Cursed Blade (A Little Sticky)

“Flo!! You’re here!!”

“Lady Sheena! You’re safe!”

“You fool! That’s my line!”

The deepest part of the S-Rank Dungeon【Crimson Night Moon】.

In an inner chamber that looked like an old temple, a knight of the Holy Church—Sheena Aytel—rushed in.

Seeing the girl in a sister’s habit there, Sheena hugged Florence tightly.

“If I had lost Flo, I couldn’t face your mother… Lady Frances… Thank goodness, you’re alive…”

“Lady Sheena, I’m sorry for worrying you… gu-gurgle!?”

While searching for Cardinal Oswald Weidenreich, Sheena stepped on a teleportation trap, but Florence took her place and that allowed her to escape.

Sheena immediately ordered her subordinates to search for Florence, and she herself began searching from the most dangerous area.

Namely, the deepest part.

Sheena ran full speed through the dungeon’s lower layers, cutting down monsters she passed as she headed for the deepest chamber.

Result—the worst of Sheena’s premonitions proved true.

She found Florence in the inner chamber at the deepest part, and seeing her without a scratch, Sheena shed tears of relief.

“Oh… could this be Lord Weidenreich—ugh! He really was already dead, then. But where is the Crimson Vampire Princess?”

Sheena looked around, but there was no sign of the Dungeon Boss, the Crimson Vampire Princess.

“Most likely, Lord Weidenreich risked his life to slay the Crimson Vampire Princess. If I’m alive like this, it’s thanks to Lord Weidenreich.”

“As expected of Lord Weidenreich. You fulfilled your duty as a cleric to the very end…”

After Sheena and Florence recovered the body of Oswald Weidenreich and the relics he carried, they left the chamber to rejoin their scattered subordinates.

“…Sid Ranorus.”

Before leaving the chamber, Florence turned back and softly muttered the name of the black-haired young man who had shared the deathly trial with them.

“What’s wrong, Flo?”

“No, it’s nothing!”

＊＊＊

――The chamber was left deserted.

The floor darkened and a rift in dimensions appeared, from which a gigantic wolf crawled out.

With a snap—the huge jaws opened, and I—Sid Ranorus—emerged from inside Vanargand’s mouth.

“They’re gone?”

“For a time I wondered what would happen, but I never thought you’d defeat Vanargand without my power—kahaha.”

After defeating Vanargand, I activated Necromance and succeeded in mastering Vanargand.

According to Ekarraat, to make full use of this creature’s ability, which possesses a physical body, Necromance is more convenient than Shadow Necromance.

It has a powerful self-healing ability, so there’s no worry about decay.

“I never imagined that that Holy Knight would descend alone to the dungeon’s lowest level—she’s no ordinary person; more capable than I expected.”

Right after mastering Vanargand, I sensed someone entering the chamber, so we used Vanargand’s space-travel ability to hide in an alternate dimension—and that’s how things stand now.

“What’s more interesting is that that brat didn’t tell the female Holy Knight a single word about Sid or Vanargand. That’s convenient.”

“That’s true.”

Flo and I are comrades who survived the edge of death together.

Because of that, I couldn’t help but feel a bond, and perhaps she felt the same—she didn’t mention us to her superior.

“If it’s her… she might really become a cleric who removes the discriminatory mindset against the Shikai Tribe, maybe.”

That’s what I thought.

“So—this is Vanargand, huh.”

“Grrr.”

I stroked the giant wolf’s jaw.

It had become docile, as if its previous ferocity were a lie.

“Vanargand’s abilities are largely twofold—one is an interdimensional movement ability that lets it freely go to marked places with no distance limit; the other is an interdimensional storage ability that swallows anything and keeps it inside its body.”

To hide from Flo’s superior, I entered Vanargand’s mouth and lay hidden in the alternate dimension; that must be that interdimensional ability.

“The only things I can store within my shadow are Shadows and you. Vanargand’s ability to store anything is extremely convenient.”

I often break weapons, but I can keep a stock of them inside Vanargand, and the Magic Stones gathered in the dungeon can be carried without bulk.

And the ability to move to any place once visited, regardless of distance.

This, too, can be called a cheat-level ability.

Furthermore, by defeating Vanargand I gained an extraordinary amount of experience and shot up to Level 78.

Powerful Shadows.

An Undead body.

Levels and stats trained to overwhelm a hero party.

Swordsmanship honed by Master Dullahan.

“At last, my preparations for revenge are complete.”

“Kukaka—finally starting, are we?”

“Yeah, just you wait… you bastards…”

The Hero Sylvan.

The Heavy Knight Garen.

The Mage Lilium.

The Assassin Ruru.

Remembering their faces and realizing I could finally take revenge, I couldn’t help but wear a gruesome smile.

“Ah, and I’ll return this now. Thanks.”

With the fight over, I returned the sword I had borrowed from Ekarraat.

“Oh—it’s the《Cursed Blade: Dread’s Crimson Moon》. If you fancy it, you may keep it. Its sharpness is such that it can even slice space, so it can’t be kept inside Vanargand. Tuck it down your throat like I did.”

“Like I could do that! Besides, gross—it’s sticky with your saliva and kind of smells… hey, sniff sniff.”

“It doesn’t smell! Hey! I said don’t sniff it!!”