Waking up the next morning was brutal. My body felt like it had been trampled by elephants, and my face… well, it wasn’t swollen anymore, but the entire right side was completely black—my eye included.

  Looking into the hand-held mirror the maids had gotten me, I had to admit: I finally looked the part. Quite [Demonic].

  Zadina gave me more healing, but apparently the effects of healing weren’t additive.

  According to Kamuel, the spells encourage the body to heal rather than doing any actual healing themselves. This was why my wounds closing themselves was so shocking to him. I was glad he wasn’t there to hear the metal clink when the falchion blade hit my bone.

  That strike, the way the blade cut so deep into me, the sharp pain, kept reverberating through me, accompanied by the violent jerk of that shield smashing into my face. It plowed memories to the surface: the shock of crashing into the line, the screech of metal as pike points punctured armor, the groan and snap of splintering wood. Blood spurting. The din of screams. Their pathetic pleas…

  I thought I was inured. But as always, it’s easy growing soft.

  Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

  My knife diced the green, bulbous fruit, a Sweet Pepper as Chef Borin called it. I scraped it next to the pile of onions.

  That should do it for the grilled veggies.

  “You look comfortable doing that. Very… serene.” Zadina observed. She had been watching me even more intently ever since waking up this morning.

  I brought out a wide loaf of bread and cut it into slices, avoiding that piercing gaze of hers. The mix of saltiness and sweetness in her aura was stronger now, but I didn’t press. I knew how overwhelmingly repressive devotion could be.

  “It just gets my mind off things.”

  I started slicing the cheese as well.

  Early on, I had been devout, praying fervently for friend and foe alike, thinking that somehow, praying hard enough would bring me home. Even after the first few times of being burned, I had thought that I could earn salvation through faith, and be granted, at the very least, an end.

  I don’t even remember how I got that idea in my head. Was it church? Or [Virtuous]? Or had I actually heard his voice?

  I put a skillet on the flames. It was something I brought on a whim since I had so many inventory slots left, due to how well Mama helped me pack.

  Butter the bread, toast it, then put the cheese between and grill them together.

  A dead simple recipe from Steve. Even Joan could’ve done it… if she had the ingredients.

  “I was awful at it for so long… So now I have to, especially for those who care.” I muttered absently as I pressed down on the sandwich with a spatula and listened to the sizzle.

  The ones who I really want to cook for, I can’t reach anymore…

  “What do you mean ‘for so long’? You’re, like, five!” Justin exclaimed.

  Someone shushed him, and he returned his attention to a kettle sitting over a smaller flame. A strong bitter aroma wafted over. This morning, they were making coffee: an exotic import that Zadina had brought.

  Justin glanced back, trying to recover. “I mean, we really appreciate it. And like I said, you’d make some fella really lucky. Hmm… I guess that’s the prince. He’d appreciate it, I’m sure.”

  “A princess won’t be cooking, you dimwit.” Serina hissed at him. “Pay attention so you don’t burn that. It’s precious.”

  “I doubt it’ll happen anyway. His mother has bigger plans for him. I’m just a placeholder.“ I wasn’t in the mood to hold back. I scooped up the last grilled-cheese and tossed in the veggies. A fresh hiss of steam rose from the pan.

  My fingers brushed back the hair that had fallen over my cheek. “Maybe he’ll call it off once he sees this. I wouldn’t mind.”

  A strangled silence followed while the veggies finished cooking.

  “You’d still be the daughter of a ducal house,” Serina offered, grasping for a silver lining.

  I shrugged, plating the sandwiches and veggies. “That might not last much longer either.”

  A baby is coming, and I’m sure my father will finally have enough of me by then. I just need to make sure I can earn enough from adventuring to support Mama.

  “I mean, I heard the rumors. But surely the Duke wouldn’t kick out his first daughter.”

  Pulling the skillet off the flames, I eyed Serina. “So, what are the rumors about the Blue Flower?”

  Serina pressed her lips into a thin line.

  Kamuel spoke up for her. “That you bloom only rarely at festivals, never to be seen again, a flower locked away by the Duke.”

  I passed him a plate of steaming food. “That’s surprisingly poetic.”

  “It’s from a song,” Kamuel took a bite of his sandwich and stared down in surprise at the trail of melted cheese stretching from his lips. “This… is good.”

  There were songs written about The Maid as well. Look where that got me.

  “My Lady, the Sisterhood of Lumus would welcome you with open arms. We’d be glad to have you.”

  “No. I can’t.”

  Saying anything more would risk my emotions boiling over. Zadina seemed to understand that she had touched a nerve. She lowered her head.

  “Lass, we’d take you, especially if you make more of these.” Gorian popped the last corner of his grilled cheese into his mouth.

  “Mmhmm… this goes great with the coffee. If you ever open that restaurant. I’m there!” Justin exclaimed, spraying crumbles.

  I smiled, my mood lifting. “Yes, maybe I will open a cozy little inn up in the mountains. You can all visit me there one day.”

  Clatter!

  A couple plates hit the stone floor. The entire group gaped at me in horror.

  “Did I say something wrong? Isn’t that the dream of all adventurers? I read it in a book.”

  “You… just raised a death flag,” Serina whispered, her face pale.

  Justin grabbed his head. “We’re going to get full party-wiped!”

  It’s always strange to me how modern gaming terms seem to have leaked into the common tongue here.

  Definitely the result of another reincarnator.

  “Well, all I can say is: bring it.”

  —

  While the others took their time strapping on armor, I pulled up my status screen. Last night had been mostly pain, but I had felt a flicker of something else beneath the agony.

  It looked like my [Toughness], [Agility] and [Intellect] had all increased by one. So, getting pummeled to a pulp and dodging a whirlwind of slashing swords did have benefits.

  The way was just rather painful.

  It was no surprise my [Intellect] went up, given how much shadow scouting I did in that maze.

  [Sta] was the only stat left below three digits, which makes sense given how low my [Toughness] still was compared to the rest. But all my other physical stats were over a hundred.

  My [Mental] was now over two hundred, being the last of my non-physical stats to cross that threshold.

  Staring at my Skill Points, I realized I hadn’t checked them for a while.

  Maybe, I unlocked something at level 5…

  [Soul Ignition] instantly jumped out at me.

  I took the skill without a second thought.

  This should lessen my concerns over running low on mana. I can take the hit if pain is the price.

  “You ready Lass?” Gorian called to me. His movements were stiff, restricted by the dents in his creaking armor. Bandages peeked out from the gouged holes in the steel. Dark rings hung under his eyes.

  The others didn’t look much better. Their eyes were equally haggard, even after breakfast, and their postures were slouched with fatigue.

  I felt their exhaustion. My HP and Mana had recovered beyond half, but we were all still running on fumes.

  “Everyone, gather around me, please.” I gestured to the floor. “Kneel.”

  Surprisingly, no one complained. Not even Justin uttered a word. They all sank down, and for a moment, the image blurred. Ranks of men in shining steel, like mirrors reflecting sunlight, were arrayed on their knees around me, spreading out in all directions.

  I clasped my hands together, a well-honed motion, and incanted the words that had been inscribed in my soul.

  “Je vous salue, Marie, pleine de grace…” — Hail Mary, full of grace.

  The words had lost their meaning to me. I no longer believed. And yet, power still reverberated in each syllable, making my heart tremble.

  I finished the verse. “...priez pour nous, pauvres pécheurs, maintenant et à l'heure de notre mort.” — pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.

  And with the final, “Amen,” the [Voice of The Maiden] poured outwards, washing over the lines of armored men kneeling before me, and my battered party.

  “That was beautiful… My Lady,” Zadina gasped, still on her knees. The salt of her aura was overwhelming, coating my tongue. I gritted my teeth to ignore it.

  “Thank you… Liege.” Gorian staggered upwards. Color returned to his face. “I feel… better now.”

  I nearly flinched at the familiar reverent glint that flashed in his eyes. “It’s… just a skill. We should go. There should be a Wayroom on this floor, right? Every third level?”

  I waited patiently for him to come off the effects of the Voice. He finally nodded, blinking away the haze. “Aye, lass. Let’s finish this and get some sleep on a real bed.”

  The demon sword was right. I need to take advantage of every gift, no matter the source.

  Let no emotions blind me and hold me back.

  —

  We stepped into a winding, cavernous tunnel. The walls were no longer the straight, smoothly-carved stone blocks I had come to expect; instead, they were organic and uneven, bulging with strange, resinous lumps.

  “Damn! A hive level,” Justin grumbled, rapping his knuckles against the bulging stone. It made a dull, hollow sound. “AOE time, though. Time for me to shine.”

  “Just don’t catch us in the blast again. Remember, we are in an enclosed space down here! The air is limited!” Serina reminded him sternly.

  “Given our luck, these might be corrupted and become fire resistant.” Gorian glanced my way. “See anything Lass?”

  My [Shadow Fingers] were already fanning out, crawling through the shadows that dotted the twisting passages of this… nest.

  “I see trails of ants. Large ones. The size of a man, with the front half of their bodies held upright. And they are armed, mostly polearms.”

  “An ant hive level then. It’s going to be a slog.” Gorian stroked his beard, staring down the tunnel.

  Serina held up a torch, lighting up more of the path forward. In the darkness, my tendrils sensed twitching antennae and pairs of compound eyes staring back at us. “We need to cut a path to the queen.”

  “So you would burn a path to her?” I asked Justin, curious about their standard tactics.

  As we talked, my [Shadow Fingers] had already relayed past the sentries, emerging in the heart of the nest.

  It was a brood chamber. Giant pale eggs dotted the ground, with blind, white larvae chewing out of them and squirming into the earth. In the path between the eggs, a massive ant dragged along a bloated, elongated abdomen. The queen.

  She was escorted by a phalanx of guards, larger ants with thicker, heavy carapaces, wielding bardiches with wicked, curved blades.

  “What? No. I’m not that powerful. My fireballs would only get like ten of them at most. And I’m sure there’s way more than that.” Justin admitted.

  “Then let me tame a few of them first.”

  “You sure? I don’t want you to get… hurt like last time,” Justin blustered.

  The Queen ambled about slowly, making her the perfect target. However, a miss would still be costly. At level 5, a full [Shadow Spike] was a huge gamble…

  Taking into account [Shadow Mastery IV] and [Multi Cast IV], it would still cost 54 mana, but the damage would be massive—totaling over one thousand even before the mastery bonus kicked in.

  To ensure I hit, I spent a Skill Point on the new spell that popped up on my list of spells.

  Shadowy hands shot up from the dark ground beneath the Queen. They grabbed hold of her legs and abdomen, pulling her gigantic body down to the ground. She writhed against the grasping fingers, snapping a few shadow arms, but she was still rooted in place.

  Her guards sprang forward immediately. Some chopped at the writhing black appendages with their bardiches, while others faced outwards, scanning for danger.

  They didn’t know where the true danger lurked.

  High above, in the shadow of a stalactite, one of my [Shadow Fingers] took aim. I formed a [Shadow Spike] through the nebulous tendrils and fired the spike down at the Queen’s triangular head.

  “I’ll try to be less fragile this time.” I answered Justin as we advanced.

  In the brood chamber, the spike impacted the Queen’s head. Her entire body detonated, splattering all the eggs and guards with yellow guts.

  The nest erupted into pandemonium. Ants scrambled wildly in every direction, colliding with one another as if the colony had been set ablaze.

  “Here they come!” Gorian shouted as a wave of compound eyes surged toward us down the tunnel.

  “For Lumus!” Zadina shouted, her hammer crushing the head of the lead ant. But instead of engaging her, the others charged past, their mandibles clicking madly.

  “What the…?” Justin looked over his shoulder at the stream of ants rushing past us, ignoring him completely. A ball of flame still floated in his hand.

  “So, the colony loses its mind if the Queen is killed?” I mused, watching an ant smash its head repeatedly against the stone wall.

  “Yes… but how did… You?” Serina stared at me, eyes wide.

  I shrugged. “I wanted to make full use of what I have. We are hurt, and I need to get stronger.”

  In the brood chamber, the Queen’s guards stayed where they were. They stood, arrayed around the decimated corpse of their mistress, their weapons raised and ready.

  Are they waiting for vengeance?

  Or perhaps, a new queen.