Vincent's eyes fluttered open, pain stabbing him in the chest. He glanced around; he was lying on his back atop a bed naked; although there was no mess, his body seemed filled with bite and claw marks, bloody bandages and the slight scent of a female on his breath and face. He checked his lower body and found it was clean and untouched.

"That little daemon girl, did she..."

'Don't worry, the girl only sat on your face and gave herself several hours of blissful delight, she then left, and this dungeon will soon collapse because she killed the guardian and abandoned it....' His spear Raizel spoke into his mind.

Vincent tried to sit up but winced; his wounds were healed, but he still felt weak. He glanced at his spear and noticed the rune engraved into the blade had changed, 'Raizel', but it didn't look like any language he knew. It certainly wasn't Abyssal or anything he had learned from his bloodline. What was this strange tongue?

"There's no time to think about that now."

Vincent scanned the room again, checking the walls for traps, but they weren't there. Everything appeared normal except for the bed he was lying on.

There was no wall, just a wooden platform with four sturdy posts supporting a mattress and a cover of thick linen. Before long, his eyes caught something unusual: a large mirror hanging above the dresser opposite the bed. But beyond that, there was nothing else in the room.

Vincent got up from the bed, holding his chest, feeling the pain in his ribs. Despite his wounds, his body was tired and sore, yet he could move quickly. He headed towards the mirror, reaching out as if he could touch it, but it was just a reflection of himself.

He turned to look at the dresser, where he spotted a small round object sitting on top of a pile of folded clothes. He reached for it and picked it up; it was a mirrored orb, a magical device that allowed him to view things in another dimension.

'This is a magic mirror; I can see other places if I focus hard enough.' His spear explained, but then added, 'You can use this to talk to people outside the dungeon if you wish.'

Vincent nodded, examining the mirror, wondering what he should say first. He decided to apologise to all his women.

Second, instead, he would call his mother and see how she was doing; the image of his mother Verda began to fill his mind, beautiful black hair, wavy and down to her ass, thick, plump tits that were bigger than watermelons, green eyes like glistening emeralds and her firm, but a meaty ass that felt nice to grab onto during practice fights and her brown skin, like warm caramel.

"Will the device show her?" He wondered; she was currently in the capital city of Ulkan with his sister at the Lazarus knight group...

"It will." His spear replied, and a second later, the image of his mother appeared in the mirror. She looked younger than ever with sweat brown skin and a tight black spandex outfit, her stiff nipples showing through it, and she was smiling. "Mother!"

"Oh Vincent, how are you, my son?" Her voice carried a hint of concern, making Vincent smile.

"I'm fine, thank you for asking, Mother," he answered, seeing her sitting on the floor, surrounded by many unconscious girls in leather armour; it seemed his mother was helping them train. "But what are you doing?"

"They're all recruits and need training, Vincent, you know I help support the Lazarus knights, and besides, they treat Milla so well, so I am returning the favour, aren't I right, ladies?"

Vincent smiled, thinking back to the last time he saw his mother when his sister had been given a position amongst the Lazarus knights. Not that he cared, of course, but she was stunning, and he couldn't help but think of her as a woman now rather than his mother.

Verda also applied for the training officer position; she had surprised him with an outfit fitting for a knight. The leather outfit hugged her tits and ass, leaving very little to the imagination.

His mother noticed her son's gaze and blushed, "I-I don't mind if you stare at me Vincent, but I'm not going to stop you," she said innocently.

"I'm sorry, Mother, it was rude of me to stare, especially when you are wearing such a sexy outfit," he apologised.

"If you'd like me to take it off, I will, Vincent." She whispered seductively.

"No, please, stay dressed, Mother, be careful not to make it dirty."

"Mmhm, okay then, Vincent." She smiled. "How are you, my son?"

"I'm fine, thank you for asking, Mother."

"What are you using to contact me, my handsome son?" She asked, pointing to the mirror.

"Oh, it's a magic mirror; I can talk to people outside the dungeon through it and see where they are."

"Is that so?" She replied, smiling.

"Yes, it's a handy tool, Mother."

"Vincent, you look so thin. Have you eaten recently?" She asked, concerned.

"I've been eating regularly, Mother."

"You must eat more!" She insisted, "You'll die if you don't eat properly!"

"I'm fine, Mother; I'm strong and healthy."

The pair then spent over an hour chatting about meaningless things before the knight captain shouted for her to attend to some of the girls. He wished her luck and said his goodbyes as the image faded, this strange room filled with silence.

'You don't have to worry; that strange girl did something to your medallion; this room is like a private space separated from the world. Although those girls cannot come here, time outside will not pass unless you use the mirror to contact them.'

"Raizel... I lost so badly and mistreated the girls when I escaped; how can I make it up to them, and what must I do to defeat Astaroth?" Vincent muttered aloud as he reached out for the mirror.

Before his hand touched the surface, his spear intervened.

"Stop; it won't be easy, but try talking to her first. See what she wants and attempt to negotiate."

He hesitated for a moment and said, "Let's try." He focused on speaking to Astaroth,

<Astaroth, why did you save me?>

Immediately, her form became blurry before disappearing altogether.

After a few seconds passed, her image reappeared in the mirror, and she answered without hesitation,

<Because Vincent was hurt.>

Vincent blinked, unsure he heard right but recalling a memory of Astaroth as she beat him penetrated his stomach and almost killed him. He remembered her saying he was like a brother.

Then a sharp pain stabbed through his head, reminding him he was alive at least. He felt confused about everything Astaroth had done that day and why it happened. And most confusing of all was what he wanted to ask next.

"Why?"

<Because I felt sympathy for you.> Astaroth replied.

"Sympathy?" he repeated, unsure whether he believed her answer; then he realised why it sounded so familiar: it wasn't sympathy Astaroth felt; it was a pity. That was it. "You feel sorry for me?"

He felt the signal become complete, no longer blurred as her attractive naked body appeared as she stared at him, who was also undressed, both staring at each other like in a trance, before she snapped out of it and replied.

<anno data-annotation-id="127a190a-b207-4d3c-8eeb-4b4fb27be463">"Of course"</anno>

"And that feeling you have made me... my body... irresistible to you, correct?" He said with a quiet voice, almost ashamed to admit.

"Your body makes no difference to me; I feel the same way; a lovely coincidence, no?"

"Coincidence?" he echoed, hearing a faint ringing that began to sound more distant as the two spoke. "What does 'coincidence' mean?"

<Don't you have any idea?> She asked with disgust.

"Not really?"

<Well, it means we share similar traits.>

"Similar? What sort of trait, pray to tell? Forgive my ignorance, but I cannot easily grasp these concepts."

"Like humans and daemons, we're intuitive beings who act based on our nature, such as hunger, anger, and lust. You might find our behaviour to be repulsive, but it is natural to us. You and me both!"

The image and sound began to distort as the magic mirror and ord grew dim; it seemed they could only be used for a small amount of time each day. He wondered how it would take to recover and started exploring this small room that seemed to mirror his room.

A steel training dummy sat in the centre of the room; it looked like its body could mimic a real fighter; he didn't know why this idea occurred to him, but the moment he imagined Astaroth, the dummy shark and began to mimic her form and seemed to move at 60% of her total power.

"Let's train; time doesn't move in here... I don't need food to live because I am not a human... Raizel, tell me when a month has passed. I want to train my abilities as a spearman for a year in month-long intervals. While contacting the girls each time that orb restores!"

He announced firmly, taking a pose and moving like he was charging into battle. "Bring it on you..." Vincent barked.

And with that, he leapt forward; his eyes focused intently on the dummy his feet planted, ready to dash and stab the doll with his spear and parry its attacks with ease.

His speed seemed to increase in a flash, and he found himself faster than ever before, "Strange..." He whispered as the small Astaroth-type dummy smashed him in the stomach causing spit and blood to ooze from his lips.

However!

Without any flinching or fear Vincent screamed, "come again!"

<annotations style="display: none;"><ol class="tinymce-annotation-container"><li data-annotation-id="127a190a-b207-4d3c-8eeb-4b4fb27be463">From here I will use " for the magic mirror, as their connection is fully stable.</li></ol></annotations>",historical