Chapter 377: Dawn (5)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 377: Dawn (5)
The brilliant Milky Way stretched across the cloudless night sky like a painting.
It was a dreamlike landscape, so captivating I couldn't look away. But that beautiful sight only filled half of my vision.
The other half... no, a good seventy percent of it, was covered by an overwhelming bosom.
It was still difficult to even lift a finger, yet my hand kept trying to move on its own.
It was a sort of fit, brought on by days of celibacy.
“...I'm sorry.”
At Delia's guilt-ridden voice, I exercised superhuman patience and suppressed my lust.
Instead, I decided to focus on the feeling of her soft thigh.
“It's okay. It was an emergency.”
Of course, my heart, lungs, and various parts of my chest throbbed, but thanks to the holy water, the pain wasn't severe.
It would have been better if I could press my acupoints, but I didn't even have the strength to do that, let alone use my internal energy.
If I carelessly pressed the wrong spot, I could easily end up half-paralyzed. For now, the best thing to do was just lie still.
“Are you hurt anywhere, Delia?”
“...”
Delia nodded.
I only knew she'd moved at all because I saw her hair stir.
At first, I thought her breasts were on the smaller side, but looking up from below, they seemed incredibly large.
Is it because they were compressed by her armor?
The moment I thought they'd probably go up at least a cup size when she changed into regular clothes, I quickly bit my tongue.
Perhaps because of the stress from battle and the days of celibacy, worldly desires kept trying to consume my mind.
If I popped a boner right now, the mood would definitely turn ice-cold.
“Um...”
Just as I was silently chanting Buddhist scriptures in my head, Delia's voice brushed softly against my ear.
Not just her voice, but her entire body was trembling faintly.
“...Thank you for saving me.”
Drip, drip, drip—
Warm droplets fell onto my forehead.
It was strange. I was clearly lying under the eaves, so why was I getting rained on?
It didn't take long to figure out why.
“I really, really thought it was the end... I was so scared, and it hurt so much... Sob, hic...”
With her head bowed low, Delia finally let out the tears she had been holding back.
The sound of her sorrowful, heart-wrenching sobs spread gently through the quiet night sky.
I forced my aching body to sit up.
My whole body screamed in protest, but I gritted my teeth and endured it.
Then, I carefully pulled Delia into a hug.
At the feeling of a woman's body for the first time in a while, my dick tactlessly swelled up, but I did my best to ignore it and gently stroked her back.
Flinch!
The moment my hand touched her, Delia shuddered violently.
But that only lasted a moment before she quietly burrowed into my embrace.
She was cute, kind of like a little puppy.
I'm not sure how much time passed.
Delia was no longer trembling.
Instead, her heart was pounding as if it were about to burst.
I couldn't see her face, but just by looking at her bright red earlobes, I could guess what kind of expression she was making.
I tried to be considerate and release my arms, but this time, my shoulders wouldn't obey.
...Can't be helped.
I quietly closed my eyes.
I repeated it like a mantra: this was a just reward for all the suffering I'd gone through, to the point of coughing up blood.
Thanks to that, I didn't feel any guilt.
But that, too, was short-lived.
“U-uh, H-Hyun-woo...?”
As if reaching her limit, Delia called my name in a faintly trembling voice.
Seeing her try to pull away from my embrace, I swallowed my disappointment and released my arms.
Creeak—
A sound like rusty gears being forced to turn came from my shoulder.
Tears almost welled up, but I bit my tongue and forced them back.
I wanted to avoid crying in front of a woman, no matter what.
“I-I'm sorry... You're having a hard time too, and I'm just bothering you...”
Delia's face, as she suddenly apologized, was still flushed.
I wasn't sure why she was apologizing, but she kept avoiding my gaze, perhaps embarrassed about crying in the arms of a man she barely knew.
Was it because she was so pretty?
Even her embarrassment seemed cute.
Thanks to that, I felt a little mischievous.
“You apologize a lot, don't you?”
“...”
At the light joke I'd tossed out to lighten the mood, Delia flinched.
Her reaction—her face turning pale as she fidgeted, not knowing what to do—flustered me a little.
I suddenly felt like a bad guy who'd just teased an innocent girl.
“Uh... it was a joke, so you don't have to take it so seriously.”
“...”
I tried to explain with a smile, but Delia only nodded, still watching me cautiously.
A brief silence hung between us.
I carefully broke the silence.
“...If you're really sorry, would you do me a favor?”
I'd already received a one-time favor voucher in the garden, but I had other plans for that.
“I-If it's something I can do...!”
Hearing my words, Delia's face brightened, and she nodded immediately without a hint of hesitation.
Seeing that, I felt a slight sense of déjà vu.
She had a similar vibe to Uncle Gawain.
They couldn't be father and daughter, could they?
“S-so, what is this favor...?”
“Well... it's nothing big. How old are you, by any chance?”
“I turned twenty-one last month.”
She was the same age as me.
“I'm twenty-one too. How about we drop the formalities?”
“...Huh?”
Of course, strictly speaking, my physical age is twenty-two, but my Earth age is twenty-one, no matter what anyone says.
“It's a little weird to keep speaking so formally all the time, don't you think?”
“...”
“That's my favor.”
I smiled and held out my hand.
After a moment's hesitation, Delia carefully nodded and took my hand.
“So it's a deal. Let's get along, okay?”
“...Yeah.”
Delia's face was strangely red, but she seemed to be in a better mood than before.
That was a relief.
“Well then, shall we head back to the mansion?”
It was better to return to the duke's mansion, which had doctors and proper medical facilities, than to lie in the middle of a wrecked garden.
Of course, everyone from the nobles to the servants had fallen asleep, but now that I'd dealt with the guy who used that Authority, they should all be waking up soon.
“Ah, I'll help you up...”
“Tsk.”
“...I-I'll help you up.”
“Thanks.”
Leaning on the shoulder of a blushing and embarrassed Delia, I carefully got to my feet.
Crack—
Strange sounds started coming from the muscles and bones all over my body.
My vision spun as if I were anemic, and my legs trembled precariously, threatening to give out at any moment.
Phew... Just have to make it to the mansion.
It would be a lie to say it wasn't hard, but with Delia next to me, it was somehow bearable.
In other words, I was bluffing.
Anyway, what in the world is happening outside?
Nearly twenty minutes had passed since Duke Winchester left the mansion.
In that time, the demon worshipers who had infiltrated Avalon had wrecked the mansion, and there were numerous casualties.
Even though the situation had gotten this bad, there was still no sign of outside support.
The fact that the situation hadn't been resolved yet, despite the presence of two people called the strongest forces in Europe, not just Britain, meant that things outside were just as serious.
Well... it's not really my problem to worry about.
I've already done my best and achieved the best possible outcome.
If it weren't for me, everyone at this party, not to mention the mansion's servants, would have been massacred, and Delia would have been kidnapped along with the holy sword.
So, what I needed to do now wasn't worry, but think about the reward I was going to get.
I saved the lives of dozens of nobles and took down four of Belmoras's executives. The royal family can't just sit by and do nothing.
Their own reputation is on the line.
Hmm... If possible, I'd like to go into the royal treasury and pick something out myself. I wonder if that's possible?
Of course, I'll politely decline any titles.
I don't have the slightest intention of becoming a British citizen.
As for the royal treasury, if I ask Duke Winchester, he might be able to work something out.
He owes me more than a few debts, so he can't just ignore me.
As I was lost in these happy thoughts, I started to feel an unshakeable sense of unease.
As if I'd forgotten something...
...Ah.
In that moment, a thunderbolt struck my mind.
I finally remembered the Heaven-Shattering Demonic Sword, which I'd left near Crow Mask's body.
Strictly speaking, I wasn't the one who left it there, but I couldn't just leave it behind either.
I wanted to summon it like before, but it was impossible if the distance was too great.
I don't know if it was a matter of my realm or my proficiency.
“Uh... Delia? Could you maybe head over that way—”
Thump!
A dark shadow fell over them.
Hyun-woo and Delia were both momentarily at a loss for words.
Forgetting even how to breathe, the two of them could only stare blankly up at the sky.
Flap—
A single flap of its wings sent a fierce gale sweeping across the ground.
It was too massive to be called a mere 'creature'.
Even as it soared through the vast sky, it was so overwhelmingly large that it couldn't be fully captured in one's field of vision.
-!!!!!!!!
Beneath Avalon's beautiful night sky, a black dragon roared, revealing its form.
Staring blankly at the sight, Delia murmured softly.
“...Zerkishinia.”
*
Fifty years ago, a Gate Break occurred in the small city of Omagh.
It was S-rank.
The King Arthur of that era and his Knights of the Round Table, who went to clear it, lost contact beyond the gate, and the gate boss burned all of Northern Ireland.
The flames that swallowed dozens of cities claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, and the scale of the resulting damage was impossible to even estimate.
In the end, the gate boss was only barely subjugated after Duke Winchester and the Duke of Rutland, who had been abroad, returned.
At least, that was the truth known to the public.
But the reality was different.
Duke Winchester had deemed the boss impossible to subjugate and, after countless sacrifices, had barely succeeded in sealing it.
The sealed magical beast had been kept deep beneath Avalon for fifty years.
But that was not the end.
As if in revenge for its sealing, the beast broke free while the duke was away and laid waste to the ducal estate.
And they only succeeded in sealing the beast again through the sacrifice of the duke's only daughter, a 6th Circle mage at the time, and his son-in-law, an S-rank Hunter.
“Zerkishinia...?”
Hearing Delia's murmur, Kang Hyun-woo unknowingly swallowed dryly.
The S-rank magical beast, the Black Flame Dragon Zerkishinia.
Even in Korea, on the other side of the world, there was no one who didn't know the name of the beast that had caused the Nightmare of Northern Ireland.
Kang Hyun-woo was thrown into confusion by the appearance of a beast he had heard was subjugated by the two dukes.
But that lasted only a moment. Seeing the direction Zerkishinia was flying, ripples spread through his eyes.
“...No way.”
A magical beast has only one instinct: infinite hostility towards humanity.
And the most populated place within Avalon was, without a doubt, the ducal mansion's banquet hall.
But Zerkishinia was flying in the complete opposite direction of the mansion.
To be precise, it was heading for Avalon's exit.