He ran, ignoring all the monsters that crossed his path. Looking back, he saw no one. In bewilderment, he drew his sword from its sheath, for a second ago, a group of monsters had been chasing him. And suddenly they evaporated, as if they had never been there.
«Where is she? Or maybe she's not alone? What level is she?» — he thought, listening to the slightest sound. But it was quiet, even too quiet.
— It's magic.
— Huh!?
He flinched sharply at Kane's voice. He had been so focused on his surroundings that he had forgotten about Kane's existence.
— Magic!? Magic, yes, it's definitely that.
After all, everything that had happened when he met that Amazon was very strange: how he could not even move a finger, and his mind shut down completely for a split second. And if it weren't for Kane, he would not have even noticed it. But, having learned her main strength, he felt calm, and the tension in his body began to slowly fade.
«Having learned the enemy's secret, I'm already one step ahead of them.» – This was his thinking and action, of course, if she was not above his level.
«But she was definitely not above his level.» – He clearly remembered her shocked face when he struck her in the stomach. Or was she so confident in her magic that she had fully relaxed? He wanted to believe in that the least, because she would no longer underestimate him, knowing that he could fully avoid her magic.
— Do you think that was her limit?
— No.
— Me neither. But as long as we know how to handle her… mind magic, we have a high chance of winning.
— Yes, it's better to hope for the best. After all, the worst outcome would be if she only used a measly ten percent back then. Hope that she used more than seventy percent of her power.
He swallowed, understanding that everything might not be as smooth as he would like.
«I need to go.»
If he could get out of the dungeon, all his problems would be solved in a second. But he stopped abruptly.
— Where to?
— What!?
He only now understood that he had absolutely no idea where to go to ascend, as if his memory had been sealed or these memories had simply vanished. At this realization, cold sweat broke out over him.
— I don't know!
Kopii's eyes darted in different directions; there were too many possibilities for where he could go.
— I don't know!
«Where did I come from!?» – He looked back in hope, but he was met only by a new corridor.
With every second, panic enveloped him. Wherever he looked, everything was the same for him.
— I don't know!
His eyes darted frantically from side to side, looking for even the slightest hint for choosing the right path.
— Ah, ha, ah, uh, ha!
He breathed convulsively, sinking deeper and deeper into the abyss of panic.
— Ha, I don't know!
— Aha, I don't know!
— Calm down!
— I don't know!
— I don't know!
— Hey, can you hear me!?
— I don't know!
— I don't know!
He repeated the same thing over and over, like a madman. His eyes kept darting in different directions, sweat kept rolling down his face like a stream, but he did not notice any of it.
— KOPII!!!
— I…
— Ah, are you back? Heyyy. Can you hear me?
Kane could not see anything, because Kopii had covered his face with his hands and was not moving in one pose.
— Hey.
— Ooh.
— Are you mocking me?
— Kopii.
But however hard Kane tried to get through to him, he did not react.
— Who were you talking to just now, cutie~? You're not alone?
— KOPII!!! She's here, hey, damn it, you're stupid. It's all her doing!
Hearing her voice, he panicked even more, but soon guessed that it was all her — her mind magic.
Snap.
— What? The tenth floor?
After her snap, the whole environment changed, and then he was horrified and at the same time thrilled, because from the very beginning, the battle had already been decided. They had lost without even moving from the spot.
— An illusion.
Kane guessed, when she struck Kopii and he lost consciousness.
— I've been looking for you for so long, cutie~.
The last words before their mind fully sank into oblivion. All he could think was: "Bitch." He remembered her voice.
— Where am I?
He barely managed to open his eyelids, but the room was dark enough, so it took time for his eyes to adjust to the darkness.
— Ah.
He wheezed from the pain in his head. His head was simply splitting at the seams, which prevented him from concentrating.
— You finally came to.
— Mmm…
Kane's voice sounded, intensifying the pain.
— Hey.
— Stop!!! Hg, mm…
He shouted with all his might, but the sharp pain told him that this was a very bad idea.
— Oh, you woke up?
While he was recovering a little from the pain, a hoarse voice reached his ears. It was neither unpleasant nor pleasant. He looked around to understand where the voice was coming from, and after a few seconds of searching, he found it. A young man, whose hands were also in chains. Because of the lack of light, he could not see his face well.
But the more he looked, the more details he noticed, and this did not gladden him at all. The strangest thing was that he was completely naked. Realizing this, horrifying thoughts crept into his head: that he had fallen into slavery.
«It can't be. I tried so hard, but I couldn't.»
Deep in his soul, panic and despair began to awaken. After all, he had once fallen into the captivity of slavers and had been able to fight back and leave. And training every day, every day – descents into the dungeon, sparring with Ais.
And all of it had turned out to be useless. However hard he tried, he was in this situation again. At this realization, his heart seemed to clench.
— Hey. You awake?
The same voice rasped, barely audible. But he did not hear it, sinking deeper and deeper into his emotions.
— … Hey. Kh, kh.
Saying it a little louder, he immediately coughed like crazy. He did not speak again. And with every second, Kopii's panic receded, and the pain followed. After all, he understood more and more that this was rather unlikely. Or did he want to believe it? But putting together all the information:
— Kh, kh.
«Mind magic. Orario. Dungeon… I'm alone…»
And with each of these facts, his confidence that these were slavers grew sharply. But one fact confused him: if she possessed such magic, she could find many ways to earn money. Or was she not after money?
— Kh, kh, damn cough.
Looking at the source of the voice, he saw the same guy. But now he could see the features of his face, and he was rather cute and handsome. Of course, he could judge this only by the shape of his face. Of course, he could be wrong that he was handsome.
— Hey.
— Oh, you finally came to your senses.
— Where are we?
— I don't know.
— What!?
— Like you, I only recently ended up here. And you know, I'd rather die, knowing what will happen to us.
— …
This seemed rather foolish to him, because if he wanted to die, who was stopping him from biting off his tongue?
— I can't. Kh, kh.
— !?
— It was written on your face. That's how I understood.
— Why…
— I won't say.
— … Alright.
— But you can do it, so do it as soon as possible.
— !!
— Oh, oh, calm down, don't look at me like that. Kh, kh. Before you, there was another one here, but…
— But…
— His life was completely broken. In simple words. And the next after him will be me, and then you.
— … What will happen?
— …
— …
— In simple words — hell. But kh, kh, oh, ugh… But if you want to know.
— I'd like to.
— Well, she'll pump us full of drugs and rape us… until we completely break.
— … And who is she?
— Toad.
— Toad?
— Yes.
— Who is that?
Step, step, step.
But before he could open his mouth, they heard an outside sound.
«Someone's coming»
His gaze immediately fell on the door, and with every step, goosebumps ran through his body. He did not even understand why.