S-Class Dungeon’s Mistress - Chapter 203

Chapter 203

"I'd rather die than live like this!"

"Noxia!"

Penelope, standing nearby, interjected with a fierce voice. Noxia finally seemed to become aware of her surroundings, stiffening her face. It appeared she had been so immersed in her emotions that she hadn't realized how crowded the area had become.

She looked up at Penelope with trembling eyes. Once a devoted follower of Penelope, her gaze was now as venomous as if looking at her sworn enemy.

"Have you forgotten Maximilian's teachings? Didn't she always say to never lose your pride at any moment? You're actually saying you'd become a slave? Is that really coming from your mouth?"

Penelope reproached Noxia in a cold voice. Noxia contorted her face and raised her voice.

"You can say that because you're you!"

"What...?"

"Pride, self-respect! These are things only the strong demons can possess! A weak demon like me can barely preserve a single life. I have no luxury to pursue such lofty ideals!"

Her enormous cry was loud enough to shake the entire building, drawing everyone's gaze. The demons who had been watching the confrontation with interest now hardened their expressions, staring at Penelope with desperate eyes. Most of them were facing similar circumstances, except for a few high-ranking succubi and incubi.

"Noxia, just calm down a little...!"

"Let me go!"

As the atmosphere grew serious, Raymond tried to restrain Noxia, but to no avail. Like an enraged bull, she strode towards Penelope, a sneer playing at the corner of her mouth.

"Tell me, Penelope. Can you take responsibility for your words? Can keeping our pride ensure we all survive?"

"…Noxia."

"See? It can't! What can we even do right now? The strong ones have mostly already fled, and we weak ones can barely escape, just stupidly staying in place. We'll eventually be eaten by other demons or fall into slavery! It's all the same fate! Either die or become a slave. At least if we go under the Demon King's castle, we won't die!"

Penelope bit her lip, unable to respond. Without the strength Maximilian possessed, she couldn't confidently say anything. Though she had known this fact for a long time, experiencing it firsthand overwhelmed her with a sense of helplessness.

A succubus nearby, unable to bear the scene, intervened.

"Enough, Noxia! Why are you taking out your anger on Penelope? As you said, while most strong succubi and incubi are running to save themselves, Penelope, who is among the strongest, did not. She's been busy fighting those targeting the union, staying to protect us. Why can't you be grateful instead of angry?"

"But she's not even the Queen!"

Noxia closed her eyes tightly and finally spat out what had been festering inside her.

A brief silence followed. Everyone thought the same, though they hadn't vocalized it. Penelope was no exception.

Plop, plop. Large teardrops rolled down Noxia's cheeks. She truly didn't want to say such things. She really didn't want to hurt Penelope, whom she had once respected and followed, with such harsh words. If the situation weren't so dire, she would have never done this.

But reality was too cold, and the fear of death had devoured not just respect, but any semblance of courtesy. She no longer had the luxury of considering Penelope's feelings.

"Penelope, you don't have the strength like Maximilian to replace the Queen. You can't protect everyone. That's the reality…"

Noxia buried her face in her hands. The gazes of the surrounding demons slowly dropped downward. Penelope could only clench her fists, unable to find words.

In the heavy silence, a clear voice broke through.

"I'll do it."

Heads quickly turned. Adelaide emerged from behind Penelope, walking towards Noxia so everyone could easily see her face.

"I'll take on the Queen's role."

She spoke with an inappropriately fresh smile.

"It was my place from the beginning, after all."

Lupinus followed her, standing behind her with a proud smile. His gaze towards Adelaide was overflowing with admiration. In contrast, the other demons' reactions were ice-cold. Most glared at her with sharp gazes, exchanging sharp-edged words. To them, Adelaide's sudden appearance seemed nothing more than empty boasting.

"Just doing cleaning and getting kicked out… Even if you were once a Queen candidate, you ultimately failed to become Queen and grew weak."

"Crouching for decades over killing a single human, and now you're here with a man, looking all confident?"

Following Raymond, Noxia aggressively confronted Adelaide.

"Yes, I was weak."

Adelaide lightly nodded in affirmation.

"Like you all now, so weak that I couldn't even distinguish who was stronger."

She recalled mistaking Lisianthus for a mid-level demon and chuckled. Lisianthus, a mid-level demon? Now it seemed utterly ridiculous. Just as Noxia had once judged her as weaker, when she herself possessed demon-level capabilities.

"You say I was a Queen candidate, but do you know the conditions for becoming a Succubus Queen? First, strong power. That's obvious. The second is having the 'appropriate blood'."

To be born with blood fitting a Queen. This was the only condition Maximilian had not fulfilled. It was also why she was not adopted as Queen and why Maximilian adopted Adelaide.

"But if those two were all, I would have become Queen long ago. I already exceeded those conditions when I was a candidate."

The demons stared at Adelaide with irritated faces. Their eyes seemed to ask what nonsense she was spouting.

She continued, undeterred.

"But there was one unknown condition that was the problem. The heart to genuinely embrace the succubi and lead the tribe as a representative. That was the final condition."

Maximilian had it in abundance, but Adelaide ultimately failed to gain that heart. The reason was clear.

"How could I have done that? In this massive union, only Pipa respected me. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't genuinely embrace those who would put bugs in my food and splash muddy water on my bed."

"So what. Are you saying it's all our fault that you didn't become Queen and grew weak? Now you're trying to assign blame? Who was just a burden back then with no motivation?"

Someone in the succubus group spat at her with a voice full of irritation. Looking at her face, it was Camilla, the very person who had put bugs in Adelaide's food.

Suddenly, Lupinus's expression darkened. He had just learned that Adelaide had suffered such humiliation because of him.

Noticing his energy fluctuating, Adelaide reached out and patted his back. With a bright smile, she slightly shook her head. No need to waste energy in unnecessary places, her eyes communicated.

Then she directly faced Camilla and responded.

"No, that's not what I meant."

"Then why are you butting into unrelated matters and spouting nonsense!"

"Camilla, shut your mouth."

This time, Penelope intervened to stop her. Camilla, who had been reprimanded by her multiple times before, could only grumble and couldn't add more words.

Continue, Penelope signaled to Adelaide with her eyes.

She knew Adelaide was not the type to bring up useless words at such a crucial moment. Although she was usually not the brightest and often lacking in social awareness, she sometimes showed remarkable insight. Therefore, she encouraged Adelaide without hesitation, despite the surrounding gazes.

"I still can't embrace unreasonable hostility. I'm not kind-hearted enough to offer the other cheek to someone who slapped me. I'll probably never acquire that condition, so I'll never become Queen."

Adelaide continued, sending a smile to Penelope.

"But the condition I couldn't acquire, Pipa has fully met. Just look at how she has led the union so far."

Suddenly, she shifted her gaze from Penelope to some distant point. What was she looking at? Some demons turned their heads following her gaze, but only a solid wall was visible.

"I'll take care of the remaining two conditions. As I said, I've already exceeded those conditions."

"What on earth are you talking about?"

Stop beating around the bush and get to the point! Noxia frowned and urged her. Adelaide, feeling a strange sense of camaraderie with her intellectual level, answered decisively.

"I can exercise the Queen's power that you desire, so there's no need to be afraid."

Penelope hadn't been born with appropriate blood and strength, and Adelaide had failed to build a broad and solid heart. Thus, ultimately, neither could become Queen.

However, conversely, Penelope had a solid heart, and Adelaide possessed powerful strength. Though neither could become Queen individually, together they could demonstrate all the Queen's abilities.

This was not a story limited to just the two of them. If they combined their strengths, anyone could become Queen. Though she couldn't express it well, this was what Adelaide wanted to convey.

Unfortunately, instead of feeling reassured or renewing their determination, the demons turned their gaze to Lupinus. They seemed certain that the 'strength' she mentioned originated from him. As if she had simply brought a capable man and was acting confident.

'Not a single demon who has heard rumors about me exists.'

She thought she had become somewhat famous, but apparently, this was only among demons related to the dungeon. She laughed helplessly and resolved to work harder. Then she rolled her eyes again to look towards the wall. More precisely, towards the portal beyond the wall.

"Penelope-nim!"

Just then, a succubus rushed over to deliver news.

"The Lycanthropes are coming again! And this time, their numbers…"

Just as expected, Adelaide slightly nodded, having already been aware.

Previous Contents Next