“Ungh…”

Opening her eyes, Yuu found herself in a dark, cramped space. She could see nothing, but she could hear strange sounds all around her.

Where… am I?

At first, the inky darkness made her believe that she had died unknowingly and had been sent to an eternal abyss of nothing.

However, it certainly did not feel like she had died. Even though she was not clear on the specifics, she had a hunch that if that had happened, she would realize it immediately, so that theory was completely out.

It was also plausible that she was back inside the Soul Particle again, considering her past experience being trapped inside that object.

However, she could see the orb still pulsating on her body and brightening up the space, so that theory was also out.

So then, there was the last and perhaps the most obvious theory.

Oh no…

As soon as she had deduced that she was still trapped inside the thing after being swallowed, and that she was likely about to be digested, she began to panic.

It was not just the fact that she could lose her life, then and there in such a horrifying way, with no one possibly being able to help her.

Instead, it was her belief that she had let this happen to her that made her the most worried.

They… they trusted me, and I let them down… how am I supposed to face them like this? Did I… kill them with this?

As the pessimistic thoughts overcrowded her mind and pushed out her hope, she felt weak, her body and limbs going soft as she continued to be mercilessly squeezed by the thing’s insides.

What do I do at this point? Should I continue, or should I just give in?

When she had been given her instructions by Claine, whether in the temple or when they were fighting, she felt that she had a purpose, a job to fulfill, a goal to achieve. But now, as she slid further and further down, she was at a complete loss.

There was no one around to tell her what she could do. She did not know anything about the situation outside, nor whether the people she knew were even alive. She only had herself to count on, and she was not used to it.

If only the devil man was here…

She wished for someone, anyone who could talk to her inside that cramped space. It did not matter if it was someone she trusted or did not trust, as long as she could find out more about the situation by interacting with them.

Please…

But no one outside could hear her plea.

Maybe I should have listened to him…

“… p…”

Huh?

Suddenly, her ears perked up. She had picked up a voice, faint but noticeable, from a spot below her.

Could it be?

“… elp…”

It was a voice she did not recognize, but it was nonetheless one. It was someone she could talk to.

With her spirits lifted, she hurriedly began to force herself down the tight passage, pushing against the slimy walls and forcing them to expand such that she could go down quicker.

She was enthusiastic as to what she could possibly find down there. Perhaps it was someone who was also eaten and who needed help. Perhaps it was a soul that was part of the thing she was in, one that she could use her new powers to destroy.

Either way, it was something that she could do for herself.

There!

She dropped down from the tight passage into a wide space, before quickly landing in a fluid-like substance with a wet splash.

Ugh… eww…

Despite having been completely willing to go down, she still found herself feeling disgusted by the all the slimy sensations coursing through her body at once.

She had likely landed in the belly of the thing, although she could not be fully sure on that.

However, that was not important to her as she desperately began to search for the source of the voice in that cavernous area.

By now, it had gone completely silent, even at the place where she swore she had heard it come from.

Ok, I think I need to call out to them.

Sucking in a breath, she mustered up enough courage to speak out in a loud voice, which echoed around the wide space.

“Hello? Is anyone there?”

“…”

“Hello???”

“…”

Her shoulders drooped. Maybe she had gotten it wrong, or the person or soul or whatever that had been calling out to her was now gone. Even worse, it may have been all a trap set up by the thing to lure its prey to get digested quicker. All the possible outcomes disappointed her, and she lowered her head.

“… lp…”

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Then, she heard the voice again. This time, it came from slightly above her head.

Ah!

With her spirits lifted again, she eagerly looked up to see what it was. Surely, she would not be able to miss it this time.

“You’re helpless!”

Eh?

“You piece of shit!”

“Waste of space!”

“You should die!”

The singular voice suddenly turned into multiple ones that came from all around her from places that she could not see or reach. In addition to that, they had all began to shout random insults and vulgarities at her for no reason whatsoever.

Wait, wait, hold on…

She had not prepared herself for this. She had told herself that if it was a soul that had to be destroyed, she would have no hesitation doing so, but this was quite unlike the ones she had heard or felt before, and it was much louder and more overwhelming than what she had expected.

“Give up!”

“Worthless!”

“Unwanted trash!”

I can’t listen to them. They’re just souls! The thing must be trying to get to me so that I can’t destroy them!

However, as much as she tried to convince herself otherwise, the insults, as childish as they were, were still getting to her.

As the loud voices surrounded her, she could only squeeze her eyes shut, cover her ears, and block them out as she sunk deeper into the fluid, which had only gone up to her waist before but now went down to her shoulders.

Stop it! Stop it!

“… you’re such a disappointment.”

She opened her eyes in shock. Out of all the loud voices, one of them stood out to her. Something that she could recall. Something that she had heard before, a long time ago.

No…

“… why didn’t you follow me?”

Even though she believed that she had forgotten what it sounded like, she still remembered it, clear as day, and the thought of it made her even more horrified.

As she sunk even lower in despair, she did not know how to respond to it.

Even if it was not him, it sounded too similar to her, affecting all her the same.

Please, no…

The one she knew. The one she had believed in. The one who taught her everything.

… Daddy…

**********************

“There!”

“Serves you right!”

“Is everyone dead?”

After the last of the buildings had crashed down into the city, the thing finally stopped its relentless digging and stood still, carefully analyzing its surroundings.

“…”

It could hear nothing. All it could see with its eyes was complete devastation. The falling rubble had reduced everything around it to dust and more chaos, creating a thick cloud that made it hard for anyone to fully see anything.

Swiping away the dust cloud in an attempt to see better, there was no movement that it could see. What lay before it was just ruins. There was a raging fire in the distance, but that was hardly a concern as whatever was there was too far for it to care.

“Congratulations!”

“Success!”

“Thank you!”

Now completely satisfied, it gloated proudly in triumph as it slowly began to move again.

This time, thanks to its attack, it now knew the presence of a world above where it was, and with the exciting new potential it could feel coming from there, it began to make its way upwards, using whatever path it could find to reach its objective.

“… it…”

However, in its excitement and curiosity to get to the upper world, it had failed to confirm that its enemies were all gone, and some of them were emerging from the cracks.

“Damn it… that bastard’s congratulating itself…”

While clutching a broken arm, Claine slowly climbed out of the cave that he and a few other Foxes hid in as soon as the buildings fell.

By some miracle, against all the odds, he had survived once again. At this point, he was completely unsure if fate was mocking him or sincerely giving him another chance to live.

“… help…”

But he knew that this was not the time to pity himself, as he immediately got to work finding any survivors from the crush.

There was no point in fighting back at this stage. As long as the thing continued to move away from them, the priority was to recover as many survivors as possible and reassess the situation based on that before making any future attempts.

However, just as he silently made his way back out into the open, it suddenly stopped, forcing him to duck back into cover.

“Did it see me?” he frantically whispered to himself as he slowly peeked his head out again to check.

“What is this?!”

“Get off!”

“Go away!”

The thing roared and its hands moved wildly, but it did not seem like it was coming to his location. Instead, it seemed to be reacting to something else. As he squinted his eyes to get a closer look, he saw what they were.

“Lost…”

Tilting his head up, he could see a fair number of the glowing creatures falling from the remnants of the city above and landing on its body. They seemed to be angering it greatly as it hastily began to scrape them off while shouting hateful and aggressive words to nothing in particular.

“Huh…”

It was certainly an unusual sight, but nevertheless, it was still a welcome development for him, and one that he desperately needed.

If it was preoccupied with other things instead of continuing to rampage outside, that would make it easier for the rescue and evacuation of everyone both inside and outside the city.

Seizing the opportunity, he quickly joined up with a few of his soldiers and began to search for the others, all while keeping a close eye on what it was going to do next.

“Come on…” he muttered as the group located several more Foxes trapped under a broken roof and immediately began to move the rubble away, although it was with much difficulty as they were all not in the best shape to do it.

Even though they had been granted a temporary reprieve, they still needed as much help as they could get.

As he slowly pushed rocks out of the way with his one good hand, his mind began to think of the players who had been mostly absent for the whole fight, and of those whose current statuses were still unknown.

“Angel… devil… bro… where the hell are you guys?” he quietly asked, “please, I need to know.”

“Boom!”

Just as he finished his silent plea, there was a loud crash close to the rescue party, causing all of them to turn and look at the disturbance.

“… devil!”

It was indeed Dauma himself, having returned to the scene, and as much as he was still doubtful towards him, he knew that his sudden appearance was great for them.

“Devil!” he called out while gesturing for him to come over, “come help us move this roof away so that we can—”

He abruptly stopped as Dauma turned his head to look at him. Almost immediately, he felt the strong red gaze pierce through him, as well as something else he had not felt coming from him before: Apathy.

“What… is this?”

As he watched him march up to a Fox who was just as frozen by his gaze as he was, he could not help but shudder at the sudden change in personality, and the sensation of fear welling up inside him in response.

“Gun.”

In a low, distorted voice, Dauma stuck one of his hands out and coldly spoke to the terrified Fox.

“H-huh?”

“Give me your gun.”

“W-why?”

“Fine then.”

With quick speed and strength, the gun that the Fox was holding in his trembling hands was snatched away in the blink of an eye, causing him to fall from the sudden force.

“Oi!”

That action had made Claine recover from his frozen state, and he began to angrily shout at the devil.

“I don’t know what has gotten into you, but if you think you can harm one of my Fox—”

“Not important.”

His warning was quickly shot down with a simple statement and another cold glare from Dauma as he slowly began to walk away from them.

“What?”

“Killing the monster comes first. The rest is not important.”

“You…”

Claine could hardly believe what he was hearing. Dauma, the one he had only just began to trust after his willingness to help him with the mission, as well as the careful handling of his injured disciple, was now acting like what he had originally believed he was when they had first met, a despicable devil.

“You need to help save our people!”

“No. That is your job,” Dauma rudely cut him off, “My job is different, and none of your concern. Where is Yuu?”

“…”

“She doesn’t seem to be with you. Is she with the monster?”

“… she got eaten by it…”

“Hm, I see. Then, if there’s nothing else, I’ll be going.”

And so, with tremendous strength, before anyone could even respond, he took off towards the thing, leaving all the survivors behind in a cloud of dust.

“…”

Despite opening his mouth, Claine could say nothing about what he had just witnessed, and after a few moments, he turned back and returned to the fallen roof to continue rescuing his trapped soldiers.

However, that interaction had still left a bad impression on all of them, and one thought came to his mind along with the other negative emotions he felt towards him.

I hope you know what you’re doing, you fucking devil.