What was the color of my blood again...?
Was it red?
Maybe it was black?
Or perhaps somewhere in between...?
...Or was it colorless like most of the demonic monsters in this dungeon?
...*cough*...*cough*...
I could vividly feel the pain, but I couldn't even tell the color of the blood I was coughing out.
The world around me strangely seemed blurry, a rainbow of colors fluttering from one corner of my vision to another.
—!
A burning sensation...
"....Ahh....Ghhk....cough...."
Amidst the pain of my bones being smashed into pieces, I felt a burning sensation slowly spreading through my body.
As if a scalding fire was burning through everything within me!
"....Gahk....huff....cough....ugh...."
The taste of iron filled my mouth, as I threw up some more blood.
Broken ribs, broken bones, torn apart muscles, and a charred black body...
Needless to say, my physical condition was quite severe at the moment. Or should I say that it was completely wrecked, instead?
...*bam*...*bam*...*bam–!*
Although it was a bit blurry, I could still see the radiant Golem walking towards me with his palm glowing with a divine light.
Even with the bright light from the Golem's magical inscriptions illuminating the dark tunnel, I felt my surroundings gradually growing darker every moment.
{....My Lord....}
The deep voice that used to shake the entire dungeon tunnel now appeared to be faint in my ears, but it still had that same irritating forgiveness-seeking tone as before.
'Now you're feeling sorry for hitting me? Are you f*cking serious...?'
"....cough....cough....huff...."
Compared to the grievous injuries I suffered, the sting of having to hear such words of sympathy from a literal moving pile of stones seemed to hurt me more.
....seems like I really underestimated a Heavenly King's might, huh?
No, rather, shouldn't I say that for the Goddess' followers? After all, this magical Golem was created by them.
It was truly funny, how I once thought that I could 'discipline' the being that brought me into this world.
I thought I could conceal my true self, pretending to be the Fool, when in reality, I was the clown all along...
"....cough....ha....haha....hahah....cough, cough...."
It was truly a hilarious thought, especially when I was now backed up against the walls with a broken body.
In just a few moments, all that would remain of my body was an extra thick bloodstain on the ground, and I didn't even know what color that bloodstain would have.
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'Unless...'
Unless I was willing to completely abandon this body.
The damage this Demon King's body had sustained from just a single blow of the 'Divine Guardian' was tremendous. And as far as I could see, regeneration was definitely not one of the strong suits of this specific Demon King's body.
I could already foresee my inevitable death, if I didn't take any drastic measures immediately.
"...haah...haah...okay, then...cough...it's...your win..."
Even though I intended to voice those words more loudly, right now, they could only come out as weak whispers.
Yeah, that was right. My short stay in this game world was probably over.
I didn't know if I could go back home after completely wrecking this body, but I had no other choice right now.
I guess I'd have to compromise on going back home for the time being, then.
Gritting my teeth, I prepared myself for a pain far worse than the one I was currently enduring.
'[Vitality Ignition]!'
*BA–DUMP*
A deafening heartbeat suddenly resounded in my ears, followed by a piercing pain in my chest area.
"Khhh...!!"
A sudden burst of energy rushed through my veins, filling up my broken body with a massive surge of power – a power that was far beyond my control.
But thanks to the sudden rush of energy, my eyes finally regained a little bit of their clarity.
By now, the magical Golem was almost upon me.
Glaring at the stone construct with resentful eyes, I tightly clenched my fist, ready to fully dismantle some stone-made robots before dying in this dark cavern.
'Now, get ready to di—huh...?'
But before I could stand up and confront it, from the corner of my eyes, I saw the shadows cast on the tunnel walls suddenly starting to flicker ominously.
"—What!?"
In the blink of an eye, the flickering shadows suddenly came alive, gliding through the walls and ceiling of the tunnel, engulfing me and plunging me deep into an abyss of pitch-black darkness.
There was no way for me to even think about resisting. Before I could comprehend what just happened, it was already over.
However, the most astounding part was that the magic Golem seemed entirely unaware of the moving shadows, before I completely lost my sight in the darkness.
…
…
"Max Turner..."
Inside the pitch-black darkness, I heard someone calling my name.
"...it seems like you have landed yourself in quite the pinch this time, haven't you?"
The unknown voice was laughing.
Even though I could not see in this darkness, I could clearly feel someone's presence near me.
And more importantly, I couldn't feel any sort of pain from the broken bones and burnt parts of my body, as if those wounds had never even existed in the first place!
Realizing this fact, my breathing suddenly became heavier.
....just what was the identity of the being that was calling out to me?
At least I couldn't feel anything special about this being's presence. It felt like this being was just a simple mortal human you find anywhere in my home world.
However, what kind of mortal human could break into the dungeon that sealed the Demon King, and even stay hidden from the senses of the 'Divine Guardian' stationed there?
Since pondering on it wouldn't help anyway, I decided to take a shot in the dark and test out the waters a little...
"The 'Great Existence'....?"
I felt like the other person had just smiled under the veil of darkness.
"Hmm… Well, you could certainly call me that. But I would appreciate it more if you could just call me by my name."
My expression fell after hearing those words. It seems like my guess was right on the mark, after all.
"And may I ask, what name should I use to address you?"
My heart was pounding, trying to determine if I should get away from this person, or just fight him right here and now.
"Heh, even though you cursed me out in your mind quite a lot, you're the type to become very polite in person, huh?"
At those words, all of my thoughts suddenly came to a halt.
...how could he know what was going on inside my mind?
Was it just a simple guess from my facial expression from back then? Or was he powerful enough to scry my mind without me even noticing?
A cold shudder went down my spine.
"Hahaha, don't make that kind of expression. I just happened to have a very special set of powers, that's all."
Despite his lightly joking words, my expression still remained grim.
If this person could really read my mind, if there was nothing I could hide in front of his eyes, then...
All my secrets, trump cards, thoughts and plans – everything...
Everything was already known by this person the moment he brought me into this world!