NOVEL NEXT Chapter 140
140. The Villain’s Stage
“Gerda—why are you here!?”
“Hm? I followed you all, of course. Thanks to you lot shielding me from the wind, I made it here without a scratch! Truly, you’ve been such a big help!”
Laughing with genuine amusement, Gerda boldly descended the stairs, striding right to the entrance of the temple where we stood. We were stunned, utterly at a loss for words. His sheer selfishness and audacity were beyond words. Honestly, it was almost impressive.
“So, it seems this is the deepest part of the dungeon. A temple at the 50th layer, just as I suspected. Thanks to my leadership, we’ve made a huge discovery!”
“…Huh?”
I couldn’t help but let out a confused noise at the absurdity of Gerda’s statement.
“Hold on! You just showed up out of nowhere and started spouting nonsense! Laura and I reported you to the kingdom, which is why you were kicked out as leader! So why don’t you just shut up!?”
“Silence, girl. I’ve led this team until now. My track record is superior. Besides—Laura, you’re still loyal to me, aren’t you?”
Shoving Raize aside, Gerda reached out toward Laura.
“You’ve followed me, your leader, this whole time. Without a single complaint. Even when that dragon attacked us, you rushed to save me first. A loyal dog, through and through. Haven’t these two been using you? I’ll forgive you if you return to me now.”
Confident in his words, Gerda waited for Laura’s response.
“…No, I decided to have you expelled.”
“…What?”
Gerda froze at her immediate response. But the only one shocked here was Gerda—Laura had simply followed him because he was the leader. She had no particular loyalty to him.
Gerda, in his arrogance, had failed to notice something so basic. And now, he tried to use it as his trump card. Obviously, such a tactic wouldn’t work. This conversation was nothing but stating the obvious.
“What…!? Laura, you’ve followed me all this time! If you say you’ll give me back my authority as leader, everything will be fine!”
“Gerda. I’ve kept quiet for too long, but I’ve always hated your methods. Thanks to Arx and the others, I was able to break free. I’m not stepping down.”
Laura’s cutting reply caused Gerda to collapse to his knees. Finally, we’d managed to break his spirit—or so we thought, until his shoulders began to shake.
At first, I thought he was crying. But I was wrong. Gerda wasn’t sad. He was furious.
“You’ve got to be kidding me…!”
Gerda stood up and marched into the temple, heading straight toward us.
“Don’t mess with me! Don’t you dare mess with me!! Do you know who you’re talking to!? I am—I am the leader of this team!!”
“No, you’re not! Face it, old man, you were kicked out!”
“Shut up! Shut up! It’s you, isn’t it!? You and that brat have been manipulating Laura, haven’t you!? Say something!”
Gerda grabbed me by the collar and started yelling. I was tempted to punch him when—
“Both of you, stop! This isn’t the time to be fighting!”
“Shut up! This all started because of you, Laura…!!”
The moment Laura stepped in to break up the fight, Gerda’s gaze locked onto something behind her. Behind Laura, on the pedestal, there was—
“What’s that gemstone…?”
Crap. Gerda had noticed the gem on the pedestal. Letting go of my collar, he started walking toward it like a man possessed.
“So that’s the treasure of the deepest part of the dungeon! A rare item given to the conqueror of the Ash Dungeon. If I present it to the kingdom, I could earn a medal—or maybe even become a royal guest!”
“Gerda! Please, don’t touch it! I don’t want to hurt you!”
“Laura! Step aside! That gemstone is mine! With it, I’ll have everything, everything I’ve ever wanted!!”
Just as Gerda reached for the gemstone, Laura snatched it off the pedestal. With a pained expression, she kicked him in the stomach.
“Gahh!”
Gerda let out a gasp and collapsed, rolling his eyes back as he hit the ground. Watching him fall so pathetically, Laura sighed.
“Please, don’t disappoint me any more than you already have…”
As Laura prepared to place the gemstone back on the pedestal, she realized something startling.
“…Huh?”
“What’s wrong, Laura?”
“It’s gone. The gemstone I just held—has vanished…!”
Looking at her hand, the gemstone had indeed disappeared. I quickly glanced at the ground near her feet, but it wasn’t there either.
At that moment, I noticed Laura’s body trembling. A small shiver, like she was cold, which gradually grew stronger. Before I could ask what was happening, Laura spoke.
“Arx, get away from me.”
I didn’t understand what she meant. But when I looked up and met her eyes, I gasped. Her eyes, once emerald and beautiful, had turned blood-red. Just like that gemstone.
“What does that mean!? Explain!”
“…It seems that gemstone was a trap. It didn’t disappear. It was absorbed into my hand. And now, because of that gemstone—I’ve lost control of my body.”
Her words were too outlandish to believe. But the agony on Laura’s face left me no choice. She wasn’t the type to joke about something like this.
“Calm down, Laura! We just need to get the gemstone out of you!”
“It’s no use. I don’t know where it is. And worse, I feel a deep, uncontrollable rage welling up from inside… I won’t be able to hold it back much longer. When I lose control, I’ll attack you all.”
Laura pulled the sword from her waist and tossed it out of the temple. Sweat was pouring down her face like a waterfall. With nothing left for me to do, Laura spread her arms wide and said:
“Arx. Set me free. I don’t want to hurt anyone.”
Her devastating words and the look on her face pierced my heart.