Ch.219[Chapter 219] Dungeon Floor 4/3

Sir Dominic frantically deflected the objects flying toward him.

While evading the dagger barrage from both sides, Sir Dominic knocked away the Jack and Joe brothers fired from the cannon.

Sir Dominic realized that at this rate, he would be the first to tire out.

However, Sir Dominic couldn’t carelessly leave his current position.

He noticed that whenever the gunpowder flashes from the cannon briefly dispelled the darkness, his surroundings were changing.

For example, a ball that had been on Sir Dominic’s left just before now moved to the right when the cannon fired again.

For Sir Dominic, who already had poor visibility, this constantly shifting space in darkness was nothing short of a maze.

Unable to move freely in this situation, Sir Dominic could only focus on defense by raising his shield.

Yet Sir Dominic was still grinning unpleasantly.

For Sir Dominic, who instinctively enjoyed battle, difficult situations only made him stronger.

After several more cannon shots, Sir Dominic thought, “Those people must be in pain. More than me.”

Sir Dominic watched as the Jack and Joe brothers were fired again.

Finally, having instinctively grasped the situation around him, Sir Dominic vanished into the darkness as soon as the flickering light faded.

The spotlight, having lost its target, began frantically searching around for Sir Dominic.

“Urgh!”

Perry or Jerry?

One of the master dagger-throwing brothers was dragged into the darkness.

The other dagger brother on the opposite side looked at his kidnapped sibling.

Behind that brother, white gleaming teeth and glowing green eyes were visible.

The cannon fired again.

This time, it was fired without anyone riding it, simply to illuminate the surroundings.

The remaining dagger brother saw Sir Dominic’s afterimage beyond the flashing light.

He was grabbing his brother by the collar and dragging him along the ground. With each flash of light, the struggling brother was visible, until suddenly he realized his brother was no longer in sight.

Sir Dominic turned his head to look at the remaining dagger brother.

As if saying “you’re next,” snake-like green eyes and white teeth flashed eerily in the darkness.

“Eek!”

The dagger master continued his indiscriminate dagger throws.

Now that he realized his brother was gone, he had no hesitation in attacking.

The dagger master, who had been throwing daggers toward Sir Dominic’s position with each flash of the cannon’s light, was soon gripped by fear.

With each flash, he could clearly see Sir Dominic approaching him with a creepy… no, a face full of happy smiles.

The dagger master’s hands stopped.

He no longer threw any daggers.

But Sir Dominic, as if pleased by this, came closer to the dagger master with each flash of light.

And when the light flashed once more, Sir Dominic disappeared from the dagger master’s sight.

The dagger master frantically looked around under the spotlight.

As if determined not to be helplessly captured, the dagger master raised a dagger in his hand and began swinging it in all directions.

But his resistance was futile.

“Danger!”

“Watch out!”

The Jack and Joe brothers operating the cannon stared at the rough hands that appeared from the darkness.

“…mph!”

And they helplessly watched as the dagger master was dragged into the darkness with his mouth covered and throat gripped.

How could Sir Dominic catch the dagger brothers so easily in the darkness?

It was thanks to Sir Dominic’s animal-like senses.

Sir Dominic, excessively happy now, had awakened his dormant wild instincts.

These wild instincts allowed him to detect moving objects in darkness by feeling the air currents on his skin, and despite the alternating light and darkness confusing his vision, he could instinctively sense the direction of attacks and approach.

Sir Dominic, who hadn’t become a knight from a serf for nothing, was fully displaying his beast-like instincts.

Of course, even in the midst of this, he didn’t forget his chivalry.

In fact, Sir Dominic had merely thrown the dagger brothers up and out of the darkness, not killing them.

One might argue that it was because Sir Dominic’s damage output wasn’t enough to kill them, but anyway, it was because of Sir Dominic’s chivalry.

Now all that remained were the human cannonball brothers, Jack and Joe.

Sir Dominic slightly revealed himself at the edge of the spotlight.

And as if saying “you’re next,” he pointed at Jack and Joe with his finger and disappeared back into the darkness.

The Jack and Joe brothers looked at each other, then raised both hands in surrender as if they had no choice.

Click. Click. Click.

The lights came back on throughout the stage.

It was John Doe’s decision, realizing that darkness was no longer a means to hinder Sir Dominic, but had become a space where Sir Dominic could rampage freely.

“Impressive, Sir Dominic. The title of knight is no exaggeration, it seems. Though you seem closer to a monster than a knight.”

John Doe rode a hobby horse around the edge of the circular stage, circling the fence.

“I have good news and bad news. The good news is that there’s still plenty to see, and the bad news is that everything is trying to kill you!”

A flaming ring shot out from the audience seats still shrouded in darkness.

And from the opposite audience seats, a lion was supposed to leap out.

“…Why isn’t it coming out? Is it scared again?”

John Doe arrived at the opposite side after performing acrobatics on a trapeze.

And he began to peer carefully into the darkness.

Sir Dominic, currently in a state where happiness outweighed reason, just watched John Doe’s actions.

Believing they would make him even happier.

“Hey! I told you it was a misunderstanding! Your sister is ali-“

Mary shouted “it’s a misunderstanding” from the audience seats, but her voice was drowned out by the audience’s cheers and applause, not reaching John Doe.

“Why isn’t it coming out-“

John Doe peered into the invisible waiting room in the darkness.

But his words couldn’t continue to the end.

“Bro…ther…”

John Doe’s body froze.

“…Jane Doe?”

John Doe asked the woman in the darkness who was his sister, himself, and nothing at all.

“John Doe… brother….”

John Doe was certain that the voice from the darkness was his sister’s.

“You’re alive! I misunderstood!”

John Doe’s voice brightened.

“That’s what I’ve been saying—it’s a misunderstanding!”

Mary shouted to John Doe from the audience seats.

“How did you get here? Surely you couldn’t be with me-“

John Doe excitedly spoke to Jane Doe in the darkness.

In fact, John Doe and Jane Doe were people who couldn’t meet each other.

It was because the System had separated them, placing each on parallel lines.

How long had it been since he had even heard her voice like this?

John Doe thought this as he shone a spotlight toward the waiting room.

He wanted to see his sister’s face clearly after so long.

But John Doe didn’t see his sister’s face.

Before the light could reach the waiting room, John Doe was devoured by the darkness.

And in an instant, the stage collapsed.

There was no applause, no cheers.

When Sir Dominic regained his senses, he was back in the room where he had met John Doe.

With a smudged painting and the round moon visible outside the window.

“How foolish, how foolish.”

“John Doe tastes like dough!”

“Dough filled with meat!”

“What… is that?”

Mary had returned to her spider form.

It seemed that with the disappearance of the third floor’s boss, they were considered to have cleared the third floor.

And Mary, in spider form, had eyes that could see in darkness, allowing her to identify the being in the shadows.

It was a mass of flesh with red skin.

A massive lump of flesh with countless faces and voices.

Sir Dominic was no longer happy.

An inexplicable fear and disgust crept up Sir Dominic’s spine.

And it was a sensation that Sir Dominic knew all too well, yet could never get used to.

“…A demon?”

Sir Dominic spoke to the red mass of flesh.

“Yes.”

The largest mouth on the flesh mass spoke.

Fortunately, Sir Dominic had his disgust filter turned on, so the large mass appeared as a red mosaic.

“Sir Dominic. Is that right?”

Another mouth called Sir Dominic’s name.

“Sir Dominic of Feralant. Is that right?”

“Correct. He is Sir Dominic of Feralant.”

“Sir Dominic who snatched victory from me.”

“My love. But no longer Sir Dominic.”

“…What is all this about.”

Sir Dominic’s name sprang from the mouths attached to all the faces of that monster.

From that horrific sight, Sir Dominic was convinced that this being was either a demon or a demon’s minion.

At least as far as Sir Dominic knew, the most horrific things in the world belonged to demons.

Sir Dominic raised his shield.

“According to the contract, I will now devour Sir Dominic of Feralant.”

“What will he taste like? Will he taste like chewing iron?”

“Oh, my love. Now we’ll become one…”

The red-skinned monster stared at Sir Dominic with all its eyes and spewed blasphemous words.

And for Sir Dominic, this was quite familiar.