At the End of Revenge, There You Are ~The Scum Who Killed My Beloved, Prepare Yourselves! I Will Drag You All to Hell... Wait, What? Why Are the Heroine and the Demoness Coming After Me, a Woman!?(GL) - Chapter 23

Watching the Stream While Lounging Under the Kotatsu

Oh, the stream just started.

Looks like a cold, lifeless room… A new dungeon? Or maybe some kind of hidden chamber?

See? I knew they were fine.

Hey, whoever wrote those posts on the forum—are you watching?

Takehito and the others were probably just exploring a new discovery, that’s all.

…

Wait…

What the hell is this?

That person lying there… No way… That’s Takehito, isn’t it?

And next to him—the one with the mosaic over them—is that… my beloved Meri-tan?

No…

No, no, no.

Why?

The forum said everything was fine!

So why the hell is this happening?!

And why is this being streamed?!

Someone—

Someone explain this to me!

Oh—Ryuya! And Kurando!

Are you guys the ones streaming this?!

But why… this angle…?

No way—this has to be a joke, right?

In the cold, empty space of that room, Takehito and the others lay sprawled out.

Ryuya and Kurando, on the other hand, wore expressions of absolute terror.

No, no, no.

This has to be some kind of prank, right?

Come on, tell me it’s just one of their usual over-the-top stunts!

…

If it’s not, then hurry up and save Meri-tan!

Clack… Clack… Clack… Clack…

The sound of footsteps echoed through the room.

Then, a figure appeared on screen—a woman with long hair, dressed in a flowing black gown.

What the hell…?

She was walking straight toward Takehito and Ryuya.

The way her dress swayed with each step was completely at odds with the fear and tension radiating from Ryuya and the others.

But she didn’t seem to care in the slightest.

She simply continued forward, slowly and deliberately…

I didn’t care who she was.

Just please—please save Meri-tan!

I clutched my screen, desperate, as if my prayers alone could change the outcome.

But then—

“Hehehe… Welcome to the ‘Hidden Room Hell’…”

…!?

What did she just say?!

Hell?!

No, I must have misheard that, right?!

Right?!

Kurando—why do you look so terrified?!

Say something!

“Oh my… Not even a response? I was being kind enough to welcome you, but you’re not even going to answer? Where did all that bravado from before go? Look, the girl you’ve been waiting for is right here. Wasn’t this the perfect place to violate her however you pleased and kill her without anyone finding out? Hm?”

What the hell is this woman saying?
Kurando would never do something like that!
But then… what exactly is happening here?
Forget that—just save Takehito! He’s badly injured!
Forget Takehito, save Meri-tan first!

The chat was in utter chaos, filled with clueless comments.

I hurriedly typed my own response.

Meri-tan obviously comes first, you idiots!

“Tch…! Was it you?! Did you kill Takehito and Meri?! I won’t forgive you!”

Kurando charged at the woman, slashing with all his might—

But his sword stopped just before it could reach her.

Not a single inch further.

The camera captured her back perfectly, along with Kurando’s strained expression as he put everything he had into that attack.

“Guh…!”

“How boring. What happened to all that bravado? Weren’t you supposed to put on a show for me?”

“Like hell I would, you damn—!”

“Oh? I see. In that case, I have no use for you.”

“Guaaahhh!!”

No matter how much his face twisted in rage, it didn’t change a thing.

Instead, he was sent flying with ease.

“And you?”

“Tch…!”

Now, she turned to Ryuya.

He could only grit his teeth in agony.

Kurando… in an instant…

Wait, this is bad.
Did some crazy monster spawn in a new stage?
That woman?!

The chat was in complete confusion.

What the hell were we even watching?

And why was the camera focusing on her so much…?

“Oh? That’s strange… That foolish man earlier—this was his first time meeting a woman in this room, wasn’t it? But you… You’re different, aren’t you? How many have you killed before?”

“Tch…!”

Ryuya didn’t answer.

He just twisted his face in frustration and stepped closer to Takehito.

It didn’t seem like he was being controlled.

Was he deliberately avoiding the question?

Why?

Why isn’t he answering?
Is this for real?!
There’s no way—Golden Hawk would never do something like that!
But if Kurando was a first-timer, does that mean it wasn’t the Golden Hawk? Didn’t Ryuya join recently?
Was it his old party? Someone, give us more info!

“Oh? Are you just stalling for time?”

“Hmph, too late!”

“Guhah…!”

“Ah… ahhh…!”

What…!?

WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING, YOU IDIOT?!?!?!

What…
Wait, what’s happening?!
Why did he attack Takehito?!
MERI-TAAAAAAAAAN!!!!!!

“Oh my…”

“O Hidden Room! I offer these lives in sacrifice! Grant me your power!!”

The moment Ryuya slashed Takehito with his own sword and drove his blade into Meri-tan, a dim light enveloped their bodies.

Is this real?!
Did Ryuya just kill Takehito and Meri?!
WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!
The Golden Hawk… our hope…
Takehito-kun (crying emoji)
Oh sh1t, something’s coming down?!

Then, the light shot toward the ceiling of the lifeless room, swirling into a mass of dark clouds before descending toward Ryuya.

“Hahaha! Power! Power!!”

“Oh? I see. But… too bad.”

“Guhah…!”

The moment Ryuya, filled with confidence, thought he had won—he was immediately punched into the floor by that woman.

It was instant.

Just one hit.

Huh…?
That was… fast…
Weak as hell…

And then, what followed was even more shocking.

“Did you really think a mere human could defeat a demon? Just how many sacrifices have you made?”

“Six… Hanashiro Yuzuha was a failure, but Akikawa Yuri, Yuzuki Saori, Éline Clastier, Sasaki Kayo—guhaa…!?”

No way… Yuri-chan?
Saori-san?! You mean the Yuzuki Saori?! The singer and explorer… she went missing in Chiba…
All of them were gorgeous women… Did he sacrifice them?
I was a huge Éline fan…
This is disgusting…
Why would he do that…?

“They were sacrifices. Offering them to the Hidden Room granted us power and items.”

“Since you were going to kill them anyway, you made sure to use them first?”

“A woman who falls into despair grants even greater power than one who is simply killed. That just proves how rotten dungeons are.”

The conversation continued, but every word that followed was more disturbing than the last.

If… this was real…

“Branch Chief!? What is the meaning of this?!”

“This is all lies!”

Of course, it had to be a lie.

But my subordinates’ gazes told a different story.

Just moments ago, their eyes had been filled with trust and conviction.

Now, they were dark—void of faith.

Why…?

Why did that idiotic son of mine enter the Hidden Room without orders?

And worse, he doesn’t even seem to realize the stream is still live.

Could it have been the ones who entered before him who started the broadcast?

No—that’s impossible.

Their leader had been beaten to a pulp, and the female mage had been broken in a different way. There was no way they would have had the presence of mind to set up a stream.

Damn it…

“How do you know about this?”

“Tch… I heard it from my father…”

Idiot…

“Branch Chief… That explorer—Sawamura Ryuya—he’s your son, isn’t he?”

“Hmph… And what of it? That nonsense was nothing more than the ravings of a demon manipulating him. Surely you’re not foolish enough to take it seriously?”

But my subordinate didn’t answer.

He simply glared at me.

How dare he?

I am the one who sustains this nation’s dungeon exploration efforts, and this is the gratitude I receive?

Even if he’s a Special Investigations Section Chief, this will certainly cost him his position.

“Why did your father know about this? And how many has he killed?”

“He once got lost in here with a woman he despised. He raped and killed her—then, out of nowhere, he heard a voice asking if he wanted to offer her as a sacrifice. After that, he kept doing it. I doubt he ever even bothered keeping count.”

The stream wouldn’t stop.

Because that damned section chief was still watching it on his device.

And then—

“At last, we’ve found you… Sawamura Branch Chief, you are under arrest.”

“Ridiculous! You have no authority to detain me!”

“Then we’ll take you by force!”

“Fools!”

I knocked down the ones who rushed toward me without hesitation.

Then, I turned toward the dungeon.

I just needed to kill that demon—force it to confess that it had been manipulating things from the shadows.

That would be enough.