Chapter 33: Sweet Hug of Death

"..." Nio is instantly teleported to a flattened area with a rustic wooden platform and simple wooden furniture. She looks around in confusion.

But the confusion lasts only a second before her entire body reacts with absolute dread. She feels her throat choke up as the air in her lungs turns heavy and painful, and even swallowing her own saliva feels like a grueling task.

Her wings contract, trying to shrink into themselves, while her tail coils around her leg. She takes a step back, as if ready to flee, but before she can, she feels arms wrapping around her like a snake constricting its prey.

A sweet embrace that pins her in place. Even if Nio’s mind takes a moment to recognize it, her body identifies the threat instantly.

"Hmmm... your scent is still wonderful..." The sweet, almost cloying tone speaking to Nio makes her mind snap into high alert and a state of extreme panic. She gasps as if she’d just run a marathon.

"Good thing you accepted my invitation. It was taking a while — three whole days... but everything worked out... are you happy to see me?" Typhon releases Nio, who nearly slips forward. She takes unsteady, stumbling steps, almost tripping, and turns to face Typhon.

Typhon’s appearance in Nio’s eyes is majestic at the very least, but the scent she exudes is like an omen of death. The aura around her is so dangerous it’s almost tangible.

Like fangs and claws with thousands of eyes — a sensation of being well within this predator’s reach, with no escape from her gaze.

"T-Typhon..." Nio barely manages to speak her name as a countdown timer appears on her status, marking exactly [10:00] until she’s sent back.

"We have limited time. I wanted to be more proper about this, but Nio, where are you right now? Could you tell me so I can come to you?" Nio steps back, but Typhon’s gaze drops to her legs, stopping her in place as her teeth almost chatter against each other.

"I-I d-don’t know the r-region..." Nio lies, her voice trembling. Never in her entire life has she felt such panic. There’s not even any adrenaline to help her because her reaction was to freeze in place — everything consumed by the absolute dread her body feels.

"I see. You’re not much for going out... well, how about sharing your position with me through magic?" Typhon moves closer to Nio, but Nio steps back, pulling her hand away before Typhon can take it. Nio can never allow herself to be marked. If Typhon learns her real position, she’ll hunt her down.

"I-I don’t think we should a-act like this... d-don’t you think you’re b-being a little hasty?" Nio still manages to protect some fragment of courage, preserving it by trying not to appear so terrified.

"Hmmm... why so much fear?..." Typhon tilts her head to the side, staring at Nio as if seeing something that isn’t right.

"..I-I... don’t know what you’re talking about. I am p-perfectly fine." Typhon stares at Nio for a few seconds and then moves to the wooden chair she conjured, sitting down with a posture that clearly expects Nio to sit as well — even if she doesn’t.

"Ah... I imagine I’ve figured out the reason. I understand... it’s you, [Níðhöggr Tiamat]." She says something that catches Nio off guard, leaving her confused as Typhon’s eyes take on a lovestruck tone.

"H-Huh?... I-I didn’t understand..."

"You don’t have to pretend. I always wondered when I’d meet my second wife. I was even a little frustrated that we’d never spoken in person, you know. Nio is great, but knowing I only had half of her frustrated me a little."

’Half...!!!’ While before it was only Nio’s body consumed by absolute dread, Typhon’s words now plunge her mind into the same abyss. Because Typhon isn’t referring to the "Nio" of the Lores — she’s talking directly about Níðhöggr Tiamat, the player, the person who used that name.

’S-She knows?!!’ Nio takes a step back, falling to the ground as Typhon pulls a fruit from her inventory — a fruit resembling an apple but with a deep, dark purple hue. The sound of her bite produces a "Crunch" that echoes like a death sentence as her lips bite into the fruit almost seductively.

"Do you know how long I’ve waited to see you? Nio was adorable, but something about her passive attitude was... something I knew was missing. I knew you needed to wake up for Nio to be complete."

"But Nio sleeps too much, runs from her responsibilities too often, is too... childish. I missed having someone intellectually superior like you to talk to. Not to belittle Nio, of course."

"She’s an adorable little thing, but she lacked that competitive spark an intellectual battle can bring... that’s right. Nio was far less intuitive and competitive than I would have liked. She lacked that little intellectual challenge that spices up a relationship and keeps it alive." Typhon rises, her face flushed and her voice dripping with passion.

"Are you happy to see me? Second wife, I feel like my heart might burst from joy. Unfortunately... that means all the obedience training I put Nio through doesn’t work on you, since you have the audacity to recoil from me... even if your body remembers..."

"Well, I always wished I could reshape Nio a second time. I guess I’m lucky — I’ll get to reshape you to suit what’s right for our relationship."

"LUCIFUGUS, KILL THIS BITCH!!" All of Nio’s panic and fear converge into aggression when she hears the madness Typhon is spouting. Instead of cowardly fleeing, her mind does what it does best — marks a target and defines it as an enemy to be destroyed.

The cannon emerges from within Nio, firing a dark beam at Typhon’s body, which gains a hole in her chest. A shot that would be fatal to many, but it only makes Typhon look down at the wound.

"..." Instead of getting angry or complaining, she gains a smile inhumanly large and unsettling. The darkness in her aura, which before resembled fangs and claws with eyes, shifts into something more aggressive — like an immense jaw, as if Nio had already been devoured.

"Haaa... it’s like a sweet second time. Nio attacked me too. You’re just like her... but much smarter. You aimed for my heart — so brutal... the venom is powerful too... but... why did you attack me with your secondary class? Your main class is focused on magic..." Typhon interprets this as contempt from her wife.

"...I think I’ll have to discipline you more harshly." Before Nio can react, Typhon has already closed the distance. She throws a punch that Nio blocks with Metratoron, who appears in front of her, stopping the attack like a powerful shield.

The blow still sends Metratoron and Nio crashing into the nearby forest. The enormous hole in Typhon’s chest regenerates completely as she runs toward Nio.

With her horns, she charges like a bull, slamming into Metratoron and Lucifugus, who unite to try and block the attack — but they are still violently pushed back, shoving Nio along with them as she tries to brace herself with her hands.

’W-What a monster!!’ Nio leaps upward, but as if breaking the laws of physics, Typhon stops instantly, "ignoring" inertia and momentum, grabbing Nio’s leg before she can escape.

"You’re not running away, Nio!" Typhon’s tone is like a broken cacophony of an amused voice and an irritated one — like two different voices, making it impossible to tell what Typhon is truly feeling.

[06:08]