Kuro tilted his head slightly, as if observing something interesting.
Meanwhile, the warmth—like iron sinking into a quietly blazing furnace—pressed in once more.
"See?" he said softly. "If I were an ordinary magus…"
He paused for a moment, then continued in a lower voice.
"Your reaction wouldn't be like this, would it?"
It wasn't praise.
More like an observation—too honest to bother hiding.
The room fell silent again, save for breathing that had yet to fully steady—and a rhythm that continued on, needing no further explanation.
A few moments later, Kuro stopped moving, pressing down like an irresistible gravity.
The next second, a warm pulse spread from the core, carrying a flow that seeped in without resistance, filling what had already collapsed.
"Ahh… hngg… aa… nnh…"
Her voice came out softly—broken, caught between breaths that had yet to fully recover.
Xu Fu's hands still clutched the sheets, no
longer in resistance, but as something she unconsciously used to keep herself grounded in reality.
Her legs tensed, then pressed against the sheets with a fading reflex—the last remnants of strength nearly spent.
Kuro remained calm.
His gaze didn't change—still flat, still observant—while the remnants of that "warmth" continued to linger like an echo that hadn't fully faded.
He let out a small breath, then, with an easy motion, pulled Xu Fu into an embrace and adjusted her position to make her more comfortable, as if closing something that had already ended in the simplest way possible.
And even though the rhythm had stopped, its aftereffects still lingered in the air—like a wave that had just broken, yet whose echoes had not completely disappeared.
After everything settled, Kuro closed his eyes, though his position didn't change much.
"H-hey…" Xu Fu called softly.
Kuro opened one eye slightly, giving her a brief glance.
"Hm?" he replied gently, as flat as ever.
"Can you… let me go?" Xu Fu's voice was quiet. "I want to sleep…"
A few seconds of silence passed.
Without saying much, Kuro instead pulled her a little closer, as if answering without the need for words.
His movement was calm, unhurried—just enough to make sure the distance between them was not far enough to be called "alone."
Then he closed his eyes again.
As if that was his final decision.
Xu Fu fell silent.
Her breathing had yet to fully steady, still affected by the lingering tension that hadn't completely faded, combined with a position that made it difficult for her to truly relax right away.
But she didn't protest anymore.
Slowly, she stopped resisting the exhaustion.
Her eyes closed as well, though it took longer for her to truly drift into sleep—as if her body still needed time to accept this situation as something "safe."
In the room, now growing quiet, only their breathing remained, gradually blending into the silence.
Within that silence, a faint, mischievous smile suddenly formed on Kuro's lips.
He shifted slightly—just enough to disturb the fragile calm that had only just settled.
"H—!"
Xu Fu flinched lightly, her eyes half-opening as her breathing wavered again for a moment.
"Y-you…" she murmured faintly, her voice hoarse and restrained.
The arm in front of her moved on reflex, as if to pull away—but stopped when she realized the embrace from behind only tightened.
"Seriously…?" she whispered, softer this time, almost like a complaint that had run out of strength.
Kuro didn't answer right away.
His face lowered slightly, close to the side of Xu Fu's neck, his breathing calm—in contrast to Xu Fu's, which still hadn't steadied.
"Not asleep yet?" he said in a low voice, as if he truly felt no guilt.
Xu Fu frowned.
"Of course not… if you suddenly—"
Her sentence broke off.
Not because she was forced to stop, but because her own breath caught again, disrupted by that closeness.
Her body tensed for a moment… then gradually weakened.
"…annoying…" she finally continued, much softer.
But she didn't try to pull away anymore.
Instead, her back unconsciously leaned in a little more, accepting the warmth that held her.
Kuro simply pulled her slightly closer.
Not roughly.
More like ensuring she stayed there.
Silence settled once again.
Xu Fu closed her eyes, her breathing slowly beginning to follow a calmer rhythm—though faint tremors still lingered from time to time.
"…don't disturb me anymore," she murmured softly.
But her body didn't pull away.
And this time, she truly began to fall asleep—in an embrace she no longer resisted.
"I can't promise that…"
Kuro's voice sounded soft, and then he moved again.
Xu Fu opened her half-closed eyelids, but the sensation that struck her left her unable to say anything.
"Hng...♡ nn..♡ hnn...♡ ah...♡ haa...♡
Her voice broke softly, faint yet still filling the dark room.
Without giving any pause, Kuro continued, not allowing the girl to truly rest.
***
Morning light blanketed Queens, United States.
Inside the room, Kuro had already welcomed Xu Fu even before the sun fully rose.
"aaa.. nnn.. hhh..."
A cacophony of broken, almost powerless sounds filled the room.
On a thoroughly disheveled bed, Kuro sat behind Xu Fu.
His steady, almost cruel movements made the girl's body feel like a stiff doll, yet soft at the same time.
Her half-closed eyes kept rolling upward, while her tongue hung out unconsciously.
Her consciousness felt as if it were both soaring and falling at the same time, relentlessly crashing into her in cruel waves, like a vortex that never allowed her any space to breathe.
Kuro smiled and whispered softly into Xu Fu's ear.
"Among all positions…" he said. "This one is more comfortable, isn't it?"
Xu Fu didn't answer. Or perhaps she had already stopped saying anything.
And Kuro didn't really mind such trivial matters.
A moment later, Kuro stopped, pressing further and allowing the essence of live to flow out, flowing from the spring, it flooded everything around, like a waterfall falling from the sky.
"aaa...♡ nghh...♡"
Xu Fu's already weakened body reacted sharply, before Kuro eventually held her even tighter in an embrace. However, this only made things worse instead of calming her down.
As soon as the essence stopped flowing, Kuro released his embrace and let the girl's body slump onto the bed.
The flow of life essence slowly seeped from something resembling damp flower petals, soaking the sheets beneath like dew that had grown too heavy.
The girl's breathing came in broken intervals, as if she had almost forgotten how to breathe, while her consciousness felt like a vase falling from a great height—cracked and on the verge of shattering.
Kuro suddenly fell silent, cold sweat trailing down his temples.
"Damn…"
He pressed the bridge of his nose with his right hand, trying to steady himself.
"…I really overdid it," he continued quietly. "Histeria Mode can already be controlled now that it's reached max level…"
He let out a heavy sigh.
"But… with the combination of max-level Zen of Joy and Divine Corrupted… the effects are way worse… my own skills don't even make sense anymore…"
His gaze fell on Xu Fu, who lay helpless before him.
"At this rate… Xu Fu might not be the only victim…"
After saying that, Kuro got off the bed and walked toward the bathroom, leaving Xu Fu lying on the disheveled sheets.
His decision was already made.
After cleaning himself up, he would lock himself away—diving back into Mystic Arts and Magecraft, researching, analyzing, even attempting to combine the two if possible, in order to find a solution to his current problem.
He knew his time was limited.
Even so, he chose to keep hoping.
After all, he had a system. Although, until now, he still didn't fully understand whether this condition would be dangerous in the long run or not.
But there was no harm in trying.
At least, that was what crossed his mind as he stepped into the bathroom.
And of course… Kuro didn't forget to take the remaining Vibranium he had acquired from Klaue the day before.
___
Author's note:
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