A Choice Beyond Dimensions

Whitish mist seeped through the cracks.

Step, step.

Hollow footsteps echoed from beyond the thick fog. Within that mist, two bright yellow moons rose, growing larger and more luminous.

【…From the chaos, the ‘Wolf that Swallowed Gods’ appears….】

Thud. The person who came to a stop was, naturally, that man.

The white fur he always wore over his shoulders floated around him like clouds. From the God-Slaying Sword slung over his other shoulder, shards of ice dripped, and in his other hand, he held something.

【…Residual dat▒ of Awa▒ener ‘Shinbi’ has not been ▒ound. Attempting to ▒xtract location data …failed. Not Found Error….】

He tossed aside a miserably frozen Observer and slowly lifted his head. His vertically slit pupils glinted apathetically.

『……』

His lethally shining eyes glared precisely at Sirin, the ‘Alluring Butterfly’. In response, the massive figure holding Sirin shifted smoothly.

『Janus, it’s okay. Sit. …And you, Mr. Wolf.』

Sirin, having restrained Janus as if she were used to this, spoke as if she had a headache.

『You shouldn’t keep disassembling our kids like that. Do you know how much work it is to stitch back together the Observers you’ve torn apart? …Haa. We’re already short-staffed trying to fix bugs, and yet you keep gnawing on them like they’re dog chews….』

『Are we short-staffed? Rin.』

『No! Just stay there. …You, are you going to keep interrupting while I’m working?! Go to your own field!』

Sirin snapped at the ‘Demon Outcast’ who had abruptly pulled out his massive spear, but Janus didn’t listen to a word she said.

…So that’s why he was never in his shrine even when people tried to subjugate him. I was watching their bickering with a dazed face when—

“Bi.”

I flinched at the low voice speaking in the human common tongue.

“Come here.”

Karvan reached out his hand and spoke.

Like a racehorse wearing blinders, he looked as if he could see nothing else in his surroundings, staring only at me with a persistent urgency.

“Hurry.”

Patiently, like a hunter waiting with a trap wide open for the prey to enter. He simply stood there with his palm outspread, waiting for me to take the first step toward him.

The moment I reached out to him as if possessed, the man’s figure vanished.

…Huh? Worried that I had been forcibly moved again, I looked around anxiously, and then darkness fell.

“I almost felt neglected.”

The heat of his body, contrasting with the voice whispering in my ear, made my breath hitch. With one hand covering my eyes, he hugged me tightly from behind with his entire body.

“…Why?”

“The moment you saw me, you should have run into my arms. Why were you staring at those strange fellows?”

Before I could find a gap to answer, my body was hoisted up.

『Eh? Shinbi-ssi!』

Beyond Sirin’s flustered expression, a spear overflowing with demonic energy flew toward us! However, it struck an ice wall that surged up from the floor and was easily neutralized.

『Janus! You keep doing that…!』

Leaving behind the sound of an appalled Sirin scolding him, Karvan turned into mist while still holding me.

I glanced back and saw the ‘Butterfly Palace’ receding into the distance. Originally, it was a structure where blue streams of water circled it like a snow globe, but nearly half of it was now frozen. No doubt, it was this man’s doing.

“Why that face?”

“……”

“I said I would come as quickly as possible. Was I too late?”

“…No. You weren’t.”

I’d have to apologize to Sirin later. Even as I let out a sigh, the vast desert, the shimmering oasis, the bustling metropolis, and the forest filled with birdsong passed by rapidly within the thick mist.

…Ugh, I feel like I’m getting motion sickness.

I closed my eyes while burying my head in Karvan’s chest.

At some point, I heard normal footsteps. Step, step.

Only after confirming that the cold wind slicing past my ears had stopped did I open my eyes.

Chirp, chirp. A peaceful forest path where birds sang.

It was a hill overlooking a calm lake where sunlight shattered on the water. The very lakeside in front of Midvalen where I had once thrown Karvan’s earring.

When I lightly stroked his forearm, the man lowered me to the ground without a word.

Standing on my own two feet, I looked at the shimmering surface of the water, which was clear yet held an unfathomable depth.

Recalling the incident from before, my hand instinctively went to my ear.

I fiddled with the cherry blossom earring and looked at the lake, while Karvan watched me.

A fairly long silence passed between us.

“What did the butterfly say to you?”

Karvan was the first to break the silence.

I smoothed back my fluttering hair and turned to look at him. Our gazes met in the air, wavering with uncertainty.

“She said she would send me back to where I belong.”

“…So. Are you planning to go back?”

Instead of answering, I quietly closed my eyes.

If it had been just a few months ago, my answer would have been ‘Of course.’

I had wanted to return so badly. Not to this fake world, but to the place where I belonged. Reality. Why would I refuse the chance to return?

According to Sirin, I would live happily if I went back. I would forget all the lonely and terrible things that happened here, as if nothing had ever happened.

“Karvan, you know.”

But.

“As for me….”

As I opened my eyes and started to speak after finalizing my thoughts, something happened.

【…A ‘Dichotomous Entity’ appears….】

Appearing at the most impeccable timing was an Observer.

What is it? Did it come to deliver a message from Sirin? I was staring at it blankly when—

“Ack! Ka-Karvan…!”

He snatched me up and held me without a moment’s delay.

I could see the Observers running toward us from a distance, letting out screams mixed with static noise.

“They’ll misunderstand and think you kidnapped me. She said they’re puppets that move according to input values.”

“I wonder if it’s any different from running away and stealing since birth.”

The man spoke indifferently and continued walking while looking only straight ahead. When I glanced up, his eyes were clouded with dark, heavy storm clouds.

“Karvan.”

“Yes.”

“The Observers said they won’t eat me anymore. It’s okay now.”

“I know.”

“Also, I heard everything from Sirin-ssi. The things you wanted to hide.”

The man, who had been walking while looking only forward, came to a dead halt.

“You went around destroying the Observers, didn’t you? So they couldn’t find me.”

I had never seen that kind of expression on Karvan’s face before.

I thought he wouldn’t make a face like that even if the sky fell or his heart was pierced.

“…So.”

Slowly, the man’s eyes tilted down toward me, wavering helplessly.

“Yeah. So, about that….”

“If you’re going to say you’re leaving me, that you’re going back, there’s no need to say it.”

This time, Karvan cut me off first. His jaw was clenched tight, as if he were gritting his teeth.

“Even if you say it, I cannot grant that wish.”

“…Yeah, I got it, so could you let me go?”

“I told you I have no intention of letting you go.”

“No, I mean put me down on the ground!”

Let me look at your face and talk! I really meant I wanted him to release me from his embrace, but the man seemed to have understood it in a different sense.

As if he couldn’t hear anything, he looked only forward and tightened his grip on me.

…Hah, how am I supposed to live with him for the rest of my life if he doesn’t listen?

I groaned, pressing a hand to my forehead and shaking my head. Then, I felt the man flinch.

“Even if you refuse and hate it so much, it’s useless.”

“I don’t hate it, and I’m not going to refuse?”

“…….”

The gaze that had been looking terrifyingly forward finally slid down and met mine. Looking into those eyes filled with anticipation, I let out a small laugh.

“Baalzeph said that. That you prevented me from returning to my ‘hometown’. At that moment….”

Surprisingly, the city of the Varg, Bahalgras, was the first thing that came to mind.

I think at that moment, I made my own decision.

“I realized where I belong.”

“…….”

“On the flip side, I have something I’m curious about. If I asked you to go to where I used to be and live together, would you do it?”

“Of course.”

The man answered without a hint of hesitation. He lowered me from his tight embrace, held my shoulders, and spoke clearly as he met my gaze.

“If I can be by your side. I will go anywhere.”

“Really?”

【Impossible.】

Breaking the mood, an Observer who had stood behind us at some point interrupted.

【Those who are not ‘Awakeners’ cannot go to the ‘City of Awakening’.】

“…That’s what they say?”

Karvan glared at them expressionlessly.

Swoosh, judging by the mist beginning to swirl around him, he looked ready to blast something.

I giggled and tapped my wrist a few times. The ‘GB’ that had been sitting there in its transparent state revealed itself in response to my body heat.

The proof that I was the only ‘Player’.

“Observer. Could you deliver this to the ‘Alluring Butterfly’?”

I unfastened it without any lingering attachment and handed it to the Observer.

“If you give her this, Sirin will know what I mean.”

The Observer stood still for a moment, then reached out with both hands and politely accepted the GB I offered.

【Defector ‘Shinbi-jui’: Item Delivery (Detail: GB) request accepted.】

Even as I saw their pitch-black, rake-like claws for a split second, I was no longer afraid. Because a warmth hot enough to burn was holding my other hand tightly.

【…The ‘Dichotomous Entity’ disappears….】

Watching the Observer vanish like that, I looked down at my empty wrist. Even when I tapped it, nothing appeared.

Though the only item connecting me to the modern world was gone, …I felt strangely lighthearted. And.

“…Ah?”

The text had disappeared.

Instead of the words ‘Karvan Baharga (Race: Varg)’ that used to pop up whenever I looked above his head, I was seeing him entirely through my own eyes.

“What are you looking at so intently?”

I was staring at the empty air above his head with my mouth agape, and the man’s face filled my entire field of vision.

“It doesn’t look like you’re looking at me with such longing.”

At his somewhat dissatisfied tone, I smiled faintly and shook my head.

“…No. I’m always looking at you.”

I looked straight up into the man’s golden eyes, which had widened slightly in surprise, and gave a broad smile.

“I’ll keep doing that from now on.”