Catato Patch 

After god knows how long, I finally stepped out of that unending darkness filled with the stench of rot. For some reason, it truly felt like a release of sorts.

 

As long as one was a human, it wouldn’t be strange for him to feel fear like that. After all, there was really nothing but darkness in that godforsaken place. In that empty void of a world, even breathing became a source of comfort. Had I been by myself in there, the torturous silence probably would have done me in already. Even if it didn’t, the ensuing madness would have…

 

‘Hmmm...in a sense, I was only able to walk out of that void safely because of Slime-chan…’

 

‘No, even before that, can I even go crazy as a dragon?!’

 

‘Hmmm?!!!’

 

I suddenly became cognizant of the bizarreness of that thought just now.

 

‘I...aren’t I a human player? How could I even consider myself a dragon? Not good, seems like I’m starting to become the role I’m playing after being in this world for so long…’

 

‘Come to think of it, wasn’t that world of darkness kinda like a tunnel of sorts? No wonder I couldn’t see a thing at all...it even made me mistake the Abyss for a lightless world…’

 

‘Either way, I’m out of there and that’s all that matters.’

 

With that in mind, I plopped myself down on the mountainside and peered into the distance. Beneath me was a field of faint blue lights that resembled the ghost lights of legends. Strung together, they almost seemed to form a transparent, glowing bridge that stretched into the horizon; almost like the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons (Hyakki Yakō).

 

As if we were looking at the Milky Way on a clear night, the uneven distribution of those lights made them a little hard to perceive individually. Yet, like a sea of stars glittering in the night, those lights illuminated the town beneath us and brought to view a clear outline.

 

“It’s so pretty!” Slime-chan couldn’t help but gasp as she stared unblinkingly and eyes watering at the distant river of blue.

 

At that, I briefly nodded my head in assent.

 

Such emotions and such sights; most likely only in such a state of tiredness could I find the time to calm down and admire the sights.

 

‘Perfect timing and perfect scenery, if I had to hazard a guess, the authors of that saying probably had such a sight in mind.’

 

With a suitable companion by one’s side at the suitable time and place, one couldn’t help but feel a sense of honey sweetness especially in the face of such an unprecedented beauty. My heart couldn’t help but yell...this is what it means to be alive! To live!

 

Even if, in the future, I were to be bombarded with such picturesque sights to the point of annoyance and disgust, I would probably still recall today’s sight...and exclaim once more…

 

This was what perfection meant! Forever more, this memory would accompany my companion and I as an eternal part of our hearts. Should we ever recollect this wonderful memory, I imagine it would be with a smile on our faces as we relive that moment of perfection.

 

‘Speaking of which, this is kind of incredible, isn’t it? This is supposed to be a high level instance, the Abyss, and yet Slime-chan and I are admiring the scenery from the mountainside...what’s even more incredible is that there is actually a town here and it even looks rather lively.’

 

As I basked in the moment, I blinked momentarily before allowing the faint blue light to wash over my eyes.

 

“*Cough cough cough*...” Suddenly, my wandering mind was pulled back to reality by Slime-chan coughing.

 

“What’s the matter?” I couldn’t help but ask when I saw the paleness of her face.

 

However, the moment those words left my mouth, I regretted it from the bottom of my heart. Why was she so weak right now? There was probably no one who knew the answer to that better than me.

 

The answer was my abyssal and death aura. Throughout our time here, these two auras intermingled with each other and slowly tortured her. Judging from her paleness, she probably couldn’t last much longer by my side.

 

‘Looks like my heart still isn’t strong enough...strong enough to sit idly by and watch my comrade slowly weaken and die off like that.’

 

“Hey...I’m fine, Dragon-chan…” She consoled, having guessed my thoughts. “I’m actually really strong, don’t cha know…”

 

‘Sigh…’ I sighed in my heart before reaching out with my dragon claws and caressing her cheeks.

 

‘Looks like she doesn’t wish to leave me, I...feel the same way too.’

 

‘Anyway, we should head to that town first. If I can’t find a solution then...I will just have to have her leave me temporarily…’