Even as she was completely overwhelmed by pleasure, Chrys bit her lip and spoke, to which Naskan tenderly pressed his lips to her forehead.

Haha. Naskan laughed. It was a sorrowful sound.

“…Was there ever a time it wasn’t so?”

“This won’t change. All of this is futile, you know.”

“No, Chrys.”

His hands trembled as he held her arms.

“As long as you’re alive, there’s always a chance. Just stay alive…”

Why did it feel like he was the one more hurt when it was her who wanted to cry?

“That’s why I can never let you die.”

“It doesn’t… matter. Anyway, I…”

“Look at this, Chrys.”

Naskan presented something to her.

She didn’t want to accept it, resisting even this small defiance, but he forced her hand open and placed it in her palm. It was an earring—a silver piece with a long metal chain and a purple magic stone embedded in the center. On the pin of the earring, blood had congealed.

“This is…”

She knew what it was.

…It was ‘his’ item.

As soon as she realized this, tears burst forth, unceasing and endless. ‘He’ had not managed to escape Naskan after all.

“You think I’d let that b*stard have his way? No way.”

Chrys looked up at Naskan with disbelief. It was the first time she had looked directly at him since this ordeal began.

His golden eyes with a faint madness. It was now coldly composed.

She gripped the earring tightly in both hands. Her arms trembled as if showing even a part of the earring to him would be caught by the cruel Naskan and lead to irreversible consequences.

Her voice trembled mercilessly.

“Naskan, don’t do this. Don’t, you b*stard.”

“It depends on what you do.”

Lord Naskan always got what he wanted. Would this fragile, fleeting heart be any different? Tears that hadn’t come even from forced confinement or pleasure continued to flow, all because of what this single earring represented.

“Naskan, please.”

“…So, will you listen to me now?”

Chrys nodded as if in a trance.

From the moment he was marked as the successor of the divine realm, Naskan always got what he wanted. Devilkins, rifts, nothing stood in his way. Perhaps the title of Lord wasn’t even the point. After inheriting the title, he became even more notorious for his cruel methods.

No one was unaware of how those who crossed Lord Naskan were dealt with. Devilkins and fairies alike now all kneel before him.

…‘He’ wouldn’t have been able to avoid Naskan’s gaze either.

So, she had no choice but to nod to prevent that from happening.

“Uh, uhhuh…”

“Accept my power.”

Naskan no longer told her not to cry.

“Live. By my side.”

Chrys passively accepted Naskan’s approach for another kiss. She opened her mouth when told not to hold back the sound and embraced him when told to hold on and endure. When the pleasure became too much, and she dug her nails into his back, he laughed.

Afterward, everything happened as he wished. Chrys endured his power when she had pushed it to the brink of death.

Transferring power through hands or mouth was too slow. Thus, the most effective method was used. As her body melted into the familiar pleasure of being gently penetrated, hot, dense magic filled her inside. The act didn’t end just once. It continued until her empty body was filled with magic.

As a final act of consideration, Naskan did not touch the hand that tightly gripped the earring.

‘D*mn. What is all this?’

Emotions intensified to their peak. She didn’t want to see this scene any longer.

…‘Enough. Enough. I don’t want to see anymore.’

She thought. And just like that, the illusion shifted to another scene instantly.

Crack. Crack, crack.

And, as always, the sound followed. The sound of the world’s calamity, the opening of a rift, occurred simultaneously as she sunk into despair. Chrys covered her ears and crouched down.

As ‘he’ had once said, this place was fundamentally a wrong world.

This calamity would never end.

And then, a great rift opened.

The world faced its end as always… and all of this was what she had wished for.

❖

“Aaaaaah!”

Chrys woke up with a jolt.

The first thing she saw was a friend blinking innocently at her, with the same face as the Lord Naskan from her illusion. Seeing that immediately boiled her hatred and, at the same time, made her feel miserable.

Unable to suppress the turmoil of emotions, she raised her hand.

Slap.

“Let go!”

However, her quick reflexes were no match for Naskan, who caught her.

“What, what? Chrys, what’s wrong?”

“Let go, I said!”

Chrys screamed in anger, making Naskan release her wrist.

Slap!

Her hand struck Naskan’s cheek.

“N, no… Chrys.”

It wasn’t a strong force, but the shock of being hit by Chrys sent Naskan tumbling to the ground. Unsatisfied, she kicked him as he slid to the floor.

“You b*stard! You’re crazy…!”

“Wait, wait. Chrys, please calm down…!”

“Die, you b*stard!”

Her sharp reaction was unfamiliar… It was not entirely unfamiliar, but Naskan tried to stay calm and make sense of the situation.

Witnessing traumatic memories and having an emotional outburst wasn’t an uncommon event for Dawn. Her reaction was similar to the first time he experienced a violent vision of the future. Using divine power to see certain scenes inevitably meant experiencing the associated emotions as well.

As Chrys lashed out at him, Naskan thought to himself while enduring her blows.

‘That’s why I told you not to get swept away by emotions…’

This confirmed it.

Chrys was indeed using divine power. Her twilight abilities were linked to divine power and weren’t showing her meaningless scenes.

But that scene…

‘…Did I do something terrible in that dream? Imprisonment?’

If she saw that scene again and even felt its emotions, her anger was understandable. It was separate from Naskan feeling wronged. However, even if this was within the range of expectations, the person showing such a violent reaction was Chrys, of all people.

He found it harder than usual to remain detached.

Moreover, letting Chrys continue in such a state was dangerous. Deciding it was better to subdue her outburst, Naskan swiftly got up and embraced her. Her small hands pounded on his back.

Why was she angry? Because he became a lord? Because of imprisonment?

Or, rape?

D*mn. If he had decided on imprisonment, then the possibility of it going that far was frustratingly high.

“Get lost! You b*stard!”

“Chrys, I’m telling you, I won’t imprison you!”

“How can I ever trust you, you trash!”

“I won’t do anything like that lord. I can’t. I swear.”

Chrys simmered down a bit once restrained in his arms. Losing her freedom seemed to dampen her fury slightly. Just a little more enduring, and she would calm down.

This tumult of emotions was common among those who started using divine power in their youth, similar to what Naskan had been taught when he was educated as a lord. He hadn’t expected to apply those lessons to her. It felt incredibly satisfying, almost painfully so.

“Feeling any better?”

“Huwaaahh…”

Chrys suddenly began to cry. Until now, he had barely held back, but seeing her like this started to arouse his lower body.

“No, this is driving me mad… Hoo…”

Realizing he was indeed the trash Chrys accused him of being, if being trash meant this, he had never truly considered himself otherwise.

Naskan desperately thought of a song to calm his excitement, something monotonous and boring, like a ritual chant. Patting her back and trying to soothe her, internally sang the first verse of the ritual song to cool down his suddenly heated lower body.

__