A Mixed-World Journey Begins in the Dungeon: Chapter 47

In the corner of her blood-red vision, Ais met a girl's gaze. The scent of apples seemed to drift into her nostrils.

...She understood.

In Ais's inner world, the clarity that had long stood against the flames of hatred finally erupted.

Like a summer breeze soaring across the sky, it surged outward, carefully illuminating countless scenes beneath the gloom.

The emerald eyes Riveria had worn while scolding her; the warmth she had felt when Loki teased her; the praise she had received while training with Finn; Gareth's gruff, low voice as he taught her how to care for her weapon...

Ais had thought her heart held nothing but hatred. In truth, it had long been filled with countless things she could not ignore—the time and memories she had shared with those around her.

She understood. She knew. Everything was clear.

Never before had the girl been so certain of the purpose and meaning of her existence.

Her heart was still full of hatred, but that hatred had sprung from seeing those dear to her destroyed and taken away.

She would hate, wield her sword, and fight—but to keep those dear to her from being hurt, taken away, or destroyed again.

Not the other way around!

"Awaken—"

Just before the flames unleashed their power, Ais's lips formed the words.

The next moment,

the magic within Ais was released.

Wind.

The air began to stir.

Clear air swirled and spun, becoming a swift wind formed from magic.

It caressed her skin and stirred her long hair, bringing a cool, pleasant feeling—yet its shrill howl was enough to send a chill down one's spine.

The instant she felt the wind coil around her, Ais understood. This was Spirit Wind, the wind of protection—her mother's wind!

Her father's sword and her mother's wind had never left her.

She had never been alone!

"Boom!!"

A world-shaking explosion erupted. A gigantic fireball blossomed in midair, and the scorching heat formed a devastating shock wave that surged in every direction!

A wall of wind, rising skyward like a raging storm, blocked it!

No matter how the fire dragon roared, no matter how much pain it sought to bring to the world, the powerful, clear wind bound it fast, until it was utterly extinguished in an unwilling shriek.

By the time Riveria rushed over, she saw Ais standing amid the blood-soaked ground, leaning on her sword. A surging clear wind stirred her golden hair as she gazed blankly up at the sky.

"Ais..."

The girl turned around. Her golden eyes brimmed with tears as she looked at the Elf Royalty, wearing a clear smile tinged with sadness.

"Riveria, I was never alone..."

"...Of course you weren't!"

With a helpless sigh, Riveria stepped forward and drew the young girl into her arms.

In a distant corner, Oliwas watched the scene and bit his lip until it bled.

"Next time, I'll make you pay!"

But then a hand slowly came to rest on his shoulder.

"I don't think you need to wait until next time."

"Huh?! Who the hell are you? You got a death wish, sticking your nose into my business..."

Oliwas's foul-mouthed tirade ended in a strangled, duck-like shriek when he met a pair of azure eyes.

And a smile spread across Noah's face.

Playing with an Elf

"I feel like I got the short end of the stick."

In a vertical cavern leading upward, Noah slowly climbed with Ryu on his back.

After resolving the curse by establishing a resonance between their magic circuits through an exchange of bodily fluids and blood-drinking, Noah had set off back with Ryu.

His instincts told him the Dark Faction was probably carrying out some kind of operation on the surface as well.

However, Ryu had already been exhausted before entering the Dungeon. After several battles, and then being gravely wounded, she could barely walk anymore. She kept tripping over nothing after just a couple of steps.

So Noah had no choice but to carry her back to the surface.

What Noah didn't know was that Ryu's stumbling had little to do with her physical weakness—at least, that wasn't the main reason.

I-I can't believe I just lost my first kiss in the heat of the moment!

With her head buried deep against the boy's back, Ryu was almost oblivious to the strange sensation of his strong hands supporting her hips and thighs.

That was because the faint soreness still lingering on her lips, and the tingling ache on her neck, both seemed to reproach her shamelessness in silence, making their presence impossible to ignore.

—He even bit your neck, and you were pressed right up against him. Why are you pretending now?!

That was to treat my wounds!

—Treat your wounds? Did that require kissing? Did it require using your tongue? What a smooth talker. Did the Great Sacred Tree teach you that?

ba yi si jiu ling san qi jiu ba

Th-this... I couldn't help it. It was just so... so...

—So good? I think you just showed your true colors. You're always so self-righteous and aloof, but turns out you're such a frivolous, wanton elf in private!

No, I'm not!

Amid her intense self-loathing—I want to die, I want to die—Ryu heard Noah speak for the first time since they had left the eighteenth floor.

Curiosity helped her forget her emotions.

She lifted her head, resting it on Noah's shoulder as she looked at his profile with her sky-blue eyes.

Or rather, she was forcing herself to shift her attention so she could forget those feelings.

"Short end?"

"Yeah. I went to all that trouble to save someone, only to lose my first kiss. Doesn't that make me the one who got the short end of the stick?"

Ryu's eyes flew wide open, and she straightened up on Noah's back.

"Are you joking? You think kissing me was such a bad deal? And if you had your first kiss, what makes you think I didn't?"

Noah turned his head and let his gaze sweep over Ryu's chest, an inexplicably complicated look in his eyes that might have been pity or disdain.

"Mm, if you don't think it was a bad deal, then I guess it wasn't."

The sigh in Noah's voice shattered Ryu's reason in an instant. Darkness and murderous intent welled up in her eyes.

They say lies don't hurt people; the truth is what cuts like a knife.

If Noah had said Ryu wasn't beautiful, or pointed out any other flaw in her appearance, the elf would have scoffed.

But of all things, he had to bring up her chest...

I'm still young!

At thirteen or fourteen, elves are only children! Little girls!

What exactly do you expect from a thirteen- or fourteen-year-old elf girl?!

But just as Ryu's reason reached its breaking point and she was about to lose control, Noah's voice came again.

"More importantly, you don't even like me, and you wouldn't be with me. So what else would giving you my first kiss be but a waste?"

Noah had once told Ais he couldn't imagine himself spending his life with any woman.

But that wasn't the whole story. It would be more accurate to say he had no real concept of women as a whole.

He occasionally admired a beautiful woman, but it was no different from admiring the moon or flowers.

No, at least someone admiring the moon and flowers knew what kind of scenery they liked. Noah had never even considered what kind of woman he liked.

After all, to a sword, there were only enemies and non-enemies, the strong and the weak.

However, after spending this much time in Orario, and after just now unleashing his desires, Noah felt he needed to make some changes.

Well, to put it simply, Noah had decided to sample the pleasures of women.

Whether to build a harem or what his preferences were could be explored later. But one thing was already certain: he had decided to make the little elf on his back his own.

Whether she liked him or not...

Whether an elf's extreme cleanliness would let her accept him having a harem...

Those things were no longer for her to decide, from the moment Noah had made up his mind.

After all, she had seen him naked, taken his first kiss, and been the first person he'd ever drunk blood from. It all mattered to his understanding of the opposite sex.

He could count it as payment for saving her two or three times. Mm, she could repay him with her whole life.

Now, Noah was going to bare his fangs and have some fun with this elf's heart!

"Me?!"

What gave him the right to say she didn't like him?

What gave him the right to say she wouldn't be with him?

They had already kissed. Did she even have any other choice?

A vague sense of wounded indignation rose in her heart, easily dispersing the anger in Ryu's mind.

But when she instinctively tried to retort, she couldn't get the words out.

What was she supposed to say?

That she did—did like him?

That she did want to be with him?

After only a few words, the elf's heart was caught tight, leaving her unable to escape.

Her breathing quickened, her gaze went blank, and her expression shifted several times. She seemed on the verge of exploding.

From her changing breathing and the tension in her muscles beneath his hands, Noah could clearly sense Ryu's inner turmoil.

How should he put it? He actually felt a little pleased.

Huh, was he turning into a villain?

Just as Ryu clenched her fists, her face flushed, and she decided to voice her rebuttal—or perhaps her confession—

"Hmm?"

Noah suddenly looked up, and his entire aura changed.

Although she couldn't see Noah's face, Ryu could tell that he wasn't looking at the ceiling of the rocky cavern. He was looking toward Orario.

"Hm? W-what's wrong?"

The interruption made all the courage Ryu had just gathered vanish. She even felt a little relieved.

"Wind!"

There was naturally no wind in the Dungeon, but Noah could clearly feel a breeze stirring.

And he instinctively recognized where it had come from—Ais!

Something had happened on the surface!

"Something's happened up there! Let's go!"