Chapter 40: United in the Labyrinth of Death and Despair│Read translated stories and daily updates at: Awebstories.com
—Boom!
With a single explosion, Aria Moreno was blown away from the waist up.
I knew that she would not obey me and that she would run away.
So I set up a trap on the passage side of the room’s doorway.
【Claymore】, which detects magic.
I gave her one last chance to escape if she did nothing. But she tried to summon a skeleton dragon to retaliate against us.
As a result, her life is over.
“…In the end, the two of us slaughtered all of the classmates who had been thrown into the labyrinth…”
As I gaze up at the ceiling, I mutter to myself.
It makes no difference to me. I intended to do it from the start, and I am, of course, prepared and determined.
But… Nadia is not the type of woman who can pull this off.
Nonetheless, she took the initiative to get her hands dirty for my sake.
—I’m the one who forced her to do it.
“Yes… but I have no regrets—because I was able to defend you with my own power.”
Nadia looks me in the eyes and says as much.
There was no regret in her beautiful indigo eyes, only determination, resolve, and… guilt.
I…
“I’m sorry, Nadia… I’m sorry… I’m sorry…!”
“Huh?! Ivan, why are you apologizing?! Why do you look so sad…!”
I give her a tight hug and cry as I say I’m sorry, but Nadia gives me a tight hug back but won’t accept my apology.
Her indigo eyes were also filled with tears.
“I was happy to assist you! I was happy to be able to shield you! I was happy to be by your side! How can I deny my emotions?! Why do you try to take away my happiness?!”
“Ah…”
“I’m happy! Even if it means killing someone in this hellish labyrinth! As long as I’ve got you…!”
That’s right…
Even in my dreams, you always looked only at me. You always wanted only me.
And I’d do the same for you.
I would do anything for you. If you were here, I would have been happy, even if I had to lay down many corpses.
“Nadia… I’m so sorry.”
“Ivan, you’re still…?!
I apologized once more, and Nadia was about to say something when I tightly hugged her.
Tightly… so closely…
“I haven’t given much thought to your feelings—you’ve always shown me…”
“I-Ivan…”
Nadia returned my hug gently. Her angry expression softened into a smile.
“Nadia… Will you listen to me?”
“Y-Yes…”
Nadia’s body tensed up as I said this with determination.
“Do you remember what Aria Moreno said about the dream earlier…?
“Y-Yes… I couldn’t believe it…”
“…In fact, I had the same dream every single day.”
“Ivan!?”
I told Nadia about my dream in hushed tones.
Ten years ago, Every day since my eighth birthday, I’ve had the same dream.
The dream had always started with the engagement breaking up at the graduation party.
After that, Nadia and her friends were sentenced to the “Labyrinth Prison” and were thrown into this place.
I just stood there and observed Nadia and the others.
“….However, out of curiosity, I intervened in the dissolution of your engagement. And I ended up with you in this labyrinth.”
So… I was attacked by a hellhound and you covered for me and got chewed to death….
“After that, all I wanted to do was save you, so I kept trying to navigate this labyrinth in my dreams—dozens, hundreds, thousands of times…”
“…”
“I even worked on my own strength for it—one of them was the synthesis magic you saw, and I’ve also been training for a decade to increase the maximum capacity of my magic.”
“W-Why…what made you go so far? It’s just a dream, and you have no idea whether it’s real or not. Above all, after going through so much pain, you could have gone back to being a bystander…”
Nadia, who had been quietly listening to me up until now, asks me timidly.
What made me go so far…
There’s only one answer.
And… well, I’ll tell you.
I’m going to tell you about my resolve and my emotions.
“…In that dream, when I was first thrown into the labyrinth and you covered for me, your smile, as if you didn’t want to worry me, your kindness is still burning in my heart.”
“…”
“You might think it’s silly to discuss what happened in my dream. But I’ve been considering it ever since…”
So what made me go so far?
I take a deep breath after pausing.
“Because of you, Nadia… the woman I love!”
“Ah…”
Nadia’s eyes widened as she heard my confession.
Hahaha…I met her in a dream and immediately fell in love with her…That could be annoying for Nadia… I thought so, and I couldn’t stop laughing… Huh?!
“N-Nadia?”
“I-I believe what Ivan says! You’ve been watching out for me since the first day of school! You have taken care of me! You accepted me! You recognized me even when I wasn’t needed!”
Nadia wraps her arms around my neck, tightly hugging me, and expresses her feelings.
Above all… I can’t believe she took my words so seriously…
“Do you realize how much your presence has saved my life? How invested you are in me…!”
“That’s…”
“I can’t live without you now!! I love you more than anyone else in the world! and without you, I will…!”
“Ah…”
Nadia smiled as she responded to my confession, tears streaming down her cheeks.
Then I stroked her cheek gently.
“Nadia…♥!”
“Ivan…♥!”
For ten years, overcoming thousands of dreams and deaths, I was united in the labyrinth of death and despair with this humble, kind, lovely, hard-working, dedicated, and devoted Nadia, whom I love more than anyone else in the world.
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