Chapter 41: all i feel are warm fuzzies

Upper Fire Month, 29th Day, 600 AGG

"We'll set up camp here," Varush gazed at the setting sun. "About… three days away. Having you with us has shortened our travel, Rasthdaan."

"If I can't do at least this much, I would be pretty damn worthless, eh?" The aarakocra ranger's skills had proved incredibly helpful in avoiding the more troublesome monster nests and barbarian camps. That said, Draudillon didn't think there was anything in the mountain pass that could pose a threat to their small group. "I'll take first watch."

"I can stay up the whole night," Yuriko piped up. "Can't sleep after all."

"Erm, n-no. It's okay, you can leave this to us—"

"I literally can't sleep. Plus, we can go faster if you guys rest up more," she firmly shot down Rasthdaan's objection. "I'll keep watch."

"As you wish, Rajan," Varush nudged the aarakocra to the side and began setting up the tents alongside Ithit. "If you change your mind, then please remember that we are at your disposal."

Yuriko nodded and continued staring into the orange-tinted horizon.

"Copper for your thoughts?" Draudillon took a seat next to them on the elevated slab. "I'm guessing it's about the minotaur barbarians from earlier."

Beastmen corpses were heavy, even with whole parts of their body pulverized. Never before had she been more grateful for the invention of 『Clean』.

"It's stupid," Yuriko forced a laugh and looked down at her hands with a pained expression. "They're the ones who attacked us and were gonna kill us if they could've, but uh, y'know. Reminds me of Mohajar. Chunks of body everywhere, and well… yeah."

"If you want, you're free to come back and resurrect them later," Draudillon smoothly grabbed one of Yuriko's hands. "That's why you tried to keep most of their parts together and had the beastmen set up that monument, isn't it?"

"I was that obvious…?" The dragon queen resisted the urge to pinch her beloved's cheek. "You're not angry?"

"It's your power," Draudillon shrugged, pushing away the part of her screaming that the angel should leave the minotaurs to rot. It wasn't what Yuriko needed to hear right now. "Just make sure you take responsibility for them."

"Y-Yeah. I will!" Pale-blonde hair waved up and down as the angel rapidly bobbed her head. "I can definitely do that."

The sun continued to set, casting frightful shadows over the crags of Shatterstone. Draudillon was sure she would've appreciated the vista more were it not for the task that laid ahead.

"Draudillon?" Yuriko broke her out of her musing. "So do you remember how you said you're part True Dragon Lord?"

"Mhm?" Trepidation ran down her spine. Had the angel decided that they didn't want to be with her on account of her lineage? Gods, she should've kept it to—

'No, stop thinking that way,' Draudillon forcibly squashed her worries. 'She's not like that. She's not that kind of person. She promised.'

"I was wondering," Yuriko nervously fidgeted and tugged at a strand of wavy hair. "Is your—crud, how do I say this—um, is your 'ancestor' still around? Since dragons live a super long timeandI'msorryifIbroughtupsomethingbad!"

"He is," relief surged through her heart. "Isoleiryx Merrevictis Grafalind Rhell. The Brightness Dragon Lord and my great-grandfather."

"Oh, cool! Cool, that's cool," Yuriko perked up before scratching the back of their head with a troubled frown. "Do you think, maybe well, do you think they'll like me?"

"Huh?" Draudillon stared at her beloved in bafflement. Why would they care so much about that? "I, I would hope so. Truthfully, I find it harder to believe that anyone would dislike you."

"Awesome," Yuriko's lips curled up into a silly grin. "That's—that's great! I was worried that they wouldn't 'cause of the Greed Kings stuff you talked about before, and…"

Yuriko weaved her fingers together with Draudillon's while her feet kicked back and forth. "I don't wanna make any problems between you and your family, y'know?"

'That's why she was worried. Ahhh… a shame the beastmen might notice if we did anything too strenuous. But a little bit should be okay, shouldn't it?'

"You're sweet, you know that?" Draudillon leaned closer, murmuring into her beloved's ear as she cupped their chin with her free hand. "But don't dwell on it too much."

She kissed Yuriko.

On the cheek. May the gods damn her nerves.

"I love you," Draudillon hastily pulled away, already feeling the beginnings of a blush burn on her face. "Even if great-grandfather doesn't approve of you for some reason, I'll still love you. If he dislikes the idea of that, then it's just something he'll have to live with."

Yuriko was too busy squeaking in embarrassment to give a proper response. They didn't let go of her hand though, so Draudillon took that as a good sign.

"I, um! You—wow, I uh," Yuriko stuttered, more flustered than Draudillon had ever seen them before. "Screw it!"

Draudillon yelped as the angel suddenly grabbed both sides of her face and—

Kissed

Her.

It was a short kiss, barely even a second's worth of contact, but it felt like it lasted for an eternity. Draudillon wished it did last for an eternity.

Yuriko jerked away from the stunned dragon queen, already babbling out unnecessary apologies. "Sorry, I thought it was a good time, and I guess it wasn't so I'm really really sorry for forcing—mmfh?!"

Her beloved couldn't finish what they were saying. How could she, when Draudillon's mouth covered hers?

Yuriko stiffened for the briefest of moments before melting into the kiss. Draudillon shivered as their hands roamed until finally settling on the small of her back—one trailing upwards to bury itself in her dark tresses.

Nothing else mattered. For a few sublime seconds, nothing else mattered except the woman in front of her. The burdens of rulership, her failures, her self-doubt—all of it disappeared like dew in the morning sun, like chaff blown by the wind.

'If I somehow died now,' Draudillon lightly nibbled on the angel's lips, relishing in the low moan that started from her beloved's chest and threatened to escape into the vast open. 'I don't think I'd mind too much.'

"Dra-Drau—" Yuriko broke the kiss with a gasp. "W-Wait, I need to breathe."

"But you don't?" Draudillon rested herself against Yuriko's side. "I distinctly remember you saying something of the like."

"I mean, well," Yuriko stumbled over her words in an adorable effort to convey her meaning. "Yeah, but y'know?"

"Know what?" She lovingly retook and squeezed the angel's hand. "I'm afraid I don't understand."

"Like um, I dunno how to do this," Yuriko mumbled while she ducked her head. "It's dumb, I know, but I guess I sorta kinda panicked? N-N-Not that I hated it! I liked k-kissing you—"

"I get it," Draudillon soothed her beloved. "We can take our time, go at our own pace. There's no reason for us to rush after all."

"R-Right," the angel leaned their head upon her shoulder, the two of them falling into a snug silence as they basked in each other's presence.

Nobody else was there to witness the intimacy they shared in, save for the sun, moon, and stars. Maybe the scavengers that populated Shatterstone too, but Draudillon couldn't bring herself to care.

"Still no monsters or anything," Yuriko shifted, getting into a more comfortable position. "They said there'd be a lot here."

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Draudillon snuggled even closer to her beloved. With the turning of day to night, the intense heat gave way to an unforgiving cold. "Would it be better if there were?"

'I should really go back into the tent. Get a blanket or something. Didn't think she'd volunteer for watch duty.'

"No, but—you're super cold."

"I'll go inside and grab a blanket in a bit," 'in a bit' probably needed to be moved to 'now,' but she didn't want the moment to end.

Then divine light washed over her, and the air didn't feel quite so chilly anymore.

"That was another『Silent』cast, wasn't it?" Draudillon leveled a disapproving eye at the flustered angel. "Twice in a day too."

"It was getting cold!" Yuriko weakly protested. "I didn't want you to get sick, and using equipment would be too obvious!"

Draudillon raised an eyebrow.

"A-And a blanket definitely isn't warm enough," Yuriko shamefully muttered. "Ugh, I'm being pretty clingy, aren't I—"

"Start with that next time," Draudillon cut off the angel's self-recriminations with a hug, reducing them to a spluttering mess. "There's no need for you to make any excuses; if you want me to accompany you, then you only have to say so."

"..." Yuriko hugged her back, their tender embrace imparting what words could not. "Thanks."

The moon was out in full glow now, and the rumbling of monsters crawling out the stoneworks to hunt under its light echoed through the jagged peaks. She was still a bit uneasy camping out in the open, but it was safer than the alternative of finding an enclosure packed with monstrosities only the gods knew. At least they would be able to see approaching predators if they stayed outside.

'Three days,' she soberly reflected. 'Three more days and we can put an end to this.'

Draudillon glanced up to Yuriko's face. They looked as solemn as she felt, mouth grimly set in a thin line. The same mouth she had—

'Indulge in your fantasies later. Need to focus. Remember what we're here for.'

"Draudillon."

"Yes? Bothered about what we'll do once we get there?"

"No, I mean, yeah. I meant no! Argh," she huffed. "What I wanted to ask was, why didn't your great-gramps help out? With all the beastmen stuff."

Oh.

He had been gone for so long that Draudillon rarely, if ever, thought of him. Gods, the last time she saw her progenitor was… decades ago. When he left with a few clipped words and never returned.

"He's an ancient existence," it sounded weak, even to herself—as if she was trying to assuage her own doubts instead of persuading the angel. "There's probably countless disasters similar, if not greater, to mine that demand his attention. At the end of the day, my problems are my own to solve."

'And I didn't. Wasn't strong enough or smart enough. Wasn't enough. Maybe that's why he left. Gah, I hate thinking about this.'

"But still…"

"It is what it is," a touch of defensiveness entered her voice. "I'm not the center of his life, and it'll be arrogant to assume otherwise."

A primordial Dragon Lord like him was busy. She believed that. She had to.

"Wasn't saying I didn't believe you. Just that you'd think he would at least show up to help out a little," Yuriko gently rubbed the dragon queen. "Feels a little iffy. You did a great job by yourself though! A-Ah! And everyone else too!"

" 'A great job?' It got to the point where I resorted to shifting into a younger form for the sake of invoking the 'protective instincts' of my people. Helped with unifying them, somehow," Draudillon tightened her hold on the so very, very cozy angel. "Foolish, isn't it? Especially when it only prolonged the inevitable."

A part of her waited for the other shoe to drop, for the angel to recoil in disgust. Even having a good grasp on Yuriko's kind-to-a-fault nature didn't put her at ease; who wouldn't find it perverse, reasons be damned? She'd stopped relying on it shortly after the angel's appearance, but it wasn't as if they hadn't seen her strut around as an eleven year old.

"It's not!" Yuriko fidgeted uncomfortably. "And um, I'm sorry."

"For?" What did they have to apologize for? She was the one who deserved judgment and scorn, not them.

"Y'know when we first met?" Yuriko took a deep breath and exhaled. "I didn't really get why you were walking around as a little kid and called you a pervert. Well, I—I'm sorry. I had zero clue what was going on and still made that crappy joke. I shouldn't have said it."

"Pft," Draudillon wasn't able to hold in her laughter. "Y-You're apologizing for that?"

"W-What's wrong with apologizing?" Her beloved pouted. "I made fun of how hard you were trying to keep everyone safe. Shouldn't you be more mad?"

"I'd forgotten about that already, if I'm being honest," she affectionately stroked Yuriko's lower lip. "Besides, you've done more than enough to make up for it. Don't worry so much."

" 'Kay," the angel finally relented. "So, erm, nice view?"

"Mm," Draudillon didn't take her eyes off Yuriko. "The nicest."

They continued keeping watch under the night sky until Draudillon couldn't keep her eyes open any longer. Surrounded by the warmth of her beloved's arms, the dragon queen fell into a peaceful slumber.

She didn't have any nightmares.

The multicolored cube in the half-elf's hands blurred as she rotated the layers with a speed that beggared belief.

'A white cross,' her hands came to a sudden stop, the clicking of the trinket coming to a complete halt. That was the only tip she had bothered to remember from the Captain of the Black Scripture. 'And then what?'

"Whatever," Antilene tossed the Rubik's Cube back into a Bag of Holding. It was probably better if she never fully figured out how to solve the puzzle. She needed something to occupy her mind while guarding the Sanctum Sanctorum of Silksuntecks. "Too bad it isn't my day off…"

There was a new restaurant that had opened in the capital that boasted of their specialization in—northern cuisine, she believed. Well, she was bound to find out eventually.

For now though, Certain Death, the ace of the Slane Theocracy guarded a vault few knew existed and even fewer as to its location.

'The Captain isn't back either. Wonder what's taking them so long,' the headhunting team sent to apprehend that Quintia girl had somehow ended up in a sort of death-jungle. They still managed to send reports via『Message』every now and then, so none of the Cardinals were particularly worried. 'The Bhida Vada, Sawblade Saurians, tribes of hunter demihumans… Would've been interesting to see.'

Alas, allowing her to delve that deep into the center of the continent was too high of a risk for the Theocracy to take. Enemies like Platinum Dragon Lord and those aligned with him wouldn't let such a blatant application of power slide.

As a result, Antilene had to content herself with cleaning up monsters that occasionally popped up within the borders of the Theocracy alongside the occasional ferreting out of foreign saboteurs. That reminded her, just the other day there was that agent from Karnassus—

A pair of familiar footsteps snapped her out of her aimless woolgathering. She didn't think herself to be especially close with anyone in the present age, but visitors were a welcome break from the monotony that was guard duty.

"Antilene," Raymond, the commander of the Six Scriptures and thus her direct superior, politely greeted her. "How are you doing?"

She arched an eyebrow, slowly glancing around the silent vault.

"Ha, that's fair," Raymond chuckled. "Nobody likes guard duty after all. Apologies for not finding more work for you."

"It's better that way," Antilene tilted her head in acknowledgment. "What are you here for then?"

"This," Raymond pulled out a silver ring set with a spherical, emerald bezel. The unidentifiable gemstone glimmered between the dragon claws that held it. "The Research Institute just finished looking over it, checking for possible curses and whatnot. Couldn't tell how the thing was made, could you believe that?"

"... I'm not overly familiar with the creation of magic items, you know?"

"Of course, of course," Raymond dropped the ring into her hand. "It was just an interesting discovery I wanted to share. They suspect tier-magic had no role in its creation, and that it might even have ties to the ancient Dragon Lords."

"What does it do?" Antilene resisted the urge to cut off the Cardinal's explanation. It was information that might save her life someday, no matter how irrelevant it sounded at the moment.

"Increases a person's physical abilities," was that it? Antilene bit back an expression of disappointment. If the item was important to the point where Raymond himself came down to deliver it, then its properties surely weren't so simple. "But when we gave it to warriors, that is to say people who have some skill in Martial Arts, this ring allowed them to exceed their limits when it came to the number of Arts they were capable of using at one time."

"Incredible," and she truly did find it incredible. In her long life, even she had never encountered a magic item that produced an effect like the ring she was holding. It felt slightly blasphemous to say so, but none of the holy legacies she protected could grant such a boon. "Does it give a temporary increase in warrior-type levels?"

Antilene found herself already cheering up. Seeing and experiencing new things was always pleasant.

"Maybe," Raymond shrugged. "If it really was created by Wild Magic, then I can't say we have anyone who has the expertise to produce a definitive answer."

"How about Dark Scale Dragon Lord? Queen What's-her-name," Antilene slid the ring onto one of her fingers. "Can't she use Wild Magic?"

"I sent you a report about the incident with the Sunlight Scripture," Raymond directed a disapproving eye at her. She liked that about him; his willingness to admonish her wasn't a common attitude among the people she interacted with. "Their unauthorized decision to launch a purge against the beastmen of Almersia has soured our relationship with the Draconic Kingdom."

"That's not all of it though, isn't it?" hm, the ring didn't provide any passive effects. An active ability then. "I'm guessing it'll be bad if any True Dragon Lord figured out we had this. Ah, speaking of which, where did you pick this ring up anyways?"

"The previous Captain of the Sunlight Scripture looted it from the corpse of Re-Estize's Warrior Captain," Raymond looked at her expectantly. "And yes, do try to avoid flaunting it whenever you're outside. Better safe than sorry."

"Mhm," Antilene activated the power that lay dormant within the ring—

It was a surge of strength like nothing else she had experienced before. Buff magic, alchemical enhancements, the armaments of the gods themselves… none of them filled her with the same raw vigor that the mysterious ring did.

Her pale fingers wrapped around the dark hilt of Charon's Guidance. She experimentally swung the godly relic, her movements leaving countless afterimages in their wake as the scythe of Surshana hummed through the air.

'That was… much faster than what I usually output,' Antilene lowered the relic. 'Can feel more force in my swings too. Amazing. This item is really amazing.'

If True Dragon Lords were the ones to create this, then she had to give her grudging respect. They were the reason she was unable to move freely in the world, but it was also thanks to them that she could enjoy the sensations she was reveling in now. Come to think of it, Raymond didn't know, but perhaps her Talent might be able to shine some light on the item's origins—

"Try using a couple of Martial Arts. Up to your limit."

There was no mirror for Antilene to gaze in, but she was sure her smile was a frightening one.

"『Capacity Building』,『Ability Boost』,『Greater Ability Boost』,『Cutting Edge』,『Penta-Umbral Edge』," she took in a deep breath and released it all in one shout, one strike—the coiled up muscles of her body bursting with absurd amounts of strength. "『Penta-Umbral Enervation Reaver』!"

Charon's Guidance didn't make even the slightest whisper as the shadow-infused scythe vanished, piercing through one of the many columns standing proud in the Sanctum, and reappeared at her side all in the span of a single breath.

『Penta-Umbral Enervation Reaver』was a Strike Art meant to be used against living beings. That said, the sheer force of the attack still produced devastating effects against unmoving structures.

A pitch-black shadow spread out from the core of the pillar in the form of sinister tendrils before the entire column collapsed into tiny pieces, throwing up a cloud of dust.

"Not bad," only long years of suffering and self-discipline kept the excitement out of her voice. "I'll need an actual opponent to see just how effective it is though."

"Without a doubt," Raymond nodded in agreement and gazed forlornly at the pile of rubble. "I hope you're aware that's going to be taken out of your salary."

"Tch."

"On the bright side, the Windflower Scripture has reported on some political developments in the Council States," Antilene perked up. "With how Platinum Dragon Lord appears to be focused on the Re-Estize Baharuth war and the Draconic Kingdom's Lady Yuriko, there's a good chance we can sneak you into the Elf Country in the near future. Looks like you'll be getting that chance a lot sooner than expected."

'Funny how a day can change so quickly.'

If her smile before was frightening, then the one she wore now was downright terrifying.

"Sounds good."