"Oh…"
I wake up.
Has time rewound again?
"Darn it, what should I do…"
I mutter, but no good ideas come to mind.
For now, let's just try to organize things.
When I use the first teleportation gate, I encounter a sealed Agetha. When I break the seal, I am killed by someone with the appearance of Agetha.
When I use the second teleportation gate, I am mercilessly killed by the vampire Judite.
Beyond the third teleportation gate, there's the Parasitic Sword Puppeteer of Guts and Machination. If I use it, I can advance deep into the dungeon thanks to the power of the Parasitic Sword, but afterward, I'll be killed by the vampire Judite.
Well, I don't really have any other choice but to choose the third route, do I?
I should aim to borrow the power of the Parasitic Sword, break through the dungeon, and defeat the vampire Judite with my own hands.
What do I need to do for that?
"What you have is an extremely dangerous entity that parasitizes people and devours monsters to grow."
Suddenly, I recall the words spoken by the vampire Judite. In other words, the Parasitic Sword grows stronger the more monsters it defeats. So, I need to kill a lot of monsters before encountering Judite and push its growth to the limit. If I do that, I might be able to kill the vampire Judite.
With my decision made, I hurried on.
"Haa… haa… haa…"
I ran as fast as I could to the location where the Parasitic Sword was, and my breath was in disarray due to the sprint. Without hesitation, I pulled out the Parasitic Sword.
"Agah…!"
Intense pain washed over my entire body. Just maintaining consciousness and enduring the pain, as fainting would only waste time. So, I tried to bear the pain somehow. However, I couldn't endure it, and my consciousness faded.
"How… How long did I sleep?"
I jumped up. My right arm had already transformed, and the Parasitic Sword had parasitized my arm. Darn it, I wasted time. But there was no use regretting it. I needed to hurry now.
With that thought in mind, I dragged the Parasitic Sword and advanced deeper into the dungeon. From there, everything went smoothly. In the previous attempt, I took breaks and progressed slowly, but this time, I skipped those breaks and just hurried on.
"Ha… I finally made it…"
After several tens of hours, I reached a dead-end. My fatigue had already peaked. The Parasitic sword's influence had already spread to half of my body.
Last time, when I passed through this teleportation gate, the vampire Judite was waiting on the other side. I prayed she wouldn't be there this time and used the teleportation gate.
"It seems like she's not here…"
I looked around the area beyond the teleportation gate. To my relief, the vampire Judite was nowhere to be found. It seemed that arriving here more than five hours earlier than last time had worked in my favor.
I decided to move deeper into the area now. Going further in meant facing more monsters. Before I knew it, I encountered a large group of monsters.
"Alright, I'll devour all of you."
From then on, I relentlessly used the Parasitic sword to crush the horde of monsters. My consciousness became hazy along the way, and I didn't remember much. Nevertheless, the Parasitic sword moved on its own, defeating the monsters. With each monster defeated, blood splattered, and the Parasitic sword continued to grow. My body, too, was gradually being consumed.
"Oh, you've grown quite a bit. It seems this will be a bit challenging to defeat."
Huh…?
My vision blurred. I somehow sensed the presence of the vampire Judite in front of me.
"Oh, it appears your original consciousness has already been taken over."
Taken over? What on earth is she saying?
"Well, never mind that. It won't change the fact that I'm going to kill you."
Saying that, Judite tore off her left arm with her right arm, creating a bleeding wound, and then she solidified it into a crimson greatsword and a crimson left arm.
"Kihi, in that case, I'll kill you."
I don't remember much after that. When I regained consciousness, I was in the room where the treasure chest had been.
Yes, I had been killed