Seeing Amuro suddenly drop to one knee before Mina, it was obvious—this gesture was meant for her alone. His behavior was so strange that it left Duyen utterly stunned. Even Mina herself seemed caught off guard, though her face still wore its usual cold, guarded expression.
"Amuro…?" Mina murmured uncertainly.
"Yes. It is I, your servant,"
Amuro replied without the slightest hesitation. His voice even trembled faintly, as if he had waited far too long to finally say those words.
What… what is going on?
Duyen couldn't stop the confusion flooding her mind. Did these two know each other? And Mina—she recognized that voice far too clearly. It was Amuro's voice. The same Amuro she knew had died in a traffic accident.
This all sounded like some kind of elaborate deception. But considering how vast and grotesquely unnatural this city was, perhaps anything really could happen here. Maybe this was the work of some demon, toying with her.
Mina did not move an inch. She continued to shield Duyen possessively, her voice turning feral, edged with a low growl that even startled Duyen herself.
"…You. Lift your face."
At Mina's command, Amuro slowly raised his head.
He was strikingly handsome for a middle-aged man, with the stern, disciplined features typical of a Japanese soldier. His brows were sharp, his face marked with scars earned through battle. It was unmistakably him—unchanged by age.
Except for one thing. His hair had turned completely silver-white, and his eyes burned crimson, sunken deep into their sockets like bottomless black holes—like the eyes of a demon.
Mina stiffened, clearly shaken, yet her caution did not fade.
"Don't think you can deceive me. Amuro is dead. He truly died. So who are you? And why are you with my Duyen?" Her lips pulled back, revealing two sharp, predatory fangs.
"Speak. Now. Or else—"
Even Duyen flinched. What happened to Mina? Why was she like this now?
Sensing the tension spiraling out of control, Duyen quickly grabbed Mina by the shoulder, trying to shield Amuro.
"Don't, Mina! He—he's not a bad person. For the past seven years, he's taken care of me. He's never once been inappropriate or crossed any lines—"
She didn't get to finish.
"Seven years?" Mina roared, her voice thick with jealousy and terrifying strength.
"Taken care of you!? You—what exactly have you two been doing together!? Duyen! Don't tell me you've been living with this man—!"
Duyen's face turned beet red. She stared at Mina, mouth agape, completely speechless at the wild accusation.
"Oh my god! What are you even saying, Mina!?" she shouted. "It's not like that at all! Amuro is a decent man! He's never done anything—anything like what you're implying!"
It was rare—almost unheard of—for Duyen to snap back like this. Mina's brows immediately relaxed, fear flashing across her face at the thought of upsetting her. Before she could speak, Amuro stepped in.
His voice was firm, resolute, as if he had already prepared himself for this moment.
"This is my fault," he said. "I should never have accompanied Miss Duyen. I've tarnished her reputation. Lady Mina, you may punish me however you see fit. I will accept it."
"What!? No!" Duyen cried out. "Why would you say that!? You're just making things worse! And what do you mean, punish you!?"
But Mina froze. Something clicked. Those words—his phrasing, his humility—proved it. This man wasn't an imposter. He really was Amuro.
Her anger slowly ebbed away.
"Amuro Sawada…" Mina said cautiously. "I truly believed you were dead."
From her tone alone, it was clear—she had accepted the truth. Amuro's voice softened, a hint of joy slipping through despite his stern expression. He looked like a loyal hound wagging its tail at its master.
"I was dead," he admitted. "To be honest, I don't even remember how many times I've died anymore. All I know is that I was given another chance—to wait here for Miss Duyen… and for you, my lady."
"Another chance?" Mina frowned. "Who gave you that chance?"
"Well… that person—"
Amuro hesitated, anxiety creeping into his voice. Mina shot him a cold, half-lidded glare, her words dripping with menace.
"…Don't tell me it was Shana."
Amuro stiffened instantly, falling unnaturally silent. Then he straightened, clinging to what little dignity he had left.
"Lady Mina… I know what I've done borders on betrayal. I have only ever served you, remained loyal to you alone. I do not deserve this life. So I will—"
"Enough."
Mina turned away, her tone indifferent.
"Knowing that you're alive is… enough for me."
Amuro stared up at her in shock. Duyen did too. Mina continued, her voice still cold, yet threaded with something resembling mercy.
"If your family knew you were alive, they would be overjoyed."
At the mention of his family, Amuro let out a quiet sound—almost a sigh. A long silence followed, heavy with emotion, though not the kind one might expect. He gave a bitter smile.
"I'd rather they continue believing I'm dead.
Look at me now… I've lost everything that made me human."
"Amuro…" Duyen whispered, her eyes filled with pity.
He smiled faintly.
"…Isn't that no different from being dead?"
Mina turned away coldly.
"Demon or human. Monster or god. None of that matters to me anymore. Think whatever you want."
"My lady…" Amuro's voice cracked as he looked at her.
"How long do you plan on kneeling?" Mina snapped. "Do you want your knees to sink deeper into that rotten, bleeding sludge?"
Only then did Amuro realize his legs were smeared with viscous filth and blood. But he didn't care. As long as Mina forgave him—accepted him—that was enough.
Duyen quickly helped him to his feet.
"Thank you, Miss Duyen," Amuro said gently, smiling at her.
Mina's brow twitched. Jealousy flared again. She immediately slapped Amuro's hand away from Duyen.
"That's enough! Stop sticking so close to each other!"
Then, sharply, "Amuro—listen well. From now on, you are forbidden from going anywhere near my Duyen. She belongs to me. Remember that."
Amuro smiled despite the scolding, visibly pleased, and bowed his head obediently.
"Yes, my lady. I understand. Miss Duyen is Lady Mina's beloved. I will never approach her again—not even a single step."
"Mina! Both of you, stop it already!" Duyen protested, her face burning with embarrassment.
She had no idea why they were acting out this ridiculous jealousy drama as if it were completely real.
But still—
Despite everything—Duyen felt overwhelmingly happy to see Mina again.
"Mina…" she said softly, her voice trembling. "I'm really glad… so glad to see you again."
Mina's expression shattered. She looked like she was about to cry as she grabbed Duyen's hand tightly, her voice earnest and raw.
"Duyen… I've missed you every single second. You're real, right? This isn't a dream, is it?"
Duyen laughed through her tears.
"That's my line. I never thought I'd meet you again here. But how did you even get here? It's been so many years… How have you been living? Were you hurt? Did anything happen to you?"
"So many years…" Mina murmured with a bitter smile.
"Has it really been nearly seven years already? Or maybe I've wandered through this damn place for even longer—I don't know—until I finally found you, Duyen…"
She reached up and gently caressed Duyen's cheek. Duyen hadn't aged at all. No matter how many years they had been lost here. And no matter how Duyen looked—Mina didn't care.
"I thought all I had to do was come here. Find you. Find Shana. That would be enough. But this cursed place… everywhere I looked, it was just red. I went from one disappointment to another, until I couldn't find you at all. I was going insane… I don't even remember what I did after that…"
Mina's voice began to unravel. Sensing she was losing control again, Duyen tightened her grip on Mina's hand, speaking softly, steadily.
"Forget everything else, Mina. None of it matters anymore. We've found each other now. That's what matters. I don't need anything more than that."
Mina looked at her, eyes brimming with emotion.
"Duyen… seven years have passed. I've changed so much. I must look older. Uglier. Don't I?"
Duyen gasped, instantly shaking her head.
"No! No, Mina—you haven't aged at all! You look exactly like the last time I saw you.
Actually… you're even more beautiful."
"Really!?" Mina exclaimed.
Of course, Mina had changed in other unsettling ways—like the unnatural transformations she'd shown earlier. It had nearly terrified Duyen. But she didn't judge her at all. Seeing Mina again—alive, standing right here—was already more than enough.
Amuro suddenly explained,
"That's because the two of you manifested here in the form of spirits. This place is inherently sacred, so you can still physically interact with it—but you cannot age."
Duyen frowned in confusion.
"Spirits? What do you mean? Are you saying… we're dead?"
Why was he only telling her this now? Mina had no choice but to explain.
"It's just… Duyen. Before you arrived here, both you and Shana suddenly lost consciousness. At that moment, you stopped breathing, so…"
Duyen froze, panic creeping in.
"…Both me and Shana!? Does that mean I really did—"
But Mina quickly pulled her into an embrace.
"No. You're not dead, Duyen. And I promise you—we'll be fine. As long as we leave this place, you'll come back to life. Ama promised me. She won't break her word."
"Ama…"
Duyen murmured the name. It felt disturbingly familiar. Wasn't Ama the one who had threatened Nayeon—who had strangled her?
Between the whole out-of-body thing and now this, she had missed far too many details. Her thoughts tangled into chaos. Seeing her like this, Mina immediately grew anxious.
"Ah! But we've found each other now! Let's go back together, okay? Amuro—take us back to the world of the living. Now."
All eyes suddenly turned to Amuro. It was rare to see him hesitate. He clearly didn't want to disobey Mina, but in the end, he could only shake his head.
"I can't do that, my lady… I believe we must wait until we find miss Shana."
Mina's smile instantly twisted. Duyen suddenly remembered something and blurted out,
"That's right! We still have to find Shana, Mina! We can't just leave like this!"
Mina rolled her eyes. Shana was the one name she hated hearing the most. She scoffed coldly,
"Of course. It took us nearly seven years to find each other—and now we're about to spend another seven years looking for her. But…"
She suddenly brightened, clinging to Duyen's arm and resting her head against her shoulder with unsettling affection.
"No matter how many years it takes, as long as we have each other, right, Duyen?"
"Ah…" Duyen could only give a bitter smile. "Your optimism is… impressive."
Amuro stepped forward, his voice firm.
"The good news is, we won't need that much time. The Queen's throne is very close."
Duyen's eyes lit up.
"Really!? Where is it?"
Amuro scanned the surroundings, surveying the terrain with his blood-red, gleaming eyes—until his gaze stopped at a hole made of raw flesh.
It wasn't too large, nor too small. It pulsed and wheezed like a living lung.
"This is the path," he said. "Go through here, and after a short distance, we'll arrive."
Just looking at that… thing made both girls frown in discomfort.
They could fit through it, sure—but crawling through something that looked like exposed internal organs was nauseating to even imagine. And yet, they had survived seven years in this surreal hell already. Before Duyen could say anything, Mina stepped forward.
"There's no way I'd let my precious Duyen crawl through something that filthy."
She raised her right arm. In an instant, her elbow grotesquely deformed—morphing into a massive biological blade, seemingly forged from her own flesh. The blade had membranes like a fin, veins visibly pulsing beneath the surface.
Its sharpness. Its sheer, horrifying presence.
Duyen and Amuro nearly recoiled in shock. So it was true. Something had definitely happened to Mina here.
How could she do this?
Before Duyen could speak, Mina stared at the fleshy hole with an icy, emotionless gaze. Her voice dripped with contempt.
"…Guess I'll just carve us a way through."
Carve a way through? No—surely she didn't mean—But when Mina said she was going to do something, she usually meant it.
Duyen immediately grabbed her arm.
"Wait—no, Mina! Don't! Don't hurt them! They're residents—no, I mean—they're living beings! They're alive!"
Mina merely glanced at the hole again.
"So?"
Was she really going to slice it apart!?
Amuro quickly intervened, even he clearly unsettled by her violent inclination.
"My lady. If you damage the city's structure, the passage may contract and mutate. We would lose the path to the throne. Finding another route would take considerable time."
Duyen nodded frantically.
"Y-Yeah! He's right, Mina!"
Mina exhaled in irritation. The deadly blade retracted, melting back into her slender arm as if nothing had happened.
"Fine. Either way, I don't want to waste any more time because of that woman. Let's find her and get out of this place."
Both Amuro and Duyen silently breathed a sigh of relief. Convincing Mina was, without question, the hardest part.
And so, despite their discomfort, they crawled through the slimy passage.
It wasn't an easy journey—but the viscous mucus lining the "intestinal walls" allowed them to slide across an enormous distance, descending deeper and deeper into the City's heart.
After an agonizingly long time, their efforts were finally rewarded. The passage opened into a place resembling a palace—much like the one Duyen had once seen in Yomi.
In fact, this area seemed far less distorted than the rest. The structures weren't living creatures, merely smeared with small amounts of blood and flesh.
Before them stood a colossal throne. Though it was drenched in slime and wrapped in grotesque masses of meat, its sheer scale and majesty forced all three of them to look up in awe.
And above it—
A gigantic lump of flesh hung suspended. Duyen couldn't suppress her reaction. She covered her mouth.
"Shana…!?"