"Do you like it?" Wynne winked playfully at Carl, but it only made him feel uneasy.

Still, Carl couldn't refuse — he really liked this gift. If he devoured Nigel's dragon soul, he could strengthen his own a bit. Plus, he wanted to see whether, with his current dragon soul, a three-star one could still give him a big boost or not.

Besides, Carl held a deep hatred for Nigel. But killing him for a moment of satisfaction would be far too easy.

Carl wanted Nigel to suffer — to taste hell and even worse — after everything he had done to him in the past.

Yeah… before that, Carl would make good use of him.

Wynne seemed to catch on to Carl's intentions through his gaze, and she said,

"So, you want some information from him? …Lucky you, I'm an expert at that."

She snapped her fingers, and immediately, Nigel began to struggle upright — yet his mind seemed barely intact, like a hollow shell.

With empty eyes, he trembled slightly before opening his mouth for nothing.

Wynne turned to Carl and asked.

"What do you want to ask? Now he'll tell you everything — no resistance at all."

Carl blinked rapidly in surprise as he assessed Wynne's ability. Although he had already seen her stats and skills, it seemed her power depended on how she used it. Indeed, he shouldn't have underestimated someone just because he'd seen their secret trait.

There were countless ways to use an ability — so many that no one could ever predict them all.

In this case, Carl guessed that Wynne had used one of her illusion skills to stir Nigel's mind and extract whatever she wanted.

It was truly dangerous.

Who knew what that girl might do to him next? Maybe she'd dig out his secrets… or drown him in endless illusions until he became completely obedient.

Wynne sighed when she saw the suspicion in Carl's eyes. She didn't like it.

"No need to worry. I told you, I'd never hurt you."

Carl coughed awkwardly as Wynne could see through his reactions, even though he was usually good at hiding his emotions.

He then stepped closer to Nigel, feeling a flicker of discomfort as he looked at that damned face. Anyway, he'd kill this bastard soon enough.

"Was it Marsh who sent you to kill me?"

Carl already knew the answer, but he wanted to confirm it again. After all, many people wanted him dead — not just Marsh. That was why, ever since he'd been expelled from his own family, he had wandered from place to place, barely leaving any trace for them to find.

Nigel nodded silently.

Carl clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes.

Just as he expected. No surprise.

He asked his next question.

"Do you have any information about the final boss?"

In reality, Carl had a bad feeling from the very start. Ever since he stepped into this dungeon, strange things kept happening — from losing contact with his wife to stumbling upon a mysterious temple. Putting it all together, Carl had a rough idea of what kind of trouble they were in.

This dungeon was no longer safe for the students.

Right now, the best thing he could do was find the final boss and clear this dungeon before something worse happened — something beyond what he could handle.

Nigel flinched for a moment, then replied in a steady voice.

"...No."

Carl sighed and added,

"So… anything related to monsters, except those cursed goblins before."

...

Nigel finally said,

"There's a mountain north of the forest. It's crawling with monsters."

Carl rubbed his chin and nodded. At last, some useful information. He asked a few more questions, determined to squeeze out every bit of intel from Nigel. Unfortunately, aside from the monster lair to the north, the rest was just worthless chatter.

"From now on, your role's done, Nigel," Carl said, shrugging as he turned to Wynne. "Can you release him from the illusion?"

Wynne smiled and nodded quietly. She guessed partly Carl's thought. Simply, Carl didn't want Nigel dead easily and smoothly.

The moment Nigel snapped out of the illusion, a wave of dizziness and headache hit him. It was an obvious side effect — anyone who experienced Wynne's power, a seventh-star dragon soul wielder with a mysterious class, would feel the same.

Before he could even regain his vision, a sword pierced through his chest, sending a surge of unbearable pain straight to his core. He hadn't yet seen the killer — only a vague, shadowy figure.

"Go to hell, scum." Carl smiled.

"C-Carl?" Nigel stammered, finally recognizing his attacker.

Carl had done it on purpose. He had carefully controlled his sword, avoiding Nigel's vital organs — just enough to let him see the face of the one who killed him.

He wanted to see Nigel's fury, that helpless expression when realization hit.

He thought it might be satisfying, but… it wasn't.

Yeah — killing a mere pawn wasn't exciting at all as he expected.

[Flame Breath activated!]

[Soul-Devouring Flame activated!]

[System]: Target offered no resistance.

[System]: Soul Devoured: 20%

…

[System]: Soul Devoured: 40%

…

[System]: Soul Devoured: 80%

…

[System]: Soul Devoured: 100%

[Soul Rank]: ★★★ Dragon (Progress: 00,00%->0,5%)

''0,5%?''

Carl's expression darkened as he looked at the system screen. He let out a tired, almost bored sigh.

Indeed, his path toward becoming an eight-star dragon soul was still a long one. In the next dungeon, he would have to choose a suitable prey — which also meant facing something even stronger.

"Should we sleep? We need to recover all our energy before we leave tomorrow," Wynne said.

Somehow, without Carl noticing, she had already spread out her sleeping bag — and even patted the spot beside her, inviting him to join.

Not only that, she had changed her armor into a thin sleeping dress again. Damn, she was really shameless.

Carl frowned and politely declined, choosing a spot nearby instead.

Soon, the sun rose.

Carl and Wynne took to the sky, heading toward the place Nigel had mentioned. Since they knew the main forest was almost empty of monsters, there was no need to walk or hide among the trees anymore.

With their flight speed, it took them only half a day to reach near the monster's lair — instead of a full day on foot.

He was slightly worried about wasting too much time in this dungeon and being late for his duel with Marsh. But then he remembered — time flowed differently inside the dungeon. So there was nothing to worry about.

"We'll land here. It's not good if those monsters notice us," Carl said, glancing at Wynne before descending to the edge of the monster's territory.

They walked through a forest of conifers and soon reached the mountain's slope.

"It seems he was telling the truth," Carl muttered.

He scanned the slopes around the mountain. At first glance, there was nothing unusual — but when he focused, sensing the faint traces of mana and sound through his [Dragon Sense] skill, he was sure of it. The monsters were there.

"Not yet." Carl exchanged a glance with Wynne and nodded. They had the same idea.

"There's a scent of human blood near the base of the mountain."

Carl and Wynne decided to head over there, and as expected, it looked like a chaotic battle had taken place. The remains of it were everywhere — heaps of human and monster corpses scattered among the needle trees.

Carl frowned and watched thoroughly any tiniest detail of the remaining battlefield, walking toward a corpse lying beside one of the trees, stopping a few meters away.

There was something he needed to check. Judging by the familiar face and the royal outfit, he knew who that corpse belonged to.

"Ramos."

He was one of the young bodyguards of the Third Prince of the Stoker Realm. Carl had met him once in the past, during a visit to the Kingdom. They weren't close, since they were of different ages — Carl had only had formal contact with the Second Prince, who was of his own generation.

However, he was certain that the Third Prince was strong and full of potential. If his bodyguard had died here, then the monsters in this mountain were truly dangerous.

Carl rubbed his chin, assessing the damn situation. He should probably find another way to approach the mountain.

He needed information — what on earth had happened here?

"You know him…?" Wynne asked, a hint of curiosity in her voice.

Carl nodded and took a healing potion from his [Inventory], pouring it carefully into Ramos's mouth.

He could still sense a faint trace of life on him. If Carl gave him the potion in time, Ramos might recover a little. But he didn't hope for much — the man's wounds were too deep, slashed open by axes and swords.

After a short moment, Ramos slowly opened his eyes and coughed up a handful of dark blood. He looked up weakly, struggling to catch his breath.

He looked around vaguely, not caring if anyone had saved him, just groaned weakly.

" P-please… save the prince…"

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