"Honestly, I'm not sure whether to call this good luck or bad luck..."

In the middle of a dark, damp cave, Ava observed the two unconscious girls lying on the ground. The dim light barely revealed their faces, casting a trace of tragedy in their forced calm.

"At least I made sure she didn't die… though I still have no idea how to make her horn go back to—"

Ava's gaze fell on the pink-haired girl's forehead, where her cracked horn emitted a faint light, barely visible in the gloom.

"Inside her head…? Honestly, I don't think I understand how anatomy works in this world, considering I didn't understand it in my own either..."

He rubbed his chin, narrowing his eyes with a tired sigh. It had been a while since he'd last closed his eyes, and although exhaustion was creeping up on him, he forced himself to stay alert. After all, he couldn't lower his guard in front of someone who, in this world, would likely be the third strongest being.

"I feel like I'm draining myself keeping my authority activated on her horn, but at least I seem to adapt quickly enough to avoid anything brutal happening again."

A whisper, almost a sigh, interrupted Ava's thoughts. The blue-haired girl began trembling slightly, murmuring barely audible words.

"M-Mom… Dad…"

"Huh? Oh… I guess it was about time you woke up."

Ava's voice had a dry, almost indifferent tone as he leaned closer to the girl, who, upon opening her eyes and seeing him nearby, started to cry.

Ava leaned toward her, making no effort to mask his disinterest. "Do you have something to say?"

The girl trembled even more under his gaze, and a stifled sob escaped her lips.

"I-I…"

The girl tried to speak, but a shout full of fury interrupted her.

"STAY AWAY FROM MY SISTER!"

The pink-haired girl, who had been unconscious just a moment before, suddenly opened her eyes and extended her palm toward Ava. He could only widen his eyes in surprise and take a step back.

"A-"

A faint, weak gust of wind emerged, barely enough to ruffle Ava's already disheveled hair. The magic dissipated with no effect, and as a consequence of this failed attempt, the girl's horn cracked even more, causing her to collapse onto the ground with a dull thud in the cold cave.

"For a moment, I thought..."

Ava's eyes narrowed, and a fleeting flash of anger crossed his expression, though he quickly dismissed it with a sigh.

There's no point in getting mad now, he thought, shaking his head.

"Well, you're certainly impatient, aren't you? If I were you, I wouldn't try using magic again, unless you want to risk a stroke or something worse."

His gaze dropped to the ground, where the pink-haired girl was struggling to get up, though she failed as blood trickled from the broken horn on her forehead.

"Heh…" The girl let out a dry laugh, raising her gaze to meet Ava's with eyes full of fury and defiance.

"Why would I ever listen to a filthy monster like you? You should all rot in hell, where you belong!"

"What irony…" Ava smiled calmly, narrowing his eyes. "A literal demon saying that."

With a smirk, Ava raised a finger, and the golden thread wrapped around the girl's horn snapped, causing the blood to flow a little more. The girl gritted her teeth, attempting to endure the pain.

"Let me be clear… If you don't want to live, that's not my problem."

With a cold stare and a calm voice, Ava tilted his head.

"I don't care if you want to live or not. If you want to die, go ahead. Your sister will be beast food sooner or later."

He leaned a bit closer to the fallen girl, who was trying to keep her defiant posture despite her weakness.

"Your pride means nothing if you lack the strength to back it up. And look at you… you need me far more than I could ever need you."

Ava raised his hand, grabbing the girl by the hair and forcing her to look him straight in the eyes. "Do you really want that? For your sister…?"

He paused, casting a brief glance at the blue-haired girl, who was still trembling and silently crying.

"…to die because of you?"

"N-no…" The pink-haired girl's eyes widened slightly, though her fury returned almost instantly, dimmed only a little. "You don't even…"

"I don't need you! I can do everything on my own… just like always."

Her eyes sparkled with anger, but they slowly dulled, whether from blood loss or the exhaustion finally catching up with her.

"I… don't… need… you…"

Her eyes closed, her final glance at her sister marked by an expression of helplessness and pain.

"That'll be enough." Ava murmured to himself, letting a golden thread form around his finger and wrap around the unconscious girl's horn once more. Slowly, he released his grip and turned toward the other girl.

"And you…" he said, directing his words toward the blue-haired girl, who was approaching her unconscious sister in a trembling manner.

"I don't care if you leave; maybe you'll find a fool along the way."

With a grimace, Ava walked toward the cave's exit, not looking back.

"You're free to leave if you want. I have no interest in keeping you here. It's your choice if you want to take your sister away from me, the only one keeping her alive."

And with that, Ava left, leaving a deathly silence in the cave.

Time passed, and the light of dusk began to filter into the cave. The blue-haired girl was still there, using a piece of her yukata to wipe the blood from her sister's face. Her gaze was distant, filled with sadness, helplessness, fear, and a restrained rage.

"H-he smelled… like them…" she murmured, frowning and gritting her teeth.

Inside her, a storm of emotions was brewing. For a fleeting instant, she had felt satisfaction at seeing her sister almost lose her horn—a satisfaction that filled her with shame and self-loathing. She hated her own uselessness. She hated being so weak, always in her sister's shadow… and she hated herself for feeling relief amid her sister's suffering, the one who had always tried to protect her.

She despised herself, more than she hated those who had taken everything from them.

That stench in the cave, the scent of those who had stolen everything from them, only made her hatred grow. But even so, her contempt for her own weakness overshadowed it all.

"I…"

Her eyes fixed on the cave's entrance. Just a few steps, and she would be free.

"No… I can't let my sister die…" she whispered in a broken murmur, and finally, her eyes filled with tears as she held her sister close.

But she didn't want to stop at just holding her. She closed her eyes and, gathering the courage needed, a horn emerged from her forehead, glowing faintly in the cave's dimness. Slowly, she lowered her head until her horn touched her sister's, whose cracks seemed even deeper under the sparse light.

In the instant their horns touched, a connection opened between them. Her sister's pain, sadness, and exhaustion washed over her like an overwhelming wave. She could feel every emotion: her sister's restrained anger, fatigue, and physical pain. The intensity of these feelings overwhelmed her, absorbing part of her sister's emotional and physical burden.

The flood of emotions was devastating, but within that connection, there was something comforting. She could feel in her soul what her sister had always wanted: to protect her, at any cost. That sacrifice became her strength in that moment, and with every passing second, exhaustion built within her, her eyelids beginning to grow heavy.

The connection, intense and overwhelming, was pulling her into a deep fatigue. Little by little, the flow of shared mana stabilized both their horns, as if together, for a moment, they could be a single two-horned Oni. This bond, though exhausting, brought her an unexpected peace; their thoughts merged, and for an instant, she felt the calm of knowing they were united.

At last, her eyes closed, and with her final strength, she nestled next to her sister, embracing her softly. As sleep overcame her, she murmured in a trembling voice:

"If… if it means you'll live, I'll listen and do whatever he says… because I know you'll, like always, find a way to get us out of this…"

She fell asleep in her sister's arms, united in a fragile, weary calm, trusting that together they could face whatever came next.

"I'm really sorry for the wait, lately I haven't had much time to get motivated, but I'll probably start publishing faster. I tried to reflect the situation of Ram and Rem in this chapter, but I'm really not good with this kind of thing. In the third or fourth chapter, we'll return to the action, I think. I'm really sorry if there are any mistakes."

"Yes, I know, I suck at titles."