GalaxyTL
* * *
…It was a while after the Red and Blue Kobudai Allied Forces left the resting place.
The pile of rocks… the remains of the cliff that collapsed from Kobdaroze’s desperate body slam… shook with a ‘Gatari’ sound, and then the next moment…
BOOOOM!!!
It was blown away with such force, as if an explosion had occurred, accompanied by a roaring sound!
“…………”
Amidst the dust and smoke rising into the fog, Emi Rune, the traveler, slowly emerged from the epicenter of the explosion.
There was not a single scratch on her jet-black armor or beautiful white skin.
In the end, although Kobdaroze’s body slam had successfully bought them some time by creating an opening and landing a blow on Emi, it didn’t inflict any significant damage.
Now, after freeing herself from the rocks that had fallen on top of her, she rotated her neck and shoulders, brushed off the dust from her head and shoulders… then held up the prey she was holding in her right hand and stared at it.
That prey… is the brave warrior, Kobdaroze, who risked his life for his comrades and tried to stop Emi.
Although he’s unconscious and rolling his eyes, he’s still alive.
He twitched again, his body convulsing.
“…………”
Guuuuuuuu…
Emi’s stomach growled.
Drool overflowed from her mouth, a single strand dripping down, sizzling and dissolving the ground.
And then, holding Kobdaroze with both hands, Emi opened her mouth wide, and was about to bite into his belly…
But it was at that moment…
<<<N-No… Kobdalian…>>>
Kobdaroze muttered in his sleep, telepathically.
<<<Protect… I’ll… Kobdalian…>>>
“…………”
Hearing those delirious mutterings, Emi involuntarily stopped moving.
‘Kobdalian’.
She remembers that name.
The big, slightly burnt Kobudai she faced earlier called himself that.
“…………”
Now then, what to do?
Emi lowered Kobdaroze to the ground and put her hand on her chin, thinking.
This Kobudai in front of her…
They were enemies, but she doesn’t dislike him.
It’s not something anyone can do… to risk their own life to protect their comrades.
Emi, who grasped their telepathic communication, understood that this Kobudai in front of her had done just that.
On top of that, he’s worried about his comrades even in his sleep.
To Emi, this Kobudai seemed like a saint.
Is it right… to just eat him because she’s hungry?
Emi was troubled.
<No, you’re hungry, so let’s eat him.>
Extra-sama, the being sharing Emi’s soul, is rather ruthless towards beings other than Emi, so she immediately suggested that.
But Emi shook her head.
And picking up a stone from the ground, she crunched and swallowed it to appease her stomach, and said to Extra-sama in her mind…
That she’s not a beast.
Emi often acts in a way that earns her the title of ‘monster’, and has the physical capabilities to match, but…
Unless it’s directly related to her life or death.
Without a good reason.
She’s not the type of person who can heartlessly trample on something she deems precious.
So, although she instinctively wants to eat the Kobudai in front of her, emotionally, she wants to let him live.
She’s even thinking that she might protect Kobdalian, the one this Kobudai is worried about, in his place, to some extent.
She’s currently in a state where her appetite is increasing because of the effects of the Last Dream consumption, but…
This is her second time experiencing this, and compared to the last time, she’s relatively able to maintain her reason.
It’s because she’s gotten used to it, because she’s already eaten a lot, and because the mana in the Eserem Sea of Fog is constantly being absorbed into her.
Anyway, at least right now, she doesn’t want to become a monster who indiscriminately slaughters every living thing in sight.
If this were a few days ago, Emi would have definitely killed Kobdaroze and eaten him immediately.
So you could say that Kobdaroze is very lucky.
<But the Kobudai perceive you as an enemy. When this Kobudai in front of you wakes up, won’t he attack you? Is it okay to let him live?>
Extra-sama was dissatisfied with Emi’s idea.
She’s still recommending that Emi eat Kobdaroze.
But Emi shook her head again.
She’ll deal with it when the time comes, she thought.
After all, this Kobudai in front of her, he did his best…
…But ‘that’s all he was capable of’.
These Kobudai are no threat to her.
Emi was convinced of that.
If they ever fought again.
Then she would just mercilessly kill them all.
So, for now, in deference to this brave warrior in front of her.
She doesn’t know what that Kobudai horde, calling themselves the ‘Allied Forces’ or whatever, is planning to fight.
But she might as well help them out a little.
Because she still has that much “humanity” left.
Having decided on her future course of action, Emi sniffed the air.
And she detected the lingering scent of Kobdalian’s… distinctive “burnt smell”.
Leaving Kobdaroze, still unconscious, where he was.
She started running towards where the Red and Blue Kobudai Allied Forces went…
* * *
Now then…
“I might as well help them out”.
“If they become enemies again, I’ll just kill them all”, that arrogance, thinking so lightly.
Is that truly… “humanity”?
There’s no one around her to point that out.
Emi Rune just keeps on… rolling.