Chapter 195
With the nightmare that had haunted her for years finally destroyed and the immediate danger gone, the tension holding Ryu together vanished all at once.
Her body went limp, and she began to collapse.
Kiriya’s shadow clone reacted instantly, catching her around the waist before she could hit the ground and worsen her injuries.
"Are you—"
Riiip.
Before he could finish asking whether she was all right, the sound of tearing fabric reached his ears.
He instinctively looked down.
Ryu’s clothes had already been left in tatters by the fighting. Then she had been swallowed by the Lambton and soaked in its highly corrosive stomach acid.
After enduring even more damage during the battle, what little remained was barely holding together.
The simple act of catching her placed too much strain on the ruined fabric.
It tore apart like wet paper and fell to the ground in scraps.
"..."
The elf and the shadow clone froze.
They stared at one another in complete silence, looking almost like a pair of statues.
"Ahem. Well..."
Kiriya cleared his throat and decided to break the unbearable silence himself.
Someone had to, and he was supposedly the man here.
"Don’t worry too much. You’re still covered in burns and injuries, so it’s not like I’m getting much out of this."
Smack!
A palm struck the clone across the face.
He spun twice through the air before crashing onto the ground, and the force of the blow immediately caused him to vanish in a cloud of smoke.
Kiriya’s original body had only just finished absorbing the gains from defeating the Juggernaut when the clone’s memories suddenly returned.
His entire body twitched.
He turned and met Ryu’s furious gaze.
Kiriya immediately gave her an awkward smile.
"Just so we’re clear, that was a clone, not me. You should take your anger out on the actual offender instead of punishing an innocent man."
"Hmph!"
Ryu covered herself as best she could and attempted to stand.
The boy’s mouth was more dangerous than the Juggernaut’s claws.
If she remained near him much longer, she might actually die of rage.
Surviving the Dungeon’s executioner only to be killed by one shameless remark after another would be far too humiliating.
’A moment ago, he was talking about love at first sight. Now every word out of his mouth makes me want to stab him.’
’Men are hopeless!’
Her plan to leave was sensible.
Unfortunately, her body had other ideas.
She had barely survived her injuries, remained terribly weak, and still had extensive acid burns that had not fully healed.
The moment she tried to move too quickly, her strength vanished.
Ryu lost consciousness.
In the final second before everything went dark, she fell into a strong pair of arms and heard Kiriya release a weary sigh.
...
Ryu had no idea how long she slept.
"Where... am I?"
A faint look of confusion appeared on her face as she slowly opened her eyes.
A campfire burned nearby.
A small wooden pot had been placed over the flames, its contents bubbling gently as steam rose into the cavern air.
Her gaze shifted toward the familiar figure sitting beside it.
Then her memories returned.
Crack!
Ryu clenched her right hand and accidentally crushed the stone beside her into powder.
"My strength has returned?"
She raised her hand and examined it.
In the firelight, her fingers looked as delicate as carved ivory despite the dried blood staining them.
That was not what caught her attention.
Every burn caused by the monster’s stomach acid had disappeared.
Ryu hurriedly checked the rest of her body.
Her arms.
Her shoulders.
Her abdomen and legs.
Every wound had healed completely, as though the terrible battle had never taken place.
"So quick..."
Her mouth fell open in disbelief.
Given the severity of her injuries, even Orario’s finest healer would probably have required several days of treatment and bed rest before she fully recovered.
Yet Ryu had merely slept for a while inside the Dungeon, and now she was completely healed.
"Incredible."
She gently touched her abdomen.
The Juggernaut’s claw had once pierced straight through that spot.
Now she could feel the warm pulse of blood beneath her fingertips—the unmistakable proof that she was alive.
"It’s good to be alive."
Her hand suddenly stopped.
Ryu had finally become aware of her current condition.
She was wearing... very little.
Other than Kiriya’s coat draped around her and what remained of her undergarments, she had almost nothing covering her.
That meant someone had seen everything while she was unconscious.
’He saw me...’
’All of me...’
’Everything...’
The thought echoed endlessly through her mind.
Ryu curled her small body tightly beneath the coat.
Her toes dug into the ground as unbearable embarrassment brought her dangerously close to losing control.
Part of her wanted to grab a weapon and challenge Kiriya to a fight immediately.
Her remaining reason desperately tried to stop her.
’Calm down. He was treating your injuries. He saved your life.’
’That’s right. He’s your benefactor.’
’He’s a man. He couldn’t exactly produce women’s clothing out of nowhere.’
’We’re in the Dungeon. This wasn’t the time to worry about modesty.’
Logic and emotion waged a fierce battle inside her head until her thoughts became hopelessly tangled.
Ryu herself did not notice that beneath all her embarrassment, she felt none of the disgust or contempt she would have shown toward someone with dishonorable intentions.
"Hey. You’re awake."
Kiriya’s voice suddenly reached her.
It was calm and gentle, like a warm spring breeze.
Ryu paused.
’So he is capable of acting like a normal person.’
"How are you feeling?"
"M-Much better."
Her words came out awkwardly.
"Thank you for saving me."
"I’m glad you aren’t angry."
Kiriya looked genuinely apologetic.
"Your clothes were completely ruined, so I covered you with my coat before treating your injuries."
His straightforward explanation allowed Ryu to relax, though it also made her even more self-conscious.
"It’s fine. You did what the situation required."
Her stomach immediately betrayed her with a loud growl.
Ryu’s face turned red again.
Kiriya found the usually reserved elf’s embarrassment rather charming, but he wisely chose not to tease her.
Ryu was famously thin-skinned. Pushing her any further might cause her to explode, and he would probably suffer for it too.
He held out a wooden bowl filled with meat soup.
"Drink this. You lost a lot of blood, so your body needs something nutritious."
The rich aroma reached Ryu’s nose, and she swallowed unconsciously.
She thanked him, accepted the bowl, and began eating in small, careful sips.
"It’s remarkably quiet here."
Ryu looked around the cavern while she ate.
"It hardly feels like the thirty-seventh floor."
"I stationed shadow clones throughout the surrounding tunnels."
Kiriya spoke as though it were nothing unusual.
"Any monster that comes close gets killed."
Ryu stared at him in silence.