She isn't a human, so is it alright?

Ashy flinched hard after hearing Elissa's young, childlike voice behind the barricaded door.

There was no additional door in this room, if Ashy wanted to escape, he needed to pass through the shadow-les girl.

If possible, he didn't want that, but it was impossible.

In his left hand was the magical lantern that was fending off the darkness with warmth-les white flame. With every passing second, something was leaving his body to maintain this flame, Ashy could feel it.

In his other hand was the immensely sharp dagger that looked like it was used for sacrificial rituals. Although it looked ominous, it was the most comforting thing to have in this situation.

At least it was better than nothing.

Shadows were dancing wildly with his every small movement. There was nothing useful in his sight.

Then, something caught his eyes. His shadow was thicker than the other shadows in the room, he almost couldn't see the floor beneath his feet.

"...!"

Immediately, he stabbed his shadow, but nothing happened.

'Phew… I thought Elissa somehow came from my shadow.'

The discovery of finding that his shadow was deeper than other shadows was a surprise regardless of how it was useless in this situation.

'Whateve–'

Bang! Bang!

A forceful bang rattled the door, creating cracks in the old wooden surface and interrupting Ashy's thought process. Dust floated in the air with each blow to the door.

Ashy's nerves tensed. The actions he could take were pretty limited.

'To kill, I need to get closer but if I get closer, she might be able to sense me with her ridiculous magical shit.'

Bang! Bang!

The door was breaking down with every blow.

"Dear Ashland, open the door~"

Ashy was now finally at the end of the rope. No place to run, no way to live through this ordeal.

'Or is it?'

"Ashland~"

'I am at a disadvantage in almost everything, however defending a castle is easier than taking down a castle.'

"Why are you so quiet, Ashy~?"

'Even if she senses where I am, she won't be able to know my intentions. As an intelligent being, she is prone to surprise more than mindless animals.'

Ashy's head cooled down and tension left his body.

'Even if she knows where I am, as a sadistic monster, she will probably act like she doesn't know and continue what she is doing, with the intent of giving me poisonous hope.'

To kill or to be killed. If he looked at the current situation like this, it felt like there was a fifty-fifty chance for both of them. This somehow calmed him down and increased his motivation.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

'She is pretty resilient but not that strong. If I play my only card well, I might, no, I will definitely do it. I will kill her.'

Ashy quietly positioned himself at the side of the door.

'Her neck will be around here if I take her by surprise.' Ashy crouched a little and lifted the dagger above, right where he thought Elissa's neck would appear.

Bang! Bang!

"Won't you open the door~?"

Then he waited for the time when Elissa was about to hit the door.

'Right now!'

Ashy kicked the metal bar that kept the door shut right when Elissa's hand was about to touch the door.

Bang!

"Wha—?"

The door opened with a bang. The wooden boxes were pushed by the force and Elissa's surprised expression came to view.

Ashy didn't wait for Elissa to recover her composure and rushed forward. With clear desperation, he thrust the dagger into the monster in human skin.

"Hah…"

The blade penetrated Elissa's throat and cut her artery. Her eyes widened, her expression frozen stiff, and her legs lost their strength. The brown-haired girl collapsed on the ground lifeless, right at Ashy's side.

'...fuck…'

The sickening sound of fresh meat getting cut and the bloody black fountain flowing from the wound was both nauseating and depressing.

Ashy crouched and removed the black dagger from Elissa's throat with trembling hands. While at it, he let himself fall to the ground.

'I survived…'

The effect of adrenaline was slowly wearing off, making him realize that he killed someone— a monster that could think like a person and completely looked like a little girl.

His eyes slowly closed because of the fatigue, hunger, thirst, and drowsiness.

"—nd…"

Gradually his mind slowly closed and his awareness weakened. He felt like he heard a voice but glossed over the games of his tired brain.

"—land…"

Something touched his ankle, squeezing tightly.

"Ashland…"

Again, he felt movements, this time over his body. His mind began to clear.

"Ashland~ my dear Ashland…"

Ashy felt weight around his abdomen. He woke up. But was hesitating to open his eyes. Someone was sitting on him.

"Oh, Ashland~ you thought you killed me? How sad you must have felt? How was the hope and relief you have felt? Was it sweet~?" Elissa leaned forward and playfully whispered into his ears. Black, transparent blood was dripping onto his chest and neck, giving a sticky, awful feeling.

Ashy thrust the sharp dagger at Elissa — or at least he tried to do so, however, the girl caught his wrist and slammed onto the ground.

"Thud!*

"The same thing won't work for a second time~"

Ashy faced despair. There was nowhere to run, no way to throw this monster, no way to live. He tried to move his hand, trying to slip his hand from the girl's clutch, and he was successful at that, albeit so slightly.

'This…!'

Hope was a poison, a poison so sweet and so addicting. Ashy couldn't help but scoop this poison.

'Maybe… maybe the blood loss is affecting her severely, at least enough for her to lose part of her strength?'

"Why are you not speaking~?" Elissa asked as she began to squeeze Ashy's wrist.

'My hand!'

Pressure on his wrist was no joke, if it continued, he was sure his wrist was going to get broken.

Ashy opened his eyes. In front of him was the brown-haired Elissa, whose neck was leaning to the side a little, her pierced throat, and the river of black blood that stuck to her skin and slid down to her collarbones and chest area, and lastly a not-so-playful smile on her face.

All of this further convinced him that he managed to weaken this monster.

However, his limbs were held down too tightly. There was no way he could throw Elissa away from himself.

No, there was a way. A way that he didn't want to resort to and tried to ignore.

Ashy clenched his teeth and then relaxed it. Slowly parting his lips, he muttered half-assedly:

"—h"

"What~? I couldn't hear you, Ashland~" Elissa brought her face closer.

"—ch"

"Oh~ You are doing it intentionally. How fun~~" Elissa gave more strength to his wrist, causing a bone-chilling sound.

*Creak!*

"You BITCH!!!" Ashy yelled in pain as he threw his head towards Elissa. A vein popped on his forehead as Elissa's smile deepened before turning into a frown.

"What are you doing?"

Ashy bit Elissa's neck, precisely her other artery. With everything he had, he clenched his teeth onto her skin and put force to tear apart the flesh. The metallic taste of black blood filled his mouth. His insides began to burn as if he gulped down molten lava, however, a newfound energy filled his veins.

It was both so painful and so energizing.

"Huh—?"

Elissa let out a small sound filled with surprise about what happened just now. Seizing this opportunity, Ashy saved his intact hand and swung the lantern at the surprised monster's head.

The monster was thrown to the side with the surprise attack and rolled on the ground.

Ashy could now escape from this monster, he could just pass through the door. However, that wouldn't be a definite solution.

'Kill!'

To be able to sleep comfortably, he needed to kill it. This was the perfect chance to do so.

With determination, Ashy swapped the lantern and dagger, enduring the pain in his broken wrist and his burning insides.

Not giving time for Elissa to recover, Ashy stabbed the monster through her nape and pushed it with everything he had.

Black blood splashed onto the wall, the knife freed from Elissa's flesh. Half of her neck was severed roughly with the sharpness of the dagger and Ashy's energized state caused by the black blood.

Ashy gave a kick to the body, causing it to collapse onto the ground lifelessly.

"You are not dead yet, right?" Ashy asked with fatigue dripping from his voice.

"Nope~" the severed head answered after turning to Ashy.

"But it seems you are not energetic anymore," Ashy muttered as he cut the remaining neck and lifted the has from the hair.

"Well, yeah… you would be a cold body if I weren't starved and bored so much to entertain myself with you."

Although it was bizarre to talk with a severed head, Ashy was strangely calm. However, when he saw the headless body's hand move a little, he panicked and immediately stabbed the hand.

"That is a bit problematic."

"Right? I will play with you again, Ashland~"

*Growl!*

Ashy looked at his belly, now that he was almost out of danger, he felt the hunger he had forgotten.

*Growl!*

His eyes turned to the headless body, then to his bell, then again to the body. This happened a few dozen times before a thought popped into his mind.

'She isn't a human, so is it alright?'