Unlike the murderous aura they had been giving off, the situation was resolved in an instant.
Only then did Shin Sua realize whom she had tried to protect, and she came back with an awkward expression.
“There’s no way I’d be hurt by an attack like that.”
“W-well. You’re not in your true body, so… just in case…”
“Even so, it wasn’t some divine weapon or legendary armament. There’s no way an ordinary spear would pierce my scales.”
It was only because the enemies I had faced so far were absurdly strong, among the strongest even across the Nine Worlds, but my scales possessed a toughness no less ridiculous than theirs.
Naturally, they weren’t scales that would be pierced by a mere spear like that, and as she had seen, the spear that struck the scale on the crown of my head had shattered into pieces.
If someone wanted to pierce my scales with a spear made from the byproducts of monsters that appeared in this world, the spearman wielding it would have to reach the realm of a god.
Her face turned as red as a tomato from embarrassment, and she couldn’t say a word. I pointed at Baek Yeon and said,
“Forget it. Tie that one up.”
“Yes, sir.”
“If she wakes up for no reason, it’ll be annoying, so tie her up tight.”
“Understooood…”
While she tied Baek Yeon so tightly there was no chance of her getting loose, I flew toward the giant snake Baek Yeon had hunted.
I didn’t know whether Baek Yeon had known and caught it, or had done so by coincidence without knowing, but there was a purple light flickering in the chest of that giant snake.
I split open the exact spot where the purple light was flickering with my claw.
Then a purple cube-shaped fragment popped out from inside.
[Fragment of Hatred 1/3]
“Oh.”
As expected, the purple dot had been a Fragment of Hatred.
From the Fragment of Hatred in my hand, I felt a familiar power.
My own power, that was.
Of course, compared to my original power, it was insignificant and faint, but even so, its essence was extremely similar to mine.
What is this? I don’t remember making fragments like this…
“Looks like there’s one more thing I need to look into.”
I was already busy enough trying to find out why I went berserk and preparing for events that would happen in the future, and now I had to investigate this as well.
The saying that leaving home meant nothing but hardship came to mind for no reason.
While I was examining the Fragment of Hatred, Shin Sua, who had even bound Baek Yeon tightly at the end of the rope, approached while holding the end of that rope.
“Lord Nidhogg?”
“Yeah. Here, you hold onto this.”
“Uh, what is this?”
“A Fragment of Hatred. It came out of the monster Baek Yeon caught.”
“I see. Then we only need to gather two more now.”
“Then let’s hurry up and find them so we can get out. I don’t have a hobby of dragging around dead weight for no reason.”
It was about time for the people waiting outside to go report to the Association, and it wouldn’t have been strange for the unconscious expedition team to wake up at any moment, so we had to hurry.
I grabbed the rope and took to the air, flying quickly toward the next Fragment of Hatred.
Shin Sua kept pace with my speed, following along while keeping monsters in check whenever they approached the Awakeners being dragged behind us.
Once we each divided our roles like that, we were able to gather the remaining two Fragments of Hatred in no time.
A few Awakeners woke up again along the way, but I kindly struck them on the back of the neck and knocked them out once more.
Both of the remaining Fragments of Hatred were inside the bodies of snake-shaped monsters Baek Yeon had taken down, and both had been killed by having their bodies lightly split in two.
When we gathered all three fragments and brought them together, the cube-shaped fragments changed into the shape of a key.
We took the key and returned to the place where we had first entered.
The gate’s entrance still writhed ominously.
When we brought the key to the entrance, the key disappeared, and the ominously undulating deathly energy around the gate vanished.
As soon as the exit opened, we dragged the unconscious expedition team and crossed through the gate.
Outside the gate was the same desolate temple as when we had entered.
The Awakeners who had agreed to wait outside the gate were nowhere to be seen, perhaps having already left for the Association. Instead, there was a three-tiered stone cairn near the gate and a piece of paper placed beneath it, so Shin Sua unfolded the paper and showed it to me.
[Leaving to report to the Association. If you come out in the meantime, please wait.]
Since the message said they would bring people from the Association if we waited, we decided to put down the rope and wait.
“We can untie these burdens now.”
“Yes, I’ll untie them.”
While Shin Sua untied the ropes that had bound the expedition team tightly, I examined Baek Yeon, who was tied at the very end of the rope.
I had knocked her out, but deathly energy was still flowing out of her body.
“Is this really all right?”
“Yes. She hasn’t been completely eroded, so she should return to normal with time.”
“Hmm… I don’t think so…”
For some reason, the deathly energy flowing out of her had grown denser than when I first knocked her unconscious, and it didn’t seem like she would return to normal if left alone.
After untying the others, Shin Sua came up to Baek Yeon and seemed to confirm the same thing, because she became flustered.
“H-huh? We came outside the gate, so why has the erosion gotten worse?”
“How would I know?”
“I-if we leave her like this, I think she’ll completely turn into a demonic being before the Association’s support forces arrive.”
“That’s a big problem.”
I said that, but I wasn’t particularly concerned.
Whether this woman completely turned into a demonic being or returned to normal had little to do with me.
“Kgh… Cough!”
Perhaps something had gone wrong as the erosion worsened, because Baek Yeon spat black blood from her mouth.
“Her blood is already being eroded…”
“What happens if she completely turns into a demonic being?”
“This is the first case like this, so I can’t be certain, but normally, beings who become demonic turn hostile toward humans, much like monsters.”
“Really? Then should I kill her now?”
Since there was no way to reverse it once she became demonic anyway, wouldn’t it be better to kill her now?
“That’s…”
While Shin Sua hesitated at my suggestion, Baek Yeon opened her eyes, their gaze unfocused.
“…have to.”
“What is she saying?”
“I-I have to… live… I want… to live…”
“Survival instinct, is it?”
I looked at Baek Yeon, who was revealing her yearning for life, then glanced sideways at Shin Sua. She was looking down at Baek Yeon with trembling eyes.
Eyes that were projecting not the present, but the past.
Had something similar happened before her regression?
“What are you going to do?”
“…Lord Nidhogg. Is there any way to save her?”
“It’s not that there isn’t.”
“Then.”
“But it’s not a certain method. If I had to put it in terms of probability, about fifty percent?”
And if it failed, there would be no second attempt—hardcore mode, where she died.
After hesitating for a moment, Shin Sua grabbed Baek Yeon by the shoulders and shook her.
“Miss Baek Yeon. At this rate, we’ll have no choice but to kill you. So if you want to live, nod your head.”
“U-uuuh…”
I couldn’t tell whether she had nodded because Shin Sua was shaking her by the shoulders, or whether she had nodded of her own will, but in any case, Shin Sua seemed to take it as consent.
“Lord Nidhogg. Please.”
“If she dies, it’s not my fault, all right?”
When Shin Sua stepped aside, I approached Baek Yeon and placed a forepaw on her chest.
Then I poured my power into her through the point of contact.
Death energy filled her body.
I drove that energy out and filled the empty space with my own power.
Because the erosion had already progressed considerably, I had to replace a fairly large portion with my power.
Crunch—crack!
“A-aaaaaagh!!”
Baek Yeon screamed from the agony of her entire body twisting.
She screamed as if her throat would tear and writhed, but I did not stop what I was doing.
Because I knew full well that if I stopped now, it would go beyond being neither one thing nor the other—she would die.
Rumble—!!
As I pushed in more and more power, my power raged around Baek Yeon, and the surroundings shook as if an earthquake had struck.
How much time had passed since I began driving out the death energy and pushing my power in?
Subtly adjusting the power so her body would not burst was also quite a taxing task.
Only after I had stripped away all the power that had assimilated with the death energy and my power had filled most of her body did the work end.
Baek Yeon, who had been writhing in pain until just before the process was complete, was now sleeping peacefully as if nothing had happened.
And her sleeping appearance was clearly different from before I had started.
A single horn protruded from her head.
A few scales had sprouted on her neck.
She had changed into something that looked like a slight mixture of human and dragon.
On top of that, I could feel a strange connection between her and me.
Since she had transformed because I had infused my power into her, it seemed a subordinate relationship had formed between us.
Flash!
When Baek Yeon, who had been lying on the floor, opened her eyes, a light flashed in them.
Her vertically slit pupils, resembling a dragon’s, looked around, and Baek Yeon rose to her feet as if nothing was wrong, then examined her own body.
“This is…”
“To save you while you were being eroded by the gate’s power, I pushed my power into you instead.”
“…Thank you for saving me.”
Still, she didn’t seem to be completely without manners. Even though I had saved her, she didn’t get angry or anything.
In particular, the way she looked at me had lost quite a bit of the venom from that hatred-filled gaze she had first used when looking at a monster.
Perhaps taking this as an opportunity, Shin Sua stepped in beside her and explained.
“Miss Baek Yeon. I know you hate monsters, but Lord Nidhogg isn’t the kind of monster you know.”
“What do you mean?”
“Lord Nidhogg’s original world was destroyed by some kind of monster, so he crossed over to this world as a… refugee? Castaway? Something like that. It’s just that when he crossed over into this world, the system arbitrarily judged Lord Nidhogg to be a monster and sealed him away.”
At Shin Sua’s explanation, Baek Yeon’s eyes widened, and after briefly falling into deep thought, she looked at me with a strange gaze.
What was it? A sense of kinship? Pity?
Considering that this woman had been looking at me with hostile eyes until this very morning, it felt so unnatural that it was almost jarring.
“I see. You too…”
“What? You believe Shin Sua’s words?”
“Yes. There was no lie in what she said.”
“How do you know that?”
“After my body changed like this, for some reason, I can tell by looking whether someone is speaking a lie or the truth.”
Did a dragon’s eyes have a function like that?
I knew they could see far away, crush someone to death just by looking, or see through illusions and the like, but even I had never seen a function like that before.
“I apologize for the rudeness I have shown you until now, and for attacking you, even if it was due to the gate’s influence. All of it. And I will be sure to repay the grace you have shown me as well.”
“Uh, yeah. Sure.”
She was so excessively polite that I was the one who felt flustered.
Just as I was wondering what to do about this awkward atmosphere…
The support force from the Association arrived right on time.
“Is everyone safe!… Wait, Miss Baek Yeon has a horn on her head?!”