CHAPTER 40: CHAPTER : 40 : THIS IS TIRING!

The place still smelled like burnt jellybeans and blood. Not even the glitter could cover it up anymore.

Aiden wiped his face with the back of his arm, smearing blood and sweat across his cheek, and leaned back against the cracked wall. His daggers hung in his grip like they weighed a hundred pounds each. He wasn’t even sure if they were sharp anymore. He wasn’t even sure he was anymore.

Luna stood next to him, bent over with her hands on her knees, chest rising and falling like she’d just run a marathon... with wolves chasing her. Her hybrid form flickered around the edges—like it wanted to stay but even it was getting tired. Her ears twitched, her tail drooped, and she looked like she was trying not to fall over.

Fluffynugget? Sitting pretty on a pile of rubble, casually licking his paws like none of this even happened.

"Okay," Aiden panted, looking around the battlefield, "that’s... fifty-nine so far, right?"

Lysandra stumbled toward him, hair wild, makeup smudged, barrier crystal glowing faintly in her hand. She looked like she’d been through hell and then dumped into a glitter factory.

"I’ve lost count," she said, flopping down beside him. "But I hate all of it. So that’s how I’m measuring progress now."

Ivy peeked out from behind her. "I haven’t even gotten dirty!"

"Rub it in, why don’t you," Luna muttered, still gasping.

---

[SYSTEM NOTICE: WAVE 4 COMPLETED]

Enemies defeated: 15

Kill Count:

Fluffynugget: 6

Aiden: 5

Luna: 4

Bonus XP Awarded: +3500

Bond Points (Luna): +5

Bond Points (Ivy): +4

---

Wave five had been a nightmare. Weird scorpion-lobster things that spat fire. One of them exploded and covered Aiden’s shoulder in boiling goo. Luna killed three with her claws. Aiden sliced two in half. Fluffynugget launched himself like a squeaky missile and atomized one. The rest?

"Blocked and served," Lysandra had muttered when Aiden called for a barrier and she slammed one up just in time for him to leap off it and stab something in the face.

---

[SYSTEM NOTICE: WAVE 5 COMPLETED]

Enemies defeated: 15

Kill Count:

Fluffynugget: 1

Aiden: 11

Luna: 3

Bonus XP Awarded: +4500

Bond Points (Luna): +5

Bond Points (Ivy): +4

---

Wave six? Worse.

Big, red monkey-things with tusks and way too many hands. They swung like drunk berserkers.

Flying things. Screechy, toothy, winged bastards that zoomed like arrows and clawed like gremlins on meth.

Aiden got clipped in the ribs. Hard. Luna slammed one into the wall so hard the stone cracked. Lysandra’s barriers barely held. Ivy just hid, yelling encouragement like a cheerleader behind glass.

"YOU GOT THIS ONII-CHAN!" she had shouted. "KILL THE MEAN MONKEY!"

"THANKS, SWEETIE," Aiden had groaned mid-fight, spitting blood.

Aiden stabbed one mid-air, barely. Luna leapt like a beast and bit another out of the sky. Fluffynugget? He puffed up, did a spin, and a giant glitter explosion knocked three of them out of existence.

Lysandra tried to shield Ivy and Luna at once. She was shaking so hard her hands wouldn’t stop glowing.

"You okay?" Aiden had asked.

"I will murder a bird and a stupid monkey," she hissed.

"You already did."

"Good."

---

[SYSTEM NOTICE: WAVE 6 COMPLETED]

Kill Count:

Fluffynugget: 7

Aiden: 4

Luna: 4

Bonus XP Awarded: +5500

Bond Points (Luna): +5

Bond Points (Ivy): +4

---

Silence.

For once, not the kind of silence where something creepy was about to crawl out of the walls and stab them.

Just... peace.

Sort of.

Aiden dropped to one knee, daggers still smoking at the edges from his last kill. His breath came in rough bursts, and every muscle in his body begged him to just collapse and become one with the marble floor.

Then it happened.

---

[SYSTEM NOTICE: FINAL WAVE]

Monsters Eliminated: 90 / 100

Remaining Monsters: 8

Petified : 1

Award: Temporary Rest Mode

Final Waves Starts : 00:30:00 (Thirty Minutes)

---

The words blinked across Aiden’s vision, gentle and gold, like the system finally decided to be kind instead of a cryptic dungeon-obsessed maniac.

He blinked once.

Then again.

And then he flopped backwards onto the floor like a man who had just been told the apocalypse was canceled.

"Sir Aiden!?" Lysandra shouted, turning toward him with panic in her voice.

Luna froze mid-step. Her claws still out, tail stiff from battle. "MASTER?!"

"I’m fine," he groaned, still lying flat on the floor like a starfish. "We got thirty minutes."

Lysandra let out the longest sigh of her life. "Oh thank the goddees..."

Luna fell forward onto her knees beside him and gave his cheek a little poke with her claw. "Don’t scare me like that."

"I was being dramatic," he mumbled.

"You always are," she huffed... but her voice was soft. Teasing. Relieved.

In the distance, Ivy giggled. She was twirling in circles, holding Fluffynugget like he was a doll instead of a deadly sparkle nuke. He made little "Mii~!" noises every time she spun, and she’d laugh even harder. The two of them looked like they’d just come back from a picnic, not seven waves of monster hell.

Aiden didn’t have the energy to comment.

He just closed his eyes, breathing deep.

A few seconds passed.

Then...

fwmp

The soft weight of someone laying down beside him.

fwmp

And again.

He cracked one eye open.

Luna was curled into his left side, her fluffy ears twitching as she tucked her head beneath his chin and snuggled into his chest, purring softly.

On his right, Lysandra had plopped down too. Less snuggly, at first—more like she’d collapsed by accident. But she very quickly adjusted, laying her cheek gently against his shoulder, her arm draping over his stomach in a surprisingly delicate way.

Aiden didn’t say anything.

He just smiled.

His arms slowly rose—exhausted but still working—and curled gently around both girls, holding them close.

Luna sighed in bliss. "Warm..."

Lysandra muttered, "I smell like blood and sweat, don’t I?"

"You smell like victory and stress," Aiden whispered.

She gave a tiny snort. "That’s disgusting."

"And kind of sexy."

"...You’re a menace," she whispered—but she didn’t move.

Luna was already slipping toward sleep, her tail wrapping gently over Aiden’s leg, fingers curled in his shirt.

The moment settled like dust. Quiet. Warm. Whole.

No monsters. No alarms. No system prompts trying to give him heart attacks.

Just breathing.

Soft.

Safe.

Real.

"...I hate this dungeon," Lysandra whispered after a moment. "Hate it. I’m going to scream at the next wall I see."

"You screamed at a rock three waves ago," Aiden murmured.

"It insulted me."

"It was a rock."

"It cracked like it was judging me!"

Aiden chuckled under his breath, feeling her warmth press closer. Her voice lowered again, her fingers gently brushing against his ribs.

"...First thing I’m doing when we get out of here," she said quietly, "soak for a week."

"You mean you’re gonna bath for a week," Aiden corrected.

"Yes. I’m going to soap every inch of this cursed dungeon off my skin. I am going to rub lava on my soul if I have to."

Luna made a sleepy noise. "Mmm... can we all bathe together~?"

Aiden blinked.

Lysandra blinked.

"...I mean," Luna murmured with a dreamy grin, eyes still closed, I’ve already done everything but..."

Lysandra turned bright red.

"Ivy’s too young for that," Aiden said flatly.

"She can play with Fluffynugget outside the bath," Luna replied. "He’ll protect her."

"Miiii~" came the faint squeak in the distance.

Lysandra buried her face deeper in Aiden’s shirt. "I don’t want to exist right now."

Aiden just laughed and rubbed their backs gently, one hand on each. "You both did good today."

Luna purred. "You kept me safe, Master..."

"I tried."

"You always do."

Lysandra mumbled something into his chest.

He tilted his head. "What was that?"

"...I said, I still hate this, but..."

"But?"

"I don’t mind this part."

Aiden smiled. "Snuggling with your future husband?"

"I didn’t say—!"

"Too late. You implied it."

She groaned but didn’t pull away.

Luna, still half-asleep, murmured, "I already called dibs..."

"Ugh," Lysandra muttered. "Do we have to fight about it now?"

"Nope," Aiden said, tightening his hold around them, "we’re not fighting about anything. We’re surviving. And that means sticking together."

Luna smiled softly and nuzzled his chest. "I like sticking to you..."

Lysandra grumbled, "...pervert..."

"Takes one to know one," Aiden shot back with a smirk.

That earned him a half-hearted smack on the chest from both sides.

He didn’t even flinch.

A few minutes passed in that warm quiet.

Ivy’s giggles danced in the background.

Fluffynugget gave the occasional "Miii~" that echoed just a little too cutely in the otherwise war-torn dungeon.

Then, Lysandra shifted slightly.

"...Can I say something weird?" she asked quietly.

Aiden nodded. "You’ve earned it."

"...I’ve always been scared of being close to people."

"Even your father?"

"Especially him."

Aiden frowned. "Why?"

She paused, then whispered, "He loves me, but... I was always a political piece first. His daughter second. Even love felt like duty. Nothing was ever just mine."

Luna tightened her grip slightly.

Aiden reached across his chest and gently took Lysandra’s hand.

"You’re not a piece here," he said softly. "You’re you. And I want you. Not the princess. Not the magic. Just... you."

She trembled.

Just slightly.

And then leaned in, resting her forehead against his.

"...I am falling for you," she whispered.

Aiden smiled.

"I know."

She laughed—quiet, breathy, almost broken. "Gods, you’re insufferable."

"And you’re amazing."

Luna suddenly murmured, "Me too..."

"Huh?" Aiden blinked.

She opened her blue eyes, barely open. "I’m falling harder every day. I was already yours, Master... but now I don’t think I could ever be anyone else’s. Even if I wanted to."

"You don’t," Aiden whispered.

"I don’t," she agreed.

He looked between them. One dark-haired wolf-girl curled to his left, one flushed goblin noble curled to his right.

And despite the fatigue. Despite the pain. Despite the monsters and the glitter and the ridiculous dungeon mechanics...

He felt full.

Not just tired.

But content.

Whole.

Complete.

"I love you both," he whispered.

Luna’s purring deepened. "Say it again..."

"I love you."

"Mm~"

Lysandra trembled again—then moved, just a little, and kissed his cheek.

"...You better mean it," she whispered.

"I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t."

She didn’t reply—but her hand squeezed his.

Aiden closed his eyes.

He wasn’t asleep.

Not yet.

But for the first time since they entered the dungeon, he let himself feel the moment.

No noise.

No pressure.

Just love.

Sweet, simple, real.

And then—

From the distance—

"MASTER!!" Ivy cried. "FLUFFYNUCKET MADE A CROWN OUT OF BONES!!"

Aiden cracked an eye open. "Of course he did..."

Lysandra groaned. "Why is this my life..."

Aiden laughed softly. "Because you fell for an idiot."

"Don’t remind me," she sighed.

But neither of them moved.

And neither of them let go.

---

END OF Chapter : 40 : THIS IS TIRING!

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