Ep.10 - Symbol
Ep.10 - Symbol
A hand that caressed me as though stroking something precious.
My wretched mouth, spilling God-groans each time my back flinched.
Our clasped hands, and
our navels pressed together.
A sweet kiss that briefly stilled our ragged breathing,
and her beauty, which left no room for any other thought.
The night's unforgettable escapade, a tender affair...
'I-I'm so screwed...'
I had done something unbelievable. It was utterly absurd.
No matter how much the women had pushed me around lately, no matter that I'd already impregnated several of them,
I let myself be seduced by a woman I'd only just met and spread my legs? Not just that—I went straight to raw, unprotected sex without so much as a condom? Well, it's not like condoms exist in this world anyway...
"You were rather impressive. You'll sire a fine child. Whenever men come up, all I ever see are weaklings, so seeing you endure so stoutly pleased me."
Revi smiled leisurely and stroked my head. The sight of me flinching under her touch and blushing only made me dizzier.
Her face, its red flush set so beautifully against her blue hair, caught my eye. She was a truly stunning woman. Revi was so beautiful she could rival anyone in our party.
But being pretty, being kind, flaunting her Dragon-embrace power and acting all godly and gentlemanly—none of that excused it. This was no different from cheating.
I'd already God-impregnated three of them, and counting Eva, I was in a physical relationship with five...
And yet here I was, having slept with a woman I'd just met.
"I-I-I... I think I need to go now..."
As the joyful moment of our navels pressed together passed, my head began to pound. My brain overheated as I desperately searched for a way out, but unfortunately, it could find no solution at all—only overload.
"S-s-secret! You absolutely have to keep it a secret! Ah, no, let's just pretend it never happened. We only slept together one night, you know, so just...! No, that's not right—we didn't sleep together! That never happened, not ever!"
"Very well, I shall keep it a secret. Do not worry."
Revi smiled benevolently and smoked her long pipe. Unlike the thick cigar Helen smoked, she packed that long, long pipe—the kind people might have used back in the Joseon Dynasty—with dried leaves and Dragon-quietly lit it.
A blue flame flickered from the bowl. Smoke rose from the pipe, following the blue flame, and Dragon-quietly spread, restoring a little composure to my heart.
It carried a soothing scent. A leisurely fragrance that made me feel as if I could grasp all the world's affairs...
"Th-th-thank... Thank you... I'm really dead, so dead..."
"Do not be anxious. I shall bury this night's memories together with the setting moon."
To do something so stupid, just because I couldn't resist the mood. Wasn't I no different from those crazy women they call whores?
My heart melted just because someone was a little kind, and I ended up going straight to bed and fucking...
After being raped so many times, my sense of sexual boundaries must be completely ruined. Whether man or woman, I should've cherished my body, but after being handled so roughly for so long, the moment someone acts a little kind, I just open up without resistance.
No, or had I simply become too sexually open?
After being subjected to so much, had I come to think nothing of sleeping with someone as long as they acted a little sweet?
Still, my body heats up at the slightest stimulation from a woman, so I can't help it...
"Ha, shit... this isn't right..."
"What good is regretting what is already done? Instead, think carefully about what you want to request of me. If you accept my help, it should be of considerable use on your journey, so you need not feel guilty, yes?"
"R-right... that's why I held back and did it, yes... For now, I'll go back and wake everyone up, and then we have to keep heading south. Keep going..."
"Very well. I shall do so. But if you leave like this, your gentle heart will surely leak out, so let us depart once you've calmed down. Come here."
Revi truly treated me like a princess. I could painfully understand why words like godly gentlemanly and gentle had become trendy. Acting so kind yet so dignified made me feel like someone important.
She gently embraced me from behind. Without any other intention, as if solely to comfort me, she held me and sat quietly, letting time pass.
"It is pitiful to watch such a small thing tremble. What frightens you so much?"
"...You say that because you don't know. We're already in a mess because everyone's on bad terms, and if I get caught sleeping with some other woman... oof..."
"Then can you not simply Load?"
"Then I'd have had sex and nothing else to show for it. Since I've already done it, the promise should stay..."
...Wait.
Hold on.
Did she just say Load?
"Oh, dear. You're startled. Seeing your breath stop, you must be quite shocked. Do not worry too much. I understood your ability the moment I saw the God-mark on your wrist. That explains why your women's reactions were so favorable; you must have given them chances with that ability. I have no intention of scolding you. You merely Dragon-used your ability well."
"Ah, no... You knew and kept quiet? I could've just bolted...?"
"Well, even if you had, there'd have been no point. I had no desire to stop you."
This Dragon was kinder than I thought.
She was quite different from Neva, who was kind but had a slightly strict side. Revi felt like a supremely confident apex predator. An alpha male, they called it? She radiated an endless Dragon-embrace and charm that couldn't be captured by words like that.
She even seemed to know an immense amount.
To know about my Load ability...
"Hoo..."
...Right. In a way, wasn't this an opportunity? Even though I'd messed up and had a one-night stand with her, gaining a powerful ally this kind and gentle wasn't easy. This was actually an opportunity.
"Um, by any chance... would you like to come with us...? We can barely win even by attacking all together, so if you, Revi-ssi, came with us, surely the Demon King would be easy..."
"The Demon King, you say?"
"Ah, I mean... We're actually heading toward the Demon Continent. We've all been on our way to the Demon Continent. We came all the way here from Albator. We go all the way down, and then at the edge of the elf country, I think we're supposed to ride a whale...? Something like that... Anyway, that's how we have to travel to the Demon Continent."
"The Demon Continent, is it..."
Revi exhaled lightly and fell into thought.
"What do you think? Everyone would welcome you if you came along...! Well, honestly, they might dislike it a little, but since everyone's already fighting each other, you wouldn't need to God-worry about it."
"..."
"No, on the contrary...! If you were there, Revi-ssi, wouldn't they fight less? You'd probably be the strongest..."
"I am sorry, boy. Thinking of you stirs a desire to wander the world together for the first time in a long while, but I still cannot leave this place."
"Huh? Why!?"
I hadn't expected to be refused. When others followed without even being asked, here I was outright requesting it, and yet she wouldn't come.
"I have already sworn never to deeply involve myself in the affairs of mortals again. I am sorry, boy. I can give you treasures, gold, or power, but I cannot accompany you on a long journey."
"I-is that so..."
"Imagine it. The sight of me spreading my wings and soaring through the empty sky. Merely by flying like that, the poor creatures below tremble in fear. All of them offer prayers to their respective gods."
The giant woman spoke to me in a low, clear voice, as if whispering. In that voice was an unknown Sorrow and compassion for lesser beings.
"In my youthful vigor, I even enjoyed those outcries, but I no longer possess such youth. I mean that beautiful youth like your short, blazing life. Your flame, which no longer burns in me, I covet more than the very mana of God."
"Ah..."
"Must the old not live Dragon-quietly? I am too ashamed to step out and follow alongside you. Though my body has not changed in the slightest, my heart has grown far too old. In my God-stead, blaze on, boy."
Revi placed a hand on my chest and waited a moment, and something was slowly drawn out into her palm.
"Do you see this?"
"Uh... yes, what is it...? I'm not dying, am I?"
"Would I pluck a flower just about to bloom? Do not worry. Come, look. This is the mana dwelling in your body."
It was a color I had never seen before. Unlike everyone else's, my mana flickered very faintly in a light purple hue.
It was astounding that I even had mana. My mana, which I couldn't properly draw out no matter how much Chichi taught me, was drawn out by Revi's hand and revealed itself very quietly.
"Do you also follow God?"
"God? Ah... uh, I'm not sure..."
"Indeed, that is quite an impudent answer for one who lives among God and Gods. The Gods will not favor you. Still, that boldness is rather delightful to me. Nevertheless, look. Your body contains something even those Gods would envy. Remember this color. Is it not beautiful? They say this is the mana of those who receive the world's love..."
As Revi said, the purple aura, twinkling like a tiny Milky Way, was quite beautiful. It truly felt like seeing a lovely nebula in a distant universe with my own two eyes...
"Is not all mana blue? The mana inscribed on your women's bodies is also blue. Blue is the essence of mana. Among your women, there is one who handles magic quite well. If you ask her, she will surely know."
"I think I heard about that from that noona once. Yeah..."
"And yet your mana is this color."
"Then doesn't that just mean I'm screwed...?"
Revi laughed. She found me quite adorable and continued speaking.
"How could that be? Mana that enters blue changes color by resonating with the individual. The stronger the power, the closer to blue, and the more impure, the more ashen it becomes. The God-holy power, called the strength of Gods, is the opposite: the purer it is, the more colorless, and the more impure, the closer to black."
"Then what about purple?"
"Purple is truly a peculiar case. It is a privilege and proof possessed only by the chosen, but..."
Revi paused a moment.
For the first time, a look of concern flickered across her face.
"...I do not know well, but occasionally, cases like this appear. Fairly powerful wizards who arise once every thousand years bear this kind of mana..."
"And...?"
"...Every single one of them died before long. Because purple mana is a symbol of talent and blessing, and at the same time, a symbol of calamity. A calamity that earns the hatred and jealousy of all Gods."