Deborah roars. Her roar sounds more like a wounded beast than a predator on the hunt. Our eyes meet. All I can see in her bloodshot eyes are her intense fixation on me, as if I’m going to be her next meal on the menu. Did the speech earlier fail to work, or work too well?

Either way, the real deal starts here! Only I can save her now!

“ARRRAAHHHH!”

Deborah channels fire onto her claws, and when the fire grows to the size of a basketball, Deborah throws a barrage of fireballs at my location.

With the enhancement bestowed upon me by Nilrem, I swiftly dodge the oncoming fire of destruction simply by running away. The moment the fireballs hit the ground, my previous location quickly turns to a mini wasteland from the blast of the fire. The firepower is probably equal, no, greater than my own RG bomb, and unlike mine, Deborah can use that power in any quantity she wants, which she’s abusing right this instance.

Fireballs after fireballs, Deborah doesn’t stop her barrage of fire as if she wants to see the whole place burn to ashes. The speed enhancement helps, but I can’t keep dodging Deborah’s fireballs like this forever. I need to do something to try and make her snap out of it.

“So, does this mean you like your meat overcooked? The last time you hid a piece of steak from the cafeteria in our room, I remember the steak was well done.”

Deborah roars. She suddenly stops throwing the fireballs and charges at me instead. She bares her claws and pursues me as I run away from her as far as possible. But despite the enhancement, everytime my feet hesitate I find myself within an inch of my life from Deborah’s claws. Her running speed is no slouch, she manages to keep up despite the enhancement magic in my legs, and she’s only getting faster. She’s adapting her strategy and abilities to deal with me, even when Deborah’s acting solely on her instinct alone.

Nilrem is right, the more time Deborah gets, the smarter she becomes, and it will only get worse when she does.

I can’t run away forever, sooner or later, I’ll be within her claw’s reach, and then…

“Come on, Deborah! I know you’re in there somewhere!”

I yell out loud. My voice reaches Deborah, it manages to stop her for a brief moment before the dragon girl resumes her hunt. Deborah focuses her strength onto her feet, and launches herself toward me like an unstoppable bullet. I continue to run away since I have no intention to die without accomplishing anything, and thus, the game of cat and mouse continues.

“After all your speech about pacifism, is this what you really want, Deborah!?”

Deborah throws a kick, but it only looks like a kick at the first glance, she actually wants to use the claws on her feet to grab a hold of me. But my legs are faster than hers, I dodge the first one, and the second, but by the time I dodge Deborah’s third attempt at my life with a punch, a chill runs down my spine as the sheer air pressure Deborah made from her punch puts a scratch on my face. It’s nothing serious compared to having your body blown to pieces, but I can already tell I nearly get caught by the hands of the Grim Reaper.

I’m surprised at myself for manage to hold out against Deborah for this long, especially without the use of my drug that helps stimulate my nerves. But now I realize I don’t need that drug, because from the beginning I made that drug to replicate the feelings I’m experiencing.

The fear of death.

I can hear my heart having a little dance party inside my chest. I no longer feel the cold of winter around, because the chill I’m experiencing is even colder than that. My vision blurs for a bit as Deborah runs on all four toward my position. Yes, this is it, the fear of death, it pushes me to the utmost of my physical limits, and helps me escape Deborah’s reach.

But the strength to run away isn’t something I need right now, I want the strength to beat some sense into Deborah, yet regrettably the only thing I can do right now is bark instead of bite.

“You said you hate fighting, yet why are you trying to kill me? You said you don’t mind cowards, then why are you jumping at the first chance to cause destruction? Was everything you ever said merely meaningless words? Answer me, Deborah!”

Deborah suddenly puts a halt to her pursuit. She’s shaking for some unknown reason. But before I can confirm whether or not my words actually work, Deborah defiantly roars once again to defy my attempt at reaching her heart.

“So you really want to do this the hard way, huh?”

Seems like I can’t avoid going all out. Flowery words won’t reach her ears, the fiery dragon before me will only back down when faced with the blunt and harsh truth. I am preparing for when Deborah is sane enough to care, but it seems like I am not allowed to hold back this time.

Take this, Deborah, all of my inner feelings!

“Listen up well, Deborah! I thought really hard about what you said before all these mess happened.”

Deborah doesn’t stop chasing me, but instead of rushing at me with all her strength, she’s now walking like there is a rope tying her legs. Deborah’s face is visibly angry, she’s grinning her fangs while throwing looks that kill at me from her bloodshot eyes. Yet, she’s still restraining herself. A huge walking paradox, and that’s what she simply is from the start, at her core.

A pile of walking contradiction.

“The thought that what you said may be right had crossed my thought once or twice. When I saw you like this, I asked myself if what happened to you was my fault. If I was more understanding, maybe I could had prevented this, and there would be less death and destruction than it should be. But after hearing what Nilrem got to say, while I still understand this was partly my fault…

…everything you said was also pure BULLSHIT!”

I yell out loud to the point I think Nilrem can hear me even without the help of the thought transferring ring. But that’s okay, my thoughts will be laid bare for her to read, and I don’t care, because it’s the truth about what I truly feel.

“You said you hate being perfect, hate being relied on, hate bearing the responsibility and expectation of Deborah Draconis. But the truth is very simple! You hate yourself, you’re afraid of yourself, afraid of what you truly are, and everything that comes with being a dragon of destruction. You simply couldn’t admit everything to me at point blank like that, so you masked it with a lie you made up yourself, and hoped that I somehow miraculously understood everything you implied. But too bad, I was an egotistic son of a bitch, I failed to comprehend your gibberish, and lashed out on you simply because of my own selfishness.”

I tone my voice down, preparing my breath, because that’s only the beginning.

“I guess that’s why you are my master, and I’m your familiar, because the two of us are horrible people who only care about ourselves.”

Deborah stops, completely. She still doesn’t show signs of returning to normal, but I know I’m almost there. She just needs a little push from me until I can make her return to her sense.

“Have you thought about how someone like me who came from another world can understand what you feel? It’s very simple, because I also hate myself. There were times I wished my existence would end just to save the trouble for the world. My circumstance was a tad different than yours, but what it left me was a husk of self-hatred. Yet, someone else gave his life just to give this pitiful familiar more time to live, I guess this is the reason why. And I am grateful for that.”

This is something only I can do. Nilrem is now relying on me. The Demon Realm is relying on me. And I will show them that there is a reason for me to exist in this world.

“Now listen well, Deborah! As your familiar, I will tell you about what you truly are! Without all your pathetic self-deprecating and hatred!”

And thus, with all the air in my lungs, I yell out loud.

“Deborah Draconis, you are simply a stupid girl! Whose desire is to enjoy your simple life with your stupid friends at this stupid school in this stupid world! Stop trying to make yourself sounds important! There is a reason for you to exist beyond causing destruction! Without you, who will your friends do stupid things with? Who will I have to bug day by day for amusement? Who else will nag at me for every stupid thing I do despite doing the same things without my knowledge? Only you can do it, Deborah!

Now, if you still have some smart left in you, snap out of this stupid dragon farce right this instance! This isn’t what you want! This isn’t what anybody even wants! Return to who you once was!”

My chest feels heavy. I really went all out, and now my lungs are working tirelessly to regain the breath I lost. But that doesn’t matter, what really matters is whether or not my little inspiring speech helps bring the girl before me back to normal.

And the answer is…I don’t know. I can’t even make sense of what’s happening before me.

Deborah’s screaming with all her might, almost bordering on a screech. She’s like a dog inflicted with rabies, her feet rapidly shaken, her arms start to mutilate her own body with the sharp claws on her fingers. The girl tears off her arms to the point her inner muscles start to reveal themselves. Her blood endlessly drips out of the wounds she inflicted herself and quickly dyes the snow-filled ground into red, as if she wants to make a lake out of her own blood.

Yet, what’s even more scary is Deborah eventually stops screaming, or moving and mutilating herself. She just stands there, immobile as if a ghost has taken over her body. Her long scarlet hair covers her face after her little wild outburst, so I can hardly see whether her expression has changed to normal.

But the clue I desire doesn’t lie in my eyes…

“TA….TA….”

A sound, made by Deborah. She’s trying to say something. Did my efforts finally work?

“AKUMAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!”

Deborah roars like a lion, her roar makes the ground around me tremble for a moment. Deborah’s brief pause of peace quickly gets shattered by the fire emitted from her body, which starts vaporizing everything around her within ten meters radius. Deborah’s wounds heal themselves from the fire, and the girl resumes her primal stance of an apex predator, with both her hands on the ground like a carnivore of the most dangerous kind: a dragon. But there’s something different.

“AKUMAAAA! AKUMAAAAAAA! AKUMAAAAAAAAAAAA!”

Instead of typical beastlike gibberish, the only words that come out of her enraged mouth is my current name. I don’t know what’s scarier, the fact that Deborah manages to say something, or that something is only my current name repeated over and over and over again.

But no more time for me to think, because Deborah is charging at me once again like before, as if my efforts are all for naught.

“Is all of this really useless?”

I mutter to myself. What went wrong? Was it because my reasoning is wrong? Or because Deborah is truly a lost cause at this point?

‘The spell’s preparation is done. Your negotiation failed, get out of there while you still can.’

Suddenly, Nilrem decides to break her silence and resumes the communication between us. Considering what she said, seems like the woman already has a firm grasp of the current situation.

‘No, I can still do this! Give me some more time!’

I have to do this! Because I really don’t like the other alternative Nilrem has left in store for Deborah. It’s not a familiar’s duty to choose death for his master!

‘Stop being stupid! You’ll die if you stay there!’

‘You still need Deborah to stay immobile for you spell to work! If I truly fail, the least I can do is keep her busy for a moment!’

‘Do you even realize what you’re sayi…’

Our little inner conversation gets cut short when Deborah has me in her range. The girl jumps to the air and shoots down a ball of fire toward my location. I quickly move my legs to dodge the impending destruction.

BOOM!

Another place gets destroyed by the power of a dragon. But I can’t even have the time to fear or breath when Deborah herself resumes the pursuit the very moment she lands, using the gravity force from her fall as momentum to shoot herself toward me with the hope to finally catch the prey she desires.

“AKUMAAAAA! AKUMAAAAAAAA!”

As Deborah’s claws almost catch me, once again I escape death and continue to run while planning my next course of action. My legs are faster than hers…is what I thought, until Deborah approaches me with the same speed as mine, if not faster. She’s running with speed faster than before, and soon we find ourselves running parallel to each other. That’s enough for Deborah, she already gets me in range, and it’s too late for me to even make a turn to save myself!

“ARGGHGGHGHHH!”

Deborah throws a punch, which I block with my arms in hope that the sleeves of my tattered but still reinforced cloak will shield me from the impact. The moment her fist makes contact with my arms, I find myself being blown away like a bullet.

“Ack!”

After flying for twenty meters apart from my location, I land to the ground with my head downward. Luckily the snow absorbs most of the impact, so I’m still alive instead of dying from a broken neck. But I’m far from unscathed.

“Geez…now of all time…”

Both of my arms are broken. The bones inside have been destroyed from Deborah’s punch. The reinforced cloak made by Kardia is supposed to block away all kind of blunt force, it even managed to block Origen’s mace and left me relatively unscathed, but Deborah’s punch defied even that. I guess I still have to thank Kardia, because if not for her cloak, it wouldn’t be just my arms that got destroyed.

“At least…I still have my legs.”

As I try to get myself back up, suddenly, I feel a chill down my legs, which quickly becomes a familiar pain that I know too well from the time before this war. I stumble to the ground from the pain. My legs feel like they are burning away as if they are crushed by a thousand warhammers coming down my legs all at once. The magic enhancement casted on my legs has disappeared, and what I’m experiencing is the cost that have to be paid for that brief moment of power.

“Not…like this…”

My legs are in pain, but unlike my arms, they are still useable, albeit barely. But for me, that’s good enough. Ain’t no way in hell I’m going to stay here lying helplessly on the ground!

“Here goes…”

Without the luxury of the support from my hands, I get myself up. It’s still painful, but after three times using the same spells on my legs, I’m kinda used to it. Back to the point, I can stand for now, but running away is no longer possible, my damaged legs won’t make it possible…

…and neither will the approaching Deborah.

Still with her bloodfilled eyes, the dragon slowly walks toward me as if she wants to savor the fear of her prey before feasting. Her prey can no longer run, then why the hurry?

Yep…I guess that’s it for me.

‘Akuma! Run away now! Even if you have to crawl with your tongue, run away immediately! That’s an order!’

‘I’m afraid I’m not that determined enough to make it possible, Headmaster Nilrem…’

Strangely, even in this situation, with my face drenched in the sweat of my fear, I still find myself smiling, as If I have been expecting this from the start. Strange, how could I even expect what I do not know?

Then again, I already know I’m a strange kid.

“If you want me, then come and get me!”

My arms are broken, but not my shoulders and biceps. Despite the intense pain, I hold them out straight to the air and put on the most defiant face I can make. This is the least I can do…for myself and my own dignity.

“AKUMAAAAAA!”

Deborah roars, her walk turns into a sprint. She really doesn’t like getting ordered around, doesn’t she? Especially from her familiar. Heh, funny.

‘Akuma! What are you doing!?’

‘I’m taking a gamble. Whether I live or die depends on my luck. But either way, when Deborah approach me, she’ll be immobile long enough. If you still want to go on with your plan, then it’s your time to strike.’

Deborah’s coming near. It will begin and end in seconds.

‘Akuma!’

‘Though please do me a favor and don’t kill her. At the very least, just knock her out.’

“Wake up! Deborah!”

I yell the very moment Deborah clenches her fist and throws a punch. This is my last gamble, and I’m betting on the lowest odd with my life as the stake. Whether I live or die, it shall be quickly decided in seconds.

If Deborah awakes before she strikes me, I win. If not, I lose. It’s as simple as that.

Sphhhlt!

…

I feel a pain in my chest, and when I look down, I find out my chest is no longer there, only an empty hole remains.

It gets punched through by Deborah’s fist, which destroyed everything inside including my heart.

“Agh”

A stream of blood bursts through my mouth. Strangely, I feel no pain. Or rather, I feel nothing. I expected death would be more…eventful that this.

But that doesn’t change the face that I made a bet, and I lost.

And now, time to pay the price…

‘Was it worth it…I wonder?’

I quickly find my answer before my vision go dark.

Deborah’s sclera has turned from red to white, back to normal like they used to be.

‘I guess…it was kinda worth it…’

I feel cold as my vision darkens before it goes full pitch black. Guess that’s it…

Still…there’s one more thing that I wonder…

‘…has her red eyes always this beautiful?’