"That is...!"
It was an utterly grotesque [something].
A monster of vivid, unnatural colors with three pairs of wings and four legs.
Its deformed shape and the exquisitely unpleasant arrangement of its joints made the sight itself nauseating.
The shifting, garish colors swam before the eyes, bringing with them a strange, sickening revulsion.
—Kakagagagak!
Mouths had sprouted across that flesh.
From its head, torso, legs, tail, and wings alike, the sound spilling from every gaping maw was horrifyingly repulsive.
It was the kind of monster that made her feel disgust before fear, despite its violent strength.
But the most shocking fact was...
"No... no way..."
The alien power she felt from that monster, like the embodiment of revulsion itself.
It was, quite literally...
'M...mo...ther...?'
The sensation was terrifyingly similar to what she had felt when looking at her parents.
"Ahh... no matter how many times I see it, it's beautiful...!"
Thanatos gazed at the monster's form in admiration.
Thanatos, the god of dreams and death.
Long ago, humans had thought of death as a dream, and because of that, Thanatos came to preside over not only death, but the realm of dreams as well.
Nightmares, to be exact. To humans, death was like one long nightmare.
And to Thanatos, that monster was...
"What... an exquisite creature!"
A sacred existence beyond comparison, even to the beings of heaven.
A living nightmare.
Thanatos's laughter rang out, a god feeling as though a divine revelation had descended upon him.
"N-no... it can't be."
No. That couldn't be.
She could never accept that such a thing was the same kind of existence as her mother. Ais refused to acknowledge it.
But no matter how desperately she tried to deceive herself, her heart reluctantly accepted the truth.
That thing was a [Spirit].
Without a shadow of a doubt.
"How enviable... truly enviable, Daughter of the Spirit!"
To be able to become one with such a transcendent existence.
"...!?"
Ais finally sensed her own future at Thanatos's quiet words.
"Ah... ahhh..."
A despairing voice slipped from Ais's lips.
No one would know the meaning behind those words until she said them herself.
And soon, no one would ever be able to know.
—A...ri...
Because Ais would die here today.
"Hik..."
Ais trembled in fear.
Before this unbelievable reality and overwhelming violence, the little girl's desire for revenge was crushed without resistance.
—Aria... Aria...
The monster's eyes turned toward Ais.
And in that instant, Ais understood.
She could not win. She could not escape. She could not survive.
That was the brutally cold reality.
—Ariariaariaariaariaariaariaariaariaariaariaariaariaariaariaariaariaariaariaariaariaariaariaariaariaariaariaariaariaariaariaariaariaariaariaariaariaariaariaariaariaariaariaariaariaariaariaariaariaariaariaaaaaa!!!!!!
The embodiment of despair lunged at Ais.
*
The fact that she reacted to the attack at all was nothing short of a miracle.
Not one miracle, but several layered together.
The first miracle was that the monster had no intelligence and simply charged forward.
The second was that its speed was just barely something Ais's wind could evade.
The third was that Ais's body was small, making it easier to avoid the attack.
And the fourth was...
—When dealing with monsters, it's better to move first and think later than to think first and move later.
—In general, when it comes to monsters, being too cautious can actually work against you—
A man's teachings had begun to take root in her body.
Monsters' movements were simple.
So rather than thinking about the next move, the man had taught her to focus first on watching carefully. That unconscious instinct saved Ais.
It was a miracle she could grasp only because of the guidance of the fastest rabbit, who had taught her how to flee as quickly as possible based on his own experience.
And miracles did not happen twice.
—Ariaaaaaa!!
The monster reacted to Ais's wind.
Reacting to the power of its own kind, the monster lost all reason and charged at her again.
The shrieks pouring from hundreds of mouths filled the hall.
'This is...'
For Ais, who had poured all her strength and mental focus into that first dodge, that simple, brute-force attack was fatal.
The monster opened countless jaws and tried to swallow her whole.
Watching the mouths close in, Ais had a premonition.
She would soon be eaten alive by those jaws and die.
Torn apart, chewed, crushed beyond recognition, and in the end dissolved in that monster's belly until not even a drop of blood remained.
Yet Ais, who had sensed death approaching, was strangely calm.
She even felt a bittersweet relief at the sight of it.
Because...
'So it's over... finally...'
Ais had been suffering.
Training was hard, and fighting was painful.
But she had to do it. She wanted to do it.
If she didn't force herself to keep going, she couldn't endure.
Knowing hardship would come, and knowing she could not survive without it, Ais had walked that path like a madwoman.
But... but...
"It was hard..."
It had been hard. It had been painful.
She had told herself it was fine, that she had to avenge her parents.
She had repeated it over and over, encouraging herself and deceiving herself, but now Ais's true feelings had finally surfaced.
Ais had wanted... something else.
But in the end, knowing there was no way to have it, Ais had taken up her sword herself.
It's okay. I can do this.
With that reckless resolve.
And that was where Ais's stubbornness ended.
At that reality, Ais closed her eyes, feeling a contradictory mix of sorrow and relief.
'I shouldn't have fought...'
And while thinking of one man with a lingering ache in her heart, she met a quiet, cruel end.
.
.
.
"Uryaaaaa!!"
"...?"
She had thought it was the end.
—Kaaahhh?!
Kakakak—!
With the screech of metal against metal, sword and teeth collided.
Regrettably, it was impossible to push back the giant dragon, but in the split second of the brief clash, the intruder hoisted Ais onto his shoulder and leaped away.
Thud!!
Fortunately, the spirit dragon's movements were linear, so as long as one had at least a minimum amount of speed, evasion itself was easy.
Thus Ais survived by a second miracle.
'No way...!'
At the sudden turn of events, Ais opened her eyes again with a stunned feeling of disbelief.
"Yo! Human lady. I'm Reid!"
"...Huh?"
"...Oh, huh~?"
The face that appeared was nothing like what she had expected—rather, something neither gods nor humans could have imagined...
A red lizardman grinned at Ais and spoke.