Chapter 238 - A Little Taste

Tears of overwhelming joy and emotional relief spilled over the Myrians without any shame.

"S-She did it!" a Myrian sobbed, clutching his friend’s shoulders. "I can’t believe she actually did it!"

*Sniff* "Of course she did it, baka! She’s... she’s just so amaziiinnngg!!! Uwaaah!!"

"Kyaaah! Ayako-sama!" a young Myrian girl screamed into the sky. "You’re a legend! You did it!"

In the Eldorian stands, despite the heartbreaking loss of their representative, there was not a single trace of anger or resentment.

They stood up on their feet and clapped while cheering at the top of their lungs for Amber’s never-say-die performance and Ayako’s victory.

"What a monster! Amber Strongwill gave her absolute hell, but that Myrian girl refused to fall! Respect!"

"You earned it, Ayako!" a woman shouted from the lower rows. "Eldoria honors you!"

At the lower VIP section, Dominik and Mia were standing side-by-side, openly sniffling and wiping away tears of awe from their eyes with their sleeves.

*Sob* "I’m not crying, Mia!" Dominik blew his nose into a handkerchief. "There’s... there’s just dust in my eyes from the explosion!"

Mia let out a wet laugh, wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her cheek against his shoulder. "Oh, hush, Dommy! You’re crying like a newborn baby, and so am I! *Sob* T-That was the most beautiful fight I’ve ever seen in my life!"

Beside them, Sadie and Hope both had their trembling hands clamped over their mouths. Their eyes were wide and glowing with unshed tears, completely breathless from having witnessed history unfold right before them.

"I... I literally forgot to breathe," Sadie whispered as she finally lowered her hands. "When President Amber fell... Oh. My. Sweet Baby Bula."

"I thought my chest was going to explode!" Hope squealed softly, leaning against Sadie for support. "I’ve never felt magic like that... never in my entire life!"

"That hasn’t exactly been long..."

Standing beside them, Diana looked toward Kurt with a gentle expression, "So, Rosie...How was the tournament for you?"

"What else can I say other than... It was quite a show. One definitely worth watching. And I’m glad to have witnessed it."

[*Sniff* "L-Ladies and Gentlemen... Oh gosh. Now you guys are making me emotional. *Ahem* Please... direct your attention to the center floor... as we call upon Principal Valentine to take the stage and officially close today’s proceedings!"]

"You can head on down to the carriage with the others once I close... I’ll meet you at home tonight. I promise after this, I’ll have much more time for you to make up for the busy days."

"Got it."

A soft burst of spatial mana wrapped around Diana, and she vanished from the front rows in a flash of light.

SHWOOSH

An instant later, she appeared on the ruined arena floor, stepping gracefully beside the battered, bloody, but proudly sitting figure of Izumi Ayako.

A squad of healing priests were already carefully lifting the unconscious Amber onto a floating, magical stretcher, whisking her away toward the medical infirmary.

Diana tapped her magic earrings which acted as speakers to resonate her voice clearly across all four corners of the coliseum.

"People of Eldoria! People of Myria! Today... we did not witness a simple contest of power. We witnessed the pinnacle of human heart, grit, and determined spirit!

"Amber Strongwill fought with the blinding brilliance of a supernova! And Izumi Ayako stood headstrong against that star and snuffed out the light! Today, Myrian has unquestionably proven why they are the nation of the rising sun!

"We officially recognize and honor the incredible warriors of Riverton and Tricea, who fought with valor on these grounds! Make no mistake that your performance has made your home proud and that your futures are bright. And now..."

Diana turned fully to Ayako, who looked up from her seat in the dirt with tired, deeply grateful eyes.

"...it is my honor to officially congratulate Myria’s own Izumi Ayako as this year’s Continental Champion!"

"YEEEEEAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

The entire coliseum delivered one last, deafening standing ovation that shook the afternoon clouds.

Ayako slowly pushed herself up, placing both arms to her side and offering a deep, formal bow of supreme respect to the land and the people who had given her the fight of her life.

As the healing priests respectfully hurried forward to gently escort the exhausted heiress off the field, Diana raised both hands toward the sky and announced,

"I hereby declare the Continental Tournament officially CLOSED!"

.....

Kurt, Hope, Sadie, Dominik, and Mia navigated their way through the packed crowds filling the outer plaza of the academy grounds.

The late afternoon sun casted bright light across the academy as tourists and students chatted excitedly about every second of the final match.

"My favourite part was when President Amber compressed those four elements!" Dominik gestured wildly as they pushed through the crowd.

"And Ayako’s sakura forest!" Sadie added with sparkles in her eyes. "That was like something straight out of a fairy tale!"

As Kurt walked alongside them, a sudden, unnaturally sweet fragrance – reminiscent of honey and crushed roses – filled his nostrils.

’Hmm?’

As it passed through him, his vision blurred.

The vibrant colors of the plaza smudged together into a hazy, dizzying, fuzziness that invaded his brain.

Then, a dripping sweet female voice echoed directly inside skull:

"Oh... my sweet, perfect darling..."

He froze mid-step as the voice hummed with a dark, intoxicating euphoria that sent a shudder through his nervous system.

"I can still feel your touch on my skin... it’s burning me... driving me insane... Oh Kuuurt~ I want to tear you apart... I want to chew through your bones and swallow every drop of your essence... I want to lock you in a dark room and keep you forever and ever and ever..."

’What the fuck?!’

Kurt clenched his jaw as he tried to fight the mental haze dragging him down into darkness.

"Hahaha~ You are mine, Kurt... Only mine... I won’t let anyone else have you... I’ll kill them all... This is all your fault. You made me feel this way~ Why did you have to go and make me feel like this?"

Tingle

Deep within Kurt’s biology, his passive, Adaptation ability flared to life.

Recognizing a foreign, intrusive mental contamination, his body’s innate defense mechanism reacted with violent hostility.

A sudden wave of internal heat surged through his system, burning away the mental toxin and forcefully purging the psychic bridge.

"Hmm?! What’s this?! Oh my..."

Inside his head, the obsessive female voice sounded startled yet utterly fascinated.

"That’s... strange... I’m... I’m being kicked out? My mental charm... rejected? This has never happened before..."

A soft, unhinged giggle echoed in his mind right before the connection snapped entirely.

"Hehehe~ Ah... this is all the more reason I love you, darling... You really are perfect~ See you real soon, my sweet Kurt~"

SNAP.

The voice vanished.

His vision snapping back into sharp focus. The heavy fuzziness dissolved, leaving him standing in the middle of the crowded plaza as a bead of sweat ran down along his forehead.

Hope squeezed through the crowd and held his hand with a look of concern. "Kurt? Are you okay? Why are you standing here?"

"Y-Yeah... I’m fine, Hope. Just the afternoon heat getting to me a bit. Let’s hurry up and get to the carriage."

"Okay! Come on, Sadie’s already way ahead!"

Kurt lingered for just a second as he swept his gaze across the dense crowds.

Nothing. No suspicious activity, no hostile glints, no out-of-place figures.

Letting it go for now, he kept walking, keeping his guard raised.

A few dozen yards away an excited male spectator was gushing loudly to his friend.

"I’m telling you, man! That final collision was the absolute peak of magic prowess! I don’t care what anyone says, Myria deserved that win!"

Drip.

A single clear drop of fluid fell from high above, landing squarely on the man’s lower lip.

The man blinked, pausing mid-sentence.

He wiped his lip with the back of his hand and looked up toward the blue sky. "Huh? What the... is it starting to rain?"

He opened his mouth to say more – and a second clear drop fell from above, landing directly into his open mouth.

The moment the fluid touched his tongue, the man’s eyes went wide.

Within less than two seconds, the color drained from his irises, replaced by a hazy, glazed-over sheen. His breathing turned heavy and ragged.

Without warning, the man turned, grabbed his friend by the front of his collar, and pulled him in, aggressively kissing him straight on the mouth.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" His friend shoved him off with a look of utter disgust, throwing a panic-fueled right hook that smashed straight into the guy’s jaw.

THWACK!

The man stumbled back, bumping his head against the academy wall.

For a brief second, the shock of the punch seemed to snap him back to reality. He rubbed his bleeding lip, looking around in utter confusion.

"I... I don’t know! What just happened to me–?!"

Almost immediately his eyes glazed over once more.

Driven by an irresistible, mindless primal impulse that completely overpowered his rational mind, the man spun around and violently tackled a nearby female stranger to the ground.

He frantically tried to fondle her torn dress and kiss her neck as she screamed in terror.

"H-Help! Get him off me! Somebody help!"

Within seconds, four security guards pushed through the crowd.

They tackled the crazed man to the ground, pinned his arms behind his back, and dragged him away as he writhed.

The surrounding crowd backed away in shock and muttering confusion. Nobody understood what had just happened.

High above the chaotic plaza, perched invisibly in the deep shadows of the main academy building’s decorative stone spire, stood a woman trembling uncontrollably.

She possessed long, night-black hair that fell around her bare shoulders, and her striking red eyes were completely glazed over with an intoxicating euphoria.

One of her hands was pressed firmly against her bare breast, while her other hand was tucked deeply down between her soaking-wet privates.

Her hips shuddered in rhythm with her breathless gasps as she rode out the tail-end of a mind-shattering climax – the very fluid from her intense masturbation dripping off the ledge of the high spire to the grounds below.

Wrapped tightly around her thigh was a thick, dark demonic tail, its tip resting snugly over a rose-printed plaster stuck to her knee.

"Haah... haah... Kurt~"

Her red eyes were locked onto the distant silhouette of Kurt’s household carriage as it slowly began to roll away down the academy’s road.

"Hehehe~ Oh, my sweet darling... you rejected me..." she whimpered.

Her fingernails dug into her breast as her body began to dissolve into a cloud of dark purple smoke. "You really are... the man of my dreams~"

With a final sigh, the woman vanished into thin air, leaving behind nothing on the high stone spire except a lingering sweet scent that blew away softly with the wind.

...

Vol 2. End