My Dungeon Life: Rise of the Slave Harem

Chapter 1466

“And now… the fight you’ve all be waiting for. Catgirl of Doom versus Deacon the Dragon!” The announcer was much more enthusiastic as he called out this one, and it was met with resounding cheers.

The excitement and crowds around various matches had slowly increased as I edged up the ranking. My extreme speed had caught many people’s interest. They wondered just who I was, and the story we sold was that I was someone being trained by Bernice. This was enough to get everyone to accept it, although my ability to make a profit off my wins had tanked once everyone realized my true rank had yet to be revealed.

However, this was a diamond match, and the Catgirl of Doom was the undisputed champion of the ring. Diamond rank was a misnomer. There was only one person who existed at the Diamon rank. Once someone was defeated, they’d drop down to Gold. They could only challenge again a month later. Diamond matches were always when a Gold contestant challenged the Diamond.

From what I had been told, it was the Diamond rank because it stood for a diamond in the rough. This was a person of skill and ability who ought to move on to higher and better things. They were someone like Bernice, the top of the underground, destined for greatness. That was what happened to anyone who maintained the Diamond rank long enough. They would eventually become some small village’s hero or become knighted, or find some other path to success. Then, two Gold would duke it out, and if no one was able to hold the Diamond rank consecutively, it was passed from person to person until another diamond in the rough appeared.

I hadn’t known it that first day, but the match I had caught was the Catgirl of Doom overthrowing the current Diamond. Usually, Diamonds would only need to fight once a week to defend their place, but the kingpin of the underground had made an exception for me. Usually, other Golds had to buy their chance to battle the Diamond by cashing in cred, which I still hadn’t figure out if it was a currency or a state of mind. That was just another exception made for me. This naturally grew even more interest in our match, as it was rarely an up-and-comer would blast through the ranks so quickly and then immediately challenge the Diamond.

After nearly a week of fighting, I finally stood opposite of her on the same stage. Her hair was black, and by all appearance, she seemed to be an unremarkable black catkin with no variant. However, how could I forget the body of the woman I had spent so many intimate nights with. If it came to any girl, it would be Lydia who I knew best. This woman stood like her, moved like her, and looked like her. I would have confirmed it with God and Evil Eye that moment, but while it wasn’t explicitly banned in underground tournaments, Bernice said I would lose the crowd and breed hostile if I relied on such cheap tricks.

That meant that the only way to confirm my suspicions was to rip off her mask and remove all doubt!

“Begin!”

Chapter 1467

“Lydia.” I called out. “It’s me.”

Wouldn’t it be great if it was that simple? Before I did anything else, I just needed to reveal myself to her. If she was my Lydia and there was nothing specifically wrong, then she would immediately jump into my arms, and there would be no contest. However, life never seemed to work out so cleanly for me. The catgirl blurred, immediately using her speed to the point where I lost sight of her.

“Behind you!”

I spun just as a kick slammed into what would have been my back. I narrowly blocked with my gauntlets, Alysia absorbing the brunt of the hit. I had no intention of playing around in this match. I didn’t know why this Catgirl of Doom hid her identity, but I intended to get to the truth of things. I only had one chance, and I definitely wouldn’t blow it.

I came at the black catgirl hard, using sword techniques and quick attacks to face her head-on. Our hands moved back and forth, each side blocking the other strike after a strike. To an outsider, it might have resembled the motions of a martial artist, although I didn’t know anything about karate. Our hands were our blades, and each strike attempted to injure and wear down the opponent. Our movements were so fast that it was a blur to someone who was a low enough level.

The black catgirl showed no emotion as she fought viciously. Even this close, she didn’t seem to show any indication. Was I mistaken? Was this not Lydia? I also considered several other possibilities. Maybe, she was under someone’s control. I knew such devious puppetry skills existed. I had also known karmic infections to control people and make them act under someone else’s control. Then, there was the possibility that I didn’t even want to think about. What if Lydia died, and this was her replacement, much like Salicia.

I shook my head. Even if that was the case, Salicia had loved her sister, and even her clone had some kind of ingrained love. I couldn’t believe in a version of Lydia without me. Unfortunately, my thoughts had distracted me, and the black catgirl took every advantage. I found her breaking through my attacks. I got stuck three times before managed to jump away and make some distance. She had struck me once on the arm, once on the leg, and once in my side.

At first, I thought that hits were minor, but I immediately felt numbness in every place she hit. I found my leg and arm didn’t move quite right, and it was slightly more difficult to breathe. I raised my hand to cast heal, but whether she knew I had magical healing or not, she seemed to react almost instinctively. She moved forward and attacked, giving me no time and interrupting my spell.

Realizing how the fight was going south, I threw caution to the wind. I put all of my efforts into a single strike, allowing her to hit me in the process. The two of us met, and I felt myself flying back, striking one of the posts with enough power that it cracked. That hurt. I spit up blood as I forced myself up to my feet. I didn’t regret my actions though, because I had met my goal. I had knocked the mask covering her face away. I was finally able to see the true identity of the black catgirl.

“It is Lydia.” I breathed.

Chapter 1468

Lydia’s hand went to her face, and she touched where the mask should have been before shooting me a stern glare. “I do not know this Lydia.”

It was almost difficult to recognize her because the happy carefree expression that Lydia usually wore was replaced by deep concentration and a stern look. She could have been a completely different person, but now that her mask was gone, I had no doubt it was Lydia.

“Then, do you know Deek?” I asked.

“I don’t know that name either!” She scowled. “Stop wasting my time!”

She attacked again, and I barely managed to block her. My goals had radically changed though. Now that I confirmed I was dealing with Lydia, my new goal became figuring out what was wrong with her. She was hard to catch though. Her speed made it sou every time I tried to lock her down, she managed to slip away quickly. On top of that, I had already received several bad hits, and without any time to heal, she was wearing me down.

“Alysia… I think we should try that idea we had.”

“That idea! Wasn’t that for the bedroom, on an unmoving target?”

“Geh… it applies to now. You can do it.”

“M-master… I’ll do my best!”

I quickened my speed, trying to match Lydia for just a moment.

“Accelerate! True Strike!” I came at Lydia was a brutal strike.

She had no choice but to block the strike, my gauntlet striking her hand. As soon as we touched, my eyes flashed.

“Now!”

The gauntlet glowed, losing its current shape. As the force of my attack was pushed back by her defense, the white light flowed around her hand. She tried to pull back, but I had the momentum and was pushing her down. When the light disappeared, a small cuff was around Lydia’s hands.

“Alysium, handcuff edition!” I announced happily.

“I can’t believe Master thought of turning me into this…” Alysia whined.

Lydia looked down at her wrist in wide-eyed wonder. However, I didn’t hesitate to grab her hand and pulled her. My other hand touched her forehead.

“Karmic Control!”

My intention wasn’t to control her karma but to make sure she wasn’t being controlled by someone else. For a brief second, I peered into her soul, and what I saw shocked me to my core.

“Master!”

Lydia was screaming like she was in pain, her body writhing like she was being injured.

“What’s wrong?”

“Ahhhhhh! Ahhhhhhh! Let me be!” Lydia screamed, thrashing wildly against the handcuffs.

At that moment, I felt an extreme danger, like death was about to strike. “Alysia, release here!”

I leaped back just as Alysia unlocked Lydia’s wrist. A form blurred into the ring, appearing between the pair of us. His speed was unmatched, he gave off the pressure of an impossible mountain, its heights making even Kind Diorite seem like a child. Had Alysia not released her hold when she did, his movement would have chopped her in two. I did not doubt that. In his eyes were a cold and icy fury that shot to my very core.

The Kingpin struck me, and I felt my body lurch as I flew back. I slammed into the ropes, bending out the post on that side with extreme force before collapsing on my butt. I had just enough energy to get back up, but I had a feeling that had been deliberate. If he had wanted that strike to kill me, he would have used them. His hand touched Lydia’s forehead, and she immediately stopped screaming, falling asleep. He caught her in his arms and then shot me a deadly look.

“Have you seen enough?” He asked.

“I need to help.”

“Haven’t you done enough?”

“Not yet… she’s dying.”