"Found you!"
Zesshi Zetsumei's heterochromatic eyes gleamed.
Her gaze locked onto Naohara and the figure in his arms, excitement and exhilaration mingling across her face.
"A human? No... a Half-Elf?"
Keno regarded the uninvited guest with confusion.
She could smell both a human and an Elf.
Was she of mixed blood?
Judging by her expression, she also seemed to know Naohara.
An odd look crept into Keno's eyes.
Could this be one of the romantic entanglements he had left behind?
He was a dragon, after all. Everyone knew what that implied.
Drawing on everything she had recently learned from romance novels, Keno immediately imagined a dramatic tale of love and resentment involving a woman traveling thousands of miles in search of her husband.
She turned to Naohara with an inquisitive look.
"Ahem. Don't misunderstand. I barely know her."
Sensing the death glare directed at him, Naohara hurriedly explained.
To Keno, however, his haste only made him look flustered.
Why was he so eager to explain himself?
She had not even asked him anything!
Renner had once told her that explanations were merely attempts to hide the truth, and trying to hide something only proved it was real.
Hmph. A man's mouth was full of lies!
Before, Keno had merely been suspicious. Now she was completely certain that these two shared some secret relationship.
"You two can sort this out yourselves. I won't disturb you."
"And I don't actually mind you seeing other women, but you should at least tell me beforehand so we don't end up in another situation like this."
As she spoke, Keno reached out and patted Naohara on the head as though encouraging him.
She then walked away, leaving the two of them alone.
Naohara's mouth twitched as he watched her go.
Great. She had completely misunderstood.
And had she just patted him on the head?
What kind of upside-down world was this?!
"...So what are you doing in the Sorcerer Kingdom?"
Naohara asked helplessly.
As he spoke, he cast the 10th-tier spell [Time Reverse], restoring the buildings Zesshi Zetsumei had destroyed to their original state.
"Hehe. I missed you~"
Zesshi Zetsumei tilted her head, a sweet smile appearing on her face.
Without another word, she suddenly lunged at Naohara. She crossed the distance in the blink of an eye, swinging the massive scythe behind her down with tremendous force.
Zesshi Zetsumei's attack was astonishingly fast. Everything happened in an instant, but Naohara was faster.
The moment the attack reached him, he shifted with its momentum. Like a sheet of paper caught in the wind, he smoothly slipped past the strike.
The force generated by the scythe blasted a huge crater into the ground.
"Is that... a Martial Art?"
"No, that's not it. It's some kind of special combat technique."
Zesshi Zetsumei continued attacking as she studied his movements, a thoughtful look appearing in her eyes.
"Something like that. For now, I call it [Paper Dance], though [Force Dissipation] would work too."
Paper Dance originated from a combat technique in an anime from his first life.
By relaxing every muscle in the body, one could control it as freely and effortlessly as drawing upon paper, allowing the user to adapt flexibly to any combat situation.
For the current Naohara, mastering it had not been difficult.
The [Sword Saint] class had granted him a wealth of related knowledge. Combined with magic, that allowed him to turn certain theories into reality with ease.
Not that it was particularly useful.
His raw strength was simply too overwhelming. Techniques like this were little more than decoration, something he might occasionally use to show off.
"You're much better than last time, but you're still far too inexperienced."
Naohara effortlessly avoided another of her vicious attacks.
In that instant, his arm shot forward with his palm facing upward, like lightning streaking through the air.
Time seemed to freeze.
His hand stopped a mere millimeter from her pale neck.
"Don't appear before me again, unless you want to experience death one more time."
Naohara's gaze was cold and resolute, radiating a chilling murderous intent.
Zesshi Zetsumei felt it, and her body began to tremble uncontrollably.
But then, to Naohara's astonishment, she pressed his palm against her cheek.
"Death..."
"If it's you, I don't mind."
"Just like last time, use these hands to gently place my severed head on the ground."
Zesshi Zetsumei extended her tongue and licked her lips.
Beneath her clothes, beads of sweat began to form across her slender body.
It was sweat born from excitement.
The air around them seemed to freeze.
The next second, Naohara abruptly yanked his hand away.
"Damn it, there's something seriously wrong with her!"
His cold expression vanished at once as he cursed inwardly.
What the hell were those priests of the Theocracy doing?
How had they managed to raise someone like this?!
He would rather fight the Six Great Gods alone than face her. The entire situation felt far too strange.
"What's wrong? Can't bring yourself to kill me?"
"Then come, my dear. Let's continue our fight~"
Zesshi Zetsumei gave him a provocative smile, raised her scythe, and charged again.
How gentle.
But... wasn't this exactly what she wanted?~
She wanted to fight someone powerful...
She wanted him to gently ravage her...
She wanted to use the battle to convey her love...
"For fuck's sake..."
Naohara grabbed Zesshi Zetsumei as she rushed toward him.
He first confiscated her weapon, then took out a Divine-class dragon sinew rope and bound her with it.
Both her hands and feet were tied securely.
Only after seeing Zesshi Zetsumei writhing across the ground like a caterpillar did Naohara finally breathe a sigh of relief.
"Oh? Are you into this sort of thing?"
"I think it's called bondage seduction."
Zesshi Zetsumei twisted her body.
Her hands were bound tightly behind her back, and the coarse rope dug deeply into her skin, leaving marks behind.
Her feet had also been tied together, leaving her completely unable to move.
She tried to struggle, but every attempt only caused the ropes to tighten further.
"Shut up!"
"Someone, find any room and throw her inside."
Naohara took out a dragonhide adhesive strip and sealed it firmly over her mouth. He then summoned a nearby soldier and ordered him to carry Zesshi Zetsumei out of his sight.
As the saying went, ugly perverts were not the truly dangerous ones. The real threat was a good-looking pervert.
Zesshi Zetsumei undoubtedly belonged to the latter category.
To be honest, it would have been a lie to say her words had not affected him at all.
Naohara admitted that his heart had stirred slightly.
...
The surrounding commotion gradually subsided.
Naohara stood quietly in place, his gaze fixed on a nearby corner.
His eyes were deep and focused, as though he were waiting for something.
A moment later, a figure emerged.
"Ahaha. Long time no see, Naohara."
A slightly awkward voice rang out.
The Captain of the Black Scripture, or rather, the God of Wind, scratched the back of his head and approached Naohara with a polite smile.
"You two have finished watching the show, so come out and share your thoughts."
Naohara showed no surprise at the God of Wind's appearance. It seemed he had expected this from the beginning.
He turned toward another corner and spoke calmly.
Realizing they could no longer remain hidden, two more figures emerged one after another.
"Haha. What a coincidence, Naohara."
"By the way, your... um, binding technique was pretty impressive!"
Momonga stared at Naohara and spent a long moment trying to think of something to say. In the end, all he could do was compliment Naohara's skill at tying people up.
"Momonga, the next time you don't know what to say, I think it would be better to remain silent."
Herohero hurriedly reminded him from the side.
Why had he actually shared his thoughts?
Could he not see that Naohara was about to explode?
Sure enough, watching the show came at a price.
With that thought, Herohero glanced at the Captain of the Black Scripture beside him, his mind beginning to turn.
The God of Wind, one of the Six Great Gods?
A spiritual Soul sustained by faith, using the body of his own descendant as a vessel.
Interesting~