Bell Cranel always dreamed of becoming a hero, but reality proved far crueler than his fantasies. Left humiliated and on the brink of death after a fateful encounter with a Minotaur and the adventurer Ais, something deep within him awakens-a power u...
Tears welled in the corners of her eyes, blurring her vision as she ducked beneath low-hanging stone and wove through the winding passage. Why? Why is he going this far for someone like me...? The question chased her faster than her feet ever could.
She turned a sharp corner—only to stop cold.
There, standing in the middle of the path, was Igris.
Hoppla! Dieses Bild entspricht nicht unseren inhaltlichen Richtlinien. Um mit dem Veröffentlichen fortfahren zu können, entferne es bitte oder lade ein anderes Bild hoch.
Silent. Unmoving. His eyes flared like twin coals in the darkness, the great black sword at his back humming with eerie stillness.
Haruhime's breath caught in her throat. Her feet scraped against the stone, but she didn't run. She couldn't. Her body refused to take another step forward.
This knight... she had seen him before. At Bell's side. She had watched him move like death incarnate through enemies without pause.
Yet now, he made no move to attack.
Only watched.
Haruhime took a trembling step backward.
A footstep echoed behind her.
She turned—and Bell stood there, his approach slow and steady, the flicker of Dungeon light glinting off his silver-white hair.
"Haruhime," he said softly, each syllable carrying weight. His eyes, glowing faintly in the dim, locked onto hers.
There was no anger in them. No pity.
Only purpose.
Unshakable, unrelenting purpose.
Haruhime's lips parted, but no sound came out. Her chest rose and fell with short, desperate breaths. Her gaze flicked between the knight and the boy—this boy who had already done so much, who now stood in front of her with the full force of his resolve.
He had chased her into the dark.
Not to scold her.
Not to use her.
But to bring her back.
Her legs wavered. The tears she'd been holding back slipped free and traced down her cheeks.
"Why...?" she whispered, her voice barely audible. "Why won't you just let me go...?"
Bell stepped closer. Not with force, but with intention.
"I can't," he said. "Because I made a promise. To myself. And to you."
Haruhime's lip trembled as she slowly fell to her knees.
And Igris remained still, watching over them like a silent sentinel.
The darkness of the Dungeon pressed in around them—but in that space, between the trembling Renard and the unwavering boy who called himself her hero, it felt as if light had broken through.
