Two days later, we finally made it to the castle. It was a fearsome sight, and the snowy leopards began to wear armor and wielded iron weapons. The monsters were in the early 30s, but our average level was 37.    

We started by using Mary’s monsters to pull a group of soldiers away from the gates, and Elly buffed our agility with a song. Ami hopped into battle with Greggie, who wore a thin layer of icy stone armor over his frost and ice-resistant clothing. He wielded a shield and sword and engaged the enemies. Ami wore gloves with icy spikes on the end— everything we had was only possible because of Keeth.    

He wasn’t a fighter—and we didn’t fault him. He pulled enough weight by crafting our gear with his helpful ability.    

Ami was like a blur. She remained focused and used her natural speed to duck under swipes. When needed, she ran to assist Greggie, who had trouble constantly hefting his shield. But Elly’s buffs made him quick enough to block every attack when he pushed himself.    

I kept the healing up and offered flaming balls of fire to help thin out the soldiers.   

I held enough firepower to end the fight immediately, but Greggie and the others needed experience. They needed to survive in this world, so they had to learn how to fight. It was the same with me. But attacking from a distance and using magic differed from being up close and personal.    

As crazy as it sounded, we had grown strong enough in the past few days to look at enemies we feared and interpret them as mere training dummies.    

That was the power of a Soul Warrior. Even Greggie, who never had formal combat training, believed in me to heal his wounds whenever his strikes were parried. He suffered dozens of scars across his face from attacks he wasn’t fast enough to block.    

I knew he was scared.    

Knowing that damage could be healed didn’t erase the fear.    

Ami countered a thrust with her wrist and slipped behind the bipedal leopard to put the monster in an arm bar. She shouted Greggie’s name, and he plunged his sword into its heart, groaning in exhaustion. Six other monsters lay dead beside them. And he stared at this one in its crimson eyes and watched the life fade. Ami let it go, and the leopard dropped to the ground with Greggie's icy sword sticking out of its chest.    

He announced he had reached Lv. 28 and retrieved it, then limped to me.   

We were gaining SP and skills at an alarming rate. In just a few days, Greggie acquired [Shield] and [One-Handed Sword], which made him more skilled when using those types of equipment. Ami increased her unarmed skills and gained more abilities that used her unique aura. Keeth was still saving his SP, and Elly purchased [Healing Melody]. It was a song to help us in battle by restoring our HP. She was super happy about that because it was why she went into singing in the first place.   

She wanted to heal hearts and bring joy with her voice, not cause death.     

Once Mary had caught her fifth monster, a thin cylinder appeared on her hip. It was stuck to her without rope, string, or belts, so she couldn’t lose it, but it worked as a storage container to hold monsters she didn’t want to use.    

She said a monster organization section was added to her Status Menu. The current limit was 20, and she had 16. The plan was to capture some of the armored leopards to replace a few she had lost yesterday.    

When it came to Mary, her heart was kind. She cried over Snowy’s and Flutter’s corpses when they perished in battle. They were scouting and fighting a group of water snakes and icy plants when a unit of leopards attacked.    

It wasn’t an ambush because we knew they would intervene, and that opportunity was a chance for her to test her mettle as a monster tamer.    

She was quickly overwhelmed and couldn’t direct her monsters, who looked at her for orders as they were slaughtered like livestock. A mental breakdown and inability to issue orders made Mary lose more than just them.  

It was… Yesterday was probably the roughest since we first arrived. It wasn’t like Mary couldn’t capture replacement monsters. She could. And she did it that night before we returned to our new base.    

But Mary… She confessed and said she felt like her creators—who grew test tube babies and sold them to the highest bidder. She had looked at a mana orb containing Snowy II and cried. Even if they were monsters, she…wanted to not be like her creators. She desired to treat them right. It was a noble proclamation-- and one I understood, but it wasn't so easy. 

In my eyes, monsters were monsters. We killed them before they killed us, and only the strong survived to advance to the next day—the next hour—the next minute.   

But in her defense, capturing monsters and having them fight was another type of strength unique to her. 

Elly had said there were probably cute monsters waiting to be found. She thought it would be fun to hunt and catch a unicorn. She joked and said she could accomplish a childish dream of riding a lion during a concert.    

Ami wanted to find a bipedal blue jackal and train with it.     

That night had ended better than it started, but it also brought us here—standing before our destination.     

I charged up a [Fireball] and shot a dozen towards the gate, breaking it down. The moat was 20 feet wide, but Keeth handled it with a bridge he crafted out of the wood belonging to a nearby carriage.     

We entered the first courtyard and fought our way to the entrance hall, where we were met by corpses hanging from ropes of ice.    

They dangled like crystal ornaments amid the frosty carpets, but...  

They didn’t look old. And they weren't monsters, either.    

They were human. And people with cat ears, dog ears, horns, multiple tails, and folks with scales.    

Their bodies had long been turned cold by the harsh temperature. We discovered that when I shot one of them down and watched it shatter upon impact. Frozen globs of red blood were sent scattering across the hall.    

Even after all we had seen…   

Elly and Keeth threw up and adverted their eyes as we made our way to the left staircase. The right staircase was destroyed, and the corridor had collapsed, preventing us from heading that way. The large, imposing door in the room's middle that most likely led to the throne room was locked shut with a glimmering barrier protecting it. My fireballs dissipated upon impact. The only choice was the left staircase, which led to a hallway filled with more soldier-like bipedal leopards.  

It took a few hours to navigate the castle. We entered each room to check for any secrets. By the time we made it to the queen’s bedroom, which had seen better days, we had discovered fourteen treasure chests. Mary gave the contents to her monsters to hold while we looked around, and I found the last tablet.    

It concluded the tale of Melusine, her kingdom, and the curse that consumed them. The tablet spoke of the queen’s eternal torment. She was forced to endure the icy grip of her frozen hellscape until the end of time.    

But that begged the question of who made these tablets. Why leave a story explaining the kingdom’s history?   

We searched the room for anything useful, then continued our fight around the castle. At this point, the monsters fell to my flames. I had grown six more levels and discovered the chant for [Hell Fireball], which burned with an intensity dwarfing the weaker spell.    

It was hot enough to melt the castle’s doors and wall, and the flames liquefied the soldier’s armor, fusing molten metal to bare fur.    

It was like a massacre.    

It wasn’t even a fight anymore. And I was sure Melusine wouldn’t pose a problem in my current state.     

Mary captured four monsters and used them to scout the rest of the castle. She was prepared to lose them, but it didn’t stop the tears from falling from her eyes whenever she announced one had died.    

In no time at all, we reached the fourth courtyard. It was inhabited by a dozen soldiers—each above Lv. 44.   

They were weak. At this point, it was clockwork. We had a strategy to fight, and in ten short minutes, they were piled up in the corner after we butchered their meat and harvested their fur.     

Just what...are we becoming...? 

---

The next morning rolled around. Mary’s monsters were on patrol during the night, and she lost three more to ambushes. The enemies were slowly getting stronger. They were learning from our methods— devising strategies to counter our progress.    

But that wasn’t important because…    

“Today’s…gonna be the day, huh?” asked Elly. Her skewer of leopard meat was left half-eaten.     

“Yes, it is,” I replied, biting into my breakfast. I then summarized our current capabilities. By all accounts, we were okay. The Melusine I saw on our first day was Lv. 30.    

And I was Lv. 44, with a far more powerful fire spell that also reached Lv. 10 from overuse. Mary released most of her monsters and captured the armored bipedal leopards that wielded iron equipment since they were the 'toughest' foes here. She kept a few water snakes and icy canaries just in case. Greggie was probably the weakest, but from the training I saw him do last night and this morning, his body was growing used to the sword and shield. His muscles were probably sore. They probably screamed at him to take a rest. My legs were doing the same, and Ami complained of stiff shoulders and tension in her wrist.    

As strong as we were, our bodies couldn’t sustain this constant barrage of stress. We needed rest and relaxation, the chance to get a balanced meal, and peace and quiet to refresh our minds.    

Keeth still remained inactive in our fights. But his crafting ability was the only reason we had gotten this far. Elly was invaluable in buffing our strength, magic, and dexterity.    

“We just need…to defeat the Fairy Queen.”   

“And a portal’s gonna birth?”   

“You mean appear?” Mary asked. Ami nodded.   

“It should,” I said. “I expect the fight to immediately end if I’m being honest.” I summoned a charged [Hell Fireball] and bounced it around my hands. After standing, I launched it over the courtyard’s walls and heard an explosion. Next, a guest of pressurized wind destroyed the wall, revealing a sea of flames redder than crimson and tinged with blackness that flowed like a lake.   

Fifteen minutes later…   

We were standing in front of the door to the throne room…and I pushed it open. The hinges cried, but they relented to my force and gave way.    

We walked forward into a pitch-black darkness I couldn’t conquer with my flames. Each step cracked the ice underneath us, but it didn’t take more than two or three steps for a ball of light to appear. It flew to the ceiling and exploded, casting vivid particles that illuminated the entire room.    

There…standing on an ornate throne that had seen better days…with a spike of ice stick through her throat as she wielded a horrific expression…was the Fairy Queen Melusine—complete with the same black lines running down her face and arms as the phantom we saw before.    

She was…dead. Or so we thought. Shimmering azure ice formed around her body, and it was like her spirit left her body to create the Melusine we saw after we nearly died to those monsters on our first day here.    

The name above her HP bar read Phantom Fairy Queen Melusine.    

“Welcome, welcome, dear intruders, to my icy domain. Behold the beauty of my kingdom, draped in frozen pain. Look up and witness my morbid chandelier. A thousand lifeless souls, frozen in eternal fear.” The queen spoke in rhythm, and she chuckled maniacally. The black lines on her body grew slightly with each laugh.     

She’s speaking Silvaran.   

Numerous corpses hung from the ceiling with icy ropes around their necks. Those who didn't have the strength to conquer the dungeon... That was their fate...  

“Do you feel the chill that courses through your veins? It’s the touch of my madness, flowing in icy chains. I sit upon this throne, spiked with agony and despair. A symbol of my torment, a crown I proudly wear.”  

“You don’t wear it proudly!” I shouted in her tongue. “I know it was an accident! You didn’t want to destroy your country!”   

The phantom laughed uncontrollably. “Oh, the joy of chaos, the delight of insanity. I revel in this frozen hellscape, ruled by vanity. You cannot comprehend the depths of my despair. For I am the Fairy Queen Melusine, lost beyond repair!  

“Stop talking like that! I know it’s that cursed crystal. It’s responsible for this ice!”  

“SHUT UP! SHUTUP!!! SHUTUP!!!” Melusine grabbed her hair and ripped out thick stands. An ice barrage of sharp spikes flew from her hands, cutting the corpses' ropes. They fell to the ground and shattered like glass. Elly averted her eyes and winced.   

“Now, my darlings, join my twisted dance. Embrace the frostbite of my lethal trance. Together, we shall revel in this eternal blight. In this cursed castle, where darkness consumes the light!!!!” The queen tore at her flesh and beheaded herself, only for the azure blood to flow and form into a duplicate.   

Without waiting, I fired a [Hell Fireball] at the flying targets. The two faeries laughed and used a spell called [Ice Hail] to push the fireball back… 

You have successfully copied [Ice Hail]. 

But I held my hands together and used their own magic against them. It was like a rapid machine gun of icy spikes launched from my palms. The fireball died, but I immediately sent up four more [Hell Fireball] orbs that were overcharged with mana until they rippled with energy.     

And they didn’t block the barrage. The faeries tried, of course, but their screams of agony and horror eclipsed even the explosion.     

“Is…that it?” Elly blinked twice and said the faeries' HP depleted instantly. The ceiling melted like a stick of butter thrown over a raging fire, letting in the ‘natural’ light of whatever illuminated the dungeon.    

“A 5-Star Soul Warrior wouldn’t struggle against this.”  I looked at my hands. “But I don’t think it's over. Look at the throne.”   

Another phantom Melusine appeared and repeated the same speech as if she didn’t know she had died.     

“That’s probably a hint to defeat her.” I killed the phantom so casually that our idol nervously giggled at my casualness. “She’ll keep coming back until we do something.”   

“Do you think it’s the cursed crystal?” Mary asked. I shrugged and threw four more destructive balls of tightly packed flames at the throne before another phantom appeared, but nothing happened. The mana frizzled and fell apart, prematurely ending the spell. Mary summoned her remaining ice canaries and ordered them to search for the crystal. Two openings sat behind the throne room, so the answer was probably there.   

“What do we do?” Greggie asked. He looked at the throne and watched the following phantom speak the same speech.    

“Training? If it gets too bad, I can kill the phantom.” My offer was positively met with nods, so this odd situation turned into something fortunate. Greggie, Elly, Ami, and Keeth took turns fighting the phantom queen. Meanwhile, I sat and tried my hardest to discover the chant for a barrier spell. I would casually toss another fireball at the queen and force her to descend every few minutes. If I missed, I healed my friends to full. Mary had her monsters to help.    

But…   

She was curious and threw a mana orb…and she caught it    

When she let the phantom out, it was loyal. Granted, Mary was, at her core, superior to the phantom. And she was a Soul Warrior—a being that was probably designed or meant to break the balance of this world to act as a deterrent, so this development wasn’t unexpected when you thought about it.     

She told it to join the fight against the following ten phantoms and captured them as well, and I used my ability to copy spells to learn [Ice Barrier], [Cursing Ice Spear], [Blizzard Tornado], and [Frigid Explosion].   

With [Ice Barrier], I charged it to the limit and protected the group and Mary’s monsters. To my surprise, it nullified anything the phantom threw at us, so…   

We couldn’t die. The spell took 20% of my mana, but I could meditate and recover what I lost before the barrier went down.    

With that in mind, Mary told the phantom faeries to find the crystal, and they obliged without an ounce of protest. Ten minutes later, while fourteen phantoms uselessly attacked us, her monsters returned with the cursed object.    

It was shaped like a stake—the kind vampire hunters would use to kill vampires in a few stories I'd read. It was solid blue, yet black veins pulsed like mad. Dripping sludge, thick like concrete, leaked underneath it, which corrupted the floor and seemingly decayed it.    

On my command, the phantom faeries loyal to Mary grabbed the stake and flew it onto the throne. The barrier protecting it cracked, and I unleashed my strongest attack. “[Hell Fireball]!” With my hands together, the flaming sphere grew thirty feet and smashed into the throne, obliterating it and the cursed stake while my friends and I retreated into the courtyard.   

It was a fiery inferno. Within the flames?   

The corpse on the throne moved. Its limbs shuffled, broke, snapped, and cracked. An utter terrifyingly abstract scream of horror pierced through the swooshing of the flames and attempted to stand. But the flames were too hot. It raised a weathered hand, which turned into ash.   

The cries died, and the flames grew ravenous until it consumed all.    

All that was left was…  

Nothing. The entire throne room was burned in a harsh wave of black ash. There was no ceiling.  

There were no walls.   

“Woah… That was something… You’re crazy powerful, Qutie. It’s insane… Oh? Hey, I’m getting a bunch of titles.” 

“Same here,” I replied, looking at Elly. The titles were related to defeating a boss, ending a curse, killing multiple bosses at the same, finding all the treasure chests before beating the boss…but because we didn’t enter through the ‘lobby,’ we didn’t get credit for finishing the dungeon.  

I didn’t think that mattered much, but this wasn’t the Aquatic Caverns of Melusine. 

It was Faedornia, the Frozen Kingdom.   

That was the name of the kingdom Melusine once ruled over. 

And Meruria couldn’t have even said that much?! 

Why even get mad? We know we can’t trust anything she says. It’s all lies. She never tells the truth about anything... 

I received a few titles for learning ice spells. The ones marked with ‘Ice Mage’ said they’d increased the power of my ice attacks. I’d been using the flame and healing equivalent since I received them a few days ago, but I wasn’t going to switch.  

But the barrier mage one sounds useful… I can only have two, though… 

“I think those phantoms counted as separate monsters with their own experience. I jumped to Lv. 49,” said Keeth. He bent down, used his ability to mold the icy stone beneath us, and announced he had far more mana than before the fight. Mary’s capacity for monsters increased to 25, but she said the phantoms were removed when the boss perished.   

Suddenly, a beam of light appeared in the middle of the room. Its glow was beautiful when it clashed against the destruction I brought. A treasure chest appeared beside it, but it looked regal—royal was more like it. It shared the same color as the ice around us, but I didn't sense foul intent radiating from it.   

Before we approached it, mana swirled around my body and collected itself before me.   

Its shape?  

It reminded me of the Soul Crystal I touched when Meruria first summoned us. Seeing it brought back memories… None of us knew why mine was here, but I pressed a hand to it. The crystal shattered, releasing tightly packed mana that launched into the air like a pillar of rainbow-colored light. The energy was so overwhelming that Greggie and the others were pushed away, but I remained standing—unaffected by the pressure. And then I saw it descend within the pillar.    

It was a tome, and its cover was red.    

“Ember Tome…” I read the words engraved on the cover and touched it. The book opened, revealing the crimson pages. It disappeared into thin air, then reappeared on my hip.   

New Skill: [Soul Armatization] 

 [Soul Armatization (Lv. 1)] has increased to [Soul Armatization (Lv. 10)] 

[Soul Armatization (Lv. 10)] has reached its threshold. Unlocking Divine Skill: [Soul Weapon System]. 

New Skill: [Soul Energy] 

New Skill: [Soul Barrier] 

The Ember Tome is now available to use.   

“Qutie, is that…?” Elly rushed to my side and looked at the crimson book attached to my hip.   

My activity log said I had unlocked the Soul Weapon Evolution Tree, and it reminded me of a skill tree a few of my novels that were based on video games would sometimes have. It seemed to be… substantial and huge, with many different unlockable abilities. Some would probably be additional tomes. Perhaps a few would be unique abilities like [Soul Barrier]. The description said it used my soul energy to form a protective barrier around myself to defend against physical and magical attacks.    

That crimson bar beneath my mana is probably my soul energy.   

I raised my hand, gathered mana around my palm, and the tome floated before me. It opened and riffled through pages. The five spells it came with appeared in my mind.     

“[Heat Wave]!” The book stopped on a certain page that held an emblem of fire. A wave of crimson mana rested around my hands when the symbol glowed, and I turned my wrist, sending a wave of scorching heat across the courtyard. The temperature was intense enough to melt the ground. It even refracted the air and made it hazy. My mana drained, but my soul energy remained the same. That drained when I invoked [Soul Barrier]. A hazy, glimmering shield of faint crimson aura warped around my body and encased it. Within seconds, my soul energy was halved. Moving while channeling it made it drain faster.     

“Yes. This is my Soul Weapon.” I told them of [Soul Armatization]. I put the tome away and used an ice skill, but it didn’t work. “I’m limited by the skills engraved in tomes, it seems. But I can acquire additional tomes by evolving the Ember Tome into something else.” I had access to [Flame Spark], [Heat Wave], [Ignite], [Inferno Burst], and [Flame Barrier], and I told them of [Soul Barrier] and soul energy. "I can't use ice or healing magic anymore."     

“But Qutie is weaker. That’s a bad thing, right?” Ami asked. That was true, but I said I had a skill to increase my proficiency with tomes. In the long run, I’d be better off.    

That was all that mattered, right? Especially in a world where the strong ate the weak and survived, you needed to rest at the top of the food chain.     

Losing [Minor Heal] was worrying, but Elly knew [Healing Melody]. It would have to be enough until I acquired a healing tome.     

It’s annoying that I’m suddenly so limited. A Soul Weapon is a curse and blessing, isn’t it? Weaker at first, then stronger at the end. Unless you’re Tokko or Mia… I can’t copy spells anymore… That skill is still listed in my Skill Menu with the ice and healing spells, but why? 

---

We approached the chest, our feet crushing the singed ash beneath us. It opened when I touched it, releasing a swirl of crystalized energy that formed into Melusine.  

She didn’t have those black, writhing lines running down her body. Her hair was a whitish-silver, her eyes were a soft pink--not blue, and her wings were made from crystal. Her monster form had regular wings—much like the faeries I’d seen in my books, so this probably was what she looked like before the ice affected her. Her outfit was different. It wasn’t purple, but the silver and white dress fit the look of a queen. She looked regal. 

 

 

A second later, she became partially transparent, like looking through a thin white sheet if it was held towards a light source. Her stern smile softened, and she looked kinder—gentler—more like a merciful queen who only wished for her kingdom's prosperity and livelihood over her own feelings.    

The crystallized energy vanished, and she began to speak.   

“You have freed me from the curse, brave warriors.” Her voice was softer than silk. Little crystal flakes rained from her flapping wings, which refused to make any noise. “I wish to thank you, mage. Please, take this.” Melusine touched a hand to her heart and retrieved an orb of glowing energy that turned into an azure, ice-covered book. She said it was her diary—a book imparted with magic. It held remnants of the curse in a benign state.     

Its name was Frostcursed Tome of the Fairy Queen, which granted the wielder [Ice Barrier], [Cursed Ice Spear], [Blizzard Tornado], [Ice Hail], and [Frigid Explosion].   

The same spells I learned from the phantoms. But they were in a tome. And my Soul Weapon was a tome… 

New Skill: [Soul Weapon Copy] 

My newly acquired skill was self-explanatory. Why copy spells when I could copy a tome? The tome flashed, and I read something in my activity log.   

The Frostcursed Tome of Melusine is now available to use.   

Upon a thought, my Soul Weapon changed into my newly acquired book. I didn’t need the actual tome, but I took it from Melusine and hugged it to my chest.     

“But you’re free, right? The curse is gone. Are you okay?” asked Elly.    

“I am not, young human. This has been but a temporary reprieve from my punishment.”   

“I don’t follow,” Mary said. She put a finger to her chin. “Did someone do this? Will they return?”   

Melusine seemed startled. She asked if we knew the truth behind dungeons, and we shook our heads. “The recant you read on the tablets was made to etch the Lore of this dungeon. Long ago, this was a real kingdom—named Faedornia -- and I was its real ruler. A horrific event took place here, and proof of it became etched into the world as a dungeon. From now until the mana runs dry, my city… My beloved, beautiful, innocent city will continue to kill brave adventurers who enter it.”   

“That’s what dungeons are? They’re events of the past altered to remain in the current day? So then… You mean, after we leave, the dungeon will reset?”   

“That’s correct,” Melusine answered Mary’s question.    

“But that’s sad. It hurts my heart… It’s not fair, Fairy Lady!” Ami lost her illustrious smile and frowned.    

“Your kind heart is welcome, but it is unneeded. Once you depart through the teleporter and return to the lobby… My memory will be wiped. I will return to my cursed self and await the next batch of warriors. Should you have questions, ask them now, brave warriors.” Melusine wept. She cried while looking at the castle, but we used this time to learn that not every dungeon was as she described. Some were manifestations of little incidents, such as a goblin king taking over a mine. Others were a bunch of crystal monsters taking over a cave and transforming it into a place that birthed crystalline ore.  

Dungeons like this kingdom were imparted with Lore—artifacts and items that detailed the history. By finding the Lore, you acquired special items directly relating to the boss. In some cases, you could speak to the being that stood as the basis of the boss and learned more of the past.   

Although... That was rare...  

Those five tablets we found… They were the Lore of this dungeon. Reading was the key to activating them.   

I was curious and asked questions about the stake. “When I became queen, a wandering stranger visited. Her ears were the same as a lion, and she harbored eyes fiercer than the brightest silver. She introduced herself as no one, then used her magic to create the stake. The gray-skinned stranger claimed it to offer protection against curse and disease, and I was foolish enough to trust her… My desire to be a friendly queen was ruined… Nay—it wrote into the world the failure of my Faedornia…”   

“That wasn’t in the tablets,” I told her, recalling what we learned by reading them, and there were discrepancies between the written lies and the spoken truth.     

“I do not understand why someone would interfere with a dungeon’s Lore unless it was to hide something. Only a being of unimaginable power could do such a thing.”  

“Do you think this lion woman was responsible?”  

“I don’t know. I never saw her again, but…I recall hearing a woman of a similar appearance referred to as… I believe her title was The Dark Lord of Tyranny…”  

“The Dark Lord of Tyranny?” I repeated. Just hearing that name sent shudders down my spine.   

“I was more concerned with my kingdom than organizing soldiers and sending supplies to fight the war against her. Yet… She probably orchestrated my downfall. It could have been her plan from the beginning.” Melusine started to flicker, hinting that this would be the end. Soon, she would vanish and return…to the awful fate awaiting her.    

“Melusine…” Mary summoned an empty mana orb and held it in her gloved hand. “There may be a way to end this cycle and grant your freedom. Do you know what a Soul Warrior is?”  

“They’re warriors given Soul Crystals from a Holy or Dark Lord. Young mage, you wield a Soul Weapon, yes?”  

I nodded, then questioned what I knew from Meruria. She hadn’t mentioned giving citizens of this world Soul Crystals and acquiring warriors that way. Her words led me to believe they had to be summoned across time and space. If that wasn’t a requirement, why risk it to chance? It didn’t make sense.    

“Are you still considered a monster?” When Melusine nodded, Mary explained her ability. The fairy queen didn’t think it would work. I bet a part of her wanted to remain here with proof of her failure. At least until the mana sustaining it ran dry and destroyed the dungeon.    

But Melusine was punishing herself. She loved her city so much. Ami managed to convince the queen to touch the orb. She did it, expecting nothing to happen, but…    

The fairy queen was transported inside the mana orb, turning it a light shade of blue with a royal-esque ring around it. When Mary released her, she was solid—like us. She looked at her arms and touched her face with pure, unabashed amazement.    

“What is this… Why… Is it—”   

“That’s my power as a monster tamer, Melusine. You’re…no longer bound to this fate.”   

The elegant queen couldn’t stop the tears from falling down her pale cheeks. The salty water turned into shiny crystals that lightly danced to the ground.    

---

It took half an hour for the emotions to wash over Melusine, then another fifteen minutes for her to offer a solemn prayer for her loyal subjects. Her love for them had never faded, and they were always in her thoughts. After that, we gathered around the teleporter and discussed what to do.     

She had decided to come with us, and Melusine knew of our past and the events that had transpired since being summoned. She was still Lv. 30. Weaker than us, but she…   

“There’s one thing I don’t know. Young warriors, how is it that you speak Silvaran if you weren’t granted an artifact of translation?”   

Mary explained [Beastial Lexicon].   

“How curious…”   

“Do you know any other languages? If you do, we should learn them via Mary’s skill.”   

“Languages come and go with the passing of centuries, and my rule was 1,000 years ago. I cannot be sure if they will be of use because the tongue of old may not be present in the future.”   

Melusine then spoke Arezzian—the common tongue in her era, Oni, Orcish, Elvish, Ancient Elvish, and Dwarvish.   

We immediately learned their respective language skills. Things would be a challenge if the common language had changed. 

Mary and I could deduce and extrapolate the key verbs and adjectives to reverse engineer the language.  

I used that technique to learn Japanese, Afrikaans, and Arabic in three months when I was ten.  

It looked like our time here was coming to an end. Melusine was Mary’s first ‘monster’ who was sentient as a person. She wasn't a monster to us, though. I didn't think we'd ever see her as one.  

One by one, we walked into the portal.    

Where would it take us?   

What was waiting for us outside this ‘lobby?’   

What new danger would we face? We still needed to return to Meruria before the arbitrary time limit was up.   

But the future looked bright.    

It glimmered with promise.    

We were strong.    

And we would survive this world.