Aquilo drew on her pipe and blew out white smoke before crooking her index finger at Theo.
Did she mean for him to come closer? Theo approached cautiously, and Aquilo waved her fingers with a whimsical smile. He reflexively dropped into a stance, but his senses didn’t warn him this time.
Jjejejeok.
The air suddenly froze and turned into the shape of a chair.
“This…!”
Theo turned to Aquilo in astonishment, causing her to laugh and raise her pipe. She had just demonstrated the ability to dominate the natural world itself, a power only given to a dragon.
“Sit there. It’s a bit chilly for humans, but isn’t it better than standing?”
“Thank you.”
He quickly took a seat on the ice chair. The magic power in his body immediately resisted the chill of the chair. As a 6th Circle magician, his body wasn’t ordinary anymore.
However, Aquilo just stared at him and casually asked, “Boy, who on earth are you running away from?”
“… Huh?” Theo’s eyes widened at the words.
“Was it around three days after you arrived? Some idiots came poking around my ward. There was no way it was a punitive expedition… So, I went out and checked.”
“Yes?”
“Do you call it a ghost ship? Yes, those guys were riding on it.”
Theo’s face changed. Those unfamiliar with the sea dismissed it as superstition, while sailors just thought it was an unlucky vision. However, in reality, it was neither. A ghost ship was an undead formed from the souls and remains of a wrecked ship.
It last appeared around a hundred years ago…
It was difficult to find a wrecked ship that was in decent shape, and the creation process was also extremely arduous, so only the Magic Tower still had records of it. Yet, one had been released to hunt Theo? It seemed that Charlotte’s Necklace was indeed very valuable to the Orcus Company or the forces behind it.
Theo kept his voice even with great difficulty, “So, what did you do?”
Aquilo scoffed, “What do you think I did? I killed them.”
Theo was at a loss for words. Aquilo’s white skin flushed as she recalled the bloody memories of that day.
“In the beginning, someone tried to negotiate with me. So, I twisted his limbs, pulled out his eyeballs, and then pierced his ears so that he would be quiet.”
“……”
“When he tried to run away, I cut his legs off. Then he surrendered. But he dared to act so freely? These bastards dared to sprinkle black magic in my domain? I chopped him up and fed him to the sharks.”
Creepy.
Goosebumps rose all over Theo’s body as he stared into those blissful eyes.
He couldn’t even feel happy that his trackers were wiped out. The being in front of him was the incarnation of violence. He would rather fight against the warlocks, since dealing with a sea dragon was literally suicide.
Aquilo’s eyes focused on him, “I heard your name from that bastard.”
Theo couldn’t help cursing the Orcus warlocks. Those guys didn’t help him even while dying. Since Theo was responsible for attracting the ghost ship to Aquilo’s domain, the dragon might be holding him responsible, regardless of whether it was deliberate or not.
As expected, there was a glint in Aquilo’s eyes.
“So, I tried to kill you because I was annoyed…”
Was it coming? Theo tensed. He would be in the palm of her hand, but he needed to try and live as much as possible. However, his determination was meaningless as Aquilo just smiled.
“You smell.”
Theo was completely befuddled. “… Huh?”
“Your smell, smell.” She giggled and glanced at Theo with delighted eyes. It was a seductive gaze which made his heart sink. “A fresh young girl.”
“…?”
Theo cocked his head.
“An innocent high elf.”
His eyes widened. “…!!”
“Finally… the hateful smell of the red clan.”
Aquilo’s tongue swept across her lower lips. She looked like a snake before its prey, as Theo felt a chill run down his neck. But he also didn’t understand this weird atmosphere. Aquilo leaned toward him and…
Huuu~
She blew smoke into his face.
“Ack!”
Theo reacted too late, and accidentally inhaled some of the smoke. His senses were silent, and Aquilo just looked at him as she waited for his reaction.
Ping!
He suddenly felt a wave of dizziness wash over him. Theo looked between Aquilo and the pipe she was holding with trembling eyes. Aquilo lifted the white pipe at his unspoken question.
“This? It’s just a drug. It’s just a glass of liquor to me, but for you… perhaps it’s more?”
Theo felt his body starting to heat up. But unlike a fever, his nervous system was going completely haywire. He tried to get up from the chair, but the ice chair morphed around his arms and legs.
“Don’t be so nervous. You will soon be pleased.”
Aquilo put down her pipe and slowly rose to her feet. The gold cloak around her shoulders slipped off her shoulders and flowed to the ground.
“… Heok!”
Theo’s eyes reflexively widened before he closed them. The bright light shone on the body that had previously been hidden by the cloak. Theo was a little nervous, but he was old enough not to be overcome by the sight of a woman’s underwear. However, Aquilo’s attire was more than that.
“So naive.”
Even the sound of her laughter made him dizzy. Theo tried to keep his eyes closed, but he could hear Aquilo’s footsteps. Her white, bare feet stepped on the damp ground, as a tail covered in blue scales slowly extended behind her. A shark fin-like protrusion on the long snake-like tail swung through the air.
The white legs which the tail stretched from… and above it…
Damn!
He desperately tried to shake off the sight, but his attempts were in vain. Before Theo could calm himself, Aquilo stopped in front of his chair.
“I would like to take something away from them,” Aquilo whispered and sat on Theo’s lap without any hesitation.
Flinch.
Oddly, he couldn’t even move a finger. He gulped as he felt the weight and soft texture of her thighs. Was this overwhelming stimulation really because of the drug?
“Hey, aren’t you curious?” Like a female praying mantis during breeding season, Aquilo asked Theo coyly, “If I take away your virginity here, what faces would those girls make? Will they be angry? Will they resent you? Ahh, either way, it is fine.”
“… Why…?”
“I told you. I’m…”
It felt too good as she bit Theo’s ear gently. As a shiver went down his spine, his hand couldn’t help going up to her chest. The movement was so natural that it was like he had done this many times, despite actually being unfamiliar with it. Apart from the paralysis of his body, Theo had no experience with this, so he couldn’t resist.
As Aquilo’s hand slipped down his chest, Theo suppressed a gasp, “T-There…”
“Don’t worry. Just leave it to me.”
“No…”
“Yes,” Aquilo whispered in a mischievous voice. The moment her fingers were about to reach its destination…
Slap!
There was a sharp sound, and Aquilo’s fingers were thrown back.
“… Eh?”
The immobile Theo couldn’t stop her fingers, but Aquilo’s stunned gaze soon found the source.
[No!]
A small brown-skinned girl with wheat colored hair was staring at her from Theo’s belly.
“… E-Elemental?”
[Deo no want you! Bad hands!]
“You can express your emotions? You, are you an ancient elemental?”
As Aquilo was distracted by Mitra, Theo realized that his body had recovered from the paralysis. He was a little stunned at how such a strong drug was removed in a short period of time, but Theo quickly found his answer.
The bud of the world tree!
The bud growing from Mitra’s hair was from the seed of the world tree, a tree which had the ability to cleanse the world. It was no wonder that the detoxifying ability also extended to Theo, who was contracted to Mitra, the elemental who used to be Mother Earth. If he had summoned Mitra from the beginning, he wouldn’t have been paralyzed at all.
However, he didn’t have time to waste on such regrets.
Snap.
“Eh?!” Aquilo was confused when her shoulders were abruptly grabbed by Theo. There was no need to answer her unspoken question. Theo faced Aquilo’s fluorescent eyes while ignoring the texture underneath his hand.
“I don’t intend to intervene in your display of affection, but I don’t want to be in this relationship with you.”
Aquilo stared into his eyes before laughing. “Even when your body is reacting like this?”
“… You are attractive.”
“But you still don’t want to?”
“Yes.”
Theo had no idea how Aquilo felt about the decisive rejection. However, her expression didn’t seem unpleasant, so he could think about it later. Aquilo looked at him strangely before laughing and getting up from his lap.
She clicked her tongue. “Well, okay. I don’t want to hurt my pride by forcing you.”
Theo was conflicted between deep relief and sadness as Aquilo returned to her chair. He was able to stand up to her in the end, but he was almost frantic behind his calm face. If Mitra had come out even a second later, this might be carved as a black mark in Theo’s history.
The moment he was trying to get rid of his tension…
“… What, another bastard?”
Aquilo’s angry voice resonated through the cave.
***
“Ah… Why is the Sea God Festival on the day I’m on patrol?”
“Who isn’t annoyed? Dammit.”
Two pirates were patrolling the outskirts of the Pirate Archipelago on the first day of the Sea God Festival. It was an event that only occurred once a year, when pirates could freely enjoy alcohol and women at will. However, they couldn’t enjoy it because they had to waste time patrolling.
A red-hooded pirate muttered, “Do you want to boast about your conquests again?”
The blue-hooded pirate replied with a sigh, “Of course. Wouldn’t you?”
“Ha, shit!”
They were afraid of their boss’ harsh axe, so they couldn’t disobey. Yet they couldn’t bear the boredom as they stared at the distant horizon. The two pirates smoked the tobacco they snuck out and complained about their misfortune.
They didn’t know that this would be the end of their lives. The waves moved in a strange way, and something flashed out of the water to destroy the heads of the two pirates.
Kung!
There was a huge noise, but this outlying area was bare of any other witnesses.
Grrrr…
There was a low growl as a bizarre-looking monster climbed ashore. It had six fins, five tails, and thick limbs that grew out of rough skin. In spite of the dark night sky, its eyes emitted a faint light, like those of deep-sea creatures.
However, that wouldn’t be the case from now on.
Creak, creak…
Once it was ashore, the creature started to morph to suit its new environment. The unnecessary fins and tails were removed, as the rough skin morphed into a tough leather. Horns sprouted from its head, and its luminous eyes pierced through the darkness.
– … It stinks.
The creature’s mouth looked like gills, and a low frequency voice which humans couldn’t hear rumbled through the air.
–This… the smell of a dragon…
The eyes of the monster unerringly looked in the direction of the center of the Pirate Archipelago, where the festival was being held. To be exact, it pinpointed the location of the cave on the outer parts of the Sea God Festival. 𝗼𝘃𝗹.𝗼𝐫𝗴
The reason it had swam through the sea from a distant land was because it had scented a delicious dragon.
Chwaaaak!
Six wings unfurled from its back. It had stored the wings of a wyvern, gryphon, and several other creatures since flying was a convenient way to travel. Clothed in the form of a monster that never existed in the material world, the grimoire of sin that ate life landed.
This was the moment when the usurper of creatures, Pride, appeared again.