After plunging into the lava, what opened before him wasn’t molten hell, but a vast tunnel. Leandro walked forward, simply following where his feet carried him. The cave’s coolness was almost pleasant when compared to the choking crater above, thick with sulfur fumes and ash.

Plop. Plop.

Cold droplets fell at measured intervals, each echoing several times in the dark. Even that faint sound went undisturbed by his steps. Not a trace of noise marked his presence, as he suppressed even his breathing. A perfect silence.

The Empire’s Fourth Swordmaster passed beneath a ceiling hung with stalactites. Red-eyed bats glared at him, but he ignored them. They were not worth his blade. No luminous ore lit the stone, yet the deeper he went, the brighter it grew. Threads of unseen wind brushed past, slipping in and out.

There was something ahead, crouching on the ground.

Leandro approached, still cloaked in silence. The thing rose. At last, he looked at it properly. Despite having slain countless monsters, this one he’d never seen before.

It hunched upright on two legs, its arms so long that they reached its knees. Both hands gripped swords. Its torn jaws split left and right, two mouths on either side of a flat skull. No nose. It had feathers, and a wide tail lashed behind it. Its whole form glistened red, as though it had been bathed in blood.

Crack.

It twisted its short neck. He had seen Chimeras cobbled together in magicians’ labs, but this was different. There was neither stilted awkwardness nor grafted ugliness. It was seamless, disturbingly natural, and strong. It had sensed him. Three eyes sunken deep in its skull fixed on him. Leandro’s brow furrowed.

"You..."

For a moment, he thought he’d spoken aloud by accident.

You? What about you? Why say that?

However, the voice was not his. It came from both mouths, echoing clear against the cave walls.

"Fourth Swordmaster?"

The thing was undoubtedly speaking to him.

"Yes."

The three eyes rolled in different directions. Then its tongues slid wetly from both mouths, licking its lips. "You look weaker than I imagined. Draw your sword."

"..."

Leandro had not yet raised his blade. The creature’s grip tightened. Blood-red flesh merged with the hilts, spreading over the steel like veins. The blades pulsed with a crimson aura.

"What are you?"

It lifted its head proudly. "Blade-body as one. I am the embodiment of the sword’s ultimate dream."

"What...?"

The creature mistook his curt reply for awe and boasted on. "I tested myself against famed fugitives. Men who had slaughtered hundreds. I let them rest for days, gather their strength, and pick up swords again. Then, I killed and devoured them with ease."

Both tongues flicked.

"Let them rest?" Leandro asked.

It nodded. "Yes. Death row convicts. Promised freedom if they beat me. They fought desperately and died."

Leandro didn’t know how it was created, but its ego was undeniable. Perhaps a masterpiece of Azure. He despised mages because they created nothing but slaves. Golems, familiars, chimeras... always more slaves. This one, at least, carried will of its own. That was new.

Leandro nodded. "You talk too much."

It seemed to take that as praise. "Ah, I wasn’t going to say this, lest I frighten you. But I devoured Smiling-Slowly Stacia as well."

Leandro raised a brow. "That is frightening."

The creature grinned with both mouths. "She was skilled. Toyed with bounty hunters by the hundreds."

"That so?"

"She could’ve fled across the border at any time. But she enjoyed hunting her hunters. Uh... Where was I...?"

Leandro cut in. "You seem to fall a bit short in the head. You were saying she toyed with bounty hunters."

"Tch! You ruined the mood. I wanted to fight her at full strength, not dragged in broken. I spent months letting her recover. She fought hard. Still, one sword was enough to beat her." It raised its left blade. "Then, I carved her slowly, piece by piece. I should’ve asked why they called her Smiling-Slowly before I ate her. Could’ve been amusing." 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

It tilted both heads in turn, as if curious.

Leandro sighed. "Would’ve been kinder to kill her outright."

"Of course... Wait, what?"

"Stacia was beaten as a child. She never smiled. Not once, until she killed her parents. It took her five hours to do it. That was the first time she laughed. She believed killing was the only joy left in the world."

The monster stiffened. "How do you know that?"

Leandro lowered his sword lazily. "Who do you think captured those criminals you boasted about? While you played your games, proper executions were never carried out."

***

Fweeep!

A bat-beast dropped from the ceiling toward Miyu. I slid half a step aside and thrust upward.

Kk-kiiii!

Its heart burst on my blade, its cry cut short. Blood spattered my helm. I wiped it clean and shoved the carcass away.

Thud.

The wingspan stretched three meters, enough to swallow a horse whole.

Neigh?

Miyu pawed the air as if to say he could’ve handled it. Maybe so, but if he got hurt... It would have been better if I had done it.

Ding!

[You have gained EXP.]

[You have gained EXP.]

.

.

.

The messages even tracked each point.

"This one..."

Naneow pointed at its arms. "Impressive. It tried to block you."

She was right. The forearms, scaled and ridged, had been crossed just as my strike pierced through.

"Even crossed, your cut would’ve broken them. Still, it was fast enough to attempt defense, and strong enough to shred a handful of knights. The deeper we go, the worse it’ll get."

I nodded. Compared to the Chimeras on the tenth floor, these things were far beyond. One of them released on that floor would destroy the ecosystem outright. And further down, if the numbers at the entrances fell to four, to three... I couldn’t imagine the battles waiting. At two or one...

After dispatching several more giant bats, I caught it ahead. A familiar green glow.

I hurried forward. "This..."

For the first time, the cave bore signs of a brutal fight. Deep gouges scored the stone walls, marks of keen Sword Energy. Stalactites shattered, crashing down from the ceiling ten meters high. The rocky floor was carved and scarred. And there, something split clean in half, pinned to the stone wall. Its bisected body hung nailed in place by its own broken sword-arms.

"Big traces," Naneow said. "Looks like he even let it resist a little?"

"..."

She was right. It was odd for the marks of a fierce battle. It seemed more like something had thrown itself against an unseen wall and died.

"Probably the marquis?"

Naneow nodded. "He killed only this one and moved on. Would’ve been a pain to fight head-on. Feels strong. Let’s see..."

Schlup.

She pried the corpse off the wall and examined it. "Hm... twisted to hell and back, but familiar. Wasn’t this the face of the old Dawn Lancer captain? The one from two terms ago? He was a top swordmaster, famous for twin-chain strikes."

"How long ago?"

"Thirty years? Died on assignment, if I recall."

So they recycled dead knights like this. Leaving the body here wasn’t an option anyway.

[Absorption is possible.]

Wooong...

Green light flowed into me.

Ding!

[You have absorbed Dual-Blade Arts Lv. 4.]

[Dual-Blade Arts Lv. 5 ...]

[Concept understanding expanded: Blade-Body as One.]

[Minor increase to comprehension of Body Modification.]

[Lord of Bones' proficiency rose slightly.]

[Skeletal Morphing coverage increased.

— Per-region 5.91% → 6.13%]

[Understanding of Gathering increased slightly. The following skills gained minor EXP:

— Plant Material Gathering Lv. 2

— Animal Material Gathering Lv. 1]

It felt tangential, but the source had been strong. The first worthwhile absorption in a long while. The corpse’s twin swords were ruined, with more than half of each blade snapping.

A hundred meters on, a massive iron door stood there as if waiting for us.

"Let’s go," Naneow said without hesitation. "Since when are they this courteous? Making it easy for us."

"You’re sure this is right?"

"Absolutely. Whoever’s ahead keeps opening things. This is so convenient. That thing back there must’ve been the checkpoint."

Clack.

She hooked her scythe on the handle. "Nice. No traps. Let’s keep riding their coattails. No ticket inspector at the gate, either."

***

Leandro stretched his blade toward a translucent ring of fire.

Fwoom.

Two meters wide. His sword passed through the weak flames, sliding out the far side of empty air. He tried a hand. Same result. Finally, he glanced at the wide table, where two vials of clear reagent sat. One empty, one full. A consolation prize, perhaps. A card, unmistakably in the duke’s hand, read: Sprinkle this!

He went ahead to wait for me?

Leandro took the full vial and sprinkled its contents onto the fire ring.

Whoosh!

The ring bloomed, and a violet curtain shimmered to life from within.

No reason to save what’s left...

Rattle.

He set the empty vial on the table and stepped into the purple veil. The two drained vials sat side by side, seeing him off as he vanished through the ring. Moments later, the gateway showed nothing but blank air on the other side again.