>

Of course it did... What do you take me for?

>

Oh, fuck you too.

Anyhow, it's good that we managed to get rid of all those mercenaries that way.

>

That's their fault, not mine. The idiots shoved the slimes soo deep into their throats it took the poor things minutes to get out...

But regardless, at least they became XP.

>

But that was a given wasn't it? I mean... The monsters are the ones who killed them, makes sense that the XP would go straight to them...

Well... It's a good thing that I still gained tons of XP as the Dungeon Core.

>

Do you think it matters that much? I mean, It's not like I trained that many skills just setting up some monsters and traps...

>

Well... At least it didn't hurt this time...

>

Oh... You'll see in a bit...

>

I told you those poison slimes would come in handy. We didn't even need to use the backup goblins.

>

Still... Had we lost them we would've had to buy more. That alone is a saving. Also... those 15 were not exactly weak you know... I leveled up 5 times from killing just 3 of them.

Well... Now we can start the Powerhouse Plan.

>

You'll find out.

-------------------------------

*step* *step* *step*

Mihara kept on running.

Her legs hurt.

But she wouldn't stop.

She had been running for her life.

There was a single time she had to pick a path. For the most part, the cave was very straightforward.

"Oh shit!"

As she reached another large widening in the cave, she immediately felt dozens of eyes on her. and shoved her bare feet into the stone ground, grinding to a stop.

Her feet hurt and some blood was smeared on the floor behind her. But the pain was the least of her problems.

More than 20 goblins stood around the whole room. Armed with stones, daggers and makeshift spears.

Their eyes gleamed with a red light in the dark.

Mihara froze in fear, she'd heard the things goblins did to women.

Her legs were trembling. Her mana was almost full but there was no way she, unarmed, could deal with this many goblins.

Her heart sank as she realized her future. In the best case, they'd kill her before she finished the casting. At least that way she would die.

Her knees collapsed under the strain. She was running solely fueled by hope, her limits had been long surpassed.

Tears started uncontrollably rolling from her eyes as she sobbed,

A small stream of blood flowed from her feet, punished by the harsh floor of the cave.

Her ankles and wrists burned as she started to feel the pain from the bubbles from the friction burns. The heavy metal shackles felt heavier than ever, as she contemplated her utter defeat.

Yet, none of the Goblins moved.

They stood around her, near the walls, watching her.

But that was all they did. None moved a single muscle or uttered a sound, almost as if they were afraid of her.

Mihara dried her tears with her hands. She realized something was off.

She saw a goblin that was different than the others, It had long dark robes and a stature that was much larger than the others.

While she stared at him, a rounded bottom flask rolled towards her.

She heard the sounds of glass scraping against the stone ground approaching her.

She looked down to see the flask right in front of her, in front of her knees.

She stared back at the strange goblin in dismay, but it was no longer there.

She grabbed the flask, staring at it. What even was this?

A dark fluid swirled inside as she held it in her hands.

She could not distinguish what was inside, the limits of her Dark Vision were being able to see the shapes of things in absolute darkness like in here...

This was most certainly poison.

But why would goblins hand this to her?

Did they want her alive?

Was this something able to deprive her of consciousness? Making her an easier target?

She had no idea, she was afraid.

She once again stared at the wall of goblins, wondering why they wouldn't just kill her already.

""The cave will show you the way. ""

His voice once again echoed in her mind. She trusted him more than anyone. She knew he had saved her. She'd tried to give her all to him one too many times but he denied it. Not because he didn't want her, but because he said "I want you to fight". That's what he wanted.

He wanted her to not give up.

He told her to trust the cave.

Those monsters were part of it.

She had a strange feeling ever since she entered this place, but now the pieces of the puzzle started to connect.

There was no such thing as making delicious and expensive food out of nowhere. There was no such person capable of maintaining and carrying all that luxury in the middle of nowhere.

That wasn't a person. She'd been seduced by either a demon or a monster.

'That has to be it.'

no way someone would be able to carry that stuff around alone.

She thought.

Yeah, that had to be it.

He was not a person, he was a monster, a demon who seduced her.

He seduced her.

She loved him.

She cherished him.

She wanted to be with him regardless of what he was.

She removed the cork of the flask with a pop.

A sickening smell invaded her nostrils, almost making her puke.

She let go of herself entirely as she chugged down the disgusting content of the flask.

The thick and musky fluid coated her tongue and throat as she swallowed it to the last drop.

In spite of everything, it did not taste half as disgusting. It was fearsomely bitter.

She felt her heart beating hard into her chest as she gasped for air.

Her vision started pulsating, from the usual dark hue of the dark vision to a bright green.

What was happening she didn't know.

Her body felt strange, there was something wrong.

She felt as if thousands of insects crawled over into her skin and over her entire body.

Cold sweat started to flow down her spine. Her tail stood up, almost as if pulled by a supernatural force.

She leaned forward, crawling on her elbows, as she threw up everything in her stomach.