Chapter 63
Chapter 63
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 63
Chapter Title: Ray Awakens as Saintess
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Actually, I was convinced Ariana liked me right up until just before her confession. It was the moment I'd been eagerly awaiting, but now wasn't the time to give her an answer. If I simply accepted it, she might charge off alone to face the Earth Dragon.
"This next......"
"Ah, what I mean is..."
Did I go too far?
Apart from Ariana liking me, suggesting we hook up felt excessive.
"You'd have sex with me too? Like you did with Rise and that woman named Ray......"
......How did she know?
Has she been watching us this whole time?
I couldn't even begin to imagine how heartbroken she must have felt seeing me with others. I gripped Ariana's hand—the one holding mine—just as tightly in return.
"Yes."
"Really...... Can you take down the Earth Dragon?"
"Honestly, it's not easy. But we can do it."
"We...... You and me. Heh heh heh."
She seemed to feel affection for the word laced with a sense of belonging. Her weary breathing soon steadied, and vitality surged through her even more than before.
"Ariana— Mmph."
Frustrated from searching for Ariana, the Earth Dragon slammed the ground. With that roar, her soft lips enveloped mine.
Ariana's kiss was clumsy, but the raw sincerity of her burning desire for me was utterly genuine. Another short, fierce kiss ended.
"This next...... It's a promise."
Ariana gripped her sword once more. I followed her lead and did the same. We straightened our backs and stared down the Earth Dragon.
"I'll trust you, Daron. So, what do I need to do?"
It was impossible for us to take down the Earth Dragon directly. Its hide was too tough—Ariana's blade couldn't penetrate deeply. So I devised an indirect approach.
"One wrong move, and you could be in danger too."
"Drawing the Earth Dragon's attention is dangerous from the start, isn't it? And you're in just as much danger, Lady Ariana."
Preparations were complete. The Earth Dragon, which had been thrashing wildly in search of us, finally calmed. Now it would regain its senses and head back out of the forest.
"Daron."
"You're bolder than I thought."
I kissed Ariana again. I'd already lost count of how many times we'd done it. She no longer held back her desires. All the restraint she'd shown until now erupted at once, leaving no trace of the stern Knight Commander—only a woman consumed by longing.
Ariana pulled away from me with a satisfied look. At last, she sprang into motion, vanishing somewhere to execute my plan.
"Hey!!!!"
And I......
"You filthy oversized idiot lizard!"
GRRRRAAAAAHHH!!!
The Earth Dragon whipped its neck toward the sound. Spotting me, it flew into another rage, bellowing a guttural screech.
I drew my sword. It wouldn't leave more than a scratch, but it ought to piss it off plenty. The Earth Dragon lifted one massive foot and brought it crashing down toward me.
"Holy shit, it's huge!"
No matter how I sliced it, the thing was way too big. I darted away nimbly, pulling back from the spot in an instant.
BOOM!!!
"Ngh."
BOOM!!!
"Whoa!"
Each slam whipped up gusts like a storm.
Grrr...?
I ducked behind a massive boulder. My legs were already shaking. But I had to hold out. Everything hinged on this—the rewards would be massive. Saving all those knights and civilians was just the start. This kind of merit guaranteed I'd become a knight. And on top of that, I'd claim Ariana's virginity!
Gr...? Grrr...?
The Earth Dragon scanned around for me again. It drew closer. One wrong twitch, one rustle of dirt, and it'd come at me full force.
My job was to buy time.
Grrrr...
The Earth Dragon turned away to look elsewhere. Seizing the moment, I hurled a rock far off. The instant it thudded down, the beast stomped the spot flat.
Trees snapped and splintered with sickening crunches. It pounded the same area over and over.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Stupid fucker.
For a dragon, it was so goddamn brute-force stupid that tricks like this could waste its time. Rise had struggled against it, and even Ariana had faltered. But once you knew its intelligence level, strategies like this worked. Still, I couldn't hide for too long.
GRRRRAAAAHHH!!!
Before it wandered off elsewhere, I made noise again. Rinse and repeat. The rubble piled up from its emergence gave me plenty of spots to duck into.
Just like a bug burrowed in fallen leaves. It desperately wants to snag you, catches a glimpse, lunges—and finds nothing.
Heh heh heh heh.
At this rate, I could hold until Ariana's signal.
Everything was going fine.
Up until that bastard showed up.
Sssshhh!
"Fuck?"
The Black Anacondas slithered into view just as the Earth Dragon's gaze snapped my way. I yanked my sword free, cleaved one in half, and bolted from beneath the shadow of its foot.
THUD!!!!!
Time to hide again.
But now it was impossible.
The snake bastards swarmed me relentlessly, pinning me in the Earth Dragon's line of sight. I'd figured it'd come to this without more rocks for cover. Just not this soon.
GRRRRAAAAAHHH!!!!!
Sssshhh!!!
The Earth Dragon and the snakes lunged to kill me. The game had changed. Like a human stomping wildly to squash a bug on the dirt, the Earth Dragon started shaking the ground without mercy. Desperate to flatten me, it hammered away—I bolted like mad, slashing snakes along the way.
The frantic movement wrenched my muscles to their limits. Steady training was the only reason I was still alive.
"Damn it!"
Kieee!
My sword arm couldn't keep up, so I crushed a snake's head with my free hand. The sky darkened overhead again.
"Gah!"
I dodged, but the shockwave from its foot slamming right beside me hurled my body through the air. My back slammed into a fallen tree before I skidded to a halt.
"Cough, cough. Haa......"
This might really be fucked.
I spat up blood using the internal injury technique Ariana taught me, then cauterized the damage with mana. A massive boulder hurtled toward me next—the Earth Dragon had chucked it.
"Urk."
I flung myself aside to evade the flying rock. It whistled past, pulverizing a stand of trees before grinding to a stop. I didn't let up.
"You......!"
There was that swift-tailed Black Anaconda called Ract. I barely dodged the venom it spat. But that wasn't the end of it. The Earth Dragon began hurling boulders at me nonstop, while Ract charged straight in.
"Back off!"
I lunged at Ract and drove my sword deep into its body. Any hesitation, and it'd coil around me and crush the life out. I poured mana into the blade and flung the bastard—sword and all—right into one of the Earth Dragon's incoming rocks. The throw connected perfectly. The boulder pulverized it on impact with a deafening crash.
Ract: cut.
"Ngh?"
An ominous sensation made me glance down.
"Fuck......"
A red-headed snake. One of the venomous variants among the Black Anacondas. Weaker than Ract, but leave it too long and you're dead for sure.
I strangled the red-headed snake barehanded with my other grip.
"Haa....... Haa......"
I barely dragged my numb legs back into motion and dodged the next incoming boulder. But it grazed me. A glancing blow, yet the impact flung me sideways.
"Hurts like a kick to the balls."
My left arm went limp. Close call on breaking it. Where the hell was Ariana? I couldn't hold out much longer.
Here's the plan Ariana and I cooked up.
Use the natural cave we'd confirmed via the Earth Dragon's burrow. Ariana had just scouted it herself—it ran deep.
It sounded insane, but I'd asked her to do the impossible.
To collapse the ground.
While I kept it distracted, Ariana would weaken the layer of earth between the cave and the surface. The spot was right next to the tunnel where it'd burst out. I'd told her to bail if it looked dicey, but she hadn't emerged—so it was doable. Every time the Earth Dragon slammed the ground with a thunderous boom, she'd chip away at it. A knight of her caliber could manage it with mana.
And right now......
"Still...... not done?!"
It had to be.
I bolted straight toward the mouth of the tunnel where the Earth Dragon had emerged.
From the moment the Earth Dragon surfaced, Ray had been waiting outside the forest, her heart heavy with worry. The thunderous roars echoed all the way to the entrance, sending the remaining knights and soldiers into chaos. Fortunately, knights began bursting out of the woods one by one.
"Daron....... Daron......"
Ray's hands shook as she waited for him. He'd boasted it'd be over in a flash, but things looked anything but.
"Injured incoming! Treat them quick!"
"Just first aid! No time for full treatment! Her Highness commands all villagers and troops withdraw from this area!"
Soon the Imperial Princess and more knights emerged from the forest. Ray spotted Rise, slumped unconscious on Ainel's back. Eyes closed, body limp. And still no sign of Daron. Her heart plummeted.
"Rise!"
Ray bolted toward them to ask about Daron.
"Insolent wretch!"
The Princess was there too. As the commoner Ray charged in, knights blocked her path. But Ainel detached from the Princess and approached Ray herself.
"You're Daron's lover, right?"
"Daron. Where's Daron? What happened to her...... to Rise?"
"Rise passed out. As for Daron......"
Ainel trailed off, staring back into the forest.
GRRRRAAAAHHH......
A beast's roar echoed from far within.
"No......"
Ray's limbs trembled uncontrollably.
No.
That thought hit her.
And if possible.
An overwhelming urge to protect him surged through her.
"I have to save him."
Ray wasn't some frail woman. She didn't crumple in shock. In that instant, she felt a tremendous energy swelling rapidly within her.
"W-what is this?"
A brilliant light bloomed from Ray, forcing Ainel to shield her eyes. Knights including the Princess, even distant soldiers—all turned to stare at Ray.
"Immense holy power. Could it be......?"
Asabel muttered.
"Saintess!"
The being that emerges whenever the world falls into peril.
Ray, now awakened as a Saintess, channeled her deepest wish into the mystical aura.
Desperate to save Daron, she unleashed a torrent of holy power toward the forest.