Error!

The situation had become messy.

A destroyed dungeon;

An escaped titan class boss;

A fragile captive in tow;

Surrounded by an entire army of the extermination squad;

Riva would need to think, fast!

It was too late to disguise herself. And there were the two rabid Zombies and her sword Slashy, which had been left atop the huge beetle. She would have to give up on them.

Maybe she could find herself a new skill that could get her and Victor out of here?

She had gained a tremendous amount of energy by absorbing the dungeon's mana. It was more than 2000 points! With this much, she could upgrade the dungeon and freely purchase from the shop.

Riva entered 'Mind Flayer Skills' into the search.

[Error]

Of course the system would leave her stranded once she counted on it! Whatever the cause for the error, this was the worst time for it to happen!

"Attack!" A man in especially shiny armor commanded and the soldiers began moving in akin to a tidal wave.

There was no choice, she would have to fight and hope for an opportunity. She readied herself for a desperate confrontation.

If necessary, she would use her trump card. The one that utilized 'Self Control' and her inherent instinct to split her mind and enter a rabid state on the outside, sending her other self into the mindscape. If she survived the initial assault she could use the time in there to find a solution.

It turned out she had been overthinking. The soldiers paid the stranded adventurers little mind and circled around the two of them heading for the huge beetle.

Riva and Victor felt like a solitary island in the flood of soldiers. Riva observed their actions and could hardly tear her eyes away.

The fight was a truly epic sight to behold! A whole stampede of humans was confronting a mountain. The earth trembled and the air buzzed with mana from countless spells and magic arrows. And even then, everything the soldiers did, happened in an orderly fashion.

Riva didn't expect the human army to show this much power, with them being relatively weak individually.

"They're totally not here for the relic!" Victor whispered.

"They're with you?" Riva asked.

"We're not, Mrs. Riva Faramus." A bookish-looking woman had approached them with the cover of the soldiers.

How did she know that name? It was the one she received from Rao when he 'adopted' her. In her estimation, this should have happened little more than three days ago!

The woman had the airs of 'I am someone super important!' with her strict hair knot and slim lips, which were further complemented by her slim, gold-rimmed glasses.

Riva used 'Identification' on the woman.

[Error, a fragment of power is conflicting with the system's reality interference]

Another error. The system had found a new pretext for not working.

"Excuse our interference, we have no business with you, Mrs. Riva. But the man next to you is a different story." the woman pointed her staff at Victor and muttered something intelligible.

It must have been a spell because handcuffs made from energy materialized and bound his arms.

Victor's knees gave way and he kneeled on the ground.

"Why?" Riva had a ton of questions, but first and foremost, she couldn't just let her target get taken away that easily. Not after she put in so much effort.

"The man is a wanted criminal. You, a Faramus, have no need to know anything more. This is the business of us humans. We leave your kind in peace and won't ask questions, as long as you do the same!"

That woman must have been one of the few that knew the truth about the Faramus family. Just her luck.

"I have my own business with the man!" Riva interjected.

The woman raised an eyebrow "Is that so?"

Riva wanted to give an answer when she saw blood running down Victor's face. The woman followed her gaze.

"Shit, a suicide order!" The woman cursed. "Those dogs!"

She wanted to grab him, but Riva was faster. She held Victor by the shoulders.

It wasn't hard to tell what was going on since she could perceive Victor's life energy.

"What the hell, I protected you from a god damn titan class boss and you die on me because of some mere handcuffs?!!"

Victor coughed a moth full of blood.

"Sorry… it's out of my hands. Now I have a chance to tell you," Victor coughed between his words. "We were all at fault for trusting in that relic and for succumbing to our greed. Never trust a relic!"

Victor paused and closed his eyes. When he opened them again there was a determined light shining in them. He directly met Riva's gaze. He wanted to tell her something more.

"They're not meant for mortal hands. Riva…, I won't count on you. You're nothing special. You will become but a chess piece in their game."

"Who's game?"

Victor wanted to continue, but instead of words, only blood came gushing out of his mouth. He was choking on it.

As if in reflex. Victor grabbed onto Riva, who had been holding onto him, and embraced her. As a result, Riva became totally drenched in his blood.

"Come on, is that how you want to go?! You told me, nothing! Nothing at all! Why get my fucking hopes up!" Riva shouted and shook him by the shoulders.

As a Zombie, with a taste for life energy, she was perfectly clear on the fact that this person had died! And his death was completely unnecessary and random. Unfair!

So god damn frustrating!

First that stupid contract.

And when she'd just gotten him to talk, a boss showed up!

She gave it her all and went to great lengths just to get him out of there.

Just for him to get captured by someone else! Not only that, that someone else brought an entire god damn army!

And as though that wasn't bad enough, he went up and died?!!

She had believed herself lucky when she so easily encountered him but now?

Lucky my ass!!!

"How the hell am I going to get my revenge now?!"