In the nursing room of the headquarters, sarin wakes up and immediately checks herself and sighs in relief, saying.
Sarin:"I am alive!.. That guy didn't kill me!"
Meanwhile over the wall, vash was sitting, looking down the the huge hole that he made by killing the bloodworm, waiting for someone.
As kept sitting silently, a voice from behind calls for him.
"I am not late, am I?"
It was seniel... She walked and stood beside him on the edge, giving him a side long glance as vash replies.
Vash:"No, you came earlier than I expected. I thought you had work that can't be left undone... Since you're a general."
Seniel giggles slightly and says.
Seniel:"That's cute,... Are you worried about this old lady?, anyways.... I am quite surprised that you managed to control the silverine without any guidance or training... You really are talented when it comes to weapons it seems... I saw your fight.. Uh, or should I call it "slaughter"?.... You really annihilated the whole hordes of monters."
He doesn't reply for a few seconds, before finally standing up and saying.
Vash:"ah,.. You really are a old lady, and I just know about this because of the place I am from...there were many stories where this kind of things were used in the plot...so I just had a bit of knowledge from there, ... But, let's skip the jokes.... And get on point, shall we?"
He was utterly calm,.. So much that seniel started feeling a sense of unease.
She kept her calm and says with an awkward but serious tone.
Seniel:"y–yeah, Wh–what is the main point.. Then?"
Vash looks up at the sky and starts talking.
Vash:"You remember the question I asked when we both first met?.... About, why there is no men, and you said that they all turned into monster 200 years ago.... And you are living since then.,.... I asked one more question, that you didn't reply that day.... About.... Where do people keep coming from when there is no male to help the population here?"
He directed the question at her with a cold and series gaze, not giving her any room to refuse from replying..
Seniel started to feel more uneasy and was about say some that started with: "I–.. It's,.. That's because these people are n–.." Just as she was about to say the last words, her head started to glitch. Yet, vash wasn't surprised or tried to sooth her... Like, he knew this would happen. Seniel clutched her head and stumbled back, only to fall down from the wall, .. The moment she fell down,... The the whole camp that was covered with red clouds until now was getting the white light from the sky.
Vash stayed on the wall edge, looking down at the falling form of seniel-.. No, "senyle martha", the boss monster of this floor.... It was written on her name tag. That vash had been seeing ever since he met her... He kept looking at her falling down, and says.
Vash:" The system really made you too human,.. Normal people wouldn't have noticed you if that name tag wasn't there... But again, the system wanted me to think that there are NPCs here.... This shit really thought that just by showing one NPC, I'll think everyone is a NPC here... But, I am kind of surprised.. Usually I don't care about what happens to someone... I just care about myself, my family and my friends.... But here.... These people, who are surviving the death every minute makes me wonder.... Was I living too luxurious till now?, because clearly... The women here, who are fighting to survive... They don't care about luxury or expenses... They just want a place to live and food to eat.... All because of you.... F_cking trash system."
"You really stopped showing me name tags above everyone when I saw the name tag on senyle. What, you really thought I'll think that you glitched... This isn't a instance dungeon... This is a dungeon where you trapped the real people after erasing there memories."
"Haa.. What's the use of even talking this out here... Even if the person behind this system is hearing me.... They won't reply, will they?... Anyways.... Let's start the boss fight, should we?.... She won't die from just a fall after all."
He steps forward and leaps down, only to get grabbed by a large metallic claw hand and pushed back up to the sky.. The senyle had turned into a big, metal skinned monster, her metal wings flapping as she was levitating into the sky.. Her face was stretched into an impossible width, he spiky teeths all visible upto corners from the stretched smile, her eyes we're covered by the metal hair roots.
She held him tightly in her grip, the sharp edges of her metallic fingers cutting through vash's muscles, making him gasp in agony: "GAH!".
Her name tag was still red, but the name was slightly changed.
[The demoness from the abyss]
The cuts on vashs body were becoming deeper as he tries to break free, the fingers in her hands were knifes, the more he struggled, the deeper they get into his body,... He right leg was about to fell out for the first time in a while... He can't do anything.. Even moving a inch means death.
The demoness kept her index finger on vash's neck,.. And first time in his life... He felt dread,.. The fear of death, even though he has went through it many times... But not here... Because, "there is no respawn".. He will never respawn after this death, his mind went into thoughts..
Vash:"h..how is this happening?...i..i made sure to level up and get stronger than her...he name tag was white just before she fell down...w..why is it back to red,.. No.. Not just red... It's, it's crimson red... She's far too stronger for me.... I. Is this how I die... I.. I won't respawn... The system blocked my respawn... What should I do?.. I.. I don't want to die, I don't want to die, I don't want to die... I. Is there no one to save me?... W. Why is this happening?."
"Ugh!?.. R. Right, I badmouthed the system... In my first dungeon too, when I made fun of it's naming sense, it changed the difficulty of that boss... Tch–.. This thing really does have a person behind it.. A person, or some God, or demon... I don't know.... But. If this is my end.... No, I.. I will not die yet.. The system won't let me. I.. I should talk to it first, m.. Maybe I can talk this out."
His eyes were filled with tears and blood, his neck starting to get severed as he tried to talk out and say something like: "H.. Hey! –"... His voice was cut off... As his vision become upside down and he stopped feeling his body,.. His head, fell down from his body.
He suddenly wakes up from his room's bed with a loud yelp.. "AAAH!"... His breathing was heavy and coming in spurts... He gulp and touches his neck. Covered completely in sweat, his eyes showing a clear sense of dread.
Vash:" Th–.. That was just a dream?... I.. Blurph!"
He held covers his mouth with his hand and runs to the bathroom to throw up in the washbasin... He turns the tap as the water falls out and washes away the vomit.
He splashes some water on his eyes and wipes them, looking at the mirror reflection. He says.
"I need to grow outside the system... Just as in the dream... It's true that the system always increases the difficulty where I have to push myself beyond death when it's pissed of at me."
He leans on the washbasin and chuckled slightly before continuing.
"It's annoying as well as amusing.... I've never felt so scared of anyone like this before.... Just who the hell are you... Developer."
After few minutes of calming down and getting fresh, He comes out of the bathroom and sees the outfit he got from the headquarters on the mannequin... Just like ... Yesterday?, there was no hood again.
He stared at it and thinks to himself.
Vash:"I don't remember putting it back on that,... Did someone come in my room last night?"
He looks at the door and sure enough, it was locked.. So, no one came last night?, then why's the outfit back on the mannequin?
He keeps thinking and then shrugs it off thinking he might've put it back on while spacing out or something and went to claim it back and put on.
He extends the hood once more and comes out of the room and walked out.. Finding sarin on the way, who for some reason seems to not remember what happened yesterday.
Vash:"Back to her usual self, huh?... She really have a strong mind for someone who literally fainted yesterday."
He was about to walk away when he noticed a bit of a commotion happening near seniel's office. He wasn't sure what's happening so, he decides to approach them.
He pushes past the soldiers slowly and reaches sarin. Who suddenly got tensed after seeing him but kept her composure.
Vash:"What's going on?... Why's everyone suddenly in front of seny– , I mean seniel's office?... Something serious?"
Sarin was still tensed but decides to tell what's the problem about.
Sarin:"Madam general... Is missing."
Vash stood stunned and thought... "A NPC?... Missing?... What the hell!?"