“Splash—splash—”
The soothing sound of waves echoed in Greg’s ears as his senses slowly returned, gradually calling back his consciousness.
Next, the smell of rust and a sickly sweet, metallic scent flooded his nostrils.
The scent was so vivid and real that it instantly cleared the lingering fog in the depths of his mind.
Greg slowly opened his eyes, and a somewhat familiar scene came into view.
A blood-red lake, vast and boundless, stretched toward the misty horizon at the edge of his vision.
Above him was a dark red sky, devoid of sun, moon, or stars, with only a halo of light—like coagulated blood—shrouding everything.
And then, there was what lay ahead.
About ten meters away, in the middle of the lake’s surface, a figure stood silently.
Her long hair was like flowing lava, yet also like a solidified blood waterfall, cascading behind her with the ends nearly brushing the water.
Her back was to him, and her bare feet rested lightly upon the dark red lake. Ripples fanned out beneath her feet, yet she showed no sign of sinking.
Everything was remarkably similar to the brief vision he had glimpsed when he had been distracted while absorbing the power of the stone tablets in the dungeon.
But there were differences.
The last time, the lake had been as still as a stagnant pool of blood without a single ripple. Now, the water surged gently, the waves lapping against the shore.
The last time, he had been standing on the shore. Now...
Greg shifted his body, and a viscous sensation instantly enveloped him.
He looked down and realized that more than half of his body was submerged in the blood-red lake.
The water didn't seem deep, only reaching his shoulders, but he felt a heavy binding force pinning him firmly in place. It was difficult to move, let alone walk or reach the shore.
“Why am I here?”
Greg shook his head, trying to clear his groggy thoughts.
The final scene before being swallowed by the Thirsting Maw’s split flesh petals resurfaced in his mind.
“Am I not dead? Or... is this actually the world after death? Or is it another one of those weird hallucinations?”
He tried to wiggle his fingers and could feel the viscosity and coldness of the lake.
He tried to channel the magic within his body, but there was no reaction at all, as if it had completely vanished.
“This is fucking ridiculous... why did that guy have a Phase 2? That’s hiding it way too deep!”
Greg cursed under his breath.
Anxiety followed immediately after.
“I wonder how Vivian is doing. After that monster swallowed me, did it turn around to attack her?”
At the thought of Vivian’s final, grief-stricken cry, Greg’s heart sank.
“And Nightmare... if I’m dead, she’ll die too... but I don’t know if I’m actually dead yet. If I’m not, she’s probably cursing me out right now.”
With a string of questions he couldn't answer, Greg turned his attention back to the red-haired girl ahead.
“Hey! Friend!”
Greg tilted his head back and shouted:
“Could you tell me where this is? Is this still the dungeon? And how are you standing on the lake? Are you condensing Chakra at the bottom of your feet?”
There was no response.
The red-haired girl remained silent.
If it weren't for the occasional faint breeze gently swaying the strands of hair hanging down her back, Greg would have doubted if she were anything more than a hyper-realistic painting.
“Is she really that cold?”
Greg clicked his tongue and whispered to himself:
“As expected, my Hajimi is still the best. No matter how mindless my words are, she’ll always give me a response or—ptui! Ptui! What the hell?!”
As he spoke, the blood-red waves that had been gently lapping at his chest suddenly surged without warning, cutting off the rest of his complaints and forcing a mouthful of the sweet, metallic water into his throat.
If the red-haired girl hadn't been standing there so calmly, Greg would have suspected that she was the one behind that sudden wave.
To gather more information, Greg continued to try and strike up a conversation:
“Oi! Beautiful red-haired lady up ahead!”
“Don’t you want to chat for a bit? Look, it’s just the two of us here. It’s so lonely! Not to brag, but I’m quite popular at the academy. My voice has been praised by several seniors and juniors as a crisp and clean youthful tone. I can keep you company and help you kill some time, and I promise not to charge a fee—ptui, ptui, ptui!”
Another, even larger wave slapped him squarely in the face. The force was greater than before, nearly pushing him entirely underwater.
“Cough, cough! Hey! That’s a bit rude, don’t you think?!”
Greg was genuinely annoyed this time, and he was also certain that these waves were definitely related to the red-haired girl!
She could hear him!
And she seemed very displeased with his frivolous tone?
He wiped the water from his face and decided to change his strategy, adopting a slightly more serious tone:
“Alright, alright, no more jokes. My dear... uh, senior? Ma'am? Could you tell me what this place is? How can I leave? I have friends waiting for me, so I can't just keep soaking in this bath. Of course, I don't mean to disparage your foot-washing water.”
Silence remained, followed only by an even larger wave crashing against him.
Greg didn't give up. Or rather, he had nothing else to do right now except keep talking to test the waters.
He racked his brain, covering everything from academy gossip to his views on the state of the world, but the red-haired girl always kept her back to him. Like a reef that had existed since ancient times, she silently listened to the tides of the blood-red lake, giving no response to any of his words.
Greg began to feel a bit discouraged.
He looked up at the eternally unchanging dark red sky, a sense of absurdity and helplessness welling up in his heart.
“Fine, fine. You’re amazing, you’re noble.”
The corner of his mouth twitched in a self-mocking grin. With a final trace of bitterness and a 'to hell with it' attitude, he muttered in a voice so low it was almost inaudible:
“You won't say anything no matter what I ask, standing there as still as a statue... You couldn't possibly be... the Mother of Fragmentation herself, could you?”
He had said it with a hint of teasing and helplessness, not expecting any response at all.
However—
The red-haired girl, who had been standing as still as an ancient sculpture, suddenly gave a clear and distinct nod under Greg’s watchful gaze.
“......”
Time seemed to freeze at that moment.
Greg wasn't very happy anymore. The lingering trace of defiance and testing on his face instantly froze before shattering and falling away like shards of broken porcelain.
He stared blankly at the dark red figure who had turned her back to him and nodded in admission. A chill—no, a shudder far worse than a chill—instantly swept through his entire body!
His blood seemed to flow backward, and his heart felt as though it were being squeezed by an icy hand. Even his breathing stopped.
At this moment, his mind was a complete blank, save for a single thought screaming through his head:
Holy shit, Hajimi!
Your target is right here! Come save me!!!
Rate on N.U.
