"I finally got you!"

"Ha... That's a relief..."

I managed to dodge.

I evaded the beast's attack that aimed for my heart, barely avoiding a fatal wound.

But I had only avoided instant death.

In this state, even moving was difficult.

Siwoo glanced at his side.

Because he had given his shirt to Arte, the wound wasn't covered and was clearly visible.

Blood poured from the jagged wound caused by sharp teeth.

Seeing the bright red color, I had a foolish thought about what my insides looked like.

"Your new friend must be hungry... You seemed close with that girl..."

"..."

"It doesn't matter if you don't answer! Grrr, I'll kill you... I'll kill you, and that girl will be sad!"

Her voice had completely changed since we first met.

Had even her vocal cords transformed into those of a beast?

It seemed she still had some semblance of her mind, but it was only a matter of time before she fully transformed into a beast.

By then, she might have been easier to deal with.

But that was an irrelevant consideration now.

I had no more means to hold on.

"Die!"

I said I'd return to Arte.

Was it too much to promise?

Siwoo watched the swinging arm, sighed deeply, and closed his eyes.

There was no way to dodge anymore.

...But then, feeling a sudden sensation, Siwoo rolled sideways in surprise.

Just in time to avoid the wildly twisting arm.

"?!"

With a thud.

As if it were child's play, the girl was suddenly pushed away.

It probably didn't hurt at all.

But the girl, or rather, the monster wearing her guise, was helplessly pushed back.

Maybe due to the sudden occurrence.

Leaving the girl who had been pushed far away, Amelia appeared before me with a white sphere attached to her waist.

"The Amelia Taxi has arrived!"

"I thought you were a bus?"

"Just understand!"

Only three of them.

It was a somewhat anticlimactic entrance, but Siwoo was genuinely glad to see their faces.

"You're here."

"Yeah, you held on... My goodness."

"Are you okay...?!"

"I'm fine."

I said I was fine to reassure them...

But it didn't seem to work.

Well.

Even I could see the wound was quite severe.

My head felt a bit dizzy, and I thought I might lose consciousness from blood loss.

Reluctantly, Siwoo admitted he was having a hard time.

"...Sorry, I said I could hold on, but it's a bit tough."

"Is this the time to say that?! Oh, what do we do. Emergency treatment... No, but the wound is too big... I'll bring someone who can heal you right away!"

Amelia, not knowing what to do, suddenly disappeared from sight, realizing she needed to bring a healer.

She had to return quickly.

As I sighed in relief, Arte approached with a bright face, which quickly turned pale when she saw my wound.

Her complexion rapidly worsened upon seeing my injury up close.

...She might have strange thoughts again.

Would she think it was her fault again?

I needed to reassure her that I was okay...

"I'm fine, so don't worry..."

"It must hurt a lot, so bear with it. I'm sorry there's no anesthetic."

"What? Wait, why are you... Nghhh?!"

Just as I was wondering what Arte was saying, I realized.

If I stayed here, I was going to experience excruciating pain.

So it was better to leave.

But I couldn't move due to the deep wound, and Arte held me tightly, making it impossible to move. She then threaded a strand through my wound.

"Nghhh..."

"...I'm sorry. But if we leave it like this, you might die before getting treated. Please forgive me."

"Nghhh..."

To prevent me from biting my tongue from the pain?

A cloth to bite would be good, but the clothes were needed for the fight.

Arte, looking genuinely sorry, brought her arm to my mouth.

But I pushed her arm away and bit a piece of my pants instead.

No matter how painful, I couldn't hurt Arte.

As the thread passed through the freshly wounded flesh, I felt like I would lose my mind.

Then, I felt the warmth of the girl holding me.

"Are you okay?"

"...Yes, thank you. But how did you do this?"

"Oh, don't touch it. It's dangerous."

After the pain subsided, Siwoo looked at his side and was greatly impressed.

A thin white thread was neatly in place, as if it had always been there.

"Threads are used in medical procedures too. It's similar. It's like first aid."

"...Really? Amazing. It's perfect."

"I stopped the bleeding and ensured you wouldn't bleed out, but... There's a risk of infection, so it's not good to keep it for long."

Arte said with concern, urging me to get treated quickly.

Though it was better than dying from excessive blood loss, the risk of infection made it less than ideal.

Siwoo nodded at Arte's words and looked ahead.

The beast had returned, glaring at Arte.

"Grr, you..."

"So, you're the one who hurt Siwoo."

But Arte's gaze was just as cold.

I had never seen Arte so angry before.

Even knowing her anger wasn't directed at me, it was intimidating.

Seeing her like that made me think I should treat her well if we ended up dating to avoid her wrath.

"Dorothy, do it."

"Oh, yes, yes...!"

Dorothy, startled by the sudden call, mumbled something and then nodded.

"It's done!"

Arte didn't respond.

I didn't know where she got them, but Arte was wearing unfamiliar, modest clothes and used her threads to quickly approach the beast.

"Don't you know that your attacks won't work on me...?"

"Not now."

Thinking the beast was confident nothing could hurt it, Arte swiftly cut off its head.

"I'd love to take my time tormenting you, but we don't have..."

"Arte, look out!"

"?!"

"Kyaa!"

I shouted to draw Arte's attention.

Luckily, she reacted well to the unexpected situation.

Hearing my voice, she spread her threads around her like a protective wall, shredding the arm swinging at her.

"...You're alive? How?"

Arte was shocked.

She had cut off the head without any hesitation.

She had made sure to decapitate it cleanly.

But such tactics didn't work on this beast.

It roared with a monstrous face, showing that losing its head wouldn't stop it.

"The heart, aim for the heart!"

"Graaa!"

I informed everyone of the monster's weakness.

I had no proof, but I knew.

"If we remove the crucible from its heart, it'll die! I'm sure!"

Even decapitation didn't stop it.

The only way to stop it was to remove its heart.

But realizing we were aiming for its heart, the beast started using all its abilities wildly while retreating.

"...Damn it, we can't get close!"

Arte tried to slice through its heart with threads multiple times, but it was blocked.

She could only shred its quickly regenerating limbs or be thwarted by other abilities.

If this continued, we might lose it.

"We need to catch it now! We don't know what other abilities it might gain!"

All those abilities were due to the crucible.

If we let it go, who knows what other powers it might gain.

While it was still unfamiliar with using its abilities.

This was our best chance to defeat it.

As Siwoo pondered how to catch the beast, an idea struck him.

"...Dorothy. Use your ability on me."

"What? What are you planning to do?!"

"I'm going to walk in."

"Into there?!"

Dorothy looked at me like I was crazy.

She couldn't believe what she was hearing.

I nodded.

There was no other way. My intuition screamed this was the way to end it all.

This was the path to a happy ending.

...This was the way to remove the biggest threat.

My intuition whispered.

"...This is the perfect way to solve everything. Trust me."

"Ngh, ngh..."

I knew it looked like a suicide mission.

I waited for Dorothy to consider it...

It didn't take long to get her confirmation.