Chapter 73: Punishing the Princess

The artifact buzzed and vibrated violently as the black energy enveloped its surface.

The Gwenor reacted instantly, clashing with the black energy and creating ripples across the entire surface of the artifact.

*THUMP!*

The artifact thumped and sent a shockwave in all directions, nearly blowing Chris away from where he stood.

But even though he managed to hold his ground, he felt very different.

It was as though the energy wave hadn’t just hit him physically, but had struck his very soul.

*THUMP!*

Another energy wave swept through him, making his mind dizzy.

"FUCK!"

*THUMP!*

*UGH!*

*THUMP!*

The artifact started thumping as if it had a heartbeat of its own.

Each wave that struck Chris felt like it was erasing more and more of his consciousness.

*THUMP!*

His eyes turned bloodshot as he bit his lip until it started bleeding, forcing himself to stay awake.

*THUMP!* *THUMP!* *THUMP!*

His eyes felt heavy, and his thoughts started blurring into nothingness.

He quickly brought his palm to his mouth before biting down on it with all his strength.

"UGH!"

*THUMP!* *THUMP!* *THUMP!*

He started biting wherever he could. His tongue and lips were already bleeding heavily, as were both of his hands, but he felt like his mind was slipping away more and more with each passing moment.

’Is this the end?’ He thought to himself as he forced himself to stay awake through another wave.

He knew that he couldn’t endure much more.

*THUMP!*

He started thinking about his life, about his past, anything that could help him stay conscious. Thousands of images flashed through his mind in an instant.

Memories of his terrible past resurfaced, memories of all the humiliation he had endured, all the dangers he had faced, and all the injuries he had suffered.

All the loneliness and sorrow. Just thinking about it made him not want to fight anymore. It felt like nothing had any meaning.

Then, Azreon’s image appeared in his head, bringing a smile to his face.

Like a beacon of light in his past that had changed his life for the better, he was now illuminating his thoughts, making Chris realize that there was much more to live for.

Then he saw images of Alric and Serena, Aelia and Aelonen, Kelvin and his party... and finally... Lilith.

With each passing image, his smile grew wider, making him want to live, gain more memories, and meet more people.

But his smile turned wicked when he thought of Lilith.

"I must stay alive! I must spank that wicked woman, even if it’s the last thing I do in this life!" He yelled out while opening his eyes.

*THUMP!*

He suddenly took a step and lunged towards the glowing orb, punching it with all his strength.

*BANG!*

The artifact vibrated violently.

"STOP IT, YOU STUPID THING!"

*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!*

"JUST BE A GOOD LITTLE ARTIFACT AND CALM THE FUCK DOWN!"

*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!*

"IF YOU WANT TO KILL ME, WE WILL GO OUT TOGETHER!"

*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!*

He kept punching the artifact with all his strength, his bloody hands leaving marks all over its surface.

*THUMP!*

The artifact sent another shockwave, but this time, something was different.

The shockwave stopped just before it hit Chris, hanging in the air as if frozen.

*THUMP!*

Another shockwave approached, but just like the first one, it also stopped right in front of him.

The ripples on its surface suddenly intensified, making the artifact shake violently.

*THUMP!* *THUMP!* *THUMP!*

More and more shockwaves remained frozen in the air, creating a transparent barrier all around the artifact.

"Did I break it?" Chris didn’t understand what was going on.

In the next moment, something changed.

All the shockwaves instantly returned to the artifact, slamming into its surface and sending it spinning at great speed.

Chris widened his eyes as he watched the spinning globe in front of him.

The black and white ripples on its surface started blending together as it spun faster and faster. His blood started mixing with them as well.

In just a moment, the entire orb started turning blood red as it slowed down and finally stopped.

He approached it and examined it with wide eyes. The entire surface of the orb was crimson by now, and he couldn’t see any trace of the white and black anymore. The whole thing radiated a faint crimson light as it hovered in place.

"Did it work?" He started wondering.

*THUMP!*

Suddenly, a much stronger and more violent shockwave escaped its surface and swept through Chris.

"UGH!"

The impact was much stronger than before.

He struggled for a moment before everything went dark, and he lost consciousness.

...

"What is happening!? Explain!" Lilith yelled out as she watched Chris’s body.

She had long since gotten dressed and was now attentively watching him, looking for any changes.

His body would suddenly spasm violently, as if someone had electrocuted him, before slumping back down. After a few moments, it would happen again.

Again and again and again.

She tried calling him and shaking him multiple times, but nothing worked.

’*The energies are fighting inside his body. There is nothing you can do right now. You can only wait and hope he’ll make it.*’

Lilith was getting increasingly worried as she looked at him, praying that he would be okay.

After a few minutes had passed, his body suddenly stopped spasming.

She extended her hands and shook him.

"HEY! CHRIS! WAKE UP!"

But nothing worked.

She brought her hand to his nose, trying to feel his breath, but she couldn’t detect anything.

Next, she put her hand on his neck, trying to feel his pulse.

Nothing.

Her whole body trembled before small tears started sliding down her cheeks.

"I... I killed him..."

’*You didn’t kill him. He would have died if you had done nothing. At least you tried to help him.*’

"AND WHAT DO YOU KNOW?" She yelled out loud. "AT LEAST HE WOULDN’T BE IN PAIN IF I HAD JUST LEFT HIM TO DIE NORMALLY!"

’*You can’t blame yourself.*’

"JUST SHUT UP!"

She crouched down and held her face with both hands as she cried loudly.

Suddenly, she felt a hand caressing her hair, and she froze.

"You should save your tears for later, princess." Chris’s voice was heard.

She opened her eyes wide and looked up at him, her face already soaked with tears.

"C-CHRIS!?"

He looked very different now. His skin had turned completely pale, and bloody veins were visible all over his body.

On his head were two horns. They looked the same as when he used his dragon scales to cover his head, but this time, they weren’t black. They were crimson.

’It worked... It actually worked! I can’t believe it! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...’

Lilith heard maniacal laughter in her head but ignored it completely.

"You’re alive!? W-what happened to you?" She jumped up and grabbed his hands, examining him.

He looked at his body and was similarly surprised, but then he focused on it, and his skin started returning to normal. His horns disappeared, and soon he looked exactly as he had before.

"I’m alive, yes. But I don’t think you should be happy about it." He smiled wickedly.

"What do you mean?" She felt confused.

In the next moment, he grabbed her hand and violently pulled her towards him until she was lying on her stomach across his lap.

"KYAA! W-WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" She yelled out in shock.

"Oh, you’re about to find out!" He raised his hand and opened his palm before bringing it down hard on her ass.

*SLAP!*

"AAAAH! C-CHRIS!"

*SLAP!*

"STOP!"

*SLAP!*

"WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS? IT HURTS!"

*SLAP!*

"This is to thank you for your help, my dear princess." He smiled.

*SLAP!*

"To thank you for helping me in such a way without even asking for my opinion."

*SLAP!*

"AAAAH!"

"To show you what would happen in the future if you ever dared to repeat something like this."

*SLAP!*

By now, she could feel that her entire backside was definitely red beneath her dress.

"STOP, PLEASE! I’M SORRY!"

*SLAP!*

"AAAH! IT WON’T HAPPEN AGAIN! I PROMISE!"

"Okay, it better be that way." He smiled again.

"Sigh..." Noticing that he had stopped, she released a deep breath.

*SLAP!*

"AAH! WHAT WAS THAT FOR!? I ALREADY PROMISED!"

"Ah, sorry, sorry. Your ass just feels too good to slap." He chuckled before letting her go.

She instantly jumped back and distanced herself while holding her backside with both hands.

"Y-you pervert!"

He nodded. "Sure. And what are you gonna do about it?"

She looked at him with an aggrieved expression but didn’t say anything.

By now, all of his injuries had completely healed.

He stretched before slowly standing up from the bed.

But as he touched his knee, he felt that his pants were a little wet.

He touched the wet spot before bringing his hand to his nose.

*Sniff.*

It smelled nice, but something about it was weird.

Suddenly, a thought hit him as he looked at Lilith, whose face was now getting redder by the moment.

"Don’t tell me..." He widened his eyes.

"S-Shut up! It’s not what you think!" She yelled as she covered her face with her hands.

He chuckled before shaking his head. "As much as I would like to continue this subject, we’ll leave it for later."

He turned towards the cave exit, his face becoming serious as he walked towards it. "Now, we need to figure out how to exit this dungeon."

Lilith didn’t reply, as she was too embarrassed at the moment. She only wanted to dig a hole and hide herself.

"Coming?" He turned around to look at her.

"O-okay."

Exiting the cave, he extended his beast pouch.

"Let’s go, buddy."

*ROAR!*

Azreon appeared in front of him in the next moment and brought his head closer to Chris.

"??" Chris was confused by his action.

But in the next moment, Azreon opened his mouth wide, extended his tongue, and licked Chris’s face, making it completely wet.

He stood there, stunned for a moment.

"I see. You were worried about me, buddy?" He smiled as he wiped his face.

*ROAR!*

"Hahahaha... Thanks for worrying about me, but I’m fine. See?" He spread his arms as if to show him.

*ROAR!*

He grabbed Lilith by the hand and jumped onto Azreon’s back.

"Let’s go."

Azreon spread his wings and flew into the sky instantly.

"Where are we going?" Looking at the dungeon, Lilith wondered what he was planning.

"I don’t know." He shook his head.

"Huh? I thought you had some plan?"

"Nope." He smiled. "We’ll think of something, I guess."

She sighed. "You are really unbelievable. You gave the impression of someone who knew exactly what he was doing earlier, yet you don’t even have a plan."

"We don’t have many options, anyway. I guess we should look through the dungeon. Maybe we’ll find another portal. And if not..."

"If not?" She tilted her head.

"Then I think we’ll have to kill that big spider."

"Huh? Are you serious? Why?" She looked at him with wide eyes.

"Don’t you know how dungeons work? The exit appears after killing the boss. And something tells me that spider is the boss here."

She thought for a moment and nodded. "Makes sense. I didn’t think about that. Let’s hope we’ll find another portal, then."

Chris only smiled before activating his dragon vision and scanning the surroundings.

...

A few hours later.

"I guess we have no choice but to kill that spider." Chris shook his head.

By now, they had circled the entire dungeon without any luck finding another portal.

"But where even is that spider? I didn’t see it anywhere. How could such a big beast just disappear?" Lilith felt frustrated.

"Now that you mention it, it’s quite weird." He scratched his head.

Only now did he realize that they had flown through the whole dungeon without seeing even a trace of that big spider.

"Maybe I can summon it." She suddenly said.

"What do you mean?"

"You remember the shockwave from that demon artifact that attracted the beasts? I think I can do it again, and that spider should come."

"Oh, that!" He nodded. "That’s indeed a good idea."

"But how do we kill it? There is no way we can easily fight it with our current strength." She shook her head.

"That’s simple. We just need to increase our strength and reach the next evolution. We are both above level 50, and I’m already quite close to my next evolution." He smiled widely.