Chapter 191 – Monster Vs Challenger


    A jolt sent his consciousness back into his original body, and Niki found himself to be looking at the hard soil of the alley. It took him a moment to understand what happened, but he could feel that his ghoul was slowly regenerating.


    Niki could send the ghoul back into his pocket dimension, but it was more convenient to have eyes underground. The events earlier still left rage within him, especially toward Valkyrie.


    However, a part of him was mad at Sergio, even if he knew that the alchemist was manipted. A dark, invasive thought appeared in his mind: he was right about his friend being needy and pathetic.


    Niki hurried to chase it away because he never thought that way about his friend. It was true that Sergio was easily manipted, but he was not pathetic or needy. On the contrary, the alchemist was the strongest because he never ran away from people like Niki always did.


    "However, what is that underground space?" even with the knowledge from the 1st Termination, Niki was not sure about the structure of Abani Ruins.


    All he knew was that Hyde managed to tame a spirit in this ce, allowing him to be the criminal overlord of Rosia truly. This was the story he learned from Lilith during their dealings with the man.


    "This ce is… an underground dungeon," muttered Niki as he closed his eyes. His undead could not move because most of his body was pierced through by spikes, but the ce was unmistakably some ancient underground dungeon.


    This might spill some unexpected harvest and be a better way to find Hyde. Niki calmed his heart down before he stood up and walked to the edge of the giant hole.


    An abyss below was filled with maze-like paths and unknown moving creatures. Niki can see that his ghoul managed to destroy the outer part of some dungeon, but it was regenerating like a living monster.


    "My darkness must be the reason behind this anomaly," muttered Niki with unease. "Ash must be waiting looking at me right now, but this matter takes priority."


    "Over there!"


    "The dark being should be there!"


    Niki looked at the church and waved his hand before jumping into the hole, which closed behind him. His body started to fall into the infinite abyss before a voice spoke to him.


    "Another challenger," whispered a feminine and seductive voice. "A human… no, but an intelligent being, none else. So are you a monster… or a challenger?"


    "My answer should make a difference. What is it?"


    "A monster will appear inside my dungeon to fight for me and feed on my powers. As for a challenger, they will appear at the starting point to prove themselves."


    "And what am I proving, exactly?"


    "The right to be my master," a pair of green eyes appeared in the darkness in front of him. "What is your choice, anomaly?"


    "I will be a monster."


    After he decided, Niki felt his body get pulled by some unknown force to the side. His head grew dizzy until a scene appeared in front of him, and he was standing on his feet.


    "This is… a magic workshop?" asked Niki with confusion as he looked around. Magic was a mysterious thing, wielded by none other than the gods. However, humans tried to understand it, and the result was enchantments.


    "Wee, monster. This is my abode and the ce where everything takes ce. You are the first intelligent monster to appear, so your task will be simple: choose those who deserve my power."


    "And what will I benefit from this?"


    "That is indeed only fair," said a voice from behind him, and Niki turned to see a floating woman upside down. She wore a ck dress that stuck to her pale skin. "However, you chose to be the monster of this dungeon. There must be a reason."


    Niki stared at the floating woman, and his eyes squinted. She looked ethereal, and her body was barely concrete. So this must be the spirit that Hyde found.


    "There are people that I want to kill, and they are in this dungeon," smiled Niki, and the spirit looked surprised before she startedughing.


    "You are fun, monster. This is the first time a being eviler than me enters this dungeon, and I will rely on you to make a choice."


    "And what if I want to leave?"


    "You can do that at any moment," her body turned upside down, and her feet touched the floor. "Then, how about we make a better deal. There are a lot of humansing into these ruins. You kill them all, and I will be yours. This aligns with your goals, right?" she said while throwing herself at Niki, leaning on his chest.


    "You are an evil spirit, but why do you want a contractor?"


    "That is what my contractor decided, that is all. That man gave away his life for me to be sealed here for a worthy hero. But, unfortunately, it seems he does not understand that even a spirit turns evil after killing hundreds of thousands."


    "You are an ancient being," muttered Niki as he looked down. The woman''s ck hair flowed like a river, flying behind her. "I understand. This will indeed align with my goals. Furthermore, I have some recruits."


    As he said so, Niki waved his hand. The darkness spilled as his undead appeared, including his ghoul. The spirit looked at the scene frozen in ce before she slowly turned to Niki.


    "You are… the God of Lost Souls and Ruler of Undead, Val."


    "I took this power away from Val," answered Niki before pushing the spirit away from his body. "I will use this dungeon of yours to harvest some souls."


    "Val is not a name, but a title for he who rules the dead," the spirit said while cowering away. "However, you are far too weak to be a sovereign. You must be a candidate!"


    Niki did not refute her words because there was never a case of a mortal wielding a sovereignty fragment. Instead, the spirit looked at his undead with fear, but they were still too weak to pose a threat.


    "This is truly a fated meeting," grinned the spirit. "I chose well to allow you as my leading monster. There is no monster other than those who feed on the dead."


    "You talk too much for someone sealed for so long," frowned Niki before he looked around the room. "There must be a dungeon core over here. Give it to me so that I can make the proper arrangements."


    "You know about that, too," the spirit burst outughing before she took off a ring and threw it at him. "I will count on you, mortal. So let this be fun!"


    "Whatever, crazy woman," Niki caught the ring and wore it around his ring. This development was not something he expected, but it was not bad. Valkyrie cannot escape this dungeon unless she defeats him.


    As he wore the ring, Niki was connected to the dungeon. However, there was more than just her party, as there were several others. Hyde should also being into this ce soon, so it was better to kill her quickly.


    "This stupid alchemist," frowned Niki as he realized that Sergio was healing Valkyrie. "I must separate them."


    "Ah, someone you care about?" floated the spirit beside him and touched his shoulder. Niki could tell that she was looking at the same scene he was seeing. "That woman is strong, and the man is weak. The monsters in this dungeon will eat the man without the woman. Good n."


    "That is a bad n," sighed Niki before he decided to think things through. "I have a question. Am I in control of the monsters?"


    "You are not their god, unlike your cute undead monsters," pouted the spirits. "These darlings have been helping me for years. I allowed them to have their own free will."


    "That is… idiotic, but fine. Then, I should be able to rearrange the dungeon."


    "I used the energy to regenerate the hole that you came through. You need to kill some humans and use their souls to recharge the core."


    "This sounds more and more like a game!"


    "I got bored of it quite quickly, so show me something fun!" begged the spirit as she glued her body to his. "And I will give you a special kind of reward, hehe."


    Niki stared at the spirit and could tell where this was leading. This spirit can touch him and even feel like an actual human for some reason. Furthermore, she was attractive with long, flowing, silky ck hair and a pair of big green eyes.


    Their eyes met, and the spirit seemed to be leaning forward to kiss him. Niki stared at her silently but did not push her away this time. Instead, as their lips were about to touch, Niki asked:


    "Are you a subus?"


    "…what did you just say?" froze the spirit.


    "A subus demonic creature who fools men, either sleep or awake, to have sex with them and absorb their powers. Are you after Val''s powers? Maybe the one who summoned you was an old perverted geezer?"


    SLAP!