Within the deep and dark ocean, I could hear Akira’s voice .

And, I was affected by two different killing intents .

This led to me regaining consciousness .  

「Aki, ra…Akira…?」

I felt Akira’s presence nearby .

A terrifying shockwave caused the surrounding walls to crumble, but mysteriously, I was unharmed .

「Hahaa! The princess has awakened–!」

The youth’s voice resounded .

I realized that it was the emerald youth’s voice .

「You, choose a single name to call her . You called her ‘princess’ just now」

TN: the first princess was お姫様 (ohimesama) and this one is 王女様 (ojousama) . The meanings are similar in English, but they are two different words in j.a.panese (this ojousama has different kanji than the one that is used to refer to a n.o.bleman’s daughter even though they sound the same) .  

「You’re an idiot, aren’t you~ . 」

The sound of metal colliding reverberated .

The wall closest to me shook .

「The one who wakes up would obviously be a princess . 」

「This is reality, not a fairytale! You stupid brat . 」

I blinked my eyes a few times, and the scene in front of me became clearer .

The feeling in my body returned as well .

My fingers could move .

It seems that he had laid me down against the wall of the dungeon .

I s.h.i.+fted my arm that was still numb and stood up while using the wall as support .

「Akira!」

「Stay over there, Amelia . You…I will definitely take you back . 」

His back facing me, Akira threw the cloak that he was wearing to me .

I was enveloped in Akira’s smell .

It calmed me down, a lot .

The hand that was holding onto the wall slipped .  

About to fall, I was supported by something that was warm and fluffy .

「Yo, ru?」

『Don’t overdo it, Miss Amelia . Believe in Master-dono and wait for him . 』

Those golden eyes were warm when he was looking at me .  

Did he transform, it was not the usual black cat form that he was in, but it was definitely Yoru .

I leaned on him so that warm body of his could warm up my own thoroughly chilled body .

His tail wrapped me up, along with Akira’s cloak .

Wrapped up in the two calming smells that were always around me, I felt at ease .

「Un . …I’ll always believe . In Akira, and you as well Yoru . 」

Akira, bleeding from the wounds that appeared all over his body, was going head to head, daggers against spear, with the youth who was still uninjured .

Akira was losing, but having lasted this long against a demon, that too was amazing in itself .  

「…Akira, seems like he’s having fun . 」

『Within this world, Master-dono’s strength is much stronger, far surpa.s.sing that of the other humans and monsters . If they were ordinary opponents, it would’ve been over in one hit . Master-dono hates troublesome things, so he wouldn’t do something like purposely searching for an opponent, but even so… . 』

Yoru, looked toward where Akira was .

Akira was wounded and b.l.o.o.d.y . Even though he should be hurting, he was smiling .

This was the first time we’ve seen him fighting so happily .

『It’s probably fun to fight someone who you can go all out against . To the point where he’s unconsciously smiling . …although he himself does not want to admit it, but Master-dono is, without a doubt, a battle manic . 』

He truly seemed to be having fun .

This scene was quite similar to when Kirika was practicing her sword by herself .

「…how enviable . 」

I was drowning in jealousy .  

Yoru probably did not hear it, but these words spilled out from my lips .

「Hey, hey, none of your attacks have hit me yet . Certainly, it’s amazing that you’ve lasted this long against a demon, but there’s no point if your attacks don’t connect . 」

Certainly, he didn’t have any large wounds, but his small injuries were all b.l.o.o.d.y . Was he anemic, Akira’s face was turning pale .

Akira’s blood was everywhere on the ground .

No, it was scattered all around; it would be too strange to say that it just dripped onto the floor .

It was a different, it was as if he purposely allowed it to spill there… .

「Well, the preparations are finished . 」

The youth frowned .

Akira grinned and raised his hand horizontally .  

「What are you doing now… . 」

「『Shadow Magic』」

All the shadows within the dungeon gathered to Akira’s side .

The shadows created by the lights within the dungeon, as well as the shadows of myself and Yoru were consumed and became Akira’s shadow .  

「Scatter!」

At Akira’s command, the shadows dispersed .

It was a technique that I’ve never seen before .

If I’m not mistaken, from what I knew about Akira, he could only use his own shadow .

He shouldn’t be able to gather the surrounding shadows and manipulate them .

Before I knew it… .

As if guided by something, the shadows headed toward somewhere .

『The blood… . 』

After hearing what Yoru had muttered, I looked at the blood that was scattered all over the ground . The shadows were gathering towards the large volumes of blood .

「They are reacting to the remaining bit of magic power left within the blood and gathering there…no, they’re gathering it?」

Akira clenched the hand that he raised .

「『Shadow Beast』」

The shadows that had gathered on the surface of the blood wriggled around, and a.s.sumed the shape of animals .

The bloodthirsty, four-legged beasts that were similar to a wolves, dodged the youth’s spear and bit his arms, legs, and torso .

「……!!!!」

The youth spun his body and forcibly shook off the beasts .

From that impact, his flesh was torn off .

This time, it was the youth’s blood that dripped everywhere .

He was bleeding much more than Akira .

In an instant, the tables were turned .

「It seems that, your blood and magic power is considerably delicious . 『Shadow Magic』is pleased . 」

Akira looked at the shadow that was moving around at his feet and said this .

Meanwhile, the youth was staring at the blood that he was shedding .

「…fufufuu! Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaa!!」

And then, he raised his voice and burst into laughter .

Akira backed away a little .

Before anyone knew it, the beasts created from the shadows disappeared .

「This is pain… . This is my blood… . 」

The youth grasped the blood that was flowing from his abdomen .  

As Akira and I were backing away, Yoru was the only who calmly looked on at that scene .

『In general, demons have a large amount of magic power, so they are famous for having high offensive ability, and only for that, but their defensive ability is incomparable to the other races as well . A simple edged tool was a matter of course, but magic would not be able to injure them either . …some of my acquaintances, have never shed a drop of blood in their entire life before . 』

If that were true, from the youth’s reaction, it seems that he was one of those people as well .  

To me, it seemed like he was delighted that blood was flowing within himself .

It seemed like he was delighted that he was feeling pain .

It seemed like he was delighted that the color of his blood was the same as the other races .

「Ahahahahahahahahaaaa! Truly, this is the best . Everyone will probably be happy once they know that there’s a human like you . 」

An ecstatic smile on his lips, the youth let go of the spear, letting it fall .

And, in the opposite hand that had not been gripping the spear, he was holding onto a flute that he took from who knew where .

「You especially showed me a powerful technique . I too will reciprocate . 」

I saw that flute, and recalled what had happened just before I had died .

「Noo! Run, Akira!!」

「It’s too late . 」

The youth held the flute in both hands and pressed it against his lips .