*Chapter 20: The Realization*

"W-what?" Kagami stammered in confusion.

The monster looked at him and asked, "[Since you just want to die, mind telling me how your weird abilities work?]"

The monster asked politely, and Kagami, curious about the exchange, decided to respond. "This will go like a reverse villain revealing his stuff, this could be interesting… well, it's simple, really. I don't know."

"[... You are a liar, just tell me and I promise your death will be painless]," the monster said and his voice echoed.

Kagami was annoyed by the voice but shrugged nonetheless, preparing to explain. "I didn't really lie, I truly don't understand it completely. It's just for as long as I can remember… was it? No… let's say, for a WHILE, a big burst of power and energy started to appear and burst inside my body giving me strength. It varies in how much power I could have and how long I could have it for. For example, just now, I had a surge for around 3 to 4 seconds before and after I threw that idiot to the opening. It varies in strength, but even at its strongest, I could only stop you from moving for a few seconds. So before you ask, No, I wasn't able to win against you nor do I have any energy to end you, so you will kill me, that's for sure."

Although he heard the detailed explanation, the monster seemed confused and tried to respond while he was bleeding everywhere. Kagami asked why it seemed puzzled, and the monster replied, "[You realize you could've gotten out, right? It's not like you couldn't jump or anything… right? You could've just hugged the girl and jumped out, gone Yahoo! and been all romantic. You would've saved the day and looked super cool at the same time.]" The monster appeared slightly disappointed and confused.

Kagami sweated profusely as the realization hit him. ".....Ah, F***, F***, F***!!! WHY, WHY, WHY!! I SHOULD'VE THOUGHT OF THAT, I SHOULD'VE DONE THAT! WHY!!!" Kagami screamed at himself and then turned to the monster, blaming it for his current state, asserting that the creature's actions and vicious acts led him to this useless self-sacrifice, Kagami was having an identity crisis asking if he became an idiot or was he an idiot from the start.

The monster questioned Kagami's belief in his own words. "[Do you truly believe that?]"

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"I do, a**hole, I do!"

Kagami cried his regrets.

"[You don't seem like you do.]"

Kagami halted his panic and complaints, and the room grew silent. The monster continued, "[Do you even want to live?]" Kagami remained silent, and the monster took it at face value and as affirmation. It decided that consuming Kagami after playing with him a bit more would be sufficient, even without the other two victims. He even said he may even be able to escape afterwards.

"Oh, so that's what all this was about? I was wondering why it took you so long? So, you bastard like to play with your food," Kagami snickered.

[“I don't play with my food, I give meaning to my existence,”] the monster said.

"... Man, that's dark… but I guess that's the case, being an evil monster and everything," Kagami replied.

[“It is. I can't control my nature, so don't even attempt to plead for your life; it will only make it more awkward for both of us,”] the monster's voice echoed through the room, the bones of other monsters started moving from the sheer force.

"Wasn't about to… but since there's still time, and you are the last one I may ever see, I want to ask you something. Do you think hell is that bad? No… that's the wrong question, let me do it again, ahm... do you think people like us go to heaven?" Kagami wore a deep, hypnotizing, somewhat dark expression, as if he already knew the answer and accepted his fate.

The monster met Kagami's gaze and replied, [“I don't know. For me, I am already in hell, so if what is called hell is a continuation of this, I am already used to it.”]

Kagami laughed lightly, his features softening, and he said, "Isn't that foolish? I mean, an endless, PERFECT torture will dwarf anything. Trust me, the second you get in there, you will curse your idiocy, your lack of vision, and EVERY SINGLE thought that came into your mind and told you it won't be that bad…"

As the conversation progressed, two events occurred: a small entity observed the conversation from atop one of the large spears, and the monster's flesh entirely engulfed the room. As Kagami stood with open arms, the monster's flesh extended and pierced him from behind, right through his heart. With a mouth full of blood, Kagami whispered, "You lied… it hurts like hell."

On the other side, Astaria was racing for her life inside the domain as various types of monsters, big and small, pursued her. Despite her desire to find the other two and her mounting worry, her survival instincts took over. She dashed from one room to the other till she found one to hide inside, and as the monsters passed by and avoided that specific room, she heard a faint muttering.

"W.. what was that?" Astaria said, her voice shaking with fear as she noticed a woman sleeping on her back in the middle of the room, arms wide open. Confused about the situation, Astaria felt relief that it wasn't something perilous until she noticed a weird thing, she spotted Charlotte, knocked out in the corner of the room.

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