Ci-cin.

In the silence of that place, a sound attracts the attention of my tail. My general interest, also.

It was a faint sound, perceived absentmindedly. Gron and Dal are evaluating the [Dry Flare-Oil] bars and did not notice.

I still hear a sound. Like a bang in the distance.

Screams approaching?

A new bang. Loud enough to make my traveling companions spin, distracting them from their work.

“Explosion?” Dal pulls himself up. They look over my shoulder at the entrance.

“I think so. It could be one of those creatures.” I point to the motionless being in the corner near the door.

A metal creature like that might be able to generate barrel-like booms.

Boom!

This time, the origin of the roar is close. Dal takes the mirrored helmet with the thick crest out of his bag and covers his head.

His face is an expressionless mask, but I know that he is ready to intervene.

“Gron, Dal, stay here. Finish choosing the bars you think are best. I'm going to check.”

“You sure you want to go—oh, forgive me. I'm a fool to think I can be useful to you like this. You know what you're doing.”

I nod. There is no need to go in a group. Even if it were a metal creature, it is not—

BOOM!

Ci-cin, Ci-cin!

Huh!

I run out of the room. Even if they do not hear them, there are other sounds besides the explosions.

Screams. Roars.

Running noises. Strange noises are irreconcilable with the physiognomy of the creatures that burrow into this glacier. The ones I have known, at least.

These are more humanoid, or bestial, footsteps.

[Dungeon path]

I emerge at the entrance of the structure. The warm light of a headlight right in my face. I raise a hand to shield my eyes.

I strain my ears, trying to locate the sources of noise.

“HEY!” A voice comes from a spotlight up ahead. “Damn monster!”

BOOM!

A small explosion. The light of an exploded pharos disappears.

Kavfyra comes running out of the darkness, her hands soaked in blood that stands out in the cold light of the headlights.

She looks and runs towards me. Behind her a faint gasp. A figure emerges staggering in a wild run.

Hunchbacked and with a head disfigured by coral sores, Amerio chases Kavfyra and loses blood and blood from his abdomen.

“Stop!” That scream costs him more blood, which he spits out of his mouth. “Stop oikjgygh!”

Raising his arm, Amerio hurls a fireball.

Kavfyra intercepts it by throwing one in turn. The small explosion that occurs resembles that of a [Fire Dart].

Amerio shouts in frustration, and Kavfyra joins me. She bends over, resting her hands on her knees, taking drags.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

“You.” She pants and looks at me as she catches her breath.

“Ah. I see you're still around.”

«Fsss.»

The serpentine tail and I are unequivocally in agreement for once.

Kavfyra is an unwelcome encounter. Not that I expected them to get lost in the depths of the dungeon—no, I am not!

HA!

“Vrylakd…. Ah! grhaulla!” Amerio makes garbled noises and stumbles a few steps away from me and Kavfyra.

The fall is disastrous, and he breaks his leg. Some corals come out, and he wriggles like a man possessed.

He is no longer himself. A sort of fragile monster whose body will not last long.

“I don't understand you.” I scratch my head.

My negative emotions slip away. Amerio suffering, finding him here in front of me and seeing the iridescent drool dripping from his mouth deformed by coral.

I feel so sorry. If all the elves end up like this…

…no matter how bad they were in life. I am sorry.

Deep down, I am sorry to look at these bloodshot eyes, to listen to these cries of suffering.

“For the glory of Ivykku, don't you mean to act a disgusting deity? Can't you see how horrible it is!? Contamination. The contamination wants to bring it to me. I had to imagine it. I had to!”

I watch Kavfyra waving her arms and screaming, and some electrical energy is channeled, forming a ring.

She has her back to me and keeps her eyes glued to Amerio.

“For your good. Given the disgust Ivykku feels, which I feel! Now, I will eliminate you!”

She is about to use a [skill]. Maybe I can intercept her with [Disp—

A ray of light shoots out from the ring and hits Amerio in the head, decapitating him.

I watch the body fall onto the layer of ice illuminated by a headlight. Bits of error dart lumpily out of Amerio's neck. The blood in those clots’ spreads onto the ice.

I do not know what to say.

I just witnessed what many people call murder.

The words seem to fall from my lips, but nothing comes out. I keep staring at that body. It does not move, nor will it rain like [deceased].

This is due to the mix between [Astral journey] and [Sanctuary]. But I can judge it.

Maybe it is better if I do it right away.

Yes, Instant—

“Take me back.”

“Huh?”

Kavfyra looks at me with horrible grimaces. No sign of regret. None that I can grasp.

“Take me home.”

“Aren't you sorry for him?” I point to the body. “I have to judge him.”

Kavfyra stands in the way.

“You don't judge anyone at all, monster. You take me home. I had to understand it. I had to understand that Ivykku didn't respond to the blood sacrifices since it knows. It knew that this place was nothing but the true identity of evil. This is where the affliction of our house comes from.”

“This isn’t true!”

“No? NO!?” Kavfyra grabs me by the neck and lifts me off the ground.

The grip is strong, and my tails wrap around her arm.

«Fsaaaa!»

She tightens her grip recklessly, beside herself.

“Ngh, Kav-fy-ra… listen to me… I…”

“Shut up! I won't end up like that!” with her free hand, she points to Amerio's body. “I am a beautiful priestess of Ivykku. I am blessed by strength and…”

“You're not… bless her. You are… cursed.”

At my words, she tightens her grip around my neck more vigorously. I feel the magical flow running through her hand. The electricity of an electric shock that is about to go off.

“Stupid… stop!”

“Die, most—ah!”

I don't let her finish, and my tail bites her neck. My barbed tail crushes her arm, leveraging her elbow and forcing the elf to free me.

With her other arm, she throws an electric shock at me.

[Dispel]

Like last time, she did not understand the difference in forces at play. Her fanaticism blinds her. She blinds herself and puts me in a difficult position.

Still struggling with my tail, Kavfyra falls to her knees. The poison injected, added to her low [lv], is more than enough to knock her out.

But letting her go is no longer an option. However weak she is, she is still a danger, an obstacle.

I look into her eyes. The roles have reversed. I am high up, standing upright. She is on the ground, convulsing.

I release her from my grasp.

I study her, her expression full of hate. She stops shaking and is panting. But she continues to look at me with hatred.

Her hand is accumulating electricity.

“Do you want to try to hit me again? Even if you see that it's useless? Even though I'm trying so hard to save you!? I do not understand you.”

“Shut up. Monster… Ivykku, you know. Ivykku…” Kavfyra passes out. The poison must have reset some of her stats.

I step over it and walk towards Amerio's body.

He gives off a strange smell. Aromatic and pungent, one of a kind. Smells like blood, oil, and errors.

Up close, his body is even more horrible. The corals tear flesh and clothes. They grow slowly, but I can see the branches moving.

The last part of Amerio's life must have been truly terrible.

Heartbreaking.

Lonely.

Ivykku.

Who knows if there is a god so despicable as to condemn based solely on external appearance? The System does not do these things. The System…

They once told me that it is better to judge with subjective criteria than with unknown criteria.

Ivykku represents precisely the antithesis of the System.

For it, Amerio is to be condemned because he is ill.

But for the System?

I raise my hand over the elf's corpse.

[Judgment]

[Judgment: Nightmare]

The body begins to evaporate.

Clear.

Eloquent.

Ivykku or not. Fantasy or reality. Nothing changes. Only I feel sorry for this failure.

♦

Once I have finished evaporating Amerio's body, I look back at Kavfyra.

Lying on the ground unconscious, I wonder what to do with her.

I should still have her weapon, so…