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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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I gulped.
She wasn’t just clinging to me, she had her arm around my neck, rubbing against me.
I froze.
“It’s a long trip, so this is good timing,” she murmured.
Eve, sitting across from us, wasn’t reading, she was practicing her punches.
“Huh?”
“Just wait, Daniel. Remember our promise?”
“Uh…”
The promise. One hundred punches if I got too close to the Dragon Priestess.
‘With you, if possible.’
I’d ignored Jane’s last comment, but it made things awkward.
“Come here. A hundred punches takes a while, apparently.”
Eve looked serious about it, but Sen blocked her.
“No. He’s my husband.”
“…Husband?”
Eve glared at me, mana flickering around her fists.
“Yes, I’m Sen McLean.”
This was bad.
I stopped time.
I could run, but that wouldn’t solve anything.
The only option was to face it head-on.
‘I’m going to die in this carriage.’
I restarted time and calmly, apologetically, explained the situation.
“…You’re trash.”
“This is a bit much.”
Eve glared at me, and the Eccentric shook his head.
Sen’s trembling voice murmured,
“Not… wife… but sister?”
“Well, you sometimes call me ‘brother.’ I just assumed… I’m sorry.”
Sen’s shoulders trembled. Eve, arms crossed, said,
“I’ll give you fifty punches, Sen.”
“Huh?”
Wait.
“Th-thanks.”
Sen pulled out her pistol.
“One shot first.”
“Wait!”
I barely managed to deflect the pistol.
BANG!
“You son of a…!”
I’d never heard Sen curse like that.
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“You look rough.”
“…Thanks.”
“You’re covered in scratches.”
Kurika offered his condolences. He’d regret it if he knew the reason.
The fight with Shakarim had been intense, and I’d taken a few magic hits, but no serious injuries.
I was exhausted, but unmarked.
The scratches were Sen’s handiwork.
She’d attacked me relentlessly in the carriage, like a cat swatting at a toy.
By the time we reached the royal palace, she’d calmed down somewhat. “If this happens again, I’ll kill you, brother,” she’d said, before leaving.
The “brother” at the end meant she’d accepted becoming a McLean.
I didn’t explain the situation.
“They’re inside. Be discreet. We have guests.”
Kurika stepped aside.
Two doors. One labeled ‘Rin,’ the other ‘Ares.’
I’d intended to see Rin first, but strange noises emanated from Ares’s room.
“What’s going on?!”
Had Helios done something stupid again, causing Ares to awaken?
“…Oh.”
“D-Daniel, you’re back.”
“…”
I gaped.
Ares and Arni were naked on the bed.
“You damn dogs! Even in this situation?!”
BANG!
The door rattled. I’d meant to comfort them, confined as they were, but…
Arni was already providing comfort.
“I risked my life fighting the Dragon God, and you’re having fun in bed?!”
I yelled through the crack in the door. I heard shouting from inside, but ignored it and headed towards Rin’s room.
I knocked, and a relaxed voice invited me in.
Inside, the room was identical to Ares’s, and Rin was there with May.
“May?”
Surprised, I called out to her, and she rushed over and hugged me.
“I knew you’d come here first!”
Rin, realizing she was bait, pouted.
“You came to see me. Now leave.”
“No way. Who knows what you and May will do with Ares and Arni if I leave.”
…That’s a valid concern, coming from May.
I gently disentangled myself from May’s embrace and asked Rin,
“How are you feeling? Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. My power is weaker, but I have more control over it.”
I’d heard the Goddess of Death could no longer influence Rin after her forced awakening in the first iteration.
Rin seemed to be using her powers without strain. But I was still wary of a potential outburst when using the Dagger of Sealing, so Elise was preparing countermeasures with mages in the palace basement.
In a way, Rin was already in her ‘Earliest Apocalypse’ state, acting as a bulwark against the ‘Following Apocalypse.’
“That’s good. Be careful. You could lose control if your condition worsens.”
“Yeah, I’ll be careful.”
Rin patted the spot beside her on the bed.
“Did everything go well in the dragon-kin’s land?”
Her casual tone had an underlying pressure, so I sat beside her.
“I want to sit too!”
May interjected.
Rin glared at her, but May grinned mischievously.
We talked for about thirty minutes.
About the dragon-kin’s land, Jane’s resolve, the future of the dragon-kin, and the Dragon God.
I left Rin’s room.
May wanted to follow, but Rin stopped her. Her serious expression as she told me to go was a bit unsettling.
I met Kurika in the hallway. He was in the same position as before, but…
His presence was as reassuring as a fortress wall.
“Shouldn’t you stop Ares?”
I asked, smiling. Kurika smiled faintly.
“He must be terrified. If we fail to seal the apocalypse, I will have to kill him.”
If the Dagger of Sealing failed to stop Ares’s ‘Following Apocalypse,’ our course of action was clear.
Kurika continued calmly,
“Turning a blind eye to this… it’s the only kindness I can offer him, knowing I might have to kill him.”
He closed his eyes again, like a warrior preparing for battle.
“I see.”
Kurika’s priority was always saving the continent. That’s why he’d tried to kill Rin, and why he wouldn’t hesitate to kill Ares if necessary.
It wasn’t that he lacked compassion or guilt.
But he would still swing his greatsword, even with those burdens.
Even if Rin and Ares were just victims of the gods’ machinations.
He would kill them to save the continent.
And that’s why I chose him.
“Lucia, the human Saint, once told me something.”
“Hmm?”
Kurika looked at me, curious.
“And Shakarim, the Dragon God, said the same thing.”
“What was it?”
Realizing this wasn’t just idle chatter, Kurika opened his eyes. They glowed faintly, like crescent moons.
That glow felt like unwavering faith, calming and reassuring.
I answered his question with another.
“Kurika, do you know the gods’ favorite number?”
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“This is Yggdrasil?”
I looked at the potted sapling Eris had brought from Yggdrasil.
“Yggdrasil is also preparing for the apocalypse,” she explained.
“And this is it?”
“Yes.”
Eris nodded enthusiastically.
“It will grow quickly. It will become the weapon we need to stop the falling sun.”
“How?”
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