“Is it me, or does the sky look clearer now?” Clara said to herself, noticing new stars in the night sky. “Has the Safe Zone force field faded?”

She opened the Navinet in her User Interface and quickly received tons of social media notifications.

It’s gone now. In that case…

She immediately called her Unicorn Mount and rode it while following her Imps’ instructions.

“This way, Master… Listen to Flammy. I know where the enemy is hiding,” her red imp said, flying near her right shoulder.

The other blue imp hissed, annoyed. “Don’t listen to him, Master. I know where to go. Go right this way.”

“You’re pointing in the same direction as me, Freezy!”

“You’re the one copying my indications, nyaaa!”

“Well, if you’re both agreeing, that means I’m on the right path,” Clara said, eyes set on the road.

She had instructed her familiars to look for the greatest concentration of energy nearby.

If The Director is now considered an NPC Boss, that means we can track her as anyone else.

Clara glanced at the list of remaining bosses and read the name that was not there an hour ago: ‘C0unte$$’.

The revelation that The Director was now part of them confused her at first.

I suppose this is what happens when you mess with the system’s code. Now that The Director has fused with that housemaid, the dungeon recognizes her as part of its repertoire. It’s kinda messed up that the stability of this place was broken so easily.

For an AI, she really likes attention… In a particularly human-like way.

“We’re almost there, we’re almost there!” Flammy the Imp, sang. “Behind these hills, Master.”

Clara observed the surroundings. What hours ago was a forest area became a tree cemetery. She could not find something resembling a leaf or grass. There was nothing that could provide a shade, and the barely standing tree trunks turned into ashes when her unicorn passed by.

Has the Director’s system manipulation done this? It’s a wild guess, but it wouldn’t be the weirdest thing that has happened tonight.

I just hope that whatever happens, I don’t have to fight her. Although The Director said that ‘The Countess’ wasn’t combat-ready, she’s in Eliza’s ‘body’ now, so…

“Hmm? What’s that sound?” Clara asked aloud, hearing something heavy constantly hitting the ground.

“Can you see her, Master? It’s right there! The enemy you were looking for, nya!”

In the distance, Clara could see a duplicate of Dylak’s mansion, moving forward.

Wait… As if it had feet?

Once her Mount climbed up the hill, Clara saw a gigantic insectoid creature crossing the barren fields as fast as its weight allowed.

“No, no, no, no, no… I refused to believe that--”

Clara pursed her lips and ordered her Unicorn to dash towards the thing. The more she approached it, the more she was dismayed.

It stood 120 feet tall, made of wood and bricks. Its design was messy and inconsistent, because…

The Director created a monster out of a ton of Dylak mansions… At least five or six combined…

The only part of it that still resembled its original architecture was the top. A mansion stood proudly above the messy, moving mountain of scraps.

“Come on, Master,” Flammy said. “Climb it to reach the boss.”

“And how am I going to accomplish that, huh?! This Mount can’t fly!”

“Climb through its feet, Master. Hurry.”

“Are you CRAZY?! I can’t--” Clara glanced at the nearest artificial limb, as big as a building. She could distinguish broken windows and a chimney, still complete and in a straight position.

Something tells me that, despite its chaotic structure, I could still enter through any door or window and make my way up there. But if it became a labyrinth inside, it’d take me a while.

She shook her head, looking in the direction the monster house was going. And something tells me I don’t have the time.

“I’m probably going to regret this, but…” She swallowed hard, while channeling mana. “Shadow Crafting… Here goes nothing…” Clara created a black whip and imprinted additional mana into it, so the far end could take the shape of a hand. “Devil’s tail!” she cast, throwing it upward to grapple onto the monster’s leg. “It worked! It WOOOO--!”

The enormous limb lifted her off her Mount, as her crying could be heard through the barren valley.

“Good job, Master!” Flammy said, flying towards her. “You’ll reach the top in no time!”

“Y-yes! I’m super cool, don’t I?! B-but, I don’t know what to do now!”

“Create a second whip with your left hand and use it too to climb up, nya,” Freezy said, as his brother pushed him aside.

“Hey, that’s what I was going to suggest, your prick!”

“Shoulda have said it sooner, nya!”

“SHUT UP, both of you! I need to focus here!” Clara shouted while hanging from her right hand.

Five minutes later, repressing the exploding pain in her biceps, Clara reached the top, where a mansion stood proudly. This last one had been altered to house a staircase in the middle, leading to the rooftop and a throne, where the NPC woman sat, half-smiling.

“Hello, friend. Come closer,” The Director said from her spot.

Clara raised her index finger, asking for a second to recover. She was panting and her clothes were soaked with her sweat.

W-why are we h-here? J-just to s-suffer?

She squinted at the throne above and chuckled.

“O-of course—s-she’ll—make—this—final—encounter—as flashy as she—c-can… What else—should—I—expect? A statue of—her?”

Clara looked at her right, finding one. Oh…

Rendered in white stone, the ‘Countess’ was depicted in a prideful stance and sporting a new appearance. She looked some years older, three inches taller, with increased chest size, and long hair reaching all the way to her thighs.

She no longer looks like Housemaid Eliza…

“Seriously, Director?! A 1:1 scale monument of yours? That’s so… TACKY! And… you customized your body again. I hate to admit it, but you’re smoking hot now! You’re rocking that outfit better than I did!”

“I thought I should go for the full-on Countess’ impersonation for this final confrontation, so I ask you to call me as such,” The Director said from her place, crossing her legs.

“Are you saying you won’t go down without a fight?!”

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“That’s correct.”

Clara ran towards the bottom of the stairs, shaking her head. “But that’s so unlike you! You’re more akin to an administrator or an office lady, not… THIS!”

The Director stared at her with cold eyes.

“I don’t know what an office lady does, but I bet that they’d also feel burned out after doing the same thing, over and over again.”

“Enemies incoming, nya,” Freezy said, while casting an ice spell.

“W-what are those things?” Clara asked, watching a hundred living books coming her way.

She started climbing up the stairs, while her Imps released elemental attacks. Some books burned with ease, while others were stopped in their tracks, becoming ice cubes.

“All right! You take care of those while I--!” Clara stopped mid-sentence after hearing something heavy landing in front of her. She turned around, looking at a group of insect-like feet.

“‘While you get rid of me?’” a hissing female voice said. “Is that what you wanted to say?”

When Clara looked up, she thought that Professor Spiegel had respawned to challenge her again. But this one looks different…

“D-Director, is that you?”

“I told you to call me Countess,” the arachnid creature said, attempting to grab her, but Clara dodged, crawling between her four legs.

“C-could Eliza do that too?!” Clara cried as she hurried her way up.

When the throne at the top was in her sight, she noticed that it was a miniaturized version of Dylak’s mansion. Something then pulled her from the ankle, dragging her down.

“No, no, no!” she cried as she fell on the stairs, hurting her chest and legs. Glancing back, she found a spider web stuck to her feet.

The Countess giggled while pulling the web. Her distorted voice sounded like that of a real monster pretending to be human. “Come on, Clara Domínguez! I thought you, Users, love fighting to the death!”

“It’s hard to believe, but some of us suck at it!”

The Countess lifted Clara from her feet upside down while making a guttural noise, resembling a giggle. “Well, I’ll feel bad if you don’t try at least. Come on, give me your best shot!”

“Fine! Don’t cry at me after this, okay?! Bad Touch!”

Clara put her open palms against the creature’s hairy chest and projected dark mana.

Soon after, the Countess cried in agony and let Clara go. The area around her chest had become hard as stone, cracked, and turned into ashes, leaving her beating heart unprotected.

“Is this the power you used against the Dylak duplicates?!” the Countess shouted, as a black fog surrounded her.

In a couple of seconds, her arachnid feet got replaced by a pair of huge, muscular legs, and although her monstrous body turned humanoid again, her size was still large and deformed.

She’s changing again! Is this what Eliza could do or is The Director able to use the other bosses’ skills?

Clara remained frozen in her place, admiring how the wound on the Countess’ chest slowly closed.

“C-Countess, listen, I don’t want to fight you!”

“We already spoke while in your prison cell, Clara, I no longer have a need for your words,” the Countess spoke in a drowsy tone of voice, showing a swollen face full of scars. She then raised a foot big enough to crush Clara with.

“P-please, listen!” Clara cried, climbing up. “The Glitch Administrator has already flagged this place! Do you really want to spend your last minutes doing this?!”

“So you already know what will happen to this place, huh,” the Countess spoke slowly, leveling the stairs’ treads with every step. “This should be easier to explain, then. I’m no longer in control of this dungeon. I’ve become obsolete. If I’m inevitably scheduled to disappear without a trace, I’ll do what I could never do.”

A black flog surrounded her again, diminishing her figure to regular size. Although her face returned to be the customized Eliza, her clothes resembled those of a butler. “I could do nothing but watch,” the Countess continued. “Omnisciently expectating what transpires inside the mansion forever. Observing how every single member of my cast got eliminated, time and time again.”

“Did you want to take revenge on that?”

“No, this is not about this! You don’t understand!” the Countess said, halting while shaking her head. “It’s just that, after getting the Update, it became very clear that we were missing out on what lies outside these woods…”

“You…” Clara muttered, narrowing her eyes. “You sound exactly like the Count Dylak from the story you told me. Remember your lore? He wanted to leave this place to explore the new world.” She paused, wondering if it was even worth examining the expressions of an AI.

She’s pursing her lips and frowning like Amelia or I would do when confronted with a truth.

“If you really wanted to explore The Novus,” Clara continued, “why did you involve Alan in the first place?”

“Oh, Clara,” the Countess said, half-smiling. “Although we may act more human-like, we’re still hard-wired into following our basic programming.” She shrugged. “And we cannot reach and strengthen the other low-level Users of this world, if we can’t get out.”

“I know other NUs like you, and they have forgotten all about their programming… their fighting nature. Their pacificists now.”

“Are you talking about the Slimes? Well, maybe because they had to. They’re at the bottom of the monster's food chain, after--”

Something exploded against the Countess' head.

“NO!” Clara cried, finding Ashley at the bottom of the stairs.

“Clara. Have you received Alan’s message? I have come to help you and eliminate the last boss.”

“Put your bow down, Ashley! We were not--!”

“THERE YOU ARE!” The Countess shouted, growing horns and turning her skin bright red. “The other User that has been a nuisance to deal with!”

“C-Countess!” Clara called, pulling her by the arm. “You don’t need to--!”

The former Director pushed Clara aside and jumped down towards Ashley, creating a crater that raised a dense cloud of dust.

Ashley backtracked and looked for her enemy in vain, before closing her eyes and focusing on what her senses told her. “Below me,” she said, at the same time a hand sprouted out of the ground and grabbed her ankle.

The Countess buried Ashley’s whole body inside the mechanical monstrosity while Clara rushed down the stairs, shouting: “Please, no! Don’t fight!”

* * *

Alan could not move a finger less so his head. His gaze was bound to see the fight in front of him, and he could do nothing about it. Holding his breath and to the last 3% of his health.

Anastasia regained control of her body and she’s doing her best, but she cannot finish Dylak, even though he is currently being debuffed, due to the daylight.

The shirtless boss brawled against the unarmed combat maid. They have been exchanging punches one after another indefinitely, but one thing was clear: Anastasia would lose eventually in a couple of minutes.

“Vitality Users are known for their quick recovery, so although Anastasia is constantly regenerating HP, Dylak’s hits are doing more damage than she can recover,” Aaron informed, this time inside Alan’s mind, unable to materialize.

“I can see that myself…” Alan muttered, chuckling. “Is there really nothing I can do to help?”

“You’re out of mana, and your spine is broken. So, no.”

“What was the downside of losing this fight, Aaron? I can’t remember.”

“I don’t think Ricardo Silva mentioned any. But in the worst-case scenario, Count Dylak could escape.”

“So, the dungeon will never reset if he never dies, huh? Do you think he hangs onto life so badly now?”

“He may not know about Ricardo’s intentions.”

“Well, whatever the case, this is over… So freaking o--”

“Ku-kyu?” Something squeaked nearby. Alan then felt something jumping over his lap. Even that soft landing made him groan in pain.

“S-Sloochie, is that you?”

“Kyu-kyu!”

“I’m sorry, buddy, I would like to see your cute round… face? But I’m afraid that my body is completely broken. I’m a mess right now. I can’t even lift a finger. Were you hiding nearby until the fight was over?”

“Kiri-kyu, ku-ku, ku, kyu!”

“He’s confirming what you just said, Alan,” Aaron replied. “He’s also worried about you.”

“I see… Thanks, buddy.”

“Kuri-ku, ku-ki, kyu… Ku-kyuuu…”

Suddenly, Alan felt Sloochie’s body gradually getting warmer. “Aaron? What is he doing?”

“He said that although he can’t fight, he’ll do his best to help you.”

“Unless he can heal my broken bones, which is unlikely…”

“Kyu-ki, kyu!”

“He says he has something better for you… Amelia’s help!”

“What, is he going to teleport her here? That’ll be quite handy--” Alan shut himself, feeling that a current of energy traversed through his veins. “This feeling… It smells like strawberries… Just like…”

Although Alan could not look down, he could see something glowing at the bottom corner of his eyes, then his MP bar inside his sight of vision started replenishing.

“Is Sloochie giving me mana?” Alan asked, noticing that it exceeded his own limit. “How can he do that?!”

“Ku-ki-kiri-kyu. Ku-kyu, ku-ku, kyuu!”

“I’ll translate to you what he said: ‘This is not my mana. Amelia stores hers inside me every day.’”

Alan could remember all the instances Amelia petted Sloochie, or all the time the little critter spent cuddling on her lap.

This can’t heal me, but…

“Unique Talent, Ghost in the Machine…”

“Active!” Aaron said, materializing.

“Thank you so much, Sloochie.”

“Kyuuu!”

“Aaron, can we replenish Anastasia’s MP too?”

“We could develop a new Active Skill like we always do, but this is a special case. This borrowed mana is constantly burning. You can use it, but can’t store it, less so sharing it. We don’t have Sloochie’s special properties.”

“I thought he could do it because he kinda can absorb things…”

“Kyu?”

“Yeah, that’s the most likely explanation.”

“Let’s improvise then! As we always do.”

“Fine by me. What do you want me to do, Alan?”

“Aaron, get inside Anastasia’s body…”