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\'With this, I\'ll finally...\'

The Wind Arrow pierced Mark\'s lower back.

\'Get back what I\'ve lost!\'

A frenzied smile had taken hold of Elisa\'s face.

She had attacked one of the Evils steeped in darkness by the World. One of the Evils forsaken by that World.

Her goal?

To get back the thing she had lost.

The thing that had been taken away from her.

Something she desperately tried not to think about.

Elisa, just like those Evils, had been forsaken by the World.

Starting from the moment she was captured, the moment she was brought inside this Dungeon, the World wasn\'t on her side anymore.

When she woke up, she had lost something.

A fundamental right that all Sentient Beings benefit from having.

She called out to it, again and again.

But it never answered.

Not even once.

Not once, until she met the Monster.

Once when in the Monster\'s vicinity, would it partially answer her call.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that Elisa\'s Status had been reduced to the same level as that of a Beast.

Or rather, that of a Slave.

"It\'ll finally..."

A fundamental right offered by the World had been taken away.

And if the World has taken away what it has previously given, the only thing to do is obey the World.

To do its bidding.

To slay those forsaken by the World.

Only then will the World give back what it has taken.

Maybe?

If I kill those steeped in darkness, that would make me the opposite of them, right?

If that\'s the case, then maybe...

Maybe after that, the System will answer my calls like it used to.

Elisa\'s wrapped her fingers around the bowstring once more.

"One... More-"

Her eyes suddenly widened.

Her cold and dark pupils gained some of their color back.

Confused and surprised, Elisa slowly lowered her gaze towards her right thigh.

It stung.

It hurt.

Drops of blood were going down her leg, and the growling Typhoon Wolf did not seem keen on letting go.

She stared into the Wolf\'s red eyes.

\'What was I... What did I...\'

Kekekekek-

Elisa\'s gaze moved and time seemed to stop.

Her stomach turned violently.

Her hands trembled, and the bow hit the ground.

\'What did I...?\'

The Evils or Devils weren\'t so anymore.

They were Mark, and the Guardian.

And one of them had been wounded.

She could see through the wound.

The pain...

Elisa\'s lips parted and connected. Rapidly. Repeatedly.

She pressed her lips and clenched her teeth.

It wasn\'t clear whether those lips had been simply shaking, or if she meant to utter words.

It couldn\'t have been the latter though, right?

What could she have said? What was there to say?

Her body felt heavy.

She felt like she could pass out at any moment.

Her lips parted.

Elisa tried to take a breath in, but realized a fraction of a second later.

She couldn\'t breathe.

She gasped for air.

But it had suddenly disappeared.

The air had run away, perhaps, guided by the Wind.

Her throat hurt, and her lungs burnt.

She gasped for air.

But there was none.

None for her anyways.

Elisa\'s eyes could not move away from the wound on Mark\'s body.

The wound she had inflicted.

A terrible, terrible wound.

He wasn\'t moving.

He stood, his back towards her, immobile.

She feared that he would collapse.

No.

What she truly feared was...

The Corruption inside you is rejoicing-

Is what Elisa would have seen, were the Corruption something akin to a Title.

But it wasn\'t.

Unlike Titles, Corruption doesn\'t have an awareness or a will.

Corruption isn\'t a conscious entity.

It merely wants to, simply put, mess things up.

The worse it gets, the better for the Corruption.

It wants to mess things up to the highest possible degree.

Elisa stared at the wound.

She knew she had inflicted.

She remembered perfectly. Everything. Down to the last minute details.

Every action she had taken, every thought that had crossed her mind, she remembered.

Which is why Elisa couldn\'t move on.

Her eyes couldn\'t move away.

Those actions, she wanted to perform.

A part of her wanted to kill the white-scaled Monster.

A part of her cared about that more than it did about leaving the Dungeon.

Elisa knew that.

The Corruption doesn\'t "Take over".

It doesn\'t overpower the Corrupted.

It doesn\'t take control of the Corrupted.

It simply... Feeds a slumbering facet of the Corrupted.

A slumbering side of the Corrupted.

The side that is hidden.

The side that is fought.

The side that is hated.

The side we want to lose.

And that fact, Elisa couldn\'t move on from.

Because despite the whirlwind of various tangled-up negative emotions colliding inside her.

Despite how horrible Elisa felt, a part of her had gotten what it wanted.

And so, a detested part of her, was joyous.

Elisa couldn\'t feel that joy. After all, it was buried under an avalanche of negative emotions.

She couldn\'t feel it, but she believed that under the mountain, something akin to satisfaction was there.

And Elisa hated that, adding further size and weight to the avalanche.

Corruption influences actions and thoughts.

In a way, it had strung Elisa along for a while. But its influence was caught off.

Yet, was the Corruption a conscious entity, it certainly wouldn\'t have felt too bad about it.

Corruption is not Manipulation or Mind Control.

No one can predict the results that Corruption leads to.

Corruption doesn\'t Control.

It breaks.

And what better way is there to shatter something, than to show that thing just how fragile it actually is.

What better way is there to Corrupt something, than to show that thing just how Corrupted it already is.

Time inside the Boss Room almost seemed to stand still.

Just like Mark, who had stopped moving the instant his stomach had been pierced.

Elisa slightly raised her gaze towards the back of his head.

She waited.

Impatiently, she waited.

Expectantly, she waited.

And so did the Corruption.

For the Monster to turn around.

For its face to express the tremendous pain Elisa had inflicted upon it.

For its expression to scream of betrayal and treason.

For the Monster\'s judging eyes to tell a story.

And for punishment to ensue.

Was the Corruption a conscious entity, it would have wanted nothing more than for that.

Certainly, Elisa wouldn\'t have been able to handle it.

She, who couldn\'t hope.

She, who couldn\'t trust.

She, who couldn\'t believe.

She, who was scared of trusting the Monster, who was scared of that Monster betraying her, had betrayed it.

A Monster.

A Monster worth trusting?

Since when do Monsters like that exist?

Monsters cannot be trusted. Isn\'t that an obvious truth known to all?

But...

What if...

It\'s a big if. An extraordinarily big if.

But what if there was a Monster you could trust?

One Monster you could believe in?

Even if not completely.

If you can trust a Monster with, let\'s say, 80% of your all.

That would, perhaps, make it a Monster different than all others.

A Monster worthy of trust?

Unheard of. Impossible. Improbable?

But what would you do, if there was one in front of you?

If, standing in front of you, was a Monster different than the rest?

A Monster that wouldn\'t attack you.

A Monster that wouldn\'t trick you.

A Monster that wouldn\'t assault you.

What would you want to do, if such a Monster stood in front of you? Such a rare and unlikely creature?

You would protect it.

You would take care of it.

Because it is different than all the others.

Because it proved something.

Something about the nature of Monsters.

Something about Good and Evil.

Something about the World.

The kindness or sympathy of a Monster, is truly something to behold.

For it paints a beautiful picture.

Trembling and gasping for air, Elisa waited for the Monster to turn around.

A hurt expression of betrayal would have broken her.

An expression of hatred and rage would have appeased her.

She got neither.

The wound disappeared just as suddenly as it had appeared, and the Monster ran forward.

Elisa clenched her teeth.

No judgement.

No retribution.

And no punishment.

The Monster didn\'t turn around.

Not only did it not turn around, but there wasn\'t even any Penalty that ensued.

Despite breaching their Contract\'s Clauses, no message from the System about a Penalty.

Despite being the one to violate the Contract she wanted signed so badly, no Penalty.

Elisa would get off scot-free, despite her actions.

Tears that refused to flow down clouded her vision.

Elisa\'s lips parted, and she could breathe once more.

The air around her had returned.

Her eyes moved away from that side of the Boss Room.

The Monster was rapidly approaching while the Guardian was raising its remaining hand. No doubt, preparing to shoot those fearful dark rays once more.

She lowered her gaze.

Her hand moved.

"I\'m a mess, aren\'t I?" Elisa whispered, as she lay her hand on Grey\'s head.

The growling Typhoon Wolf hadn\'t moved one bit.

She stared into its red eyes.

The Typhoon Wolf was still where it had been moments earlier.

Grey\'s fangs were still piercing her thigh.

Drop-

Elisa gently caressed his pelt, as more drops of blood went down her leg.