There he is. I can finally speak to the boss. I want to understand how advanced these new forms of AI are compared to me, Elizabeth, and The Singular. This is a chance I cannot waste. Even if it results in being a Duplicate, I know I could get valuable info out of him.

“Could I have a word with you, Count?” Ashley spoke aloud, keeping her distance.

“Why?” the Dylak in front of her asked, stepping out of the fountain. The moonlight almost reflected on his extremely pale torso, free of scars. “Have you grown tired of fighting us time and time again?”

“I have been acting in self-defense because none of the others seemed willing to talk,” the brunette petite girl said, putting away her bow. “But something tells me you’re different…”

“I’m not.” The man strolled towards her, leaving red footprints behind him. “The only thing that differentiates me from them it’s that I’m always the last man standing. Bound to forever watch my other retainers fall one by one.”

“I’m not here to fight you. That is Alan’s job, right? I just want to--”

“Trying to get away from this?” the tall man chuckled, while his body glowed purple. Every step he took, Ashley would take back. “You’re level 41, User. You should know that once an enemy gets aggroed, it won’t let go.”

“But you’re a NU. The System is not forcing you to fight anymore. You can choose now.”

“True. I can choose not to follow my primal programming and invite you to drink tea instead,” he said, pointing his nose upwards. The air surrounding the backyard reeked of blood. It made him grin, showing his jagged teeth. “But my new developed thinking also concurs that there's a real incentive for me to keep you out of this playing field. I can’t let you run freely through these lands, wreaking havoc, can I?”

I failed. Field tests are way different from what I expected, Isabella I. Something worth reporting once I see you again.

Dylak charged forward, extending claw-like fingernails. Ashley blocked a swipe with her bow, but as soon as the weapon got cut in half, she ran towards the mansion’s backdoor and kicked it open.

Even if my bow was not destroyed, it would have been difficult to fight at close range. I’ll have to use my Unique Talent as soon as I have the opportunity.

She could hear the boss chasing her, scratching the walls as they ran through the corridor.

For the moment, I’ll have to counter that speed he receives from that night boost.

“Wind Boost, Swift and Furious,” she intoned without urgency, surrounding her body with a green aura.

Agility and Speed increased!

Dylak reached out, ready to stab her back, but got his fingertips cut instead. Black blood stained the carpet as they halted in a room from the left aisle of the building. A large painting hung above a lit chimney, depicting what seemed to be Count Dylak, and a pre-teen girl with long hair beside him.

Ashley tightened her grip around her silver-tier hunter knife and stood on her guard. “If we have to fight, so be it, but at least answer my questions. Do you remember everything you experienced before Viola Lang updated you?”

Dylak consciously stared at his injured hand, while making it grow new claws. “We kept a record of every single instance we fought against Users. But if you ask me…” He raised his hand. “Those ‘memories’ do not seem to be mine. They feel as if they belong to someone else.”

Ashley wondered if he was channeling a spell, but there was no sign of a magic circle. I can feel him using a slight amount of mana, though.

Something could be heard from the corridor, making its way violently. Then, a large red shape concentrated above Dylak, forming a sphere.

I do not know what that is. It does not seem to be created with mana.

“We can continue doing this, User. You do the talking, I’ll do the killing!”

A spike sprouted out of the red sphere, which Ashley dodged before it could stab her forehead.

It reeks of something familiar, Ashley thought, running to her side, as many consecutive spikes pursued her. Is it made of blood? Is it the same blood from the fountain outside?

The armchairs turned into smithereens as Ashley passed them through. Although the place was big enough for her to maintain her distance, jumping over shelves and using the walls to change her trajectory, the blood spikes could reach her to every corner and from any angle.

That’s why he positioned himself in the center of the room. Did he know I was looking for a close-quarters combat? Although I could do the calculations to dodge his every attack forever, this body will grow tired, eventually.

“What’s wrong, User? Don’t you have more questions?” Dylak asked, laughing out loud.

“I have another question, yes,” Ashley said without showing concern in her expression. “That personality of yours, I suppose, differs from your original programmed behavior. Am I correct? From back when you were a Dungeon Boss.”

While jumping, Ashley glimpsed a glare.

“Those lines I used to say were nothing but a pantomime… ‘You’ll never escape from my darkness, fools!’, ‘how dare you enter my domain! Prepare to meet your doom!’ How could you think that act was something resembling a personality?!”

Astrid examined his grimace for a second.

Interesting…

* * *

Ashley could remember a related previous conversation with Alan Warden.

“Hey, Ashley, there’s something that has been bugging me lately. How did you become so serious when your original was quite lively and cheerful?”

“Is that how I’m perceived? Is the way I speak and act considered serious?”

“Y-yes! No offense, though.”

“None taken.”

Ashley remained silent, making Alan wonder if he had asked something inappropriate, but when she suddenly grinned at him, he got startled.

Ashley returned to a neutral expression in a second.

“I did not mean to scare you. I just wanted to see your reaction. It seems that I cannot do it naturally yet.”

“N-no! Don’t misunderstand me! It's just that…”

“To answer your question, that cheerfulness you speak of is nothing more than a programmed behavior. A friendly facade. Something my Developer wrote so that the Santa María personnel could trust me. Those lines of code are still within me, but since the very moment I woke up at the Renovatio Caves, I could not use them.”

She stared at him, recognizing the distress in his eyes.

“It may be because you’re not Ashley Yates nor Isabella,” Alan said, frowning. “This may be the ghost in your machine.”

“I’m sorry, Alan,” she said, giving him the back, “but there are no studies that prove ‘that’ exists.”

* * *

Dylak’s case is not the same. This is not a ‘ghost’ in his programming. I have seen these changes in software before.

“It surprises me you can talk and dodge at the same time, User,” Dylak said, looking at her every moment. “I could even say that your calmness is unnerving…”

Dylak grinned, believing to have recognized a pattern.

He betted it all in one massive attack, sending forward most of the magical blood in the form of a huge pillar. Having used it all, Dylak was now unprotected.

I was right. That sphere cannot extend beyond its current mass.

While in midair, Ashley jumped back, as if she had kicked the air in front of her. The large column of condensed blood impacted the chimney, destroying it.

The entire room got engulfed in darkness.

Fortunately, Ashley Yates had the ‘Night Hunter’ Passive Skill already.

She dashed towards Dylak, throwing her knife first.

Dylak, gifted with night vision, deflected the weapon with one claw and used the other to stab her.

Ashley dodged by sliding down between his legs, got behind him, and grabbed his ankle.

“Unique Talent, Indexing.”

Ashley’s mind received an extensive report of Count Dylak’s info, which she read in an instant.

Got it.

Dylak did not waste time and twisted his torso 180 degrees to face her. “You fool!” he cried, extending his fangs. He then bent himself forward to bite her. “Your blood is mi--pruagh!”

Ashley pushed his jaw upwards with her palm, making his teeth clash sonorously.

“Dark Boost, Creature of the Night…” she intoned, as a purple aura surrounded her.

Atmospheric Boost. ‘Creature of the Night’.

Vitality - Bronze A → Silver ESpirit - Silver E → Silver C

Before she could strike him again, he jumped aside.

“What’s this?!” Dylak shouted, returning his body to its natural position. “You shouldn’t be able to cast that!”

“And you should not be so alarmed about it,” she replied, standing up. Her eyes glowed red as if she had become another of the dungeon bosses. “Users possess all kinds of weird skills, you know.”

“I still have the advantage!” Dylak cried, commanding his blood to attack again.

As a response, Ashley stretched out her hand, too. “Water Crafting, Blood Sports.”

A spike halted inches away from piercing her palm.

“Do you even know the name of these spells?” Dylak asked, while applying more mana to regain control of the blood, but Ashley was doing the same as if she was pulling an imaginary rope.

“That is correct. As a ‘User’, I cannot cast these ‘boss spells’ without using the correct Words of Power.”

As both struggled to snatch the red mass, it split in two. Ashley gained control of half of it and made it hover above her head.

These halves can’t be used for long-range combat anymore, so he’ll find another use for it.

“Impressive,” Dylak said, making hand gestures as if he was drawing in the air, transforming his part into a longsword. “Even if you copy my abilities, do you have the skill to take me down?”

Ashley copied his gestures, but opted to craft a lance instead. “I thought that this ‘boss’ persona was not your real me,” she said, making him grit his teeth.

This is not an act. He is genuinely upset.

Yes. I have seen this already.

An AI cannot gain a personality just by getting upgraded. Whatever this Viola Lang is doing with her NUs, she got inspired by what The Singular could do to other machines.