Ep.2 - Two Women (3)
Ep.2 - Two Women (3)
"I'm sorry. I didn't have time to wipe off the blood...."
"Wh... what happened? Huh? How did this happen! Are you hurt, God...?"
"It's not my blood."
"Ah...?"
"Philmark is looking for you, Delin-ssi. I tried to persuade her in my own way, but she held out to the end."
After saying that, Neva walked right up to my bed.
The sour smell of blood that wafted from close range was strong enough to make my head spin.
Thanks to that smell, scenes of what kind of [persuasion] she had come from kept playing back in my head,
and imagining Neva beating Philmark to the point of being drenched in blood was not a particularly pleasant fantasy.
'W-well, still, she did it for my sake, God...'
I forced a smile and looked up at Neva. My body was instinctively backing away little by little out of terror, but still, Neva-ssi was helping me, so for now...
A-and! That kind of delusional thinking is a bad habit. How would I know what Neva-ssi did! There's no way the kind Neva-ssi would interrogate her that mercilessly...!
"...Delin-ssi. I'm sorry. To fix your leg, it seems you'll have to meet Philmark in person."
She looked down at me with sorrowful eyes.
Was being unable to help me properly something worth being that sad about?
"With my abilities... it seems I cannot help you, Delin-ssi. I am truly sorry."
"..What do you mean! You've already helped me so much! You're still helping me now. Please don't say things like that. The matter with my ankle isn't Neva-ssi's fault, it's Philmark's...! I'll go and settle this face-to-face. Please take me to her."
"Then. Get on my back."
Unlike her blood-red front, her back was still the same.
As if she had taken all the blood onto her front for my sake.
"...Okay."
I climbed onto that back again.
A back where her flushed body scent, returning from hard work, hit me more strongly than the thick blood smell.
The intensely alluring scent made my head spin, but this time I didn't think I would get an erection.
Because her blood-soaked face was holding onto my reason...
———————————————
Neva walked beneath the moonlight with me on her back.
The moonlight of this other world felt a little bluer and a little colder.
Under the guidance of that blue moon, we headed somewhere where Philmark was held,
and along the path there, a reasonless chill hung in the air.
The place we finally reached was something like a tower guarded by numerous knights,
and the knights saluted Neva with utmost respect before laboriously opening the solemnly shut door.
Geudeudeudeuk-
That door, which opened by plowing up the entire ground because it was so heavy, might have been showing the knights' firm will to completely isolate the interior space.
"That's enough. Well done."
However, Neva didn't wait any longer and yanked the thick door leaf open with one hand,
then came into the dark interior and pulled the door shut again.
Inside that dark space was a spiral staircase leading underground,
and while carefully descending those stairs, Neva gave me a few earnest warnings.
"Philmark is a dangerous human. Her strength has already been blocked, but the words that come out of her mouth are just as dangerous, so please be careful."
"..Got it."
"Also, while I was conducting the [interrogation], I saw that Philmark is abnormally obsessed with you, Delin-ssi. Exploit that and ask her to heal the wound on your ankle."
"Yes. I'll keep that in mind."
'Fuck...'
The endlessly continuing staircase and Neva's too-serious words kept piling on, making me unbearably anxious.
It felt like I was on my way to meet the final boss...?
"They say that if she is killed, the wound will never heal in her lifetime. You must fix your leg before she is transferred for execution."
"D-don't worry. I do have a plan."
Still, it's okay.
Philmark is locked up right now, and I have the Save&Load ability...
I'll try persuading her while repeating multiple times. To go searching for a way back to my original world, I need both my legs healthy, first of all.
"Are you ready?"
"Yes. I'm ready."
The end of the stairs.
A heavy stone door.
A sealed stone door with a very complex magic circle drawn on its surface.
When Neva placed her hand on it, the blue-colored magic she wielded spread from her hand, and it began to fill the gaps of the magic circle.
The same magic I'd glimpsed before when she wrapped the bandage around my ankle...
Kkiiiiik-
The incredibly thick stone door gradually rose upward.
When that stone door that had blocked the long, narrow entrance finally fully lifted, something pitch-black came into view at the far end.
'What the...?'
As Neva carried me and walked forward, it started to become clearer,
and upon closer inspection, was it not Philmark, with an enormous number of stakes driven into her arms, legs, back, and thighs!
'Dear lord...'
She was also completely drenched in blood, and was slumped forward, utterly exhausted.
To describe it more precisely, it was a shape where the thick chains connected to her arms were forcibly holding her up even as she was about to collapse face-down.
"...Delin."
The first thing that popped out of her mouth was my name.
Her voice calling me as if she had waited hundreds of years made my skin crawl.
"Delin, Delin... you've finally come. Delin..."
Clank, clank-
The thick blue chains binding her body shook back and forth.
Following her as she raised her head to look at me, they shook like that.
"Delin. I've been waiting... come closer. Quickly..."
Neva seemed to glare at Philmark for a moment, then slowly began walking toward her.
Naturally, on her back, I d—
"Neva... get out."
"Delin-ssi cannot walk properl— because of your filthy ability..."
"Get out! I said get out! Get away from Delin!"
The small space filled madly with Philmark's agitated voice and the unpleasant sound of chains.
Seeing that sight, I got scared without realizing it. I grew afraid. I wondered if that thing could even be called a person.
"If you're near me, you can walk, so Delin... walk over to me yourself. Hurry..."
Still, my leg had to be fixed first...
I swallowed hard and whispered as softly as I could into Neva's ear.
"(For now... I'll go alone from here.)"
"Neva. You turn around and get lost. I'll never fix it as long as you're here. Go back out and close the door."
Neva turned her head to look at me, then carefully set me down on the floor and slowly stepped back.
"I cannot close the door. I have a duty to protect Delin-ss—"
"Don't call him Delin! I said don't call him that! I'll kill you!"
"I have a duty to protect Delin-ssi! You filthy thieving bitch, if I take your head right now...!"
"I'll kill you! I'll kill you! If you leave, you'll be the first one I kill!"
"You will never come out. Philmark. Because the day you come out is the day you die."
"I'll kill you. Definitely. I'll definitely kill you. I will absolutely kill you!"
Their shouts echoed back and forth, loud enough to tear my eardrums apart.
The walls of the small space could not absorb those hate-filled sounds and simply bounced them back, to the point where it felt like the entire world was ringing.
"N-ne, Neva-ssi. It's okay. It's okay, so... please close the door."
"Neva-ssi...?"
Philmark immediately started thrashing as if in a seizure, then glared at me with her blood-soaked right eye and screamed.
"Delin, what did you just say...? Neva-ssi! To that dog-like bitch! Why! Why are you talking to her like that! Don't tell me you already— with that bastard! You!"
At that crazed fit, Neva immediately dashed toward me and blocked me,
then strode forward again and drove her foot into Philmark's stomach.
Peo-eok-
"Keu... heueok..."
"N-ne, Neva-ssi!"
"You still don't seem to know your place. You are the lowest dreg of humanity, a death row inmate who will die soon. Watch yourself if you don't want to thrash in agony until your death."
Unable to properly collapse forward because of the chains, Philmark dribbled a thick stream of blood into the air, then immediately started giggling while looking up at Neva in that state.
"Puheut... keup... idiot... pretending to be a knight and all..."
This time, Neva's fist struck Philmark's face directly.
A terrifying sound of pain scraped against my ears.
"One more word and I'll kill you right here."
"Ah-hyah, ahyahak! In the end... you're just a stupid bitch who can't protect anything, huh? Go on, kill me... once again, you end up protecting nothing. Are you going to make him live as a cripple God for life? As expected, our Neva-nim is amazing. Truly..."
The merciless violence continued.
The sound of bone breaking bone, the sound of blood splattering everywhere, the pain-laced laughter, and the sound of furious punches...
At that gruesome scene, I instinctively stumbled backward and fell.
"Huff, huff..."
Perhaps because she heard the sound of me falling, Neva soon stopped punching and turned around to look at me.
But I couldn't look into her eyes.
I couldn't properly look into those eyes that had just finished violence and torment.
I felt that if I did, the true feelings I held inside would be transmitted to her.
"...Delin-ssi."
"Y-yes..."
"It should be fine now. I will wait outside, so please call me when you are finished."
After finishing her words, Neva walked toward me and reached out her hand, as if to help me up.
However, perhaps because she soon realized that her hand was covered in blood,
"..."
She withdrew her hand and walked outside.
"Save..."
[Save point set!]