Looks like this place is just crawling with monsters.
I was sure that this was the end. I tried to stay calm, but the predator stopped short.
“J-just do it…” I said, and I saw the predator’s mouth curl up at the corners in a cruel smile. It kicked me lightly, flipping me over. Then it placed its foot on my back and pressed down.
“What are…?! Aah!”
It reached down to grab one of my legs and pulled. It wasn’t content just to kill me—this evil thing wanted to toy with me. As it tried to break my leg, I squeezed my eyes shut and silently begged.
Please, if I’m going to die, just let it be quick.
My plea was in vain. My knee bent in an unnatural angle, and I felt something give. I screamed. I tried to wriggle away. But the creature’s foot pinned me firmly to the floor.
“Help! Somebody, help!” I shouted helplessly.
The predator pressed its weight onto me while I flailed my arms against the floor. My spine buckled, and my ribs broke. I coughed dark red blood onto the stone floor. Gripped by terror and agony, I screamed wordlessly.
Suddenly, a band of black light shot past my vision. I thought the predator had done something, but it lifted its foot from my back and looked around for the source of the dark light.
“Even after all this time, Cocytus is still full of horrible monsters.”
Behind the predator floated a girl clad entirely in white. Her cape, covered with golden symbols, fluttered behind her. She had beautiful, porcelain-smooth skin, and her hair was completely white except for its blood-red tips. Her large bicolored eyes—the right was emerald and the left was crimson—bore a cold expression. With a strong nose and a delicate mouth, her features were so perfect, it was hard to believe she was real. She looked more like a statue of the platonic ideal rather than a living person. She gazed at the scene for a moment, then spoke:
“Space-Time Magic Level 24: Erasure.”
A weird shining darkness swelled and began to eat away at the predator, like it was trying to swallow the beast whole. The monster flailed its arms in a desperate attempt to escape as its fading limbs passed right through me. When the black light disappeared along with the predator, not a single trace of the monster remained.
The girl alighted on the ground in front of me. She stared down at me with her dichromatic eyes and emotionless face. She’d clearly saved me, so I tried to thank her.
“Theh-eh ugh,” was all I could manage.
“Space-Time Magic Level 22: Retrograde.”
This time, a white light in the form of a circle swallowed my body. My blood and tissue that had been scattered around the dungeon returned to me. No, that’s not quite right… My body reformed—knitting and weaving itself back together.
“Aah…” I groaned. The pain in my abdomen and leg dissipated. I watched my right arm, which had been torn off and eaten, reform and stitch itself back together.
Can this even be real?
The girl stared at me, and a shiver ran down my spine as our eyes met. She had a terrifying aura. If she wanted to kill me, she could have done so easily. I owed her my life, yet I couldn’t stop trembling.
“Th-thank you… I have no idea what’s going on, but you saved me.” I bowed my head. She continued to stare at me blankly.
“A fool has found his way into Cocytus. This isn’t a place that humans should visit,” she finally said with a derisive snort.
“B-but aren’t you human too…?”
“I am certainly not! How foolish are you to not see that which is standing right in front of you? I am a lich—I have abandoned life as a human to live forever. After all this time, it’s still a displeasure to be mistaken for a lowly animal like a human.”
“I-I’m sorry…” I bowed my head again. I should have known better. It seemed hard to believe, but the powerful aura she exuded left no doubt that she was far more dangerous than the mimic or the predator.
I waited for her to say something, but minutes passed in silence. It was getting awkward.
Maybe I should say something first? I thought. But what if I offend her and she decides to kill me?
Her expression was impossible to read. I wanted to ask more about her, but how? As the moments slipped past, the awkwardness only grew. Her overwhelming presence made the air feel thick, and it got harder to breathe.
“U-umm…” I started, “I know I’m asking a lot, but could you please help me? If I keep wandering around down here, I’m not going to survive very long.” I steadied myself and bowed low toward her. I really didn’t have any other way to survive, and she’d helped me before, so what did I have to lose?
“Allow me to clarify a misunderstanding you seem to have,” she said.
“Huh…?”
“The reason I live here is because I hate humans.” Her curt words crushed my hope. “They betrayed me, so now I live on the ninetieth floor of Cocytus, deep enough that no human could ever survive.”
Ninety floors?! No way!
With that, I knew I’d never make it out of this dungeon alive. If it were only like one or two floors…then maybe I’d find the exit if I tried really hard. But seriously, the ninetieth floor? What psychopath designed this place?
“Anyway…I have no obligation to help you. I just heard a distant shout and came to satisfy my curiosity. To tell you the truth, I would be happy to see you suffer as much as possible before you die.” she said dispassionately.
“P-please! I swear, if there’s any way I can repay you, I will do it!” I knelt on the floor and pressed my forehead to the ground.
“Space-Time Magic Level 8: Dimension Pocket.” She stretched out her arm, and a fold opened in space. Reaching in, she pulled out three bottles of pure red liquid before lining them up on the floor.