āHelp me!! Yuria, help me! Yuria!! No, no, no!!ā
Dan was too stunned to speak. Rebecca had already been swallowed whole. I kicked off the ground at full strength to try to save Ariaā¦ but it was already too late. I was in a bit of a daze, and too slow to react.
Why is there a monster here?
And what the hell kind of monster is that?
Is Rebecca dead?
Everything happened too quickly; it doesnāt make sense.
My head was filled with questions, firing off constantly. It took me a bit to accept what was going on. And because I was stuck in place, thinkingā¦ the monster restrained Aria with its thread and ate her, as well.
This was reality: humans were completely at the mercy of the demons. Iād seen this kind of thing before, quite often. Demons and monsters of different species would fight and kill each other all the time. Iāve seen this happen so often, butā¦ this time itās a human getting killed in front of me. Is that really all it takes for me to freeze up like this? I could leave Dan behind and run, but that would be lowering myself to their level. I donāt want to be like that.
āDan! Letās go, get up! Hurry!ā
āRebeccaā¦ Ariaā¦ā
āCome on, quickly!ā I screamed, but Dan seemed to be completely unable to move. How did a Huge Spider get in hereā¦ No, wait this isnāt the time. Quicklyā¦ Iāve got to runā¦
But Dan didnāt move at all ā a fair reaction, considering the circumstances. Two of his close friends had just died all of a sudden, after all. I was used to this kind of thing, so I could respond fairly quickly. For a fairly sheltered person like Dan, though, it was normal to be overwhelmed.
āā¦Haā¦ haā¦ hahahahaha!ā
And for some reason, he started laughing. Does he not understand that this is an emergency? Did the shock knock a screw loose up there or something? I thought. All of a sudden, we were surrounded. Immediately, Dan got up and ran towards the pack of Huge Spiders.
āDan, donāt! Youāre gonna die!ā
What is he thinking? Does he want to die? I thought. Then something impossible happened.
āHahaā¦ hahahaā¦ he was right. It was just like he said. Hahahahaha! I did it! I did it! With this, Iāll finally be stronger than you! Iāll be the strongest!ā
āWhatā¦ are you talking about, Dan?ā
I couldnāt believe my eyes. Dan was surrounded by Huge Spiders, but he hadnāt been attacked. They surrounded him almost as if they were protecting him.
āYuriaā¦ You got strongerā¦ Oh, I already heard everything about you from that manā¦ And so, I got stronger. Iāll get even strongerā¦ā
āā¦What are you saying?ā
āEverything Iāve ever done was leading up to this moment. Rebecca and Ariaā¦ well, their deaths are a shame, but I was just about getting sick of them. Having them die here was pretty convenient. With this much manaā¦ I can be the strongest being in the worldā¦ā
āYouā¦ you didnātā¦ā
ā
ā
āYeah, I did. Iām not human anymore. I became a demon!ā
āYou sold your humanity?!ā
āDonāt be stupid. Humanityās already done for. Doesnāt it make sense to join the winning side?ā
āHow longā¦ How long have you been a demon?!ā
āJust before you came back, I met this guy. He showed me how to get stronger. Even stronger than you!ā
His mana was like a violent gale. I could see it with [Twilight Sight]. The particles of mana converged on him, wrapping around himā¦
When it settled, there was a grotesque, hideous being in his place.
āHahahahahaha! Yuria! Iām stronger than you! Iām stronger than you, you bastard!ā
His body had changed, and he no longer looked human. He was completely covered in the Twilight, and its red and black pattern covered his entire body. I had that same pattern on my arm, but on Danā¦ it was everywhere. He lookedā¦ like a demon.
Does this mean that Twilight Syndrome, when fully developed, looks like that?
Plus, whoās this person he keeps talking about? What did they do to Dan?
And this all happened just before I came backā¦ So heās been planning this whole time? Is thereā¦ Is there a human whoās turned traitor? Are there more people like Dan? I thought.
It was pretty obvious that Dan did not do this alone. The Barriered Cities, as the name implies, have very strong barriers. These Huge Spiders wouldnāt be capable of breaking through alone. In that caseā¦ someone guided them through the barrier.
āDie, you son of a bitch!ā
Just as I came to that horrible realisation, Dan took off towards me, wielding his broadsword. I could tell, just from the speed and strength of his attacks, that he was a very different opponent. Heād definitely grown strongerā¦ No, thatās wrong. He didnāt grow, heā¦ gave up his humanity. Heād surpassed human limits. I drew my knife, activating [Invisible Blade] while dodging Danās swing.
āYuria! Donāt dodge, you piece of shit!ā
Heād gone insane. His ability to think logically was gone, replaced entirely by madness.
This is my fault. Iād been scared this whole timeā¦ I was too afraid to do anything about them and kept putting this confrontation off. I shouldāve told someone sooner. I shouldnāt have tried to handle this by myself. I shouldāve lodged a complaint against them as soon as I got back.
But I was too scared. I was too weakā¦ I didnāt want to think about back then, didnāt want to remember it.
Dan.
Iā¦ Iām going to kill you.
That is the least I can do. Itās too late to save you, now, butā¦ I canāt put this off any longer. This momentā¦ is my only chance!
I activated [Invisible Blade] on my right foot, andā¦ pierced straight through Danās heart.
āUghā¦ Yuriaā¦ā
āWhaā¦ Is that even possible?!ā
I had, without a doubt, destroyed his heart. And yet, somehow, he was still standing. It only seemed to enrage him. The air roared with his bloodlust as he attacked again.