453 We'll Stick With You No Matter What!
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As we ate, we began to discuss everything in detail. The fight with the ant guy was quite fast paced, they were barely able to grasp what happened and just barely at that, so I had to explain them in detail some more. After that, I added what Helga had told us about the ants the dwarves encountered from the sealed dungeon which the old hag Aquamarine wanted us to go clean afterwards. If all of that fit together, it was pretty normal to think that the dungeon we found in the second mountain where we were mining might hold something related to the Evil God Fragments, maybe not really a fragment, but something of some sort.
“So this dungeon is certainly dangerous. That might be only one Parasite Ant, but there might certainly be more of them around.” Said Lucifer. “You also said you weren’t able to see its status?”
“Yeah, I was completely incapable of doing that.” I said. “It seemed to have some sort of Skill that made it not possible to peer into its Soul Book, everything I saw was incomprehensible letters which were very scary to be honest.”
“Hmm… It was very strong from what I sensed. The Miasma it generated… If it wasn’t for the armor you gave us, we would had been once more intoxicated.” Sighed Emeraldine.
“Yeah, even I felt weakened even when I am a Vampire who should be more resistant to Miasma.” Sighed Partner.
“Only Lucifer and the twins seemed unaffected, while the dwarves were far away so they didn’t got near it.” I said. “The twins seem to be immune to miasma due to your origins as homunculus, right? Ah, sorry if it sounds a bit crude…”
“Ah, don’t worry mama!” Said Takeshi.
“M-Mama?!” I asked in shock.
“Yeah, it is fine.” Said Laura. “We also felt the strong presence, but our Demonite Cores seemed strangely stable for some reason, and we even felt more… comfortable.”
“Yeah… It was weird.” Takeshi said while rubbing his little chin. “And when you grabbed that dropped item too, it was strangely atractive.”
“This?”
I took out the Eye of the Abyss, as the shiny purple jewel began to resonate with the twins, emanating a strong black aura of miasma. I quickly pulled it back to my Inventory, as it might had hurt Emeraldine or Partner.
“Yeah, that thing!” Takeshi said.
“It might be some sort of item related to our own cores… but was it generated by the dungeon?” Laura wondered.
“Yeah this dungeon seems to have a “Ore Drop Theme” so any monster dropped chunks of Ore, mostly things we already knew about or had seen before, nothing new, except this jewel… It is dangerous so I won’t pull it out any longer, but maybe you kids have some sort of power similar to [Abyss Eater] and now that you’ve evolved some weeks ago and now leveled up, you might be developing some sort of miasma manipulating and even miasma eating powers.” I analyzed.
“Yeah, it sounds like it makes some sense, seeing their origins…” Lucifer said. “After all, wasn’t that crazy scientist trying to create some sort of powerful Homunculus capable of wielding this power? And then when we fought against Agatha using a Demonic Heart Core which she already had inside of her chest… Maybe they had yet to perfect this power, but Laura and Takeshi are the closest to it.”
“Evolving really made them stronger, so they are not so tired all the time.” Partner pointed out. “I guess the way evolution works is that it simply help our bodies adapt to our new, overflowing strength.”
“Wow, that was a surprisingly intelligent remark from Partner.” Emeraldine said.
“Indeed, it was surprising.” Said Lucifer.
“H-Hey! Why are you saying that?! I am smart!” Partner said while pouting.
“Anyways, she’s right.” I said. “The Vampires might be perfecting this power they’re seeking, which might give them the power to turn into those horrendous demons or whatever they are.”
“And well, these monsters in here… that parasite, could it be a result of the miasma as well? could there be endemic life forms that surge from the miasma itself?” Lucifer wondered.
“It is very possible that that is the case.” I answered. “That ant was amazingly strong, probably being a B+ Rank in power if not even reaching A Rank due to the Miasma and Chaos it can wield… However, that one was some sort of Commander, so we might find weaker versions of them in larger quantities. We might be able to deal with them easier… The big ones, I’ll have to take care of them myself, I don’t really want to risk you guys, it was too strong…”
“NO!” Lucifer roared. “There’s no way I’ll let my wife do it all for me, I’ll help as well!” Lucifer’s dragon pride seemed to resurface as he spoke. “I want to help you. I am also immune to miasma due to my nature as a Death Dragon, it seems. Even if I am sliced into pieces, you can recover me anyways, and there’s nothing saying I can’t regenerate myself either. You have to trust my strength some more, Maria.”
“Lucifer…”
“Yeah, he’s right, we are helping too!” Partner said. “I am a Vampire, even if I am cut in half I can survive anyways, your Undead Healing can also heal me, so don’t worry.”
“I can probably die… so I’ll attack from the distance. My light element is very effective against these monsters, I believe… And well, even if I end up dying, I am sure that Master will bring me back right away as an undead. I will be glad to become an Undead if it means I can remain for eternity at your side… I don’t really mind, after everything I’ve experienced, I had wished for death many times anyways… It is only for you that I stay alive, Maria.”
“Y-You guys… Don’t say such mellow things out of nowhere! And Emeraldine, there’s no way I’m letting you die!” I said. “You’re staying in the back, okay? And you kids protect your auntie.”
“Got it mama!” Takeshi said.
“We’ll do everything we can!” Laura added.
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