Chapter 195: Beautiful Woman(3)
Kerry wiped away the tears he hadn't realized he'd shed. It was all in the past anyway.
There was no need to dwell on it.
It was enough to simply respect the feelings and memories that Lina, the regressor, carried.
Kerry tried to brush away the lingering emotion along with the tears he wiped with his sleeve.
Just then, Elpis pulled him into an embrace.
"You poor... soul... You truly are a poor soul...."
Elpis pressed him against her chest.
The sensation of her pudding-soft breasts enveloped his face.
He'd guessed she was an F-cup or bigger, and he'd been right.
Suddenly, he felt an urge to be sad. That way, Elpis would keep holding him, wouldn't she?
"Sniff... sob..."
The moment Kerry let out a sob.
He worried his acting was so awkward she'd see right through it, but there was no problem at all.
Elpis held him even tighter, comforting him. Now this is real consolation.
The breasts of a goddess. And such massive ones, at that.
'This is the life! This is what I call healing!'
He felt as if even a heart that had never been wounded was being healed.
But that, too, came to an end.
Elpis released him from her embrace. The goddess's face was full of pity.
"My work here is done.... Please, I'm begging you, take care of that child, Sir Kerry."
"Leave it to me."
He'd take care of Lina even if Elpis hadn't asked.
But he had a more pressing question.
"Lady Elpis. Didn't the past prophecy say that killing me would prevent the continent's destruction? Then why did the Holy War happen?"
"....Please don't use such a violent word as 'kill'... My heart aches just hearing it."
Seriously. The person in question is perfectly fine, so why are you getting so worked up?
"In any case, wasn't the prophecy supposed to be absolute?"
"...."
Elpis continued to look at Kerry with a sorrowful expression.
"I no longer have the power to interfere with fate. Even showing you the past was a considerable strain on me. However..."
"?"
"I'm sure that you, Sir Kerry, will soon find out. You will discover the one who spoke that 'false prophecy.' You will identify the terrible being who has been building this cruel plan for so long."
"...."
"It is time for us to part, Sir Kerry."
Elpis gave a graceful bow.
So refined. So elegant. Her manners were especially excellent, not covering her chest when she bowed.
Elpis's form grew more and more distant from Kerry's vision, even though he was standing still.
It felt as if space itself was being pulled backward.
When Elpis's figure had shrunk to the size of a tiny dot, Kerry woke up.
"Kugh!"
The moment he awoke, his insides twisted in agony, as if from the light that had pierced his stomach. He touched his abdomen and, strangely, found no wound.
As he struggled through the pain, too intense to even groan, he heard a voice.
"Benefactor! You're alive, after all!"
"...Nabi?"
Nabi was shielding Kerry with her body. Shielding him from Asmodeus.
'Did Nabi protect me...?'
No. He felt bad for Nabi, but that was impossible for an intermediate-rank succubus.
"Kukuk. Such a loyal succubus. I used to play with a few succubi myself, back in the day. Though I killed them all when they became a bother."
As expected, Asmodeus was still sitting leisurely on his throne.
"...."
Can I escape from him?
With my current strength, I can't beat him. The divine power he uses... it's clearly not just any divine power. It's the Awakening of divine power. That's the problem.
[My mother... haah... ngh... said that the Awakening of divine power... is a power that always holds superiority over any other. That's all I heard. Really! Haaah! Don't put it in so deep!]
Those were the Saintess's words on the subject of divine power.
A power that always holds superiority over any other.
Kerry had experienced it firsthand. The shield he'd been so proud of had been shattered mercilessly.
Besides, Asmodeus was a being powerful enough to have faced the Black Witch in her prime back in ancient times.
But something about him was strange. He was just sitting on his throne, calmly resting his chin on his hand.
"....You're not going to kill me?"
"Me? Kill you? Why would I do something so wasteful?"
"...."
"Adventurer. You are far more precious than you think. Kukuk. Until my work is done, I can't let you die, even if you wanted to."
Asmodeus didn't seem to know that Kerry had just met with Elpis.
Looking around, it didn't seem like much time had passed.
'Before, I wouldn't have understood what he meant.'
But now, he had an idea.
The Black Witch's berserk state.
That massive, crimson-black hole in the sky he'd seen in the Goddess's vision.
He must be trying to recreate it.
'Is he not killing me right away because the Black Witch hasn't regained her power yet...?'
He was starting to understand why Asmodeus was here.
He was here to separate me from Lina in the first place.
The Ruler of Mana coming here might have been a trap from the very beginning.
A trap to break Lina while I was gone.
'Like I'd let that happen.'
Kerry got to his feet.
Asmodeus remained on his throne, looking bored.
"B-Benefactor! It's dangerous to move so recklessly!"
Nabi followed close behind, shielding Kerry with her body.
Her determination to protect him with her own body if necessary was clear.
But there was no need for that.
"It's okay."
Kerry took Nabi's hand and walked forward confidently.
Asmodeus watched with interest, curious to see what Kerry would do.
Kerry walked toward the collapsed wall where the treasure had spilled out.
Seeing this, Asmodeus sneered.
"Still greedy for gold, even in a situation like this? What a comedy. To think I had to step in personally for the likes of you."
"...."
'Gold? Who said I wanted gold? The only thing I want is the Witch's key.'
He wanted to get to Lina as quickly as possible, but he couldn't give up on the Witch's key either.
Not that the bastard was likely to let him go peacefully anyway.
Fortunately, Asmodeus seemed incredibly arrogant.
"If you must, feel free to take anything you want from there. Heheh. I have more than enough treasure and gold."
He's even offering it up like he's doing me a favor. How generous.
Kerry took Nabi's hand and entered the room where the gold had spilled out.
Inside was all manner of rare treasures. Glittering here, glittering there.
If he took just one of these and sold it, he'd never have to worry about money for the rest of his life.
But Kerry turned his eyes away from the gleaming gold.
What Kerry was looking for was the 'Witch's key.' That and that alone.
Kerry used the Goddess's Eye.
Countless pieces of information from within the treasury swirled dizzyingly before his eyes.
He focused, searching for the key among the countless treasures.
Every second counted.
He tried to remain calm, but he was growing more anxious by the moment.
Because Lina was waiting for his help.
"Found it!"
After a frantic search, a piece of information appeared in the Goddess's Eye.
[Name - Key to the Seal]
[Grade - Legendary]
[Summary - A seal gifted to Asmodeus by a god long ago. This key can release all of the seal's functions.]
Kerry slipped the gold-decorated key into his pocket.
"Find what you were looking for? I believe I said I'd give you anything."
Asmodeus had appeared without a sound.
"....Nothing really caught my eye."
"Trying to save face now? Everything here is an item of great historical value, as well as the supreme treasures I have collected."
'I know. I can see it with the Goddess's Eye. But I'd feel dirty using anything you gave me.'
Kerry took Nabi's hand again.
"You seem quite fond of that succubus."
Nabi blushed at Asmodeus's words. Holding her hand was making the atmosphere unnecessarily awkward.
He felt bad for Nabi, but now wasn't the time for that.
He was holding Nabi's hand for another reason. So he could escape with her at a moment's notice.
'My business here is done. Time to prepare my escape.'
Though Asmodeus didn't look like he'd let them go easily.
"How about it? I'm bored. Shall we have a little chat?"
"I'm not interested in men. If you're not going to kill me, I'd appreciate it if you just let me go."
"That would be problematic. I came here boasting that I would keep you occupied. If I let you go here, I'll lose face."
Son of a bitch.
He had to get to Lina as soon as possible. This was a problem.
Sensing Kerry's predicament, Nabi whispered in his ear.
"Benefactor. I'll buy you some time, somehow. Please, escape."
She looked at him with a resolute expression. She was prepared to give her life for him.
Kerry stroked Nabi's head.
"I'll accept the sentiment."
Asmodeus, as if he'd overheard their whisper, said with a laugh.
"Such deep loyalty, but what a foolish succubus. To not even realize you can't escape from me."
Nabi bared her teeth and growled at Asmodeus.
"Ignore him. No matter what that bastard says, we're getting out of here alive, together."
"I see now. Like master, like succubus."
No matter how overwhelmingly powerful the bastard was, it was still infuriating to just take it.
'Using a cheat like the Awakening of divine power... Just you wait.'
Kerry began to circle Asmodeus.
"What are you doing? Surely you're not thinking of attacking me?"
He was surprisingly chatty. If you're going to be the mastermind, at least act like one and set the damn mood.
Kerry had been honing his magic all this time.
Because of Elena's prophecy, he had believed he was going to die.
He had struggled desperately to overcome his fear of death.
For people, environment truly was important.
The level of focus he'd achieved while trying to overcome death was on another dimension.
Thanks to that, Kerry had now reached a level where he could handle intermediate-level magic.
Kerry's lips moved slightly.
"Chain Lightning."
Lightning crackled and sparked around Kerry. But that wasn't all.
Three magic circles materialized above Kerry's head. It was Triple Casting.
Even Double Casting was considered the realm of talent. Kerry was pulling off a Triple Cast.
This was an all-out attack with every bit of power Kerry could muster.
Leaving just enough mana to escape, he poured everything he had into the attack.
A storm of electricity surged toward Asmodeus.
"Not bad."
But Asmodeus created a shield and blocked the electrical attack.
"Quite a vast amount of mana. How did you obtain so much at your age? Did you sweep up every fortunate encounter you could find?"
'Something like that.'
The lightning from his Triple Cast was ineffective against Asmodeus.
It had been blocked perfectly by the shield.
But it didn't matter.
He never thought he could beat the bastard here in the first place.
'To beat him... I need a power on the same level. The Awakening of divine power.'
Right now, the only one who could face Asmodeus would be Lina, who could use the Awakening of divine power.
As expected, divine power was a crucial force.
The fortunate thing was that Kerry already possessed a considerable amount of divine power, and he still had a way to draw out more.
The storm of electricity Kerry had unleashed subsided. In its wake, a sandstorm kicked up.
From within the dust cloud, Asmodeus spoke.
"Is the talent show over, adventurer?"
"...."
There was no reply.
At first, Asmodeus assumed Kerry was simply speechless with despair.
But a moment later, he realized.
Kerry's presence had completely vanished from the area.
"You bastard! Where are you hiding!"
Asmodeus's furious voice echoed through the ruins, but Kerry was nowhere to be seen.
At that moment, Kerry was flying through the sky. On Nabi's back.
The instant the dust cloud rose from the Lightning Chain, he had hidden himself with the 'Dimensional Veil'.
Even Asmodeus hadn't been able to detect the Dimensional Veil.
As expected, the Witch's magic is supreme.
Looking back from the sky, he saw an ominous black smoke rising from the ruins.
Then, the ruins exploded completely.
The work of a pissed-off Asmodeus, it seemed. How savage.
"Well, who told you to be so damn cocky?"
Kerry whispered while still on Nabi's back.
"Thank you for earlier. For trying to protect me."
"It's nothing. It's not nearly enough to repay the grace you've shown me, Benefactor."
The silver-haired succubus blushed.
It was quite cute.
On top of that, now that Nabi was an intermediate-rank succubus, her body had become even more lewd, and he was getting turned on.
It wasn't just her appearance; the very texture of her skin felt much softer.
I'll have to enjoy this later, not now.
“I'm pretty heavy. You're flying well.”
“Yes! I'm a proper intermediate-rank succubus now. I've gotten stronger. Hehe.”
Kerry acted relaxed, but he was burning up inside.
He had to find Lina.
Before Asmodeus caught up to them.
“Where could Lina be...”
From this high in the sky, he should be able to find a trace of her. That is, if she fought as loudly as they had back at the ruins.
Just then, Nabi spoke in a trembling voice.
“Benefactor... this is a little difficult!”
“What is?”
“I-If you keep doing that up here in the sky, it's hard to focus on flying! Of course... I like it, too, but!”
“?”
“If you keep arousing me... ngh... it's a little difficult. I can't concentrate... hnnng!”
“....”
Only then did he realize.
Because of their height difference, his dick was pressed right against her ass.
But that's all it is.
“Let's just hurry up.”
“....Can't I just... relieve myself for a moment before we go?”
“We don't have time for that. If you don't hurry... I won't do it with you later. I'll make you watch me relieve myself all alone!”
“That's too cruel!”
Her silver hair streaming behind her, Nabi began to fly at full speed.