Golden Dungeon, Hamlet Outskirts. Today's weather: Lightning Storm.
Ah, not some 5000-credit superweapon, but a storm vortex infused with lightning. Or you could call it—Lightning Whirl Cleave!
Boom!
Wielding her twin axes, Nepheli charged into the swarm of monsters like a beast in human form, winds howling around her, lightning flashing with every swing.
Whoosh—
Her axes spun, and with each powerful swing, the gale around her grew fiercer, twisting into a visible storm that tore at everything nearby. Behind her, healers tended wounds, buffers stacked blessings, and at the rear stood a summoner who had just released their Pokémon.
When the winds finally calmed, only a pile of corpses remained. This scene had already repeated countless times.
Ever since Lloyd had led them out, the slaughter hadn't stopped. Starting from Hamlet's outskirts, they first cleared the inner ring before pushing further outward.
Unlike the usual Dark Dungeon instances, this one was grounded in reality. Battles weren't turn-based—you hit me, I hit you. It played more like Elden Ring: a four-player seamless co-op dungeon crawl. The monsters' numbers and types were tweaked, with a few Dark Dungeon mechanics added in.
With that setup, Nepheli—already boasting overwhelming Strength—had two healers and a versatile summoner backing her up. That lineup could even handle mid-to-high-level maps.
But here, since Hamlet marked the starting stage of the dungeon, the monsters were weak. Mostly Demi-humans or basic grunts, with knights rare, and even common trolls filling in as bosses. With all those buffs stacked, even if Lloyd wanted to slow the pace, it would've been nearly impossible.
So, before long, they had already swept through Hamlet's outskirts. After returning collected supplies to town, they set out again, pushing into more distant areas.
Now, they were nearing the end of their second sweep.
After cutting down another pack of monsters, Nepheli finally felt a touch of fatigue from the prolonged fighting. Her breathing grew heavier, sweat beading across her skin.
It wasn't that Lloyd was forcing her to keep fighting—it was just that the barbarian herself had gotten carried away. Having spent so long buried in Stormveil's administrative affairs, she hadn't fought a proper battle in ages. In her excitement, Nepheli had simply kept pushing through fight after fight.
The others didn't mind. With Nepheli as the main damage dealer, tossing spells or Pokémon cost them little effort. So they just let her go wild.
After a brief rest, Nepheli wiped sweat from her brow and walked over to the group.
"Want to take a break?"
Lloyd asked. Nepheli hesitated. She felt she could keep going, but after checking her condition, she decided to heed his advice.
"Yeah."
And so, camp rest began.
Camp rest wasn't real camping—it was a Golden Dungeon mechanic. By consuming one unit of camp materials, you could create a camp in a non-combat state, with time automatically shifting to night.
During camp rest, champions could eat to replenish, sleep to recover stamina, and even perform special actions depending on their skills.
For example, Roderika could feed souls special snacks from the Colosseum to boost their strength in the next battle. Nepheli, on the other hand, could sharpen her axes to increase her damage.
But first came food, of course.
In this dungeon, with everything compressed, hunger struck quickly after the thrill of nonstop battle.
As they chose to rest, the world shifted to night. Four tents appeared around them, and a bonfire blazed in the center.
After Lloyd selected the maximum food ration, ten units of provisions materialized by the fire.
Nepheli walked over. Still overheated from the fight, she tugged absently at the cloth across her chest to let the heat escape. Sweat slid from her neck, tracing her wheat-colored skin.
It ran from her neck to her collarbone, then slipped between her breasts. With each tug, the droplets slid lower until they trickled free, sketching faint trails across her flat stomach.
But just as she sat by the fire, preparing to eat, she suddenly realized something.
Since arriving in Stormveil, with few acquaintances around and Old Margit refusing to suffer interrogation from the Seven Sages, Nepheli had spent most of her time either working or hanging out with the girl group. Combined with her carefree nature, she'd picked up some careless habits.
Like tugging at her chest cloth, for example. In the girl group, everyone was the same gender, and no one had strange preferences.
So, when she got overheated—especially with her chest trapping more warmth than others—she'd simply pull at her cloth to let the heat out. Back in the girl group, this was perfectly normal.
But here… it wasn't just the girl group anymore.
And since Lloyd had also come to the bonfire to grab a taste of the food, he was sitting right in front of her.
Which meant, just now, she had walked right up to Lloyd—still tugging at her chest cloth—while he was seated by the fire, waiting for dinner.
Even as she drew closer, she tugged at the cloth binding her chest while greeting him outright, practically drawing his gaze to herself…
Realizing this, even Nepheli froze for a moment before her face turned crimson.
Simple-minded or not, barbarian or not, even with low Intelligence, she at least knew she was a girl. And by age, she truly was still a young one. Because of her dull mind, there was even a trace of naivety clinging to her...
"What's wrong?"
Noticing her unusual state, Lloyd looked at her.
"Is the pressure getting to you?"
"…No, it's nothing."
Nepheli nibbled at the food by the bonfire, sneaking glances at Lloyd with an awkward expression.
He saw it, right? He definitely saw it. And it was because she made him look...
But Lloyd had no idea what was running through her head. After her answer, he didn't avert his eyes—instead, he scrutinized her even more boldly.
Because he had no choice.
In his eyes, her first pressure bar was already close to full. She might have been relentless in battle, killing monsters with ease, her Strength bordering on absurd…
But as he had noted before, this Dungeon judged champions not by a single attribute, but by their overall balance. Nepheli had managed to qualify despite her lopsided build, largely thanks to her seven points of Intelligence—maybe even less. But Intelligence alone wouldn't have gotten her in. She had to have another flaw.
For instance, her stress bar—barely a quarter the length of anyone else's.
Even compared to Therolina, whose bar was the shortest among the others, Nepheli's was still only about a fourth of hers. And against Roderika, whose stress bar was the longest, Nepheli's didn't even come close to a fraction.
The reason wasn't that Nepheli was mentally fragile, but rather tied to her current state. It had been a long time since that talk in The All-Knowing's office. Afterward, Lloyd had even found her work, gifted her the Storm Eagle, and given her something to do—helping her recapture a bit of her old spirit.
But still, whenever work ended and she was left alone in her room, even her dim little head would drift into confusion, even self-doubt. She couldn't articulate what she was confused or doubtful about—but that didn't stop the Dungeon from dragging those feelings out of her heart and carving them off her stress bar.
Now, while constant fighting—especially rapid killing—could lower stress, it only suppressed it temporarily. Killing fast enough meant monsters couldn't add more pressure, which was why she had managed to fight so much without her short bar exploding.
Even so, out here on the outskirts, as monsters grew stronger and the burden piled up, suppression wasn't the same as elimination. Bit by bit, her already short stress bar was filling. And that was why Lloyd now stared at her so intently.
As for her chest-cloth tugging—pretending he hadn't seen it would've been a lie.
Her figure was… undeniable. Coupled with her carefree habits, the tugging had been bold, obvious. Even without focusing, just by keeping his eyes on the stress gauge above her head, Lloyd could still catch the curves in his peripheral vision.
Maybe it was the barbarian's natural build, but Nepheli's body was striking—well-shaped, with no excess fat, no sagging. The forceful pulling had even produced sharp slapping sounds.
Standing directly in front of him, sweat beading down her neck, droplets were flung loose with each motion, some even striking Lloyd. It was impossible not to notice.
But noticing wasn't the same as caring.
To him, Nepheli was a brother-in-arms, through and through. Aside from that chest and the face above it, everything about her—from mind to temperament—was completely unfeminine. On a normal day, he might have even felt disgust if someone flung sweat at him like that.
But now, seeing his comrade's stress gauge about to burst, he let it slide. He kept studying her closely, trying to pinpoint the source of her pressure.
Then… Nepheli began acting even stranger.
Because Lloyd wasn't hiding it at all. He had even told her outright that her stress bar was nearly full.
But Nepheli couldn't see her own bar, and Lloyd's gaze was simply too direct. Combined with the chest-cloth incident from earlier, she was already feeling uneasy. Now, under his unrelenting stare, that unease deepened.
It felt less like a look, and more like something tangible, sliding and lingering across her body…
Realizing this, Nepheli shifted uncomfortably, her face burning even redder.
"Are you really okay? If the pressure's too much, you can always head back first..."
"I... I'm really fine."
Enduring the strange sensations coursing through her body, Nepheli explained.
"I don't know what exactly you're seeing, but I honestly don't feel like anything's wrong with me..."
"If it's too much, like you said before, killing more monsters can also reduce the pressure..."
Since Nepheli put it that way, Lloyd didn't press her any further.
After dinner, it was time to sleep. That was when the six of them discovered a new problem—there were six people, but only four tents.
According to the Dungeon's rules, everyone had to be inside a tent in order to rest. The four champions each required their own tent, and Lloyd couldn't be given one separately. And under the Dungeon's simulation rules, while resting in reality would only pass in an instant, here it truly meant sleeping through an entire night.
It was... a little awkward.
But before the tension could spread, Lloyd suddenly turned to Nepheli and spoke seriously.
"If you don't mind, how about we share one?"
It wasn't that Lloyd had any special intentions toward Nepheli. Rather, just before lying down, he realized that not only did champions have campsite skills—he himself carried a passive ability.
Whoever he shared a tent with would have their stress reduced to some degree (though there was a very small chance it could increase instead).
So Lloyd thought he could take this opportunity to relieve some of Nepheli's pressure. Even if he couldn't erase it completely, at least he could help her endure a little longer.
But when faced with Lloyd's suggestion, Nepheli hesitated.
Normally, with the trust she had in him, she would have agreed without a second thought. But after what had just happened...
She hesitated.
Seeing her reluctance, Lloyd didn't insist. After a moment, he entered a small tent with Roderika, who had volunteered to share with him.
Outside, Nepheli watched the two leave together. She stood there for a long while before quietly slipping into her own tent.
Maybe I should have said yes...
The thought crossed her mind as she closed her eyes.
But strangely, though she was usually able to fall asleep the moment her eyes shut, tonight she lay in her tent for a long time without drifting off.
And once she was alone, the pressure—or rather, the confusion—that had been held down during battle began to surface again.
It wasn't the awkwardness from tugging at her chest earlier.
In truth, it was precisely because she didn't want to confront that confusion, or face the unease inside her, that she, usually so carefree, had started fixating on little details she would normally ignore.
Yes, she had a job in Stormveil. She had the Stormhawk in her care. She had strength enough to be respected in the Lands Between.
But...
Was this really the life she wanted?
Her past ideals, the blood in her veins, the meaning of her existence...
She had once truly believed she fought for justice. She had sworn to protect the weak. She had sincerely believed her foster father could become Elden Lord, building a world where the powerless would no longer suffer...
But now...
Lying alone in her tent, the warrior who had fought so valiantly during the day now curled up like a lost cub, her face clouded with unease and confusion.
When had everything begun to change?
It must have been the day her foster mother disappeared.
Though The All-Knowing and Dolores had never been lovers, Dolores's affection for Nepheli ran deep.
In fact, Dolores had raised her more than The All-Knowing ever had.
That old fool had never been fit to raise a child. While Dolores was still around, she was the one who truly cared for Nepheli. It was hard to deny that Nepheli's pure, upright nature was shaped by her.
Even when The All-Knowing spoke of creating a world where the weak would never be oppressed, surely Dolores's influence was behind those words.
A father consumed by work. A mother who offered sharp remarks. A naïve, earnest daughter.
Though they weren't bound by blood, and her parents had never even been lovers, even during the Round Table's prime, people would often joke that they looked like a family of three.
Those had been the happiest days of Nepheli's life.
Until Dolores vanished.
After losing her mother, although The All-Knowing still arranged for others to watch over her and teach her martial skills, he rarely saw her himself.
Even when she went to him in person, she would be turned away at the door, forced to let attendants deliver her words instead.
After losing the only restraint on him, The All-Knowing gradually reverted to his old self, functioning like a machine rather than a human being.
Nepheli realized this too, but back then she still believed he would uphold the covenant he had made while her mother was alive.
Then came the Village of the Albinaurics.
Even now, whenever she found herself alone late at night, she would unconsciously recall that burning village. She would remember what she had witnessed as a child.
That was the nightmare of her life.
Her faith shattered, confusion swallowed her, and the Darkness once buried deep in her soul crawled out of its grave, clutching at her ankles...
No. She couldn't think about it anymore.
To suppress the unease clawing at her heart, Nepheli drew in a deep breath, trying to shift her focus.
Another person might distract themselves by recalling other memories, but the problem was, you couldn't expect too much from a brain with an Intelligence of seven.
And lately, aside from the thrill of battle, the thing she thought about most was Lloyd—the one who had helped her in so many ways.
Thinking of Lloyd brought to mind the way she had acted earlier when she returned.
That led to remembering his unabashed gaze.
And recalling that gaze made her body feel strangely warm.
Especially when she thought about how, in the end, she had stood there refusing his offer and then watched him walk into Roderika's tent.
Everyone knew Lloyd was hopelessly dense—Nepheli herself felt confident enough to tease him about it. But Roderika was different. She made her interest obvious, always showering him with kindness whenever they met. And now...
The thought of what could happen did succeed in distracting her, pushing aside her unease and confusion. But once those feelings were suppressed, something else rose up to take their place.
Roderika would definitely use the chance to do something...
As her mind spun with those reckless thoughts, the air in the tent seemed to grow warmer. Her strong thighs unconsciously pressed together.
What were they doing right now...?
No, surely... it wouldn't be that...
...
"Holy shit, that's so damn cool!"
Meanwhile, inside Roderika's tent.
Lloyd stared in awe at the Spirit Jellyfish before him, its body gleaming with multicolored light as it spun like a stage spotlight, his expression alight with excitement.
The Spirit Jellyfish was, of course, Aurelia. After accompanying Roderika through a host of challenges, the little one had grown significantly stronger.
Not only was Aurelia more powerful in combat, but Roderika had also spent some challenge points to grant her additional non-combat abilities for fun—like this dazzling light show.
She and Aurelia had chosen it together, both certain Lloyd would enjoy it. And they had been right.
After pulling Lloyd into her cozy little tent, Roderika had summoned Aurelia to show off the new skill. When the demonstration ended, the jellyfish floated over, wrapping herself around Lloyd and massaging him with her translucent tendrils.
At the same time, while Aurelia worked her tentacle massage, Roderika began reporting her progress.
She spoke of her personal growth, the challenges she had cleared, her progress along the Path of the Novice, the things she had learned (like unlocking the system, which she had discovered herself), and the development of the Spirit Ash.
When she finished, Roderika even laid out the Spirit Ash and all the rewards she had earned, placing them before Lloyd for him to take as he wished.
No Runes required, no tasks to complete—everything was laid bare before him. If he wanted, he could simply reach out and claim it all.
But that made Lloyd hesitate, feeling a pang of guilt.
Yes, he had given her the Spirit Ash, but all the cultivation afterward, and everything she now presented, had been the result of her painstaking work.
Undead were driven by the great desires of light-seeking, collection, and completion, yet here was Roderika kneeling before him, her carefully nurtured Spirit Ash at her side, along with items whose descriptions alone suggested the immense effort required to obtain them...
And still, when she saw his hesitation, Roderika's expression remained calm.
"The Spirit Ash were entrusted to me by you. They were yours from the start..."
"And as for these rewards, without your guidance, I would never have come across them in my lifetime..."
"Not to mention, it was you who took me in to begin with, and taught me the art of spirit tuning..."
"Truthfully, I'm the one who should feel ashamed."
Even so, Lloyd felt he couldn't let her efforts go unrewarded. At the very least, he should give her something in return, some proper recognition.
"Then what is it you want? You've done me a great service—I should at least thank you for that, shouldn't I?"
At his words, Roderika's eyes flickered for a moment. Then, as if steeling herself, she leaned in closer to him.
"Um... it's been a while since you last held me..."
Just like before, Roderika nestled into Lloyd's arms, savoring the familiar comfort. After a moment, she pressed her cheek against his chest and spoke softly.
"Um, if you don't mind... it's not just the Spirit Ash and the items. I can be yours too..."
"And that way, you could just take what's mine directly, without having to worry about anything else..."
Lloyd looked down at the girl in his arms. After some thought, he found her words reasonable.
After all, with all her clansmen dead, she had been left completely alone, with nowhere to go. Now, although she had the girl group as friends, in truth, he seemed to be the only one she could really rely on.
Though the words "become my possession" sounded strange, whatever the name, it would only deepen their bond. That way, Roderika could trust him more, and he could use the excuse of that relationship to care for her better, or give her more things.
A win-win.
That was how he saw it.
So he took out a gray ring.
After a brief hesitation, her pale, delicate finger slipped it on. When Lloyd saw the ring slide onto her hand, the Spirit Jellyfish resting against him wriggled playfully, as if begging for one too.
Finding Aurelia both cute and obedient—a sensible little one—Lloyd pulled out another ring and slipped it onto one of her tentacles.
[Acquired Covenant: 'Summoner']
[When equipped, slightly increases the HP of summoned creatures]
Since neither Roderika nor Aurelia alone met the minimum requirement for a Covenant, the system automatically counted the pair together—a human and a jellyfish, merged into one.
Which made sense. After all, only when a Trainer and their Pokémon were bound together did they form a complete summoner.
After forging the Covenant, mindful of the exploration still ahead, the group took time to rest in the tent.
But since the bed wasn't large enough, and thanks to a certain golden-haired girl's selfishness...
It ended with Lloyd holding her in one arm and Aurelia in the other.
...
By the time rest was over, Roderika emerged from the tent refreshed, having slept soundly in Lloyd's embrace. Thanks to such good rest, her already low stress gauge was cleared entirely.
Nepheli, however, looked far worse. Even after a night's rest, she seemed in worse condition than the day before, her stress gauge slightly higher.
"...Are you really okay?"
"I..."
Nepheli was silent for a moment before lowering her gaze to the axe in her hands.
"I can still fight."
If she couldn't even fight, then she truly didn't know what purpose she had anymore. And only by throwing herself wholly into battle could she suppress the restless thoughts in her mind, keeping herself from dwelling on her unease and confusion.
Soon after, the battle began.
As mentioned before, they were nearing the end of the second sweep. Though the monsters had grown stronger, Nepheli only wanted to finish quickly and return to the castle to rest.
As for accidents? She hadn't considered the possibility.
It wasn't arrogance. In this beginner dungeon, where even the gatekeeper boss was only a troll, she could wipe out enemies with ease even without the others' support. And now she did have support, and only a short stretch remained ahead. How could anything possibly go wrong—
Click.
The strain of continuous fighting pushed her stress gauge forward by just a notch.
But that tiny notch was enough to fill the last gap.
Nepheli froze, strange voices echoing in her mind.
Before her, the massive troll raised its greatsword and swung it down.
Boom—
But she wasn't struck. Instead, she found herself in a warm embrace.
"What's wrong?"
Lloyd carried Nepheli away from the front line.
Even without her, it was only a troll and a few grunts. The other three managed with ease after a few quick maneuvers.
Once the fight ended, all eyes turned toward Nepheli.
Under their gaze, she held out for a moment, then clutched her head. And then...
"Aaaah—!"
With a pained roar, an ominous crimson light burst from her body, heavy with an unsettling aura.
It wasn't something granted by the Dungeon or any outside force—it was the manifestation of her own emotions.
And as her roar faded, a notification appeared before Lloyd.
[Your champion 'Nepheli' has fallen into Torment]
[Torment Status: Distress]
...
[Up to 20 chapters ahead for now]
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