“Huh? Whoa, what!?”
In the midst of his seething rage and ever-growing lust, feeling his hand between Sharon’s warm thighs made him forget to breathe despite his heart racing faster than ever. He glanced at Sharon’s face to see that her cheeks matched the color of her hair.
“Ah! Say, could you, maybe, umm... take the lead now?”
This is it! She’s been hiding her ultimate weapon all along!
Learning about Sharon’s shy, bashful side spelled Al’s doom. He’d completely fallen for her, and he understood what she wanted from him. He slowly released her breasts and moved his shaking hand to her lips.
Boom!
Heavenly Surge activated the moment their lips touched, but something was different this time.
What is this...? The mana—no, something else is taking over my entire being.
An explosive surge of mana filled his body, and his stamina not only returned, but increased tenfold. In addition, Sharon’s memories were mixed in with the surge of power. Her feelings of grief, abandonment, and regret overtook Al’s soul.
So that’s what happened with your back...
Al suppressed his boiling rage and embraced Sharon as gently as possible. She was caught up in a flurry of emotions completely different from his, though her experience was more or less the same as last time: her body was heating up and her thoughts were hazy. However, her spasming body, caught up in the waves of mana and pleasure, was assaulted by something she’d never experienced before.
“What’s happening!? It’s almost like... I can feel you inside me... Hahhhn! Could it be... No, noooo... Ahhh! Something’s flowing into meeeee! Ahhhhhhhn!”
Did I just lose my purity? After losing control for a moment due to the surge of mana and lust, the link between her and Al was finally severed. Strange, my stomach feels warm. It’s... kind of nice.
She found herself happily stroking her stomach as Heavenly Surge finished. She wanted to enjoy the cozy warmth.
“What is this? It’s like I’m... bearing Al’s chi—”
“Let’s do this, Sharon!”
She was pulled back to reality with a pat on the shoulder from Al. Looking up at him, Sharon realized that he was fuming with rage.
“Why are you so mad?” she asked in a worried tone.
“You did well.” Al pet her head and fluffed her hair. From that simple action, she understood what was happening.
“Yeah. Yeah, you’re right! It’s a bit sudden, but I’m turning my back on Freiya!”
She turned her blushing face around, begrudgingly lifted her sword, and blasted off toward the Freiyan troops. Al, swift as the wind, passed her and jumped into the swarm of heavy infantry standing in their way.
“Aaaaargh!” He swung his scythe with a primal roar and mowed down multiple soldiers with a single strike.
“What are you standing around for!? Attack! That bastard is half dead already! Mages, provide cover!” Ranbolg was frozen in place witnessing Al’s sudden revival, but Gatou had his wits about him.
“Demon King! Lend me your strength!”
Black flames engulfed the incoming spells. The soldiers rushing to Ranbolg’s aid were easily mowed down.
“W-Wow...” Sharon stood back, watching in awe as Al single-handedly destroyed the enemy’s defense. He didn’t rely solely on the Demon King’s power, but used his own techniques as well to swiftly and easily decimate the enemy troops. Someone tapped her shoulder while she was lost in admiration.
“Oh my, he’s rather mad. I wonder what happened,” Cecilia said while keeping the incoming soldiers at bay with her weapon.
“Cecilia...”
Finally, it hit Sharon. She realized what was happening around her.
I... I betrayed Al. Am I really allowed to be saved by him and go back to his side like nothing ever happened?
The moment their eyes met, Sharon averted her gaze and stared at the ground in front of her, while Cecilia smiled.
“Oh my, he jumped through so many hoops to save you. I would feel bad for him if he got an empty husk in return.”
In any other situation, Sharon would’ve pounced at her, but this was different.
“But...” Sharon couldn’t get that damning thought out of her head.
“Listen, Sharon,” Cecilia said, letting out a small sigh. “Al is now enraged. Enraged beyond belief. He’s mad because of what they did to you and is fighting to make it right. You should think about whether it’s right to acknowledge my beloved little brother’s efforts with such a lonesome expression.”
“Cecilia, I...”
She clenched her transformed relic, Dáinsleif, and raised her head. Instead of being distraught, she wore a smile Cecilia herself would be jealous of.
“Now go. Go, and break free from your chains with your own two hands.”
Cecilia looked at her with the warm smile of a kind mother, to which Sharon looked back with teary eyes and a bright smile of her own.
“Thanks. I’m off!” She shot toward the Freiyan soldiers, leaving a cloud of dust behind her.
“The ex-Freiyan Diva, Sharon, moving out! Come, let’s dance!”
Sharon’s powerful smile had finally returned.
“Aaaaaaah!”
Ranbolg heard Sharon’s wild scream in the distance, but he didn’t have time to worry about that. The soldiers defending him were getting knocked out at an alarming rate.
“M-Mages! Archers! Get rid of him!” He gave out a panicked order.
“Demon King, lend me your power!”
Immediately following Al’s shout, black flames burst up behind Ranbolg, who was retreating with Gatou while being guarded by the Lost Children. The soldiers stationed around the headquarters also rushed to help, but they were no match for Al and Sharon’s rampage. Slowly but surely, they were catching up to him.
“Stop that man! Whoever stops him will drown in riches!” he shouted while running away at full speed.
Seeing their general run away killed the soldiers’ motivation, but they were ready to put on a fight for a hefty bounty. Driven by greed, they moved quickly, firing countless arrows and spells toward Sharon and deploying a magic barrier around their position.
“Aaaaahhh!”
She simply flicked the fireballs away and cut down the rain of arrows.
“Arrrrghh!”
Al sliced through the thick magic barrier with one swing, and blasted away the soldiers behind it with the next.
“You think you can stop me with that now!?” Al shouted, drenched in a cold sweat.
Controlling his strength when he was powered up with Heavenly Surge was no easy task. The mana in his body was running rampant, just like when he’d performed Heavenly Surge with Feena. It was like riding a wild horse, but this time, the pressure was even stronger. He felt like the Demon King would take over his entire being if he were to give in to his rage. He was desperately trying to control it, but every time Sharon entered his field of vision, he remembered the terrible scars on her back, which sent his emotions into a frenzy.
“It’s all your fault! Why did you have to do that to Sharon!?”
He spun his scythe, knocking out soldiers one after another, but Freiya’s numbers were far superior, and he quickly found himself surrounded.
“Shall I give you a sneak peek at hell!?”
Anyone would have been frightened if they were surrounded by a group of soldiers, but not Al. Not now. His eyes weren’t feral, like those of a beast ready for the fight of its life, but curious, like a child ready to crush some ants.
“H-Hey! Where the hell are the reinforcements!? What are those fools doing!?”
“Kyah!”
After being forced to retreat, Ranbolg finally lost his composure and hit one of the nearby Lost Children. He didn’t even look at the girl tumbling to the ground, and he’d rather have had his tongue cut out than apologize. This was a completely normal thing for him; those girls were nothing more than lowly slaves, after all, unable to even complain. But he felt like something was off. Even after relieving his anger, his mood didn’t improve in the slightest.
“It’s because of that Diva! It’s all Sharon’s fault!”
To divert his thoughts, he kicked the girl again and again, yet his anger didn’t fade. He frantically looked around in search of the reason, and soon enough, he found it. It was right in front of his eyes: the abused slave was glaring back at him.
“Y-You filth! How dare you glare at me like that! Come here, I’ll teach you how to behave like the obedient, worthless slave you are!”
Her face, her stomach, her limbs. Ranbolg’s wrath didn’t leave out any part of her body, but the girl’s scornful gaze didn’t change.
“We’ll... We’ll follo’ Sharon,” Airi, the tormented girl, whispered.