Catgirls And Dungeons (Yuri)-Chapter 145: Reunion

A small, shattered smile, jagged with a thousand unspoken agonies, a smile that holds the wreckage of a heart that has loved too fiercely to ever break cleanly.

All this time, Alter has been strong. She's kept her walls up, locked tight behind a facade of composure, shielding me from the true weight of her heart.

But now… standing before her wife again, with nothing left to hide behind…

I feel it rising.

All the emotions she buried, all the pain she swallowed down, all the aching memories… It builds. Slowly at first, then faster, swelling like a tide behind her ribs, until finally—

Her walls collapse.

She can't hold it in anymore.

Everything pours out at once.

Grief.

Love.

Regret.

Longing.

A flood so fierce and unrelenting it crashes through her like a river bursting through a shattered dam. It drowns every thought, every carefully constructed defense, every mask she ever wore.

Tears spill freely down her face, thick and unending.

She sobs.

And she doesn't try to stop it anymore.

She can't.

In that moment, Alter cries like a child. Her cry is loud, raw, and broken, like someone who hasn't allowed herself to cry in a thousand years.

She clings to Morvena with trembling arms, her whole body shaking under the weight of a century of sorrow. One arm wraps tightly around her wife's fragile, unmoving form, pulling her close, as if trying to stitch back together the pieces that time and fate have torn apart. The other still grips the sword at her side, fingers clenched tight.

She rests her forehead against Morvena's chest and weeps into it.

Desperately, hopelessly, as if her soul is breaking with every breath.

And me… I'm crying too.

Though the tears fall from Alter's eyes, I can feel each one inside me.

My soul is torn between two aching truths.

Happiness, because she's finally with the one she loves again.

And sorrow, because it is not the reunion she deserves.

I say nothing.

There are no words that belong here.

I stay quiet, letting the moment hold its weight, letting Alter have this one fragile moment, letting her hold her wife once more.

If only for now.

If only for a breath.

——————

A few minutes pass.

The sobs have finally quieted. Alter has calmed, though her breathing remains uneven, still catching slightly between breaths.

She leans forward, ever so gently, and presses a soft kiss against Morvena's lips, tenderly, reverently.

She then takes Morvena's hand, and give it another kiss.

Then she closes her eyes and speaks to me.

"Sorry about that, Felicia…" she murmurs. "I couldn't hold it in. I cried too much. I showed you my weakness."

"Nah, it's fine," I reply without hesitation. "And what do you mean, weakness? Honestly… your love isn't a weakness at all! Stop being so harsh on yourself!"

"I see, you're right." A faint smile touches her lips. "Thank you…"

"Please, never think of yourself like that!"

Because no matter how strong she is, no matter how cold or untouchable she tries to appear, whether she's a tyrant princess feared by armies or a berserker who dances through blood and fire, in the end, she's still just a person.

A girl with a heart that still beats.

With eyes that can cry.

With a soul that can still feel.

Yes, she bears the mark of demonic corruption, and she had moments when she went insane… but she is not one of them. No, not a demon, not a monster! At the end of the day, only those things—those truly wicked, empty things—can exist without feeling love, without knowing sorrow.

Alter is not like them.

And she never will be.

This chapt𝙚r is updated by freeωebnovēl.c૦m.

"Now… what do we do?" I ask softly, though I already suspect the answer.

"It's simple," Alter replies. "We just need to put the sealing swords back."

She bends down and reaches for the three fallen blades.

Just like the ones still embedded in Morvena's body, they're long—absurdly so. More like ceremonial spears than traditional swords. Their edges gleam with unnatural sharpness, and their surfaces shimmer like crystal, almost translucent. When the light from the sword pillars strikes them, it scatters in waves of silver and white, painting the blades with a celestial glow.

They are beautiful, sacred, and otherworldly.

But then… Alter touches the blade itself.

And I feel nothing.

What?? I'm now confused.

Hold on… wait a minute!

Aren't divine weapons supposed to feel powerful? I remember what it was like to hold Sheol—the way it hummed with darkness, the crushing weight of its presence, the raw energy that made even standing still feel dangerous.

But these swords… they feel like nothing at all.

No heat, no energy, no hum of sacred power.

Nothing to suggest they're divine at all.

It's like picking up a glass ornament, beautiful, but hollow, just another fancy prop.

Something about that unsettles me.

Why does it feel so empty?

And more importantly… will it still work?

…