“Nooooo!” Alysia let out a scream of shock.

“Master!”

Miki’s eyes widened too, completely shocked that the strike meant for her went to me. If I had told Alysia my intent, then she never would have agreed. My soul was cut free from my body. There was a slice of pain, but her cut was clean. Even if she nicked my soul, I had soul to spare. Even if Miki hadn’t said something about the plan failing, perhaps turning her into a real monster or even a dungeon if she died, I had decided on this anyway. My soul slipped from my body, and as I slipped away, I snatched Alysia with me.

“Hold on! This is going to be a rocky ride!” I cried out to her.

“Huh?” Alysia made a surprised noise as her blade turned into light and then was tugged away from my body.

It collapsed to the ground while my soul shot right into Miki. As soon as I struck Miki, I felt a torrent of energy. I was being flung around this way and that, and it caused quite the feeling of vertigo. If I had a mouth, I might have even thrown up. The turbulence threatened to rip Alysia from my arms, but I held onto her tightly as the pair of us seemed to fall endlessly through an area that transcended space and time.

There was a somewhat familiar feeling though as well. I had a feeling I knew where I would end up. After all, this wasn’t the first time I had entered a soul dungeon. After what felt like an eternity. I felt my body reforming. Rather, this was a body created from my soul. I slammed into the ground with a thud. At that same moment, I saw text appear in front of me.

{You have entered the dungeon, Miki’s Mind Prison. Destroy the lore to break the curse, or complete the lore for extra dungeon points and a blessing!}

“Bullying! I’m being bullied!” I cried out.

“Hmph!” She turned her back on me. “You deserve it!”

I sat up, chuckling softly. Despite everything, I felt surprisingly good. I had a powerful soul, so when I was in a soul dungeon, I didn’t have any of the physical problems. It was a relaxing state to be in. Looking over at Alysia who had her back to me, I gently nudged her back.

“I love you...” I responded teasingly.

“How easy do you think I am?” She responded. “I notice you’re not apologizing!”

I wrapped my arms around her. She stiffened for a moment, but she didn’t fight it.

“I would apologize, but now is not the right time. Perhaps a little later I’ll give you a full apology in private.” I gently bit her ear.

Her face turned red. “A-as long as you understand... ahem... where are we?”

Alysia was quite weak to flirtation, and rather than further face such embarrassment, she’d rather quickly forgive and move on. Suffice it to say, with our souls so close to each other, I was getting to know her far too well.