The Bond That Even Gods Cannot Break

It felt like falling endlessly into an infinite abyss. 

There was no ground beneath their feet; their light bodies simply plummeted forever into a world where that person was no longer present. 

In stories, many say that when one is on the brink of death, their life flashes before their eyes. This is often described as a final effort of the soul to give strength to continue fighting, a desperate attempt to rekindle the fire of life within the body. 

Would it be ironic? In such a moment, if each of those two girls had seen their lives pass before their eyes, both would have given up long ago. 

“Melissa...” 

Swallowing the little saliva left in her mouth and clutching the ring in her left hand, Sophia forced her eyes to open. 

With determination, she propped herself up and tried to rise, but before she could, her trembling arms caused her to fall again. Despite this, Sophia didn’t give up. Through repeated falls, time and again, she stood up. 

Staying curled up in the darkness wouldn’t change anything. Just as she had held that girl in her arms and moved forward to face monsters, she needed to walk. Fear still lingered in her heart. In fact, she was scared—scared of being alone, scared of where she was, but more than anything, worried about the girl who was in the same situation. Her once-frozen body forced itself to take one more step, then another, and then another. 

Within the nearly freezing water passage, Sophia began to run. 

Tears streamed down her face, falling into the salty water as she ran with all her might. Her limbs ached; she knew that hypothermia was already setting in. But following the will of her soul, her body rejected the pain and nothing stopped her from moving forward. 

“Sophia...” 

It was there. Not visible or tangible, but Melissa could feel it. A thread as thin as a hair starting from her right hand and delving deep into the darkness. Her eyes couldn’t see, and her ears couldn’t hear, but she knew what she needed to do. 

Grinding her teeth to endure the fear for just a little longer, she stood up and ran. 

Just one more time, just one single time, each of the girls desperately prayed for a miracle—the strength to mend a mistake that should never have been made. 

Two hearts that thought they would never meet again penetrated the absolute darkness, searching for the place where their souls rested but could never find peace. 

Anger, hatred, sadness, or envy—anything beyond that girl no longer mattered. In this darkness that made even breathing uncomfortable, everything each valued most in the world was the one they longed to hold in their arms. 

Crossing through the mirage, two hearts wandering in a colorless world continued to push forward. 

Whatever happened, even if their bodies crumbled and their souls were hurt, there was something they couldn’t let end before saying. 

“Sophia.” 

“Melissa.” 

Two hearts moving toward each other spoke the same words in unison. 

“I love you!”

---

The ability [Couple's Fortitude] has evolved into the ability [Love, the Final Fortress].

[Love, the Final Fortress]

The bond of lovers has proven to be the most powerful weapon and the most definitive defense. By embracing your lover for a full minute, gain a 10-point increase in any attribute for five minutes, and all negative effects applied to the lovers will be purified. There is no cooldown. This effect cannot be stacked.

---

It was as if a sun had risen within the darkness, illuminating the entire world. As they opened their tear-filled eyes, each girl could see her own reflection staring back into the other's pupils.

The distance that had once separated their faces closed in, shrinking to mere centimeters.

At that moment, as they felt their hands intertwine, they knew it was real.

"I'm sorry, Melissa, I'm so sorry. I shouldn’t have said you weren’t trying. I always knew you were kind and did good things, but I still underestimated you for not doing better in school, without understanding everything you were going through! It wasn't your fault the platform collapsed; it was me who grabbed you and forced you to retaliate. The blame was all mine!"

"No, you don’t need to apologize, Sophia. I was the wrong one. I shouldn’t have said your life was perfect; I didn’t know anything. Damn it, I should have tried to understand. I said horrible things to you! I wanted to retaliate then; I provoked you. Even when you were right and tried to talk to me so many times! The blame was on me!"

In an instant, everything that had been trapped exploded at once. Tears streamed down their faces as they embraced each other with all their strength.

"No, you idiot! I forced my ideal future on you without even knowing what you were going through!"

"Since when do you apologize by calling someone an idiot, Sophia?"

"Since that bold girl started calling me 'curls of snow' because she thought my hair was beautiful."

What began as an explosion of tears quickly turned into laughter, and both girls began to calm down.

"Sophia."

"Yes?"

"I love you!"

Melissa pulled Sophia's face closer and stole her lips. Her first chaste kiss was like no other. At once and without hesitation, the girl slipped her tongue into Sophia's mouth. Her passion-filled kiss was answered in full, their saliva mingling as they both emitted wet, vulgar sounds together.

The kiss filled Sophia's heart with happiness. Unable to think of anything else, she just concentrated on the sweet taste of Melissa's lips, pushing her tongue as deep as she could.

As their lips parted, both girls were breathless, yet their faces remained close, separated by only a few centimeters.

"Melissa."

"Yes?"

"I love you too."

The feelings that had built up over three years could now be expressed in only one way, and they continued to embrace each other.

[Love, the Final Fortress has been activated. Select the attribute to be increased.]

When the system message appeared in their minds once more, the girls finally remembered where they were and stood up.

No matter how happy they felt, they still needed to finish what they had started.

"I take back what I said before; this place really lives up to its name," Sophia remarked sarcastically as she looked around.

The grand hall had ceilings and walls adorned with almost translucent, prismatic crystals. It resembled a snow globe filled with stunning crystals that jutted out from the floor like thorns. The brilliance that reached their eyes made them doubt they had truly been in darkness until now.

"It looks like our ability evolved," Melissa noted, analyzing the panels that had appeared. "I'm sure I heard the ability activating before we woke up here. Does that mean we were under some kind of effect?"

"Haha! I think I know what caused it!"

At Sophia's laughter, Melissa turned her gaze to where Sophia's right hand was pointing. For a brief moment, her face scrunched up in surprise.

The creature was nearly two meters tall. Its body, made entirely of purple crystals, resembled the fish found in the ocean's deepest layers. Eight bright, pulsating eyes surveyed the environment as it floated slowly, exuding a black mist.

Below the creature, a small red panel displayed its name.

[Dream Eater]

Upon reading the creature's name, Melissa frowned.

"So it was him who caused all this?"

"The concept of Dream Eaters exists in various mythologies. They are generally mythical creatures that devour dreams and nightmares. Besides causing them, they exploit people's weaknesses and desires," Sophia explained, her gaze drifting around the hall and noticing the stairs they had climbed a few meters from where they had fallen. "The fact that we're so close to the entrance means that everything from the lake to the darkness was an illusion to make us fall into nightmares."

"We went through all this because of a monster too cowardly to attack directly?" Melissa sighed, still holding Sophia tightly.

"If it didn't kill us while we slept, it means its attacking power is very weak and relies entirely on its toxins to take effect."

Despite standing before the floor boss, neither Melissa nor Sophia felt afraid. For Melissa, the simple fact that her hand was once again intertwined with Sophia's filled her heart with immeasurable relief. For Sophia, feeling the warm embrace of the girl was enough to face the entire world.

Raising the lantern of the eternal flame, both girls aimed their hands at the Dream Eater.

No words were needed to define their intentions.

In unison, all remaining mana was condensed into a single point, and what could only be described as a flaming arrow took just a second to cross the crystal palace and pierce the creature, engulfing it in flames.

Moments after the attack, the notification finally arrived in their minds.

[Floor Mission – Defeat the Floor Boss – Completed.]