When faced with an overwhelmingly powerful enemy, how do you choose?
There are roughly two options.
First: be fearless in the face of death. Fight with all your might to cut them down. Even if you can’t kill them… tear a chunk of flesh from their body!
Second: run away.
The first path belongs to true warriors. But not everyone can abandon life and death just for dignity and conviction.
Fear of death runs deep in most people’s bones.
Perhaps humans don’t fear death itself—but the unknown.
So strategic retreat, or plain running away, is what most would choose.
Call it cowardice. Call it fear. Once you flee, you can’t deny it.
But charging to your death when you know you’ll lose? That’s just foolish.
Of course, fearless battle maniacs are exceptions.
Betty didn’t want to die. Not just from fear—but because she had more to do.
Like marrying the boy she loved.
If she died, everything would be meaningless.
“Thinking of running?” Yuri licked the corner of her lips, her gaze icy cold, like watching prey trapped in a net.
Unexpectedly, after a moment’s pause, Betty shook her head with a sudden smile.
“I can’t… run away, can I?”
Right. Though no attack had come, she felt her body locked onto by countless venomous snakes!
A cat doesn’t eat a mouse right away. It plays until bored, then swallows it whole.
Would it let its prey escape?
The answer was clear: impossible.
As Yuri said—if she had no other cards, she’d just die.
“Oh?” Betty’s calm reply surprised Yuri. “Since you know that, unknown sister… what will you do? I’m barely holding back now…”
“…You kept asking why I abandoned my humanity. Want to hear my answer?”
Ignoring Yuri’s words, Betty glanced at her own fingers.
“Because… human strength alone is too fragile! Too fragile to protect the one I love. Too fragile to stop others from dragging him—and me—into despair!”
Yuri: “…”
“Yes. Humans… are too weak. I need power. Power for revenge. Power to protect him. Even if this power cost me everything… so what?”
The girl’s voice rose, ending in a pained roar.
Everyone has their own path and story. No one could imagine what she’d endured.
“My life. My choices. My convictions. You understand none of it. And I don’t need anyone but him to understand…”
The next instant, Betty—silent for so long—struck!
A dazzling streak of light slashed through space, flashing past Yuri like lightning.
She hadn’t run. It would’ve been pointless.
And if Yuri’s words were true, fleeing from the powerful demon Akate would only hasten her death!
The girl feared death—but death didn’t just bring fear. It could turn her into a beast craving flesh.
Stunned by Betty’s words, Yuri didn’t dodge the blinding white streak.
It wasn’t one strike—but so fast it blurred into a single line!
Squelch!
As the light faded, dozens of bloody lines split open across Yuri’s body.
The deepest nearly cut her in half!
Nearby, Betty had teleported behind her.
But the girl had changed.
Her face was deathly pale, lips stained crimson like fresh blood.
No blade had cut Yuri—only Betty’s terrifyingly sharp fingers.
She looked more like a vampire than Yuri did.
Yuri wasn’t surprised. From the start, she’d sensed it: fragmented vampire-like blood mixed with human impurity.
That’s why she’d asked why the girl abandoned her humanity.
Though not a pure vampire—the aura was too chaotic, too disordered.
That didn’t matter. Betty’s words had struck her deeply.
Yuri’s wounds healed as if time reversed, even her clothes mending seamlessly.
She stared ahead, oblivious as Betty lunged again.
Squelch!
No surprise this time. Sharp fingers pierced her back, bursting through her chest.
Her fragile heart was impaled—yet no blood flowed.
“You… really are like me.”
Yuri spoke softly, seeing Betty’s horrified expression.
“Long ago, before I was myself… I had the same thoughts. Even at my end… I accepted a foolish demon’s power without hesitation. So I became her. She vanished forever…”
Plop.
Yuri’s body melted into blood, splashing below. It reformed on the other side amid churning waves.
“Ironic. I took her power, gave up everything… to seek revenge. But nothing remained. Nothing at all.”
Yes—even the world had changed beyond recognition.
“For a long time, I wandered lost. If nothing existed… what was the point of this power? What did I gain by abandoning everything? The answer… I didn’t know.”
Yuri never shared such things. Not with Maria. Not with Zuo Yuan. No one saw the real her.
Demons excel at deceiving others—and themselves.
Sometimes, you even fool yourself.
“Emptiness. Only an unfillable void remained. Sometimes… I wanted to end it all.”
That void was unbearable. Death wouldn’t hurt—it would be relief.
But…
She was denied death. Relief was never an option.
Betty: “…”
“One day, I remembered words someone once said.” Yuri’s expression softened.
*Don’t die before I return.*
In her memory, a sunset’s glow swallowed that person’s final silhouette.
Not meant for today’s Yuri—yet it burned deep in her soul like a brand.
Her soul was cold. That silhouette radiated inexplicable warmth.
She craved more. Like a fire in a snowstorm, she yearned to draw near.
Even if burned to ashes, she longed to leap in!
“Living needs a reason, right? My past ‘self’ had a light—but lost it. Now… I want to find it again.”
Not love. Not affection. Just a reason to live—and to feel what warmed ‘her’.
That was all.
Yuri walked on, fueled by this strange ‘passion’.
A fused soul. Twisted emotions in loneliness. That made her who she was.
Listening silently, Betty’s expression grew complex. “…Why tell me this? I don’t care about your past.”
Yuri smiled faintly.
“Call it impulse. Or a whim. Why need a reason? Still… thank you for listening.”
Her voice had softened—but their enmity remained. In fact, Yuri had lost interest in playing.
“Tell me your name.” She gazed at the girl.
The sudden question startled Betty.
Meeting Yuri’s eyes, her lips trembled unconsciously. A faint sound escaped: “Bet…ty…”
“Betty? A lovely name.”
Yuri’s gentle smile hid her intent.
“Then, in Akate’s name, I acknowledge your existence, Miss Betty.”
Betty: “…”
“Lastly… sweet dreams.”
The girl curtsied, lifting her skirt in an ancient gesture.
Betty’s pupils shrank to pinpricks. She tried to move—but blood-red threads had already sealed the space around her!
In her eyes, a crimson blur swelled, swallowing her whole.
Her last sight: the smiling girl—and a monstrous beast forged from blood.
The beast devoured her in one gulp.
“Goodnight.”
The demon lowered her gaze, watching the blood engulf Betty. Her eyes held a light no one could decipher.
Meanwhile, elsewhere…
“Damn it!” Zuo Yuan gasped, face pale after slaying another Carrion Eater.
After getting separated from Yuri and Maria, he’d been drowning in endless waves of the undead.
Monsters surrounded him—killing them never ended!
The endless slaughter had worn him down.
How? There shouldn’t be this many Carrion Eaters here.
Trapped but clear-headed, he realized the numbers were suspicious.
An illusion?
His brow furrowed as the thought struck.
“Heh. Figured it out?”
A new voice cut through the chaos.
“That maid was trouble enough. But you—weak as you are—lasted this long?”
Zuo Yuan focused, trying to locate the voice. But the illusion distorted everything. Pointless.
“Don’t waste energy. You can’t possibly—huh?” The mocking tone turned startled.
Zuo Yuan froze too. The world shattered around him!
Like peeling glass, blinding light forced his eyes shut.
“This…? Damn it, BETTY!!”
The voice was crystal clear now—laced with panic and urgency.
When Zuo Yuan opened his eyes, he saw only a frantic retreating figure.
