Margaret shot Athtar a menacing look, pointing the axe in her hand at him. "Why do you smell like a woman?" "
As soon as Athtar mentioned the demoness, his expression changed into something dangerous that Margaret noticed immediately. It wasn't a natural expression for him at all, so she asked in a worried tone, "Athtar?"
"Let's go home first, then I'll tell you everything that happened…" Athtar said coldly, and began walking away, returning to his usual aloofness. He acted just like the person Margaret knew so well—the fearful, insecure man. She wondered what could be causing him such fear.
Margaret left everything behind and immediately followed Athtar into the cabin. The two of them sat facing each other at the dining table.
"So… what happened?"
"I met… a demon… "
Margaret opened her mouth slightly in shock, as if processing his words, then screamed in horror, "What? Near here? You met a demon? "
Athtar nodded up and down, closed his eyes slightly, and looked down. "Even though you warned me about them, I couldn't resist my curiosity and approached one of them…"
Athtar waited patiently for Margaret to start yelling at him or scolding him for disobeying her order; he was mentally prepared for that, so he was shocked when he felt her arms around his neck.
He could feel her heart beating against him, even through the barrier of her large, full breasts that were now pressing firmly against his chest. Athtar heard her voice—not angry, not sad, not anxious, but that tender voice that had melted his cold heart over the ten years he'd spent with her.
"I'm glad you're alive…"
Athtar felt his heart pounding. His face flushed slightly, even though this wasn't the time to feel happy. He slowly wrapped his arms around Margaret and nodded his head against her shoulder in a gesture of acknowledgment.
"I'm back… Margaret…"
The embrace continued for a while until Margaret relaxed, then she pulled away from Athtar. Of course, she gave him a slight nudge, which made Athtar apologize for his rashness.
"Sigh… As long as you understand… "Okay, tell me what happened?"
Athtar began explaining everything that had happened from start to finish; he didn't leave out any details because there was nothing to hide from her anyway.
"That's strange… Did that demoness mark you so she could come and feed on you just to scare you?"
"That's what I didn't understand either. I thought demons were instinctive creatures, not rational ones. This demon acted as if she were human…"
"And it seems she regained her sanity when she fed on you because she was hungry before that?"
"That was the only explanation I could come up with at the time, because when she was wounded by my dagger, she seemed to have regained her senses—it wasn't that she was attacking me consciously from the start. Her aura changed completely after she regained her corrupted mana.
As is well known, the origin of the corrupted mana was the Demon King, who appeared 500 years ago during the founding of the Kingdom of Kayvan. Since then, the Demon King had been increasing the size of his clan, and a few hundred years ago, he declared war on the entire world.
Margaret spread her mana over Athtar's body and observed the flow of his mana and the corrupted mana within him. After a few moments, she said calmly, "This amount of corruption isn't dangerous. It might spread very slowly, and you might be able to purge it before that happens, but you'll be fine."
Athtar nodded calmly at her and sighed with some relief. Margaret was more experienced than him in these matters, so taking her advice was helpful.
"For now, you need to stay put and not go on any missions. After we rest a little, let's move to a new location…
"... Okay
....
In a different area, deep in one of the forests in an unknown place.
There was what looked like the entrance to a cave or a dungeon. A strong, corrupt mana emanated from that entrance, keeping the monsters that sensed the mana afraid and far away from that place. The corrupt mana was so strong that everything it touched actually turned to corruption.
The unknown forest, in the area near that entrance, reeked of corruption. The tree branches looked as if they were dead; the leaves, which were supposed to be green, had turned a purplish color due to the corruption—even the air seemed purple.
Inside, deep within the deepest part of that dungeon, a somewhat spacious room could be seen, with all that dark mana emanating from that place.
Inside the room, there were two people, in a strange and terrifying scene. One was a massive man with horns, standing on his feet, while the other was kneeling directly in front of him, his back arched backward. The standing man was pushing his hand into the chest of the kneeling man.
Blood stained almost everything, but the standing man paid no heed and slowly withdrew his hand from inside the kneeling man's chest, clutching his heart, which pulsed with corrupted mana.
"My King… why… "
The man called the King looked at the kneeling man's heart, indifferent, as if he had done nothing more natural than eating a meal.
"This is necessary—for our sake… for the sake of the entire world… and for her sake… "
The Demon King opened his mouth and pushed the heart inside, drawing the dense, corrupted mana into his body and absorbing it, causing sparks like lightning to shoot from his body; his body was indeed evolving more and more.
There was a massive explosion, and dust clouds filled the entire room. Then, slowly, that fine sandy dust disappeared, and what appeared afterward was the Demon King, surrounded by a purple aura and shooting sparks like bolts of lightning every few seconds.
The Demon King stared slowly at his hand, observing his new aura.
"There isn't much left.... Seraphina..
He closed his eyes as if recalling something from the distant past. When he opened them, his expression revealed someone who had made a decision and was set on a path he knew he would never stray from, no matter what happened.
"I will not allow you to remain on your throne any longer... Elthara...
After that blunt challenge, the Demon King turned and left that place, a flame of unyielding will burning brightly in his eyes.
....
September 12, 550
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Athtar woke up again, his whole body drenched in sweat, his head pounding with a severe headache. He was gasping for breath, his hand pressed against his face, his hair tangled between his fingers, his chest rising and falling.
"Damn... again...?"
He sat up straight after the wave of pain subsided, and when he looked ahead, he was surprised to see that the blurry blue screen had become clearer. In fact, the blue screen now looked distorted, and in the center of the floating screen was a red bar containing a white sentence
(Unavailable)
"Have I gone mad?..
That was the first thought that crossed Athtar's mind. This high-definition technology was something science had not yet achieved in his world, and even the floating screens that appeared from the mana stones were different from this; the stones had only one function.
"... What is the source of this strange screen?..
"Screen?"...
When Athtar heard Margaret's voice, he was startled and looked toward her. As soon as his mind focused on something else, it seemed as though the screen had actually turned off.
"Are those nightmares haunting you again?"
Margaret asked with some concern as she looked at him, and Athtar replied with a small nod.
"No need to worry. It disappears as soon as I wake up, and it doesn't seem like something trying to kill me..."
Athtar deliberately hid the sensation that his body was being rebuilt so as not to worry Margaret.
".... Okay.... "
"Anyway... why are you in front of my room? In the morning?
Athtar asked coolly as he approached Margaret, who watched him cross the boundary line to a dangerous point.
"I was just worried about you...
"Really? Nothing else?
" Really... so back off... you're too close...
Athtar stood in front of Margaret, who had been backing up until she was pressed against the wall; now, with the wall behind her, Athtar was right in front of her, his face, tilted slightly to reach her shorter height, was close to hers. Margaret was certain that if he took one more step, their chests would collide—no, his chest would brush against her full breasts.
"And what if I don't want to move away?"
"You're not adult, And I'm an adult… We can't do that… "
"Then will you let me do it tonight? Because I'll be turning eighteen tonight…"
His hot breath pressed against her face, her eyes tense as she tried not to look into his, her cheeks burning with intense heat.
"I didn't say you could do that even when you're an adult… That's something only married couples are supposed to do… "
".... I see... So... Margaret... Marry me... "