I look around the 'pride' room and only see a destroyed table and a big bloody stain.

The 'key' I needed was probably destroyed as well.

As I shake out the blood out of my tail, I flex my hand while looking at it.

My body slowly descends onto the ground and I sit down.

This...

What an overwhelming feeling of liberation...

I can finally think straight...

But...

This is really strange.

Why am I so calm now?

It's as if all of my built up rage disappeared.

And it happened suddenly, just like that...

...and also...

I seem to be the one fully in control of the body now.

The other me is...unconscious?

Weird...

How can one personality be awake while the other one isn't?

Hmm...

I just exploded in my fury after this guy commanded me to do all of that nonsense...

And she seemed to get affected by that.

But what did she actually do...?

Somehow, my built up rage disappeared, she is now unconscious and I can control the body.

Ah...I can't figure it out...

Well, maybe now that I'm the one in control, these last two rooms will go well.

I mean...she just got lucky up till now.

It was actually amazing she managed to just burst through all of that despite her ignorance.

Or maybe it was because of that ignorance?

Hmm, probably...

Well, even though I don't know what was waiting for me there, I had the feeling 'wrath' was going to be a huge obstacle.

But now, that somehow, all of my fury is gone, it might not be a problem anymore.

I can't stop thinking about what could possibly be the cause of all of this though...

I mean...

For quite some time, something wasn't right.

I knew that.

The internal communication between us two was blocked.

And for some reason, she forgot some very important memories.

But I didn't.

I never forgot any of them.

However, I was not able to remind her.

All because there was something blocking our link.

But I could never figure out what it was.

And that's a problem...

The fact that she doesn't know some vital things and I can't tell her...

It's a big problem.

Now, I would think she was just naturally forgetting these things.

But that just doesn't make sense.

There are certain things you just don't forget.

Ever.

Things like the war, Kinua and our promise.

And yet she forgot about them...

While I remembered them...

Why...?

The most suspicious thing is the god.

He said something like 'I can't tell you yet.' when she asked him.

The tone with which he said was as if he was the one responsible.

I can't remember him doing anything specific though...

Did he apply some curse, that slowly withered her memories?

I'm pretty sure that wasn't part of the deal.

...

Now that I think about it...

Neither were these 'extra stages'.

It was supposed to be over after the first dungeon.

That god cannot be trusted.

But if I abandon this 'extra stage', he might do something.

...

But knowing him, even if I clear them all, he will just make more.

And because she will probably forget what happened before, she will just do the new ones as well.

And then it will just repeat again and again...

It's an endless cage...

I might be the one in control of the body now, but who knows...

Maybe after she wakes up, we will swap again.

And I won't be able to communicate with her.

It's vexing...

...for now, let's clear this thing.

Since there was a key, I'm guessing there is some door I need to open.

Now, where could it be?

Even if I look around the room, there are no doors.

I walk around the room searching for anything relevant.

The walls don't seem to be hiding any secret entrances.

And the big bloody stain also had nothing useful.

Do I need to die and start over?

There doesn't seem to be any other way.

Well, I have no problem with that.

I take out a sword and swiftly chop off my head.

...

...

...

After opening my eyes, I see the 'sinlessness' door behind the barrier-protected chalice.

Once again, I look at my hand and flex it.

...I'm still in control.

She didn't wake up yet.

That's good.

With those thoughts, I enter the door and find myself in the 'greed' section.

'The seven deadly sins'.

I still can't believe she didn't realize that's what this trial was based on.

Did she forget reading about them in the library?

Hmm, I guess it didn't really sound very important.

Anyway, 'greed'...

I guess the point is that if you take anything, a similar monster to the sloth one would appear.

And also this maze...

Is it really a maze?

All I have to do, is just always go left.

I have a feeling, that no matter which way I pick, it will always lead to the door.

But...I'm not going to risk wasting time now.

I need to go quickly, I don't know what will happen when she wakes up.

Soon, I arrive at the door and enter it.

'Lust'.

I'm really not sure what this one is supposed to be.

All of these 'sins' is some kind of desire.

And all of them I can sort of understand.

But 'lust' is just weird...

Why would anyone want...things like that...?

[Air blast]

I hold my nose and blast forward toward the door.

As I dash forward, I fly by that humanoid monster, who charmed her last time.

Come to think of it, my rage also exploded here and she reacted to it.

But we didn't swap like now.

Strange...

Entering the door, I find myself in the 'gluttony' section.

This one is very suspicious.

Why is pure mana swirling just outside of the window?

Where IS this place?

Somewhere deep underground?

...or maybe it's one of these 'worlds' I read about in the library.

That would kind of make sense.

I remember it said these 'worlds' are not habitable.

If I look outside, that's obvious.

Anyone would get ripped apart by all of that mana.

But why is this relatively safe building in the middle of it all?

Is there a reason for it?

While thinking, I locate the secret entrance and break through it.

Following that, I enter the door and find myself in 'envy'.

It's funny if that god thought this would make me envious.

Why should I be?

Seeing my best friend alive and well can only warm my heart.

I don't know who that human, she is with, is, but he doesn't seem like a bad person.

If he was, Kinua wouldn't look this happy.

Hmm...

I wonder if she still remembers out promise...

For her, it wasn't over a thousand years, so she better remember it...

After walking to the end of the hallway, I enter the door and find myself in 'sloth'.

Out of all the trials, she failed sloth.

That just goes to show how stupid these trials are.

It's basically saying, that trying the quickest method is lazy.

Anyway...this 'spirit' here is strange.

Just phantom attacks had an effect and they didn't even work fully.

I wonder why...

I pick up a random key and head to the keyhole in a wall.

It clicks and opens.

Just like I thought...

Any key does the job for this.

I enter the door and find myself back at 'pride'.

Back in the room with a table and the fat man.

"The key is right here."

The man lifts up his arm and shows me a key.

"I will destroy it if you attack me.

And no, you can't pass here without this key."

He hides the key somewhere in his clothes and leans forward with a grin.

"Well?

What are you willing to do for that key?"

It's exactly the same as last time.

Even with my rage gone, he is still kind of irritating.

"What do you want me to do?"

His grin starts showing his teeth.

He then reaches into a drawer and pulls out the collar before throwing it in front of me.

"Put that on your neck.

Then stand on all fours and bark like a dog."

Good thing all of my wrath is gone.

I would have killed him again.

And I'm also lucky she still hasn't woken up yet.

Now then...

"I'll have you know, 'pride' is not the same as 'dignity'.

I won't sacrifice my dignity just to prove I have no pride."

His grin turns into a frown as he looks straight into my eyes.

"...fine.

Then...

How about this...

How many individuals in this world do you think can defeat you?"

How many...?

What does this have to do with anything?

Am I expected to say zero and thus proving I'm proud?

That's really stupid, but...

Hmm...

If I remember correctly, there are seven individuals at or over level five thousand in total including me.

And since I reached level five thousand only recently, those six others must be stronger than me.

So those six plus god and probably the lightning skeleton as well.

So that's...

"E-"

Wait...

No.

The question was how many do I think can DEFEAT me.

Defeating someone has nothing to do with pure strength.

Even I defeated monsters with higher level than mine back in the dungeon.

Which means...

"Anyone can defeat me...under the right circumstances."

His expression turns into a light smile.

"Correct...

Seems like you realized it at the last second."

He stands up from his chair and the floor starts shining.

"Well then...

Good luck on the last challenge."

The brightness keeps intensifying and as I close my eyes, I get the familiar feeling of falling.

After a little while, I land and open my eyes.

In front of me is the familiar door and all around me are walls.

...

I walk forward and touch the door.

It opens...but there is no light.

Instead, it opens into an actual room.

It's a spacious and long room with tall windows on the side.

And at the very end...is an angel with his back turned at me.

He is standing on an elevated pedestal with stairs leading up to him.

Type: Humanoid

Name: ASE-021B

Gender: Male

Race: Angel

Status: -

Level: 34

Health: 90000/90000

Mana: 180000/180000

It's him...

The former lightning skeleton...

So he is the final boss?

How is he going to test my 'wrath', I wonder?

As I slowly walk toward him, the door behind me closes and disappears.

After briefly looking at it, I continue forward and get closer to him.

"Welcome."

His familiar monotone voice echoes in the room.

He then turns around and reveals something he is holding in both of his hands...

It's the severed heads of Kinua and uncle Renar.

Something inside me starts boiling and I try my hardest to suppress it.

He then drops both heads down like they were trash.

Kinua's head rolls down the stairs to my feet and uncle's head is stepped on by him.

...

This bastard...

How dare he...

...

With my teeth and fists clenched, I close my eyes and slowly breathe out.

...

"Wrath, huh?"

After opening my eyes, I frown and look at my adversary.

His mouth makes a subtle movement as he seemingly 'looks' at me with his closed eyes.

"Who...are you?"

Heh...

Looks like he doesn't even recognize me...

Or maybe he never really recognized 'me' and only knows her...

Well, I couldn't have expected much from him anyway...

"What, are you surprised I'm not lunging at you?

I know these are fake.

All of this is just to invoke my wrath."

His brows furrow as he seems to be taken aback.

"You are...different..."

I'm not sure, should I be disappointed he didn't recognize me at first?

Or if I should be impressed he could tell I am the one in control of the body now?

Anyway...

"Are you surprised Mr. Artificial Soul Experiment?"

Once again, he seems surprised, even though his eyes are still closed.

"How...did..."

...

Looks like I was right...

He is just an artificial soul with an artificial body.

It never really made any sense in the first place...

He said he was also stuck in that dungeon, but eventually gave up.

After that, the god made him into 'the merchant' and made the whole deal with me.

But if he gave up on the dungeon, why is he now doing whatever the god commands him to do?

A punishment for breaking their deal was to force him to do other things?

Why didn't the god just command him to 'beat the dungeon' instead?

It must have been because an artificial being lacks something a genuine one has.

Something, that would have been vital in order to beat the dungeon without the god's help.

Creativity and the ability to learn and adapt.

My very first fight with him gave it away.

He kept using a very small selection of specific abilities.

That means they were directly given to him like I was given the analyze ability.

If he started from scratch and learned normally, he would have discovered a lot of variants of spells and used those as well.

But the fact that he only used three or four abilities meant he only knew these specific ones.

After god discovered this guy was unable to beat the dungeon because of his lack of adaptation, he decided to just use him as a normal pawn.

He gave him a handful of spells and set him as a part of the dungeon.

Even without creativity, he can follow simple instructions after all.

The only question left is...

"Why did you act like you used to be a normal person when I asked you questions back in the dungeon?

Is that something the god commanded you to do as well?"

...silence...

He seems a little uneasy, but he isn't saying anything.

I probably guessed right.

"......can't......say..."

...

Heh...

How nostalgic...

Refusing to answer again.

Seems like I'm correct.

Anyway...

I should probably hurry up and finish this trial now.

If she wakes up, this 'wrath' trial will likely get really difficult.

"Well, whatever.

What do I need to do in this 'wrath' trial then?"

He raises his head and 'looks' at me with his closed eyes.

...and then opens them.

There are no eyes in his eye sockets.

My entire body is stunned as he pulls out the weapon sheathed on his back.

Shit!

Maybe I said too much.

Ah, I guess I'll need to do this again.

...

But contrary to what I expected, after aiming the tip at me for a second, he dropped the sword to the ground and closed his eyes again.

"Nothing...You passed..."

...huh?

That was it?

It's unexpected...but good for me.

As he turns his back to me again, the floor of the entire room starts shining and the fake heads vanish.

It takes just a few moments until I start falling and eventually land.

When I open my eyes, I see the chalice and the 'sinlessness' door behind it.

The door, just like the other two, starts crumbling and the text above it is crossed out.

Finally, after the door turns into a pile of rubble, something around the chalice explodes outward and sends weak wave of air at me.

Looks like I really did it...

That must have been the barrier breaking.

Let's go take it then.

I approach the pedestal and try to touch the chalice.

As I get closer, I confirm that the barrier is indeed gone.

With that, I grab the chalice and look at it from up close.

All of that...

Just for this thing.

What is it even good for?

I just went for it because the 'quest' said so.

Anyway...

I try to put the chalice in my storage.

But for some reason, I'm unable to do so.

Hmm?

I can't store it away?

Let's try aga-

...

...

...

G...

Huh?

What?

Where...

...

I'm standing in the room before the 'sinlessness' door again.

But...I'm grasping the chalice and standing right next to the pedestal as if there was no barrier.

What...?

Wasn't I just...

...

I opened the wall with one of the keys and then I continued into another room...

But what happened then?

Why can't I remember again?

...

Or maybe that was it...?

Did I do it then?

The 'sinlessness' door is destroyed...so I must have done it.

But why can't I remember it...?

...

Ugh, whatever...

I got the chalice, that's all that matters.

Now, let's just...

...

Why can't I store it away?

Do I need to carry it with me all the way back?

Annoying...

With such thoughts, I turn around and walk outside while grasping the chalice.

Out through the decorated corridor and past the two weird angels.

And finally to the edge of the mountain.

As I look down below the clouds, I can see the cursed forest expanding below me.

I'll need to go back through that place...

But I might have enough mana to just burn my way through this time.

Hmm...

Let's go then.

I start slowly descending the mountain by jumping down at the rocky platforms.

Surprisingly, there are no more monsters trying to intercept me this time.

After a while, I finally reach the bottom and continue walking toward the forest.

However, all of a sudden...

From a direction where I felt nothing at all just a second ago...

A voice resounds...

"Beautiful!"

As I quickly turn around, I spot...her.

A human girl with silver hair wearing a white dress.

The appearance is completely innocent on the outside.

However, on the inside, I can feel something terrifying...

As if someone collected all mana in the world and packed it into her body.

Something inside me started to scream out.

The only thing on my mind was...

Run.

Bonus:

"NO!

FUCK!

DAMMIT!

WHAT IS THAT THING DOING THERE?!"

Oh, is she the rumored 'that thing'?

How cute.

"Stop joking around!

This is serious!"

Just how 'serious' is this?

Aren't you exaggerating?

"That thing...

Is impossible to handle.

It even survived an encounter with the limit beast."

Well just kill it.

What's the problem?

"No, I just said it's impossible."

No, I mean...aren't you a god?

Why don't you just go there kill it personally?

"...no.

I'm a god...

And that's exactly why I can't just kill it.

I want to keep being a god a little longer."

You are not making any sense...

Aren't gods supposed to be omnipotent?

"Hah...

Of course not.

Gods are just beings able to break world's laws.

But we aren't omnipotent..."

Huh...

That's pretty lame.

"Shut up...

Ugh...shit, now I need to somehow bait it away so it leaves Reiza alone.

I don't want my fun ruined again..."