Chapter 66: There’s Still a Way

“No good. This won’t work.”

Via tossed the dagger in her hand onto the ground.

Although this weapon was engraved with curses in the abyssal language, and once activated could grant corrosive properties, increasing damage after breaking through defenses.

However, a weapon like this couldn’t injure Kurei at all.

She glanced again at the other objects in the room.

None of them were of any use.

After using explosives to bury Kurei on the first floor, she had quickly climbed toward the upper levels of the Demon King’s Castle.

She had already reached the third floor.

But among the items left behind in the third-floor rooms, almost nothing was usable.

Most of the valuables had probably been taken away by the demons after her death.

Although some items remained that could still be sold for money, they were far from enough for Via to resolve her current predicament.

“If I confront Kurei head-on, I have almost no chance of winning. She’s at the Transcendent tier—and not an ordinary one at that. Even if I use Abyssal Force, it won’t change the outcome.”

Via furrowed her brows.

She was burning with anxiety.

Her own physical condition wasn’t strong to begin with, and after evading Kurei all this time, she had consumed far too much stamina.

“Roar…”

A low, hoarse, and eerie roar came from the corridor.

Via peeked out and saw not far away a Gold-rank magical beast wandering about. It seemed to have noticed something and was heading toward the room she was in.

There were simply too many magical beasts in the ruins of the Demon King’s Castle.

After the castle fell, many powerful magical beasts had likely gathered here, treating it as their territory.

After all, the former Demon King’s Castle still retained a considerable amount of abyssal aura.

That was something magical beasts loved most.

“This is bad. If a magical beast discovers me, it’ll definitely cause a huge commotion. Once Kurei hears it, she’ll rush over immediately.”

After thinking quickly, Via released her abyssal aura, enveloping herself in it.

At the same time, she took out the magic core.

This was the one harvested from the Four-armed Corrupted Ape. She deliberately activated it with mana, blending its scent with her abyssal aura and spreading it outward, disguising herself as a magical beast.

“…Roar.”

The Gold-rank magical beast stopped at the door of the room. Sensing the presence of another beast of the same level, it let out a couple of muffled grunts and then left.

Clearly, it had no desire to fight another beast of equal rank for the moment.

“Phew, that was close.”

Via let out a sigh of relief.

She was so grateful for Owen’s actions. If that young master of the Lester family hadn’t delivered this magic core to her, she would have been in serious trouble.

“Still, I can’t keep pretending to be a magical beast forever. If I encounter a Diamond-rank or even Transcendent-tier beast, it will definitely attack me.”

After putting the magic core away, she dispersed the abyssal aura and continued climbing toward the upper levels of the Demon King’s Castle.

This floor clearly didn’t have what she needed.

Upon reaching the fourth floor, before she could even begin searching, a cold wind blew through the empty corridor.

Carried within the wind was the especially grating sound of metal scraping against the floor.

This was…

Kurei’s weapon!

“Little mouse, I know you’re up there. You can’t escape!”

Kurei dragged her heavy weapon as she climbed the stairs step by step.

Abyssal aura surged around her body, her expression terrifying. She was clearly furious—her green twin-tails even floated upward.

“Death Hunt!!”

The abyssal aura transformed into Abyssal Force, erupting from the demon maid’s body.

Countless blinding threads turned into a swarm of serpents, spreading out across the entire floor. In an extremely short time, they infiltrated every room.

“Roar!!”

Every magical beast touched by the threads let out frenzied roars—one after another, connecting into a chorus. The position of every single beast was locked onto by Kurei.

After sweeping her current floor, the innumerable threads slithered upward to the next level, once again spreading in all directions.

“This…?!”

Via stared at her ankle.

She had been caught by one of Kurei’s threads. A bone-chilling killing intent assaulted her, and a faint voice echoed in her mind.

The moment the first thread bit into her, the others stopped spreading and surged toward her together, ultimately forming a direct link between her and Kurei.

“Found you.”

“…!”

Via was somewhat shocked. So this was how Kurei used Abyssal Force?

She realized she truly didn’t know much about her former subordinates.

Tap tap tap!

Kurei’s footsteps rapidly approached the floor Via was on. It wouldn’t take even a minute before she caught up.

Kurei had activated Abyssal Force—in this state, there would be no room left for evasion.

The moment they met, the other side would instantly kill her.

A lion uses its full strength even when hunting a rabbit.

Was she going to die here today?

She felt the air growing thin. The pressure transmitted through Death Hunt made it hard to breathe.

“There’s still a way upstairs!”

Via made her decision.

She gambled that something capable of turning the situation around still existed higher up.

The pink-haired girl gritted her teeth and forced herself to run toward the upper floor.

“This is a defense mechanism!”

While climbing the stairs, Via spotted a defense device embedded in the wall. Without much thought, she slapped her hand onto it, infusing mana and setting it to activate on a delay.

“Don’t even think of escaping!!”

Kurei appeared in Via’s line of sight, already catching up.

Via didn’t look back and continued upward.

The moment Kurei passed the defense mechanism, it unleashed dazzling lightning that wrapped around her body.

“What’s going on? Why is the defense mechanism attacking me!”

“Abyssal Bullet!”

Via used Abyssal Force to strengthen her magic bullet, temporarily severing the threads from Death Hunt.

This briefly broke Kurei’s link to her.

But it wouldn’t last long. If she didn’t do something else within the next minute, Kurei would break through the defense mechanism and use Death Hunt to erase her completely.

“Where is it? Just where is it?!”

Via looked around frantically.

In a vague intuition, she sensed something extremely important was nearby.

She had to find it.

Buzz——

Amid the chaotic noise, Via heard a mechanical sound that was exceptionally clear—and somehow deeply familiar.

Amid the complex layout of the floor, she locked her gaze onto one particular room. For some reason, her heartbeat quickened.

The pink-haired girl ran desperately and charged into that room.

What greeted her eyes was an armament woven from black and deep crimson—

“My armament… it’s actually still here?”

Via was utterly astonished.

Her body moved almost instinctively. She stepped forward, put on the Demon King’s armlet, and shouted:

“Activate!”