The moment my mace smashed down on Adri’s face, all the countless objects that had been floating through the mansion clattered to the ground.
I’d seen this pattern about four times now, so this should be the point where she finally goes down.
Just in case, I raised my shield to prepare for any sneak attacks, but Adri didn’t reappear.
Instead, a door leading out of the dungeon appeared, along with a table displaying my rewards.
So that’s it for phase two, I guess.
If I leave the dungeon now, the dungeon raid will be over, but I still haven’t saved Adri.
Which means, there’s still more work to do.
This took longer than I expected.
Searching through every single room while clearing the dungeon naturally took up a lot of time.
If I could’ve skipped through the monsters like in a regular dungeon, this wouldn’t have dragged on for so long.
At this point, it’s not just a matter of whether I’ll get any sleep before the exam, but whether I’ll even make it to the exam hall in time.
I’ve lost track of how long it’s been, but I really hope I at least have time to get back to the dorm and wash up.
「Have you managed to hold out well?」
‘More or less.’
Even if I can’t endure something, my skills force me to hang in there.
Even if I wanted to collapse, I simply can’t.
But honestly, this level of difficulty feels manageable, even without the skills.
I’ve been through similar training over and over again in the Allen household.
Sure, Fosel’s training was brutal, but it wasn’t pointless.
Passing the entrance to the dungeon, I headed toward the place I’d visited the last time I cleared this mansion dungeon.
The iron door was locked tight, but the key Vissy gave me slipped in, and the door opened without resistance.
I’m almost done. Let’s finish this quickly and get some rest.
I was born into a family of necromancers. As a child, I didn’t realize this was anything unusual.
My mother. My father.
Everyone in the family used necromancy, so how could a little girl, just learning to walk, think anything was strange?
When I first learned necromancy and showed my skills, my parents were overjoyed.
They said I had talent. That I would be the one to bring honor to our family.
They hugged me and smiled.
So, I practiced harder, wanting to make my mother and father proud.
Normally, this kind of story would follow a girl who discovers her ideals after venturing out into the world, but unfortunately, I never got the chance to realize mine while I was alive.
Before I could figure it out, the Church’s knights came and burned our family to the ground.
At the time, I was too young to understand what was happening. I was just locked in the basement by my parents.
They promised to come back and get me when it was over.
So I waited.
Living in the basement wasn’t too difficult.
There was water.
There was food.
Aside from the fact that I couldn’t go outside and had to be alone, I was fine.
I was lonely, but I endured.
I kept believing in salvation.
Studying necromancy, hoping that when I grew up, my parents would be proud.
One day.
Two days.
A week.
A month.
There was no twist to the story.
The child born into a necromancer family died alone in that family’s ruins.
That’s all there was to it.
Creak.
The sound of a door opening outside woke Adri from her thoughts.
Huh? I could’ve sworn I just...
Adri sprang to her feet.
The face of the demon who hunted her flashed through her mind.
No matter what attack she tried, it was effortlessly dodged.
Even when cursed, the demon just laughed as if nothing had happened.
That smug grin as it taunted her.
And without hesitation, it had crushed her head.
Is it coming?
What should I do?
Where can I run?
Does running even matter?
If it’s that monster, it’ll chase me no matter where I go, won’t it?
What is that woman?
Adri hated that small girl. She despised her.
But more than anything, she was terrified of her.
That monster who shattered all logic, who made no sense.
As the voices outside grew louder, Adri’s trembling body stiffened as she suddenly remembered where she had seen that face before.
‘Wait.’
Do I... know that monster?
How?
She wasn’t a member of our family.
She’s a being that stands in opposition to necromancers.
So how could I possibly know her?
In the midst of her confusion, Adri’s hand reached up to the ribbon tied in her hair.
This...
‘Is this what you were looking for? Go ahead, take it.’
...
And then it all came back to her.
The events that had occurred after she became a specter.
The days she spent alone in the mansion, now in ruins, with no idea why.
The loneliness that made her long for company, even though everyone who saw her ran away.
And then one day, the appearance of Vissy, who spoke to her.
The girl who destroyed the dungeon in this mansion and gave her the ribbon.
The door burst open, and Adri looked up to see the girl, casually resting a mace on her shoulder, smirking.
“Lucy...”
Vissy had called her that, hadn’t she?
It seemed like the girl hadn’t expected to be addressed by name.
She raised an eyebrow before her lips curled into a smug grin.
“Hmph. What a surprise. I thought you’d long since lost your mind, old ghost hag.”
“Who are you calling a hag?”
Adri scowled, clearly unhappy with the title.
It was a familiar expression.
The grumbling, bad-tempered girl.
And yet, she was once an exceptional necromancer who taught players the art of necromancy.
Adri.
I’d always thought I’d run into her again at some point, but I didn’t expect it to be this soon.
Guess I have our petty dark god to thank for that.
‘Do you remember everything?’
“Lonely old hag. Do you remember now?”
“Who are you calling an old hag, you damn brat?”
I could tell she was furious, but come on, by age alone, she’s practically a grandma.
Even if you added up both my past and present lives, I’d still be younger than her. She’s old enough to deserve the title.
And besides, what could I do? The Mesugaki skill makes me call her that.
‘Let’s go. Vissy’s waiting for you.’
“Stop grumbling and let’s go, hag. Your granddaughter’s waiting.”
“Ugh... Now I get why Vissy doesn’t like you.”
Adri sighed deeply, muttering to herself. Guess she’d been complaining about me plenty when she wasn’t around.
Not surprising. It’s hard to find someone who’s suffered as much as Vissy has because of me.
“Hey, kid.”
‘Yeah?’
“What’s up, lonely old hag?”
“What happened here today... Don’t tell Vissy. Especially not about me.”
At first, her request might have seemed odd, but I knew why Adri was asking.
She puts on a front when she’s around Vissy.
To be more specific, before becoming the dungeon’s core, she had no memories of her life and acted innocent.
And even now, after regaining all her memories, she still wanted to maintain that innocent image in front of Vissy.
Because she genuinely considered Vissy a friend.
‘Got it.’
“Fine. Since you’re so desperate, I’ll do you that favor, old hag.”
“I’m not desperate! You little... ugh...”
She made a motion as if pounding on her chest, looking exasperated.
If she weren’t a ghost, I’d honestly worry about her blood pressure at this point.
After our brief conversation, I led Adri out of the room.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is freёwebnovel.com.
She was no longer the dungeon boss.
Now that she had regained all of her memories, she was just a grumbling ghost who cared deeply about her one and only friend.
All that was left was to get her out of the dungeon and reunite her with Vissy.
Then I could finally take my exam.
As Adri continued to grumble about being called a hag, we finally reached the front entrance.
I didn’t need to wonder who it was.
There was only one person petty enough to mess with me at a time like this.
[Agra is watching you.]
Oh, hello there, petty dark god.
I’ve been waiting for you to show up.
The stalker who had been watching me raid dungeons around the Academy every single day, and now decides to make his move at the very end?
Honestly, there’s not a single decent god out there, is there?
Oops. Except Armathi this time—he actually did his job for once.
I almost lumped him in out of habit.
Anyway, evil gods are always the worst.
As soon as the message appeared, the exit and the rewards table disappeared. At the same time, a group of armored undead emerged at the mansion’s front door.
They were nothing like the knights who blocked me before.
The bloodstained armor they wore... these weren’t the same mansion guards.
The way they held their weapons.
The way they stood in formation.
The way they glared at me.
They lacked nothing. These were true veterans.
“Those cursed knights from the Church.”
「Tsk. For knights of the Church to fall to an evil god and become undead... pitiful.」
Are these the same people who raided this mansion?
That explains why they didn’t back down, even when they saw the divine power in my mace.
A heretic? Me?
I couldn’t help but laugh at the ridiculousness.
If I’m a heretic, then is there anyone in the Church who isn’t?
Whatever I do, I probably represent the will of the gods more accurately than these guys.
“What the hell are you talking about?♡ Pathetic knights♡ Acting all arrogant when you’ve never even heard the voice of a god♡”
I said it, but I wasn’t entirely sure I could take them down.
They didn’t seem quite as overwhelming as the alchemist I’d faced before, but they weren’t pushovers either.
If it were a one-on-one fight, I could maybe give it a shot, but there were too many of them.
Knights trained in formation don’t fight like individuals.
They become a single, nightmarish entity.
I’d seen it back when I trained in the Allen family. I knew all too well what knights could do when they banded together.
They could hunt me down like I was nothing.
Even if I had the advantage here... this wasn’t going to be easy.
But.
Well.
Backing down wasn’t an option.
I didn’t go through all this trouble, endure all this pain, just to walk away empty-handed.
Sorry, but I’m far too petty to just take the loss and run!
The moment I made my decision and raised my mace, the objects I’d previously scattered across the mansion began floating into the air once again.
“You know, kid, I expected you to run. But you’ve got more guts than I thought. I’ll give you that.”
Hearing Adri’s voice behind me, I could only stare at her in disbelief.
This wasn’t supposed to happen.
Adri was still the dungeon’s core.
Even if she retained her power as a boss, this wasn’t something I’d ever seen happen before.
This was new.
Since the moment I entered this world, variables had constantly threatened my survival.
They had thrown me into crisis after crisis.
And now, for the first time, one of those variables was actually helping me.
“What are you staring at, brat?”
‘You sure talk big for someone I just beat down.’
“Wow, the hag I crushed is still talking big. Must be old age making you delusional.”
Now this... this is going to be fun.