Chapter 36 — The Heart of the Distortion
Light fractured like glass as Rimuru and Ren faced the shadow that had crawled free from Aira's core.
Its form bent with every movement — shifting between reflections, half Aira's face, half empty space, eyes glowing faintly red and blue like a cruel imitation of Rimuru herself.
The frozen lake beneath them rippled with each breath it took.
Every wave carried whispers — echoes of Aira's thoughts.
> "I'm not enough…"
"If I vanish, will they even remember me?"
"Please, not again…"
Rimuru exhaled slowly. "She's feeding it. Every fear, every suppressed memory."
Ren adjusted his stance beside her, the sigil-light around his hands flaring silver. "Then we cut off the source. Contain it before it consumes her."
"Containment?" Rimuru smirked faintly. "That's your answer to everything."
"It works."
"Sometimes," she said, her grin sharpening. "But this isn't one of those times."
The shadow moved before either could speak again — sliding through the air like liquid light. It struck first, a blur of mirrored limbs that shattered into dozens of shards mid-attack. Rimuru spun, her aura flaring blue-red as she caught the fragments and forced them back with a pulse of raw energy.
Ren's silver light met hers a split-second later, syncing in rhythm — his precision smoothing her chaos.
The distortion screamed.
Every sound made the world flicker — flashes of Aira's memories bursting around them. Classrooms, laughter, the soft golden light of early morning when Rimuru had first walked beside her pretending to be a normal classmate. Each scene cracked and dissolved into static.
"She's losing control," Ren said, breath tight.
"I know." Rimuru's voice softened. "She always tries to carry it alone."
Then she looked up at the shadow, her grin fading into something almost tender. "But she doesn't have to anymore."
Rimuru launched forward, breaking through the echo storm. Her hands glowed, her aura shimmering like light under water — unsteady but beautiful. When she struck the core, the impact rippled outward, freezing the world in place for one suspended heartbeat.
The shadow screamed again — this time not in anger, but pain.
Ren followed, his silver energy slicing through the residual distortion, sealing the fractures Rimuru left open. Their synchronization was effortless — chaotic and ordered, just like before.
But even as the distortion began to collapse inward, Rimuru felt it — the echo's voice whispering inside her mind.
> "If you pull her out… what happens to the parts she left behind?"
Her body froze for half a second. The question wasn't coming from the creature — it was coming from Aira.
Ren noticed. "Rimuru! Focus!"
She blinked sharply, regaining balance as cracks of light raced across the ground. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine!"
But she wasn't.
Because deep inside the distortion, she could feel something breaking — a thread that had been tying Aira's memories together.
Ren was already forming the exit sigil, his tone urgent. "We're running out of time. I can stabilize her consciousness, but I need you to hold the echo down."
Rimuru nodded. "On it."
She stepped forward again, energy burning brighter — red light coursing through the cracks in her blue aura like veins of fire. "Alright, sweetheart," she muttered to the distortion. "You wanted my attention — now you've got it."
The lake glowed. The world split open.
And as she struck the core one last time, the shadow's scream turned into a whisper — Aira's voice again.
> "Thank you…"
Then silence.
The light faded slowly. Rimuru fell to one knee, breathing hard.
Ren's sigils dimmed. The distortion finally began to dissolve — the sky smoothing back into color, the lake turning still.
Aira floated safely at the center of the fading light, her form solid again, eyes closed but peaceful.
Rimuru smiled faintly, exhaustion tugging at her grin. "See? Told you we'd fix it."
Ren glanced at her, brow furrowed. "At what cost?"
Rimuru didn't answer — but the faint crack glowing at the edge of her hand said enough.