Chapter 121: Casual

"Hahaha, what’s this? Are you serious? Riding in pairs? I can already tell you’re both pathetic losers. You’ve got a lot of nerve riding one on top of the other like it’s no big deal." Typhon stops walking while Nio looks at the woman speaking to them with contempt.

"...A Spirit." Nio recognizes the form immediately. The girl speaking so arrogantly has slightly reddish skin with a single long horn on the right side of her forehead.

’A low-level Blood Spirit... but she seems much stronger than in the game... if I’m not mistaken, the fact that she only has one horn means she’s a Spirit that doesn’t have enough power to leave Hell... so their bodies changed physically to adapt to the environment...’ Nio analyzes the girl with disinterest.

"..."

"Hey, hey, hey, are you really going to ignore me?! Should’ve known."

"You’ve got some really arrogant lines, as if the fact that we’re walking together makes us inferior." Typhon speaks with disinterest, setting Nio down on the ground.

"Obviously, what else would it be? I bet you’re two losers who found each other and decided to team up so you wouldn’t have problems. Anyway, you’re in luck — I actually need slaves to start building my own group!"

"Which I’ll expand to claim a territory of my own, so you can spare me the trouble of torturing you and just kneel for me now." The woman speaks, placing one hand on her chest while gesturing with the other.

"Besides, at least you’re both kind of cute. Since you’ll be my first slaves, I think I’ll take you both in a more intimate way. Though that brat next to you has no tits at all, practically flat as a board."

"..." Typhon looks at Nio, then at the girl. In an instant, Typhon, with a completely neutral expression, has already closed the distance.

"Blurgh!" She smashes the girl’s face into the ground.

"You—" Typhon throws another punch, bursting her head open, but without giving the girl any time to regenerate, Typhon stomps down, crushing her chest completely. Blood and organs spray to the sides as she stomps again and again and again without stopping.

"..." She grabs the girl’s leg, lifting what’s left and tossing it upward, then throws a side punch using magic. The power of the punch generates a faint dry boom, followed by the sound of cracking glass.

Nio watches curiously as the atmosphere itself cracks like a film of glass while the rest of the girl’s body is splattered into thousands of pieces and hurled far away.

"I’d forgotten how arrogant Spirits can be, and even more depraved than succubi... haaa... it’s a shame she won’t die, since this is Hell." Typhon snaps her fingers, using a cleaning spell to rid herself of the blood on her body.

"Your physical strength is... terrifying." Nio speaks, seeing how the air is still cracked. She wonders how and why.

"Did you hold back against me?" Nio asks, already starting to feel offended.

"No, but I have a lot of magic I haven’t had the chance to use. Besides, I’m not a mage like you — I rely heavily on close combat. Applying debuffs to you seemed more efficient than purely brute strikes." Typhon extends her hand to Nio.

"You may have small breasts, but I think you’re beautiful. And if you think that’s a bad thing, just know you can still grow once more, so you’ll probably have bigger breasts in the future." When Nio hears Typhon say that, she tries to hold back her laughter.

"..."

"Pfff... Hahahaha." But she can’t, because she finds it hilarious that Typhon is trying to comfort her as if she cared about her breasts being small.

"...I see you’re satisfied, so we should keep moving. We’ll probably encounter more Spirits along the way, and with each floor, their numbers will increase as well, since many Spirits are doing the same thing we’re doing."

"Climbing floor by floor, trying to find a way out. Actually, there’s a curious fact about that. Do you know why that Spirit said she was building a ’group’?" Typhon tries to show off her intelligence to impress Nio.

"No."

"It’s because many Spirits don’t have the power to defeat those who guard the exit portals of Hell. So what they do is charge the portal in the hundreds or thousands, where most are blocked, but another portion manages to get through."

"Basically, they’re cowardly insects trying to escape by fleeing from battle. Of course, that strategy wouldn’t work with us — it’s just the two of us, and I don’t trust Spirits."

"Hehehe, looks like we have at least something in common, Typhon. I don’t trust Spirits either. They’re the most treacherous race there is. If we tried to get out of here alongside other Spirits, we’d be betrayed before even making it out, and if we did make it out together, the Spirits would try to kill us right after." Nio accepts Typhon’s extended hand, which lifts her up and places her back on her shoulders.

"You know... it was kind of cute seeing you try to defend me, even though it was a little disturbing not seeing your expression change." Nio, seeing that Typhon didn’t do it out of anger but just to make her feel better, finds it a bit strange, but also kind of cute.

"I’m not one to feel anger. Anger is an emotion reserved for only a few specific things... like you trying to abandon me, or you betraying me. We’re wives — your body is mine, and my body is yours. So if someone’s words hurt you, then I should do something about it."

"Nioh was really insecure about her body in the past, though she eventually matured about it over time."

"Well, Typhon, you’re in luck. I’m not a fan of anything like that, and I don’t plan on having relations, so you can rest easy." Without even realizing it, Nio starts speaking more casually with Typhon, who acts like a good partner.

"That makes me happy. I like that you consider my feelings."

"I... no, that wasn’t for you... I just have no interest in that..." Nio realizes what she said and the implications of it.

"But if it wasn’t for me, then why did you mention it?"

"...Just shut up and keep moving. I want to get out of this floor already — it reeks of blood. What a filthy place. Where’s the exit from here?"

"I’m looking. Have a little patience. I’d rather not tell you about the exit in advance — it prevents you from constantly trying to find it and distracting me."

"Wow, thanks for the trust. What great confidence you have in my abilities."

"If I had mentioned the door to the first floor from the start, you’d be trying to tell me you found one every time you got confused, which would be frustrating. So it’s not a lack of trust, just time and resource management."

"Why do you talk like a gamer when it comes to fighting and this trip we’re on?"

"Because that’s the way you prefer it, Nio."

"...Wait, what?"

"I said I talk like this because it’s the way you feel most satisfied. It’s not how I actually talk."

"...But—"

"If I spoke truthfully, using a tone and words I’d normally use on my own, it would be that same painful voice that caused you so much pain before." Typhon looks up at the sky.

"Oh... then keep talking like this. Your real voice hurts my ears and brain."

"Nio, since you’re so bored, how about you tell me a bit more about your life outside the game, in your world when you were human?" Typhon knows it’ll still be a while before they find the exit to the second floor, so she tries to keep Nio entertained.