DSB 106

“…Stop it!”

“Young Madam!”

“So Yutis is no longer an option, it’s aiming this way.”

When they realize the target in front of them is strong, there are creatures that instead try to kill the weaker one.

Lebel’s eyes met Yutis’s.

“Daughter-in-law, it’s dangerous here. You should move away too.”

“Ah, I’m fine. Yutis is here.”

“Yutis can’t protect you while also…!”

“Look. They’re already here.”

Lebel pointed forward with his chin. Something arrived even earlier than the rapidly charging basilisk. It was Karon.

Shati, who had been carrying Yutis and following the basilisk’s movements, seemed exhausted and was panting far behind. Instead, Karon, whose body had grown much larger, was carrying Yutis.

[Why do I even have to carry this human?!]

“Then are you just going to watch that thing approach my wife?”

[Who said that? Draw your sword! Hurry up and cut off that bastard’s neck with sword aura!]

“…That’s what I’m planning to do.”

At that moment, the basilisk swallowed the cold air around it, its belly swelled, and then it breathed out. Yutis swung his sword with all his strength when he saw this.

The flashy move drew everyone’s eyes. As the powerful breath was split apart, the basilisk blinked in confusion.

Yutis immediately raised his sword again. Something was condensing around the blade, like the start of a blizzard.

Lebel could feel the movement of demonic energy.

I knew he would succeed.

“Your opponent is me. If you want to go over there, you’ll have to kill me first.”

Yutis always did his best to survive. Whether it was a demon or a beast, he would kill anything he had to.

“It’s pretty. It’s white.”

Lebel said with a smile on his face.

The demonic energy he had given was purple, as befitting a demon, but now it had been dyed with Yutis’s own color.

It was such a bright light that it didn’t even seem like demonic energy. It was a large, dense power that others could see as well.

After seeing this, that “demon’s bloodline” nickname will disappear.

Demonic energy is the power of the soul, and Yutis had unintentionally used a great deal of it through battle. Furthermore, his body was sturdy enough that even Lebel’s demonic energy was eagerly clinging to it, so the path was already clear.

The basilisk instinctively whipped its tail at the incoming sword aura.

But the tail never reached the ground and was cut off midair by the blade. It was similar to when Yutis had cut off Norman’s wing.

“Karon, forward.”

[Don’t order me around!]

Despite his irritable voice, Karon charged forward with a vigorous pace. The basilisk regained its senses and tried to block the attack by spitting out venom, but Karon quickly dodged.

[I can’t let you be the only one showing off in front of Lord Lebel.]

“Ah! The young master is…!”

The figure of Karon carrying Yutis disappeared. Then it suddenly emerged from within the basilisk’s shadow.

Yutis plunged his sword into the monster’s belly and raked it upward. There was no need to use sword aura. The blade encased in demonic energy was sharp enough to pierce even its hard outer hide.

The basilisk howled in pain from the spinning slash that continued from below, but Yutis jumped up and plunged his sword into its neck.

Eventually, the large body fell backwards in a cloud of dust.

“…Ha.”

Yutis, catching his breath as he gazed at the fallen basilisk, raised his head. Not far away, he saw Lebel smiling at him.

“Wow….”

The knights gaped in amazement at the unbelievable sight before their eyes, and then cheered.

Yutis ran across the snow toward Lebel.

“My wife…. I did it.”

“Yes. I believed you would. You’re not hurt?”

“You told me not to get hurt….”

He was breathing roughly, but he wasn’t seriously injured. There were only traces of his cloak and clothes melting from contact with the venom.

“You look great. This is how my husband should be.”

A smile bloomed on his pale, lovely face. The innocent, playful smile was so bright it was almost blinding. Yutis smiled back at Lebel.

“How is it? It’s easy once you get the hang of it.”

“It was possible because you helped me.”

Lebel examined Yutis. His demonic energy seemed to have decreased a little. Lebel tiptoed and kissed Yutis’s lips.

Yutis could feel the demonic energy being transferred. But what he needed now wasn’t demonic energy.

“Wife, why now…?”

“Hm? Because I wanted to.”

With wide-open eyes, Lebel asked if there was a problem. Yutis’ earlobes turned red. It wasn’t the cold wind that caused the redness.

“I’ve taken care of it, so go inside the cave. Your face is cold.”

Just then, the ground started shaking. It was a larger quake than when the demonic beast had appeared and jumped on top of the cave.

Boom!

“Ah, ah?”

The mountain trembled. Birds flew high into the sky, and knights staggered.

A massive vibration sent Yutis lifting Lebel. Lebel, started by the sudden lift, wrapped his arms around Yutis’s neck. The knights, who were also panicking, realized a tremendous noise was coming from above.

Then they saw the snow falling rapidly down the mountain and panicked.

“It’s an avalanche!!”

“We need to evacuate quickly!”

The knights who witnessed the avalanche tried to flee, but the piled snow was deep, and the quake made the ground unstable. Edmund came to his senses and gave orders to the knights.

“Run toward the trees!”

“No. There’s no need to avoid it.”

Lebel spoke while looking at the white snow falling down from above, then stretched out his hand.

The purple flames that erupted engulfed the world and all the falling snow. The knights, frozen in their tracks, ready to flee, looked at Lebel with shocked eyes.

“Is that magic too…?”

“Uh, uh? It is magic, but….”

The flames that surrounded the knights, protecting them, were not extinguished by the avalanche. Instead, the fire that caught in their eyes burned fiercely, as if it could melt all the snow.

The knights, who had been watching the flames flicker before their eyes, noticed that the earthquake had subsided and the snow was no longer falling from above.

The sudden quake and avalanche had happened because a huge creature sleeping in the cave had been startled awake.

“He really makes a loud fuss when he wakes up.”

The reason the creature that had been sleeping even through his demonic energy suddenly woke up must be because he sensed Yutis’s.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m fine, I’m fine.”

Lebel waved his hand back and forth as if nothing was wrong. At his gesture, the flames scattered and vanished.

“Karon.”

[Yes! You called?]

“Escort father-in-law safely.”

[…What? You’re not coming with us?!]

“I can go with Yutis.”

He didn’t want them to meet, but since he woke up after sensing Yutis’s presence, it felt like they would meet one way or another.

“You know I have something to do here, right?”

“Yes. I know. Are you taking me with you?”

“Even if I leave you behind, you’d follow anyway.”

When Yutis smiled and set him down, Lebel wandered around, searching for something. He had melted all the snow piled nearby with fire earlier, making it easier to walk.

“You have something to do here?”

“Ah, there’s someone I need to meet.”

“This is a place where only demonic beasts live. Who would you meet in a place like this?”

The searching gaze followed him, but Lebel didn’t care. It probably seemed strange that someone would look for anyone on the Mountain of Death.

“Father, it’s not dangerous. I’ll be with him.”

“…Daughter-in-law, I know you don’t move without a reason. Be careful.”

Edmund turned his head and shouted at the knights.

“We’re going back?”

“What about the young master and the young madam?”

“Even if they defeated a demonic beast, this is the Mountain of Death. Who knows what kind of danger might…”

“Those two? You just saw that they’re far stronger than you. We’ll return first.”

The knights looked flustered, but Edmund only gestured to Shati and turned away.

The first to move at his command were Yutis’s subordinates. They had already seen the strength of the two of them, and they knew that if Lebel wanted to do something, he would do it in the end.

“Young master, please keep the young madam safe. If you take your eyes off him, he’ll cause trouble again.”

Bron was the first to bow his head to Yutis and ask.

“That’s right. What he did earlier was reckless.”

“Don’t worry.”

“…?”

Lebel tilted his head.

He had just shown power that was equally impossible to believe was human, so why were they asking Yutis?

[Lord Lebel, I’ll stay with you as well.]

“If I’m not here, it’ll be easier for demonic beasts to attack. Father-in-law is injured, so someone needs to guard him.”

Karon looked back pitifully, but Lebel waved his hand, telling him to go on.

“If it’s dangerous, we’ll evacuate immediately.”

“It won’t be dangerous.”

When Lebel silently held out his hand, Yutis took it.

“Alright then, shall we go meet him?”

Lebel tapped the ground with his foot.

“Hm?”

Was something blocking it?

Lebel stomped harder. A heavy thud sounded like before, and cracks spread beneath them.

“Wait, the cave…!”

As the ground opened and Yutis felt the sensation of falling, he tried to pull away, but Lebel spread his wings and instead beat them downward.

Lebel headed toward the place where he could strongly feel the presence. While flying, he destroyed anything that got in the way with his wings and arrived at the place he was aiming for.

Yutis, pale with shock, looked at Lebel and spoke.

“My wife… how could you destroy the floor like that….”