My pulse revealed a lone figure inside the room. Human. Familiar. If there was any doubt towards who it was, the System quickly erased it.

[Captain]

Suspicious didn’t come close to how I felt. There was no doubt that the dungeon being active again and Lebil being there had some connection. I quickly checked my messages while I walked towards the deepest room of the building—the same one where Lebil had wiped all evidence.

Three levels, all in [Advanced Corrupted Bloodshaper]. It was a disappointing check of reality. As my level increased and I evolved, I would have to fight stronger monsters. Or exponentially more of them.

I went through an empty frame that had once been a door and made my presence known. He would have a lot of explaining to do.

“Lebil,” I announced.

He spun in place, sword raised and round eyes.

“Saints!” He exclaimed a fraction of a second later. “Yo-You!?”

I couldn’t quite pinpoint his tone. Irritated for sure. Surprised. Afraid.

“Out of everyone… you. But why would you come here?” He continued.

“Needed some peace. But, what about you?”

“Peace…” His eyes went even rounder. “The [Oracle]! You must be the reason the dungeon is back! That's why the [Oracle] sent orders to capture you!”

“Wha-?” I couldn't even finish the word.

There was a price on my head, that I already knew. But did he get the conclusion that I was the reason behind the dungeon’s existence?

That's ridiculous.

At least that was my first though. But then I kept thinking, completely ignoring Lebil’s rant.

I am corrupted. I'm in fact corruption that started right here. But then how did the clear it the fi-

“-but I will bring him your head!”

Lebil shouted all of a sudden, breaking my train of thought. Good thing he did, because next thing I knew he was charging towards me. His sword was raised and coming for my chest.

“Lebil don't force me to fight!”

I got no answer back save for the cold steel of his blade. It crashed against a thin layer of energy I invoked right before the sword connected.

It was weak.

He jumped back a few steps while I attempted to convince him to stop. Which I quickly realized was a fatal error.

“Mother, grant me power!”

His body shone in white, then yellow, and finally red. When it was done, an aura of energy exploded forwards. The aftershock reached me, and I was forced one step back.

That's not the 10% we got back then! Just the wave seemed to carry power beyond anything he had shown before.

“You seem shocked!” Lebil laughed as he taunted me. “Last time I had to share it with the whole expedition, but today the buff’s all mine!”

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I lost him for a second. He was in front of me in one pulse and then on my right on the next. He was fast. Too fast.

I quickly adapted; short pulses centered only in our room. It was still not enough, but I could use the disconnected frequent updates to predict his next movement.

He lunched forward again, blade first and leaving after-images made of pure heated air. I first heard the sound—air being split in two like butted with a hot knife—and then I felt it on my cheek.

[You have lost 26 energy]

Acting as fast as I could, I stopped my energy from leaking through the cut. In a way, stopping energy from bleeding out.

I could not stand still. Lebil's laughter was getting inside my head, I found it hard to concentrate.

I rolled to the ground after barely seeing his sword come yet another time. Somehow, I had missed it until it was right about to pierce through my chest.

Taking some impulse with my energy, I recovered and flew straight to the wall. I had eyes on him and a chance to strike. Energy was already accumulating with [Fusion].

I hit the wall and let loose the ball of energy. Bullseye!

Or so I thought.

Right when it was about to explode on Lebil’s body, he disappeared from the place I had aimed for. My attack harmlessly continued in a straight line until it met the floor, creating a small crater.

Maddening. I shook my head in an attempt to refocus. And I failed. I went as far as slapping myself, and failed again. I was losing track of Lebil’s movements.

Just how big of a buff has he gotten himself?

That couldn’t be. I could not win against an enemy that I could not see. Even if his attacks were weak and superficial, I would end dead after enough of them.

Sick and tired of his laughter, I decided to cover my ears. I needed a break from his. From his mocking that somehow pierced through my patience and hit right in my soul.

Only to realize that, even when deafening myself, I still heard it.

The laughter was still there, irritatingly intense. Mocking every move I did. Undermining my own abilities. It was right in my head and th-

“It's mind control!” I shouted when I realized.

He can't completely negate my passive sense, [Third Eye], but he's able to hinder it enough to distract me from the fact that my other senses are useless. He is not fast, he is just playing with my perception of magic!

“Don't. Fuck. With. My. Mind!”

I sent a pulse all around me. But not any pulse. I left a present on the outer-most layer of energy. A compact punch made of pure energy that would destroy anything on touch.

The pulse advanced. Dust flew as the ground itself was being torn apart. Walls crumbled. Everything in its path wiped from existence for good. Everything, including Lebil’s skill.

I was ready for when the pulse reacted to Lebil. The moment it hit him, I concentrated a small beam of energy and fired it to his chest. His balance was off, hurt by the solid layer on my pulse. His skill was destroyed, there was no way for him to fake his position.

There was no tricking my passive.

He raised his sword, managing to intercept my attack barely a moment before it went through him. But a sword wouldn't be enough to stop it. I heard the crack as he sidestepped to the left.

The sword broke.

Our silence was broken by the metal crashing on the floor and Lebil’s shouts of pain.

One kneel down, his hand shaking, he still tried to get up. There was fury in his eyes. Genuine fear of me.

“I'm sorry it came to this, Lebil. It you hadn't attacked, I might have let you leave.”

He scoffed.

“You are a monster!”

I knew he didn't mean that in a literal sense. But it still struck a sensible chord.

“Maybe. I'm an error, corrupted as you would say. Perhaps that does make me a monster.”

His mouth opened but nothing came out. It moved, yet sound still refused to play. A finger pointed my way.

“I was summoned right here. Played with. And broken.”

I thought I had no resentment or thirst for vengeance. I saw it as an opportunity, an open door to learn magic and be the best. I wanted to train, level, evolve, and become invincible. Yet, now I realized, I did want to make someone pay.

Lebil was not the right target, he was not behind my summoning. Otherwise, he would have known already who I was, what I was. But he crossed my path, tried to stop me, and that couldn’t go unpunished.

“Now you know,” I shrugged. “And this knowledge will die with you.”

“Yo-You are the reason it's back! The dungeon! You feed it. Monster! I'll kill you, you mo-”

I created a concentrated ball of energy and aimed it at his head. There was no opposition, just meaningless words thrown to the air that did nothing to defend him.

[[Captain] Lebil has been defeated - 3133 xp] [Advanced Corrupted Bloodshaper has leveled up] [Advanced Corrupted Bloodshaper has leveled up] [Advanced Corrupted Bloodshaper has leveled up] [Advanced Corrupted Bloodshaper has leveled up]

“But I think you were right, Lebil. This dungeon is my lair.”