Kimani wanted to deny the notion that she was a monster but… she couldn't be certain anymore. Her circumstances were too strange. How was it possible to lose control of one's own body? Maybe she was tricking herself all along…
"No, no, no! You are not a monster…" Christian backtracked after noticing the girl's strange reaction. It couldn't be that the monts they spent were just a facade. They felt too real and sincere to be faked.
The only explanation was manipulation…
Considering what Kimani had told them about previously losing control in the safe room they should have been far more wary. Even if she remained silent there were simply too many signs that couldn't be ignored!
Kimani was however unable to hear his words. The thought that she was a monster ca from her own analysis of their situation. Though the thought of manipulation did cross her mind… she wasn't certain…
When would such a thing latch onto her mind? To her there was no instance. There was never any discomfort or obvious signs of control until the control actually happened.
"Damn… We can't help her..." Christian said downcast. Despite the fact that he narrowed down the issue, he couldn't offer any help. He didn't even know where to start.
The main issue lay in the problem they were trying to resolve. The manipulation of the girl's body was sothing that only a great being could do, why did they try to interfere? Was it possible that their trauma left quietly?
...Or were the thoughts of he and Archer's thoughts being and influenced too?
"Roooar!" An incensed roar followed by incessant tremors. Christian had no room to regret his decisions or think any longer. He cald down at last and he reinforced his body with more mana.
"Co on!" Christian shouted bravely.
Arrows whistled through the air and Christian's sword also humd as it sliced towards the giant armored skeleton.
The girl, Kinami, only observed for a mont. Though this move was not of her own volition, she had to admit she didn't want to see anymore.
The one in control was W and he planned on leaving towards the portal now.
'It's a good thing that Hulk was in this settlent' W planned to use the outpost as an opportunity to pin down the adventurers and then make a run for the portal. If the skeleton juggernaut Hulk was not present in this outpost his odds of escaping would have slimd.
'Luckily… Luckily…' W continued to mutter inwardly. The misfortune of running into them in the first place was evidently now being compensated.
'So of you follow ' W transmitted to so anti-skeletons. With so minions at his disposal, W skirted the ongoing battles and left the outpost with his small entourage.
Witnessing these moves, Kimani was reminded that it wasn't just her body going out of control. The skeletons in the dungeon were also behaving obediently. With such evidence, she could only wonder what kind of fearso creature took root in her body.
After getting enough distance, W could no longer hear the sound of a bow being strung or the sound of a sword colliding against a solid object. Simply put the sounds of battle were now distant.
W's ears were now blessed with peace and quiet. The only sounds were the tallic churns of the anti skeletons playing a discordant lody as they walked.
That being the case, W decided he was better off breaking this peace by communicating with the young girl whose body he so rudely took over.
"Sorry, I was hoping you'd get to the next floor without resorting to this" W genuinely tried to prevent this outco. Ed's demand simply took precedence over his own thoughts according to his own understanding of their situation and relationship.
W made sure to return the girl partial hearing so she likely heard his words that ca out of her own mouth.
After a bit of thinking, W decided to gauge her intentions and allowed her to speak.
"You are-…. Are you a monster?" The girl mustered so courage and asked.
W thought about this question. It was in a way rather philosophical. Everyone had their hidden demons so everyone could be said to be hiding a monster. Nevertheless, W was smart enough to understand what Kimani ant to ask.
"I am by human standard" As a creation of Ed, blood clots could not be called mobs. But at the sa ti, just because they weren't in any books it didn't an they wouldn't be eventually.
Common sense could tell one whether sothing was a monster. Therefore, in spite of the fact that he used to be human, W declared himself a monster.
The young girl didn't know how to interpret W's words, what she did know however was that Christian and Archer were still in danger. Regardless of the monster's true identity they needed help!
"Can… Since you didn't want to… Can you rescue Chris and Archer?" Kimani asked shyly as they continued to traverse towards the portal.
"Why would I do that after coming this far?" W took control of her mouth and said. Kimani had to admit that the question was a bit naive. Her hopes were dashed but she shouldn't have expected much from that question to begin with.
"Then… Will I live?" No longer worrying about Christian and Archer, Kimani asked about her own situation. W frowned slightly before sighing inwardly.
'How talented' She knew how to ask the right questions to annoy W. Why would he kill her after using her?
'No, wait… That does sound like sothing I might do nowadays' He had been thinking along those lines before so the girl's question was actually reasonable.
"It depends" It was too bad for her that W had no way to provide a proper answer. He was leaving most of the decision to Ed. After they rged they could both think clearly on the matter.
"On what?" The girl followed up and asked noticing W was done with his two cents.
"Whether you intend to cooperate" W answered. He wasn't actually very sure that this alone would suffice. Thinking clearly the little girl could not be trusted, at the very least another blood clot would replace W and keep watch on the girl.
'It's just a bit tricky to listen in without taking control of one of her ears at least. Thinking along these lines made W realize that maybe it was ti to develop their ability to assimilate to another level. Wouldn't so sort of dual-channel blood absorption be then possible?
As for W's answer, Kimani had no words to offer. She couldn't cooperate with a monster but nor could she say that.
"Nothing huh…" W now knew the conversation was over. Neither of them offered any words after that. It was very likely that the girl was trying to think of an appropriate answer that wouldn't go against her morals but it was really impossible.
She couldn't agree to cooperate with a monster.
'The fact that she can stick to her morals when going against a monster is already admirable' Most humans and adventurers didn't even consider the lives of mobs to be real lives.
Sure mobs acted as lives might, and they certainly displayed so intelligence. Nevertheless, could sothing that was spawned in by a dungeon truly be alive? These were the sort of thoughts most humans harbored towards mobs.
Yet, although humans thought of mobs as inferior, most wouldn't hesitate to say they would cooperate.
After half an hour of consistent steady running, W and the anti-skeletons finally reached the rging corridor. W traversed down this nostalgic hallway and eventually ca across a giant door.
The intimidating air it exuded was still awe-inspiring despite the absence of a boss monster.
'You guys can go back' W commanded to the skeletons. He only brought them along in case they needed to stall so other adventurers. The result was that they thankfully didn't.
While the anti-skeletons retreated, W turned his attention back towards the giant boss gate. He pushed it open with the girl's feeble arms and was greeted by the brilliant sight of the brightly illuminated and vast boss room.
The bigger it was however the emptier it felt. The lack of notable decorations and the equidistant torch placent made for a feeling of monotony.
The only thing of interest was the distant black dot.
"That's the portal to the next floor" W said out loud. His target must have been Kimani as no one else could listen to his rambles.
'Ed, I am coming, I'm currently in an adventurer's body' W made sure to give Ed a warning before dashing off towards the portal. He was secretly excited to reunite with Ed and share his stories.
This sounded incomparably lonely but his one good friend was definitely himself. He could always confide in himself, and there was much to share from this journey.
***
On the other side of the portal, Ed received a transmitted ssage.
'So W's almost here' Ed thought expectantly.
'A, could you wait for W a bit further ahead?' It would be bad if the first thing the orcs did was attack the human W hosed. Ed believed it was best to have A make sure there was indeed no problem with W's information. If it was accurate their contributions would no longer be necessary.
Once he got a hold of W, all of his plans could be put into place.
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