Prologue : The Unavoidable
Prologue : The Unavoidable
The light fades.
The flow that had been sweeping through the space, flickering in blue, scattered as if it had never existed in the first place.
Deltain gritted his teeth as he watched the entire process.
"Another failure."
A bedroom with a tranquil atmosphere.
The woman sitting on the massive bed in the center giggled and stretched out her arms.
With the movement, the blonde hair that had been resting on her shoulders became disheveled.
As it did, her collarbone, which had been hidden behind her hair, was revealed.
Deltain let out a short breath and lifted his eyelids.
Above the collarbone, which stretched out in a soft curve, was a neck that looked like it would snap if squeezed, and further up were a thin jawline and lips that had lost their vitality.
Pause-.
Deltain hesitated to move his gaze any further toward the smile lingering on the woman's lips.
Then, the woman added a playful tone to her voice and spoke.
"Why are you staring at my lips like that? Do you want them?"
"...What the hell."
"When you talk to someone, you're supposed to look them in the eyes."
Her voice was full of mischief.
Deltain knew.
He knew that this woman's playfulness came from his own attitude of being unable to ignore it and feeling troubled.
He could have just ignored it, but Deltain was not the kind of person who could do such a thing.
For what he valued most in life was his unwavering pride in always being in the winner's seat.
A fierce look filled Deltain's eyes.
Soon, his eyes turned to a higher place.
"Is this enough?"
He said it as if to provoke her, but Deltain felt his insides burning.
It was because the light pink pupils resembling spring flowers, and the dark, murky circles beneath them, were clouding his vision.
It was because of her complexion, which anyone could tell was the face of someone dying.
...No, that wasn't important.
What was troubling Deltain more than anything right now was what was about to appear before his eyes.
Ding.
An artificial alarm sound rang in Deltain's ears.
Then, a translucent screen appeared on his retina.
<Extraction of Demon Flower Extrias has failed. Growth is maintained.>
The inorganic text sentenced him.
<97 days remaining until blooming.>
To the inevitable death of the woman.