S-Class Dungeon’s Mistress - Chapter 23

Adelaide stared blankly at the scene unfolding before her, mouth wide open.

‘What am I looking at?’

She couldn’t believe it even though she was seeing it with her own two eyes.

Caladium, who introduced himself with the cheesy title of ‘The Great Devil of the Red Flame,’ extended his hand then blew up the portal at once.

It was only fire energy, but with an explosion like thunder, the space and the portal were completely destroyed. At the same time, the sparks from his hand spread all over the place in the blink of an eye.

It happened so quickly that Adelaide couldn’t come to her senses.

The sound was too loud, the heat that touched her skin was extremely hot, and the vibrations caused by the explosion within the space were too strong. Had it not been for Lisianthus who held her shoulders tightly, she would have fallen and would now be rolling on the floor.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, what about Lisian?”

“Thanks to Master, I’m fine.”

As he said that, Lisianthus gently brushed the dust off her shoulders.

Adelaide smiled shyly at his excessive humility. Actually, she didn’t catch him, she just held onto his collar to survive.

“Aarggh!”

“Fire, fire!”

The screams of the demons could be heard through the murky smoke.

Adelaide was startled and moved hurriedly. She had to see what the hell Caladium was doing out there.

‘Is he going to fight the escort? Isn’t it dangerous?’

Although Caladium called himself a devil, Adelaide did not believe him. She simply dismissed it as bluffing. The reason was very simple and clear. He only had one horn.

Whether he was a devil or just a demon bluffing, his abilities were clearly proven. Destroying a portal was not something anyone can do. The same was true for creating blazing flames in a flash.

However, Adelaide, who was so weak that she could not even understand the opponent’s power, could not see who was stronger, him or Adolf. However, Adolf had a history of nearly killing her, and since he was bigger, she wondered if he might have the upper hand.

‘My precious demon! You can’t lose as soon as you sign the contract!’

Adelaide closed her eyes and threw herself into the flames. It was an inevitable choice in order to examine the conditions of Caladium and the other demons in there.

However, unlike the blazing heat, the fire was only warm.

“Huh?”

“It’s a high level power. It only damages those who perceive it as an enemy.”

“Wow…… That’s amazing.”

At Lisianthus’ explanation, Adelaide expressed admiration and went through the flames. Holding Lisianthus’ hand tightly lest she falls apart.

It was fortunate. She was worried that the demons belonging to the Boraca Dungeon, who did nothing wrong, would get hurt. Although they did try to catch Adelaide at Boraca’s orders, they were forced by their fraudulent contracts.

Adelaide did not want to harass those who were also underprivileged.

“Ah, there he is!”

Adelaide exclaimed, finding his red hair in the midst of the thick smoke.

She was impatient to see if he was in danger, so she walked fast. Fortunately, there was no sound of fighting. He didn’t seem to have encountered Adolf yet.

“Cala-…!”

Adelaide raised her voice then stopped calling his name.

The smoke gradually dissipated, revealing the appearance of Caladium. Red hair fluttering in the wind, a face full of irritation and excitement, a muscular body that can be seen through the buttons that were not properly fastened, his huge bare feet and… one corpse lying beneath it.

Adelaide knew whose body that was. He was several times larger than her, with thorns rising over all her body.

It was Adolf, the escort of Boraca.

In Adelaide’s eyes, he looked invincible, but now he was dead. He had a large hole in his stomach. At first glance, it looked like he died instantly.

On the other hand, Caladium, standing on his corpse, looked fine. There was no small wound on his skin, and his clothes were the same as before, not even wrinkled. His chest and stomach were slightly exposed because he didn’t tie the waist strap properly.

He looked down at Adolf as if bored, then soon found Adelaide and grinned. He had a mischievous face.

“Adela. Are you coming now?”

“Maybe because he was weak, but I was just slowly walking then he exploded”. Caladium added with a grin. Adelaide replied, ignoring his mischief.

“Where’s Boraca?”

“You’re gonna keep speaking impolitely, aren’t you?”

“No, where’s Boraca! I need to find the contracts.”

“You said you’d cherish me, but you’re already raising your voice. Should I get upset since you keep doing that?”

That thing that got out of the handcuffs had lost its mind.

Adelaide was so frustrated by the way he kept giving irrelevant answers, then pounded her chest. She wanted to hit his chest, not hers, but she couldn’t when she promised to be nice to him.

Lisianthus didn’t look very good either, perhaps because he was annoyed with the same thing. Just as he tried to point out his cocky attitude, Caladium quickly interrupted.

“It’s a joke, a joke. You guys are boring. You don’t have to find the contract. I’ve already killed him, so the contract is null and void.”

“Killed? Where’s the body?”

“The body would be a little hard to find. It’s been a while since I moved so I couldn’t control my power. I just broke him into pieces. I should’ve h*r*ssed him more, it’s a shame.”

Caladium lightly brushed his hair and gave a sad expression.

It’s something he can’t help but regret. He suffered for 100 years because of Boraca, and his revenge ended in one second. It was all in vain.

“Well, if you want a corpse. If you look there, you will find one or two pieces lying around.”

Caladium pointed with his chin. Because he cut him into a hundred pieces.

As she turned her head in the direction he was pointing, she could really see a few body parts scattered around. At the terrible sight, Adelaide quickly turned her head back in place.

Was that Boraca’s arm? No, was it his foot?

Adelaide was briefly distressed by the lingering afterimage, even though she already closed her eyes. She was not immune to such a scene even though it was not the first time she saw a corpse.

“So.”

Caladium’s playful voice broke her thoughts. When she opened her eyes, she saw a very proud smile on his face.

“How do you feel?”

What does this mean? Adelaide tilted her head.

Caladium looked like he was expecting something. He wanted to hear words of praise. Words like, ‘As expected, devil, you’re amazing!’ or ‘Caladi, you’re so cool!’. Since he had been in contact with the Holy Relic for a long time, his strength was poor compared to his previous level, but in the eyes of these weaklings, even this would look great.

Adelaide, who had been agonizing for a while, finally opened her mouth.

“Caladium, don’t impersonate a devil. If you get caught, you’ll disappear without a trace!”

Unfortunately, it wasn’t what he expected. Thick wrinkles formed on Caladium’s forehead.

“Ha? Pretending? What are you talking about?”

“Even though I seem nice, I’m not stupid. I know how to differentiate between demons and devils. I’m not gonna be fooled by such pranks!”

Adelaide pretended to be angry. In order to protect the authority of the dungeon master, she had no intention of accepting any more pranks. Of course, it was an authority that was almost non-existent.

“What the f*ck is this? Who’s playing pranks?”

“Even I won’t fall for it! Caladium only has one horn! They said devils have two!”

“That’s……!”

Caladium was speechless, he couldn’t speak.

Their relationship was not close enough to tell her the story about his horns. No, he had no intention of saying it even if they were. Therefore, he continued to speak with courage as if he was an immature child being forced.

“Hey! Don’t be prejudiced! There are those with only one horn, can you lead the dungeon properly if you’re so narrow-minded?”

“What? Are you for real?! Now I’m narrow-minded…!”

“Yes! Narrow-minded!”

Adelaide’s pretty face quickly contorted. She was angry for a moment, but her heart was shaken by Caladium’s dignified attitude.

Was she really narrow-minded? Was it prejudice to expect devils to have two horns?

Her pink eyes fluttered wildly, revealing the confusion in her heart. And, as always, it was Lisianthus that calmed the mess.

“Master, how about we go back to our dungeon and talk there?”

It was only then that Adelaide realized that she was having a childish argument in front of many demons. Her cheeks turned pink in shame.

Lisianthus continued, looking at her as if she was cute.

“Now is the time to loot.”

And again, as always, the content wasn’t very caring.

**********

As soon as the demons of the Boraca Dungeon heard the news of Boraca’s death, they were busy celebrating. From all over the dungeon, voices praising Adelaide were heard, and many demons rushed out of the dungeon to enjoy the freedom they had regained after many years. Some knew that she was the owner of another dungeon and offered to sign a contract with them.

Considering the past when she was rejected even by a Lady Bug, it was a very poignant situation. Adelaide rejected all the proposals. Even though they were mid level demons that she wanted so much.

When Lisianthus asked why, Adelaide answered calmly.

“They’re out because of their personalities.”

She understood why they had no choice but to obey Boraca’s orders. But understanding and acceptance were two different things.

They laughed or ridiculed Adelaide throughout the duration of the test. Or, they were too busy staring at her chest. Like Carat, who said he wanted to get closer because they were going to see each other for a long time anyway.

Adelaide didn’t want to bring them into her dungeon. There was someone else she really wanted to take in.

“Hey, Adelaide? We’re sorry we kept throwing bones. It must’ve been painful.”

“We are really sorry.”

The Skeletons came to Adelaide and offered a sincere apology. They could’ve explained that their actions were for her sake, but they didn’t. It was true that they threw their bones to hurt her anyway, and they didn’t want to make an excuse for that.

“Yeah, it hurt a lot. I shed tears as well. So, can you grant my request?”

“Request? What request?”

Adelaide smiled and rummaged in her arms. As soon as she was done, she changed into her usual puffy clothes, so she was very comfortable.

Soon, a white piece of paper fluttered from her hand.

“Become the second demon race belonging to my dungeon! Here is the contract!”