Dark red blood burst out and dirtied the surroundings.
However, that blood was not mine.
Blood dripped from the black hand gripping the blade that had been rushing to pierce my stomach.
A strange being stood before me. It had the shape of a human, but its entire body was dyed black, making it impossible to distinguish its face or expression.
“It has been a long time. Though you would not know that even if I said it.”
CRACK!
Then the blade shattered, leaving sharp fragments scattered everywhere.
The figure that had broken my sword forced out several words at a time in a bizarre voice.
【I. Do. Not. Know. You.】
“Yeah, I figured.”
【But. I. Know. One. Thing.】
“What?”
【You. Are. Dangerous.】
The figure’s back squirmed grotesquely as parts of it swelled.
Before long, those areas transformed into enormous tentacles and rushed toward me.
“Demon!”
The Princess cried out.
Knowing why, the figure replied in a gentler voice than before, as though reassuring her.
【Do. Not. Worry. I. Will. Not. Kill. Him.】
The Princess, who never wanted to see another person die, and the Demon, who respected her will.
That was why the two of you could never kill me.
Just as I would not kill the Princess.
[Ability 「Rapid Reading」(D) has been used.]
[Rapidly reading the ‘trajectories’ of the ‘tentacles.’]
Faint outlines appeared, showing where the tentacles would fly.
The Demon’s skill was literally monstrous, so it was almost as though there were no blind spots.
However, that did not mean I could not avoid them.
【What. Are. You.】
I deliberately changed direction and ran toward the side where the greatest number of tentacles approached.
Unable to hide its confusion, the Demon bent every one of the tentacles’ paths.
Because their trajectories suddenly twisted, it was easy to pass through the gaps.
“You said you would not kill me. So I assumed that if I entered a situation where I could die, you would change direction.”
Then I took a bundle of cloth hidden in my pocket and covered the completely broken sword.
[Cloth of Regret (A)]
: In use — Apprentice Hunter’s Sword
It was an item I had received from All Magic Tower.
For only two hours, it could infinitely regenerate equipment of E-Rank or lower that had already been destroyed.
When I pulled off the cloth, a clean sword blade appeared, as though it had never been damaged.
【How.】
“It is fine. I will not kill you. Even if I cut you, you will not die anyway, right?”
The figure trembled violently at my words.
Regardless, I gripped the sword with both hands and swung upward with all my strength.
STAB……!
“Uh.”
I was f×cked.
I was weaker than I had expected. It had been too long since I had come to the ninth Gate, so I had not objectively recognized my own strength.
I meant to cut through the tentacle, but the sword embedded itself in it instead.
Perhaps unwilling to miss that opening, dozens of tentacles rushed toward me at once to entangle me.
“Ugh……!”
I barely avoided the attack, but because I could not pull out the sword, I had no choice but to let the black Demon take it.
【Now. Give. Up.】
The Demon pushed the sword directly into its mouth.
Did that taste good?
“I want to kill the Princess as well. There are definitely moments when life is more painful than death.”
But I could not.
I took out the Cloth of Regret once more.
“I know that, and yet I am throwing the Princess into hell because of my selfishness. Blame me if you want.”
[Cloth of Regret (A)]
: In use — Apprentice Hunter’s Sword
Hundreds of swords formed beneath the cloth.
The fragments that had fallen when the first sword shattered were also targets for restoration.
“Since this really is my last time, I want to finish it with as few regrets as possible.”
I picked up swords with both hands.
【What. Do. You. Want.】
“What do you think?”
I threw every sword I had picked up toward the Princess’s body.
At an action completely opposite to my claim that I would not kill her, the Demon could not hide its confusion.
【……Huh?】
“Hey, what are you doing?”
【What. Do. You. Want. Hunter.】
“Those swords are too poor to kill her even if they stab her. If you do not go quickly, she will not even die. Her pain will only continue.”
Only then did the Demon recoil in shock, extending every tentacle toward the swords I had thrown and the swords still lying on the ground.
As all of the Demon’s attention focused on the swords—
[Ability 「Rapid Reading」(D) has been used.]
[Rapidly reading the ‘blind spots’ of the ‘tentacles.’]
I ran through the gaps between the tentacles.
My body slid forward, passed the Demon in an instant, and reached the Princess.
The Demon had already realized that I was different from other Hunters. It screeched as it tried to stop me.
【Get. Away. From. Her. Now!】
However, I had already grabbed the Princess’s head with one hand.
[Skill 「Mimicry-Deep Sympathy」(B+) has been used.]
My consciousness and entire body were pulled into the Princess’s mental-image world.
***
Once upon a time.
There was a very beautiful Princess.
One hundred years had passed since the Mages bestowed blessings upon the Princess.
The Princess was still beautiful, and she loved everyone.
The Princess’s enormous Mana gave eternal youth to every person in the kingdom.
They did not age when they slept and awoke.
Even when injured, they healed quickly.
But one day.
A Mage who had not been invited to the day the Princess received her blessings came to see her in great anger.
How dare they not invite me!
Perhaps that was what he thought.
The Mage placed a curse upon the Princess.
He said that if the Princess died one more time, she would never awaken again.
Another Mage who saw this was a very kindhearted person.
He twisted the Princess’s curse in a different direction.
Only a ‘Prince’ who did not belong to this world would be able to kill the Princess.
Wonderful. Just wonderful.
***
A beautiful forest spread in every direction.
Flowers of every color, fragrant fruits, and small mountain animals running everywhere. Whenever blades of grass danced in the wind, joyful laughter filled the air.
“It has been a long time since I came here, too.”
It was never a pleasant place to visit.
The Princess’s mental-image world was beautiful, bright, healthy, and full of life.
Except for one thing.
Drip, drip.
The flowers tilted their heads while making happy laughter.
Each time they received a red drop falling from above with their petals, the laughter around them grew louder.
I approached the plant dripping those red drops.
Worn and crumbling thorny vines were offering blood one drop at a time.
“Ha.”
My gaze turned toward the thorny vines.
The entire world was bright and colorful, but the path made of thorny vines alone was so dull and lifeless that it was almost black and white.
I walked toward the thorny vines. The densely grown brambles seemed unwilling to permit anyone’s entry.
CRUSH.
……!
However, when I grasped the thorny vines tightly and blood began flowing from my hand, the vines hurriedly pulled back and opened a path.
They were plants that constantly gave their own blood, yet could not endure the sight of another person’s blood.
I walked silently along the open path.
With every step, the world entering my vision became more colorless.
“Who are you?”
When I reached the end of the path, before a house that was nearly falling apart, I heard a voice from inside.
Instead of answering, I opened the door.
“…….”
The Princess’s white dress looked as though red and brown paint had been poured all over it.
Thorny vines wrapped around both of her arms as blood dripped from them. There was not the slightest life in her eyes.
“Others should not be able to enter here…….”
“If you wanted to block entry, you should have blocked it properly.”
“……Ah, you are……. I remember now. This is not reality.”
A boss was still a boss, even in this state. Her mental strength was extraordinary.
Almost nobody could recall their memories of reality inside a mental-image world.
The Princess began shedding tears as she looked at me.
“Hunter, please……. Kill me.”
“…….”
“Dying, reviving, then dying again……. I cannot endure this life any longer.”
They said there was no end to evil, but there was an end to goodness.
However, when I looked at this Princess, the realization that the end of goodness did not always lead somewhere good surged up unpleasantly.
This woman’s goodness had reached the end point of self-destruction.
Just as I felt a slight sense of pity and was about to speak, dense, dark Mana surged out from the Princess.
[‘April’ has used the Skill 「Blessing Curse」(A).]
“I am sorry, I am sorry, Hunter……!”
As the Mana the Princess released spread, the surroundings gradually became noisy.
BOOM, RUMBLE……!
I looked outside.
The flowers, animals, and trees touched by the Princess’s Mana had become monsters several times larger and were rushing toward me.
I, too, felt an impulse so intense that it seemed to seize my heart and suffocate me.
I wanted to kill that woman.
I wanted to strangle the Princess, sever her breath, and claim that enormous Mana as my own.
“You only need to kill me, Hunter. Then those children will stop. They are also coming to kill me, after all.”
As though I were being consumed by endless desire, my headache worsened.
Just before my consciousness shut down completely, I staggered and tightly grasped a thorny vine.
Unlike the others, I knew why I did not need to kill the Princess, so I had at least a brief reprieve.
The one who needed to die was the boss, the ‘Demon.’
Killing the being the Princess called the Demon was the method of clearing this Gate.
In other iterations, when the Princess died at a Hunter’s hands, the Demon died with her. It was only natural that others could not realize—
That the ‘Demon’ was a separate being hiding within the Princess’s inner world.
Drip, drip.
Together with the falling blood, my Mana began flowing away.
[Skill 「Mimicry-Blessing Curse」(A) has been used.]
“Come out.”
My short command echoed through the house.
At that, the Demon burst from the thorny vines and extended a tentacle toward my heart.
STAB!
However, the Princess reflexively leaped in and was pierced by the tentacle instead of me, coughing up blood.
The Princess, whose love for humanity was nearly a curse, could not bear to watch a human die before her.
“D-Demon…….”
When the Princess lost consciousness, the Skill she had used lost its effect as well. The forest instantly fell silent again.
However, only after seeing the Princess’s trembling body did the Demon seem to break free of my Skill. It screamed as though it were being torn apart.
The injury had not come from a Hunter. In other words, the Demon knew that even if the Princess died like this, she would only undergo the same resurrection process again.
Its scream was a true cry of despair.
【Ah, ah, aaaah, aaaahhh, aaaah! Ah! Aah!!】
“I told you……. We should talk things out.”
Flutter.
The Cloth of Regret settled over a small fragment of sword in my hand.
[Cloth of Regret (A)]
: In use — Apprentice Hunter’s Sword
The fragment, which had been no more than a piece of metal, instantly became a complete sword.
I swung the sword toward the Demon’s neck as it held the Princess’s body and wailed.
SLASH!
Then the Demon’s head rolled across the ground.