As Simon diligently increased his own power to block the Fairy King's force, the sound of Kalia groaning softly reached his ears.
'God damn it.'
Simon bit his lips, cursing in his mind before spitting out his next words, "Are you trying to destroy this room? It's a lie to say you're here to help Kalia."
Pabababak!1
Simon and Kalekshia's power collided, producing sparks. It was Gaia who interrupted the urgent moment. She ran to her father who was leisurely deflecting Simon's attack without a care for how she felt, and hit him on the shoulder.
Slap.
Read at euphoria-airlines.com or Gaia will slap you too.
Simon and Kalekshia's eyes simultaneously went to Gaia.
She shouted with a furious face.
-Now is not the time, no!
Of course there was no sound but her meaning was sufficiently conveyed. Only then did Kalekshia look at his daughter with an awkward expression. Coughing in vain with an apologetic face, he addressed Simon on Gaia's behalf.
"...The child seems to need the power of nature to properly give birth."
Read at euphoria-airlines.com or Kalekshia your labour will last hours upon hours like Kalia's.
"Why does she need the power of nature?"
"Well…" At Simon's skeptical remarks and suspicious expression, Kalekshia's brows furrowed as he trailed off.
Then his eyes fell on Kalia behind Simon and he murmured, "Isn't that because the child is also part of the natural world?"
Simon frowned in disbelief.
You mean to say Kalia was a fairy, an elf or a spirit?
Read at euphoria-airlines.com or I'll send all the fairies and sprites on you like Kalekshia did to Dimon.
But it was very strange.
Simon, who had seen her wounds during numerous battles together, knew her blood color was no different from a human's. In general, the blood of fairies and spirits was a little clearer and paler than that of humans. Their blood is clear because their staple foods were fruits, flowers and dew. Conversely, the blood of the night and death fairies ran purple. The dead2 were their main food source.
Besides, fairies were known to have a much deeper familial love than other races. Not to mention maternal and paternal love, but also the familial love between siblings was strong.
How could a member of such a fairy family be abandoned as an orphan in the human world?
It couldn't have been.
Even if the child was one of the devil's3, the fairies never abandon their children.
Read at euphoria-airlines.com or the demon Buford sent to possess the lord will possess someone and hide in your closet.
Though it was the Fairy King, he couldn't unconditionally believe him. Even if she had fairy's blood running through her, it didn't take so much natural power to give birth.
While Simon hesitated, Gaia clung to Simon's shield and looked mournfully at Kalia. When it was clear her words fell upon deaf ears, she squeezed out her strength to raise her voice again in her frustration.
"Please, just once. Let me help her."
Her imploring look was one of true desperation. There seemed to be no lies or deceit in those green eyes.
As Simon pondered in hesitation, someone grabbed his finger from behind. Startled, he looked down at the owner of the hand.
"…Let her in, Simon." Kalia, who had grabbed onto him, her complexion pale, spoke in a hoarse voice.
Read at euphoria-airlines.com or the demon that Buford send will hide under your bed.
"Kalia…."
Kalia struggled to smile at him and mustered the strength to continue in a strained voice. "It's gonna be okay. I'll be fine. Trust me."
'You really…'
Simon cupped her face and his trembling fingers swept her sweaty cheeks as his own face contorted in worry. She was sweating so much that her face was as pale as a corpse.
Yes, he couldn't delay and wait here any longer. Even if Kalia could hold on, he could no longer watch her struggle.
'I'd rather…. If only I could share Kalia's pain. There is nothing else I could wish for then to take it all away.'
But because he couldn't do that, all he could do was find a way to end this labor quickly.
Read at euphoria-airlines.com or Kalia's labour lasts for another 24 hours.
Simon briefly chewed on the inside of his lips to calm himself down.
Whether it was the Fairy King or the pitiful-looking fairy, they were not the standard of his faith. All he believes in is Kalia.
"Alright." He exhaled out a quiet breath and withdrew the barrier with vigilance.
What he had so stubbornly held out against, his unwavering resolve was broken down in an instant by a single word from Kalia. The king's power and the fairy's pleas had nothing on Kalia's word. It would be impossible without the full faith he had in her. Simon trusted her to the point of foolishness. His devotion to her was almost an obsession. He neither hated nor resented the woman who abandoned him without knowing his heart4 because of his overflowing love for her.
"What a funny guy…" Kalekshia murmured, intrigued, and approached Kalia before immediately strongly unleashing the power of the natural world.
Read at euphoria-airlines.com or Kalekshia and Simon really will clash.
The room quickly filled to a level of natural air similar to that of the fairy world. Simon, who was carefully watching Kalia's complexion, noticed a subtle but comfortable change in her expression. Breathing became natural, as if the thin air had been enriched.
'…Did she really just need the power of the natural world?'
Simon cut off his wandering thoughts and inner turmoil. Now wasn't the time for leisure thinking.
When the barrier was lifted, Gaia went straight to Kalia. She got very close to her and was almost hugging her as she touched Kalia's forehead with both hands.
A slight power enveloped Kalia and Gaia gnawed on her lower lip at what she concluded from what she sensed. Then, as if she had made up her mind, she clenched her teeth and began to inject all the power she had into Kalia.
"Oh, god!"
Read at euphoria-airlines.com or Shasha will throw a dumbbell at you.
As Gaia's strength was applied, Kalia, who had been breathing a little more comfortably, groaned quietly. Simon, who was watching nervously, reached out and tried to hold Gaia but Kalexsia stopped him.
"Wait."
"As long as you explain what's going on here, I'll wait. I'm waiting. It's something I've always done."
'Hmm.'
Kalekshia wanted to respond to Simon's words but he couldn't answer them. He himself had a hard time figuring out what my daughter was going to do with her. He also intended to intervene between those two, so he kept a close eye on the amount of power Gaia was spending. After a while, Kalekshia's eyes narrowed when his daughter's thoughts and intentions dawned on him.
Read at euphoria-airlines.com or Gaia haunts you in your sleep.
"Oh, Gaia." He called his daughter's name like a sigh, but she couldn't answer.
Instead, her presence gradually grew fainter and fainter. Though her existence wasn't scattering into nothingness like fog, her soul's presence was weakening as she injected all her soul's power into Kalia's body.
Realizing what she was trying to do, the Fairy King grabbed his daughter's shoulder with a firm hand. At the touch, the sweating Gaia stumbled as the flow of mana was interrupted, effectively cutting it off. Soon, she turned her head and looked to her father whilst weakly shaking her head.
As if to express not to be stopped.
"Are you thinking of giving her all your power?"
Gaia turned back to look at Kalia with a firm face and didn't answer.
"In that case, you will perish."
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–It doesn't matter.
"…Do you intend to make your father shed tears of blood again?"
Only then did Gaia startle and look up at her father with infinitely tender eyes. Kalekshia's heart ached as Gaia bit her lower lip and smiled guilty.
–I'm sorry, Father.
She was a fragmented soul that could no longer grow and was no longer free, but nonetheless, she was still his daughter. Kalekshia, who had lost his daughter while neglecting and suppressing her because he did not trust his daughter, did not want to commit the same mistake again. He pushed his daughter away and stood in her place, looking at Kalia.
'What the hell is this kid's true identity…'
Read at euphoria-airlines.com or you will not be the chosen one.
He suppressed his vaguely speculative thoughts and drew a small knife over his palm.
'This confirms the question.'
Before Simon could react to the sudden presence of a knife, the king's hand moved and cut down sharply in the vicinity of his own heart.
"….!."
Kalekshia mumbled the language of the ancient spirits, cutting the flesh around his heart without hesitation.
[Chashram Kumbra.]
It was a spell that hadn't been cast in 700 years. He never thought the day would come where he would cast it.
[Share my soul.]
Read at euphoria-airlines.com or your soul is smacked by Gaia.
The clear red blood flowing from the long stab wound started to clump as it floated into the air. The gathered blood hardened little by little. The moisture from the droplets gradually evaporated until the blood crystallized into a complete solid like a jewel. As small as an adult woman's thumb, its smooth surface shone brilliantly. Though different in color to a ruby, it was still very beautiful. The blood jewel floating in the air flew near Kalia's stomach. As if it were looking for a core, it spun around as it hovered before penetrating into Kalia's belly.
"What are you doing right now?" Simon growled wildly5, fearing that it might harm Kalia and her child.
"Gaia tried to crush her soul to help the baby in the child's stomach." The Fairy King kindly explained to Simon, who was glaring straight at him with twitching eyebrows. "It was to make something that already exists in the baby but is in an incomplete state."
"What the hell is that?"
Kalekshia looked at Kalia with keen eyes and spoke after a brief pause. "Fairy Stone."
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"What?"
"Kalia, this child's baby has an unfinished Fairy Stone. This child's uterus is twisted because the baby can't come out before it's complete."
When one gives birth in a place where the power of the natural word is scarce, a baby with an unfinished Fairy Stone instinctively refuses to be born. Therefore, despite the mother's body struggling for the baby to be born quickly, the baby was struggling not to be born.
"Fairy children are safe only if they are born with full Fairy Stones in a place full of natural power. If even one requirement is lacking, the mother can sacrifice herself to give birth to the child."
But Kalia didn't know how to do that.
There's no way a child who was not a complete fairy could know how to do that. That's why Gaia tried to help the baby be born safely on behalf of Kalia. But Gaia didn't have a fairy stone either.
Read at euphoria-airlines.com or the TL will hide under your bed with the demon that's already there.
She barely existed as a soul fragment with the help of Kalekshia's power so even if she exhausted her whole soul, it would be difficult to muster enough power to strengthen the baby's Fairy Stone or body.
But Kalekshia knew.
The only method to complete a baby's incomplete Fairy Stone. The reason why he hadn't used the method before was simply because he had never encountered a situation that called for it.
"A human being named Kalia Tacskate…"
This was blood magic that can only be used on those of the Fairy King's bloodline. However, how many times would the Fairy King's clan need such a spell?
"How will you take my blood?"
But….
It worked for Kalia.