“Wh-what are you doing? What is this? This is all wrong!” The little girl who had been antagonizing us flew into a tantrum as she watched Alysia kiss me.
The pair of us parted after a few blissful moments, Alysia turning to look at the girl. “You don’t understand anything.”
“You… what is wrong with you? You died and your soul was trapped in here and corrupted with my miasma. This man… he wielded you like an object, forcing you to kill yourself over and over again. You can see his frustration and hate as he cut you down.”
“Deek never felt such things.”
“I-impossible! This doesn’t make sense! This is not how it’s supposed to go! You turn on him, as I turned on my Master! Why aren’t you turning?”
“You… wait… souls came into this dungeon bound together. I had to peel them apart and then one of them suddenly disappeared! You cheated! You cheated me!” The little girl began to rage.
“So, what if our souls are connected? What if we spoke to each other? That’s the difference between us and you. We communicated!” I looked over at Alysia. “I just wish… I had communicated more.”
“Deek, I understand why you didn’t want to show your pain. You want to be strong.” Alysia touched my cheek again. “That… has been my mistake all along. I’ve always thought I had to endure. I had always thought I had to accomplish everything on my own. I killed myself not because I didn’t think we could escape that situation, but because I felt I had to atone for my sins on my own. After traveling down this dungeon, I realized that I no longer want to walk this path alone.”
“Alysia… you can rely on me.” I tightened my fist.
“Stop looking all lovey-dovey!” The girl shrieked. “This isn’t how it is supposed to go! You should hate each other! Despise each other! Resent! Kill! This is the only way this will turn out. No one would be happy belonging to another!”
As she raged, her arm grew into a large sword. I activated Phase Shift and then stepped out from my chains, causing them to fall harmlessly to the ground.
“Y-you could have escaped at any time.” Alysia gasped. “Then… you just, when I came at you…”
I laughed. “Actually, I forget all the skills I have sometimes, especially when I’m panicked. It’s not as easy as it looks.”
It’s not like I have a complete list of all my skills in front of my eyes, where I can calmly pick them out to take the best course of action in any situation. I’ve only had these skills for a few months, and I’ve rapidly acquired so many of them. I’m not some skilled ronin who had spent a decade refining his craft. Although I was speaking the truth, Alysia gave me a dubious look. She seemed to think that I deliberately let her attack me. It wasn’t worth correcting, especially since the little girl was growing more and more furious.
“Since she won’t do as she’s told, I will do the task for her! I will kill you and turn you into a sword, as you deserve! Everyone deserves it!” She screamed.
“Alysia, will you be my blade again?” I asked.
“Deek,” She turned to me and smiled. “I never stopped being yours.”
I took her hand, and in a flash of light, her body turned back into the blade I remembered. It still had the sigil on it that we had forged in the previous level. I lifted the blade on my shoulder and faced the little girl.
“We’re leaving this dungeon.”