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More paintings crawled in from the left and right, above and below, but Elena swung her sword with greater precision and dexterity than ever before.

SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!

Cut after cut, Elena channeled the power she had relearned inside her mother’s spirit realm. She drew upon the power of Emptiness; of the White Void she had once inherited from an NPC in BNLO when she obtained and refined her soul skills.

And now, that long-forgotten power was finally beginning to resurface.

Elena was unstoppable. She grew more and more serious as she mowed through the paintings in record time.

Matsuo, who was providing support alongside Anna and fighting with his Shikigami Familiars, was shocked by her performance.

"She’s incredible," he said.

"Indeed, that’s my girlfriend!" Anna declared proudly. "Now go, Familiars! Tear everyone to shreds!"

Her familiars roared, empowered by her aura and new magic. They fought bravely and crushed the paintings through perfect teamwork.

Matsuo’s Shikigami offered support through healing and buffs, allowing the battle to continue without interruption.

In their simplest forms, his Shikigami appeared as a swarm of hundreds of paper dolls floating around him. By fusing them, however, he could bring forth many other creatures.

He could plant curses and runes into them, place them on his enemies, and then...

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

They would explode, dealing severe damage while barely costing him any mana to conjure. They were perfect for him, a sorcerer still growing in strength, with great talent but not yet enough mana reserves.

The battles continued in this manner until the group finally slew the last painting. They rested on the floor, surrounded by rainbow paint splattered everywhere.

"Whew, at least we did it..." Monica sighed in relief.

"Yeah... ugh, without Obsidian it would have been a lot harder. Some of those paintings are just nasty!" Elisa groaned.

"Elena... she has become really strong though," Monica noted.

"Yeah, but is she planning to use all her strength? She has to save some for later!" Elisa complained.

"Well done, everyone," Matsuo said as the group quickly gathered together again. "Harumi, did you...?"

"Yeah, I did," Harumi nodded. "I’ve stored all the cores in my shadows, so they should be safe there. Good work, everyone. Especially you, Elena! What was that? You were moving like a samurai master or something."

"Yeah, I wanted to talk about that too. What was that?" Frank asked. "It was incredible."

"R-Really? Well, thank you..." Elena had not expected so much praise. She felt flabbergasted and embarrassed. "I-I... uh, well, I’ve been training."

"Yeah, we know! But that takes more than training. Do you have some kind of special talent with the sword?" Erika asked.

"I wanted to ask the same. It felt like... back then," Anna said. "Did you find a way to channel the power of our avatars, Elena?"

"Kinda... I’ll explain later," Elena replied. "But thanks for the compliments. Heheh..."

"Anyway..." Matsuo quickly knelt on the ground and built a small formation using his paper Shikigami. He performed several hand signs, connecting himself with the dungeon’s elemental energies. "It looks like there are still a few more monsters left here. We have defeated at least half of them by now. Although more could be summoned later, so we must be careful."

"Summoned?" Anna asked.

"Yeah. If this is like a Corrupted Domain, then the dungeon has a core that is trying to defend itself," Matsuo explained. "Or at least that is what I believe, but—"

"Ah, you have proven yourselves barely worthy of my presence. Rejoice, humans!"

"...?!"

"...!"

"...?"

"What?!"

Suddenly, the entire group turned toward the origin of a loud, deep, and oddly well-mannered voice coming from behind them. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

There, a large silhouette shrouded in shadows and covered by a leather coat emerged, adorned with accessories made of fangs and bones.

He had appeared out of nowhere, and the entire group instantly grew concerned.

This was not normal!

Where had this guy come from? They could not sense him, could not see him, and he definitely had not been there before.

He was tall and enormous. What little skin could be seen was covered in dark green scales. He had sharp claws and gleaming golden eyes hidden beneath the coat that cast shadows over his face.

"Who are you?!" Frank demanded, quickly unleashing his aura along with his friends. "I am fairly sure we did not invite you to the party."

"Hohoho, quite well-mannered, are you not, human boy?" the voice laughed. "I am who I am, a great amalgamation of this planet’s greatest tragedy. I embody the lost dreams and wishes of my brethren, and I carry them forward into the present day, now dominated by you mammals. Who would have known that the little rats crawling beneath our feet would one day build such an utopia once given the opportunity? Alas, that is not why I am here, nay."

The entire group grew increasingly concerned as they felt his immense, transcendental aura.

This was no mere painting monster, and it was definitely not some random intruder.

He pressed his hands together and summoned one painting they had missed. It depicted several dinosaurs roaring and living in a vast jungle.

"I have been told by my master to get rid of you, but mere slaughter no longer suits my refined tastes. We shall play a little game first. I have placed the remaining creatures of this labyrinth inside this beautiful painting, and I have noticed how it has changed and mutated! The rules are simple: survival of the fittest! Enjoy."

"What are you even talking about?!" Erika asked, stepping back.

"We should run. That guy is a...!" Harumi muttered.

However, it was too late.

Before Harumi could reveal who he was, before they could run or do anything at all, the painting the giant lizard-like man held expanded tremendously into a dimensional portal and swallowed everyone inside!

"Waaaahhhhh!"

"W-What the hell?!"

"Again?!"

"We’re being sucked into some kind of Domain!"

"No, this is like a pseudo-realm!"

"What?!"

Frank attempted to resist while everyone else panicked and was pulled in. Cosmic light burst from his hands as he fought against the dimensional portal.

"Who are you?!"

He stepped out of the portal miraculously, surprising the lizard-man, who smiled back at him while spreading his arms.

"It looks like one of you is strong enough to resist even the beautiful Ancient Realm I have shaped! How most intriguing!" the giant laughed.

Frank clicked his tongue. He was done holding back. He was done playing nice, and he was done being a background character.

His aura exploded with cosmic power. Divinity wrapped around his body as his brown hair turned blue and gold, growing longer.

His eyes gleamed like stars, and a pair of angelic wings sprouted from his back alongside a star-woven halo above his head.

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