Laura's Slave Brand.
Visiting Niflheim had also served the purpose of dealing with this matter.
After Walpurgis Night, Demon Lord Barbatos seemed to have taken a liking to me and dragged me along to all sorts of places. Right up until she returned to her own dungeon, she kept me around as her attendant. For an entire day straight!
She even took me to an exclusive brothel for lesbians. First, I was shocked that such a place even existed. Next, I was horrified at the realization that she intended to use me as a plaything for her amusement. And finally, I nearly fainted upon learning that Barbatos was bisexual. If I hadn't fought back with everything I had, I would have ended up as a toy for a group of lesbians.
Perhaps as compensation for entertaining her all day, Barbatos introduced me to a high-ranking mage. Thanks to her intermediary, I was able to acquire what I needed without difficulty.
"There."
I crushed fragments of golden Mana Stones into fine powder with a rock. Adding a bit of water to the resulting golden powder produced a viscous liquid like ceramic glaze. It was the Mana Stone solution used to brand Slave Brands.
"Just wait over there for a moment."
"Understood. Will this spot do?"
Laura sat down obediently on the cave floor. Her white dress spread gracefully across the ground. That, too, was a garment purchased as a souvenir in Niflheim — a piece of clothing that stayed clean without needing to be washed. Since Laura had guarded the dungeon in my absence, it was only right to return the favor.
I pulled a scroll from inside my robes. Geometrically complex patterns were inscribed upon it. I sketched the design from the scroll onto the cave floor, using chalk at first. If I drew the pattern incorrectly, I would have to travel all the way back to Niflheim just to acquire more Mana Stones. Incidentally, these Mana Stones had been treated with a special magical process, making them absurdly expensive. I first sketched with chalk, then painted the golden liquid over the top. Slowly, centered around Laura, a circular magical formation took shape.
"Hmm."
After a good while, I stretched out with a long yawn. It was all complete. To offer my honest assessment of the work — it was brimming with aesthetic sensibility. Had I been born in Paris, the city of art, I would have undoubtedly risen to stardom with my undeniable talent for painting.
The materials were prepared.
Laura, subjugated as a slave.
The magical formation for engraving a Slave Brand.
And a human forearm — upon which the Slave Brand would be carved.
"......"
I retrieved a box from beneath the bed. Flipping open the iron case, I found Jack's forearm, preserved under a preservation spell cast by Lapis. The muscles were defined and the skin tone was rich, as though it had been cut only moments ago.
It made me a little sad. Not the kind of sadness that would bring tears — it was the emotion that arose from the thought that a human could only leave behind proof of their existence in this manner. It was certainly an extravagant feeling for the very person who had driven that human to their death.
"To the ancient, the ancient. To the dust, the dust. To that which is not the cause, the cause itself. I command you, spirit imprisoned — return now to the place from whence you came."
I laid the forearm bearing the Slave Brand down at the front of the magic circle, then recited the incantation exactly as the magician had instructed. With each additional phrase, brilliant light burst forth from the circle. I drove the dagger I had prepared in advance into Jack's forearm.
"Ugh — nnghhh!"
Laura groaned in agony. The Slave Brand was inscribed on her back as well. The brand on her back would vanish along with the one on Jack's forearm. The magician had warned that a searing pain, as though her body were being consumed by flame, would come crashing over her. It was an unavoidable and necessary step, so I continued the incantation.
"Aagh — hnnng…… hnnngh……!"
Beads of sweat formed on Laura's pale forehead and the nape of her neck. She bent at the waist, her shoulders trembling uncontrollably. Every now and then, as though she could no longer endure the pain, her body would jack upward like a spring. Each time, a pained groan escaped her lips. By the time the incantation was finally complete, she had collapsed onto the cold cave floor, drained of all strength.
"Are you all right?"
The moment I confirmed that the tattoo had vanished from Jack's forearm, I went to Laura's side. She kept letting out faint, shallow breaths. It took roughly five minutes before she could form proper sentences.
"……I'm fine. It was rather painful, but this is nothing."
"I'm sorry. I looked for the most comfortable method possible, but this was the best I could do."
"I know."
Laura looked up at me with tears glistening in her eyes.
"I know it well. When the brand was first burned into me, it was five times worse than this…… Dantalion, does that make you my master now?"
"I am not your master."
I shook my head.
"You, and you alone, are your own master. The two of us have merely entered into a contract as equals — each a master in their own right."
"……A contract."
She repeated the word in a daze.
"Yes. Laura, let me make my offer once more. Surrender your intellect to me, and I will receive you as a faithful retainer. So long as you do not betray me, I will never betray you — and I, Dantalion, swear that together we will exact our revenge upon the world that discarded and humiliated you."
"What a foolish proposal."
Laura smiled, thin as a thread.
"I accepted being your subordinate long ago. The only thing missing is a brand — my mind, my body, my very soul exist solely for your glory. I, Laura de Farnese, belong to you, Dantalion, for all eternity."
In that instant, a sound more splendid than any effect she had ever heard rang in her ears.
"You have recruited Laura de Farnese as a subordinate!"
"Loyalty has been added to Laura de Farnese's Status Window."
"Absolute Devotion! The other party has regarded you as a true sovereign from the very beginning. Thanks to this remarkable loyalty, a new title has been granted to the other party."
Ecstasy swelled in her chest.
'Finally! Finally!'
She had finally gotten her hands on one of the strongest characters in <Dungeon Attack>. No more did she need to wrack her brain trying to win Laura's heart. If her loyalty was high enough to generate an entirely new title, what more could she possibly doubt?
'Status Window!'
She pulled up Laura's Status Window right away. With Affinity exceeding 50, the information was displayed in far greater detail than before. <Dungeon Attack>'s Affinity system was notoriously fickle — unless certain conditions were met, Affinity would not rise past a given threshold, and the other party's information would not be properly displayed. By becoming her subordinate, Laura had shattered that initial barrier of 50.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Name: Laura de Farnese
Race: Human Affiliation: Dantalion's Demon Lord Army
Alignment: Neutral (-15)
Level: 10 Renown: 492
Classes: Strategist (D), Scholar (D), Temple Slave (E)
Command: 41 Martial: 10 Intelligence: 44
Politics: 9 Charm: 54 Skill: 1
Affinity: 51
Loyalty: 95
*Titles: 1. Duchess (Ruined) 2. Genius 3. Loyal Retainer
*Stats: Riding B, Rhetoric C, Music C, Tactics C, Geometry D, Strategy E
*Skills: -
Current Mindset: 'Where you wish to look, I shall look as well. The path you choose to walk, I shall follow. Should a mountain range block your gaze, I shall shatter it. Should an ocean bar your way, I shall fill it.'
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Impressive. Not a single flaw! The most astonishing thing was that, despite being only Level 10, three of her stats surpassed 40. This was likely due to the effect of her titles. The "Genius" title, for example, was a classic overpowered perk that greatly accelerated early-to-mid character progression. In *Dungeon Attack*, fewer than fifteen characters on both sides combined started with that title.
'Titles don't always have a positive effect, though.'
Considering I, the Demon Lord, still hadn't earned a single title, that was quite something.
My gaze focused on the section labeled "Titles." A separate hologram materialized.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[Titles]
1. Duchess (Ruined). Young lady of a fallen great noble house. Banished from high society. Gained the Temple Slave job, resulting in the following debuffs: Politics -20, Charm -10, Fame -500
2. Genius. Possesses an exceptionally brilliant mind. Stats and proficiency grow at an extremely rapid rate: Stat +4 on level-up, proficiency growth speed x2, job level growth speed x2
3. Loyal Retainer. Possesses unwavering loyalty. Commands the complete favor of their liege: Leadership +5, Intelligence +5, Charm +5
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Just as expected, the early slots were filled with top-tier titles. The "Duchess (Ruined)" title was a blemish, but for now, it only affected politics, charm, and fame—attributes I didn't care about. What I expected from Laura was already decided.
Leadership and Intelligence!
As long as those two essential strategist stats were outstanding, the other factors were frankly irrelevant. When had I ever recruited Laura expecting the brute force of Xiang Yu, or the all-encompassing charm of a femme fatale to seduce the enemy? I had invested significant time and cost hoping she would fill the gap in my strategy and scheming. In that regard, Laura was superbly meeting my expectations.
It happened while I was still wrapped in emotion.
"The scenario has destroyed a shard of destined fate!"
A notification I had never seen before—not in this world, not in Dungeon Attack—materialized before my eyes.
'...Huh?'
I tilted my head, wondering what the hell this was, when three or four holograms overlapped and appeared one after another, accompanied by a somber sound effect. I stared blankly at the dazzlingly flashy holograms. Written on them were sentences I could barely make sense of.
"A-rank Scenario "The Iron-Blooded Female Chancellor" is being 'completely' destroyed!"
"S-rank Scenario "The Schism of the Human Realm" is being 'severely' destroyed!"
"B-rank Scenario "The Enemy of My Enemy Is My Ally" is being 'completely' destroyed!"
A-rank Scenario? S-rank Scenario?
'...What on earth is this about?'
The Iron-Blooded Female Chancellor was, of course, the nickname for Laura de Farnese. But a scenario being destroyed?
Up until now, the notifications that appeared in this world had been basically identical to Dungeon Attack. The only difference was that what showed up on a monitor in the game appeared as holograms right in front of my eyes here. But even a washed-up junkie like me, who had stubbornly walked only the one path leading to Dungeon Attack, had never seen a notification like this before.
The most bewildering incident came right after. This time, instead of the somber sound effect, a lively and confident fanfare blared out.
"Your level is going up!"
What did it say?
My jaw dropped so far it nearly dislocated.
That wasn't the end of it. Just like when the same sound stacked on top of itself countless times, the sound effects went ba-ba-ba-bang, violently shaking my eardrums.
"Your Job Level (Demon Lord) is going up!"
"Your level is going up!"
"Your level is going up!"
"Your level is going up!"
"Your level is going up!"
"Your level is going up!"
"……."
I was completely blank-faced, listening to the hologram's victory march. After a while, the sound effects stopped. I rubbed my eyes, wondering if I was dreaming or awake, but the faint blue hologram didn't vanish from in front of me. No coherent thought formed in my head. My eyes simply counted the hologram's numbers on their own, mechanically, unconsciously.
One, two, three…… seven, eight…… fourteen, fifteen…….
Sixteen.
Sixteen basic levels went up at once.
Levels that had barely risen three or four over the past few months of absolute hell — in a single instant, with a message I had never seen in my life, sixteen of them shot up.
That wasn't the end either. As if delivering an uppercut to me already deep in a daze, the sound effects erupted in grand fashion once more. No exaggeration, it was loud enough to rattle my skull.
"Congratulations! You have destroyed a B-rank Scenario. For this remarkable feat, a new Title, <Competent Demon Lord>, has been granted to you!"
"Congratulations! You have destroyed an A-rank Scenario. For this miraculous feat, a new Title, <Demon Lord of Terror>, has been granted to you! Your existing Title has been replaced by the new Title."
…….
"Dantalion. What's wrong? You've been spacing out since a while ago."
A voice reached me from somewhere infinitely far away. But my consciousness couldn't parse what the voice meant.
"Speaking of which, a subject speaking down to a ruler is improper, and a ruler speaking up to a subject is equally so. It's bothered me for a while. So from now on, I will address you with the formal register. I'd appreciate it if you would likewise treat me without hesitation."
Creak.
I slowly turned my head.
Beyond the wall of holograms flickering in disarray, a blonde girl was offering a faint smile. A blush had even risen to her cheeks — as if she were embarrassed about something. Only then did a single word finally escape my lips.
"Holy crap."
At least, if I could sum it up in one word.
What on earth... did you do, Laura?