Chapter 120: Would you like to dance with me?

Lovia stared at the Abyss Rift before her. Her fists were clenched tight, her lips pressed shut as she replayed what had just happened.

Rage boiled inside her, and along with it came an overwhelming pain. Her body felt as though it were being sliced open, day after day, every step she took feeling like stepping on nails, her insides constantly being torn apart from within.

There wasn't a single day without pain, and all of it left her afraid, anxious, worried, and furious all at once. She hated Black Genesis with everything in her — hated them for turning her into this.

Sometimes, Lovia would wonder if her luck really was this bad, whether she'd been cursed with misfortune from the moment she was born.

Plenty of children had gone through similar things. But unlike most of them, Lovia hadn't been found by an orphanage or ordinary people who would have raised her with any real care. Instead, through pure misfortune, she'd been found by a member of Black Genesis, and somehow, she'd managed to survive up to this point.

Her thoughts spun in tangled circles, her gaze locked on the Abyss Rift in front of her. It showed a torn, jagged opening, but no other strange phenomena seemed to be occurring around it.

No unusual effects, nothing at all — just the Abyss Rift standing there, utterly silent.

'...A few students should be trapped inside there by now. That's how the modified cups' rule was set up.'

Lovia looked down at the ground again. There was nothing she could do. If she tried anything reckless, she had no idea what Black Genesis might do to her in return.

Especially since what she'd just done was already more than enough to make them furious. If she kept provoking them like this, Lovia feared they might decide to drag her back to Black Genesis.

If that happened, she might end up locked in her room again, that cold place with no life in it whatsoever. That silent, terrifying place, where Lovia had spent so much time completely alone, with no one at all.

'I don't want that.'

Just thinking about it was enough to sour her mood. Lovia let out a small sigh and was about to leave, but before she could, the air around her trembled. She turned toward the Abyss Rift, which had finally spat out an Abyss Creature sitting right at the peak of the Awakened tier.

The creature had a body shaped like a giant loaf of bread, colored like iron. It had no neck, no eyes, only a massive mouth and enormous ears. It had four arms, while its legs, in contrast, were absurdly short.

The Abyss Creature stood there in silence, saying nothing at all, and nearly a full minute passed with Lovia simply staring at the awkwardly standing thing.

Lovia glared at the creature with clear irritation, clicked her tongue, and manifested.

As it happened, she was already in an incredibly foul mood today.

"Would you like to dance with me?" A crooked smirk twisted onto her face. The Abyss Creature, meanwhile, turned toward her, its ears twitching, and let out a piercing screech.

A slender rapier appeared in her hand, and crimson sashes materialized around her body, dancing wildly with Lovia at their center.

The Abyss Creature lunged forward at astonishing speed. It wasn't holding back at all — its speed was shocking, despite those short little legs. Its mouth gaped wide, drool dripping from toothless yet razor-sharp gums.

Lovia locked her gaze on the creature, pouted slightly, and drew her rapier.

"Hmph."

Dark, filthy energy spread across her. Black veins, resembling worms, crawled beneath her skin. The whites of her eyes turned pitch black, writhing wildly.

Lovia showed no reaction to the change at all. Her rapier became wrapped in corrupted energy, dancing wildly, and her crimson sashes darkened along with it.

She leapt forward, closing the distance and charging straight at the creature. One of its arms shot out, reaching to grab her, but before it could, Lovia ducked her head low. The attack sailed right past her, sending a gust of wind rushing over her head.

Her sash coiled around the creature's arm, connected all the way to her own ankle. The next instant, the sash yanked her upward, and Lovia let herself be pulled along, her head dropping down as her legs pointed toward the sky.

The Abyss Creature growled low, yanking its arm back roughly. The binding came loose easily, and the creature launched another strike.

Baam! Baam! Baam!

Blow after blow rained down. But as if Lovia had already read every one of its movements, she kept dodging with effortless agility. Her body bent into unnatural angles, her arm twisted at odd points here and there, only to snap back into place moments later as if nothing had happened at all.

Lovia smiled.

"Is this dance fun for you?" she asked, her voice light with soft laughter, giggling to herself as her sashes spun and coiled around the creature.

Not a single strike landed cleanly. That only made the creature angrier, and it froze for a moment, opened its mouth, and let out an earsplitting scream.

Freeze—!

Lovia heard that scream, and her entire body locked up. The piercing sound rang through her ears, and her eardrums burst, blood trickling out. Her face twisted in pain, and she turned toward the creature, only to find its fist already closing in on her stomach.

Baam!

Lovia gasped. The blow nearly punched clean through her stomach — fortunately, her sash yanked her back just in time, leaving only a minor, non-fatal wound to her side.

Breathing short and ragged, Lovia glanced down at the blood seeping from her side, felt the sharp pain in her ears, then shot the creature a look of pure irritation.

She stomped her foot against the ground.

"You're no fun at all."

Her body shot forward. The Abyss Creature let out another roar, and Lovia felt its effect immediately. Her body froze once more, another strike closing in — but this time, unlike before, her sash had already yanked her out of harm's way in the split second before the freeze even set in.

Woosh—!

Baam!

The attack was dodged completely. With her eyes turned darker and corrupted energy dancing wildly around her, Lovia circled the creature, wrapping it up with her sashes, stuffing one into its mouth, binding its eyes and arms.

The creature let out a piercing shriek, tearing at the sashes that kept regenerating endlessly, before at last—

Stab—!

Baam!!

Spurt!

Lovia finished it off, crushing its heart. Punching a hole clean through with a single lethal strike, saturated with Soul Essence and Corruption Energy.

Dark blood sprayed out, splattering across Lovia's face. She wiped it away and gave a small smile.

The Abyss Creature collapsed, lifeless.

Lovia's chest rose and fell for a moment, and then the black veins receded from her body, her eyes returning to normal, and she looked, at least on the surface, like her usual self again.

Staring at the creature's corpse, Lovia simply stood there in silence, a small smile on her face. She had no idea what to say — she just stood there, her mind completely blank.

Then, she heard a familiar voice.

"Lovia!?"

It was Godon.

Lovia froze completely.

***