The next morning after summoning the devil was... frantic.

“Let’s spar, you ashy bastard.” Hyacinth waved his brand-new sword in the air. It was made of black metal, a thin layer of obsidian coating the hilt.

The devil didn’t respond. In fact, no one had seen him ever since the incident. There was a thin layer of ash spread across the volcanic plains, and Hyacinth had no clue where to start looking.

“Come out, Kvatar. You’re a cowardly bastard that has never won a fight!”

Hyacinth spent the next half hour walking to every corner of the floor, shouting insult after insult. A trail of ifrit followed behind him, laughing at his every move. He whirled around, his blade slashing the air. The ifrit scattered like dust in the wind, afraid to be the next ones on the chopping board.

After yelling at the devil, Hyacinth made it his mission to track down Zagon. Once he found him in a small cave, he yelled much the same. “Fight me, you pidgeon bastard!” To that Zagon replied by flying in the air and not landing, ignoring a slew of insults directed at him this time.

Viv didn’t have time to observe this in detail, though he was vaguely aware of what was going on. All of his short-term projects were done, and now it was time to start planning something big. Unfortunately, it was exceedingly difficult to properly remember higher tier spells. He didn’t dare to throw a temper tantrum - his core was already on the verge of cracking.

Days passed like minutes as Viv obsessively burned rune after rune into the orb. Entire walls were covered in spell formulas, each rune making Lyn’s mind spin. It would be a long time before he was able to cast such spells.

If Viv wasn’t as obsessed, he would have noticed a peculiar pair of adventurers arriving on the third floor. He also would’ve noticed a snake made of ash coiling around Kael’s legs, conversing with them both. As he was now, he missed them leaving minutes later, talking about the strange deal they were offered.

In their own way, everyone was busy, whether it was hatching plans of revenge or desperately trying to become stronger. The peace lasted for a week.

The first to notice something wrong was Artorius. Those closest to him, those that were strong and honourable, bowed to him. They said no words, solemnly leaving the dungeon. Slowly but surely, adventurers trickled out of the dungeon until there were none left. He peered outside, only to see the usual stalls all abandoned, no adventurers or priests in sight.

He informed Blade, and he in return spread it to the rest of his brothers. They were all expecting some sort of command to come from Viv, but no matter how long they waited, nothing came.

It was then that Artorius saw a lone figure walking through the street. A pale white rabbit head was focused on the cave, patches of fur missing. Thick crystalline armour covered the rest of her body, glowing a soft purple. It looked to be carved from a single crystal, with no way of removing it. In her hands, she held a pink crystal sword as thin as glass. It was transparent, pink mist idly floating inside of it, the edge shining with a dangerous pink light.

The most prominent thing about the warrior was two sets of massive wings. The first set was black and purple, a heron's wings that ended in a sharp tip, blinding one’s vision with luminescence. The second set was much larger, a pair of life-like pink butterfly wings that drew in and mesmerised Artorius. Each wing was the size of her body, and the perfectly symmetrical wings flapped every time she moved.

Artorius held his breath as he saw her approach, his heart violently pounding. The pink warrior moved elegantly as if gravity didn't affect her one bit. To a bystander, that’s all that they would see, but to someone who had fought a hundred times, each step was precisely calculated, violent and deadly.

The town was shaded a colour of pink, her aura spreading to every corner. He retreated backwards, raising his sword. It was hopeless - they would all die soon. Despite his hands and legs shaking, he stood still, awaiting the deadly warrior. If they survived, he would be one step closer to mastering aura.

Viv violently snapped out of obsession the second she stepped into his dungeon. It was like a violent hurricane had come knocking at his door, not bothering to conceal itself one bit. Her aura spread throughout the first floor, making all those that saw it relax. It had the opposite effect for Viv, panic spreading through his entire core.

He knew the day would come, but it was too soon. He still hadn’t finished learning the spell, he still hadn’t met with the fairy king. “You will lose Artorius. Try to talk with her, learn about her abilities. Ask her what stage of aura manipulation she has reached. If she has attained soul transformation, then there’s no use in fighting. We’re dead either way.”

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There were six stages of aura known to Viv. He himself had only reached the fifth stage, and even reaching that would make one an S rank adventurer. He tried to judge her soul, but the light was blinding. Instead, he judged her obsession that infused her aura. It was the overwhelming desire to be free.

While observing her soul, he noticed a similarity. It was barely there, but if one looked carefully, they would see a resemblance to another rabbit-mix Viv had in his dungeon. It was only now that Viv remembered Lyla’s talks with Tamiel. Her sister was an inspector, an innocent-sounding name for someone who would decide whether a dungeon lived or not.

“Hyacinth, grab Lyla and bring her to the volcano. Tamiel, go speak with her. Learn everything you can about her sister - what abilities she has, what artefacts she carries, and what obsession she has. Quick!” Viv shouted. He observed how Lilia, the pink storm of death, fought with Artorius.

It was entirely one-sided. She easily side-stepped each of his blows, looking straight into his eyes. “So this is the honourable goblin warrior? You resemble a cornered rat, shivering in fear. If you drop to your knees, I might consider sparing you.” Her voice was ethereal and soft, a contrast to her sharp words.

“Lyn, go to the third floor. Grab Yeri along with you - she’ll make for a nice distraction. Start carving the ritual of the leviathan. Use three of the demonic shards if you have to, we have no time.” Viv said, conjuring magical items out of thin air. Next to Lyn’s feet appeared a charred staff, a purple ring, five blue potions, three scrolls and three dark crystals.

“Chug all the potions and ignite your mana if she approaches. Now go.” Lyn started desperately sprinting. He had never heard his master so frantic.

Viv looked at his mana and cursed. He conjured three more potions, a ring, and a necklace for Zagon to wear. He lacked mana to create a new guardian, and unfortunately, he couldn’t make Kvatar, the devil, a floor boss. He wasn’t a dungeon creature, so Viv couldn’t modify his soul. Perhaps he was foolish to limit the devil only to the third floor, but the contract was written and there was no way to change it.

He cursed himself for not having any spies outside, for being too absorbed with the spell. Hyacinth was too incompetent to be left alone, and Lyla couldn’t be let free. But, that was another matter, entirely dependent on whether he would survive the following hour. Viv split his mind into multiple pieces, intensely observing each of his moving pieces.

“You’re stubborn, and it’s a miracle that a goblin knows aura, not to mention the second stage. But that’s all you are. You’ll perish along with this cursed dungeon.” Lilia said, running her sword through Artorius. It pierced his flesh and the stone wall behind him, encountering no resistance.

With his dying breath, he swung one last time with all of his might. The sword impacted her armour with full force. Moments later, his arm twisted with a sickening crunch, his sword shattering on impact. Lilia scoffed at the goblin, beheading him in a single smooth motion.

“I am supposed to be impartial and judge the dungeon fairly, but how am I supposed to do that when this cursed thing took my pathetic sister away from me? I don’t know if you’ve gained enough sentience, but trust me when I say that I’ll enjoy crushing you.” Lilia laughed, taking to the air. The two wings flapped at different speeds as she sped to the next room faster than anything in the dungeon.

It didn’t take long for her to arrive at the guardian room. She landed on the ground, taking in the sight. “The black demon, the voice of death. More than half of the parties that go to fight you get annihilated. Show me what you’ve got.”

Xeel didn’t hesitate. Listening to Viv’s instructions in his ear, he unleashed an Abyssal Shriek. Shadows and monsters swarmed around Lilia, biting, scratching, trying to bring her down. She gracefully flew through the air, avoiding each and every attack. She did it too fast as if she knew where the shadows would go even before they attacked.

“Precognition. Looks to be weak, only a second. That means she has sixth sense and visualisation. Extreme speed and mobility combined with at least grade five armour that rebounds physical impact. That’s a soul weapon in her hands - too sharp not to be.” Viv’s mind was on fire, analysing each detail. Each step, each flap of her wings, each blink of her eyes - he observed everything, his years of battle experience kicking in.

Lilia fluttered around like a butterfly, circling Xeel. She made shallow cuts across his body. Despite being able to kill him in just seconds, she resembled a hyena more than a rabbit, playing with her food. Viv drove Xeel to his limits, but no matter how hard he tried, Xeel couldn’t touch Lilia, not to mention reveal one of her soul abilities.

“I can see how you would give C rank adventurers trouble, but you’re too weak to kill my sister. I've seen enough. Die.” She suddenly accelerated, streaking through the air. The pink blade cut through Xeel’s head, and then the rest of his body as she twisted mid-air, plunging to the ground.

Viv hadn’t expected Xeel to do much, but such an utter defeat infuriated him. Cold anger and malice flowed through his core. It was a fight for his life, and he would pull out every trick he knew. He shifted his attention to the third floor just in time to hear Lyla speak.

“My sister’s strong, but not S rank strong. If she learned soul transformation, then the entire nation would know. She’s had that soul blade for a while though. She’s probably upper A rank by now, though I haven’t seen her in months.”

Viv’s soul relaxed for just a second, letting out a heavy sigh that he didn’t know he was holding. The odds were against them, and the situation was dire, but as long as she wasn’t S rank, they had a chance.