Lenaya's body was pale, drained of life. She knew her time was near. Summoning all her strength, she tried to stand but could only manage to get onto her knees.

Just a few meters to the left, she glimpsed Redgar, the love of her life. With a determined breath, she began to crawl, every movement an agonizing effort. She had to see his face one more time.

She wasn't sad about dying; what broke her heart was knowing she'd never see him again, to never hold him, to never touch him. She remembered those nights when they talked until they fell asleep, when they held each other as if nothing else mattered. More than anything, she felt an overwhelming loneliness.

Her hands began to change, twisting and enlarging grotesquely. She growled and cursed in despair, but she still pushed forward, desperate to see his face one last time. It was the only thing that mattered to her now.

“Redgar… Redgar,” she whispered urgently, her voice trembling with desperation as she called out to the last person she wanted to see.

The slick ice allowed her to slide forward, her movements labored and slow. She felt the last of her strength slipping away with each pull of her body. Inch by agonizing inch, she drew closer until, finally, his face came into view.

Tears streamed down her cheeks as she gently caressed his face with her mangled arm, the weight of impending loss heavy in her heart.

“Redgar… I want to hear your voice…” she muttered as sweetly as she could, usually he would respond immediately when she did it that way.

The echoing footsteps reverberated, their weight both familiar and comforting, stirring memories from the depths of her consciousness. Despite teetering on the edge of awareness, she couldn't ignore the distinct cadence. It was a stride she knew well, one that often prompted her to redirect her offensive magic when in battle.

“Lenaya... I'm sorry... I was too late…” another familiar voice whispered, heavy with guilt and frustration, seeming to hover just behind her.

It was Alphecca.

“Hurry... I don't want him to see me like this... I don't want him to cry!” Her plea came out weak and trembling, betraying the depths of her desperation. She was still under the control of herself.

Alphecca glared, though not with disgust but with a deep sense of self-hate. He berated himself internally for holding back against the fox earlier, knowing all too well that this outcome was entirely his fault.

Lenaya's body had already morphed grotesquely, from her waist down to her feet, taking on the form of the beast he had just recently slain.

“I will make it painless,” Alphecca said.

“Hmm… I don’t think you can-” Lenaya spoke as her voice changed becoming deeper. “-You think you could kill me again?” there was a familiarity in her words.

Alphecca smiled. She was dead… she should be or his conscience wouldn’t let him sleep until he lived. He reached out into his pocket. It was a metal tumbler, he then proceeded to drink it.

“Release…” he said, and his power flowed out of his body as he morphed again into his saintly visage.

The half-fox Lenaya felt death again creeping up to her. She will not survive now. She stared at the bodies on the ground and extended her hands to inflict them with a curse but like it was a fact her magic was stopping itself from harming them.

She had to escape… she had to live but as the man’s power crackled… overflowing she knew she didn’t had any chance.

<--->

A few hours ago. Into the deepest parts of the Ice Dungeon, the Frost-fire Grotto.

A man was enjoying his fight against the fox beast of ice. He could tell that the beast was already on its last leg as it had become more desperate with each passing moment.

He felt a pang of sadness realizing that even a creature as formidable as the beast couldn't match his strength.

The beast began charging another icicle spell. Alphecca sighed, noting that the beast's battle instinct remained unchanged throughout their fight.

“I’ve seen that already…” Alphecca said as he deflected a large Icicle. It had been only been an hour since he activated his Armas but the monster couldn’t keep up with him already.

Though the fox remained eager to fight, Alphecca saw only a cornered beast, its desperation evident in every move. It was time to end it.

“Seal,” he removed the Armas.

By overpowering the monster fox with his Armas he carved up its body, it could heal itself but that’s akin to expending its magic on self-preservation.

He raised his sword. The fox stared at him, he could feel the gaze, but he didn’t care, it had no way to defend itself from the next attack that he would be unleashing. The magic of the fox was almost diminished.

“You are a… monster,” Alphecca heard words and he was sure that it was only him in the garden of ice.

“A monster conversing?” Alphecca asked.

Slowly the fox began to change. It changed into a form of a woman. The fox covered her body with mist.

“Handsome man… a seed of yours would produce an amazing off spring, give me your seeds and I will let go the woman,” the fox woman said, there was seduction in her voice.

But Alphecca was already firm on killing it.

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“How did you get that form?” he asked just out of curiosity.

“I was once a monster outside… humans brought me here… now I consume them,-” but she felt pain on her shoulders into her hips. Blood spurted from her mouth. “I steal their bodies… you will kill me but I will still live.” she fell on her back.

The man was already behind the fox.

“You monologue?” Alphecca had a smile on his face. He swept his sword flicking the blood off its blade.

He then stared at the human fox. He immediately noticed a tag on her neck. It wasn’t really evident earlier since her body was covered with mist.

“I will still live… the transfer is complete… I will live…” the fox woman kept on speaking until there were no more signs of life in her eyes. At the last moment she placed her hand in the ground, magic creeps out of her.

Alphecca’s eyes widened. The fox’s body didn’t fade like how do monsters do. If he was correct she was a human before a beast. He had heard from some of the old adventurers that holy beasts were humans too. Was it a holy beast?

Probably not he had seen one before and this one didn’t exude the danger of instant death. Or probably after too much dungeon diving his senses had already been dulled of danger. He then checked his hands… the pain and the curse was already gone.

“Lenaya…” he muttered, he still couldn’t relax, he had to check on her. He grabbed the name tag of the woman and began moving. He didn’t have the chance to bury her properly but the dungeon would probably take care of it.

The tags that adventurers wore would never melt in the dungeon. It was the only thing that would remain of their existence if they didn’t make it back.

He began his run, back to his party but on his way out there was already a thick wall of ice in the icy hall he traversed to get there. It must have been the last magic the fox did when her hands fell into the ground.

“Shit…” Alphecca had to cleave his way out of the ice wall now.

<--->

Same time on the 34th floor of the Frost-fire Grotto. Bodies of the adventurers were down on the ground, half shrouded in mist, their face was a picture of struggle as they were lost in the illusion that the fox made. One female stood up despite being one of them.

Lines of purple desecrated her body as she was just staring upwards and her magic rapidly changing.

Lenaya was in her own world of void. She could see herself as she was standing on the frozen ground. She was just standing still, there was no pain in her body but her mind was filled with emotion that she knew that she didn’t own.

She could remember that after she felt a tremendous pain the whole party that she was with fell down almost at the same time, she stood up and now she had been in this void.

‘What is happening to me?!’ she tried to muster her voice but nothing came out.

“Human… your body is mine… your body has already assimilated my magic… you are mine!!” it was a voice directly speaking in her head.

Then in the blink of an eye, a human appeared, from her attire, Lenaya could tell that it was a high-class adventurer. She blinked again and it changed into a small fox, another blink and it was the same large fox they met and with another blink it became her.

“I’m you,” the Lenaya that was in front of her spoke.

Since the memory of the fox began flowing into her mind she understood what she meant.

“No!!” finally her voice resurfaced.

“Don’t struggle and I will let you pass easy, just let my power consume, surrender your body to me!” the Fox Lenaya said.

“What is happening!!?” Lenaya asked as the pain was gradually leaving her body.

“When you cast your magic in the illusion you left your body opened up… I attacked by inflicting you with my magic, you should have died much earlier but your resilience and the magic of that individual allowed you to resist more… just at the right time when my body had been slain…” the Fox Lenaya said, there was no doubt on her mind.

“So Alphecca had already slain you… did he smile?” Lenaya’s grin totally made the fox worry.

“... Your facade is amazing…. I will accompany you until your last second…” the fox Lenaya said.

“Do you think I’m afraid of death? I have already accepted that I would probably die in a dungeon… but not without a fight,” Lenaya smirked and she raised her hands into the air. “You’ve been buying time… that time is enough for me,”

“What are you doing!! How can you still control your body?!” the fox Lenaya’s frustration was visible in her voice.

“You found your chance when the mist encroached on us… second was when my scream took their attention,” Lenaya began a chant… this was probably the last magic that she would ever cast.

“Magic is all about will… magic is all about me… a miracle from one's mind… a gift of the gods…” She was also sure that if she cast this the takeover of her body would be over.

“This is my body…” she said.

Her body that was in the physical world stood still, magic shrouded her body, and it was the last time. Lenaya was back in her body, she raised her hands and chanted a prayer to the gods and to her loved ones.

“As long as this body moves… I will never hurt them,” she muttered. Mist dispelled from the ground. The groaning faces of the one who was in the illusion steadily became serene.

She had done her part… still, she had a longing, one last chance to look at the face of her love. She fell down on the ground… her eyes was searching for someone, a face that she really loved.

<--->

Days had passed, and Redgar found himself in his dream world, where Lenaya's presence enveloped him. He lay on her lap as she delicately traced the scars on his face.

“Where did you get this one?” she asked, her voice carrying a seductive tone.

“Hmm... When I was a rookie, I encountered a wyvern. I got this scar when I managed to escape, but sadly, the rest of my party didn't survive. It was only my first year of adventuring,” Redgar recounted his story.

“I see... Well, it's time to go now. Let's have a picnic again sometime... See you later,” Lenaya said softly, pulling him into a tender embrace.

Despite the warmth of her affection, Redgar stood firm, knowing it was just a dream. “I will miss you,” she whispered as the dream began to fade.

FLASH!

…

Redgar awoke from his slumber, opening his eyes to the sight of the crystal ceiling above him. The chill of the dungeon lingered in the air, yet he felt an inner warmth, as if he were under a perpetual blessing from Lenaya's magic.

“Redgar’s awake!!” but the one who was with him was Elway.

Elway immediately notified the party. They had been staying in a safe zone in the dungeon waiting for everyone to regain their consciousness, Redgar was the last one who regained it.

Redgar immediately sat looking at his worn out friend, his clothes had blood on it. Memories began resurfacing on his mind, the vivid dream reminded him of something.

“Where is she? Lenaya?” his voice trembled. She should have been the one who was with him.

A figure approached with resolute steps, and as he drew closer, Redgar recognized him as Alphecca. One of Alphecca's hands was swathed in bandages, while the other held a bundle of clothes.

“Alphecca, stop it! Let's get out of here first!” Jimmy's voice cut through the tension, his palpable anger echoing off the walls. But Alphecca, undeterred, continued his determined stride forward, heedless of Jimmy's plea.

Redgar's desperation boiled over. “Where is she?” he demanded, his voice trembling with emotion as he looked to Alphecca for answers.

Alphecca lowered himself to the ground, placing the bundle of clothes before Redgar. Adventurers gathered around, but Elway, ever protective of their privacy, shooed them away.

“It was all my fault... I let this happen. This is all I can offer you... She passed painlessly,” Alphecca confessed, his voice heavy with guilt as he slowly unraveled the bundle.

Redgar's expression contorted in horror as he beheld the familiar face of Lenaya, her features frozen in serene repose.

After saying his piece, Alphecca rose to his feet, his gaze fixed forward without a single glance back. It was a necessary action, a choice to confront the truth rather than conceal it. Only the head remained untouched, while the rest of the body lay charred and discarded, cast into the chasm below.

Jimmy approached Alphecca, his words heavy with warning. “This may come back to haunt you someday. He is a Red Monk.”

“I don't care,” Alphecca replied, his face resolute as he stared into the distance. Returning to his spot earlier, he resumed eating, though the ration seemed strangely bland compared to the flavorful meat he remembered.