Chapter 75: Concrete Data at the Wrong Time

After receiving Ryu’s notes, Nio studied rune usage extensively, and actually ended up discovering it was far simpler than it seemed—perhaps because she’s naturally gifted with magic and the system shares some similar traits.

Runes depend 100% on affinity, but affinity doesn’t define which Runes someone has. What defines them is mainly one’s fighting style, personal knowledge, and what they’ve learned about runes.

This allows someone to be a skilled swordsman, a skilled archer, and a skilled mage all at the same time. Runes have no classes, so they don’t limit the user.

On the other hand, learning Runes is far more difficult. They are "symbols" engraved on the user’s soul, and they can be easily activated by choice. In that sense, they’re like magic that’s active at all times, but only works when the user wants it to.

Although they do have a cooldown after each use, and they exact a considerable physical price. A perception-enhancing Rune can leave the user blind if they overdo it or try to see something their eyes can’t perceive, like souls or the magic within someone’s body.

A physical reinforcement Rune can tear their muscles apart if used for too long, and an attack Rune can blow off pieces of the user’s body if they try to use it after reaching their limit. Because they’re literally inside the user, careless use is dangerous for them.

All of this was quite interesting to Nio, and it strengthened the theory that she comes from Yggdrasil. That’s because Yggdrasil always tries to control everything that comes from her, and a Rune system like this would allow Yggdrasil to kill any being that uses runes instantly, just by destroying the Runes in their soul.

However, to Nio and Nioh’s misfortune, Nio still has to sleep, and when she went to sleep again, she woke up inside Typhon’s dreams. This is already the second time.

"..." Nio looks at Typhon sitting in a chair waiting for her with a smile on her face. She’s holding a teacup while the table in front of her has a cup set out for Nio.

"...H-Haaa...a-ahhh..." Nioh falls to the ground, dragging herself backward with tears in her eyes. Instead of Nio coming alone this time, Nioh came along. Because the two of them had grown closer and Nioh had been using the dream powers extensively to help Nio, they’d connected more deeply, and so both of them were pulled into Typhon’s dream.

"What a happy moment. Both my wives came to see me." Typhon speaks with a genuinely happy smile at seeing both her wives. She never expected she’d be able to see both of them, since only one of them stays "awake" in the body at a time.

"Why are we here?" Nio steps in front of Nioh protectively, questioning Typhon.

"Don’t be so critical, Nio. I do this every day, and most days you never come. This is only our second time here, which shows how rare such an occurrence is. Though I was rewarded with a double gift today—I’m very happy to see you both here."

"Nioh, stay behind me." Nioh clings to Nio, hiding behind her as if Nio were a shield.

"Nioh? Is that what you call her? What a cute nickname..." Typhon stops speaking and crushes the teacup in her hands, seeing the ring on both Nios’ fingers.

"..." Her hand squeezes with such force that her fingers break grotesquely, exposing bone while blood drips onto the table.

"...Nio, what is that ring on your fingers?" Her gaze changes, losing all the happiness and gentleness from before. It becomes dangerous and dark while her emotions seem like a chaotic whirlwind.

’Damn it!! Typhon wasn’t supposed to find out yet that Nioh and I got married...’ Nio thinks about how to lie.

"Nioh, answer my question." Typhon switches the target of the question.

"I-I got married...t-to Nio." Nioh ruins Nio’s plans. Unlike Nio, who only feels fear, Nioh was conditioned for too long to obey, so she answers with tears and a trembling body. Her wings shrink back and her tail wraps around Nioh’s leg seeking protection.

"..." Typhon’s eyes literally start to bleed. She squeezed her eyelids so hard during a blink that she injured her eyes. Typhon’s tail smashes the table leg in front of her while Nio sees Typhon lose control for the first time.

’D-Damn it! My plan worked, but at the wrong moment!!’ Nio was right in her deduction—Typhon would lose control if she found out Nio got married—but the timing of this discovery is terrible, because this isn’t the battle scenario where this information was supposed to be revealed, which will give Typhon time to calm down after a few days. ℯℯ𝘭.

"You got married..." Typhon’s voice comes out distorted and with static. Nothing of that elegant, falsely gentle voice—it’s actually deep with pitch distortions between low and high mixed with a macabre aesthetic.

’I need to fix this!!’ Nio tries to think of what could calm Typhon. Her original plan is already ruined, all because Nioh couldn’t hide the truth under a simple order.

’She just had to lie!!!’ Nio looks angrily at Nioh, who looks like she’s about to cry, her traumas crashing hard against all that arrogance and pride she always displayed.

’Seriously, this is the goddess who sustained a universe and did all those macabre things!? She looks like a scared little girl!’ Nio slaps her forehead while Typhon begins walking toward them as if she’s going to kill them.

’This is bad!! I don’t want to be hurt by Typhon...’ Nio grows desperate. Even if she won’t die, there’s still the torture that Typhon will clearly attempt, and besides, this will make Typhon hunt even more intensely.

’What could stop this...’ Nio looks at Nioh and then at Typhon, who seems completely out of control like a wild beast.

’Aahhh...fuck it all!!’ Nio leaps into Typhon’s arms, hugging her waist in a desperate attempt to calm her down.

"L-Love, please calm down. Let me explain everything better—we’re doing this for you." Nio looks up at Typhon’s face with her most adorable expression. Years of manipulation against female players being used in a single attack of cuteness.

"..." What might seem like an idiotic plan ends up being effective, since unlike Nioh, Nio knows how to be quite adorable when she wants to be.

"..." Typhon runs her injured hand—which has already regenerated—over her face, wiping away the blood that ran from her eyes. Her hands tremble as if they want to crush Nio’s head.

"Explain yourself." The distorted tone seems worse as Nio notices how sharp Typhon’s teeth are up close. They’re pointed and uniform in an almost macabre row. Nio feels that one bite from her would easily tear a chunk from her body.

"O-Of course!! I can explain everything..." She swallows hard, looking at the terrified Nioh on the ground and mentally thinking that she’ll make Nioh pay dearly for ruining her "perfect" plan.