"We're finally back out! What the hell is wrong with you, why would you aimlessly wander inside a maze-like cavern!?" Snapped Fuo irritably, as we found the entrance.

"Well, even if I had gotten too lost to find my way back out, I could have blasted my way out pretty easily, like I did back when I got captured during the Quest to Goldway, remember?" I pointed out sheepishly.

​​

"It worked out that time, sure, but if you opted for that, could you have guaranteed that the entire place wouldn't have caved in instead!?" She retorted with a look of exasperation.

"Well, sure, I mean...I was SO much weaker and slower back then than I am now, so even if I did cause the cave to collapse, I'm willing to bet that I could move faster enough to avoid getting caught up in the collapsing rubble."

"...tch, whatever."

It had taken about two hours to find our way back outside, and Fuo had become increasingly ticked off and irritated with every passing minute. When we finally spotted the entrance, I figured that she'd cool down, but instead, she kinda lost it, snapped and began yelling at me.

I guess she'd been holding back from yelling to conserve energy since there was no telling how long it'd take to get out of there...and as soon as the entrance came into sight, she just stopped holding back and let everything out at once. Fortunately, it looks like she's more or less done...

"I'm so tired and hungry," She groaned, laying down by the rocky surface outside the cave.

"I could get some Goblins to bring food...but that'd be limited to lizards and bats, so if you're okay with that..."

"Fine, whatever, I don't care."

I had some Goblins collect lizards and bats before summoning them here and using Fire Magic to cook them. Fuo was glaring at me the whole time, so it was kinda awkward.

"Could you stop with the death glare, I said I was sorry for getting lost."

"First of all, no, you didn't! And secondly, that's not it...I was just thinking about how unfairly convenient having all five Elemental Magic types."

"Ohhh...so you were just jealous as usual."

"...fuck you."

"You're as friendly as ever, aren't you?"

"Tch, asshole. This is really weird, but I guess you really are the real one...my memories say otherwise, but there's no doubt about it, you're definitely not the fake."

"Oh, the fact that the other guy tried to kill you didn't give that away?"

"...you may the real one, but you're both assholes."

"Yeah, I bet. I still can't believe you two pulled that stunt, Shiro could have killed you in an instant if you hadn't been careful," I remarked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, it wasn't my idea, talk to the guy whose idea it was," She grumbled, before giving control over to Atticus, "Oh, she finally gave me control. I can finally ask you something I have been curious about this whole time...the Goblins, how did you-...oh, that's right, I appeared in front of you after that Goblin jumped on my back, and Goblins appeared out of nowhere to bring this food. I didn't really think about since I was so mad, but...how are you doing that?"

Fuo took back control halfway through there. Also, she was that pissed off?

"Oh, right...I consumed the life force of the Goblin King and killed him. So the Goblins, Hobgoblins and Ogres are mine to command now. And I can also see better in the dark," I explained.

"So that's how you were able to move so freely down there. I could barely keep up since I couldn't see very well. And I kept bumping into rocks, it was really annoying."

She'd used a small Light Crystal while we were looking for the way out, but now that I think about it, she'd asked me to slow down multiple times, and I'd heard her groan and mutter irritably several times as well. I hadn't bumped into anything even once though...heh, night vision is awesome.

"Well, anyway, what do you two plan to do now? Shiro will definitely see you as a threat now, and will probably be desperate to take you out of the equation...and probably do so in a way that'll let him put the blame on me, I'll bet."

"I suppose that's true...wait, if we can confront someone we know, maybe if I vouch for you-."

"No, that's risky, he could easily claim that I brainwashed you or something," I shook my head with a sigh.

"Huh? Brainwashed me how-...oh, right, the Vampire King's Cross."

"Exactly. And there's a chance that he might use that Cross to try and convince everyone to hate me or incept the idea that they want to kill me...it's a pretty low possibility since if even one of them manages to resist the effects of the Cross, he'll look very, very suspicious, but it's not impossible. So, what do you two plan to do now?" I inquired curiously.

"What about you, what are you going to do?" Asked Fuo in response.

"Me? Well, I was unsure for a while, but I think I've decided...I'll hunt down and consume the life forces of as many of the monster kings as possible, and then return to kill Shiro once I no longer have enough time to hunt any more kings. I've already gotten the details and locations of each king from Lazarus, as much as he knows about them anyway. There are ten monster kings left, four are trapped in the Forbidden Zones, so that leaves six for me to hunt...namely, the Beast King, Were King, Devil King, Reptile King, Giant King and Imp King. If I have command of all their monsters, I'll have an absolutely massive army at my disposal."

"But there is no guarantee that consuming those other kings will let you summon the monsters they command, is there?" Pointed out Atticus, as Fuo gave him control, before adding, "After all, Lazarus could not summon any of the Vampires, as far as I'm aware of, at least."

"Well, yeah, but there's a big difference between Vampires and most other monsters...Vampires don't respawn when they die. So there's a good chance that I will be able to summon the monsters under the command of the kings I mentioned, because they're all monster types that respawn when killed."

"Okay, then I've decided what I'm going to do," Declared Fuo, taking back control, "I'm coming with you. In exchange, you'll train me on the way there and transfer the life force of at least one monster king into me."

Hm, I guess that'd be fine, depending on the results of the next monster king whose life force I consume, which if goes according to my expectations, I could probably spare one king for her. From what I'd heard about them from Lazarus, a couple of the kings likely wouldn't give me any significant power boosts. Sure, why not, I'll let her tag along...having an ally would be nice, after all. But I might mess with her a little bit...

"You say 'in exchange' like you coming with me is doing me a favor...but come on, in reality, you'll just get in my way."

"Wha-!? Grr, are you calling me a burden!?"

"Huh? I...I thought that was obvious?"

"...so, er, she does not want to talk to you anymore, so she gave me control. I do agree with her though, I think our best move is to go with you. Is that alright with you?" Said Atticus with a sigh.

"Yeah, I mean, I never said no, did I?" I replied with a shrug, before stifling a laugh.

"Fuck you!" She snapped, before handing control back to Atticus, "Er, sorry about that, she took back control just to say that."

"Heh, no need to apologize, this is fun...I think I needed this. Hey, stop sulking, Fuo...I also never said no to training you, so cheer-."

"Really, you'll train me!?"

Wow, not even trying to hide her enthusiasm. She really is obsessed with getting stronger, isn't she? I'm guessing she's fine with getting help from me since she's probably given up on trying to surpass me, and was instead trying to be stronger than everyone besides me...I don't think she's actually consciously realized that yet though, so I won't point it out.

"Yeah, sure, why not? Right now, you're my only ally, and I'm more grateful for that than you might think. I mean, sure, you wouldn't have been my first choice, but you're better than noth-."

"Can't you just end it on a nice note?"

"I could, but it's more fun this way."

"Were you always this annoying?"

"Were you always this easy to annoy?"

"..."

"..."

"She said that she does not want to talk to you again," Replied Atticus with a hint of exasperation in his expression, as he took over.

Not longer after that, we went to sleep, since it was getting pretty late now. We slept just inside the entrance of the cave I got lost in, it was nice and cool in there, with a pleasant breeze blowing just outside. Tomorrow morning we were going to start hunting down the monster kings, I needed to get more powerful, strong enough so that even with all the odds in his favor, Shiro wouldn't stand a chance against me.

I have to kill him no matter what, and get my life back...I had way too much to lose, I couldn't afford to fail. This grudge and my anger, logically speaking, I shouldn't be directing them at him...no, not-God is the one to blame for this. But it doesn't matter, it doesn't change the fact that the two of us can't both exist, one of us needs to die...and that won't be me, I'll make sure to kill him.

And besides that, not-God may be the one who orchestrated this situation, but when I first came face to face with Shiro, he made it clear that while he may have my memories, he doesn't think the same way I do, he doesn't have any affection for the people I care about, he couldn't care less about them.

And that makes him dangerous, a threat to the life I've cultivated for myself in this world. If I die, there's no telling what he'll do if he comes out on top, but if nothing else, I got a really ominous vibe from him back then, and when I ran into him in the Goblin cave...I could tell that he was a lot more bloodthirsty than I was, he enjoyed violence more than I did. And that's why...I have to kill him, no matter what...

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