~ Chapter 169: The daughter’s anger towards her own parents ~

[Nanya’s point of view]

“Why?” I said as tears flowed down my cheeks “Why are you doing this, father, mother?” I asked.

The moment Illsy arrived, they took up an aggressive stance against him without so much as giving him a chance to introduce himself properly. I knew that they would not like the husband I would get to choose for myself, but I didn’t think it was this bad!

I felt my heart aching just looking at how father and Illsy were fighting each other. Those attacks were as serious as they could be, at least from father’s side. Illsy could do a lot better. He could have summoned his army of minotaurs, rigged the field with explosive crystals, or use the AGLMC in his arms. There were many ways he could have ended this fight in his favor, but I could tell that he was not here to kill my father. Illsy was fighting a defensive battle, mostly trying to incapacitate him.

I have once seen Illsy use those lasers to take out a ship of pirates from miles away, far off into the horizon. By the time they realized their captain was dead, half of the crew met with the same fate. What was left next was only to have the Leviathan drag it back to port and then claim the goods in their cargo hold. Selling off a reconditioned ship to a merchant for a lower price was what we all called easy money.

“Nanya...” mother said, and I turned to look at her.

Seeing me cry made her look at me with surprise.

“Mother, you and father know nothing about my life on the three continents... you know nothing about my husband or how he treated me. Do you think I came here to flee from him or something?” I asked her as tears rolled down my cheeks.

Seeing my family fight like this was painful.

“You didn’t?” mother replied blinking surprised.

“No...” I shook my head.

“Then why did you?” she asked.

“A daughter can’t even visit her mother now without being thought that she’s running away from her husband? Is that how you see it?” I asked as I wiped off my tears.

She didn’t reply, why would she? Maybe she was just now realizing that what she did was wrong? I couldn’t tell.

“This fight is ridiculous... I don’t want either my husband or my father to get hurt.” I said and then I started to gather the Magic Energy around me.

“What are you doing?” mother asked me.

“I’m just going to say this once, mother. If you really love me as your daughter... please stop father. Otherwise... I will see no reason to return here ever again.” I declared and then jumped off the platform.

Interfering in an official duel was considered rude and disgraceful, but this wasn’t an official duel in my eyes. This was just a stupid squabble between a son in law and his father-in-law.

“[Boost]” I chanted as I got close to them.

In that moment, I saw Illsy wearing his own special armor and holding his plasma sword. He would not have done this if he didn’t think that father was worthy of being fought with them but the way he was standing there, motionless made me fear what was going to happen next.

Father... I thought as I saw him approaching him.

When he raised his hand up, I accelerated and then... I punched him.

My interference was unexpected and came as a surprise to father. But even though I knew I raised my hand against my own parent and that tears flowed down on my cheeks from when I saw him trying to seriously harm Illsy, I still couldn’t allow him to go with it.

I loved my husband from the bottom of my heart and if to be with him meant that I had to save him from my own father, I would do it, no... I just did it.

“Ugh!” father let out a painful groan as he was sent tumbling towards far away from me and Illsy.

“STOP THIS AT ONCE!” I shouted at them.

Illsy didn’t say a thing, while father got up from the ground and repaired his cracked Magic Armor.

“Nanya leave this place at once. As your father, I know Dungeons better than you, and this mongrel shouldn’t be trusted.” he declared.

“Mongrel? Trusted? When I was trapped in a Dungeon on the three continents, it wasn’t you who saved me, father, it was a human named Tuberculus. When a supreme named Dankyun brought me to my knees with my gut spilled in front of me, it wasn’t you who saved me, father, it was this Dungeon here, Illsyore! He risked his own life, his sanity, everything he had to save me! Trust him? Yes, father, I TRUST HIM! I TRUST HIM MORE THAN I TRUST YOU, WHO WERE NEVER THERE FOR ME!” I shouted at him and then with tears in my eyes, I remembered all those painful moments when I needed him as my father, as my parent, and he was never there.

“I kept you safe! I trained you! I gave you armors and weapons!” he retorted in anger.

“You kept me safe but never played with me even though that’s what I wanted! You trained me and always complained how I was no good when all I wanted was for you to acknowledge me! You gave me armor that kept me from making friends and a sword meant to kill all those who tried to court me!” I shouted back at him.

“I did what I thought was best for you!”

“I wanted you to be there as my father not a trainer! Now you want to kill my husband, the only man who never looked strange at me because I was a demoness or hated me for being weak or too playful?! The one man who accepted me for who I am without so much as batting an eye or asking me to change a single thing?! That man?” I shouted back at him at the top of my lungs until it started to hurt.

“You were too young...” he said.

“I was an ADULT!”

“You did not know better!”

“THEN HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO LEARN WHEN YOU NEVER TRIED TO TEACH ME?!”

All of this anger and sadness that welled up inside me had resurfaced at this point. I did not even plan nor think that I would jump in the middle of the Proving Grounds to cry about all the unfair things I thought my father brought to my life.

Memories from my childhood resurfaced as the cries of my younger self, now making me feel as though my own father once again wished to deny me the happiness I struggled to obtain. What was happiness for me was wrong for my father, I knew this, I hated this, but this time... just this time, I wasn’t going to let him take it away from me!

Magic Energy flowed around me like a raging hurricane, fueling my Magic Armor and my body through the power of the [Boost] spell. Activating [Over Boost] was at the very tip of my fingers. I needed just one push, one more nudge in the right direction, and I was going to let it RIP!

“Nanya! This Dungeon brainwashed you! He certainly lied and told you bad things about us!” father shouted almost entirely convinced that Illsy was some sort of an abomination of a man.

“Lie? The number of times he lied to me, I can count them all on my fingers, and there wasn’t even one single moment when he didn’t do it for a good reason! As for you... you told me that I could play with the other children and yet you kept me locked away in the castle. You told me that I could join the parties of the other young demio ladies, but you never let me mingle with them. You gave me an armor to wear, not a cute dress! Father, I was just a cute little puppet you could bring with you almost as if you tried to boost and show off that you were the consort of the Empress!” I shouted at him.

“That... that wasn’t the case, Nanya! The other children were demonesses in full right! Far more powerful than you! The parties you were invited to were to laugh at you, that’s why I joined you and...” he said.

“Did you join Sunsun’s parties as well? Or what about Eventel? Did you make him stop taking sword fighting lessons when he came of age?” I asked him.

“That... they are different from you!” he retorted.

“How? How are they different, father?!” I asked him as I felt my fists filled with raging Magic Energy.

“Eventel was already strong for his age and so is Sunsun! For some reason, only you were born as the weakest of them all! You were weak, Nanya, the weakest half-Dungeon I ever saw in my life, and I didn’t want anything to happen to you! That’s why I...” he stopped just as mother landed between the two of us.

Her demeanor was as imposing as ever. Like a real Empress, her presence washed over us, although right now, it wasn’t powerful enough to make either of us flinch. She was unwavering in front of me and stood firm in front of father. She stared right into my eyes, almost as if she was trying to dominate me with her gaze alone, but it didn’t work on me. The tears in my eyes, the rage in my heart, they stayed there, unwavering, unchanging, ready to bite back at any moment.

“Nanya... We... just wanted to protect you.” she said.

I looked down, tears still flowing down my cheeks, but those words were not enough to quell the fire in my heart.

“Then why... Why are you trying to take away the one who made me happy?” I glared right back at her.

“I…” she stopped and took a quick glance at Illsy, who was recovering.

“How can that thing make you happy?! We are your parents! We know better what makes you happy!” father retorted as he threw a hateful glare at him.

“…” I lowered my head and didn’t say a single thing.

A moment of silence fell upon the Proving Grounds. Even the demios who were watching from the distance were waiting to see how this moment of drama was going to unfold for them.

My parents claimed that they knew everything about me. They claimed that they were protecting me for my own good, but I knew that this was just their own make-believe world. They somehow got stuck with the image of useless self from back when I was still young… or maybe, they couldn’t accept the fact that I picked a Dungeon as my husband.

“What makes me smile every time when I wake up in the morning?” I asked.

“What?” father was confused, and mother probably furrowed her brow.

“You said you know what makes me the happiest… then tell me…” I looked straight at them, tears still rolling down my cheeks “What makes me smile every time when I wake up in the morning?”

“Of course, knowing that we protect you!” father tried to answer.

“Food?” mother gave an answer I would have expected from Tamara.

“Who can’t I wait to see in the morning?” I asked them.

“Erm… yourself in the mirror?” father gave another weird reply.

“…” mother refrained from answering.

She was looking down, a furrow on her forehead. Maybe she realized she didn’t know me that well.

“What do I do half of the day, five days of the week, which is also one of my favorite activities?” I asked them.

“Eat and sleep?” father replied.

“Prank?” mother felt confident in her answer.

“Who are my best friends?” I asked them.

“…” neither answered.

“Illsy?” I asked as I looked towards him.

“Let’s see… First question, when I embrace you in the morning and give you a kiss? You kind of awe me a few.” he winked at me “For the second question, I’m going to bet it’s Kormian and Natrasku first then Anette and Bachus.” he nodded confidently, and I felt my anger diminishing “For the third question, that’s obviously teaching. You love teaching the students both at Fellyore Magic Academy and now at Illsyorea Magic Academy. It charges you up with more than energy than you should have, which kind of leads to me getting pranked 8 times out 10. For the final question, obviously Shanteya, Ayuseya, Tamara, and Zoreya. I am your best friend, lover, and husband by default.” he laughed.

“What?” father was furrowing his brow confused.

“Mother… father…” I said as I looked back at them “You haven’t seen me in one hundred years… How could you even think that I was the same as back then? Out there…” I pointed towards the three continents “I experienced both the ups and down of life. I went through a lot, and I have seen a lot. I made friends and enemies… I fell in love with this man right here, and I have a life of my own with my own dreams and hopes outside of this kingdom… outside of the Demon Continent that couldn’t accept me for being too weak!” I told them and then stopped.

Looking down, I wanted to unclench my fists, but this was not enough, there was more I had to tell them. Although this wasn’t the most pleasant of locations, it wasn’t as if I could ask for a change of location either. Father didn’t lower his guard and neither did mother. Illsy was a bit on the edge as well, so a battle could start any moment now, which I really really wanted to avoid.

“Nanya… I…” mother said as she tried to reach towards me, but she stopped and looked away.

I didn’t know what was going on through their heads, but I just hoped they were coming to realize that what they were doing now… what they were doing here wasn’t right. My husband didn’t deserve to be treated like this and neither did I.

Even if he made his appearance rather imposing, it wasn’t an excuse to try to kill him.

“Do you know who Natrasku and Kormian are?” I asked as I looked mother.

“No…” she replied.

“They are the reason why I wanted to come here on this Demon Continent in the first place… They are my two sons, your grandchildren, Kormian is a blue Dungeon Core baby, while Natrasku is a half-dungeon half-demon baby. They are both 9 months and 4 days old exactly, and I missed them dearly all the time I was away from them, but I didn’t want to keep my own parents out of their lives. You are their grandparents, but not even I suspected that you would try to kill their father, the man I love and married!” I told them.

Mother was shocked by my sudden confession; I could see that clearly on her face now. The ice-cold mask she had on crumbled, but now I didn’t know if this was going to be good news for her or not. As for father, he was looking at me with agape mouth, but this didn’t last long.

“HOW DARE YOU TOUCH MY LITTLE GIRL!!!” he shouted and then with tears in his eyes launched himself at Illsy.

“Wait! What?!” Illsy barely managed to react as he raised his hands up to defend himself from his attack.

A cloud of smoke rose up around them as the thundering strikes came one after another. Father was relentlessly attacking, while Illsy was defending as best as he could. When I tried to head to them to split them up, mother stopped me.

“Nanya… is this true? You gave birth to a Dungeon and a Half Dungeon then came here?” she asked, but I could see there were tears in her eyes.

“Yes… “ I replied.

“You foolish little girl! How will you ever get back home now?” she asked as she suddenly embraced me and covered us with her wings to keep herself from being seen by the other demios there.

“Huh?” I blinked and didn’t know how to react to mother’s tears and especially her words.

“YOU SON OF A…” father shouted.

“Technically, I just have a father!” Illsy retorted as he dodged a punch.

“Stay still so I can murder you!” father roared.

“Can’t we just talk about this? Like grown Dungeons?! Please, father-in-law?” Illsy tried to appease him.

“YOU BASTARD! DON’T YOU DARE CALL ME THAT!”

“I can’t just call you crazy-Dungeon-dude, right?”

“You want to die! You definitely want to die!!!”

“No, I don’t! The Holy God of Big Boobs as my witness!”

“What sort of perverted deity is that?! How dare this mongrel touch my daughter!”

They kept fighting and bickering like that, but the attacks… they didn’t seem as deadly as before. The oppressive nature and power behind father’s punches vanished.

“Nanya, my sweet… what will you ever do now that you can’t return to your children?” mother asked.

“Huh?”

I was… I was confused.