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.

no need for such formalities,” she waved him off. ”I heard you were the uncle of

protested atop

niece?” she asked, looking a bit

”Ree!”

not your uncle… but he

”Ree,” Sylphie nodded, satisfied.

at Jake again. ”Considering Sylphie’s power, am

not the usual NPC energy, Jake

when it comes to

Lord returned, he was injured, which is part of the reason why they chose

was not

”We just arrived here in the city recently, and if we

would not expect anyone here to ever notice anything. I am uncertain why it is like this, but the majority of those who live here just go through the motions, seemingly

aware something was wrong with all the other people, but clearly

just be they have all given up on life. Ultimately, their catatonic states only help

your

spoke. ”To kill

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

Mistress returned his nod. ”You know, I am so used to talking with people who never truly question anything… today has indeed been refreshing. But yes, that is exactly what I 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 burn this entire

you want them dead 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 bubble up as she

am not a big fan of sharing my personal history… but let’s just say that the Demonic Cult took all I had, and now I have dedicated all I am to make sure

of the situation on floor thirty-four by

summarize all Jake had

One was ruled by the Prime Consort, who was afraid of being ousted and never really left her residency, while the other was ruled by

end to 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 Mistress was definitely the prime candidate for parties like

factions and the Second Mistress didn’t really have much power 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

standalone Mistress and a group of unaffiliated

the Second Mistress. ”Don’t get me wrong, your level is high, and

have confidence against any of the Mistresses, I am uncertain I could defeat the Prime Consort, much less the Guard Captain or the Demon 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 here, I would love to offer an alliance,

Through the telepathic link, he quickly communicated what he had just talked about with the Second

most experience and end this floor sooner rather than

bit longer to answer but still responded. ”Ask her if killing the

all the other Mistresses?” Jake asked

Demonic Cult. As Mistresses, we are all trained in the art of summoning demons, including Demon Lords. If we can assure they will not do so, they don’t necessarily

they won’t go on a demon-summoning spree, it should be fine,” Jake informed

with the other Mistresses before making any big moves.

exactly are you up to?” Jake asked, really confused about what he was

instead try to focus on obtaining the three Secret Scrolls. One of them is held by the Prime Consort, and a