Chapter 145
First Big Fight
Kaori had left the passage and stepped through the shining doors leading out of the maze. Just like for the others, she was now fighting with her false image which had appeared from the huge cylindrical ice pillar in the middle of the vast space.
Ever since the whispers started back inside the great labyrinth, Kaori had been feeling as though she was being dragged little by little into a bottomless swamp.
She had to fight while being relentlessly shown the filthy and ugly parts residing deep within her heart. Originally, since she was jealous of Yue and had an inferiority complex to the point even she was aware of how bad it was, she had ample negative emotions. Therefore, the words spoken by her false image struck her and hollowed out her weak parts with more efficiency than a sharp knife and more accuracy than Hajime’s bullets.
It had been thirty minutes since the start of the battle. Kaori’s heart was already badly hurt even though she wasn’t hurt that much physically. If her heart could appear as a physical object, it would definitely be in a tattered state, bleeding large amounts of blood, and squeaking in pain.
However, even so, Kaori never flinched. Her inferiority complex, fretfulness, and jealousy were already tested back in the Merujiine Underwater Ruin and she managed to pull through. Of course, she wasn’t able to completely come to terms with her weaknesses since it was a problem stemming from her heart, and Yue was part of that problem.
Rather, when Shia’s love was accepted by Hajime, she felt intense envy and rage in her innermost thoughts, and would also feel it unintentionally every time Shia would approach Hajime while putting on a lovely face.
However, it was also true that she felt blessed. She wasn’t only caught in fretfulness, jealousy, or her inferiority complex. She wasn’t only belittling herself and overworking herself in an effort to make up for it. On the contrary, she was also rejoicing at this proof which meant it was possible for women other than Yue to be acknowledged by Hajime.
She had grown. Instead of envying someone else in silence, she would now take a step forward towards granting her own wish. Which is why she couldn’t afford to lose to the image of herself standing before her eyes.