The Strongest Curse Master

"So, where was I?" the lady asked, having lost her train of thought after babbling.

"You were introducing yourself and explaining what you were doing here," Ace finally spoke, realizing he was trapped in the mystical tunnel and that this strange woman might be his only way out.

"I'm Dee Three. You can call me Dee or Three. Either is fine by me. I built Base Wulfric from scratch seventy-seven years ago, and now I'm hiding—wait a minute, why am I introducing myself to you? You should be introducing yourself to me. You are the one who is trapped, not me, got it?" Dee said, catching herself mid-sentence and realizing Ace had tricked her. Surprisingly, she didn't take offense. In fact, she was alarmingly cool about it.

Ace couldn't believe that sorry excuse of a trick had actually worked on Dee3. It confirmed what he had initially suspected—despite managing to trap him, she was indeed a simpleton. He was stunned that someone who was nearly a hundred years old could be so naive and innocent. It was that strange combination that had a charm that oddly attracted him in the first place.

Just then, Dame Wasp informed him, 'Master, as I suspected, she is a clone who doesn't age—a side effect of the method used to accelerate their growth during incubation. That explains her youthful appearance despite her age. I've managed to find a file related to her buried deep within the documents I copied, just in case.'

[Subject: Dee Three or Dee3,

Codename: DungeonThree/D3,

Rank: Senior Curse Scientist,

Status: M.I.A.]

'She was part of a cursed slave experiment involving the Dungeon Curseling eighty-nine years ago. Approximately two dozen clones were subjected to the Dungeon Curseling's curse core in an attempt to turn them into curse slaves capable of using the Curseling's innate curse arts for civil engineering purposes.'

'After twelve years of excruciating torment, she was the only one among the 24 who survived and succeeded. Upon investigating why, they discovered that Clone D3 had been born with superintelligence, which she used to ensure her survival against all odds.'

'Learning this, the army recruited her. With her help, they built not only Base Wulfric but also twenty-one similar bases across the country, and eight more in the frozen north and overseas military bases. She is also one of the founding members of the curse gadgets department.'

'You sure she's a genius? Nothing about her screams that,' Ace replied to Dame Wasp, finding it hard to believe any mastermind would be foolish enough to reveal her name and background to someone she'd trapped.

'She's a quirky genius, Master. And also a practitioner of nonviolence. When she learned the true purpose of the curse gadgets she had been developing for the military was far from the peaceful intentions she believed, she protested, but when they tried to silence her and force her to make more curse gadgets, she escaped a decade ago. No one had seen her since... until today. Turns out, she never left Base Wulfric and has been hiding within it all this time,' Dame Wasp explained, shedding light on the woman's peculiar behavior.

'She practices nonviolence, but designed the Mark-1 Exo-armor curse gadget?' Ace asked skeptically. After all, the Exo-armor curse gadget was nothing short of a weapon of mass destruction.

'Master, she designed it so mortals can fight Curselings, not use it against themselves or other humans,' Dame Wasp defended Dee3. Seeing her get so defensive, Ace decided not to tease her further.

Having learned all Dame Wasp had to offer about Dee3, Ace quickly spun a story in his head to try and get the upper hand over Dee3 and get her to let him go. As he began, "My name is—" Dee3 suddenly cut him off.

"Don't bother lying. I've already run an image search on your face through all the relevant databases and found a specific set of files dictated by EAD Matthews. She made a special note warning agents not to underestimate you because of your age and to stay constantly alert around you. She thinks very highly of you. According to her, you have the potential to become a national Asset or threat depending on which side of the bed you woke up on. In case of an inevitable confrontation, her official recommendation is to agree with you on the surface to find an opening to assassinate you, even though she admits the chances of that succeeding are slim. As trying to outsmart you would be harder then trying to outsmart the slyest fox out there."

Seeing that Dee3 had access to EAD Matthews's files on him, Ace wondered if there was even any point in introducing himself. Still, he did it anyway, "Hi, Dee3. My name is Ace Lander. I'm here to steal the curse gadgets from Base Wulfric to strengthen my curse tool so I can protect my family. Curse users are targeting them because the C.I.B. and the Army used us as bait to achieve their agenda, endangering me and my family."

"Ah, the Sarmasa Slayer plan. It was just added to your files. It wasn't just the C.I.B. and the Army—many forces are involved in that mess," Dee3 replied, her tone softening. "I'm sorry you and your family have to go through that."

She not only sympathized with Ace but also apologized on behalf of the C.I.B. and the Army, proving that with the right narrative, even the truth could achieve what even a well-crafted lie couldn't.

"Oh! So, the upgrades to the Exo-armor curse gadget are because of your curse tool. I see—you were planning to feed all those vehicle-type curse gadgets to your curse tool to boost its power, so you could better protect your family. But I not only interrupted you, I'm keeping you away from them for far too long..." Dee3 trailed off, guilt creeping into her voice as she realized the implications of her actions.

'Oh, she's a genius alright,' Ace thought to himself, smirking inwardly, thinking he had Dee3 eating out of the palm of his hand.