I don’t know how long I floated in place. It could have been minutes or hours, for all I know. Either way, all I could do was float there and watch over what remained of Pim. At some point, Vulcan picked up his remains and moved him over to the side of the room. All I could do was float behind Vulcan, waiting as the slimes gradually began to clean up the viscera left in the room. Vulcan sat down next to Pim, watching over the slimes as they fulfilled their only purpose in the dungeon. I did the same; it was all I could do as all organic matter returned to dust. I can’t give Pim a burial, but this was the only way for those born from the dungeon to send off a fallen comrade. Another imp will spawn, but the experience he earned and the memories he made are gone, returned to the dungeon. The same fate awaits both Vulcan and me if we are to ever fall in battle. The mana that composes us will disperse, and that will be the end of our struggle to survive. Is this really okay? To fight until we die. No, there is another way, but for that to happen, change is needed.

  ?

  I feel the mana of the dungeon enveloping Vulcan and me, connecting to a location somewhere below us in the dungeon. This must be how the mana reacts when the dungeon master summons a monster within the dungeon. In the next moment, I lose my vision and spend a couple of seconds spreading out my mana to regain my bearings. Just as I had thought, we were both summoned to the dungeon master’s throne room, De’gon sitting on his throne, flanked by his dungeon managers, Generon the Hobgoblin Brute to his right, and Leron the Lizardman to his left. De’gon sat on his throne, looking down on me just like the first time he summoned me. I don’t know how this will end, but De’gon speaks first in his haughty tone.

  ?

  “Willow, I gave you a condition when I allowed you to use the imp and stone golem to achieve evolution. Do you remember what you failed to uphold?”

  ?

  “A dungeon delver escaped from us. That’s what you wanted to hear, right?”

  ?

  “Watch your tone. You failed something as simple as finishing off your prey. You grew arrogant in your evolution, leading to the imp’s death. If he managed to evolve like the golem, he would've been on par with the monsters on the lower levels of the dungeon. Shame, he should’ve been strong enough to kill that mere human, but his own weakness got him killed.”

  ?

  I know it was my own failing that led to Pim’s death. I don’t need to hear that from him. Anger at him and at myself builds inside of me, but I can’t act on it, not yet, at least. Vulcan is just standing there, staring straight at De’gon, but I can't detect any emotions from him. It's as if he’s been shutoff, but still able to listen. Then, De’gon continues.

  ?

  “Either way, I expected you to fail at some point, so I sent Leron to clean up your mess. In the end, he failed to stop the human, letting him escape the dungeon. He’s aware of the presence of abnormally strong monsters in the higher floors of the dungeon. The dynamics of the dungeon have changed too much, and because of that, the humans will soon come in droves to confirm it. At that point, they’ll force their way to the dungeon core and destroy it.”

  ?

  “So you want to eliminate the reasons why dungeon delvers would believe the dungeon is too dangerous. You’ll either move us lower, or get rid of us.”

  ?

  He lets out a low chuckle before answering. “Those are some of my options, I admit. Moving you to a deeper floor would just delay the inevitable as you try to become stronger. Killing you both would solve the problem at its root, but it wouldn't be the most beneficial to me.”

  ?

  “Then what are you proposing?”

  ?

  “I want you to become a dungeon manager to help me administrate the dungeon. The war against the humans draws closer, so I want all of the strength I can gather before it begins. You would take Leron’s position, and he would be sent to the lower floors to get stronger.”

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  ?

  Becoming a dungeon manager would ensure my survival, but that’s only if I stay on his good side. Otherwise, he could just throw me against a group of dungeon delvers, like what he’s doing with Leron. I would be alive, but with a leash held firmly by the dungeon master. He still hasn’t addressed a concern of mine, though.

  ?

  “What about Vulcan? Will he become a dungeon manager, too?”

  ?

  “The bronze golem is strong, perhaps as strong as Leron, but it doesn’t have the intelligence required for the position. It can stick with Leron to continue leveling up. The longer it lives, the stronger it’ll become in the war to come, so I’d rather it stay useful.”

  ?

  Leron’s eyes darkened, and his fists bled as he clenched them tight enough to break his skin, but that isn’t the greatest issue with his proposal.

  ?

  “I can’t level up on my own as easily without other monsters to work with. How am I supposed to get stronger if you separate us?”

  ?

  “That’s simple. You won’t get stronger. You don’t need to evolve anymore. Your evolutionary line is interesting, but I don’t need you to have strength to match your tactical abilities. This is as strong as you need to be, and all you ever will be. Now, do you accept?”

  ?

  I considered his proposal for a minute when he first offered it, but each sentence that followed only built upon the insult. I lost Pim, then he wanted to rip Vulcan away from me, too. Any mistake could just lead to me being thrown away at his whim. To top it all off, he doesn’t want me to get any stronger. I guess ever considering his offer seriously was my biggest mistake. My goal in this life is to live a life worth living, striving to accomplish my goals with those I care about. His proposal would put an end to that desire, to my promise to Chaos that I would become strong enough to claim the life I want to live. Accepting this offer would be the same as the complacency that led to the end of my first life. There’s only one answer I can give, and if it kills me, then that’s a choice I can be proud of until the end.

  ?

  “No.”

  ?

  “...I think I misheard you. Choose your next words carefully.”

  ?

  Vulcan finally turned his head away from De’gon, looking straight at me. There was only one emotion I could feel from him. Fury. He was furious at De’gon and his offer. He was on the same page as me and ready to fight to the bitter end.

  ?

  “I refuse. I won’t become a manager for you. I will continue to get stronger, and I can’t let you get in the way of that.”

  ?

  “Fool, the humans are the greatest threat facing this dungeon, and you wish to defy my generous offer. I would have preferred to allow you to use your abilities to my benefit, but I could always use you as a simple weapon against humanity. By my authority as the dungeon master, yield.”

  ?

  The dungeon’s mana began to swirl around me, enveloping my core. I could feel the moment it made contact with my core, but as quickly as it surrounded me, it was repelled by my mana. Even though I expected the worst, nothing happened. Looking over at Vulcan, I still felt waves of anger radiating off of him. I don’t know what was supposed to happen, but it doesn’t look like it worked on either of us.

  ?

  “No, no! You shouldn’t be able to defy me! My authority as dungeon master grants me control over all those born in the dungeon with the ‘Blessing of Chaos’. Every monster should have it, so why aren’t you obeying my command!? Leron, kneel!”

  ?

  With a pained grimace on his face, Leron quickly kneeled on the ground. De’gon’s authority extended to his dungeon managers, but not to us. I had the standard blessing as every other monster when I was first reincarnated, but I've been ‘Chaos-touched’ ever since I directly interacted with Chaos herself. Does that mean my blessing supersedes his authority? Does my authority extend to Vulcan for some reason? No matter what, it looks like this is only going to end one way.

  ?

  “Your authority doesn’t apply to me. ‘Chaos-touched’ is outside of your control.”

  ?

  “No, it can’t be. There can’t be another ‘Chaos-touched’ here.” Fear and bewilderment began to creep into his voice, but I wouldn’t get an opportunity to learn why. “Scourge! You can’t be allowed to live! You’ll doom us all to oblivion! Leron! Prove your worth and eliminate that monstrosity. It can’t be allowed to exist.”

  ?

  This confrontation had finally reached its inevitable conclusion. The only way to get out of this is to fight our way out, only one side tomorrow. I sent Vulcan to fight against Generon, but I don’t know how that matchup is going to go. I haven't taken the chance to properly analyze the results of Vulcan’s evolution into a Bronze Golem. I can only assume his stats have increased and his skills may have increased in level, but I can only hope it’s enough to compare to his opponent. At least for now, he isn’t being thrown around in the initial exchange as he did in our fight against Leron in the past. I’ll have to leave Generon to him, as I have to face Leron on my own. De’gon is sitting tensely on the edge of his throne, but he doesn't look like he’s going to join in. Either out of pride or arrogance, his not fighting gives us a chance to win.