Chapter 542: A Cave Full of Bodies

I glanced at Ilse. She was already looking back, both of us caught staring, and neither of us looked away first, not until the silence started needing an answer.

"What?" She asked, frowning hard.

"What?" I returned the gesture. Then I added, "You know at some point you’d really have to make peace with me. I have done nothing but diligently try to save you since we’ve been stuck together."

"You make it sound as though I am a liability."

I shrugged and gave her a smirk, slow and deliberate. By her standards, an annoying one.

"I never said you were, but I really have been saving your ass more than once, granted it’s a fat one, and I don’t regret it."

She glared at me briefly, shaking her head afterwards.

"Why do I even bother with you? You are forever going to be like this."

I smiled, chin lifting an inch, entirely too pleased with myself.

"The earlier everyone realizes, the earlier peace reigns. But don’t joke about it, I can be serious when I need to."

She glanced at me.

"Then what does ’this serious you’ have to say about our current situation?"

I chuckled dryly.

"Pfft, easy. We go down."

Ilse paused. The look on her face went flat, and then, slowly, a stern expression formed, her jaw setting like she’d already made a decision about me.

"I will admit that, given the kind of person I see you to be, I never expected such a response. Why down? You saw his arms, didn’t you?"

I looked at my hands.

"If that is what it takes to undo the strange darkness in my soul and have my Kassie and the others back, then I’m ready to lose both my arms."

Of course, I didn’t mention the part that all I needed to gain them back was to fuck said Villainesses.

She was silent for a moment and then folded her hands.

"Kassie, huh. Is that where your sanity returns?"

"Naturally. What would you expect?"

She scoffed.

"I’m slightly disappointed."

"No, it seems to me that you’re jealous. I have your summon anyways, even though she’s not my priority. It hurts, doesn’t it?"

"If you don’t stop being a jerk right now, I really might punch you in the face."

I smirked and was about to add fuel to the fire, but stopped. Instead, I inhaled and exhaled.

"I’m sorry for making that joke. I was just trying to get to you. I know losing your summon still hurts, and I wouldn’t want to lose mine too."

She froze in place, blinking several times, like she hadn’t expected that from me.

Then I added:

"I’m sorry."

I turned to face the depths of the cave the guy had disappeared into, the dark past the blue glow swallowing whatever waited down there.

"I’m also sorry. No matter what that guy says, I am going down, as far down as I can. It seems to be the only way out of this place. My life is becoming a torment without hearing Kassie’s voice, and I can’t bear one more second of it. I see nothing more tormenting than that, not even death. So yes, I am going down and getting my Villainesses back."

I smiled somberly, more tired than I let show.

"You should be safe somewhere around here. Just be careful. I can perhaps try to convince Brunhilde to stay with you... the world has enough calamities with me already."

She rolled her eyes and walked forward.

"Oh please, don’t patronize me."

’I’m actually trying here...’

I continued to stare at her, even as she passed me and walked on.

She halted partway into the depths and glanced back at me.

"What are you doing? Not coming again?"

I gave her a look of disbelief, both hands spreading like the argument made itself.

"Are you okay? That mother dragon will kill you, you know?"

"Shut up, I can take care of myself. Besides, you have been diligently saving my ass. What’s one more big deal in doing it again?"

I grinned instantly.

"Because it’s fat, right? And it’ll be a disappointment to lose all that!"

She ignored me, and we walked on into the darkness.

"Wait! Does this mean you don’t hate me anymore?"

"Please get your hand off my shoulder, I will sever it."

"You know that will put us in a bad position, right?"

She didn’t answer, only kept walking.

For a while, we did nothing but walk through the dark of the cavern, the cold sharp enough to bite at any skin left bare.

The place was larger than any cave space we’d been in yet, stalactites hanging high above and casting a ghastly blue radiance over everything.

There were tiny wisps of light flying around the whole place, drifting like slow sparks, even helping to light the cave, and we kept going wherever the path ahead of us opened.

After a long while of walking, I spoke again, lowering my voice out of caution.

"Hey, isn’t it weird?"

Ilse glanced at me, answering absently.

"What?"

"Geez! Lower your voice, he could hear us!" I whispered quickly, giving her a sharp look, and continued. "Don’t you find it weird that we have walked for a while and still haven’t encountered that guy from earlier?"

She nodded and shrugged.

"I thought about it too. But it can be anything, he seems fairly strong and has been surviving this place far longer than we have, so nothing is surprising."

"Yeah, doesn’t that just leave us at his mercy?"

I shuddered at the thought.

"I don’t like being left at someone’s mercy, except it’s Kassie."

She rolled her eyes again, continuing forward.

"It’s Kassie Kassie Kassie Kassie, boy, get a grip."

As she resumed walking, I noticed it: the strange phenomenon of the rising number of light insects, thicker now, clustering low near the ground.

I immediately felt a jolt of déjà vu.

I stopped and caught Ilse’s hand, stopping her too, my other hand already closing around Wren’s hilt.

Ilse glanced back at me while I studied the numerous flying insects, and I answered before she could ask.

"There’s bodies around us, a lot of bodies."