Chapter 437: I Have All The Time of the World for You
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For how long did the two of them hug?
Time seemed to move at an unknown pace as their arms were around one another. Her ears listened to his beating heart, while his chin rested on top of her head.
After a long time, she pulled back from the hug. She did that with shaky, hesitant arms as if he'd vanish if she wasn't careful. She looked up, meeting his gaze.
"Looks like I burned your face," she said with a cute frown. "You're lucky. If I hadn't accidentally hurt you, I'd have punched you hard right now. Why did you send me- us, away? Why… did you make me wait this long?"
Neji didn't have any words. He didn't really waste time coming to her, he had tried his best, but his best wasn't optimal. He failed, and she was the one who suffered for that.
"Haah," she let out a long breath and put her hand on his burned face. A gentle fire rose from her fingertips, washing over his burn, and healing him. "You know, I am not even angry… anymore. It's been too long. In the last few hundred years before I fell asleep, the only emotion I felt towards you, towards myself, was loneliness."
"I-"
"Don't apologize," she didn't sound angry when she said that. She gently ran a hand by his face. "It's not your fault. I know you did your best… you always have."
"..."
"I could have broken the sleeping curse, you know?" She admitted. "But I didn't. Because I didn't want to live the way I was back then. So when the opportunity to sleep for a long time came, I didn't fight it. I… knew that the next time I'd wake up, I'd see you. And I was right."
"As always," he kissed his smart girl on her forehead. "I missed you."
"I missed you more," she said and he didn't fight her on that. He already got the proof that she missed him more; she managed to stay single for 1200 years, while in just the last few months, he hooked up with dozens of girls. It was true that their relationship was peculiar, so for him sleeping with another girl was different from her sleeping with another man, but still. She missed him more, and he was guilty for that.
"What's up with this though?" She looked at the invisible aura around him. "How did you become the Biblical God?"
"It's a long story," he said. "In short, I-"
"Why in short?" She interrupted him with a scowl. "You don't have the time to tell me everything? From the very beginning?"
Neji opened his mouth and then smiled. A single teardrop trailed down his cheek. "I do. Of course I do. I have all the time of the world for my Yaomomo."
She smiled up at him and it finally registered for Neji. This was not a dream; he was finally holding her in his arms. It took so much time and effort to find Rumi and Ryukyu that he needed a moment to realize that Momo was in his arms.
Momo stared at his face. She had been trying to keep a tough face, but seeing his tears her mask crumbled. Her lips shook and her tears gave out, painting her cheeks wet.
Neji hugged her and the two of them teleported from their spot. They didn't leave the underworld, nor go far from the area for that matter. They were in the crater a moment ago, and now they sat at the edge of the crater, their legs dangling over the kilometer-deep hole as she sat on his lap and he told her everything.
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The long-reunited couple sat silently on the edge of the crater, their bodies pressed close together.
The sound of the wind blowing through the air was the only noise that could be heard, aside from their muffled breathing. Neji had already told her everything that happened after that teleportation incident, and now the both of them were silent.
The dark, purple sky of the underworld remained motionless, creating the surreal and peaceful feeling of being alone with one another. The fake stars sparkled dimly in the distance, illuminating the black sky with their twinkling light. They sat comfortably in each other's arms, lost in their thoughts and the moment itself, losing themselves in the serenity of the night.
"Just a couple hundred years?" She asked after a long time. "So unfair."
"Yeah, I guess," Neji agreed. He told her that it's been a bit more than 200 years for him, though it was only the technical truth. He had spent 153 years in the void, but he was asleep the whole time. Still, he didn't want her to truly feel wronged by learning it's just been a few months for him. They always had the chance to talk about that at a later time, when she wasn't so emotional.
"What are you going to do about the alien enemies? They sound troublesome." She said, "It would be annoying if this world got destroyed too."
"It won't," Neji promised to both herself and him. "I'll make sure it won't."
"Okay," she nudged into his arms. "What are your plans for the other two worlds? It's Bleach and Tensura, right? Do you plan to go there after dealing with the aliens, or is it better to go there now and find those two? Since you have found me, do we have any other reason to stay here?"
"I guess you're right," if he sped-run it, he could reach 100% inheritance in less than a week. After that, he could leave. He could slip past the aliens and find the other girls. "But I don't want to run. Not anymore."
"Fair,"
"And I can't contact my 'Uber'," he referred to Mistress Death, and Momo understood. "Either my attempt to contact her is getting blocked by the aliens, or she can't bother to reply to me. Either way, we're stuck. Even if I can train on some universe-traveling skill, I am sure the aliens can intercept it."
"Hm, you have a point," she nodded. "Still. Tier 91, you said. While according to you, I am in Tier 57. I doubt all of the enemies are that strong, otherwise we'd have been busted by now. Maybe he was the leader of the entire army? Or at least one of the leading figures. So there shouldn't be many of his levels, but I think the other minions should at least be at Tier 69. Speaking of this, why is the Omniverse not lowering their Tiers?"
"No idea," Neji shook his head. "Maybe the Will doesn't have as much juice left? It did say somewhere that the Omniverse's will isn't what it once used to be. Or maybe the enemies are being suppressed, but since there are too many of them…"
"I don't know, neither of them feel right. If I have to guess, I'd say those Prime Gods are messing with the suppression field. Oh well, there isn't any point in making empty guesses."
"Hmm," he hugged her tightly. "Let's talk about something else. I don't wanna discuss such a grim topic right now."
"Then what do you want to talk about?"
"You," he breathed in the small of her hair. "How's life as a devil?"
"That's an odd question, Neji." she giggled. "Life as a devil… is good. It made me lose the naive side of mine. It taught me lessons in life that I doubt I'd have ever learned as a human."
That reminded Neji that she had lived as a human for only 16 years, while as a devil, with the memories of Ranefer, it was a total of 1600 years. In that little time, she only spent 3 years with him…
Momo was a lot different as a person than what he remembered. Neji nudged his face with hers. He accepted her anyhow.
"Haanh," Momo let out a gentle, shivering moan. "It's been so long since we have been in each other's arms…" she looked back at him. "Any plans on making up for it?"
It was clear what she was implying. Now that they shed some tears and learned about each other's stories, their desires bubbled up from within. Momo has been holding back for 1200 years, so when he's touching her so lovingly, breathing on her neck, how could she resist?
Yaomomo looked back at him, her red eyes twinkling, and he leaned forward to capture her lips. She kissed back, and the couple got lost in nostalgic pleasure. In love.
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