"Oh, my," Nyxia smiled, her eyes narrowing with unmistakable intent. "What a late-blooming daughter I have."
"…W-why does that sound ominous?" I took a cautious step back.
"Because it took her four entire months to make you finally succumb to her womanly charm," she replied smoothly, her smile deepening into something dangerous. "For the last True Dragon alive… that is woefully inefficient."
I froze. "…I'm suddenly very afraid of where this is going—but against my better judgment, I'll ask anyway."
"She bears the responsibility of restoring our dwindling population," Nyxia continued calmly, as if discussing the weather. "No—dwindling was too optimistic. Extinct is the correct term."
She tilted her head. "If she were here, I would scold her severely for failing to properly suck you dry of your bodily liq—"
She paused.
"Ahem." She straightened, dignity snapping back into place like a perfectly pressed uniform. "Pardon me. What I meant to say was—she should have 'exhausted' you to the point where standing upright becomes a matter of sheer willpower."
A violent shiver ran down my spine as I stared at her.
Crona clicked her tongue. "Honestly. Back in our day, our contract partner wouldn't be able to walk straight for a week after what we put him through."
"Crona," Lydia warned quietly.
"what? I'm just stating historical facts."
"…I'm suddenly very concerned about dragon educational standards," I muttered.
"And your long-term survivability," Lydia added politely.
"Yeah," I nodded. "That too."
Nyxia smiled again—soft, warm, and utterly merciless. "Do take care of your health, Yuu. My daughter is… persistent. She may be holding herself back in front of you for now, but soon enough…"
She ended her sentence vaguely, with ominous smile plastered on her face—just a little.
I swallowed, "…I regret asking this question."
"And yet," Nyxia said sweetly, "you asked it anyway."
"That," I admitted, "was somehow the most terrifying part."
"Sorry for interrupting your family talk, ladies," Verd cut in gently, "but I'm afraid we don't have the luxury of time with us. We should move to the main topic."
"Oh my, you're right," Nyxia said with a soft laugh. "Young Yuu here is surprisingly easy to talk to. I nearly forgot why we gathered here in the first place."
"Apologies for taking so much of your time, Sir Verd," Lydia added calmly, her tone composed.
"Think nothing of it," Verd replied with a mild smile. "Easing Yuu's worries was really important as well. I should be the one thanking you—Lady Nyxia, Lady Lydia, and Lady Crona."
The three of them inclined their heads in unison, acknowledging his gratitude.
"Alright," Verd said, straightening as he stepped closer to me. "I won't sugarcoat this. What you need to do next will be extremely difficult."
He met my eyes. "You must free your soul from Seth's command."
"And how—pray tell—am I supposed to do that?" I asked, giving a very convincing shrug. "That guy literally turned me into a donut. And the moment I'm back out there, I'm pretty sure that 'lullaby' from his so-called 'lover' is going to start echoing in my head yet again—which, just so we're clear, is about as pleasant and soothing as having your brain sandpapered inside out."
"You need to gain control of his weapon," Verd said plainly.
"…Excuse me?" I frowned.
The sheer stupidity of his request is kind of making me dizzy.
"Don't worry, I'll explain it properly." He continued. "My soul was bound to him for a very long time, because of that—just like him—I have access to fragments of his memories, that's also why I was able to learn a little about his soul manipulation technique."
"So that's why you were able to gather our souls here…" I exhaled slowly, "Then, what kind of suicidal strategy do you have lined up for me?"
"Let's just address the elephant in the room—your brain capacity is extraordinarily powerful," he said without hesitation. "Stronger even than the Emperor of Draconia—the master of these three lovely ladies here—someone once known as the world's strongest wielder of Artificial Divine Artifacts."
I stayed silent and listened.
"He was a man regarded as the pinnacle of human potential," Verd went on. "And yet… I believe your brain capacity surpasses even his. That's why I think you can take control of Seth's weapon through sheer willpower alone—and because fate apparently enjoys throwing impossible tasks at you."
"Am I supposed to laugh at that?" I frowned by his not so pleasant jest.
He chuckled, "I'm sorry, let's continue."
"His weapon," Verd added, "is a Divine Artifact—a genuine one, not an artificial replica."
"Divine Artifact?" I tilted my head. "You lost me."
"As the name suggests," he explained patiently, "a Divine Artifact is a weapon used by the divine—celestians, might be the term you're more familiar with."
"Ah. Celestians" I struck my palm with my fist. "Those deity who supposedly rule this world and revered upon by the church of Celestian—or whatever that is, right?"
"Yes," he nodded. "The Draconia Empire advanced their craftsmanship far enough to replicate their Divine Artifacts—creating what we now call Artificial Divine Artifacts, or A.D.A. for short."
"And here's the important part," he continued. "Only humans can wield A.D.A. No matter how much other races tried to replicate or modify their base and structure, they always failed."
"Why?" I asked.
"Because non-human brainwaves are simply incompatible with them."
"Hm…" I muttered. "So that's why Verdra said humans were once the most feared race in the world."
"Exactly," Verd replied. "Despite lacking magic entirely, humanity became the most feared power on the continent—because they alone could wield weapons that even the gods had to respect."
I frowned. "Okay… but how does ancient Draconian history helping me not to die right now?"
"Because," Verd said calmly, "the stronger one's brain capacity are, the more authority they can draw from an A.D.A. And since it were created using real Divine Artifacts as their conceptual foundation—"
He met my gaze.
"—you may be able to overwrite Seth's authority over his weapon."
"…And without that weapon," I muttered, "he's far less threatening?"
"Precisely."
I narrowed my eyes. "You sound very confident about this. Why?"
"Because you're still able to maintain your sanity—even after that weapon touches you."
"…What do you mean?"
Verd's gaze drifted past me for a brief moment, settling on the three women behind him. There was a softness there—reverence, grief, and something unspoken.
"Let me ask you something," he said quietly. "How do you think Seth managed to take control of the three most powerful beings in the world at the time?"
I remembered how Seth able to control Verdra after he successfully touched my soul.
"…Their master," I answered after a long pause.
"Correct." He nodded. "That weapon allowed Seth to shape it however he pleased—scythe, sword, whip, you name it. Its size, its reach, even its form were mutable. More importantly, he could channel his soul manipulation technique through it, bypassing the need for prolonged contact."
His voice faltered—just slightly.
"…With only the faintest touch, the Emperor of Draconia was instantly overwhelmed by its mental destruction effect."
He clenched his jaw. "And because their souls were bound to his, his Dragon wives were powerless to intervene—" he lowered his gaze. "as his best friend arrived just a little bit too late to save him…"
He closed his eyes, inhaled slowly, then let out a weary sigh—as though reliving something he had tried to bury for centuries.
"You, however, remained sane even after being touched by that Divine Artifact," he continued. "Something even the Emperor—whose mind capacity surpassed nearly all others—could not endure."
"So that's why my brain load keeps spiraling out of control after he stabbed me…" I muttered, staring at the ground.
I looked back up. "If his weapon's really that powerful, he could've trapped me the moment I entered the boss floor, why didn't he do it from the start?"
"Because he wanted you to raise your Lv as high as possible first," Verd replied. "That's why he flooded the battlefield with monsters—and forced you to fight even high-Lv True Dragons."
"…You're aware of the Lv system, Mr. Verd?" I asked. "Verdra said she didn't know about it. I assumed people from your era were the same."
"I didn't really know much about it either," he admitted. "But from what I extracted from Seth's memories—after he managed to send his body double to the surface—it seems the Lv system was only implemented within the last century or so. Long after we sealed him away.
And people from the past—me, Seth, these True Dragons Ladies—cannot increase our Lv through a conventional ways such as killing monster. That's why he wanted to harvest your power at its peak."
"Verdra can Lv up normally, though," I added.
"She formed a contract with you," Verd said softly. "Your souls are connected. That's likely why."
"Makes sense." I nodded, then frowned. "But why did Seth want my power in the first place? He's already absurdly strong, the moment he swapped place with lady Lydia and stabbed me, I instantly realize how outclassed I was."
"He believes an otherworlder held the power to better control and authorized this thing so called 'dungeon,'" Verd explained. "He intends to use that authority to wage his revenge against whatever that was he calls 'Heaven.'"
"And believe it or not," he added with a bitter shrug, "the Dark Elves' sealing magic is still affecting him."
"So he was bluffing when he said the seal was incomplete?"
"Yes—and no." Verd shook his head. "If the seal were truly flawed like he said, he would already be ravaging the surface world. We wouldn't be chatting lightly with each other right now—because if it fully shattered, my soul would vanish as well."
"Then how did he become the dungeon's master?"
"That's why I said he's not completely bluffing either. The seal was indeed, not flawless," Verd sighed. "Over the centuries, it gradually weakened. At one point, it was weak enough that he managed to extract fragments of both his soul and mine, granting him a temporary physical form. That allowed him to seize control of the Dark Elves' research facility—which had, by then, somehow had formed into a dungeon."
I rubbed my chin. "If he could manifest physically, why send a body double? Why orchestrate and manipulate the elves to perform a summoning rituals? Hurriedly raised the Lv of the summoned one—just to reset it back to 1—teleport the clueless otherworlders through that sacrificial altar, and finally sending them to that acursed dungeon. Only to let them die by the hand of monsters before even meeting him? Wouldn't it have been easier to just grab me directly?"
"What a lengthy question you had for me there…" his smile strained. "Alright, I'll answered them one by one."
"He can't leave the chamber where you first met him," he begin. "His true body remains sealed somewhere there—stray too far, and the link sustaining his soul collapses.
And sending a body double consumes immense amount of his energy. At his current state, he can't maintain it for long.
For your last question… like I stated earlier—he cannot leave his current location. And no matter how much effort he puts into it, the coordinates of his teleportation altar can't be altered. Anyone teleported from it is always sent to the first floor.
Hmm, am I missing something…?" He murmured. "Oh, right. As for why your Lv get reset to 1, that sacrificial altar has the ability to directly transfer all of your identifiable power directly to him."
"…I see," I exhaled. "that's why he still needed to extract my skill directly from my body…
So, to summarize our strategy: I have to somehow seize control of his lover—weapon—Divine Artifact—whatever it's called—fight him, and win. All while my brain load is about to max out and I'm bleeding out through a gaping hole in my stomach."
I shrugged. "Sounds easy enough."
"Come on," Verd said dryly. "Couldn't you sound at least a little bit more optimistic?"
"This is me being optimistic."
"…Fair enough." He shook his head. "Then let me motivate you properly—I intended to do this anyway."
He extended his hand. "Give me your hand."
"Oh!" My face lit up. "I recognize this gesture—from Verdra and Jack. You're giving me some skills, right?"
"I have no idea of what you really meant by 'skill', nor who's this Jack might be," Verd replied, unfazed. "But yes—I'm giving you something."
"Hoho… I'm excited."
I took his hand.
A strange energy flowed into me—familiar, yet somewhat heavier than before.
"So what was that?" I asked.
"Most of what remains of my mana."