「Ah...」
Time had wound back once again.
「Dammit...」
Why did I have to keep getting killed over and over like this?
Vampire Eudite. That was the name of the being who had just ended my life.
Come to think of it, Ageha had mentioned that the hideouts in the Dungeon were built by vampires.
「To hell with this,」 I muttered, spitting the words out as I stepped onto the third teleportation circle.
I just hoped that this time, things would go smoothly.
The third teleportation circle warped me to the start of yet another long, straight corridor. I followed the path, walking forward as I had before.
Then, I saw it—a single sword thrust deep into the ground.
It was no ordinary blade. The steel was pitch black, and the hilt was adorned with extravagant decorations.
What the hell is this thing...?
I paused to observe it.
To be honest, being deep in the Dungeon without a single weapon was weighing heavily on me. If the Dungeon was offering me a way to defend myself, I wanted to take it, but seeing a sword placed so conspicuously in the middle of the path felt like an obvious trap.
「Well, no harm in trying it out,」 I said, trying to keep my voice light as I reached out and gripped the hilt.
「Gah... agh...!」
The moment my fingers closed around it, an agonizing pain surged through my entire body.
Ever since I’d set foot in this Dungeon, it had been one nightmare after another.
「Agh...! Dammit! Why?! Why does it always have to be me?!」
I screamed the words, desperate to distract myself from the white-hot agony. The pain refused to subside, racking my body for nearly an hour. I endured it for as long as I could until, finally, my consciousness slipped away.
「Ah.」
I woke up.
I realized I was lying flat on the floor.
I looked around and saw that I was still in the same spot where the black sword had been. It seemed I had only blacked out rather than died.
「That was brutal,」 I muttered, attempting to push myself up.
My body felt strangely heavy.
「Wait, what...?」
Something was wrong with my right arm.
It had transformed into something beyond description. It was as if my arm and the black sword had fused together into a single, horrific limb.
As it extended toward the tip, my arm transitioned into a hard, black substance that tapered into a sharp, lethal point. Worse still, the arm had grown to an unnatural length.
「It's... it's heavy as hell.」
I realized the weight the moment I tried to move it. I couldn't even swing the limb properly like this, let alone use it in a fight.
「Dammit, do I really have to keep going like this?」
With no other choice, I pressed on. I couldn't even lift my right arm properly, so I was forced to drag the obsidian blade along the ground as I moved.
As I advanced, I ran straight into a monster.
「Grrr...!」
The creature glared at me, its body tensed and ready to strike.
It was an A-Rank Difficulty monster—a Werewolf. It was a massive, bipedal wolf-like monster with claws like butcher knives.
「You've got to be kidding me...」
How was I supposed to fight something like that in this state? I couldn't even manage to run away because my right arm was such a dead weight.
Was I going to die again?
I felt a wave of resignation wash over me. No matter how I looked at it, there was no way I could win.
「Wait...?」
For a split second, I didn't understand what was happening.
My right arm had moved on its own. The sword-tip whipped around, pointing itself directly at the Werewolf.
「Huh?」
Suddenly, the weapon that used to be my arm lunged forward with explosive force. I was yanked along with it, dragged by the momentum.
With a sickening shlick, the black blade tore through the Werewolf, carving it open.
「What... what is this thing...?」
It didn't make any sense. The sword had acted independently, as if it possessed a will of its own.
「Well, I suppose it's fine...」
If it meant getting out of this Dungeon alive, I didn't care what I had to rely on.
Even if it was this ominous, ghastly blade.