CHAPTER 41: BORDER OF SANITY AND MADNESS

Leon didn’t think a simple sentence from someone would have so much effect on him. Oh, how he wanted to hear this familiar voice all this time.

His tense muscles finally relaxed, and his heart felt some peace. Tension that he didn’t even realise had been building up inside him also eased.

All because he knew she was finally here.

He slowly turned around, afraid that perhaps that voice was just him hallucinating because he wanted her here so much. He was really afraid she wouldn’t be there and he would have to handle all that madness alone.

And everyone would die.

’I don’t even know if any of them survived.’ Leon sighed and finally turned around to face the reality.

His exhausted eyes gained a silver lining of excitement when he finally saw the woman standing behind him.

Clad in a black sports bra and tight latex pants, her athletic figure was on full display. Especially her latex pants that emphasised her thick thighs and butt that always attracted the fans.

Along with twin fox-like ears on her white head and piercing cyan eyes, there was also an addition of whiskers on her beautiful face and a fluffy tail that jutted out of her tailbone from behind.

Unlike what Leon had seen with Natasha, who only had a partial appearance of the tail, Amber’s tail looked as real as it could be. Yet Leon couldn’t see any discomfort or effects of corruption in her eyes.

He only saw the insanity he had seen in them all the time along a strange deep calmness that unnerved even him. Although she was smiling, there was no mirth in her eyes.

"Professor..."

Leon finally couldn’t hold back anymore and his legs gave up on him, but before he could fall, a strong hand came to support him and saved him from falling.

"You did great... no, you were the best!" Amber said with a genuine smile on her face. "You were already pretty interesting to me, but with this act of yours, you have thoroughly impressed me."

She then took out a few vials filled with different coloured liquids and fed him everything. "This will help you for a while, but you can’t go to sleep now. We still have some unfinished business to deal with."

Leon didn’t say anything and sat down on the ground. His mind and body really needed rest. The only reason they were working previously was because he was pushing himself past the limits due to the dangerous situation.

But now that Amber was here, he had nothing to fear, so he couldn’t bring himself to push anymore. Even if he wanted to, his body refused to work in a safe environment.

Fortunately, the potions began working immediately and he felt the fatigue washing away slowly while his injuries also began to heal. Even his dry Soul Core began to replenish itself.

It was clear that the potions Amber gave were of much higher quality than what everyone received. The effects were far too clear.

She also didn’t disturb him and silently stood beside him. As if sensing something in the distance, she flicked her hand and a few potions disappeared from her stack.

After around five minutes, Leon sighed and opened his eyes with clarity and calmness returning to them. He finally felt like he was in control of his own body and thoughts again.

’My arm... it’s not completely healed, but it’s also not hurting as much. The rest of the body is the same. It’ll work for now.’ Leon thought before raising his head.

"You ready to roar again?" Amber teased him.

"Professor..."

"Just call me Amber. You have done more than enough to deserve at least that."

"Then, Amber, can I ask you something?"

Her smile faltered for a moment before she relaxed and said, "Later. As I said, we have things to take care of first."

Although Leon felt something was off about her, he didn’t question her since there was indeed something they needed to take care of.

He turned towards the fortress and found the towering pillar of dark miasma at the centre of everything. It was growing bigger and more potent with each passing second.

"You can easily kill it, though?" Leon asked. "Is it because of the corruption?"

"You catch on fast. Yes, it’s because of this damned miasma that I can’t kill that bastard," Amber snorted in displeasure. "It has already merged with the Dungeon Core, so if I kill it, the dungeon will self-destruct due to the absence of the Core."

Leon’s lips curled up slightly as he caught on to the details. Since Amber didn’t want to say anything, he could only confirm this in a roundabout way.

In the game, many students had perished, leaving only a few who had gathered in the fortress. At that time, Amber, who had finally managed to get herself under control, arrived late and only found those surviving students.

So, she was easily able to save them while killing the boss, which resulted in the destruction of the dungeon.

Since Amber wasn’t willing to destroy the dungeon yet, it meant there were many students alive. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be so restricted.

Amber was known for being reckless and unrestricted, so the fact she wasn’t being herself told enough about the situation.

He relaxed, knowing that his classmates were alive even if they weren’t in good condition. How she helped them wasn’t something he wanted to ask for now.

All they mattered was that they were alive.

Leon stood up and asked, "How can I help you then?"

"It’s quite simple. I’ll handle the boss and try not to kill it. In the meantime, you’ll go find the Dungeon Core and destroy it," Amber said. "You can handle the miasma better than others, so you should be able to accomplish this."

"Didn’t you just say we can’t destroy the dungeon?" Leon was confused.

"It’s different. If we kill the boss, then the dungeon will self-destruct, which means it will explode, and we can’t afford that. But if you destroy its core, it will simply die without causing too many problems for us," Amber explained patiently.

"I see." Leon nodded in understanding. "I’ll go check up on my friends and then we can head towards the boss."

"Take your time. It’s just a tiny miny Tier 4 boss," Amber waved her hand nonchalantly. "Even if it continues to grow stronger, I can still kill it without lifting my fingers."

Leon shook his head, but even he knew it was true. This woman was simply too powerful, and the earlier show of action wasn’t even her limit.

As they walked towards the fortress, Amber said, "You are thinking way too much. Chill down for a moment."

"Is it that obvious?" Leon asked, not really surprised that she saw through his thoughts.

"It is." Amber nodded. "Situations like these aren’t new. It’s just that it rarely happens in the dungeons. But in the Primordial Expanse? Let’s just say I’ve encountered it a few times already."

Her voice turned unusually serious as she added, "To defy the corruption is to dance on the border of sanity and madness. Every woman who chooses this path knows that the higher she climbs, the thinner that border becomes... until it vanishes."

She raised her hand and flicked her fingers as the dark miasma around her gathered into a ball. "And the world tries its best to make that border vanish. Once it is gone, one side needs to win and madness never loses to sanity. Never happened before."