The third group had fallen into the priestess's trap — swallowed by a vast, damp dungeon where even the air seemed to rot. The students were panicked by this event and angry.
"Damn it! What the hell happened?" one of them shouted, voice cracking as his boots splashed against the wet stone.
Riji stared blankly at the ground "We got had" the tone of his voice completely lost.
Suddenly, a fist slammed into the stone wall "That damn woman, I'm going to kill her!" Ken said angrily with eyes filled with hatred.
Amane stood aside and said nothing. She stared straight ahead but seemed to see nothing but emptiness. Then she thought back to that expression before he appeared in the dungeon "It's finally over..."
"Finally, this suffering...will disappear," she continued, looking towards her comrades who were conferring.
Then the other girl said, looking at Amane, "You're still planning on doing nothing, You're really such a drag. Our lives are at stake and you're doing nothing." she shouted angrily.
Amane didn't even blink.
She sank to the cold floor, her eyes vacant.
Only a hollow voice escaped her lips: "Do what you want."
"You piece of..." then a boy intervened before she finished her sentence. "Forget it, she's been dead for a long time."
The other girl turned her head away and joined the others to discuss the situation. There were only five of them in the third group, but only four of them were likely to survive.
"In most manga, the dungeon can appear as a floor," explained Hikiro, perhaps the otaku in the group.
"What do you mean by floor?" asked the only girl in the group.
"Yes, the deeper you are in the dungeon, the stronger the monsters you encounter.
"We just have to settle the score with these monsters and get out of here." suggested Ken.
Red eyes suddenly appeared in the dark, They came closer — monstrous wolves emerging from the dark. Not like in their old world, it was more monstrous and large with enormous claws.
Panic enveloped them and they lost their composure in front of these creatures in front of them in a pack.
Before they could even move, a scream then blood splattered the stones.
"Aaarrrhhh!…holy shit!!! Get out of here!" he shouted, but his head was then eaten by the creature and the others rushed at him.
The girl was paralyzed, her eyes filled with despair, and the monsters jumped on her.
Amane, who stood aside, saw the horrific scene, her classmates screaming and being torn to pieces before her eyes.
"Amane!" cried Riji, sprawled on the ground half-eaten, "Come save me, you bitch!"
Something was wrong. As Riji lost consciousness and was on the verge of dying, he saw a smile on her face – as if it was the first time he had seen that expression on Amane.
"But...why...?" he thought, shedding a tear before being devoured.
All her comrades were eaten in front of her eyes, but a smile stood on her face as if relief appeared, she was just waiting for death and didn't even defend herself.
Her legs trembled as the creatures closed in, yet something stirred deep inside her.
"I'm going to die..." she thought.
Yet, as the darkness closed in, a forgotten warmth rose from the depths of her mind.
---
The sun was setting behind a hill with two children sitting near a tree.
"Why did you save me again? I told you I could handle myself."said the little girl, shedding tears. The boy was covered in bruises on his body and his clothes were soiled with dust.
He looked up at the sky for a moment and smiled, saying, "If you hurt yourself, I wouldn't forgive you." then he turned to her "So stay alive"
She looked at him with wonder, sparks in her eyes and a contemplative face.
---
After this recollection, her legs remembered the mechanics of escape and she began to flee from the enraged beasts. She staggered through the dungeon, wounded and bleeding from wolf bites.
When the monsters almost caught up with her, she mistakenly rushed into an isolated room where she immediately closed the large doors.
"I'm in pain," she said to herself, leaning against the door."Why did I run away… why?" she sobbed, her voice breaking with self-pity.
Torches were placed in the room, revealing a locked chest, masses of gold coins mixed with jewels and in the center a necklace placed on a pedestal.
It stood out in front all the treasures with a black gem inscribed in it, it gave off something different, something evil.
She saw it, she felt it, then her eyes glowed with a faint purple light as if she were possessed. A voice slipped into her head,"You wish to have your desire granted," it whispered softly.
She unconsciously stood up and walked towards the jewelry that was there. She approached the necklace at the room's center and clasped it around her neck.
"This despair is more intense than I thought," the voice thought, trying to control it.
She took a sword standing on the gold, long, ancient and as if giving off an aura contrary to that of the necklace.
She did one last thing in her thoughts "Sorry Yukihira, I won't be able to keep my promise and sorry too Yuki."
She raised the sword and pointed it at her chest.
For a second, everything stopped — even the torches seemed to hold their breath.
Then, with a swift motion, she pierced her heart.
Her body collapsed immediately after she pierced her own heart..., no screams, no tears passed through her except a hint of regret and nostalgia.
Her death was certain.
Yet somewhere, beneath the silence of that cursed room, fate began to stir.