S-Class Dungeon’s Mistress - Chapter 181

Chapter 181

Squeak.

The door opened slowly, and someone entered the room. Following that, Adelaide raised her head.

"...It's been a long time, Adela."

As the cold voice reached her ears, she trembled slightly. Her pink eyes, filled with tension, wavered faintly.

"You're alive. ...I still hoped you wouldn't come this far."

Flaming red hair and a face that once brimmed with mischief. Silvery-gray eyes beautiful as moonlight. It was a figure she had desperately missed.

Caladi. Adelaide traced his name across her lips.

She had pondered countless times what words she would speak and what expression she would wear upon meeting Caladium again, but right now, she had no thoughts at all.

No, to be precise, she felt utterly disgusted.

"Did you really have to... follow me like this? You're not respecting my wishes at all."

"Oh, truly unbelievable."

Adelaide finally spoke in a harsh voice. She brushed her bangs back irritably. The face revealed beneath her hand was frighteningly savage.

The reason was simple.

The demon before her was not Caladium.

"Who do you think you're pretending to be in front of me?"

"...What? This is a misunderstanding, this is my power—"

"Stop talking nonsense. I could find ten differences immediately."

Who does he think is a fool? Adelaide ground her teeth and added savagely.

While the outward appearance was so similar that differences were hard to discern, the atmosphere and subtle speech patterns were entirely different. She would know, being who she was.

What fool couldn't distinguish between the person they loved and an imposter?

Moreover, Adelaide was a succubus. Not just any succubus, but one who had once aspired to the queen's throne. In front of a race called the 'Dream Masters' or 'Dream Robbers', such a trick was ludicrous, not even worth laughing about.

"Adela, come to your senses. I called you here to tell you I never want to see you again."

"...Yes. I should come to my senses."

She nodded lightly and agreed. Then, with an expressionless face, she swung her sword toward the Caladium impersonator.

"There's no reason to play along with this dirty scheme any longer."

The pitch-black sword stretched out, glowing red. A whip studded with thorns strongly bound the one mimicking Caladium. Soon, a thunderous sound like a collapsing tower erupted, accompanied by a massive tremor.

Pah!

The artificially created space was destroyed, and light flashed before her eyes.

And when she opened her eyes again, she was back in her original location. She had fallen to the floor, and the first thing in her view was Lisianthus's worried face looking at her.

"Adel. Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine. What about you, Lisian?"

"I'm immune, so I didn't fall asleep."

"A Nightmare's doing?"

"Yes, that's correct."

Adelaide rose to her feet, as if she had expected as much.

Nightmare. A beast in the shape of a pitch-black horse, a race that, like succubi or incubi, feeds on the unconscious.

However, while succubi and incubi show their prey's desires through dreams to drain their essence, Nightmares are the opposite.

They forcibly drag their target into a dream, showing the scene the target currently fears most, with such intense realism that one rarely realizes it's a dream. If unable to shake off the dream, they are absorbed by the Nightmare, living eternally within the nightmare.

Nightmares aren't particularly strong in combat, and they're easy to defeat when directly confronted. The problem is that the conditions for facing their true form are extremely complicated.

A Nightmare hiding in someone's dream cannot be physically eliminated unless it directly breaks the dream and awakens. Attempting to help a dream-trapped demon carelessly could make the situation even more dangerous. This was why Lisianthus couldn't wake Adelaide.

In other words, to deal with a Nightmare, one can only wait for the trapped demon to break free on their own.

But of course, there are exceptions.

If a Nightmare creates dreams as the 'Nightmare Inviter' to lure prey, then Adelaide, as a succubus, was one who plunders those dreams. While she could only intervene slightly when dealing with Boraca, now, having grown close to a high-ranking demon, she could freely manipulate any dream. She could confidently assert that no dream exists that she cannot rob.

Adelaide looked around calmly. Conveniently, two demons lay unconscious near her.

"Those who haven't awakened yet are... Raham and Juilliard."

"Yes. I tried to hit them to wake them up, but the manager said no."

Cereza sat beside Juilliard, wiggling her fingers. Her expression suggested she was dying to slap someone's cheek.

Hmm, so this was her personality. Adelaide thought her words had become much more numerous and awkwardly smiled.

In any case, Cereza and Pia had apparently escaped the Nightmare's dream at their discretion. This was possible only for those familiar with the unconscious realm or those with extremely strong minds.

Come to think of it, both were known for their firm resolve and strong mental fortitude. Their experiences of overcoming pain likely helped strengthen their minds.

"Adelaide-nim, Raham will be okay, right?"

Pia sat next to Raham, her golden eyelashes trembling. Her pale face was full of worry.

"Yes. Don't worry."

Adelaide smiled softly and reached toward where Raham's face would be. A faint breeze seemed to escape the empty space. Likely his breath.

She closed her eyes and concentrated.

After a few seconds, strength seemed to drain from a slender body, and Durahan's massive upper body suddenly jolted upright.

"Heuk!"

Raham, who rose abruptly as if struck by lightning, breathed roughly and turned his body this way and that. Soon spotting Pia, he immediately embraced her. He seemed to have had a nightmare related to her.

Lisianthus gently held the unconscious Adelaide. In his place, Cereza swung her hammer at the revealed Nightmare.

"Take this!"

"Hihi-hiing...!"

The pitch-black horse-like creature collapsed with a long cry after one hammer strike, gradually becoming transparent. This was the Nightmare's unique method of death, but Cereza, unaware of this, thought he was escaping and continued hammering his already dead body. It was brutally comical.

Less than a minute passed before Adelaide regained consciousness. She made a disgusted expression and shuddered slightly. She had seen a scene in Raham's nightmare that was extremely unpleasant.

She had witnessed Pia being used as a circus puppet and meeting a cruel death. Even knowing it was just a dream, it was still revolting.

'These Nightmares, their dreams are always so dark and grotesque.'

This explained the dungeon master's nature. Adelaide cursed Uriel while extending her hand again. It was time to wake Juilliard.

What would Juilliard fear? Given his leisurely and lazy nature, it was hard to imagine. Perhaps he'd fear something bizarrely unexpected. She thought this and moved into the unconscious realm.

And shortly after, like Raham, Juilliard sat up urgently, gasping for breath. Cold sweat streamed down his wrinkled body. His face was paler than ever.

Adelaide also regained consciousness within a few minutes. Suddenly, something dripped down her cheeks. She was crying.

"Adel, are you alright?!"

Instead of answering, she wiped her tears and nodded.

In the nightmare, Adelaide had glimpsed Juilliard's past. Memories of when he traveled through dungeons tirelessly, wanting to somehow make his granddaughter happy, despite his advanced age and limited life force from his spirit stone.

However, he ultimately died in the dungeon due to other heroes' betrayal and became an undead lich. After that, he had no way to confirm his granddaughter's life or death.

In the dream, Juilliard's granddaughter was left alone in a house where no light entered, dying of starvation. Juilliard kept crying out for someone to save his granddaughter, but his voice reached no one.

It was truly a brutal nightmare.

"...That was a dream, wasn't it?"

"Yes. All fabricated by the Nightmare."

Juilliard let out a small sigh. Even knowing it was a dream, his heart was not at peace. Perhaps because he knew the reality might have been even more terrible.

"Are you okay?"

Cereza approached and gently tugged his sleeve. She looked up at his face with an emotionless expression, resembling an innocent child who knew nothing of the world. Because of this, Juilliard always thought of his granddaughter when looking at Cereza, despite her actually being older.

"Well, of course I'm okay... or not..."

Juilliard laughed softly and responded slowly. He seemed to have returned to his usual self.

"Let's go quickly!"

To kill that bad dungeon master. He added with a furrowed brow. All the demons nodded together. Their faces were much more determined than before being targeted by the Nightmare.

Adelaide advanced toward the portal with blazing eyes. They encountered more Nightmares along the way, but the demons who had already experienced nightmares quickly shook off their dreams and eliminated the enemies.

Afterward, although opponents appeared that were too strong for their group alone, Lisianthus helped well, and no one was injured. It was fortunate, though Pia felt somewhat like a burden and was embarrassed.

After fighting for who knows how long, they finally reached the portal leading to the main stronghold where Uriel was. The group exchanged brief glances before throwing themselves into the portal one by one.

Pah!

Light flashed, and true to a good portal, the space changed quickly.

And soon, a familiar demon revealed herself before them.

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