“This... is your love, isn’t it, Master?”

Ailuka’s severed head floated in the pool of blood, her face serene as if she’d just grasped some divine truth—her brows relaxed, her smile joyful.

“As expected of you, Master. I’ve already tried so hard, and yet, you always manage to stay one step ahead of me in understanding love.”

“...What the hell...”

Anne backed into a corner, unable to hide the terror twisting through her heart.

Was it even possible in this world—for a person to still be alive with nothing but a head left?

“Ah, that.”

As if she’d seen the horror and confusion in Anne’s eyes, Ailuka’s head began to roll. It rolled and rolled—until it came to rest right at Anne’s feet. Then, squinting with mirth, she let out a giggle and said:

“No need to be afraid, Master. This is the power of love. With love, anything is possible!”

“Anything... It’s just the power of a Dark God, isn’t it?”

Anne forced herself to remain calm, gritting her teeth. “You’re really okay with becoming like this, Ailuka?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Ailuka said brightly. “Don’t I look great like this? I’ve never felt better in my life!”

“......”

“But since you went to such lengths to show me the truth of love, Master, I can’t very well let your sincerity go unanswered.”

Suddenly, Ailuka’s grin stretched wide—grotesque, feral. Her eyes glinted with a twisted gleam.

“Now it’s your turn, Master. Let me show you... my love!!”

Squelch.

Squelch.

As soon as she spoke, the severed limbs on the floor began to twitch.

They moved. They pulsed. And they started to grow—visibly, grotesquely.

But they didn’t reattach cleanly. The cut ends didn’t fit. The flesh, blood, and bone simply twisted and stretched out from the gaping wounds, fusing the torn limbs and shattered remains into something no longer remotely human.

A monster.

The thing lifted Ailuka’s head, but didn’t return it to the top of the neck.

Instead, it shoved the beautiful head deep into the bloated torso—something far removed from the once-youthful body it had belonged to.

The flesh writhed and swallowed it whole. And beneath where Ailuka’s face now sat... two more faces began to surface.

Her parents.

All three faces embedded in the monster’s belly—an unholy, stomach-churning tableau.

The family that loves together, stays together.

“Ahhh, I can feel it... this love! It’s like nothing I’ve ever known!”

Ailuka’s face flushed in a grotesque, perverse ecstasy. The abomination that was once her body extended a twisted limb—its fingers multiplied into a tangle of digits—as it lunged toward Anne.

“I love you, Master!!”

“Don’t touch me.”

Anne’s voice was cold and low.

A massive scythe of metal formed in her hand, and in a flash, she severed the incoming limb.

At the same time, a metal rod shot into the monster’s torso—and under Anne’s command, it exploded outward into a storm of needle-thin spikes, shredding the beast from the inside out.

Now it looked like a cactus, bursting in all directions from a blood-filled flowerpot.

And yet... even after being pierced through, the thing didn’t stop. The two eyes on Ailuka’s face, now riddled with metal, still spun frantically.

“Ahhh... not enough...”

“This isn’t enough love...”

“I need more... more... more...”

Bang.

Bang.

Bang.

Suddenly, someone began pounding on the window from outside.

The thuds were violent—desperate.

Crash!

With a sharp crack, the window shattered.

Figures in common village clothing clambered in one by one.

Through the gaps between them, Anne saw the village outside—once a quiet fishing hamlet—now a waking nightmare.

Doors swung open all around.

Figures staggered out. Pale-faced. Empty-eyed. Crying in agony. But every one of them wore a smile—a grotesque, blissful smile.

“I love you...”

They whispered with their twisted grins. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

And then—

Like fish gasping for the sea, they writhed and crawled through the broken window. One after another, they threw themselves into the abomination’s swollen flesh.

Old limbs and new ones twisted together into a thing that defied language.

Woof.

Anne heard a familiar bark.

She turned—naked, broken, the Dog-Man crawled into the room.

One step at a time, dragging himself toward the monster.

“No...”

Anne reached out instinctively, trying to stop him.

But the man suddenly twisted away from her reach—then turned to glare at her.

Growl...

His teeth bared, face contorted—snarling like a real dog.

And before Anne could react, he bounded forward on all fours—straight into the monster’s waiting mass.

“Ah, darling! You’re here!”

Ailuka ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) shrieked in delight.

“Let’s... become one.”

“...No...”

Anne suddenly realized—she couldn’t stop it.

She couldn’t kill Ailuka.

She couldn’t stop any of this.

All she could do was watch as the monster in the room bloated and swelled—flesh merging into more flesh, pressing in from all sides.

Soon, it would fill the entire room.

Just like Ailuka’s love—endless, overwhelming, all-consuming.

Love that devours.

****

“Ahh, look at that mountain.”

“Ahh, that river.”

“Ahh, the gentle warmth of early autumn.”

“Ahh, and the sweet breath of freedom.”

“Damn, this is the life.”

Under a bright blue sky, beside a clear running stream, Muen Campbell sat lazily on a large flat rock. With a homemade fishing rod in hand, he was thoroughly enjoying this rare, quiet moment.

“No yandere maid trying to kill me, no disgusting pervert men chasing me, no poison, no ambushes, no chains. What a beautiful life. I could really get used to this.”

“Maybe I should just stay out here forever.”

He bit into a wild fruit plucked from a tree, the sweet juice filling his mouth and making him want to cry from sheer happiness.

“Oh—got a bite.”

The simple rod in his hand suddenly tugged downward with force.

Tossing the half-eaten fruit aside, Muen braced his feet, gathering his core strength, preparing for the kind of fierce battle only a man and a river fish could understand.

And in the end—he won.

The fish was a big one, at least several pounds.

“Man, if I had a camera, I’d totally take a picture with this.”

Staring at the catch in his hands, Muen felt an almost sacred sense of accomplishment.

Because for a fisherman, there was no greater joy than landing the big one.

“Let’s grill it.”

With that decision, a campfire was soon crackling, and the fish was skewered over a branch.

As the flames kissed the meat and the aroma began to rise, Muen was filled with a happiness so full it almost overflowed.

The days were peaceful.

He hummed a little tune, the corners of his lips curving up.

“Right now, even if a damn meteor fell from the sky, it wouldn’t ruin my mood.”

—The words had barely left his mouth.

BOOM.

A loud impact rang out in the distance.

Something flew through the air—

And crashed directly into the hillside behind him.

Dust exploded into the sky.

“...”

Muen slowly turned his head, face frozen, mouth twitching.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me, Asteroid-san. I was joking. JOKING!”