My Wife is a Dead Villainess, and I'm Her Living Weapon-Chapter 50: Crucible

In the snow-covered dungeon of Fralhame, an unlikely trio treaded. Their group was led by a two-meter-tall black golem. Following close by was an elegant white-haired ghost in a ponytail. Bringing up the rear was massive ten-meter-tall white wolf.

Despite their eccentric combination, no one paid them any attention. How could they? Everything around the vicinity of the three was no longer alive. Even with the sun long setting, the three moons in its place gave excellent visibility.

Corpses littered the fields. None of them in one piece. Body parts of wolves and blood-soaked snow stretched as far as the eye could see. It was not a scene for the faint of heart. But those who remained had already grown desensitized.

"Fluffy, you sure you are fine with me eating all your friends?" Elian asked.

The Snow Wolf Alpha paused for a moment but eventually nodded, "I am sure. To invoke a new expedition, the current one must be eradicated. That’s the only way a new Tyrant can be chosen—at least for Earth."

"For the Celestial Crucible, right? We have been killing thousands of your people. Are you certain you are fine Fluffy?"

"Thank you for your concern, Master. But I am fine. Apart from my parents, the rest of my pack stayed behind. Thinking about it now, we all underestimated the preliminaries. We have been here for equivalent to decades in your time yet accomplished nothing."

"I am starting."

At Elian’s warning, baseball-sized onyx spheres dropped from his back. They all began to melt and formed a black sea. Then without warning the corpses and blood drenched in the fluids all melted at terrifying speeds.

Fluffy made a grim frown as she witnessed the last moments of her fellow wolves. Elian and Bianca knew to keep silent in respect for the departed.

It must be like witnessing another group of humans get killed. You were the same species, but they were technically strangers. I wonder what that would feel like?

After waiting for about five minutes, Bianca took out a bowl of pasta and began to eat. Fluffy who saw her made a wry smile.

"Pasta? Really? I hope its cream-based at least."

Bianca shook her head as she partook her meal, "No such luck. Still, this is leagues better than anything I had before."

"Sir Elian, can you give me cores too? Watching Master makes me a bit hungry."

Not dropping his guard, Elian continued to watch the surroundings, "Only if you keep talking. The crucible stuff doesn’t concern Bianca so it should be available for trade, right?"

"Hmph! Keeping secrets from me is a capital punishment! I will beat you both up, if you ever facilitate such a deal," Bianca snapped as she raised her fork.

Ignoring the nagging ghost eating noodles, Elian had a 1.5-meter stack of Ant cores come out of the black sea. Fluffy who saw, gulped as she tried not to drool.

"Yeah, I was going to tell you about it anyway. But just how many cores do you have? I have been pigging out on these for days now. You can’t blame me if they run out!"

"I have plenty more. I still have a quarter of the cores from the Red Swarm. I can keep you fed for two more weeks at the pace you are eating. Besides, I leveled up anyway so it’s fine."

Hearing his comments, Fluffy shuddered, "Just how many ants did you kill? I get that they are a hive species, but to think you did all that almost single handedly."

"Ugh, I am eating, can we not talk about Ants? I feel a migraine coming on just from remembering their taste."

"Yes, yes, my apologies my lady. We will talk about a more pleasant topic," Elian answered as he bowed sarcastically.

"Elian. You are making fun of me, aren’t you?"

"Of course not. Please enjoy your meal," the boy answered with a smile.

Fluffy chuckled. Her eyes grew narrow as she laughed in earnest.

"Haha, only you would consider the crucible a light topic, Sir Elian. I do not know which term describes you more. A lunatic or a masochist."

"I prefer to consider myself a pragmatist. Rather than debate ethics or morals, I just do what is needed."

"Oh, I have no doubt. By the cost Master has set, this pile gets you three questions. So? What do you wish to know?"

Elian frowned as his eyebrows furrowed, "This entire thing is a waste of time. You and Bianca already know about the crucible, yet for some reason, I have to pay for the information in batches. This is blatant favoritism!"

"Ssh, my weapon. Consider it training. When you deal with humans, knowledge is power. By learning to discern how, when and what to ask, you will learn to see the information hidden between the lines." freewebnøvel.com

"Why do I even need to know that? Can’t I just point a blade at them? Having to deal with all this crap is boring!"

"Stop throwing a fit you silly brat! You do not need to worry for now, as I am here. But you will need to learn how to investigate and gain information without me."

Hearing her words, Elian stomped toward his master in anger, "Why?"

"H-Huh?"

"Why do I need to learn? Why won’t you be with me? Do you intend to leave me behind?"

Bianca began to wave her hands in a fluster, "That is not what I meant, I just..."

"Yeah, Master. What did you mean? You seem so sure that you and Sir Elian won’t be together, elaborate for him if you please," the wolf said with a smirk.

The Witch glared at her pet as she mouthed, "Not helping! Shut up, Fluffy!"

Unable to stop herself, the Fluffy laughed heartily as she ate.

Elian brought his face close to Bianca as he grumbled, "Explain. Now. Your core is within my body. Why won’t you be with me? What do you intend to do?"

"I-I...I just...I..." Bianca flushed scarlet and suddenly looked down, she then murmured. "Fluffy...help...."

"Bianca..."

Elian then felt a long tail wrap around his neck and gently tug him backward. Bianca sighed in relief at Fluffy’s assistance and quickly moved to eat beside the beast.

"Now, now Sir Elian. That is a fun topic for the future. I can guarantee you that Master does not wish to leave you. Far from it, she wants to..."

"AHH! Quiet! Elian—ask your questions!"

Sigh, what in the world is going on with these two? But as Fluffy doesn’t seem to be worried it shouldn’t be dangerous.

Calming himself, Elian re-framed his mindset and asked his questions.

"I have three. You already said that the dungeons are part of the crucible. And the ones inside them are expeditions from another world. My question is why have they come to Earth? Who created the dungeons? And what is the end goal?"

"Truly, your mentality is terrifying Sir Elian. Rather than wonder about this spectacle, you seek to act on the knowledge I am about to tell you. Such a shame, the mood earlier was quite good. I liked seeing Master flustered."

"Just answer him you flea-infested troublemaker!"

Fluffy let out a deep sigh and looked towards the moons in the night sky.

"I do not know who made the dungeons. Only that they come to any world deemed powerful enough by the system. Earth has met the minimum requirement to join the crucible. The dungeons are the testing ground. Earth’s goal is to raise a Tyrant."

"Raise a Tyrant? Then the preliminaries end when Earth gains a being strong enough to be a dungeon leader? What for? They are meant to serve as bosses, right? What? You’re not saying humans are eventually going to invade other worlds, are you?"

At his words, both Fluffy and Bianca turned silent.

"No way. You can’t be serious," Elian gasped.

Bianca then raised her hand and shook her head, "No more questions. Of all the things you asked, you at least gained worthwhile information. But you failed to ask the most important question Elian. For that I give you 8/10."

"Huh? The most important question? What would that be?"

The witch bit her lip before she answered in a grim tone, "Why do the dungeons allow their occupants to come out, once they are invaded and not before?"

Elian’s eyes grew wide.

"W-What?"

"Elian, when Fluffy’s dungeon arrived on Earth, they were not allowed to leave. Meaning the door was pink. We believed all this time, Red meant the boss was active. While Pink meant it was dead. But that was mistaken."

Fluffy then faced Elian as she continued, "Pink means that the world and the dungeon are at peace. Red means they are at war. When the portal turns red, an expedition can leave their dungeon at will, should they wish to do so."

"..." Elian clenched his fists.

If what Fluffy said was true. Humanity is in for a rude awakening.