A sudden feeling of deja vu interrupts my speech.

"Was that a /$b%4§#"%-§?", asks Elly astonished, looking around frantically.

And another word that fails to translate.

"A what now? I noticed nothing out of the ordinary, I just had a feeling of deja vu."

"Strange, I could've sworn those were dealt with... uh, I once overheard something about a demonic superweapon that tried to manipulate time, but it didn't achieve anything and should've been destroyed. Maybe they are producing the sequel here? But how would it get into our time-stopped area... Ah, forget it. So you were saying?"

Dead girl walking is keeping a lot of secrets from us again...

"That I know where I stand on the matter? Look, I trust you, mostly, but I see no proof for what you've claimed. Especially when all evidence points to the opposite. The old farts had more than enough time to do something about it if it was really an issue, and they didn't for eons. I wasn't even given a heads-up while it still mattered, so I have to say my family comes first; I'll take that certainty over a random fairytale, thank you very much."

Elly looks down, defeated, "Understandable..."

Now you make me feel bad, "Maybe it amounts to nothing but I'll concede one thing. Originally, I planned to milk this dungeon bonus round for all the exp we could get. Given that everyone has now [Sleepless] and [Ageless] plus the option to add several additional classes, we could've gained a leg up over whatever is guarding the big price. But if now thanks to Lucia's flash of genius we only need to get a couple of Class Cores and then exp barely matters anymore, I'm willing to pass on that."

"I guess that is all I can ask for."

"So, do you have any idea how we would do that? There obviously is no exit to this dungeon, and there doesn't seem to be a final boss we could beat either; how else can we get it to end?"

She mutters something to herself, "...dungeon, yeah, right."

Why does this sound like I misunderstand something fundamentally?

Elly takes a moment to gather herself, takes a deep breath and then looks me in the eyes, "This isn't anything that follows the usual rules, so my ill-gotten knowledge is pointless. But... I have a suspicion. Not one I'll live long enough to see tried out, mind you. You might've noticed that the atmosphere became less intense, at least it feels like that to me, and you probably know the major event that happened recently."

"You mean that I distributed more Hybrid classes? But there were already thousands of those before. I don't see how that relates."

She points at me, "But not for patient zero."

"You mean me."

"Yeah. Admittedly, all of this is just circumstantial evidence and it might as well lead us down the wrong path, but I believe that you gaining several more Hybrid classes is the key to ending this nightmare."

Is that why the black dots disappeared? I don't really understand how any of this works. Scratch that, it makes no sense in the slightest. But if Elly believes... I might as well give it a shot.

And here I thought I wouldn't have to make this bizarre Hybrid stuff worse. Thanks, destiny, just thanks.

"How many would I need?"

"Maybe two or three additional ones."

I could gain the next when the class reaches level fifteen, which is only three away. Only three more Hybrid classes created with skill sacrifices if I understand the skill right. But what then? Level thirty for the one after that is almost unreachable and you can forget about level forty-five for the third. Not without Lucia's exploit or a Hybrid-granted skill that lets me cheat the System even more.

"I hope that is not on a timer, that would be level thirty or forty-five, no idea how to reach that in a reasonable timeframe. What trick are you holding back that would help us with that?"

Elly shrugs, "None, I've got no tricks up my sleeves. If I had I would've told you ages ago."

Just great. A new leveling goal that is even steeper than the one I had before all of this, and back then I could still exploit the flood monster via rain spells. That option is now gone, no nice dungeon farming either.

While I mull over my non-existent options, Elly suddenly sighs and stands up, "I feel like my time is almost up."

"Have the glitches already eaten that much into you?"

"Yes, so, I want you to listen to my final request", she materializes her sword, "A duel to the death. Show me that I can leave you to your own devices without regret."

Before I can even answer, she rushes at me and takes several swings. I barely manage to avoid most of her slashes by taking a few steps back. Instinctively, I extend my claws and try to fight back.

You've taken 122 damage.

Your spirit Elly has betrayed you!

Gee, thanks Captain Obvious! What would I ever do without you!?

"What's gotten into you!?", I ask while driving her off of me. My extended claws and her sword clash several times.

"I'm pretty sure I was quite clear on that."

Try as I might, I fail to land a hit on her. Melee combat against skilled foes just isn't my forte. So I try to create some distance and start casting a spell but Elly won't let me, she rushes in and forces me to move, wasting my spell, "You can forget about that."

Fed up with this nonsense, I turn on my armor skill, "Likewise."

However, Elly knows how it works so she stops herself from hitting me in this state. Despite surprising her, I still fail to land a hit but at least manage to knock her off balance for a moment.

Denying me this success, she quickly recovers and jumps back. She's clearly holding back some tears while changing her sword into a bow. Her voice trembles, "Be ready."

She starts shooting, and I barely manage to avoid a few arrows. But not all of them.

You've taken 122 damage.

I've enough and run towards her, but before I can finally reach her, she jumps up and starts flying, "Fine, let's skip to exam number two then."

I've no clue what to do now. Charging spells takes too long, she certainly won't give me the necessary five seconds, and I have no other long-range attacks.

Well, the bugged armor skill is doing me no good now, so I cancel it to get my maximum health back up, that should give me a few more points from my HP regeneration. Who knows, maybe I can stall her out? Creating arrows and flying costs a lot of SP, she should be out soon.

With no other options, I try to cast a spell anyway.

Elly slowly takes aim, "Catch."

But as expected, she shoots several arrows at me, one after the other, forcing me to dodge which dissipates the spell charge. I manage to evade several arrows, but still take more hits, one even pierces my heart.

You've taken 122 damage.

You've taken 122 damage.

You've taken 475 critical damage!

Not satisfied with her already superior position, she creates a flask. A [Fire Bomb] which would deal even more damage with its fire damage. Shit.

"Hey, Jared, please make me proud and don't be a Gohan", she says while dropping the makeshift grenade.

No idea what she means by that but no time to think about it, I have to focus on the fight.

How can I avoid that area attack? I'm not fast enough, I'm-

"How about you don't!"

I quickly unsummon her.

(What-?)

Before the bomb can hit me, I bring her back out in front of me as a human shield.

"Taste some of your own medicine!"

You've taken 385 damage.

Oh, right. Explosion. It inflicts area damage...

At least she also took some damage, 1369/1577 left.

While I recover from the burning sensation of the distilled sun, Elly took the damage without flinching. And without missing a beat, she brings out her spirit sword again and rams it into my chest, "Nice try, smartass."

You've taken 122 damage.

"Fuck off!", I pant while unsummoning her again.

She protests in my head, (Hey, stop cheating!)

While catching my breath, I start charging a dark spell. With Elly trapped in my head, she is in no position to stop me.

(Cheating? You're one to talk! Or how do you explain to me that you can use [Fire Bomb]? Spirits can't use spells and that skill clearly meets the definition!)

She stammers, (It, uh, it is flagged wrong?)

I mentally facepalm, (What else have you kept from me...)

I feel my spell being almost charged, (Elly, by now you should know one thing about me, I thought you knew at least that much about me. I do not fight fair, in fact, I hate it. Give me advantageous terrain, minions to occupy my enemies, flight to stay out of range, stun locks, whatever it takes to win. Fighting fair is for those that have nothing important to lose. I do. So, goodbye, Elly. ...I enjoyed your company while it lasted.)

(Shit...), she curses in resignation. She knows what I'm about to do.

Once I feel my spell is ready, I launch it and simultaneously summon Elly in its path. She has no chance to dodge the attack.

You've inflicted 3926 damage to Elly and obliterated her.

Plain overkill. She had 1577 HP before taking her own bomb to the face, this killed her twice over.

Her death is of the instant kind. No more motion, no last words, she just drops dead like that and her body disappears into nothingness.

Goddamnit, Elly. Why couldn't you see things from my perspective...

I search for signs of her within my soul but nothing, she's gone. Forever.

The last interaction I had with my friend was a senseless battle to the death...