Not long after meeting Selene, Risa found Nikolai began to awaken. She quickly changed her mood and rushed to his side.

“Nikolai, are you alright?!”

He seemed dazed at first, but then his dull eyes snapped open, and he hugged her chest, a feeling of warmth spreading through Risa’s body. She could feel his heart racing and his hands gripping her tightly.

“Risa… you’re alright? Where did the elder wraith go?!”

‘Why does she look fine, what happened after I lost consciousness?!’

‘No it’s fine… I am alive, but what about Ryan and the others?’

Nikolai could not help but feel a sense of unease before he felt Risa’s lips on his cheek. She smiled warmly down at him, and slowly, the thoughts he held began to calm down, and he took a deep breath.

“Everything is alright,” she whispered.

Though she didn’t mention her becoming Nikita’s squire, Risa felt a sense of happiness that Nikolai was all right. Her feelings became clearer after she watched him fighting desperately to stop the wraiths from killing her.

After some time passed by, Nikolai finally understood what had transpired.

“Ryan and the others are fine—it seems that Brian is alright. He got knocked out before we even started fighting. I am not sure if it was the wraiths or someone else.”

He couldn’t help but feel calmed by Risa’s voice—he slowly got up from her grasp. Risa narrowed her eyes, standing up in front of him and lending a hand. She helped him up with a little tug—even though his body felt better than yesterday, Nikolai still needed more time to recover.

“I see… that seems alright.” Nikolai muttered while placing a hand on his temple.

‘Ugh… My head still hurts.’

It would appear that there wasn’t any severe damage—only his entire body became sore from being attacked with such deadly attacks and overdrawing himself to keep up.

‘After all an Elder is out of my league right now… but thanks to that battle and pushing myself…’

He closed his eyes, able to feel the dozens of black blood crystals now floating in his right arm, waiting for him to assimilate and devour them.

‘Those damn wraiths… If it weren’t for that old bastard being so strong. I wouldn’t have been beaten up so easily!’

“What’s the matter? Are you in pain, Nikolai?”

Risa was gentle, her hands caressing his cheeks. It seemed after the night spent together that something inside her had changed.

She no longer resisted or pushed him away due to her embarrassment. Instead, Risa now allowed her emotions to run wild in Nikolai’s company. Discover hidden tales at m,v l’e-NovelBin.net

“Hehe.”

Her laugh was light-hearted as she gazed into his eyes and played with the few locks of his hair that covered his face.

“It’s nothing serious…”

“Mm… don’t get hurt again, okay?”

“I’ll do my best, Risa.”

The pair both seemed to be relaxed, waiting for Ryan and the others to finish dealing with their mission to meet up with Nikolai and Risa.

Both of them could not help but embrace each other tightly under the morning sun—a sweet aroma coming off both Risa and Nikolai’s bodies. After last night’s fling, it looked as though Risa finally admitted to herself that she desired Nikolai. A sharp gleam in her eye after receiving the acceptance of Nikita.

“Panther – 3, this is Panther – 1! Come in, what is your current position and status? Over!”

“… White wolf, this is Panther – 2! Are you alright?! Give me your position; I will come to give support, over!”

Just moments later, Ryan and Brian’s voices erupted into a nearby walkie-talkie placed atop Risa’s thighs, the headsets removed so the pair could caress each other’s faces more easily. They were likely searching for Nikolai and Risa at the moment.

“It seems we are quite popular.”

Nikolai couldn’t help but smirk, feeling these two guys interrupt their moment of peace.

Risa didn’t respond at first; instead, she grabbed Nikolai’s wrist and looked at him with sharp eyes.

“This isn’t the place for that… get your hand out of my suit… bastard!”

“What are you going to do if I get wet and my suit squeaks when I walk?!”

With two rapid complaints, Risa lifted Nikolai’s chin with her fingertip, a seductive smile on her lips. “Later… when we’re alone.”

“I guess we should finish up this job, right?” Nikolai shrugged. He felt a sense of disappointment wash over him when he realised they had other responsibilities.

‘White wolf, this is panther-2! Where are you?! Respond!!’ Brian’s voice sounded agitated through the walkie-talkie, but his voice echoed from a few metres away.

‘It seems he’s close…’

Risa suddenly pressed both hands on Nikolai’s chest, pushing against him to stand up. Then she began to zip her combat suit… glaring slightly at Nikolai when she noticed all the kiss marks on her body.

“Pick up your weapon, idiot.”

Her words made him grin as he got to his feet.

“… I thought you’d say ‘that tickles!’ or something…”

“You wish,” said Risa, who snorted and walked away.

She adjusted her clothes and wiped off some dirt from the intense battle while looking back at Nikolai, who left his damaged jacket as it was and didn’t seem bothered. His upper body became exposed and made her feel embarrassed…and she turned away, huffing.

“Well, let’s call that idiot shouting in the forest…”

“I’m here. And you don’t need to shout into the damn thing.”

“OH! Nikolai… ahem… White Wolf. What happened to you?!”

Brian’s eyes were filled with concern the moment he saw the state of Nikolai, covered in dried blood and his combat uniform ruined… then the corpses of several wraiths spread around and the strange dust.

“It seems a rough battle happened here… sorry brother, something hit me from behind and I…”

“Don’t worry, Panther – 4… it wasn’t your fault. The enemy was too strong!”

“Well… I’m still alive and so are you… is that our cave? I brought the explosives.”

In his hand was a strange device, part machine and part plastic. It seemed to be a specially made explosive that the SSS used to kill monsters.

‘I wonder what’s inside that plastic part…’

‘What could be so deadly to monsters, that can regenerate.’

“What are you two idiots planning?”

The sound of crushed rocks sounded as Risa appeared. Her face looked dirtier, and she seemed to have fought an intense battle. Though Nikolai grinned behind Brian’s head, causing her cheeks to turn red.

‘That girl is so adorable…’

She then mouthed the words, “I will kill you.” The moment Brian turned away. It seemed she still hated being teased too much, but Nikolai couldn’t stop himself.

“Oh, Panther-3!”

Brian saw her and rushed over to ask how she was doing, only for Risa to look away and push past him toward the caves, saying.

“Just get rid of the nests…” She told both of them and headed inside the cavern without hesitation.

“Hmmm… she seems angry? What did I do?”

“Haha, who knows big guy… let’s finish this damn mission and get paid.”

***

‘Something is strange about this whole thing…’ Nikolai thought as he gazed into the gloomy cave opening.

There was an odd sensation he felt, a feeling similar to the tower. He noticed the walls resembled the first and second floors, with the disgusting corruption that seeped through the walls.

‘Why would the corruption be in this world too…’

Nikolai was unsure whether his suspicions were true, but the feeling made him a little concerned. He looked at Risa, who also stood with her arms crossed, looking at the undulating wall.

“Ryan… what is the SSS hiding…”

Risa stepped towards Nikolai while Brian walked ahead. She peeked at Nikolai several times, twiddling with her fingers, while her ghostly tails slapped Nikolai’s back as if she was annoyed but wanted attention.

Suddenly, her tails coiled themselves around Nikolai’s arm, pulling him down while Risa glared at him. “Nikolai… the cave is strange! It smells like that place you took me!”

“You think so, too…?”

Nikolai could feel the aura growing stronger… the deeper they traverse into the mountain.

The more the oozing black puss began to spill onto the floor, creating a sticky sensation under the foot. He could tell that this cave was somehow related to the Tower—he had the same feelings the entire way down.

‘Damn… does it really exist here… perhaps because this is because in the past, they were all one planet?!’

‘Or is there some secret I don’t know… if this continues to grow… this world, isn’t the future already decided…’

The further they moved, the more the pressure built up—it felt as if a presence watched them…

‘Strange… why did the tunnel end…’

Nikolai and Risa both seemed to feel the same, yet Brian began to set up the explosives.

“Risa…”

“Nn?”

The pair came closer, whispering into each other’s ears.

“Is it something humans cannot sense?”

“Maybe?” Risa lowered her voice and narrowed her eyes as she watched Brian tinkering with the device and setting a timer on it.

“We’re done!” Brian suddenly said when he looked over at the pair, talking quietly near the edge of the cave entrance. “What’s wrong, you two?”

“Nothing… just watching you set that thing up.”

The time began ticking down, and Brian had no clue what was going on with Nikolai and Risa.

“I think we should leave the area… let me contact Ryan.”

“Panther – 1, this is Panther 2, we’ve set the charges and are preparing to evac, over!”

“Panther 2, this is Home Base! I have you on my radar, keep moving out of there, we’ve got visual confirmation on your position, over!”

“Roger, Over!”

The one who responded wasn’t Ryan, but Alex… it seemed he attended the mission this time as a communication officer instead of joining the mission.

“Let’s head to the meeting point. I’m exhausted…”

Nikolai couldn’t help but feel stiff, his body and mind a little preoccupied by the strange situation in the cave. He just couldn’t understand why the wraiths were living with that disgusting black corruption.

‘Or is there a race that can use it for something… I should ask mother when I get home.’

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