The first thing Luka felt upon regaining consciousness was pain.

A deep, throbbing ache spread through every inch of his body as though molten iron had been poured directly into his veins. Even breathing felt difficult.

"...Kh."

Cold air brushed against his face, before the subtle movement of a rhythmic swaying.

Luka slowly opened one eye.

Dark crimson hair entered his blurry vision first, followed shortly by the heavy sensation pressing against the side of his head.

Soft.

Warm.

Very soft.

"...Mm."

His cheek sank slightly deeper before his vision finally cleared enough to understand the situation.

Brea was carrying him.

More specifically, his body had been slung over her broad shoulder while his face was firmly buried against the side of her enormous chest. The damaged leather armour did little to conceal the overwhelming softness compressed against him with every step.

"...This might actually be heaven."

Brea’s ear twitched.

"I heard that."

"Heh..."

Luka weakly laughed through his nose before immediately regretting it as sharp pain stabbed through his ribs.

The cavern behind them groaned violently.

Rumble!

Several hunters cursed as loose stones crashed down the tunnel further behind.

"Move! Move, you idiots!" Zack shouted from the rear while helping two exhausted men drag a wounded hunter between them.

The narrow tunnel leading upward had become unstable after Luka’s final attack. Cracks stretched across the ceiling while faint purple lightning still flickered occasionally through melted crystal embedded in the walls.

Vaun moved near the front of the group in her disguise, leaning lightly against a wooden wall while guiding several frightened hunters to safer footing. Though unlike her usual composed self, her sharp eyes occasionally drifted backwards toward Luka.

More specifically, toward the black veins still faintly crawling beneath his skin.

"...That power was dangerous," she muttered quietly.

Though he still heard.

Levia walked several paces beside Brea with her daggers drawn.

The dark elf’s revealing leather armour had become torn in multiple places during the earlier fighting, exposing smooth grey-purple skin beneath the straps. Yet despite her usual laziness, her golden eyes scanned the tunnel carefully.

"What the hell happened in there..."

Though he wanted to answer, his lips and throat ached, making it difficult to create any sound.

"Don’t worry about it, there was a cave-in and a powerful enemy... Anyway, you’d best forget that, because the goblins are coming."

Luckily, Brea answered for him.

Instantly, the exhausted hunters stiffened.

After climbing the clifftop, then spending an hour dragging the rocks free and fighting the roaming scouts, they drained their stamina to the limit.

A pair of small green figures emerged from the upper slope of the tunnel with rusted blades in hand.

The moment they saw the approaching group, their yellow eyes widened.

"Graah—!"

Before the creature could finish screaming, Levia vanished with a faint puff of smoke.

A sharp silver flash crossed the darkness.

Thk!

The goblin’s head spun sideways.

Its body collapsed moments before the second creature even understood what happened.

Levia appeared behind it silently, one dagger buried through the base of its skull.

"...Annoying."

She kicked the corpse aside casually.

The hunters watching from behind gulped nervously.

Even now, none of them fully understood why such a bizarre and terrifying individual was travelling together with their Lord.

Not to mention, she was a Dark Elf.

Dust scattered from above.

"We’re close to the surface!" one of the hunters shouted hopefully.

Fresh air soon swept downward through the passage.

Then light.

Real moonlight.

The group finally emerged from the cracked mountainside, one by one, onto a narrow stone path overlooking the valley below.

For a moment, nobody spoke. Luka scanned across their faces as he recovered just enough to move and breathe easily. He lay against Brea’s breasts, the softness beyond anything he’d ever felt before.

Amol Village came into view beneath the mountain.

Or rather, what remained of it.

Just like Luka thought, when he found the Troll in the cavern was a Chimaera, he realised that the goblins didn’t come here to conquer per se. It was to create an easy passage to the eastern forest behind them.

To find the source of Dense Miasma.

Black smoke still drifted from the collapsed homes, along with distant raging flames eating the remaining structures.

Wooden walls had been smashed apart.

Blood-stained sections of the muddy roads created crimson puddles.

If he listened carefully when using Miasma, he could hear the distant clash of steel and battle cries of both goblin and humans.

’Wait!’ His heart thundered, beating faster.

"Brea, set me down!" He struggled against her, no longer in her full Ogre form, but a regular humanoid. She set him down with a sigh.

"Stop struggling, your body is tattered even worse than an old washing rag!"

He gripped the broken leather of her jacket, his hands sinking inside to feel the soft, squishy flesh. "Brea! They are fighting—right now our people are fighting down there!"

Her face distorted from his words.

It was gradual at first.

Her eyes widened, and her mouth dropped with a few deep breaths.

Then she clenched her jaw and grabbed him tightly, before shaking his shoulders.

"Are you sure!?" Brea’s shout spread through the camp like a bellowing roar.

Everyone turned their eyes to the pair, with Levia and Vaun both subconsciously grasping their weapons.

Yet Luka remained calm.

He slipped both hands from her breasts and gripped her wrists.

"I assure you, my ears don’t lie. If you cannot believe in me, then trust the ears of those elves who can both clearly hear what’s going on." He pointed to Vaun and Brea, who both appeared nervous once they came outside.

"Shit! Then what are you waiting for?! Iris is in danger!"

"Do you think I don’t know that!?" Luka slammed the wooden wall beside him, the pain rifling through his organs like a snakes bite.

"....ngh...!"

He then pointed beneath them, atop the walls.

"Don’t forget what lies beneath us, Brea. Though few remain and it looks shoddy, that is still a fortress!"

The goblins had built a crude fortification directly against the descending mountain path.

Sharpened stakes.

Wooden barricades.

Watchtowers assembled from stolen timber.

Dozens of goblins moved frantically throughout the encampment below while dragging supplies and corpses alike.

"...They’re preparing for another attack," Zack said grimly while drawing his sword and stepping forward as if to protect Luka, his Lord.

One of the older hunters clenched his spear tightly.

"Bastards..."

Luka slowly lifted his head and glanced down, biting his lower lip.

"It’s now or never, forgive me for not being able to give any of you the proper rest... but if we don’t move now," he paused, glancing at the hunters, Levia, Vaun and Zack. "Then our allies might just perish."

He slowly turned to Brea.

"Follow my lead, or return alone. I do not need those who damage the unity of our group."

Luka slowly lifted his head from Brea’s shoulder.

The moment his crimson eyes settled upon the goblin fortification, the faint amusement lingering on his face disappeared entirely.

His expression became cold.

A tense silence spread across the narrow mountainside.

Only the distant crackling flames below and the occasional goblin horn echoed through the valley.

"...Tch."

She released Luka’s wrists roughly before turning her face away.

"I wasn’t questioning your judgement."

"Really?" Luka raised an eyebrow. "Because grabbing your Lord and screaming in his face usually implies otherwise."

"I said I wasn’t!"

Her voice rose immediately.

Several nearby hunters awkwardly looked elsewhere while Levia snorted quietly to herself.

Even Vaun covered part of her mouth to hide a faint smile.

Brea’s cheeks darkened slightly once she noticed the reactions around her.

"...You are unbelievably irritating."

"Heh."

Luka smirked weakly before suddenly staggering sideways.

His legs nearly gave out instantly.

Before anyone else could react, a steel gauntlet grabbed his shoulder firmly.

Clang.

"What am I going to do with you, My Lord?"

A tall figure stepped between him and the others.

Moonlight reflected across polished silver plate armour lined with a pale-blue gambeson beneath. Long blonde hair swayed behind her like flowing gold while sharp blue eyes scanned Luka from head to toe.

And immediately narrowed.

"...You look terrible."

Luka blinked once.

Then laughed quietly through his nose.

"Galatea."

The female knight’s expression twitched slightly upon hearing her name.

A massive greatsword rested against her shoulder almost casually despite its weight, while dirt and dried goblin blood stained sections of her armour from recent battle.

She was beautiful.

Proud.

And visibly annoyed.

"I leave for several hours," she said coldly, "and somehow you nearly manage to kill yourself again."

Brea frowned slightly beside him.

"...Again?"

Galatea ignored her completely.

Instead, she stepped closer until only a short distance remained between herself and Luka. Though she was slightly shorter, the pressure she exuded caused several hunters to instinctively straighten their backs.

Her sharp blue eyes lowered toward the black veins beneath Luka’s skin.

Then toward the blood staining his clothes.

"...Idiot."

Despite the insult, her voice carried a silky softness towards the end as the fingers brushing his body became gentle.

Luka stared at her quietly.

He didn’t see the proud knight of this life standing before him.

He saw the woman who once stood beside Lucifer on battlefields drowned in divine fire, and maybe because of that, he softened his thoughts. Despite knowing he knew he wasn’t in the wrong when Furia ran into the forest, Galatea had likely rushed into the forest and saved her.

Even then, she came all this way back to him.

It was enough for Luka to forget any grudge or irritation.

"I’m sorry, Galatea, I was wrong."