Is it wrong to try to meet someone in a dungeon?

The next instant, a loud "thump!" was heard.

The startling, dull sound of flesh and blood being beaten rang out, and the cheers of the Amazonian people came to an abrupt halt.

The entire void was shrouded in silence. The goddess (Kali) remained seated cross-legged, silently observing the battle between the two.

Just as silence permeated the eardrum.

Tiona's eyes were filled with astonishment.

It wasn't that Bajie, at the critical moment, raised her left wrist next to her face to block the spinning kick and regain her footing. Rather, it was the left arm that was wrapped in the black and purple membrane.

“Eh…?”

Listening to the crackling sound of her right foot, Tiona couldn't help but mutter to herself.

What kind of move is that?

"You probably don't know..."

Instead of Bajie, who only looked back at her with cold eyes, Kali said.

"Having leveled up to Lv.6, Baje's 'magic' has also been strengthened, both in power and range."

The benefits of the upgrade: Like other ability parameters, "Magic Power" has also increased significantly.

Baje's enchantment, which could originally only be applied to her right hand, has now become able to spread throughout her entire body, just like Ais's "Wind".

At this moment, the woman's alluring brown body was enveloped in a frightening black and purple dual-color light membrane, giving it the appearance of a poisonous insect.

"It's so hot...it's burning hot!"

Time resumed its flow after being paused, and Tiona screamed and staggered backward.

With her discolored right foot unable to exert much force, Bajie launched another relentless pursuit.

"Although it can't become armor, my 'magic' can force my opponent to suffer pain."

"Aga!? Ugh!?"

"If you don't dare to attack and just stand there dumbfounded, then of course I'll take action myself."

Baje's limbs, radiating a terrifying light, relentlessly struck Tiona's entire body as she paced in place.

Baje's powerful arms alone are enough to destroy an opponent's body. If you add the poison (Valgoth) that is attached to her whole body, even the tough body of a first-level adventurer will decay in the blink of an eye.

His bones were cracked, his skin was burned, and he kept spitting blood from his mouth.

—Wait a minute. How do I defeat it?

It cannot be attacked, nor can it attack.

Doesn't that mean you'll die before your opponent does?

In her blurred vision from the repeated blows, a poison called despair erodes Tiona's heart.

"Have you given in, Diona?"

"Ugh—Aa ...

Baje grabbed Tiona's face with her right hand and lifted her up.

Diona screamed as her face was burned by the deadly poison, billowing thick smoke. She grabbed her opponent's wrist, desperately trying to pry open the five fingers embedded in her face, but even Diona's strength was no match for Bage's monstrous power.

Instead, her opponent intensified the pressure, trying to crush her face like a piece of fruit.

"Tiona...do you know why I trained you so carefully?"

"..., ...!"

Just as their vision was being overwhelmed by the swirling, dark purple light of the poison, Bajie's indifferent voice rang out.

"This is the day I've been waiting for. To use you, now stronger, as my 'feed'."

「!?」

"From the moment I saw you, I knew you would become stronger... and I believed that by killing you, I could ascend to a higher realm."

[Upgrade]. A ritual that lower-level inhabitants must perform in order to allow their "capacity" to move to a higher dimension.

Bajee confessed that her goal was to defeat the girl (Tiona) who had absorbed the blossoming power of her abilities, thus achieving her "great feat".

"I never considered Argana as my sister. She was a monster, a predator."

For a fleeting moment, a look of fear flashed in those icy eyes.

"I don't want to be eaten by that... I don't want to die."

Just like the situation of Tiona and Tione.

From the moment she was born, Bajee also had an older sister (Aljana) by her side—a monster.

There was no other reason why she became reluctant to speak and increasingly expressionless. She was afraid to release the fear that, if unleashed, would consume her entire being.

Bajie had long understood that she was Argana's twin sister, possessing the same talents and abilities. Even if she escaped the Kingdom of Dou (Tir Scylla), she was destined to be hunted to the ends of the earth by Argana, who craved strength. She knew that the hateful bond of blood would inevitably pull the two of them together.

In the past, when Bajie almost died at the hands of her own sister, she was saved only because the goddess (Kari) stopped her. She then realized the truth of who she should rely on.

"Power. I need power. I need the overwhelming power to protect everything."

Bajee blends the sealed-in fear of death with the desire for life, sublimating it into a fighting spirit.

Thus, driven by the instincts of survival and struggle, the purest warriors were born in a sense.

Cold and cruel, he is merely a warrior who constantly craved power.

"I will kill you and Algana, and become the 'strongest warrior'."

With great interest and affection, Kali looked down at Bajie, who aspired to become the King of Poison.

"!"

With her face burned by the poison, Tiona gritted her teeth, mustered her strength, and kicked out.

She kicked Bajie in the body and barely managed to break free. The left foot that hit her opponent was also burned by the poison, and Tiona fell several times, awkwardly widening the distance between them.

"Ah, ahh...!"

A sharp pain and a near-drunken sensation tormented his entire face. This was the effect of the potent toxin. His whole body was unnaturally hot and he was sweating profusely. The blood clots he vomited were dark and murky.

Tiona's hands trembled, she lay on all fours, a single tear falling from her eye due to the overwhelming pain. The cruel confession from the person she considered another sister had cracked the young girl's heart.

it hurts.

It hurts, it hurts, it hurts!

I feel so bad, so bad, so bad!

"Ti...O, Ne..."

Tione... Tione!

Help me, Tione!

It hurts so much, I feel so bad, I don't want to get hit anymore!

I never want to hit again—

Her body was corroded by toxins, her heart was torn apart, and Tiona's consciousness began to blur the lines between reality (the present) and the past. In the dark depths of her heart, the young Tiona wept.

She cried and shouted that she didn't want to fight anymore.

『————————————————————————！』

The warriors roared at Tiona, who was standing motionless with her chest heaving.

"Rise up, fight!" "Kill each other to the death!"

Bajie's eyes remained cold, and her right hand, which was gleaming with menace, made a clicking sound.

With Kali as her witness, the woman slowly walked up to the girl.

"Gurgle, ah...!"

With a loud crash, Tiony's back broke through the barrel and slammed against the deck wall.

She was covered in blood. Her lacerated wounds and mouth were bleeding, and her skin was covered with countless bruises and sprains.

Algana, who had just punched Tione, spoke to her amidst the cheers of her kin:

"Is it over, Tione?"

"..."

She wiped her cheeks with her arm and licked away the blood that was mixed with Tiony's.

As if describing the intensity of the battle, Algana herself was also wounded. Her clothing and the dragon scales wrapped around her waist were tattered and torn.

"You may no longer be a warrior... but I never expected you to fight to this extent. Admit it, you have indeed become stronger. Much stronger than when you were a tiny piece of trash."

Algana's voice was distant. My ears were ringing.

Damn it, damn it. Tiony cursed endlessly in his mind. Losing too much blood, his head was foggy, as if his consciousness was veiled by a thin film.

Thione's back was buried in the wall as he slumped on the deck, his neck seemingly about to bend over at any moment.

"An adventurer, huh... I wasn't really looking forward to it at first, but now I'm starting to get excited. I wonder how strong that boarman will be."

Algana is saying something.

What nonsense are you spouting?

"Oh right, there's a big meal before that. Tione, you're going to be eaten here, but..."

What nonsense is Alganna spouting?

"If Baje loses... haha! I'll kill Tiona too."

—In an instant, *splat*!

Tiony heard an unprecedented cracking sound emanating from within her body and saw her vision burning bright red.

Her neck, which was almost drooping, suddenly jerked up, and every corner of her body became boiling hot—in the next instant, she rushed out.

“——————”

Algana had no time to react.

The fist swung out so hard that she couldn't dodge.

Thione's foot slammed down, shattering the deck, and his straight punch struck the woman's cheekbone.

"ah!?"

Algana's body was sent flying.

This time, it was her turn to smash the wooden barrel and get hit by the wooden wall.

Algana, whose mouth was bleeding, froze, staring at the blood-red [Angry Serpent (Serpent)].

"I'll kill you...!"

Thione clenched his fists, staining his entire body with his own blood.

That was "anger".

It is a kind of "anger" that is more intense than when attacked, more intense than when memories are awakened by being sucked of blood (psychological trauma), more intense than when humiliation burns like fire, more intense than any other anger, and purest and most intense "rage".

The emotions surging within her made Tione feel as if she were on fire, and she roared:

"If you dare kill her, I will absolutely kill you!"

"...!"

Her fury was enough to make Argana and the Amazons gasp.

Even Tiony herself couldn't understand why she was angry.

That was a fury I had never felt before.

She couldn't understand why she was so angry, but the words that came out of her mouth were uncontrollable.

"You dare touch a single hair on that idiot's head! You dare steal that idiot's smile! I'll make sure you suffer a terrible death!"

With each word she uttered, Tiony gradually became aware of her own feelings.

She hated that smile.

At the same time, I was saved by that smile.