Is it wrong to try to meet someone in a dungeon?

Page 914

at this time……

The door behind her opened wide, and a shadow ran across Ais's field of vision.

His robe swayed, and his hood fell off.

A "monster" burst out with its arms outstretched, rushing into Ais and Belle's view.

"Don't bully Bell!!"

A high-pitched voice, no different from that of humans, resounded all around.

Ais stared at the exposed silver-blue hair and the strange appearance of the white-blue creature, while Bell watched its back with a single wing growing out of it; time seemed to stand still.

"Vivian, Ni...? Fairy, why!?"

Bell seemed to be insane as she called upon the supreme god, but Ais had no interest in it.

The dragon girl, who bravely protected the boy, felt the turbulent emotions she had been barely suppressing welling up inside her.

"Please...don't hurt Bell."

"...!"

Don't look at me like that.

Don't look at me with those eyes that don't belong to "monsters," but rather like those of a human, like those of a "guardian."

No, that's wrong, that's incorrect.

This is not the "monster" Ais wanted.

Just as the boy had said, if such a "monster" existed, Ais would—

"Don't do this... don't speak."

Ais's mask is ruined.

The emotions welling up inside me are about to overflow.

The sword, which was aimed directly at the girl, trembled as it was held.

Ais looked like a broken doll, dejected and listless.

She covered her eyes with her bangs, making everything disappear from her sight, immersing herself in the darkness accumulated deep within her heart.

then.

Ais's "back" roared with dark, murky flames.

"...Why does someone like you exist?"

The words, murmured calmly and somberly, sounded almost unlike his own voice.

Ais slowly raised her head and saw that Bell and the others were speechless and their faces had turned pale.

Before her eyes were only "monsters" that mimicked the appearance of humans.

Now, all Ais can see in her world are ugly "monsters".

"What...what is your purpose?"

"I...I want to be with Belle."

"I will not allow you to do that."

Ais's eyes were narrowed and sharp like swords.

She didn't even notice that Bell was frozen in place, her gaze piercing through the terrified "monster."

"I will absolutely not allow you to run rampant on the earth like those monsters."

My back is burning hot, my back is on fire, my back is screaming out maddening hatred.

How hateful. Utterly hateful. She had known all along that this endless killing intent existed.

Therefore, they must be killed.

The "monster" must be destroyed—with this wish in mind.

"Your claws will hurt others."

"Your wings will frighten many people."

"Your red stone will kill many people."

She laid bare condemnation, disgust, rejection, and the self-evident truths of this world before the "monster."

Urged on by the raging black flames on her "back", Ais said repeatedly.

Ais's "back" was whispering to her.

The "power" etched on her back flickered and appealed to her, reminding her to remember.

That's right.

That crumbling earth.

Countless "monsters" swarmed out.

The snow fell in abundance, turning the snowdrifts a deep crimson.

Trampling, shouting, destroying.

Screams, cries, loss.

Then, there was that abhorrent "dark end"—

(!!)

My beloved home is ruined!

My beloved years are now shattered!

Those I loved deeply have been taken away!

Soon it will be Mother's turn!

And then there's the father!

"I'm sorry... Please forgive me, Ais."

Then.

"You must live."

Those gentle hands pushed away my frail self!

All of it, all of it, all of it!!

It's all the fault of "the monsters (you)"!!

The nerves in its pupils were burned off, and its "back" howled with endless hatred. The raging black flames emitted a tearful laugh. It enveloped the cold winter memories with its mournful fire, transforming them into a fiery red world of struggle.

Ais didn't scream, didn't make a fuss, and didn't cry.

He simply channeled his anger and hatred, his sorrow and inner darkness into the sword.

Ais stared intently at the "evil dragon monster" before her and pointed her sword at it.

"No matter what I say, I will not let you live."

That was a conviction as sharp as a sword, an awareness as powerful as a sword.

Faced with Ais's eyes burning with intense black flames, the "monster" stood frozen in place, severely shocked—a moment later.

It quietly looked down at its own hands.

It gazed at the sharp nails that Ais had scorned, and gently grasped all the claws of its left hand.

"what?"

It was unclear whether the murmur came from Ais or Belle.

The "monster" trembled as it breathed, breaking off its fingernails in one breath.

The fingernails made a terrible "crackling" sound, and pieces of flesh stuck to them fell to the ground, while red drops of water dripped from the fingers like tears.

It wasn't someone else's blood; it was the "monster's" own blood that adorned its hands.

Then switch to the right hand.

Then comes the single wing.

Amidst the boy's loud screams, the "monster," having lost all its claws, tore off its wings.

"Ugh, ahhhhhhhh...!!"

The dragon wings that had grown on its back fell to the ground with a thud.

Ais was stiff all over, and blood, indistinguishable from that of humans, splattered across her cheeks.

"Winnie!?"

Bell screamed and hugged the "monster's" collapsing body.

Ais was speechless. The claws and wings she had just despised and scorned now lay at her feet.

The "monster" offered a part of its body as if paying a price, leaning against the boy's chest, and looking up at her weakly.

"If... if I become... no longer myself..."

Then, she placed one hand on the red stone on her forehead.

"This time I'll disappear obediently..."

Then, she moved her hand from her forehead to her chest where the "magic stone" was hidden, and told Ais this.

Seeing this behavior that a "monster" could not possibly exhibit, Ais's mask cracked.

"...I have always been alone."

The "monster" slowly moved its lips.

"In such a dark and cold place... ever since I became who I am... I've always been alone. No one was willing to save me. No one was willing to hug me..."

She was immersed in a deep, dark sea of memories, speaking in a hoarse voice.

That sadness, that loneliness, gnawed at Ais.

The blazing black flames... the fierce fire on the "back" gradually subsided.

The outline of the "monster" gradually melted away.

"I was slashed, it hurts so much... I'm so scared, I feel so lonely."

A tear rolled down the corner of the eye of the "monster," whose form had become blurred.

The "back" is yelling, "What are you doing?"

Ais's "power (skill)" was making a racket, urging her to come to her senses.

But it couldn't be stopped. Ais couldn't help but look at those tears.

The mist brought by the black flames gradually dissipated.

The "monster" vanished completely.

Finally, standing there was a dragon girl with tears in her eyes, and—