Chapter 79: We Will Fight to the Death

’Why the hell haven’t I woken up yet?’ Nio asks herself in frustration as she looks at Nioh in front of her. They’ve all been in silence for over half an hour now. Typhon is absolutely thrilled, but the two of them are growing more uncomfortable by the second.

"Nioh, can’t you figure out why I’m still asleep? We’ve been here for hours now," Nio asks Nioh, wanting to wake up soon.

"No... I’m trapped here too, I have no way of knowing..." Neither of the Nios has any idea that Ryu poisoned Nio to test her resistance. It was one of the strongest poisons known to humanity, but it only served to slightly deepen Nio’s sleep.

Outside, Ryu bites his lips watching how Nio doesn’t even react to the poison, which does practically nothing to her body. But on the inside, Nio feels the effects of sleeping more deeply.

Which means her perception of time becomes more "normal" — before, hours outside were minutes inside the dream, but because of the deeper sleep, time became more aligned with the outside, so the time she’s trapped in the dreams increased perceptibly.

"You seem stressed," Typhon says gently to Nio, stroking her head.

"I’m not... I just have things to do. I’m not... I’m not idle like you," Nio tries not to let a conversation start so she won’t be deceived.

"Really? You don’t have any worries you’d like to share with me?" Typhon tries to pry into Nio’s life.

"No..."

’Typhon is more perceptive than us! Mention Yggdrasil...’ Nioh mentally mentions to Nio what they recently discovered.

’...’ Nio thinks for a few seconds. Since she’s trapped here and Yggdrasil is only a hypothesis, it won’t help Typhon at all to know about it.

"Typhon, do you know if Yggdrasil is in this world?" Nio looks up, asking Typhon.

"...I’m not certain, but she probably is, considering the magic of this world. And she’s probably been here far longer than it seems."

"...Oh, is that so? And what makes you think that?"

"When you arrived in this world, the magic of the entire planet changed. I also generated the same effect, but there were already other influences here besides ours — all very scattered, all quite limited. One of them matches Yggdrasil, but I have no concrete proof that Yggdrasil is alive, only that she fell into this world."

’She’s so quick to figure things out...’

"Whether Yggdrasil is alive or not is something that requires time to properly verify. After all, I haven’t seen any of the World Tree’s paths covering the underground," Typhon says with confidence in her words.

"..."

’If Yggdrasil really came here, then hell exists and must have come too... great... I hope no Infernal Raid happens. That would be terrible for my plans...’

"Now, how about you reward me with a kiss?"

"Reward?"

"Yes, I gave you valuable information. You could reward me for that, don’t you think?" Nio glances at Nioh, who slowly shakes her head so Typhon won’t notice.

"I don’t think you gave me anything of value. Knowing that the old roots of that tree fell into this world doesn’t change anything in my life."

"...If you truly believe that, then you’re a fool, Nio. And I don’t believe you’re a fool. If you don’t want to reward me, fine, but don’t expect so much cooperation with your next questions."

’Damn it...’

"I’ll reward you if you answer something more important... something that actually changes my life in some way," Nio tries to get more out of it. Typhon seems to consider whether it’s worth it.

"Alright, then I’ll tell you that I’m currently on dry land, on a large continent."

"..." Nio swallows hard, looking desperately at Nioh, who also shivers.

’She’s arrived!!! This is really bad!!!’ Nioh thinks with her heart racing. Neither of them is ready for Typhon, who has already left the ocean faster than they expected.

"That’s—" Nio is pushed against the table before she can speak. Typhon pins her down gently against it after turning Nio’s body around.

"Nio, I’m coming. Slowly, but steadily. Soon I’ll catch you. And out there, there won’t be Nioh or anything else to stop me," Typhon says with a dangerous look at Nio, who shrinks against the table. Nioh backs away, dragging her chair, which lets out an unpleasant screech.

"...A-Are you threatening me now?"

"You will try to kill me. But let me make something clear: I will also try to kill you."

"H-Huh?" Nio is confused by what she hears.

"W-What do you mean?" Typhon holds both of Nio’s hands with one of hers, keeping her pinned to the table with her hands above her head.

"Only a fool wouldn’t take a fight to the death seriously for love. You will try to take my life. I don’t want to kill you, but I won’t hold back when it comes to that. If I have the chance to land a fatal blow, I will."

"You think I’ll hesitate out of love? You’re assuming you’ll have the advantage in the fight because I’ll hold back, right? Foolish dream. I won’t hold back, love, because I trust in your strength. You’ll survive... and even if you die, your body is a gift I’ll gladly accept."

"A-Are you insane?"

"I’d be insane if I didn’t fight you seriously. I love you, and out of love I’ll respect your wish to kill me. We’ll fight to the death. If you survive, good for me. If you die, it’s just an unfortunate... probability... Of course, you can also give up if you don’t want to die. If you surrender, I won’t kill you." Typhon moves her hand along Nio’s neck, up to her chin.

She presses her leg between Nio’s thighs while bringing her face closer for a kiss. At no point is she lying — she truly planned to fight to the death if Nio fights to kill her.

"H-Hmmm!" She steals Nio’s lips in an intense kiss while Nioh just keeps her distance so she doesn’t become a target too. The kiss is invasive and makes Nio feel strange.

"U-Urgh..." Typhon gently bites Nio’s lips until they bleed, savoring the taste of her blood while Nio doesn’t do much to resist, since she doesn’t want to make the situation worse.

"It’s so cruel of you to say you love me... and want to kill me..." Nio murmurs against her lips while Typhon licks Nio’s cheeks.

"I love you, and that’s why I’ll try to kill you, out of respect for who you are. After all, you want to kill me. I’m just returning the favor and accepting the challenge. I’m acknowledging that you’re capable of killing me."

"I hope you’re ready, Nio. When I find you, I won’t be anywhere near as peaceful as I’m being right now. I’ll make a point of making you suffer greatly for this choice to fight against me." She releases Nio, who pushes her back, spinning over the table and falling to the floor near Nioh.

"Cute." Typhon smiles at her as the dream world begins to crack.

"It seems you’re waking up. What a shame... we’ll see each other again soon, Nio. Perhaps in dreams, perhaps in the real world. For your sake, pray that our next meeting is in a dream." Typhon gives a wave to the two of them as they both wake up.

Nio sits up in bed, drenched in sweat, and notices bleeding on her lips. She’s not sure if she’s bleeding because of Typhon or because she bit her own lips as a reflex. And she prefers not to think about it, because the possibility that it’s Typhon’s doing is terrifying.