[Takes Place During Chapter 34]
Rei and Lyria continue walking side by side along the edge of the island, enjoying the night breeze and the view of the stars in the sky.
Neither of them had spoken the entire time.
Rei keeps gazing up at the sky, looking at the stars. Back in his world, he rarely gets to see such a view due to air pollution.
But here the air quality is vastly different, allowing him to feel at peace despite what happened earlier when he killed all those Empire soldiers.
"Rei... Are you okay now?" Rei hears Lyria's voice, sounding worried about him.
When Rei turns to look at her, he sees Lyria gazing at him with her blue eyes filled with concern.
Even so, Rei still smiles at her. "I'm fine, Lyria. I just need some fresh air..."
"No, you're not fine! Did you forget how we can basically sense each other? I can feel the emotions you're feeling, and... I hate it... I've never felt anything like this from you before..."
Tears begin to well up in Lyria's eyes as she continues to look at Rei with deep concern.
Seeing that, Rei doesn't know what to do because he can also feel Lyria's emotions for him. Lyria really is greatly worried about him.
Seeing that Rei still hasn't said anything to her, Lyria tightly grasps his right hand.
"Please, Rei... Tell me... You've always helped me since the first time we met. And when I was taken hostage, you also saved me. So this time, please tell me your problem."
Rei continues to gaze at Lyria for a few moments without saying anything, while Lyria patiently waits for his response.
"It's... When I killed those soldiers... Even though I know not all of the empire's soldiers are bad and they're just following orders, I still instantly killed those people on the airship."
Rei looks down, recalling what he did earlier. "But then after I killed them... I felt a deep sense of satisfaction rising within me... which made me want to do it again and again..."
"But then, the moment I started thinking about that, I suddenly saw something..." Rei suddenly stops talking and squeezes Lyria's hand that is holding his.
"See something? What did you see?"
"...I saw everyone's dead bodies around me, and 12 purple wings on my back with my body enveloped in a purple aura..."
Lyria turns aghast after hearing that. From the feelings she senses from Rei, she's certain that everything he said is true... No, she doesn't need to sense Rei's emotions to know if it's true or not because she can see the sadness in his expression.
"And then, after I was done looking at everyone's dead bodies, I realize I'm actually holding someone... And that someone was you, Lyria..."
"What!?" Lyria becomes even more shocked after hearing him. She didn't expect Rei's situation to be this severe.
"That's why I'm terrified... that if I keep using this power, in the end, I'd lose control and hurt everyone..." Rei looks down at his own body, feeling the raging energy still surging within him.
Seeing Rei like that, Lyria doesn't know what to do. Because this is a problem related to Rei's power, and she isn't an expert in that area at all.
The only ability she has is the power to absorb energy or heal someone—Wait!!
"That's it!" Lyria suddenly exclaims, causing Rei to turn to her in confusion.
"What happened?"
"Come here, Rei!" Lyria then pulls Rei into the forest to try out her idea.
Rei simply allows Lyria to pull him into the forest. She keeps leading him for a while until they're finally far enough from the edge of the island.
Once Lyria finds a suitable spot, she brings Rei to one of the trees and gently leans him against it, standing in front of him.
"Can you sense any monsters here?" Lyria asks Rei as she looks around.
They are near a large tree surrounded by a grasslands, with a fallen tree nearby where they could sit.
Rei is confused about what Lyria intends to do, but he decides to follow her instructions and tries to sense any monsters in the area.
A few moments later, Rei opens his eyes and informs her that he doesn't sense any living creatures nearby.
"That's good~" Lyria smiles with relief upon hearing that.
"You know I have the ability to absorb Primal Beast power, right? Maybe I can try it on you and make your power more stable."
"What!? Lyria, are you serious?!? We don't know what will happen if you do that!! What if your body can't handle my power!?" Rei quickly says, panicking as he tries to stop her.
But Lyria shakes her head firmly. "No, Rei! If I can help you, then I will do that. You've always sacrificed yourself to help me and the others, so this time I'm going to try helping you."
Without hesitation, Lyria places her hand on Rei's chest and tries to do the same thing she usually does with Primal Beasts.
The moment she does that, Rei can feel something like his energy being pulled from within him and moving toward where Lyria's hand is placed.
He can't do anything about this. And he can't interrupt her either, fearing that if he does, something really bad might happen.
"Ughhh..." Lyria starts sweating and groaning in pain because the energy she absorbs is too dense and powerful.
"Ahhh!!!" Not long after, Lyria pulls her hand away from Rei's chest and steps back, clutching her hand.
"Ow, ow, ow! It really hurts!!" Lyria looks at her reddened palm, which seems to be blistering.
"Lyria!? Are you okay!? Quickly try to heal yourself!" Rei quickly rushes to Lyria and checks her injury.
Lyria easily heals her wound, and her hand returns to normal.
"...Maybe this is really a bad idea, Lyria. I'll try to think of another method. So for now, I can just avoid using my power." Rei tells Lyria, not wanting her to get hurt because of him.
"No, I can do it. Just please let me try one more time." Lyria quickly pushes Rei back against the tree.
This time, she doesn't immediately try to absorb his power but instead focuses on sensing the energy within Rei's body.
This time, she won't do it the same way she does with Primal Beasts because Rei isn't a Primal Beast, and the energy he possesses is very different from theirs.
But then she remembers a story Katalina read to her before about how "a kiss can solve anything", like waking up a sleeping princess or turning a prince from a beast back into a man.
So, Lyria lifts her head and looks up at Rei's face, which is higher than hers.
"Huh? What's wrong?" Rei asks as he notices Lyria staring at him.
"Let's kiss!" Lyria quickly replies.
"What? Suddenly?"
"Yes." Lyria says, and she slowly moves her face closer to his.
Seeing this, Rei decides to follow her lead and slowly brings his face closer to Lyria's.
*Chu* The moment they kiss, Rei can instantly feel his energy moving really fast toward his mouth.
This sensation is much stronger than the previous one when Lyria touched his chest and tried to absorb his power.
"Mmm..." Lyria closes her eyes, enjoying their kiss, followed by Rei doing the same.
They stay in that position for a while. But since they have their eyes closed, they didn't notice the blue crystal on Lyria's chest gradually starting to turn purple.
Lyria continues to absorb Rei's energy, making her body grow warmer and her breathing heavier.
Unconsciously, Lyria opens her mouth and extends her tongue into Rei's mouth. Rei, enjoying their kiss, reflexively opens his mouth to welcome Lyria.
Their kiss becomes more intense, with their tongues entwining inside Rei's mouth.
Lyria's hands start to wrap around Rei's back, pressing him closer for a deeper kiss, while Rei places his hands on Lyria's waist.
The atmosphere around them becomes even more heated, accompanied by the moonlight shining down on them and the stars adorning the sky.