It's a room.
Dimly lit, there's a single light bulb illuminating the room. I'm sitting in a wooden chair. Across from me is another figure.
His face is one of intrigue, yet filled with no emotion whatsoever, as if watching ants in an artificial habitat. It's a look filled with contempt, yet with no real physical indicator. I can simply tell it is one.
Yes, the boy sitting across from me is none other than 'Kaito'.
Yet, strangely enough, his hair is down, as opposed to mine. His long navy-blue bangs cover his features, but enough for me to make out the general details.
'Kaito'.
He gazes at me.
Who am I?
I'm 'Kaito', too.
Aren't I?
No, this isn't 'Kaito'.
This is ██████.
Ah, I forgot his name.
This room is silent, not a single one of us moving. We're simply frozen in the moment, stuck in a perpetual stare to the death. A needle slowly penetrating a piece of ice.
But eventually, it cracks.
"...You're doing really good. You even started slicking your hair back now."
"..."
I can't say anything back. Is it because I don't want to? Or is it because I'm unable to? Whether it's one or the other is almost irrelevant, given the moment right now. I am simply not answering back.
"...This is the only way."
I blink. My mind reads his words, engraving them into my thoughts.
"Well, even if I know this is the only way.." He continues, "… Honestly… don't take this the wrong way but…"
His soft look slowly morphs as his eyebrows furrow, and his eyes pierce into my skin like needles. His hand rests on the table, his palm stretching forward as if releasing the vented emotions.
"You're starting to disgust me."
______________________________________________________________________________________
"You okay?"
It's a calm, yet sharp voice, washing over my body from the intense moment just a few moments earlier. A calm that relaxes me despite the chaotic hell.
The wind is blowing against my body as I raise my hands.
I'm laying on the ground, my back downwards.
Gasping for air, I push myself up and take a quick look at my clothes. They've mostly burned off from certain parts, but not to the point where they're functionally useless. I was burning previously, but in just a moment, the flames are gone.
Surprisingly, there are no burn marks or any damage on my skin.
My head swivels to the right.
It reveals a girl known by the name of Navi Highergald. The girl with white hair and sharp yellow eyes that seem to gleam whenever you stare into them. Beside her stands Kyros, the goblin guide I've had so far in this layer. He's close, but not close to the danger.
My head swivels in front of me, still shocked.
The creature, still melting, is now screaming and tossing around, angered that its prey was snapped from it again. That its time for enjoyment was over, that the appearance of these individuals would ruin its plan further.
Quickly, it raises a claw, bringing it down on Navi, who swiftly deflects the blow with her saber, spinning her torso. The attack, despite being large in nature, was as effective as a sword.
Or at least it looked as if.
Was Navi at that level of strength all the time? Was she so strong that this was mere child's play? Was the reason she had lost in previous loops, or had not given it her all, simply because she had been injured? Has she merely had enough time to heal?
Wait, but she's healed so fast!
With a swift clang, the creature retracts its arm. Its arm sloppily restores to sender, some blood from the sheer blunt force of the deflection knocking it free.
"It's still got a kick in it, even in that condition," she snarks before flourishing her blade, prepared for another attack. She slowly moves her back foot behind, digging into the ground before resuming her usual combat position.
She raises her saber high, almost pointing it, and her left arm at the ready.
A position that utilizes every body part to its potential, leaving no limb feeling useless.
"N-Naa…" I stop myself.
She saw me.
She saw me screaming like a damned pig on fire.
The thoughts spilling into my brain like faulty water are suddenly cleansed by fresh water.
I'm now shocked. I'm confused that all the pain that was tormenting me, eating away at my soul, killing me, suddenly stopped that quickly. That I was that close to death, yet I'm now safe.
Yes, I'm safe, but I can't redo this situation. I've still got to deal with this issue in front of me.
Am I happy? Am I happy to live?
Of course I am, dammit. I never want to die ever again.
Backing up, still laying on the ground, I use my hands to lift me backward, my legs kicking off the ground. The dirt bunches up and even gets into my nails, but the situation's so much for me, I can barely register it.
The creature quickly lifts its left appendage above its head, ready to crush the girl. I say appendage because, at this point, it's no more than that. Its 'arm' shape is completely mangled, now a melting smoking blob of bone and flesh.
Quickly sidestepping, the girl steals a slash at its left hind leg, to which it screams out loud.
This is playing out the same as before, just with one key difference: the creature's heavily injured. It can't run away due to its condition, so fighting is its only option. While I'm fond of this specific circumstance, I would be lying if I said I wasn't a bit nervous.
After throwing a volley of attacks, all of which seem to have no effect, the girl skids back on the grass, her saber covered in blood. She quickly flicks off the blood before scoffing.
"Resilient bastard…"
Suddenly, her stance changes as she moves her leg backward before switching her saber's handling backward. With a quick motion, she holds her right arm, seemingly stabilizing the weapon.
"I'll just have to end it as fast as I can."
"Unlock: BLAZEBANE."
In that moment, the impossible happens. Perhaps the world explodes in a bright red light. Or perhaps it was a result of some external force. But what I soon came to realize after adjusting my eyes was a shocking sight.
Navi Highergald has released the first form of her Severant, something that I have never seen.
Dark red flames circle her saber, which itself has had its form altered. Jagged edges, eccentric yet orderly, are scattered across the blade, and perhaps the biggest change is the glowing edge. It explodes with power, enough that I myself can feel the heat.
Yet it's a strange kind of heat. Not one you feel on your skin, not something that burns through. No, it feels as if my very soul is burning, as if the flames are rising from the inside.
It doesn't hurt, but the heat is palpable. It's impossible to ignore.
Damn it, it's so bright.
I raise my hands and shield my eyes from the light.
From what I can make out, the creature is screeching again. It sounds almost human, thrashing about, its arms flinging in every direction like a headless snake. It has no control anymore. Its body jerks and spasms like a corpse tied to strings. Its head doesn't even lead its movements, only dragging itself along.
However, something starts to stand out the longer I look. There's a shape, bulging from its shoulder. There's something growing, like a tumor, swelling steadily.
Navi still stands there, blade in hand, not even bothering to move.
Just from the release alone, the creature is losing.
After a few more seconds of wild thrashing, it finally shows itself.
Yes, Another creature had been hiding inside this whole time.
With a disgusting pop followed by a splash of blood, a second head bursts from its right shoulder, screaming just as loudly. It's nothing but bone, held together by dark ligaments. Its color has turned a sickly brown, a sharp contrast to the pale bone, which itself is slowly blackening like charcoal.
"Finally showed yourself."
I glance at Navi. She's holding her sword like a torch.
Her face is terrifying. She's smiling. She has a grin that has no place in a moment like this. Her lips stretch wide, revealing rows of almost sharp-looking teeth. She looks like glee is the only thing she can feel, as if she's just heard the best news of her life. Her face is utterly unfitting of this scene straight from hell.
I look back at the creature. Red flames, shaped like ribbons, drift toward her blade as if being sucked out of the creature.. The best way I can describe them is like embers from a fire, except they have direction.
Is she draining its life force or something?
Was she capable of this the whole time? Then how did she lose before?
I turn to Kyros, who looks just as confused as I am. He's close, but not within the dangerous area.
A cracking noise surprises me as I look back in front. The creature suddenly shifts toward me. That alone tells me what it's planning. It's trying to take me with it. Like it has a personal grudge. I back away, trying to get to my feet.
If there's one thing I've learned from all this, it's that this creature is impossible to kill. After everything, it's still capable of thought, no, movement.
It kicks off the ground, hurling itself at me, when—
"Thread!"
A flash of red flame slices through the air.
It cuts cleaner than it should, like a hot knife through paper. Despite the creature's mangled, charred form, the slash itself is flawless. Its shoulders and heads split from the rest of its body. I can see the cross-section, which is a burned mess of organs and bone fused together. The flesh is crisped, the veins melted into each other.
There's no blood. Whatever should've been red is now black or brown.
For a moment, the body just stands there before collapsing. The sound of flesh hitting the wet ground echoes through the clearing. The heads and shoulders hit first, falling out of balance before the rest follows.
Navi holds her stance a moment longer before lowering her weapon. With a faint glow, the blade returns to its normal form.
She stares at the corpse, her expression one of fascination and delight.
"So it was an Orthrus."
I can't even form words. After everything that just happened, I'm still in shock. But I force myself to stand.
I don't want to be seen like that.
I push it all down.
"A… a what?" My voice comes out shaky. I'm trying my best to sound casual.
Navi sheathes her sabre without even glancing at me.
"A two-headed aberration. Forgot what category it's in."
"I believe it falls within the Chimera classification," Kyros says, walking over and adjusting his collar. "The first head functions as the attacking force, while the second functions as the more vital one, which is capable of proper thought as well."
"Guess it does." Navi sighs.
The goblin turns to the silver-haired girl.
"That tactic was quite sharp-witted of you, Miss Highergald. You had destroyed it from the inside."
I want to ask what exactly she had done, but I'm still shook by the near death experience. Despite being able to absorb my surroundings perfectly well, I can't relinquish the words I wish to speak.
"Mm. When one head dies, it slowly rots off from the exterior." She points at a skull, light glinting off its surface. "But inside, another one usually grows. Set with its own heart and everything."
I understand. The reason why the… Orthrus…had managed to survive the flames was due to the other half living inside the body, a sort of 'backup generator'. Somehow, she had managed to kill it from the inside.
I'd ask her, but right now, I can't even formulate a proper sentence.
I stare at the remains. The thing has practically melted into the dirt, its fluids soaking into the ground and staining it a sickly brown. Was the reason it was able to survive because of the second head then?
Dammit, I failed this time.
My eyes tremble in their sockets. My brain feels like it's vibrating in rhythm with them.
It takes every nerve in my body not to throw up.
The girl turns to me casually.
"Seems like that plan of yours didn't work, huh?"
"Y-Yeah… guess it didn't," I manage, trying to stop my hands from shaking.
"It was pretty obvious from all the screaming."
My head snaps toward her. I swear something cracked.
She's smirking. Her orange-yellow eyes slice into mine.
"What's with that face? You look like a corpse."
She's smiling. She finds it funny. me burning, screaming, gasping for air. To her, it's just a joke. It's just a joke to you, isn't it?!
"It's not funny!"
The echo of my voice cuts across the land, each word tearing through the air. Even the wind stops.
"I'm sorry I'm not some psychopath edge-lord who smirks while burning something alive! I'm not used to this shit!"
"Hahh…?" She tilts her head up slowly, her expression saying clear as day: Keep talking and I'll knock a tooth out of you.
"I saved you, didn't I? The fuck you yappin' about?"
I open my mouth to yell again but stop. She doesn't even consider that I was screaming from pain, does she? To her, I'm just mad about it.
Fuck. I'm not in the mood for this. The more I talk, the more she'll realize that I'm not who I say I am. That I'm not 'up there'. The quieter I stay, the better.
"Tsk. You're right. Never mind."
"No, no, go on—keep yelling at me for something I had no control over!"
I stay silent.
"..."
She stares at me, her eyebrows furrowed, observing me like some kind of statue. Her eyelids cover her eyeballs, squinting at me.
"You really piss me off, you damned weakling."
She turns away and walks off, not wasting a single moment further.
I clench my fist and bite down hard on my tongue. There it is again. A rift between us. I'm back to square one. I shouldn't have snapped. Should've just kept my mouth shut.
I glance at Kyros.
"I believe it's best we continue toward our destination," he says calmly. "This was clearly a desperate situation for you, and it's entirely understandable that you'd be shaken. But I can still understand her point of view."
I simply nod.
"Yeah."
"Neither of you is wrong in this situation."
No, I am. For freaking out like that. If I want to be who I want to be, then I can't afford to have reactions like that. I bit down on my lip before taking a step forward.
I'm not some pushover, dammit.