Who Designed This Underworld Dungeon?

Is something wrong? What's the deal with that gray wolf, and those warriors who wield swords as if dancing—

The Insect King suddenly felt that Dal was extremely sinister, but its battle instincts made it react in an instant.

"Since the gray wolf appeared in his mind, there must be a way to unravel this in his mind too!"

Just like the saying "Within three steps there must be a solution," as if making Uffie witness black history, the Insect King immediately employed a tactic that's always been tried and true.

"Come forth, the existence that Dal cannot defeat!"

Utilizing the advantage of eroding Dal's mind, it chose to summon something based on his memory that matched its set conditions.

And the condition set this time was:

[The existence Dal once exerted all his effort but couldn't defeat]

"The one he is most obsessed over, the least likely to defeat!"

At that moment, Dal's entire spiritual space was shaken.

The Insect King felt its summoning was successful, and some existence that Dal couldn't defeat with all his strength was being summoned into a replica.

"Huh?" The gray wolf uttered a surprised sound.

See, even the gray wolf showed a strange expression; this move by the Insect King was absolutely right!

But in the next second, the Insect King suddenly couldn't smile.

"My, my spiritual power... Why is it being rapidly drained!?"

The Insect King hurriedly tried to sever its connection with the summoned creature, but it was too late; no matter how hard it tried, it couldn't break the link. It watched its spiritual power being drawn by a replica of some existence about to appear.

"Crack—"

Cracks appeared in the tombstone beside the gray wolf.

The spiritual space suddenly darkened and then instantly lit up, as if nothing had changed.

The tombstone in the central blockade vanished, replaced by... an unfamiliar figure to the Insect King.

It was a being with a body identical to humans, but taller and more slender.

One arm hung down powerlessly, as if it were injured, while the other hand held a Great Sword, resting quite boldly on its shoulder.

A helmet covered its head, with the face only a mysterious blackness, and the ultramarine armor eternally soaking wet, streaming down unfamiliar viscous substances.

The existence that Dal exerted all his strength but couldn't defeat emerged.

The wild yet mournful aura surrounding it made the Insect King's body stiffen.

[Artorias]

"What on earth is this...?"

There was no way to describe what the Insect King's mood was like upon seeing Artorias; its spiritual power was suddenly drained massively, perhaps leaving it too dull to have any significant reaction.

But its vision was fine, and it clearly saw what happened next.

That Artorias said nothing; it merely glanced at the bewildered-eyed gray wolf and turned its gaze towards the Insect King.

The atmosphere seemed to be off.

Wait, wait, this was summoned by the Insect King; logically, it should aid it, but why does it feel like a betrayal is imminent?

There was no time for it to express any astonishment before Artorias moved.

Leap, swing the sword, and smash down.

Plain yet overflowing with killing intent.

This was the Wolf Jump Dal used, but both in power and menace, far surpassing Dal.

The Insect King could not describe this blow, in its view, there was only a flash of sword light.

This sword was unprecedentedly magnificent.

"Aaaaaaa—"

"Dal!"

In the real world, it seemed like only seconds had passed.

The light the Insect King spewed towards Dal hadn't dissipated, nor had its smug expression faded.

Leon managed a roar, the Great Calia shone on the blade, but it was already too late to separate the Insect King and Dal. Anxiety filled his heart, desperately wishing he could split the Insect King in two.

Fortunately, no one had yet informed him that the Insect King had occupied Gapar's daughter's body, or Leon would be in a dilemma.

Only at this urgent crisis moment, the light vanished instantly, replaced by the Insect King's piercing scream.

"Squeak aaa!"

It held its head, falling backward, the sound so miserable it seemed its head was split open on the spot.

Leon was stunned for a moment, the opponent hadn't exchanged bodies with Dal?

Dal fell to the ground and quickly got up, a bewildered expression on his face, completely oblivious to what had just happened.

In his perspective, the Insect King had opened its mouth toward him and kicked out a shiny Flash Bomb, temporarily blinding him, and then his spirit also hurt a bit.

At that time, he was indeed very flustered, hurriedly raising his hands to defend himself.

But until the light disappeared, and the Insect King was covering its eyes, screaming as it retreated, Dal couldn't figure out the nature of its attack.

Just... simply threw a Flash Bomb at himself?

"Are you alright?" Leon and others finally arrived at his side, hurriedly checking if Dal was injured.

However, apart from feeling slightly dizzy with a headache and some visual dazzle, he was surprisingly unharmed, which made everyone question in disbelief.

Dal had a vague sensation, as if he had been protected by something, but he couldn't detect what exactly it was.

The more unsuspecting he appeared, the more people believed that there was a significant issue. The Insect King's demeanor just now seemed as though it was confident of victory and ready to unleash a Big Move, how could it be this simple—

Not far away, the Insect King let out another embarrassing "squeak", and upon hearing that, the people hesitated in their actions.

Well, judging by the opponent's display, it indeed seemed possible that Dal was unharmed.

"I, I!!!"

The Insect King let out a heart-wrenching roar of anger, releasing its hands to reveal a pair of nearly crimson and hideous eyes; it couldn't believe that it had been embarrassed by an insignificant nobody!

Its rage surged through its body, and in the blink of an eye, it exploded with a speed beyond what the body could endure, its figure flashing in front of Aleya, roaring:

"Swap!"

Aleya's face froze, unable to evade, she was immediately entered by the Insect King into the Spiritual Space.

Her Spiritual Space was vastly different from Dal's, appearing like a grand Ancient City at dusk, sacred yet exuding a sense of desolation.

"This body is mine now!"

The Insect King shouted almost hysterically, eager for a quick body swap to exact revenge.

However, this time it again sensed something behind it, with a tremendous sense of threat coming through!

"God-defying Thief Enemy, must be punished."

Without turning its head, the eyes growing on the back of its head immediately saw what was behind it.

It was a beautiful "woman" wearing a spiked mask like the Sun, clad in a white dress.

No matter how to describe the woman's beauty was pointless, because she had already drawn her bow and nocked an arrow, an arrow full of Dark Moon Power suddenly blasted its head.

"Ah—"

The Insect King screamed again, clutching its head, it knocked Aleya aside.

What the hell is going on, why does this woman in a straw man outfit harbor such mysterious horror inside!

The severe pain almost caused it to lose its ability to judge, and at that moment, several adventurers' attacks simultaneously arrived, causing it significant injury as its current body's defense was extremely compromised.

"I just don't believe it!"

With its body severely damaged, it had no choice now but to swap bodies again.

The Insect King, harboring considerable resentment, in a swift movement, grabbed Leon, roaring out the third "Swap"!

This time, it arrived in a backyard that seemed filled with wind and snow, the backyard was quite spacious, appearing capable of supporting many people running a Marathon simultaneously.

"This time there shouldn't be any more issues!"

Without any delay, it quickly unleashed an erosion on Leon's spirit, sparing no quarter, momentarily glancing around on occasion, fearing to encounter some strange entity again, an ultimate sense of stealth emerged within it.

Everything seemed calm and peaceful this time, there should be no problem?

However, just then, several figures appeared before it; three chubby guys clad in heavy armor and wearing helms!

One had a Straight Sword that flared with flames.

One swung a helicopter-like Great Sword.

One applied purple-black resin to the small sickle in his hand.

As these three appeared together, the atmosphere indeed was extraordinarily eerie.

The Insect King's body started convulsing.

"This time... what now?"

Why, why is it so unlucky?

How could everything go wrong since birth!

Watching the three exceptional Little Knights charge towards it with their bizarre running styles, the Insect King's teeth were about to shatter from clenching; it decisively severed the spiritual connection just before enduring torture.

It was also at this time that it recalled Uffie's memory; could it be that the reason behind its bad luck today...

Was because of the purported gunner's curse?!

"If only I'd just swapped bodies!"