Blessed by Night

Chapter 82  You Seem Different

Outside the gate, Luna had been beside herself with worry. She hadn't moved from her place in front of the gate ever since she failed to enter earlier. The guild master had been anxiously awaiting any sort of change from the swirling void, and after twenty minutes she finally got what she wished for. She could feel cool air being sucked into the dungeon once again, and she knew immediately that something had changed. Hesitantly, she stuck her hand out and checked to see if her hypothesis was correct, and let out a massive sigh of relief when she realized that whatever barrier inhibiting her before was no longer present.

"I'm heading inside!" She yelled over her shoulder. As soon as she passed through the gate, she emerged within a dark cavern that smelled like burned goblin. But as soon as she took a single step, she very nearly fell over.

Whatever was inside of here... it was unlike anything she had ever felt before.

This pressure was so enormous and overwhelming that she didn't dare to take a step forward, and she almost forgot why she came here. FLASH!

The tattoo on luna's forehead shone brightly, and her magical beast Shiro appeared out of thin air.

"Arf!"

"W-What are you doing? Get back here, it's dangerous!"

The fox payed her no mind and ran down a tunnel while barking orders at her. "Arf!" (Bring your ass!)

Luna tried to recall her pet back into herself using their connection, but the small fox seemed to be having none of it. She bit her lip hard to give her body the shock she needed to move, and once there was a small line of blood running down her chin she finally chased after her rowdy pet.

The two traveled deeper and deeper into the dark cave, and Luna felt like the deeper she went inside the more likely it would be that she fainted from the overwhelming pressure. She had no idea why Shiro was completely fine in this atmosphere and was even completely energetic. Usually she had a hard time trying to get the little fucker off the couch at home, but now it was running around like it'd just had twenty cups of coffee. Eventually, Shiro led Luna all the way into the last room that was recorded by the cameraman but it looked... different.

The northernmost wall had been... erased? It now looked like another huge tunnel had been created, when this room was very clearly a dead end before. But Luna was now struggling so much to pull in a single breath of air that she hardly even noticed the landscape changes. The source of this horrible pressure was the thing that was standing above the bodies of Aisha and Bianca.

It was utterly unlike anything she had ever encountered before. Somehow, it was both the most beautiful thing she had ever seen and also the most frightening. Standing before her was a mass of darkness, stars, and swirling nebulas in the shape of a man. It had no eyes, ears, nose, or mouth, but Luna did notice that it seemed to have something resembling very long hair on the top of it's head. The longer she stared at the creature, the more she felt like she knew what it might have been but she dared not believe it. "M-Malachi...? T-That's you, right?" "Arf!" (Goddamn you look cool as fuck!)

The being seemed to only just now be aware that there was someone in the room with it, and it slowly started walking towards her. "My Luna..."

Mal's voice was a great deal deeper than usual and seemed to have it's own echo, and it caused small shivers to run down Luna's spine. She couldn't bring herself to step forwards or backwards, and her body was seemingly locked in place as she watched him approach her. "Mal, what happened here? A-After the cameraman was killed we-"

"I've been dreaming, Luna... but fortunately I was able to wake up before you, or anyone else I love was harmed as a result of my shortsightedness..."

Luna didn't hear shit else that Mal said after he basically confessed that he loved her. Her mind was now submerged by a flurry of thoughts and complex emotions that she didn't fully understand. "I-I-"

"Luna..."

Malachi took the face of the mature beauty into his hands and pressed their foreheads together. Even though he did not have any eyes, she still felt as though she could feel him staring into the depths of her very soul.

"I no longer care about protecting everyone in this world... all that matters to me now is that I never have to watch any of you be harmed again... To that end I will...."

Gradually, Malachi's words began to trail off and he started to sound like he was further and further away. He stumbled a bit as if he were having trouble keeping his body upright, and Luna had to support him so that he did not fall over. "Mal? What's wrong?? I don't understand!"

Suddenly, particles of dust began to converge on Malachi's body and his skin was gradually reformed as he returned to normal.  "Tired..."

His head slumped over onto Luna's shoulder, and a moment later he was snoring lightly as if he was exhausted beyond belief.

"What are you... KYAAA!"

Luna reflexively stepped back and let Mal fall to the ground when she realized that he was naked, and she tried her best to calm her rapidly beating heartbeat. Shiro walked towards his body and began sniffing him as if she'd found something interesting about the nude young man. "S-Shiro! Get away from him while he's... oh my god."

While trying to reprimand her beast, Luna's eyes accidentally fell somewhere that they shouldn't have and her face became significantly redder. "I thought Sei was exaggerating..."

"Arf arf." (And that's while he's at rest.... Seems like you're in for a tough time in the future.)

Luna didn't know exactly what the small fox was saying, but do to their connection she did have a vague understanding of what she was thinking. And she was less than pleased. "Perverted girl! I should shave you bald!"

"Arf!" (Just try it and I'll tinkle in your good teacups!)

Luna rolled her eyes in frustration and turned her eyes back to her three subordinates who were all unconscious on the ground. Shiro confirmed that the girls were alive and healing but she couldn't tell when they would wake up. After sweeping the room, she found three shiny items that she assumed to be loot from the boss and finally let out a deeply held sigh. "You all have been through so much... I'm very proud." She said sincerely. "Let's get you all out of here."

- 2 Days Later

A single twitch from him was all it took for Sei's eyes to flash open, and she seemed to be fully awake. "Honey!"

When Malachi awoke, it was the middle of the night and he was in his bedroom at home. Sei was sleeping next to him, wearing her usual outfit of an oversized t-shirt and panties and was clutching his hand so tightly that he had practically lost all feeling. A single twitch from him was all it took for Sei's eyes to flash open, and she seemed to be fully awake. "Honey!" n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Oof!"

Sei practically flung herself on top of Malachi, and the young man was smushed by her very large breasts. Although judging by the fact that he made no attempts to move, clearly he was fine suffocating like this. "You have no idea how worried I was! When Luna brought the three of you out you were all unconscious and she wouldn't tell us how you killed the boss!"

Malachi briefly tried to recall the events that had transpired inside of the dungeon and was reminded of a horrifyingly powerful new form that he had almost no control over. It was almost as if everything he did while in that state was somehow on autopilot.

"What happened? How are you feeling? I'm sure you're hungry, right? I can go and-"

Malachi placed both of his arms around his girlfriend in the hopes of calming her down. He was touched by all of her concern and worry, but this was all he needed right now.

"Can we just stay like this for a moment? I don't want you to go anywhere."

"O-Oh, okay."

The two of them lay intertwined like that for quite a while, and eventually Mal began to tell her about everything that he saw inside of the dungeon. Sei was completely taken aback and bewildered by the creature that could take on the appearance of Malachi's mother, and she immediately became concerned about the damage done to his mental state. Malachi loved both of his parents dearly, but those close to him knew that he was the most fond of his mother. She laid the foundation of everything that he strove to be, and she was without a doubt the greatest influence in his life. "Honey...I'm so sorry..." Sei said sincerely. "I can't imagine how horrible it must have been for you to have her memory used against you like that." Malachi deepened his embrace with Sei and buried his head in the crook of her neck. "It wasn't the best feeling, won't lie. But I think what was worse than that was seeing Bianca and Aisha broken like that... do you know if they're doing okay?" Sei smile softly when she saw that the monster hadn't broken his gentle heart that was always concerned about others. "I think they're still in the hospital. Bianca is awake but Aisha is still sleeping." Malachi nodded slowly as his hands sank further and further into Sei's soft body. "Kinda surprised I didn't wake up in a hospital myself. Though I've kinda had my fill of them if I'm being honest." Suddenly Sei was reminded of something very important that she wanted to talk to Malachi about and she stopped his hands before he could make her forget. "About that..."