vellandelle been running nonstop since entering this Dungeon?
Karansa followed, glancing back at the Steel Angel breaking free.
“Clang! Clang! Clang!”
The metal crashes grew rapid, twice as fast.
The slow, mocking steps became a full-on murderous charge.
The Steel Angel had lost patience.
Its colossal body thundered down the corridor, boots pounding, twin swords dragging sparks along the walls.
The three raced on.
Vellandelle’s lungs burned.
Ahead, their hearts sank.
At the end of the passage, a rusted metal gate blocked the way—a cell.
A dead end.
“No way out.”
Karansa frowned.
Did they have to face the monster directly again?
If it adapted once more, would they survive?
“Squeak.”
Suddenly, a nondescript wooden door to the side slid open a crack.
Inside was utter darkness, deep enough to devour light.
A hoarse voice called out.
It sounded unused, as if speaking for the first time in ages, echoing from the darkness within.
“Come in…quickly!”
As their eyes turned toward the room, the Steel Angel came into view behind them.
It looked agitated now.
Shattered wings spread wide, twin swords raised, the red in its tear-tracks glowing as if about to bleed, murderous intent thick enough to choke.
Veronie narrowed her eyes, sensing something.
Without hesitation, she shoved Vellandelle toward the door.
“Inside!”
She called to Karansa.
Karansa slipped inside with Vellandelle.
Veronie was last.
She dived in, grabbing for the door.
Outside, a frost-coated metal hand slammed into the gap, stopping the door.
The Steel Angel’s tear-streaked face flashed past the opening.
Its shriek nearly shattered their ears.
An invisible Power inside the room clashed with the Steel might outside.
The wood creaked under the strain.
“Bang!”
At last, with a jolt, the door snapped shut by an unnatural force.
The metal arm was forced out.
Angry shouts and the crash of swords followed.
Inside, all was dark and silent.
Only the three’s harsh breathing remained.
Inside the room, Veronie felt clarity return to her mind.
Her longing for Vellandelle faded.
Karansa felt the same.
The light of Life shone from Veronie, brightening every corner.
What she didn’t expect was that their rescuer…was a little girl?
She’d considered the room might be a special space, or that some strange being could block the Steel Angel.
She even expected danger.
But the presence within carried a divinity that dispelled those fears.
A little girl, though?
Vellandelle, too, stared in shock at the child before her.
“Little sister, who are you?”
The girl wore a ragged, filthy dress.
Her golden hair was matted, her bangs long enough to cover her eyes.
No shoes were visible on her feet.
“Me?”
She looked up, her gaze lingering on Vellandelle.
Her voice was hoarse and low, as if it hadn’t been used in ages.
“Just a Lost Girl.”