Chapter 228: The Heart

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“……”

Will stared up at the slime.

He was genuinely terrified.

Just one glance at it hanging above him made his heart tremble, and he felt like he couldn’t even breathe.

“Huh…?”

Of course, this kind of fear…

Was probably just a conditioned reflex.

He often had dreams where he’d walk into the first floor of a dungeon, look up, and—bam—get crushed to death by a slime.

A very simple, very straightforward, and utterly ridiculous way to die.

“What?! How is it this thing?! W-W-What exactly are you afraid of?!” Even Lucifa, who had been enjoying the show from outside, couldn’t hold back anymore. Her voice echoed through the room, laced with frustration.

But Will understood that the slime in front of him wasn’t his real fear.

Lucifa’s mental abilities always worked through suggestion and storytelling. The things that truly terrified him were hidden behind these metaphors.

For instance…

The slime hanging above him was like a personalized “Sword of Damocles,” except this one was on a timer.

(tln :  situation threatening imminent harm or disaster / any situation threatening imminent harm or disaster.)

One day, it would fall, symbolizing his death—his inevitable fate.

So, deep down, what he truly feared was his own mortality.

He had thought he’d come to terms with it long ago. But clearly…

Seeing this scene proved otherwise.

It showed that he was still just like any other “ordinary person” in this world—afraid of dying and wanting to keep living.

“Ugh…”

Will looked at the wobbling slime above him, momentarily at a loss for words.

“…I’m just scared of this thing, okay? It’s like how some people are afraid of mice, or cockroaches, or spiders. Isn’t that normal?”

“That’s not normal at all!” Lucifa huffed indignantly. “And this memory was so hard to read—it’s like you’ve never actually experienced it! Otherwise, I would’ve double-checked!”

“So, to overcome this fear…”

Will raised his staff and aimed it at the “mighty” slime.

With a simple, chantless fireball spell, he obliterated it from the sky.

—It was really that simple.

—And precisely because it was so simple, the idea of the original young master being crushed to death by a slime was all the more absurdly hilarious!

As Will cast his spell, the black dome above him seemed to shatter. Light poured in from the sky, illuminating the space.

Will found himself back in “reality.”

Back in the final boss room of Tenth Demon Castle.

He glanced behind him. Shuna was still leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. She hadn’t moved or said anything.

It seemed he hadn’t physically “moved” during the illusion. Lucifa’s mental abilities had hypnotized him and pulled him into another space entirely.

“You cheated! How can your greatest fear be something as easy to deal with as a slime?!” Lucifa exclaimed, her voice full of indignation.

She had already removed her strange armor and left it discarded on the ground. Now she sat in her chair with her arms crossed, looking both annoyed and… slightly pale. The usual rosy glow on her cheeks was noticeably absent under the light.

“I spent months researching and poured half my energy into creating your ‘ultimate fear space,’ and you just… you just casually defeated it like this!”

Will finally understood.

She was acting like a child whose carefully crafted three-digit math problem had been solved in seconds by a university student with a calculator. No wonder she was so upset.

“Oh no~ I’m so scared~ It gave me such deep childhood trauma…” Will tilted his head and put on an exaggeratedly pitiful expression as he tried to placate her. “Lady Empress, didn’t you notice how my heart was practically jumping out of my chest when I saw it?”

“……”

Lucifa cringed slightly at his tone and shrank back into her chair.

“Alright. Since we’ve reached this point…” Lucifa sighed dramatically and pressed a button on her chair. From the backrest popped out… a pristine white flag?

It looked brand new, as if it had never been used before.

“…I surrender.”

Sitting under the white flag, Lucifa straightened her posture with an air of dignity.

Seriously? What kind of dungeon Empress was she?! The floors already felt like amusement park attractions, and now she even had a white flag ready to go?

Was she born to be a comedic relief character?

“You don’t look that injured. Are you sure you don’t want to keep fighting?” Will asked skeptically.

“I told you. My ‘third phase’ already used up all my power. I didn’t expect even your ‘greatest fear’ couldn’t defeat you,” Lucifa admitted begrudgingly, though her tone carried a hint of resignation.

“Fighting further would just mean certain death for me. Better to surrender with some dignity.”

“You’re lucky this dungeon doesn’t get many visitors; otherwise, you probably wouldn’t have lasted this long,” Will muttered with a sigh. What kind of defeatist Empress was this?

“As for whether you destroy this place or kill me… that’s up to you. Oh, and as promised—”

Lucifa tossed a small wooden box into Will’s hands. Its exterior resembled a miniature coffin.

“This is…”

Will opened the box carefully. Inside was…

A heart.

It was still beating—a small heart slightly smaller than Will’s fist, pulsating rhythmically but without pumping blood. It looked as though it had been meticulously cleaned.

“My heart. Isn’t this what you wanted?”

Lucifa’s voice was calm.

When Will looked up, he noticed bandages peeking out from under Lucifa’s shirt, wrapped around her shoulder.

She had actually removed her own heart?! Was this… an incredibly “demonic” thing to do?

Was that why she hadn’t used her mental abilities during their flashy battle? And why she now seemed so weak?

“Oh, don’t worry about it,” Lucifa said nonchalantly. “It’s still beating because it’s close to me—it’ll stop once you take it away.”

“……”

“Why aren’t you saying anything? I… I can’t control what loot drops when I die! So I figured I’d prepare it for you in advance.”

Lucifa’s voice grew more nervous, her words tumbling out faster than usual.

“If I died and all that dropped were some demon tails—or worse, wings—and the heart wasn’t preserved properly, then you wouldn’t be able to save your beloved little princess, right?”

Her tone was bitter, almost like she was delivering a sorrowful farewell speech.

“Dungeon creatures don’t rely on their visible organs to survive. Removing my heart is just a bit… messy. But this way, you don’t have to do it yourselves!”

Lucifa turned her face away, avoiding Will’s gaze.

“Alright then… you should leave this dungeon now. As… as its Empress, I… I’m already so happy to have met challengers after three whole months… Just… just go now… Don’t… don’t cry or anything.”

Lucifa’s voice began to tremble as she spoke. She wiped at her eyes with her hands as tears started to fall.

She had told herself not to cry—even if she were defeated, she couldn’t cry in front of adventurers.

She had reminded herself that as an Empress, she needed to face challengers with strength and dignity.

She had convinced herself that many dungeon rulers never reached their ultimate end—that she wasn’t an exception.

But…

Meeting such strong and passionate adventurers for the first time…

Playing through an entire boss fight that had been so much fun…

Why did it have to be tied to the eventual disappearance of her dungeon?

“…Huh? Are you seriously crying?” Lucifa opened her teary eyes and saw through her blurred vision—

Will crouching down in front of her with the small box containing her heart in his hands, looking at her with genuine concern.