Chapter 161: I Will Never Let Them Touch You, My Beloved [2] — Her Love

She became his star, his sun, his reason to keep breathing.

He never imagined a towering, blue-skinned woman with golden horns, feathered wings, and a long tail could make him feel so vividly alive.

For the first time in decades, Gustaf smiled—truly smiled—as he met Her again and again.

She often had to return to Yggdrasil, but She always came back for him. Every reunion felt like a date, a fleeting, precious moment of warmth in a cold, broken world.

She would scoop him up in her dragon form and soar around the world with him. One day she even carried him all the way to the Moon, using her divine power to let him breathe in the vacuum of space.

Gustaf often wondered why she had chosen him.

Why would someone so incredible, majestic, and divine pick an ordinary, depressed, mentally broken man like him?

And Benladra, ever carefree, would always answer with the simplest yet kindest words.

“Because I chose you. There’s no other reason, haha. Do you really think you don’t deserve to be loved, dear? Well, I believe everyone does. I wanted to love you, so I loved you!”

Instead of doubting her intentions further, Gustaf came to see how truly naïve and innocent she was—far more than her age or majestic appearance suggested. The people of Yggdrasil were, overall, remarkably kind despite everything. That warmth stemmed from her father, the Dragon King Drake, whose heart of gold had guided his children to become kindhearted yet powerful dragons who used their strength to protect the weak.

“Benladra…”

Gustaf closed his eyes, focusing on maintaining the barrier while he thought of her. He felt her faint, peaceful presence behind him as she slept soundly on her bed of flowers.

He could almost hear her voice now. Every memory flooded his mind as he began to push past his limits, slowly releasing the restraints on his power.

The memory of their third date.

“Gustaf! Do you want to have a picnic somewhere? Oh, how about that snowy mountain we visited the other day?”

The time she was invited to stroll through a city with him and accidentally destroyed an entire building by tripping over it.

“Oh dear, I might have destroyed another building by accident. Is everyone okay? I’m so sorry, let me heal you please— Ah, I’ll rebuild your entire house— What do you mean you don’t think I can do it?”

The night they watched the stars in the middle of the desert.

“Whenever I see the stars of this world, I am reminded of my own. I sometimes think that all worlds are connected. We are all under the same sky after all…”

The first time she spoke about building a family with him.

“Have you ever thought about building a family? Huh? M-Me? Well… I am my father’s eldest daughter, and although most of my younger siblings already have their own families, Kate and I are the only ones who never married or had children… Haha, maybe we were too devoted to our world or our families. Or maybe I never really found the right one… until now?”

The moment he finally confessed his love.

“I love you too, Gustaf… Fufu, that must’ve taken a lot of courage to say, huh? Well done! Pat, pat, pat— Eh? I’m overdoing it?! You’re not a child? Hahaha, well, what’s wrong with treating my beloved with motherly love too?”

The day she realized she was pregnant—the happiest day of his life.

“Gustaf… I… please don’t get mad at me, okay? I… I know I said it wasn’t possible but… It happened. I-I’m… pregnant. And— Eh? You’re not mad? I-I’m so happy…! I love you so much, dear!”

The time he proposed, showing her a beautiful ring sized perfectly for her large fingers.

“You don’t mind marrying an Anomaly like me? Even though I belong to another world? Really? Ah? How don’t I mind you? W-Well… I never thought too hard about it, haha! Well, why not? Let’s get married! Our little baby is on the way anyway— Aah! I wonder if it’s going to be a boy or a girl…”

And the quiet moments they spent watching over the Frostbane Kingdom together, marveling at everything they had built with their own hands.

“Look at everything we’ve built together, dear… isn’t it amazing? Isn’t it precious what we’ve created? This kingdom, the people… even though it’s so dangerous outside, we’ve made a stable country where people can finally live without fear. I’m so happy that you’re my King. Let’s keep working together so we can create a good world for our son.”

Tears streamed from Gustaf’s eyes as they glowed with gray light. His aura surged violently, pouring dozens of times his original power into the barrier. Gravity began to crush his enemies; dozens of swarming Entities were slowly flattened one by one.

“I cannot believe how stubborn you are… Just hand over the Queen already, fool!” Thalor roared. “She’ll be in much better hands with us… We can put her strength to good use after all!”

“SILENCE!” Gustaf roared. “I will NOT let you touch her! NEVER!!!”

Thalor Vex laughed as she fused with her Incarnation. Her appearance shifted, revealing her true form: a female demon radiating immense power as both a Demon and a Spiralwalker. The psychic forces of Gustaf and Helena were steadily pushed back.

“Oh, what a fool. Well, I have hundreds of lives to burn anyway,” she sneered. “Let’s see how far you can go!”

“Nnnggh…!” Gustaf clenched his teeth. Blood streamed from his eyes, mouth, nose, and ears as his brain strained under the pressure. His Esper Spiritualization flared, clashing fiercely against the demoness. “I will kill you, no matter what…!”

“Hahahaha! In your dreams, foolish human!” she cackled, smashing through his Psychic Constructs with terrifying ease. Whenever she neared destruction, her body regenerated almost instantly—someone else among the countless charmed followers in the Kingdom died in her place.

Her demonic claws lengthened, blazing with purple and red demonic flames, and began piercing the Gravitational Barriers surrounding Gustaf.

“Gustaf, please don’t push yourself too far!” Helena cried. She trapped the demoness in a spatial cube and hurled her toward a black hole. “We can delay her arrival by— Ah!”

But by sacrificing more of her fanatics’ lives, the demoness shattered the cube. The psychic construct exploded into countless glass-like shards.

“Useless. As long as I have reserves… I am invincible!”

Her laughter echoed as each step sent tremors through the VPI. Gustaf and Helena pushed their powers to the absolute limit, fighting with desperate ferocity.

Yet their fate seemed sealed.

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