episode_0029

Inside the quiet secret passage, a lively woman’s voice echoed loudly.

“Awesome! I got it easily thanks to this.”

Clad entirely in black, she cheered and removed her mask. Then, delicate features emerged, framed by cream-colored bobbed hair.

It was Pernia.

She adjusted the tail wrapped around her waist and examined the artifact.

It was in the form of a ring. Strange patterns encircled the entire ring, and a hexagram was engraved on the top instead of a gem.

Its appearance was extraordinary at a glance.

“It’s just like I saw in the game. I should test it tomorrow!”

The artifact’s name was Fortress of the Iron Wall.

It could generate a barrier according to the user’s will or when their life was in imminent danger. Its recharge time was one day, and it could block attacks even from a maximum-level 200 mage.

While it didn’t offer a significant advantage in the late game, it could be considered an extra life up until the mid-game.

“Heeheehee! I feel a little bad for Abel and Uni, but it can’t be helped. I have to live too, right?”

Anyway, if it weren’t for her, they wouldn’t even have known such a dungeon existed, so there would be no loss for them.

It was while she was rationalizing to herself.

Thump-thump—

Footsteps echoed from beyond the passage.

When she focused her gaze, a figure approaching under the sparsely placed magic lamps caught her eye.

“Who are you!”

Pernia immediately showed her vigilance.

This was, literally, a secret passage. Meaning it was a place generally impossible to know about. For someone to have entered without her knowledge meant one thing.

*‘A transmigrator.’*

The possibility that there might be others who had transmigrated besides herself.

She had already considered that.

Her suspicions deepened when she heard Uni call her an ‘intruder from another world’ at the entrance ceremony.

Still, she couldn’t be certain because, deep down, she wished it wasn’t true.

“Don’t come closer! If you do, you’ll die!”

That’s why Pernia reacted even more intensely.

She wished the opponent would retreat.

She hoped a fight wouldn’t break out.

But the mysterious figure did not stop walking.

Soon, Pernia realized the mysterious figure was wearing a mask.

Moreover, their body was tightly wrapped in black clothing, covering not only their face but even their hair, so all that was visible were silver eyes.

She quickly put her mask back on.

*‘This idiot!’*

She should have hidden her face as soon as she realized they were a transmigrator. Did that person see her face? The sense of crisis hit her more clearly than ever.

As she tensed, the masked man, who had reached within 5 meters, raised his head.

“I will rape you.”

“…What?”

What are you talking about? This crazy bastard?

Pernia’s mind was filled with nothing but bewilderment at the utterly unexpected remark.

However, this was just the beginning.

Immediately after, the overwhelming vitality rising throughout her body only added to her confusion.

As Pernia reeled from her altered physical abilities, the masked man lunged.

Boom!

With a single stomp, the ground trembled.

Pernia’s body stiffened in alarm at the intimidating sight. It was a fatal mistake. In that brief moment, the masked man reached her side.

A fist, carrying acceleration, struck Pernia’s abdomen.

CRACK!

It was a sound like a thunderclap erupting.

Flung away like a toy by the immense impact, Pernia rolled over and over before coming to a stop.

“Ugh! It… doesn’t hurt?”

Clutching her abdomen instinctively, she tilted her head in confusion at her surprisingly unharmed body.

Just in case, Pernia turned her head to the ring and found the light that had filled the hexagram was utterly extinguished.

*‘The artifact activated.’*

Truly worthy of the Fortress of the Iron Wall.

To prove its worth less than an hour after she acquired it.

If she had taken that blow head-on, at the very least, all her ribs would have been broken, leaving her incapacitated. Her life, filled with so many regrets, would have ended there.

Anger surged as she recalled that hypothetical situation.

“This crazy bastard. I’ll kill you.”

Exuding killing intent, Pernia immediately drew her dagger and charged at the masked man.

*

*‘Thank goodness.’*

I let out a sigh of relief.

As planned, the first surprise attack successfully disabled the Fortress of the Iron Wall.

The problem was that when I swung my fist with full power while my strength was amplified sevenfold, the bones around it cracked.

If I overexerted myself a few more times, my bones would completely turn to powder and I’d become like a slime.

Well, that’s something to worry about later; for now, I have to withstand Pernia’s attacks.

It was then.

Swish—

Pernia’s body, which had been charging from the front, melted into space and vanished without a trace.

Of course, this was within my expectations.

I had vaguely figured out she had stealth abilities when I eavesdropped using a surveillance magic tool.

However, unlike ordinary abilities, this one seemed very special, as its presence could not be detected even with ‘Rape Declaration’s’ tracking function.

*‘Where is she?’*

The moment I suppressed my agitation and scanned my surroundings, a chilling killing intent brushed against my back.

I instinctively flung my body away.

Swish!

By a hair’s breadth, the dagger grazed past my waist. If I had been even a little slower, I would have undergone forced incision surgery.

As I rolled on the floor and got up, I saw Pernia calmly stroking her dagger.

“You’re weaker than I thought. Your strength is ridiculously powerful, though. Is that your unique skill? What kind of skill is that? It even makes me stronger. Pfft!”

Pernia discarded her usual playful, cat-like tone and showed an arrogant demeanor.

This was her true personality.

Whether it was a provocation or an unintentional action, I didn’t fall for Pernia’s scoffing and calmly continued the conversation.

“…So your stealth seems to be your unique skill, then?”

“That’s right. It’s a pretty useful skill. Though it doesn’t have a dramatic effect like yours.”

“Why did you backstab Abel’s party?”

“Hmm… that? There wasn’t any big reason, really. If I had to say, maybe because Abel was a bit unreliable?”

Just as expected, Pernia seemed to have lost trust in Abel after seeing him fail to awaken during the last fight with the Boar Frog.

For now, it was merely a light prank, but there was no telling what she might do later.

*‘Should I kill her?’*

As I was pondering inwardly, Pernia aimed her dagger at me.

“Let’s stop talking then. Neither of us has much time anyway. I’ll kill you as quickly as possible.”

Swish!

Once again, Pernia’s body vanished as if melting into space. Even concentrating my senses to the maximum, I couldn’t detect her at all.

I heightened my tension.

*‘Hold out for as long as possible.’*

An ability of that caliber must undoubtedly consume a considerable amount of magic.

At Pernia’s current level, she wouldn’t be able to maintain it for long. Ultimately, this was a battle of whether I would fall first or her magic would run out.

I could only hope that her magic reserves weren’t sufficient.

*

Slash-slash-slash!

“Ahahahah! Counterattack! Go on, try!”

Ten minutes after the fight began.

What ensued during that time was Pernia’s one-sided humiliation.

Hiding in the gaps of space, disappearing completely, and then reappearing from blind spots to attack, it gave the opponent the illusion of fighting a ghost.

Pernia, who had initially been angered by the surprise attack, scoffed as she looked at the bloodied masked man.

“What good is strength if you can’t hit anything? You don’t know where I am, do you? Huh? Why don’t you say something! You said you’d rape me? Come and get me!”

As she thrilled in toying with the masked man, she suddenly felt dizzy.

“Ugh! My magic…”

Her unique skill, ‘Resident of the Gap,’ possessed the immense ability to hide in the gaps between spaces, meaning it consumed a lot of magic.

Having overused it, her magic reserves were already running low.

Pernia slowed her offensive and retreated.

After taking a deep breath, she deactivated her stealth and reappeared.

“Hmph… I’ll finish this now.”

Although she was very tired, Pernia was overflowing with confidence. That’s because she was perfectly fine without a single scratch, while her opponent was so battered that there wasn’t a single uninjured spot on his entire body.

It was to the point where she wondered if he might collapse from excessive bleeding even if she just left him alone.

However, there was one unsettling point.

*‘His eyes are strange.’*

Those unwavering silver eyes.

Despite being clearly at a disadvantage, there was not a hint of fear.

That gave her an inexplicable sense of pressure.

Just then, her opponent moved.

With a solemn gesture, he unbound the restraints wrapped around his wrists and simply let them drop.

Thud!

“Ah…”

“What the…?”

Unlike all the posing, Pernia felt deflated at the anticlimactically light sound.

Honestly, she had expected the restraints to hit the ground with a thunderous crash and perhaps even dent the floor.

Pernia bit her lip tightly, angered that she had been scared by such a blatant bluff.

“Die!”

Then, she shouted with killing intent and charged to deliver the finishing blow.

The distance between them rapidly closed.

Finally, as they entered striking range and the masked man was about to swing his fist, Pernia’s body melted into space and vanished.

Ultimately, she couldn’t resist the temptation.

*‘You never know.’*

Her magic was running low, but it wasn’t completely depleted. She had enough left for one more use. She had planned to save it for later, but the present moment was more critical.

As soon as Pernia hid in the spatial gap, she reappeared behind the masked man’s back.

Her opponent tried to retract his fist from the suddenly vanished target, but it was already too late.

Before that, her dagger would pierce his vital point.

*‘Good. Now, it’s—’*

Just as Pernia thrust her dagger, her gaze suddenly met his silver eyes.

In that deep, sunken gaze, as if he had been waiting for this very moment, the unease she had felt earlier intensified once more.

In that moment, the dagger pierced flesh.

Thud!

“Huh?”

The problem was that the location was not the vital point she had aimed for.

The dagger was embedded in his palm.

The masked man had turned only one hand back to block the dagger. He gripped the dagger firmly. Even as blood dripped down his wrist, his grip strength did not loosen.

Then, his arm rotated widely.

CRASH!

“Aaaaaaaah!”

Following that movement, Pernia, who had been lifted into the air, was slammed onto the floor.

A scream burst from her lips involuntarily, a pain like her spine was crushing. It seemed her lungs were hit, as she couldn’t breathe properly.

When she lifted her head, the bloodied masked man was calmly looking down at her.

And then his right foot slowly lifted.

CRACK!

He stomped it down right next to her head.

The solid metal floor was deeply gouged, and a vibrating sound echoed in her ears.

Instantaneously, fear seized her body.

“Gasp! W-wait. Don’t kill me. I want to live.”

Pernia immediately knelt without hesitation and begged for her life.

At this moment, pride was useless. She desperately wished for survival. But regrettably, there was no reaction from the masked man.

She resorted to every possible means.

“Y-you need this, right? I’ll give you the artifact. Or, should we have sex? You said you wanted to rape me earlier. I’ll do it for you! I’m a virgin, you know? I’ve never done it before! I’ll only do it for you. Huh? So please.”

“……”

This time, his eyes changed slightly.

It was a look filled with doubt, as if he couldn’t understand. For a virgin who had maintained her purity until now to immediately offer her body just to live was quite illogical.

After that, his suspicion deepened even further.

Noticing this, Pernia quickly added an explanation, lest it be too late.

“R-really! I’ve never done it even on Earth. I was going to sell it at an auction later, you know? Haven’t you heard? Some woman sold her first experience at an auction for over 3 million dollars. I was going to do the same thing!”

This was the absolute truth, without a single lie.

Pernia had genuinely intended to sell her virginity at an auction later.

“Huh!”

The masked man let out a soft sigh, as if dumbfounded.