The Girl Who Hacked The Magic System

There were still some cultists in the endless corridors of the complex that the vampire built, but gladly we didn't find any signs of there being a fourth vampire spawn.

We found Martius' personal chambers, which were heavily guarded with some powerful undead and a couple of traps. In it he had not only his journals but also a sizeable collection of texts about the history of this world.

His journal is in a language I recognize but is quite hard to read. It's english, but in an archaic form.

From what I've understood of its contents, his being "spawned" in the dungeon wasn't his birth but actually a reincarnation similar to mine.

Yes, he was a normal person who reincarnated as a vampire inside a dungeon. An XVIIIth-century gentleman from pre-industrial London, who apparently died and then found himself living as a vampire inside a dungeon.

"What do you think, Lovelace?"

We are both in my room. We often sit together to discuss the evolution of the recruits in the training, our schedules, and general organization of the army.

"It seems plausible. I don't think that a system I built would be able to create souls, so the whole spawning of monsters inside dungeons was always one of the biggest mysteries to me."

"So... are all the monsters..."

"It's a possibility. But it could also be that he's an exception. We can't generalize from one case."

Of course. One point does not make a graph. We need more data on that.

"The truth is, Aurea. Independently of his origins before spawning in the dungeon, the acts that he committed in this world aren't forgivable."

"I know. I can see his descent to madness in his journal. How the realities of his condition and of this world keep weighing more and more on his mind."

"And what about the Church?"

"He had dealings with them, yes. Apparently, the whole thing about attacking the king was a bargain chip he was wielding in his negotiations with the Church."

"Negotiations? What would he get in return?"

"He was allowed to exist in this underground place. Though it seems that, until the very end, the Church thought that his nest was just two small chambers that connects with their own dungeon below the temple."

"I see. But that wouldn't work as a proof."

"No, it won't. Only I am able to read this. A proof that only the accuser can attest to is no proof at all. Also, if that info gets disclosed, people will start asking why I am able to read a language supposedly from another world."

"Yes... and the demon? Does he mention it?"

"He discovered that he had knowledge of low-level summoning magic, so he started using it to get information from other worlds. Over time he became more proficient with it until he managed to call for one of the most important demons of Hell. If we're to believe his assessment of the demon's importance, that is."

"And what was his goal with that demon? It didn't look like he summoned it to deal with us, because such a ritual requires time and preparation."

"It was his hope that the demon could open a gate for him to go back to Earth."

"Oh..."

"Demons do traverse dimensions. They come to ours and back to theirs, after all. I wonder what would have happened if he managed to go back to Earth as a vampire..."

Nothing good would have happened; of that I'm certain.

"There's one thing that I left out of the report..."

Lovelace has become a bit quiet and downturned during this conversation... I wonder what's going on inside her mind.

"Is it about the demon?"

"Yes. I didn't want to have to explain too much, so that's why I didn't say anything."

"Well, it's been some weeks now. You could've told me earlier. But better late than never. Tell me, what happened?"

"He seemed to know me. He kept calling me a name and addressing me as someone of the same ranking as him. But I couldn't make sense of the name he was calling me."

"What?"

It was all I managed to utter after this baffling revelation.

"Yeah. I don't know what it means. He was a dark elemental exactly like me, which is why I wasn't able to hurt him and only managed to defeat him when I was overcome with hunger."

"So that's why you became so hungry you ended up in that sorry state... Are all demons dark elementals?"

"I don't know. I only know that he was one, and he seemed to be at the same level of being as I am. But what scares me most are the implications of it..."

"You're not a demon, Lovelace."

"Huh? Are you c-"

"Yes, I'm certain. The mana signature I got from him is of a completely different nature than yours. If your aura was as nauseating as his, I wouldn't be able to stand five minutes of conversation with you."

"..."

"It might be that all demons are dark elementals, but—even if you're the only exception—not all dark elementals are demons. Period."

"Then how did he know me? And he also mocked me for having taken the form of a human and living among humans."

"Maybe he knows the you from before you started roaming these lands in your scorpion form? Maybe you were an important elemental being at some point. We don't have a way of knowing yet."

"Do you think that my memories will help me in discovering that?"

"Maybe..."

In moments like this one she always looks so fragile and human. Just a woman trying her best to live her life.

I take her hand and pull her to me until our faces are very close to each other, our gazes locked onto each other.

"We are together in this, Lovelace. You are not alone anymore. And we are very close to retrieving some of your memories. And I'll be here for you, for as long as I live."

"Aurea..."

"I love you."

"I love you too, Aurea. But we still need to wait for that."

"I know... I know. But I needed to say all this."