Chapter 114: Dylak’s Revenge (Part 30) – The Forsaken Lady

The countdown began, and the System finally discarded what was afflicting it, like a sigh of relief after throwing large luggage aside.

The process started by removing the biggest bottlenecks in the area: The moving mansion.

Its feet began disintegrating, turning into pixels that popped and faded into nothingness. Since each monstrous foot was gradually getting erased at the same time, the two Users and the two NPCs still inside could not tell they were sinking yet.

After all, three of them were too busy with what was in front of their eyes to notice.

“Hey, I made it in time!” Clara beamed, entering the dome room, but something rolling her way startled her. Count Dylak’s decapitated head crossed eyes with hers before vanishing.

Before asking questions, Clara looked at the snarling beast human-hybrid standing 30 feet away from her, and read the info the System was giving her. Although it made little sense.

“A-Anastasia? Is that really you? You look… beastly.”

“Clara Domínguez, what are you doing here? Haven’t you seen the countdown?” The Countess asked, then snickered. “Well, whatever. Don’t you find the situation funny too? Although the System interprets my existence as one of this dungeon’s bosses, it started the reset as soon as the Count fell.”

The NPC woman turned to Clara, showing a faint smile. Her expression resembled that of a woman that has lost everything. Of a person who knows their time is nigh. Of someone who has accepted their fate.

“I’m here, and not at the same time,” the Countess continued. “I’ve become nothing more than a joke. Pitiful, huh?”

Clara stared at her, and the grim countdown.

49 seconds remained.

“It doesn’t have to end like–” Clara was saying, but got interrupted by the Countess quickly drawing twin blades to defend herself from a swipe trying to cut her neck.

“Step back, User!”

“WHOAH! Easy, Anastasia!” Clara yelled. “You’ve killed the last boss already, so let me talk to her!”

Anastasia roared, without taking her eyes off The Countess. “THERE’S A BOSS STILL STANDING!”

Clara knew it would happen in a matter of seconds. She would see The Countess’ head rolling through the floor before disappearing forever.

Time was running without a care in the world.

45 seconds remaining.

“F-Familiar Calling! Flammy, Freezy!”

“Yes, Master?!”

“Help me stop herrr–!” Clara shut her mouth to correct herself. “–stop my ally! Help me stop Anastasia!”

“Oh, yes, oh yes, Master! I’ll turn her into an ice cu–”

“She asked me to do it first, nya!” Flammy hissed, pushing his brother. “I’ll burn her to a crisp!”

“Listen to what you’re saying, idiot! Our Master just wants us to immobilize her!”

Clara’s hands shook at the sight of Anastasia slashing the Countess’ right leg, making her fall to the ground.

The countdown kept running inside her line of vision.

39 seconds remaining.

“CUT THE CRAP!” Clara yelled at her familiars. “You know what? On second thought, go all out! The first one to kill the maid bitch wins!”

The little imps looked at each other with dumbfounded expressions on their faces, before grinning ear to ear. “Yes, Master!”

NPCs inside The Novus do not have a true identity. They reply, interact, and follow orders according to their fake, pre-established personalities. Thus, an algorithm simulates how they would approach and solve a problem.

This Decision-Making tool judged Flammy and Freezy’s mischievous and competitive personalities first and calculated that they would try to outdo each other.

Without channeling, Freezy puffed up his chest, looking like a blue, winged frog for a second, and blew a strong, freezing current of air that froze his target’s feet instantly.

This prevented Anastasia from finishing off the Countess.

“WHAT’S THE MEANING OF THIS?!” The transformed Anastasia cried. “I’M YOUR TEAMMATE, CLA–!”

Anastasia could not finish the sentence, for Flammy was throwing a barrage of fireballs at her. The red Imp did it so indiscriminately, that he did not even have the time to scream something snarky, and just screeched instead. “Nyaaaaah!”

Anastasia fell to her knees. Although her Beast Form had boosted her Vitality and HP pool, she could do nothing but protect her head with her arms. “YOU’LL PAY FOR THIS, CLARA!”

**She isn’t going down, is she?** Clara thought, watching her imps running out of energy and their bodies gradually vanishing. **Quick-casting like this will kill them before finishing her off.**

From her place, lying on the ground, The Countess watched the betrayal while shaking her head. “Why are you helping me, Clara?!”

“G-give me a second!” Clara replied, dashing forward.

She channeled mana, and her hands emanated a dark aura.

“I won, nya!” Flammy said, panting.

“Are you freaking blind? She’s still kicking, stupid!”

“Do it yourself then, boss! Finish the job!”

The imps cheered their master, as their bodies’ faded away.

“I’ll fucking try!”

Clara jumped towards Anastasia, who was about to stand up.

“CLARA!”

“I’ve already killed you once, you freaking, stubborn BITCH, so it’s fine if I do it again! Sorry, Alan! Dark Style, BAD TOUCH!”

Clara grabbed Anastasia by the head, corroding her hair, skin, and skull.

The NPC shrieked, as her face turned into ashes and her HP went down.

+++NOTICE: Teammate Anastasia was eliminated. ++++

+++ WARNING: You have been flagged for killing your ally. This can only be dismissed by your Guild Master.++++

“W-WHATEVER!”

A couple of seconds later, the ground beneath them lost consistency and sunken them down, as if it was made of jelly.

“Clara, why?!” The Countess shouted as she sank. “I don’t have much time left, anyway! What use could I have when my own Administrator has forsaken me?!”

“Countess!” Clara made her way through what seemed to be a deep lake of liquid wood, bricks, and flower-themed wallpaper. “Form a contract with me!” she yelled, stretching out a hand to her.

“W-what are you planning, human?! Do you want me to be your slave so badly?! Is that the reason you betrayed your–?”

“F-FORGET THAT! There’s no time!” Clara yelled, with a broken voice. “If you become a summonable servant, the Novus won’t have any other option but to copy all of your data to my User profile! AT LEAST THAT’S WHAT I THINK SO!”

“That’s ridiculous! That’d only work if I was a dungeon…” The Countess narrowed her eyes. “…boss.”

“You said you wanted to know what’s outside of this dungeon, right? Are you okay with disappearing when there’s too much to see out there?! I don’t think Dylak would want you to embrace termination so easily! Fight! Survive, and the Dungeon will live too, through you!”

The female NPC stared at her, as numerous System messages buzzed inside her head.

++++++++

—————————————-

Mansion_frntyrd.dng has been eliminated.

Mansion_lobby.dng has been eliminated.

Mansion_kitchen.dng has been eliminated.

Mansion_library.dng has been eliminated.

Mansion_lftwng.dng has been eliminated.

Mansion_rgtwng.dng has been eliminated.

Mansion_lvngroom.dng has been eliminated.

————————————–

Deleting B_Marick.chr…..Error

Attempt No.(2)…..Error

Deleting C_Monier.chr…..Error

Attempt No.(3)…..Error

Deleting C_Dylak.chr…..Error

Attempt No.(3)…..Error

Deleting C0unt3$$.chr………………………………………………………………

ERROR

ERROR

ERROR

ERROR

…

…

…

N/admin/: LOGIN R

N: Password?

N:admin/R: *******

N: Welcome, R. What can I do for you today?

N/admin/R: shutdown dng

——————————–

+++++++

++++NOTICE: FORCING SHUTDOWN++++

“I-Is either serving you or getting erased, User?”

“OH, SPARE ME THE EXISTENTIAL CRISIS, BITCH! Why is serving others such a bad thing out of a sudden?! Are you seeing things differently just because you’re facing your imminent termination?! Weren’t you trying to help others in your own ‘yandere’ way just an hour ago?! Was that just a lie?! Humans and machines are codependent! You need to fulfill a function, and WE need your help! Help me level up Alan, then! He’s the weakest User in all The Novus, you know?!”

The Countess embraced herself for a moment, as if her chest and stomach hurt, before laughing out loud.

“You’re such a blunt woman, Clara Domínguez! Are you saying that although I’ve finally gained autonomy, my duty hasn’t changed at all?” She sneered, before raising her hand towards her. “Are you okay with having a broken doll around?”

“Hey! Sometimes a factory defect makes some things more valuable!”

“I think I’m missing some context here, Clara. I cannot fathom what you’re saying…”

+++++++++++++++

—————————

N/admin/: LOGIN V

N: Password?

N/admin/V: *******

N: Welcome, V. What can I do for you today?

N/admin/V: transfer data chr C0unt3$$

N/admin/R: chat

N/admin/R: “What are you doing?”

N/admin/V: chat

N/admin/V: “Trust me, sweetheart.”

N/admin/R: “Yeah, right…”

——————–

+++++++++++++++

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