Story 1-9 "Dying"

Story 1-9 "Dying"

Darkness. Pitch black. It's dark.

It's the only way I can describe this place. There's no ground. I'm floating. If I try to put in any strength, some sort of force is putting me down.

"Welcome, hero."

As I point my body towards the voice, I see a girl.

Her long black hair hid her face. She's in the middle of the darkness and yet you can see the jet black dress she's wearing.

She reached out her hand, and walked towards me.

In that moment, something happened.

Murderous intent without regret flowed out. The girl broadly　smirked.

"Welcome back. And, good day."

The cold sweat couldn't stop dripping down. My head is telling me to run, over and over.

But, I can't move. My body feels as if it's bound by rocks.

"Who-Who are you!?"

I managed to raise a question.

However, she didn't answer.

She was only smiling. It was nothing short of a lunatic laugh from a devil.

Each step she takes closed the distance between us.

"Die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, DIE!"

"N-No!!"

My body instantly reacted to the word "die".

Why do I have to taste that pain!?

Why is it that only I have to feel such pain!?

I can't　move. I can't resist.

Move! Move!! MOVE!!

"Die."

In that instant, the white, slim fingers from her hands reached out to my neck--

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"Stooooooop!!"

"Kya!"

"-!!"

I jumped towards the girl's voice. I grabbed her hips with both arms.

If I don't kill her I'll get killed!

I'll use all my Magic!

"Spirits of the Wind, cut through the sky!"

"Daichi!!"

"--Ah?"

As I was about to finish the incantation, my name was called out, and I stopped the magic.

As I pulled my hand out, I saw a face I knew well.

"...Hamakaze?"

It's her, my slave Hamakaze Juri.

"Yes... it's Hamakaze Juri..."

"You're lying! You're a fake. I mean, you were about to kill me just now."

It was the vivid in my memory.

Yeah, my neck was grabbed by some unknown girl.

But, the scenery is totally different. This is inside a dungeon. I remember the old monochrome colors.

What just happened!?

Somebody was... trying to kill me...

"Please calm down, Daichi."

Hamakaze's voice stopped the thoughts fallen in confusion.

"I don't know what just happened to you, but I can help."

Hamakaze grabbed my lost hands to her chest.

"Nn..." I sighed.

"I won't mind anything you would do to me. If it'll bring you back, I'll do anything. So please, calm down for now."

The sweet voice infused my mind, removing the confused thoughts, and untangled the cluttered strings of my emotion.

As my mind became more clear, I was able to put things in order a little.

My jumbled up breathing returned to a smooth rhythm.

"...Daichi... Are you alright?"

"Um, Yeah..."

"I see. That's great..."

Hamakaze let out a sigh of relief. It was a sign that I was acting very off up to before.

Dammit... I was seized by the fear of death.

"Um... Daichi,"

"What?"

"Um... If you so desire, we can keep going..."

"Ah"

I was on top of Hamakaze. Even more, my hands were on her plump breasts...

I figured out what she was trying to say.

"N-No, I didn't mean to. I'll get down. Just, wait a bit."

Taking heed of my recovered brain, I wanted to verify something.

The possibility of her being a fake.

"Open"

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Katsuragi Daichi Class: Hero Level 46

Stamina:3100

Magic:3240

Physical:4080

Endurance:3400

Wit:2130

Special Abilities: "Steel Heart" During battle, Endurance increases. Poison, Paralysis, Sleep, Berserk has a 1/3 chance of not working.

"Persistent Soul" Magic cannot be less than 100.

"Wight King": Able to make contracts with living beings near death, to revive them and make them obey to your will. Everytime the user dies twice, increases the limit to the number of contracts. Currently two contracts are available.

"Absolute Order" Appears when those bound by a contract are lower leveled than the Wight King. Any order will be accepted by the slave until cancelled.

"Murderous Magician": Killed targets within a radius of 10m will deal the same damage to all units of the same type.

Unique Ability: "Revenge of the Resented" No matter how many times you die, power stored in the abyss of death is taken for revival.

At the moment, number of deaths: 6 times

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Hamakaze Juri Class: Higher Slave Level 57

Stamina:2000

Magic:1750

Physical:1900

Endurance:1000

Wit:980

Special Ability: "Autoheal" Heals 300 Stamina every 10 minutes.

"Loyal Heart": When the master's life is at danger, all Statuses increase by 1.5x.

Special Status: "Higher Slave" Owner: Katsuragi Daichi

Seals all abilities against him until release.

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The figures were unmistakenably Hamakaze Juri's.

My Statuses also increased.

The contract limit for "Wight King" increased to 3.

Moreover, my death counter became 6.

Which means, this wasn't just some sort of daydream; that world that I saw between that door.

It was all real...

"...Sigh..."

I loosened up, and dropped flat on the spot.

A feeling of relief passed, and my nervousness was cut.

"What happened!?"

Hamakaze asked about my wellbeing.

"I'm just tired."

"B-But..."

"Don't worry... I'm just sleepy... I can't... Anymore..."

The feeling of safety was unable to win against my drowsiness, and I closed my eyes.

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"Then, let's start the meeting on how to beat the boss.

I was at the staircase leading to the 59th floor, resting on Hamakaze's soft lap.

Hamakaze looked opposite. Being near the stairs, she'll be able to escape if something unexpected happens.

"First, Hamakaze. Tell me what happened after I died."

"Alright."

Hamakaze followed my demands and explained in detail.

"After you were cut up in the gap of the door, I brought your lower half to a safe location. I believed in your ability.

"How long until my body came back?"

"About three to four minutes. Also, the enemy did not give chase. That, and two other odd things."

"Tell me. Right now, any information is priceless.

"I understand. First of all, the enemy stopped attacking."

"Stopped?"

Hamakaze nodded lightly in confirmation.　浜風は肯定を示すべく軽く頷いた。

"After you died, the flurry of attacks stopped. That's why your lower half was safe. The other half was probably being chopped up."

After my death it didn't attack. Hm, so there are monsters that do that.

I'll need to verify everything.

"The other thing?"

"...Um, the second... um... It might be my miss, but..."

"It's fine. Right now our lives are more precious. TO beat the boss, I'll need any details. Tell me."

"...Please don't be surprised..."

She reassured it again, but what she said was the same thing I saw."

"The figure of the thing that killed you wasn't of a monster; it was something we've never seen before. It's as if--it was a human like us."