Chapter: 67
Ugh.
At the same time, a black circle appeared next to me.
“If you want to go back to that weird world, just step into that circle, meow. If you wanna go home, come over here and we can watch ‘Love is a Meow at the Family Burger Joint -Am I really the cat of the family burger joint? No way! Or maybe I am?-’! Once it’s over, I’ll send you home, meow!”
I wanted to go back for the kids, but after hearing that, all I could think about was how much I wanted to return to the arena.
‘How could I watch something so horrific?’
Thinking that, I turned my body toward the circle.
“Wait, wait! Take this!”
A little white baby bird, looking all deflated, rushed over, offering something in its tiny hand. It was a sparkling white gem.
Just as I was about to take it, the baby bird smacked the gem against the back of my hand.
Flash!
A brief light sparkled, and a geometric pattern appeared on the back of my left hand.
“With this, you can talk to me and get help from the temple!”
The baby bird continued, its voice sounding kinda urgent. I was wondering what was up with it when the bird started to push me toward the circle with its wings, almost like it was trying to shove me with its tiny arms.
“The time flow in the divine realm is different from the human realm! A ton of time has probably passed in my world already! Hurry back!”
“Eh?! Really?”
As I panicked, the deity watching TV chimed in.
“Oh no, I forgot to explain! Right, right. Of course, when you go home, I can adjust the timeline for you, meow. I’m not a fallen god like some others, meow.”
The baby bird suddenly flopped onto the ground, bursting into tears. I thought for a second, ‘Is this… a deity from a dark fantasy world?’ and stepped into the black circle.
“Kyaaaak! That person was actually her brother’s friend’s relative?! That’s basically family!”
With the deity’s weird cry behind me, darkness covered my vision.
*
“Ugh… where am I…?”
The first thing I noticed was the smell—something rotten and fishy that felt like it could knock out my nose. I tried to sit up while wrinkling my brow at the stink, when suddenly—
SQUASH!
“Umm?”
Something clung to me tightly, so tight it felt like I couldn’t breathe. I slowly blinked, trying to figure out what was hugging me.
My vision was hazy, and I couldn’t tell what was holding me.
In reflex, I rubbed my eyes and felt something crumbly on my fingertips. I thought it was just some sleep gunk, so I rubbed harder, and my vision cleared up.
What the heck was stuck in my eyes? I checked my hand and saw it was covered in dried blood.
“Uh?”
I couldn’t grasp what was going on, staring blankly at my hand, and then I finally looked at what was holding me. It had white—no, bright red hair in my sight.
‘That’s way too big to be Jess… More like…’
“Ah… Iris?”
“…!”
The moment I mumbled that softly, whoever was burying their face in my chest shot their head up to look at me.
“Uh, uh… Iris?”
It was indeed Iris holding me, and she was covered in blood.
“Hic…”
“GASP! Iris, what happened? Who did this to our Iris—”
“Hic, waaahh!”
Tears welled up in Iris’s eyes like little pearls before spilling down her cheeks. I hugged her tight while my brain started cranking out a million worries.
‘Why is Iris crying while covered in blood… what the heck happened?’
My brain was all jumbled, so I just patted Iris’s back, completely lost in the chaos.
After what felt like forever, worrying she might get dehydrated from all the crying, I looked around.
‘Oh, this place. The corpse disposal site.’
So this was the spot they talked about in the arena where they dumped the bodies. Decomposing corpses were lying around everywhere. Some bodies even had gaping holes as if pieces were ripped out.
‘We need to get out of here quick; this place could be crawling with diseases.’
I wouldn’t catch anything, but Iris could. I lifted her up. Just then—
CLANG!
The sound of something sharp hitting the ground caught my attention. A familiar weapon rolled into view.
“Oh? Gargandoa?”
The familiar demon sword was rolling in the filthy dirt. I reflexively sat down, placing Iris on my lap, and grabbed the sword.
[Huuuung… I’m tired of this…]
I could hear Gargandoa’s sobs loud and clear in my head.
“Gargandoa?”
[Hic, sob… Now I’m hearing hallucinations… My partner said they’d never die, but look at this… leaving me behind for that awful creature… Ugh!]
A voice filled with rage, like a bear munching on garlic in a cave, echoed in my ears. Should I just drop the sword again? I decided to speak up.
“Gargandoa, I’m not dead.”
[Another hallucination… Heh, did I actually care this much about my partner? Even in the afterlife?]
Feeling a bit amused, I thought I might as well make my point by lightly slicing my thumb on the blade’s edge. Gargandoa immediately reacted.
[Huh, what… Heh?]
A peculiar sound emitted, and Gargandoa started vibrating.
[Pa, pa, partner? Is that really you?]
“Yeah, it’s me.”
[But I was so sure…?]
Gargandoa was silent for a moment but then broke into a loud laugh.
[Ha ha ha! I knew it! My partner wouldn’t die from just that!]
I debated whether to remind Gargandoa of what he said before, but I decided to let it slide. His concern was actually kinda sweet.
[Then let’s make a contract right now, partner!]
“Huh? Contract? Didn’t we already have one?”
[After your heart was pierced, the contract was automatically canceled. I have no idea why! So let’s do it again, ASAP!]
Gargandoa seemed to think I might refuse, shaking with urgency. Since I had no reason to say no, I suggested we re-contract under the same terms. Gargandoa agreed.
And so, Gargandoa unwittingly signed up for another silly contract. Seriously, you have to be careful when making deals with someone you know!
Swish.
A seal identical to the previous one appeared on my right hand. While I looked at it, my gaze wandered to my left hand.
‘Didn’t I have a way to communicate before?’
Clearly, my encounter with the deities was not a dream, as I could see traces still on my hand. But the geometric pattern was completely gone, leaving just a tiny feather shape.
‘Ugh… At least it’s still here, so I can get help from the temple, right?’
With that thought, I placed the demon sword back on my hand. We could think about escaping later. I picked up Iris, looking around the area.
Gray walls towering about 10 meters high stood in the distance, the absence of a ceiling made the place quite bright. Given that the demon lord’s territory often suffers from gloomy weather, I had no idea what time it might be.
Not far off was an exit. A massive entrance, about 5 meters high, and there wasn’t a single sign of life nearby, nor any door attached.
To be precise— it looked like the door had been splintered into pieces with wood scattered all over the floor.
‘The corpse disposal area was… connected to the arena, wasn’t it?’
As my thoughts trailed off, they began to fade. My gaze settled on the enormous ruins at the end of the path leading from the entrance.
“Uh, um…?”
The path leading to the massive ruins was stained with fresh blood, and here and there lay the bodies of those who met a terrible end.
‘Could it be…?’
I couldn’t be certain, but something urged me closer to the collapsed ruins. The closer I got, the more convinced I became.
‘This… looks like the arena?’
What on earth happened after I collapsed?
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