Chapter 136 - Ren Nakamura: Born Anew

"I don't get it…"

"What is it you don't understand-nya?"

"How is there such an abundance of nature underground?"

Ren asked while sitting on his knees against the enigmatic grass, shifting his perplexed hazels over to Bifrons, who was looking back at him while fixing his whiskers.

"Oh, you seem to have a fundamental misconception about this place-nya. Purgatory isn't simply an underground space-nya."

"Huh?"

"This entire place is of its own realm, existing in its own pocket space-nya. Simply put, you're in the world of Purgatory, not just some temple-nya."

The look on Ren's face upon hearing this was half-doubt and half-reluctant belief, taking a moment to sit his rear down against the soft grass, wiping the green stains from his newly acquired breeches.

"Now that I think about it, there really is no way this could be considered a temple...but a world of its own? I don't know about that…"

"Why not? You have experience seeing two different worlds, do you not-nya?"

It came so nonchalantly from Bifrons that it took a moment for what was said to register in his head, looking down to see those magenta slits looking back up at him.

"--You know I'm an otherworlder?"

All he received as an answer was a natural meow before Bifrons closed his eyes.

"Don't pretend you can't talk now!"

Standing himself back to his feet, the only path left ahead was a far-stretching bridge of moss-covered stone, raised above a pit of darkness that had no visible depth. From what could be seen, many of these stone bridges were scattered within the unfathomably large cavern, stationed at a variety of heights, connecting to different holes within the mountainous pillars of stone.

--No rails, huh? I guess it's wide enough…

Stepping onto this bridge, he instantly felt the brisk air that inhabited such vast space. At the very least, Ren found himself thankful that the bridge was kept steady, unmoving at each step he took and wide enough that he could walk freely without fear of tumbling into the abyss.

A high-pitched call from something not human met his ears with dread--it was the one thing he had feared most upon walking this bridge.

--I was really hoping not to get into any fights here!

Looking up, he could make out the faint shape of a winged-creature, flapping its long, jagged wings as it carved a path through the winds towards him.

"--I can hit it from here. I can."

Raising his hand to the air, he guided his palm to match the direction of the incoming hostile. It continued to let out more of its skrees, violating his ears with its vicious pitch as he focused his aim.

"Are you sure you can hit an airborne target, from this distance even-nya?"

"Shut up, I'm focusing."

Steadying his shaking hand, he closed one eye as he honed in on the approaching figure with trust in his aim.

"Dunkel: Piercer."

An unexpected amount of force launched from his body, manifesting and propelling the black lance from his arm like a cannon, releasing a small shock wave as it began its journey in the air. Watching in surprise of this sudden power backed by the basic spell, the lance hit bullseye--piercing through the skull of the airborne beast and bringing it down onto the bridge with a resounding thud.

"--Holy…"

"Surprised at the sudden increase in power-nya?"

"Yeah. What the hell was that all about?"

Ren raised his hand in front of his face with a perplexed expression, clenching his fist and releasing a few times as if in disbelief at his own body.

"You recently awakened your innate ability for the first time. This boost in magical power is to be expected-nya."

Answering with a yawn that Ren found particularly adorable, Bifrons ran his paw over his whiskers.

"So I leveled up?"

"If that is what helps you understand then yes-nya."

Approaching the carcass of the unknown creature, Ren kneeled down to check its identity. It possessed rough, cracked skin that resembled stone, absent of feathers. A long, spear-like beak protruded from its head, scarred and stained with old blood.

"What is this thing anyway?"

Poking its lifeless body with the tip of Belus, Ren asked with a repulsed expression, watching a mixture of fluids seep out from the wound bore through its skull.

"The Brood of another-nya."

"Huh? What kind of answer is that?"

"All I can say is that creature is not one naturally born, it is the spawn of another, greater beast within this realm-nya."

It was a vague answer but Ren got the general gist of what Bifrons was implying.

--So it's like a minion of another bigger baddy? Is it the guardian of this floor or something else entirely?

A contorted sound became audible within the vacant winds, mimicking the sound of rugs being yanked up and down.

"It seems you've drawn the wrath of its siblings-nya."

"Give me a break."

Ren quickly stood himself up, looking up to see at least a dozen creatures of the same type were now flying towards his position, frantically flapping their wings and yelling out with their sharp pitches. What he had come to learn in his time here was the conservation of mana was of paramount importance--leading him to two options.

--One: I use reinforcement, maybe a couple of dunkel spells, and take out all of them. Two: I use reinforcement and use my speed to hopefully make it past them. I'm not too far away from that castle structure, maybe one hundred meters or so.

"What do you think? Should I take them out or make a run for it?"

Keeping his blade ready for combat, Ren asked Bifrons with a hint of desperation masking his tone.

"Trust your judgement-nya."

"That's not helpful! You're my attendant, aren't you? Give me a damn real answer?"

Forcing the demon-cat out of its desire to slumber, Bifrons raised his head as his ears twitched a bit, releasing a yawn as if not miffed at all with the approaching horde of airborne monsters.

"If you want my input...Then I think it'd be best to run-nya. They may be weak individually, but in high numbers, they pose a tangible threat-nya. In their bite, they possess a unique venom that causes your cells to rapidly mutate and replicate, causing a painful death...nya."

"They give you cancer?! Running it is then…"

Lowering his stance with one heel placed far behind the other, Ren inhaled deeply in preparation of his life-threatening dash.

"--Go!"

Commanding his own body, he stomped forward with his amplified reinforcement--stepping with too much force, however, as the stone cracked beneath the soles of his feet.

"I used too much power?!"

Perplexed by this development, there wasn't enough time to react to the bridge completely giving away from underneath him--leaving only the abyss under his step.