Volume 2 Chapter 13 – Teresa… is Dylin??

If he transformed here, there was no doubt his secret would be exposed—but if this continued...

Felicia was completely outmatched. The creature’s strength was overwhelming, impervious to blades, guns, even Divine Authority. It was impossible to imagine what kind of materials or powers had been used to create it.

Dylin attempted to analyze the one remaining candle using Divine Appraisal, but nothing came of it.

No choice. He had to try.

He crouched and blew out the candle.

The moment that final flame went out, the passage returned to absolute darkness. For a few seconds, nothing happened.

Had he been wrong?

Click, clack...A mechanism activated. The wall ahead shifted with a low rumble.

Felicia, still locked in battle, staggered backward. The monster’s tail struck her again, slamming her into the wall’s edge.

The force tilted the wall, revealing a massive passage behind it.

“There’s a way out behind the wall!” Dylin called out. “Let’s go, Felicia!”

“...”

No response.

She was kneeling on the ground, twin-tails trailing along the floor. Her ragged breaths were barely audible.

“Felicia?”

“...You go first. I’ll catch up,” she murmured, the strain in her voice worrying.

Typical. Dylin immediately understood—this stubborn Knight Princess was pushing herself again.

Under normal conditions, she might’ve held out, but after her earlier battle and the added Dragon Madness debuff, her stamina had long since dried up.

No time to argue. Dylin set aside propriety, pulled one of Felicia’s arms around his shoulder, and helped her toward the open passage.

But of course, the monster wasn’t about to just watch.

Seeing its two prey attempting escape, the grotesque grin returned to its barely visible mouth.

With one sweep of its three black-scaled tails, it shattered the slanted wall—along with Dylin and Felicia behind it.

The two were flung away, carried by the crumbling wall into the unknown.

The passage behind the wall opened onto a broken bridge. As they were flung through the air, Dylin glimpsed something—the night sky.

Above them was the exit.

Where...?

He looked around mid-fall and saw countless rusted pipes lining the walls. Trash was piled everywhere.

They were falling toward a bottomless refuse pit.

This must have been part of an old sewer system—likely from the era of the Light-kind, now long abandoned.

So this was where the lab ultimately led?

The sensation of weightlessness overtook Felicia. She felt herself plummeting.

At the very least…She had to protect her comrade.

That was her knightley duty.

“Nn…”

But her limbs had no strength left. All she felt was the biting wind against her face.

Was this… the end?

A voice echoed in her mind—one from a certain girl, absurd as it seemed.

Whether from a desperate will to survive or something else, Felicia found herself hoping for a miracle.

Just before her vision dimmed, she caught a glimpse—a strand of golden hair, warm and radiant like sunlight.

That hair…

An illusion?

It had to be. Why would Teresa be here?

The self-mocking thought barely formed when a pair of soft, pale arms wrapped around her waist from behind.

That familiar sensation…

Felicia’s eyes flew open in shock.

This presence—unmistakable.

But why?

“Hold on tight, Felicia.” That always-composed, elegant voice murmured beside her ear, sending a strange shiver down her spine.

The golden-haired figure darted across the pipes, leaping wall to wall, dazzling like lightning. In a flash, they were back at the broken bridge.

Felicia was gently set down. Still dazed, she felt the lingering warmth at her waist, and saw before her the girl whose golden hair shimmered like the only light in that wretched sewer:

Teresa.

“You...? Teresa, why are you here…? Where’s Dylin?”

“Don’t worry, Felicia. Mr. Dylin is perfectly safe,” Teresa replied with her usual graceful smile, brushing a strand of hair from her cheek.

“But why haven’t I seen him?” Even with all her confusion about Teresa’s sudden appearance, Felicia still prioritized her comrade’s safety.

“Ara… Felicia, haven’t you realized yet?” Teresa poked her own cheek, half-exasperated. “I had such a hard time deciding to do this, you know.”

Felicia’s beautiful face filled with bewilderment—then, like a bolt of lightning, the truth struck.

No one could blame her for not realizing. It was far too absurd.

After all, no one would think two completely different people—different genders, personalities, even appearing together at times—could be the same person.

“Teresa, where is Dylin?” she asked again, stiffly.

“I told you—he’s fine. But if you must ask…” Teresa rubbed her stomach with a playful smile.

“Let’s just say… he’s in here.”

“??”

Even faced with the truth, Felicia struggled to accept it.

Teresa was supposed to be far away at the academy, giving a report. Aside from Felicia and Dylin, no one else should’ve been down here. Yet now Dylin had vanished, and Teresa—who shouldn't be here—had appeared.

No matter how impossible it seemed, the truth was right in front of her.

If… Dylin really was Teresa, then that meant the Teresa who’d fought alongside her since the Freshman Crown Tournament… was always Dylin?

“I’m sorry, Felicia,” Teresa said gently, understanding Felicia’s shaken expression. “I never meant to deceive you. But everyone has their own secrets, don’t they?”

She had expected this day to come eventually—just not so soon.

Living under the same roof, some things were bound to leak out.

BOOM!

A deafening roar shook the air. The monster’s footsteps thundered across the bridge, each one making the ground tremble.

“Let’s put that aside for now, Felicia.” Teresa looked up at the hulking beast. She reached behind her instinctively—only to find nothing.

“Oh… right.”

She hadn’t brought her wooden bow. After all, she never expected to end up cleaning up this mess herself.

Without the bow, she couldn’t deploy her Divine Domain, a huge handicap in combat.

The creature gave off a strange metallic grinding sound. Despite the chaotic noise around them, the unnatural tone pierced through.

It stood at the other end of the bridge, blocking their path.

Teresa pulled a stone blade from the ground and charged.

[Sacred Oblivion: Forge Blade]

She had to move the fight somewhere with more room. Defending Felicia and fighting here was too risky.

“Take care of yourself, Felicia.”

“I’ll handle this.”

Felicia’s lips parted, trying to rise—but her strength had run dry.

In front of that monstrous form, Teresa’s slim figure looked so fragile.

Clang!

The stone blade struck the beast’s thick arm. The impact passed through the blade, rattling Teresa’s entire body.

But she used the force to vault over the monster, flipping through the air to land behind it.

The creature turned slowly, tracking the golden-haired girl.

Without her bow, she couldn’t trigger her second Domain stage. She didn’t stand a chance in close combat. Her only hope lay in her second and third Divine Authorities.

A fist like a boulder shot toward her, tearing through the air with bone-shattering force.

Teresa twisted away, the shockwave flinging her off her feet. As she landed, her gaze fell on the shattered ground.

She tossed aside the stone blade.

When she reentered the lab passage, the candles suddenly reignited, their flickering flames casting an eerie glow.

[Sacred Oblivion: Forge Blade]

She cupped a flame in her hand. With a flick, it vanished—leaving behind a scorching longsword.

As the beast charged, Teresa stood unflinching.

Three black-scaled tails lashed toward her. If they hit, she'd be knocked unconscious at best.

She raised the flame blade, deflecting the strike—only to be hurled into the mountain wall, her body wracked with pain.

Clothes torn, back numb, she tumbled from the crater.

Before she could recover, the tails came again, the wind howling.

Teresa swung the flame blade to intercept.

Felicia, watching from behind, had no idea what Teresa was trying to do. Just taking hits wouldn’t win this fight—there was no way she could overpower that thing.

Teresa rose and attacked again and again—but her blade left no permanent mark. The creature’s wounds healed within seconds.

Her golden hair was streaked with grime, her body bruised and battered—but instead of looking pitiful, she seemed even more resolute.

Sweat soaked her palms. Her fingers weakened—she could barely hold her sword.

The monster raised its mismatched, wagon-sized fists and brought them down.

Teresa didn’t dodge.

CRACK!

The blade shattered. A green glow flared.

[Third Divine Authority: Awakening Triggered]

That had been her plan all along. No bow? Then provoke the monster into breaking her weapon.

Flame blades, made from alchemical fire, were powerful but fragile. Unlike durable stone blades, they shattered easily.

And once a Divine Construct broke—the third Divine Authority could activate.

Green buds spiraled around Teresa’s hand, forming a longbow like a divine harp.

She plucked the string, its notes like an angel’s hymn.

A massive green arrow formed, wrapped in divine rings and waves of forest light.

[Sovereignty of All Forests – Hymn to the Departed]

In a single breath, the monster was pierced through the chest, a vast hole blooming with flowers.

The arrow kept flying, cutting a path of blossoms through the shadows ahead.

So powerful...

Felicia gaped in awe.

No attack had ever worked—but this one carved a hole clean through.

Teresa sat cross-legged, pale from injuries and power drain.

It had been messy—but the monster was down.

“Teresa, look out!”

Felicia’s urgent cry broke the silence.

Teresa looked up.

The beast hadn’t fallen.

Despite the hole in its chest, it raised its massive fists once more.

BOOM!

The earth cracked as the blow came crashing down.

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