As Yuuya stared at Alice who was devouring the grilled Rusca, he found it mysterious for such a large chunk of food went down into her stomach. Well, half of it but rather than stopping, the girl simply raised her appetite even higher. It's already a wonder how she looked no different than a frail mannequin doll after all that.

"....! A-aaah!? I-I'm sorry!!" --Alice suddenly said as she bowed down her head in shames. It didn't seem like she hasn't noticed Yuuya's stare.

How cute. Yuuya concluded that Alice was a stranger to kind treatment and that she tended to self-destruct, which was the absolutely correct fact about her. Although for Yuuya, it reminded him of something unpleasant so he must have showed quite a sour expression by then. To distract himself from the matter, he decided to ask.

"Why do you apologize? Did you even do anything wrong by eating your shares of food, Alice?"

"Th-that... that is......."

The girl lowered her head even further. She was always educated to be a tool which fulfills the needs of her Master. Though it was the first time for her to actually serve someone with proper communication, Alice usually never had the chance to refute commands. Much less knowing a reason why the orders were given to her. In the end, she thought it was useless to ask, and if she did something which was worth to be questioned, she must apologize as it was her fault for certain.

Yuuya found her action as insulting. Not only because she resembled someone, but also because he despised such attitude the most as he saw a fraction of himself in it. It was like gazing at the mirror only to discover the reflection of a hated person to be there.

"Listen up, Alice. Don't you dare to lower down your head. Don't you dare to lower your value selfishly. In front of me, know that acceptance of your current self is but a foolish decision."

"......un... understood......."

"Don't just say it. Prove it to me that you can change. Where's your will from earlier go to?"

The girl... After being ridiculed like that, bit her lips and glared at Yuuya. A small amount of malice emerged in her eyes and he felt as if he was being stared by a beast. Which is a good thing for he now know how to deal with Alice more and more.

"Hmph. That's right. Don't lower your head if you want to survive. In this world, you are just a slave. As if there existed people who would save you when you need them the most. Did you even live a life where you are not treated as a slave?"

".......no..."

"If hero truly existed... Why did you suffer for all the time? Why didn't they save you before all the tragedies befallen upon you?"

"...because... There is no... hero...."

"Then... who do you think you can rely on when you have nobody at your sides?"

Silence. The girl's expression became hidden by the shades of her hair. She was asking herself who could save her.

In her entire life, nobody prevented her despair. In all the years she had lived through, no one gave even a glance to her. Nobody cared even if she were to die. In fact, she believed that the world truly rejected her for not granting her the chance to be saved.

When she gazed at the sky... would the gods even answered to her pleas? Did they even whispered a key to free her?

At this point, even guessing was no needed. It was a textbook answer even for a fool who knew absolutely nothing about the world. After all—

".......to live... I have to... rely... on myself..."

Alice answered. Her gaze was sharp. Extremely sharp akin to a blade. The darkness in her eyes shimmered and a fiery desire was unleashed in her heart.

Seeing the obvious changes of the girl, the Blood Smeared Devil cracked a laugh. He had expected her to catch on this quick, but he never thought she would easily change her attitude like that. Humans were impulsive in nature, but they matured slowly as times accompanied them.

In fact, a sudden change of personality could only mean devastating effects. But not in a bad sense for Yuuya.

Then the Voyager abruptly stood up, causing the poor Alice to shudder like a frightened rabbit. She gazed warily at her Master but he was smiling. Yuuya was smiling with an extremely bright complexion the girl choked.

"Well now, Alice. It seems you have understood the first lesson. If you have a wish you want to come true then make it true by yourself. That is the sole truth in any world be it in this world, or even in my world."

".......Is... Is that true, Master...?"

Yuuya nodded, saying "It is so, my cute slave" with his Cheshire smile ever so wide. This time a gentle gaze which made Alice's heart fluttered for a moment emerged to prove his words even further.

"Don't forget what I've just said. Rely on yourself. Get strong by your own. And don't you ever trust anyone even if they are your friends or family. Especially humans who tended to betray, backstabbing and framing others for their own gains."

In a way, Yuuya ordered Alice to survive independently. It was not an easy goal for a powerless person to have but her Master's words spoke the truth as far as she was concerned with his mysterious origin. Also, Alice found it as believable because she never had any ally from the beginning. Her parents despised her, her relatives mistreated her, and she was sold out as a slave. What else other than cruelty in her life so far?

However, that did raise a question.

"......umm....... Master...? If you said I must not trust anyone... does that mean I cannot trust Master's words as well?"

Half-curious, and half-worried, the girl raised a hand to signify how important this question was for herself. The man in front of her could only grin with his golden pupils glimmering faintly as if hiding a chaotic urge within them. No.... it was as if the desires within them were awakened.

With a crooked smile his slave thought as a bitter smile, the Voyager answered thusly.

"Well now... I wonder."

The night was going to end in six hours, if not less. Yet a cold wind brimming with warning passed through the sea of leaves and whispered dangers.

Alice could sense it. She just knew that something changed. She sensed it with her sharpened instinct as one who expected the worst from anything. Therefore, she recognized the oddity which surrounded her.

The girl dropped her meal. She jumped back in fear of the unknown. But once her feet landed on the ground......

"Crimson Sanctuary."

Words became power. Aria bestowed the blessing to move the mana in the air. But with Yuuya's wisdom, it became apparent that something else shuddered in response to the calling.

From the ground crimson spikes protruded. The gleam of red flashed in such a way that Alice was utterly dazed by it until the spikes pierced her hips and her shoulders.

"Ah...?! Gaa...Aaaaaaaah!?"

Blood flowed. The girl screamed as crimson spikes pinned her body more and more while standing. Piercing her legs. Her sides. Her arms and wrists.

"Ah, such a fool to let down your guard at the very last moment. I didn't intend to lure you because I wanted to instill pain in you. But you are sharp, Alice. You have the quality of an unpolished gem. A talent which is always despised by us who have nothing."

The man approached her as if drunk. Staggering to the right, then to the left... and yet as if he was guided by the scent of blood... he moved to her. To Alice who could not do anything, imprisoned by the blood stakes which threatened to kill her slowly......

The girl trembled. Her complexion turned extremely pale. She struggled to escape even though it would only widen and worsening her injuries.

"That intuition of yours is a weapon. Yet you did not even use it in the proper way. You already have a fang, Alice. From the very beginning..."

Yuuya touched Alice's cheek. Unlike the warmth of a living being, the hand... was terribly cold. As if it was made by ice.

"You should have used your head a little bit more. You should have used this ability to free yourself from the shackles and curses way before you encountered me. Yet you wasted your chances. All for nothing."

Caressing the girl's cheek, the Coward smirked. His words were cruel, and they mercilessly crushed the conscience of the girl.

"Do not trust anyone. I certainly spelled this lesson in your mind, correct?"

Alice's body shook uncontrollably as the meaning of the lesson resounded in her heart. But before her lips leaked a response......

"If not... then you will taste this [Betrayal] for the second time." –a sudden whisper entered Alice's ear.

And then her vision darkened. An extremely hot sensation rose from her stomach. Dizziness and nausea filled her mind. But the burning sensation crawled up her throat. It crawled. It crawled. It crawled up until she vomited dark red fluid.

Blood... the girl's mind registered and transmitted a response for her to see what just happened to her.

Alice gazed down. Her eyes widened to the very limits upon seeing a knife stabbing deeply into her stomach. But not an ordinary one as the blade gleamed in scarlet blaze. An enchanted knife... with flame rune which heated the blade to easily tear through the skin and slicing the flesh of iron... was digging deep into her body.

"Aah... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!"

The tortured one screamed. Tears ran down, saliva mixed with blood and spilling out from her lips. In the middle of waves of pain and storm of maddening agony, her shattered soul did not permit her to fall asleep.

That was why she gazed at him. Her eyes glimmered as if asking why he did this. Why? Why? Why? Why did you do this? Even though she wanted to know, Yuuya's unwavering smile froze her doubts. Replacing them with darker emotions which filled her black pupils.

Yuuya quickly pulled off the enchanted knife from her stomach. Not a second passed by and a notification window appeared in front of his chest.

You are affected by [Intimidation]! All stats are reduced by 10% for 30 minutes!!

Unable to restraint his smile from growing even wider, Yuuya chuckled. He twirled around the bloodied knife with his hand as he locked his gaze with his slave's.

"It hurts huh? It seems that flame Rune [Enchantment] is very hot for a living being. But well—you finally showed malice to me. It'll be troubling if you can't even taste what despair is."

The man snapped his fingers. At moment's notice and the crimson spikes that held Alice from moving cracked before shattering into pieces of crystals.

The skill [Crimson Sanctuary] wasn't made of pure blood magic. As it was simply a mass of blood which was solidified with ice Rune and then moved around using external mana, the skill had terrible cost and it also had an hour of cool down period. In fact, Yuuya just wanted to test out the skill when he obtained a skill which allowed him to levitate objects using magic.

But the main reason was to instill hatred in his vassal. As long as she possessed a soul, there would always be a chance for her to betray Yuuya. Humanoid being especially was very irresistible to the change of something in their life. There might be good changes which would garner a better mindset, and there were bad changes which would give birth to cruel madness such as Yuuya and his Devil persona.

If it was in human nature to betray each other... wouldn't these dark desires, including hatred be the purest and devoted feelings ever existing? Wouldn't this hatred may as well be the thread which connected eternity and promising no failure to reach each other? Wouldn't this hatred be the most transparent and honest emotion humans could have?

Yuuya had planted the seed. Now he needs to water it, fertilize it and wait for the buds to crawl out of the dirty ground. Flourishing as a flower with thorns and poison.

"Oh, maybe it was too much for you. Or is it too early to teach you with something like this? I guess that you're just a fool who don't even have a will to make your dream comes true once you thought of relying on someone. How truly worthless."

He looked down at Alice. Her breathing interval was erratic and she covered her stomach with her arm... which proved no result to keep the blood from flowing out completely. The girl curled in fetal position as she hugged her dying body.

Then she suddenly grabbed Yuuya's right foot.

"Hm—?" –the Voyager fell with his back hitting the ground first. His foot was actually pulled and thrown with force enough for him to lose his balance.

The golden pupils reflected the night sky glittering with stars. Moments after and a shadow flickered in the corner of his vision. His grip over the knife was lost and he felt a heavy weight hammering down his stomach.

"Ah...! Haah...!! Hah! I'll... kill... you...!!"

Straddling over Yuuya was a bloodied girl. Full of wounds. Her unkempt black hair stained with red. Her dirty cheeks and skin painted with her own blood. Her body losing a lot of resources to support her consciousness... and her life. At the line between living and dying, she was dragging the knife and raising it above Yuuya's neck. It was obvious that she could not muster any strength yet she forced herself to return from the death's door through sheer desperation.

And yet—the blow did not arrive. What he saw was a girl who hesitated to bring along her attacker down into hell. Then Yuuya's words quickly shook the girl.

"What's wrong? Why don't you just swing down your hands? Kill me now. Isn't that what you wanted, Alice?"

"...shut... up...!!"

Her voice signaled hesitations. The slave was hesitating even though she had the experience of killing an actual person. Even though her mind was filled with hatred. Even though she wanted to kill Yuuya.......

The hands... could not move according to her order.

"I'll kill you...! I'll kill you...!! I am...! Going to kill you... and attain.... freedom.......!!"

Hmm. The man bemused hearing Alice's resolve. In fact, he didn't even dare to speak ill of her wish. It was a noble cause. Selfish, but still proving that she wanted to live by her own rules. She wanted to be the person she dreamed. Becoming an individual who would see the sky through her own eyes without ever needing to look down in shames of dreaming.

To Yuuya who had given up on becoming human, hers was quite... dazzling. But it wasn't enough to move his heart even if he had any. As such, he spoke what he thought at the moment.

"What good is there if you can't even hurt others to attain your dream? You coward."

"..........!!"

The last straw was drawn. Breaking her paralysis state, Alice's hands gripped the knife tighter and plunged it down. With a roar, she would finally free herself from all which intended to restraint her. With this—

Clank—there was the sound of a fallen steel next to Yuuya's ear. He gazed lopsidedly at the knife which had lost its brilliance of scarlet. How disappointing, Yuuya thought as he stared at Alice. But by then, a wet liquid dropped onto his cheek.

The Voyager widened his eyes at once. Tears were falling down from the girl's cheeks. What the hell is she crying for? So she's this much of a coward? To cry just because she failed? But the man heard whimpers amidst the blowing winds.

"...Why... Why.......! I didn't want to stop... I want to live...! I want to be free...!! But why are you... Why....! Just why!? WHY CAN'T I KILL YOU?!!"

Her hoarse voice resounded. Her hands trembling heavily. And so many tears flooded from her eyes as they stained Yuuya's clothes. Then Alice grasped his neck. With her two, bloody hands. Tight enough to cause difficulties in breathing yet not strong enough to actually kill him.

But her expression did not waver. In fact, the girl stared dagger at Yuuya as her lips uttered a string of words. Full of venom. Full of unimaginable disgust and loathing. A declaration made out of outburst of emotions.

"I... hate... you.....! Yuu...ya......!!"

Right after she shouted, Alice's body swayed. Then it fell. Buried in Yuuya's chest as if he just embraced her. The Voyager who saw the girl slumbered as a last resort to cling to life... simply scratched his head in annoyance.

"Damn. This is why I hate humanity as a whole. If only Devil isn't asleep at this kind of timing."

Tiredly complaining, he raised his hand. Wanting to throw the girl off him, but once he saw her pale complexion, Yuuya became silent.

Such a fool. You’ve already in my grasp no matter what you do or what you say. His ego spoke the truth, and he realized there was nothing worthy other than her being a tool to fulfill his ambition. If not then she would not live. There were many options when she encountered him. There were other possibilities for Alice to live out her life. Maybe she would die without help. Maybe she would be captured and enslaved by the kobolds who infested this Dungeon. Maybe she would die in the hands of Yuuya.

Yet she wanted to live. No matter how pathetic it might have looked like. Even though it was a cowardice choice… the girl dreamed of a life flourishing with happiness in a world which cruelly cast away the just and the innocent.

“………had you lived in a different world, perhaps you might have lived a different life.”

But it was no use, Yuuya concluded. He gazed at the night sky above glittering with stars. His hand was no longer filled with ill temper and only rubbing the head of the girl lost in a cruel wonderland. Unbeknownst to the dreaming girl, the Voyager once again injected a Curse within her body. A powerful Curse which would bind her with him even if the gods were against it.

With just a drop, the wounds stopped leaking out more blood. The torn flesh was mended, and the internal organs as well as muscles were being repaired as if replaying back time. In no time and there was no speck of scratch on the body of the enslaved girl. Her nightmare vanished, her breathing interval returned to normal… and it was as if she was lapsing herself in a pleasant dream.

Under the embrace of a human who lost faith in the world and all that existed within it…… the girl dreamed while a silent whisper melded in with the cold wind of night.

“Dream as much as you want. The world will perish. This world you live in… will end soon. Together with you.”

A/N: He he, I wanted to be a little philosophical and diving into the mentality of human. Especially about relationships and their effects to the present and future. At first I simply wanted to make an easy story where it progressed like this:

Rage > Become OP > I got my objective, Muahahaha!

However... I shall scrap that plot line. The story became quite serious and delving in positivity and negativity can be interesting. There will be something you may think as unsettling or unsatisfying but I have warned you from the very beginning. Therefore, let us see through this wretched story till the end.