"... Kenshiro, how did you guys get here"
It was a natural question. Here in this abyss. Unless you were a demon, this wasn't a place to live in. Yue wanted to ask about so much. Why can he manipulate magic directly? Why can he use magic that are like Special Magic? How can he eat demon flesh and be okay? What happened to his left arm? Is he human? What weapon is he using?
Bit by bit, Hajime answered the questions dutifully.The conversation went on and even Hajime did not even look troubled at her questions.
Ken started with when his class was summoned to this world by Ehit, they couldn't return so they decided to complete whichever mission inorder to go home. How him and Nagumo were called incompetent because of their class but was hard on Nagumo since he was naturally weak. Next was their battle with the Behemoth and the betrayal of their classmate that caused Nagumo to fall into this abyss and he who tried to save him to follow suit. Eating various types and amounts of monsters. What the sacred water could do. Since he got stronger quickly, he watched as Nagumo got stronger without helping even after he lost his arm.
He knew firsthand before Nagumo the horrors of this place and didn't want a burden. So after Nagumo got stronger, he revealed himself and proposed to be comrades.
He talked about how Nagumo developed the weapons by basing them on weapons he seen at their home world and creating them with his transmute skill. Sniffles could be heard from Yue gradually. What? When they looked at her, she was weeping. Startled, Ken instinctively reached out and wiped off her tears.
"What happened suddenly?"
"…Husu…Ken and Nagumo…painful…just like me…"
Apparently, she was crying for them. He started to stroke her head with a bitter smile after he got over his shock.
"Forget about it. The business with my classmate is inconsequential. Don't worry about the small stuff. I want to put all my energy in surviving and finding a way home." shrugges Nagumo who is still transmuting.
"…Going home?....Ken said the same thing."
"Yeah!. To our original world? Of course. We want to return…we changed a lot but…home… home is still home." proclaims Ken with a confused expression. it's like he's forgotten why he was so excited for this world excluding the waifus he's set his eyes on.
"…I see."
Yue looked down with a sunken expression and Ken quickly asks while stroking her hair.
"Do you want to leave this world with me when the time's up?. I did say I was taking you with me after all."
".....Eh?!"
Yue opened her eyes wide in surprise to Ken words. Her eyes turned red and was soon filled with tears.
"Well?..."
"it's that okay? Ken?. You know... regular humans, ID, modernizatio....."
"We'd deal with it when we get there" smiles Ken as he interrupts Nagumo.
"...I would love to"
Yue was stunned for a while, but eventually her mind caught up.Her eyes couldn't hide the expectations dwelling in them. The eyes were sparkling and Ken nodded. Like until now her expressionless was a lie, a smile bloomed on her face.
Nagumo sighs deeply and moves closer to the scorpion corpse after dropping what he was doing. He asks Ken if he wants some meat and he affirms.
"Yue, do you want some" asks Ken as Yue slowly crawls to him which gives him a bad feeling.
"No.."
"Then you won't eat anything?"
"I want you. Your blood was mature and delicious" proclaims Yue as she pounce on him and bite his nape.
"Please!!.... Nagumo, please help me!!"
"Well, you brought her to life so deal with it. I will be eating ahead." mocks Nagumo as Ken suffers at the hands of the Vampire queen.
"N-nooooooo"
_______________
"Da-a, damn!"
"…Ken run faster and Nagumo fight…"
"You're too carefree!"
Currently, they were traversing through savage grass with Yue on his nack. These grass grew up to 160 cm and goes up to his shoulders. If Yue was to walk in this, her figure would disappear. Then came the reason for their escaping through this grass.
*Rattling*
""""""""""""Shaa!!""""""""""""
There were nearly 200 demons chasing them.
After they had finished resupplying, they had advanced 10 levels. Hajime's equipment and Ken skills were useful in their journey, and Yue's magic was also a big factor in their progress.Yue could use any magic and the hybrid duo supported her with their skills. Her barrier and recovery magic was not that great as she had her special magic but it was not a problem since the sacred crystal was present.
That is how they advanced to this present level. The floor had an appearance of a forest, an extensive forest. Lush and dense trees over 10 m tall lined the forest, and the atmosphere was damp. Good thing it was not hot like the tropical forest level they encountered.
When they were searching for the stairs to the lower floor, a rumbling of the ground occurred. A demon the reminded Ken of terrible reptile appeared in front of them. It like a tyrannosaurus rex, but there was a flower on its head. Sharps tusk thirsting for blood surged from the powerful beast, and the sunflower-like flower fluttered on top. It was a surreal experience. But the most surreal was Yue blasting everything with her magic everytime the duo are ready for some bloody fight.
Yue seemed to be incomparably intense these days. In the beginning, she would devote herself to covering only Ken. On their journey she started to instantly kill any monsters that opposed Ken. He started to feel depressed at being useless. Is it because he dragged his feet and it was over before he could do anything? His mind was seized with anxiety. If such a thing was true, he was going to have a blow to his confidence.
He address Yue with a forced smile as he kept his guard up.
"Ah, Yue? It is good to be enthusiastic but…Recently, I felt like....we feel like we haven't done much…"
Yue turned to look at Ken, and Ken could see a slight proud look in her expressionless face.
"…because I'm your partner I want you to rely on me and not this Nagumo…"
She wanted to show her worth as his partner. She keeps sucking his blood even in this situation. She has grown addicted to the extent of Ken wondering if she was really a vampire queen.
"Hahaha, I and Nagumo are comrades and are required to carry our own weight but I guess it's my fault. How about this: Yue will take support role and we will take the frontier. Does that sound good"
"…Ken…okay…" replies Yue with Nagumo nodding along.
They fight the monsters for a long time before figuring what was wrong with their absurd numbers.
The duo finds a small entrance of a cave in the wall using their abilities and also direction and behavior of the monsters. They rush to it whiles trying to escape the monster's encirclement. Ken moves in first with Yue followed by Nagumo but a raptor like monster makes it through.
"Now Nagumo!!" shouts Ken as he blows the raptor's skull with a shot and Nagumo blocks the entrance.
They try to survey the cave but are not given the chance has green spores rain on them. Ken immediately uses [Vajra] to defend from Yue's magic as a parasitic flower sits on her head. Ken tells Nagumo note to attack as he will deal with it. The corporate noticing your hesitation comes out of the shadows and behind Yue. It looked like a dryad or aruraune in RPGs.
Yue tells Ken to shot her to deal with the monster as she will be fine. He pretends to hesitate and drags the situation on and Nagumo stand aside and watch the drama. He knows Ken won't hesitate unless he has the situation covered. To prove his thoughts Ken shots the flower on Yue's head and finishes the monster with another shot.
"You shot too quickly the bullet must have burnt my hair"
"But I still dealt with it, right?"
"Hmph, I'm angry with you so compensate me"
They then proceed ahead after Ken promising Yue an all you-can-drink-buffet on his blood.