The Primal Hunter

Jake watched from afar as Dina effortlessly entered the Second Gate – again, brilliant name – and entered the residence of the Second Mistress. He purposefully waited a few minutes before he also made his way there.

Now, if waiting actually helped, Jake didn’t know. The ”people” in Minaga’s Labyrinth were not the smartest, but it was possible some of them could display some level of intelligence when it truly mattered. After all, the Demon Lord seemed like it wasn’t a complete moron.

Walking up to the gate, the two guards at the gate raised their hands to stop him.

”Halt, may I know why you wish to enter the residence of the Second Mistress?” he asked.

”I have something of utmost importance I must discuss with her,” Jake tried, seeing if that would help.

”Without an invitation, I sadly cannot allow you access,” the guard shook his head.

Should have seen that coming, Jake thought. Oh well, I guess I will have to head to a bar and get lucky or maybe sneak in when another visitor comes b-

”Excuse me,” the other guard said as he looked at Jake. ”Do you know a Courtesan by the name of Sylphie?”

Jake’s mouth opened wide for a second before he answered. ”Yes?”

”Ah, in that case, you are naturally welcome. We were informed by the Second Mistress that someone matching your description would come by,” the second guard said as he opened the gate.

”Thanks,” Jake said, still not sure what was going on. Sylphie? A Courtesan? How in the hell did that even…

If something happened to her… we are going full-on murderhobo,Jake told himself as he tried to restrain his bloodlust. Luckily, it didn’t look like he had to be worried. The second he went through the gate, a bird flew out of the primary residence in the room and landed on his head as she greeted him.

”Ree!” she said with excitement.

”Oh, you made a friend?” Jake said, a bit surprised.

”Ree,” Sylphie explained, making Jake nod. Inside the largest building in the room, he saw Dina sit opposite another woman as they looked to be discussing something. Sylphie had told him about how nice the Second Mistress was, but Jake naturally questioned that assessment if he went by the standards of any other natives of the labyrinth. Nevertheless, he knew he would have to go meet her and walked towards the house with Sylphie proudly standing on his head.

He was fully prepared for another conversation that was just him trying to find the right dialogue lines to get a proper response, which was why he was a bit surprised when he entered the room where Dina and this Second Mistress were talking. She was not behind a veil like the other Mistress but was sitting at a table with Dina and casually looked his way when he entered.

”You must be Jake; Sylphie told me a lot about you,” the Second Mistress smiled.

”Greetings, Second Mistress,” Jake said, nodding at her. She felt more animated than the other Mistress just from her change in tone as she spoke, and more than that, her level was a lot higher.

[Second Mistress – lvl 268]

As far as Jake could tell, she was also a human, but there was one other big difference. She gave off an actual aura of power, something the other Mistress had not, and the Sword Saint had also hinted at the other Mistresses all feeling weak. This Second Mistress did not.

waved him off. ”I heard you

protested

are not his niece?” she asked, looking

”Ree!”

but he is still

”Ree,” Sylphie nodded, satisfied.

am not entirely sure I get it, but on the other hand, I don’t feel like I should,” the Second Mistress chuckled as she looked at Jake again. ”Considering Sylphie’s power, am I right to assume you are strong too? If

usual NPC energy, Jake

not too shabby when it comes to combat, no,” Jake answered. ”None of us

nodded before looking in thought. ”When the Demon Lord returned, he was injured, which is part of the reason

Jake was really sure she was not

the city recently, and if we had fought the Demon Lord and were truly antagonistic,

am uncertain why it is like this, but the majority of those who live here just go through the motions, seemingly with little

clearly not that she was within

the Demonic Cult, perhaps the odd environment, or it could just be they have all given up on life. Ultimately, their catatonic states

is your goal?” Jake

happily screeched before the woman spoke. ”To

expected answer. ”And to do that, you became a member of the Demonic Cult

did. My initial goal was only to kill the Prime Consort, who was the original summoner of the Demon Lord, but after the demon was freed, he will now have to die too. Along with all the Mistresses, if possible. In fact, I would love to

that badly?” Jake questioned. She had way more emotion than anyone else Jake had seen besides maybe the Demon Lord and Minaga, and he clearly felt bloodlust

fan of sharing my personal history… but let’s just say that the Demonic Cult took all I had,

good understanding of the situation on floor thirty-four by

to summarize all Jake had learned

afraid of being ousted and never really left her residency, while the other was ruled by the First Mistress, the prime candidate to become the

it because of her tragic backstory. The common determined heroine. Her wish was not only to kill every single other Mistress but also the Prime Consort and Demon Lord. This Second

besides what they themselves wielded as individuals. They had some allied demonic cultists, but none were truly powerful. No, the most powerful faction was, by far, the Guards, ruled by a Guard Captain. He was the one who had kept order while the Demon Lord was absent. These guards were, as

factions, one standalone Mistress and a group of unaffiliated

get me wrong, your level is high, and you are stronger

Lord,” she shook her head. ”The original plan was to get help from the Light’s Dawn, but the Demonic Cult managed to strike at them before they could properly gather their strength. Only the Knight of Light’s Dawn survived, but I heard he was slain by the Demon Lord recently… but now that you are

said, nodding as he looked deep in thought. Through the telepathic link, he quickly communicated what he had just talked about with the

it allows us to gain the most experience and end this floor sooner rather than later,” the Fallen King commented. ”Not fighting the Guard Captain

to answer but still responded. ”Ask her if killing the Mistresses is necessary to her route for completing this

is it to kill all the other Mistresses?”

any of them could potentially try to restart the Demonic Cult. As Mistresses, we are all trained in the art of summoning demons, including Demon Lords. If we can assure they

long as we can assure they won’t go on a demon-summoning spree, it should be fine,” Jake informed the Sword

case, we should ally with her. But give me time with the other Mistresses before

you up to?” Jake asked, really confused

that,” the Sword Saint said. ”You four should instead try to focus on obtaining the three Secret Scrolls. One of them is held by the Prime Consort, and a second one is held by the Guard Captain, so they should only be a bit tricky to get. As for the final scroll… none of