Chapter 192
"Don’t panic. Just tell me where the monster went."
Kiriya’s eyes quietly turned crimson, three tomoe appearing within each iris as he placed Jura under a hypnotic genjutsu.
The man was already on the verge of death, his mind too weak and scattered to offer any resistance.
He immediately began recounting everything that had happened.
"I used that thing because I thought I could control the Juggernaut. I ordered it to kill Gale, but the monster turned on me instead and left me like this."
Jura’s face twisted with hatred for a moment before becoming blank again.
"The Juggernaut was unstable because it was trying to free itself from the collar. Gale tried to use that chance to escape, but my tamed Lambton swallowed her and burrowed down to the lower floors."
"Once the Juggernaut regained control of itself, it followed them..."
He weakly pointed toward a large hole nearby.
The effort of speaking had drained what little strength Jura had left.
His breathing grew fainter, and he looked ready to die at any moment.
Kiriya had no intention of prolonging his suffering.
A single stroke of his sword severed Jura’s head.
Then, without looking back, Kiriya approached the hole.
He stared down into the seemingly bottomless darkness for only a moment before stepping forward and dropping into the abyss.
...
On the thirty-seventh floor, a Lambton burst through the thick rock and emerged into an open cavern.
It opened its enormous mouth, released a satisfied belch, and began searching for its next meal.
Jura’s command had already been fulfilled.
Now it was free to do as it pleased.
Before it could crawl very far, however, its entire body suddenly went rigid.
Agonizing pain erupted from within its stomach.
The monster convulsed violently, its massive body rolling across the cavern and smashing through solid stone as the floor shook beneath it.
Suddenly, the Lambton threw its head back and vomited a torrent of fluid.
A green-haired figure spilled out with it.
It was Ryu Lion, the elf the monster had swallowed.
Lambtons never bothered chewing their prey.
They simply swallowed everything whole, relying on their enormous bodies and wide throats to consume creatures in a single gulp.
Most victims were quickly dissolved by the powerful acid inside their stomachs and never had the chance to resist.
Ryu was not most victims.
At the last possible moment, the veteran adventurer had driven her dagger into the monster’s esophagus and dragged the blade through its flesh repeatedly.
The unbearable pain eventually forced the Lambton to vomit her back out.
"Did... it work?"
Ryu gasped for breath, then looked down at herself and gave a bitter smile.
The monster’s stomach acid had eaten through large sections of her clothing and left much of her skin exposed to the corrosive liquid.
Terrible burns covered her body.
The once-beautiful elf now looked as though she had crawled out of hell itself.
Ryu frowned, but not because she cared about her appearance.
The acid had burned deeply through her skin and damaged the muscles and tissue beneath it.
Simply breathing caused waves of searing pain to tear through her body.
Combined with the two gaping wounds the Juggernaut had already inflicted, she was barely holding herself together.
What she needed most was somewhere safe to rest and receive treatment.
Unfortunately, the Lambton was still watching her hungrily.
She could not afford to relax for even a second.
"Is this where it ends?"
Ryu smiled sadly.
"I’m sorry, Alise."
"I’m sorry, Kaguya."
"I’m sorry, everyone."
"My adventure ends here."
She tightened her grip on her final dagger.
"But I promise I’ll fight until my last breath."
The acid had destroyed ’Alf’s Lumina’, leaving little more than its hilt behind.
All Ryu had left was the dagger in her hand.
She raised it and prepared for one final battle.
"Hissss..."
The Lambton grew enraged when its prey refused to surrender and even dared to threaten it.
Its tongue flicked rapidly as it coiled its enormous body and prepared to strike.
Then a dark figure dropped through the hole high above the cavern.
It landed directly on the Lambton’s back.
The Juggernaut had followed them.
Slash! Slash!
Its four claws moved with terrifying speed, each one sharper than the finest weapon forged by mortal hands.
With only a few casual swipes, it cut the Lambton into several pieces.
The attack happened so quickly that the serpent never even had time to react.
Its dismembered body burst apart and vanished into smoke.
"J-Juggernaut..."
Ryu’s teeth clenched as her eyes widened with rage.
A broken, animalistic growl escaped her throat.
Her voice carried fury and hatred.
And beneath both of them, an overwhelming terror she could not suppress.
Five years earlier, that monster had slaughtered nearly the entire Astrea Familia.
Every one of her companions had died.
Their bodies had never even been recovered.
Its lightning-fast movements, unstoppable claws, and ability to reflect magic had made it a living catastrophe.
One glance was all it took.
The memories returned at once—her friends dying one after another as she stood powerless to save them.
Fear crashed over her like a tidal wave, threatening to drown what remained of her reason.
Her hand trembled so badly that she could barely hold the dagger.
’Move.’
’Move!’
’Move, move, move!’
The Juggernaut’s crimson eyes remained fixed upon her.
Ryu’s entire body shook.
She screamed at herself to charge forward and fight, but her legs felt impossibly heavy. It was as though the monster’s gaze had turned her body to stone.
"MOVE!"
With a desperate roar, she finally broke through the terror holding her in place and charged.
Squelch!
Ryu’s body stopped.
She looked down.
One of the Juggernaut’s claws had pierced straight through her abdomen!
Agony flooded her body, sending violent spasms through every muscle.
"Cough..."
Blood poured from her mouth.
Yet instead of despair, a strangely peaceful expression appeared on her face.
Five years ago, she had watched this creature kill her companions.
She had survived only because they had sacrificed themselves to save her.
Alise—the cheerful, righteous girl who had always shone like the sun—had told Ryu to hold fast to her justice.
Ryu had failed.
She had abandoned that justice and drowned herself in hatred, becoming an executioner who lived only for revenge.
The guilt of surviving when her friends had not, combined with the disgust she felt for betraying everything they believed in, had made her despise the person she had become.
Jura was dead now.
Perhaps it was finally time for her to let go.
’Alise... Kaguya... everyone...’
’I’m coming to join you.’
Ryu closed her eyes and waited for death.
The crimson light in the Juggernaut’s eyes intensified.
It raised its claws, preparing to tear the elf apart.
At that exact moment, a figure wrapped in blazing green energy dropped from above and swung a sword through the monster’s arm.
The blade severed its claw.
A second figure appeared beside Ryu almost simultaneously, swept her into his arms, and vanished.
An instant later, they reappeared more than a hundred meters away.
Ryu’s eyes fluttered open.
Through her fading vision, she saw the handsome profile of the young man holding her safely against his chest.
’Is that...’
’A hero?’
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