Ch.90Reunion (3)

After rolling on the cold ground amidst the rustling grass for what felt like an eternity, the sweet moment Sylvia finally reclaimed was more blissful than anything she had imagined or hoped for.

Sylvia gazed at Ash’s sleeping face.

Though it had been a long time since they’d reunited, whether because he was exhausted from fixing the roof all day or because Sylvia’s embrace was too comfortable, Ash had struggled to keep his eyelids open before finally falling asleep.

But Sylvia didn’t hold it against him.

Watching Ash’s sleeping face was also an important part of the daily life with him that she had so desperately longed for.

She stroked his hair as he breathed softly, a happy smile spreading across her face.

She had reclaimed him.

Just barely.

Until she met Ash, she had barely endured a lonely existence plagued by nightmares and persistent suicidal urges that could never be fulfilled. But when he appeared in her life and then disappeared again, that loneliness returned with an unbearable intensity.

This pain, this loneliness, this solitude.

These terrible inner demons, which she had gradually stopped feeling during her time with Ash and believed had completely vanished, had merely been hiding deep within her heart.

As if they had been gathering strength all this time, they now attacked her with even larger forms than before.

Sylvia had been slowly going mad during the days spent without Ash.

With her limited concept of time, Sylvia could only experience time according to her emotions, and to her, the current situation felt like being trapped in an eternal hell with no end in sight.

The desire for affection, the desire for connection.

The dog-like bodily desires that shamelessly flared up from time to time after having tasted them once, making the area between her lower abdomen and legs tingle madly.

Not a single desire, not a single longing.

No, not even the tiniest wish could Sylvia fulfill.

Despite being alone in the vast forest, she felt as if her entire body was tightly bound.

The only desire she could somewhat satisfy was her self-destructive urge.

Even that didn’t feel particularly satisfying because of her cursed body that wouldn’t allow death or serious injury, but constantly moving her arms and legs to cut down everything in sight was her only outlet.

The more exhausted she became, the more blood splattered on her face,

Each time she tore into the innards of monsters and ripped out their hearts,

The demons inside Sylvia would quiet down.

Of course, they were never satisfied enough to disappear.

When Sylvia, whose only act of rebellion was to abandon herself covered in blood, expressionlessly wiped the sticky blood from her face, those terrible emotions would briefly fall silent, looking down at her like nobles watching gladiators with folded arms, merely mocking her.

It was miserable.

Why was hunting monsters the only thing that could give her even a small measure of satisfaction?

Since it was the Demon Lord’s curse that had reduced her to this state, it would have been better if he had broken her to the point where she could no longer fight.

If only he had made her a fragile girl who would be torn apart by monsters and face countless helpless deaths,

Then she could have stopped this miserable struggle.

All sorts of bizarre thoughts filled Sylvia’s mind.

Was it because she was a hero?

Was it that fateful title of “hero” that forced her to fight endlessly?

She wanted to stop.

She wanted to die.

She wanted to lose.

She didn’t want to be a hero; she wanted to be Ash’s woman.

Sylvia felt as if she had returned to her childhood.

Killing opponents without knowing why she had to fight, surviving one week only to fight again the next, and again the week after that if she survived.

The twisted sneers of the training instructors who watched her life-or-death struggles from above spread through her mind.

Only the master had changed from nobles to her inner demons.

Only the name had changed from soldier to hero.

Only the opponents had changed from comrades to demon-kind.

Sylvia remained trapped in a life of competition and struggle.

Her love with Ash felt like a fleeting dream.

Such happiness seemed forbidden in her life.

But precisely because of that,

The only salvation that could liberate her was Ash.

Only Ash’s love.

A few days ago,

As Sylvia slowly drifted through this terrible time with no end in sight, she spat out the phlegm that filled her throat.

After spitting, she realized it wasn’t phlegm but sticky monster blood that had somehow gotten into her mouth without her noticing.

Despite not having felt it before, seeing the blood made her extremely uncomfortable.

Not only was there the unpleasant feeling of her mouth being coated with something foul, but her throat also felt raw and stinging from the terrible smell.

Come to think of it, when was the last time she had drunk water?

Was it a week ago, a month ago, or perhaps half a year ago?

She couldn’t remember clearly.

She didn’t even know when she had lost her water flask.

Ah, perhaps it had disappeared when the cabin burned down.

Sylvia coughed dryly and slowly moved her feet.

“Now that I think about it, there was a lake nearby.”

She muttered as she walked toward the lake she had once visited with Ash.

And then she found him.

“Ash.”

Even with the mask on, she could tell for certain.

Instinct, or rather, something that could be called a new kind of curse.

No matter how he covered his face, Sylvia could recognize Ash.

“Ash…”

But Sylvia couldn’t approach him or say anything more.

Because she saw a strange woman following Ash into the cabin.

*

It was one of the most painful nights of her life, which was already filled with devastating experiences and terrible nightmares.

She still hadn’t had a drop of water, but her throat was now burning with fierce jealousy and anger rather than thirst.

A pain that could not be described by any words, any writing, or any language in this world gnawed at her head.

Though the window wasn’t positioned to allow her to see inside, faint light seeped through the gaps in the roughly built wooden structure.

Whether it was a hearth fire or someone moving restlessly inside, the light between the wooden gaps kept flickering.

Sylvia clenched her molars so hard they might break.

Was he wearing the mask to avoid passing the curse to that woman?

Just like when he first met me.

What could they possibly be doing in there?

She wanted to storm into that cabin right now, slaughter that damned woman who had taken her place, tear her body to pieces, and feed them to Ash.

But Sylvia couldn’t move.

If she burst into the cabin and actually saw the two of them entangled,

If Ash tried to protect that woman instead of her,

Sylvia knew she would not be able to maintain her sanity in that moment.

She was certain that some pain she had never experienced before would come upon her.

Though she was already suffering from the curse and couldn’t die, she somehow kept having the certainty that something cruel would happen that would make her suffer eternally for the rest of her uncertain lifespan.

Perhaps,

Just perhaps,

“I might kill Ash.”

Sylvia stared at the cabin all night with wide eyes, and when she was sure everyone was asleep at dawn, she carefully went down to the lakeside to wet her throat.

No matter how much she drank, her thirst wouldn’t go away.

The harsh heat pumping from her nearly bursting heart wouldn’t subside.

Then,

The woman left the cabin.

Sylvia slowly exhaled with relief.

The woman’s appearance wasn’t disheveled in the slightest.

Her breathing and gait were the same as yesterday.

She showed no signs of joy or embarrassment.

“Am I a fool?”

It was something she could have realized with just a little thought.

Ash wouldn’t readily give himself to someone whose bare face he couldn’t even see.

Besides, the woman was wearing sacred white armor engraved with numerous religious decorations.

She must be a warrior of the Goddess Church.

A religious person wouldn’t easily fall into carnal desire.

“…I worried for nothing.”

Clearly, a stranger had simply lost her way in the forest by chance and spent the night at Ash’s cabin.

With this forest being like hell and filled with demonic energy, even the strongest warrior would need a place to rest for the night.

She had simply found this place by chance and slept here.

That must be it.

Sylvia felt deeply ashamed of herself for the anxious night she had spent.

Both for not trusting Ash and for not having the courage to go in and reclaim him despite her torment from impure imagination.

It seemed all her courage had disappeared somewhere since meeting Ash.

Sylvia entered Ash’s cabin.

Inside, there was only a desk with no other furniture in sight.

Ash was sleeping in the inner room.

After so long, she found him curled up tightly against the cold, shivering in his sleep.

How pitiful and endearing that sight was.

Sylvia quietly left the cabin again.

Since they were meeting after so long, she didn’t want to appear before Ash empty-handed.

“I can get leather.”

Although animals had noticeably decreased in the forest since it filled with demonic energy, some still remained.

She might have to search far and wide, but there was nothing she wouldn’t do for Ash.

Sylvia walked away from the lake and disappeared back into the undergrowth.

She thought the forest she had wandered through every day somehow looked beautiful today.

*

Despite hunting all day, she had caught only two deer.

Since she wanted the leather rather than the meat, she had tried to hunt as much as possible, but only two.

And it was already deep into the night.

The meat was permeated with thick demonic energy and completely inedible.

With no other choice, Sylvia took only the leather and returned to the lakeside.

What should she say?

How should she greet Ash after such a long time?

Her steps toward the lake were extremely light.

Why did he disappear, why did he run away, if he wasn’t dead, why didn’t he return to her?

Resentment tried to bloom in her heart but quickly withered.

What does it matter?

Now that they’ve met again.

With so much love to share, where was the time for resentment?

Rather, she had been wrong back then.

She shouldn’t have taken her eyes off him.

It was her fault for looking away from Ash when he was sick and weak.

And she vowed never to make the same mistake again.

With that determination, she arrived at the lakeside.

“…”

That woman from yesterday was entering Ash’s cabin again.

.