The sound behind the rock stopped.

Lira processed it in the sudden silence — her fingers still, her breathing that had been accelerated returning to something more manageable, her cheeks flushed.

She moved away from the rock.

Fast.

At a speed that made the air close behind her with a soft sound. Three seconds from the rock to the door the labyrinth had opened to the outside.

Two more seconds to the mountain pass.

She stopped among the stones of the western sector with Aethon’s sun overhead and her sunglasses on.

She crossed her arms.

She waited.

---

Kai and Serah came out four minutes later.

Lira saw them coming from her position on the stones — Kai first, Serah behind with a satisfied smile.

Lira watched them arrive.

"You took a long time. What were you doing in there?" she said.

"Sorry," Kai said. "What did you do with the administrator?"

Lira looked at him.

"Ah, yes." She adjusted her glasses. "That one."

Pause.

"Its blood was deplorable." She looked at the horizon.

"Although maybe it’s because ever since I tasted yours, none other tastes the same." A shorter pause.

"It disappeared when I woke up from the labyrinth. But I made sure it won’t think about coming back."

"Thanks, I think..."

"It wasn’t for you." Lira looked at the stones on the ground. "It was on principle."

Kai looked at her for a moment.

Then he tilted his head to one side.

"If you want."

Lira looked at him.

Looked at his neck.

And lunged.

---

She got within ten centimeters of Kai’s neck.

And stopped.

The scent arrived before the memory.

The specific scent of the blood beneath Kai’s skin — it was fascinating at that distance. But then she caught another scent... the same one that had been behind the rock, the one that triggered exactly what Lira didn’t want triggered.

She stepped back.

One step. Two.

"We’d better go to the guild first."

Kai looked at her.

"Are you okay?"

"Perfectly fine." Lira was already walking toward the north road. "We need to turn in the mission. Aldric will be waiting for the report."

"We can—"

"To the guild."

Kai looked at his own neck.

Looked back at Lira.

He smiled.

He didn’t say it.

---

[DraconicLegacy: LIRA STOPPED AT TEN CENTIMETERS HAHAHAHAHA]

[Udo_Ehmen: the scent stopped her. not reason. the scent.]

[Per_sudin: "we’d better go to the guild first" the most random excuse for her.]

[Jack_Moore: Kai looked at his own neck. processed what happened. smiled without saying anything. perfect.]

[Warwolf: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ]

[Drakeking: ┗(°0°)┛ ┗(°0°)┛ LIRA FLEEING FROM THE NECK OR RATHER FROM KAI ┗(°0°)┛ ┗(°0°)┛]

---

"System," Kai said, to the air.

"Can you turn the stream back on?"

[Stream activated]

[Connecting...]

[Stream active]

---

[Dr_snow: KAI’S BACK]

[Chris_Murray: HOW LONG WAS THE STREAM OFF]

[Udo_Ehmen: too long. way too long. someone explain EVERYTHING]

[DraconicLegacy: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) recap: A_D_M labyrinth, administrator with :D face, Kai without a smile, Serah at 8%, Lira without magic. Kai won the information without finishing the fight.]

[Per_sudin: and why is Lira walking very fast ahead and Serah has that face]

[Jack_Moore: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) that face of Serah’s I know that one ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)]

---

Kai kept walking.

Serah followed him.

She stopped a meter from Lira — who was three steps ahead with the posture of someone focused on reaching a destination and not on anything else.

"Voyeuristic vampire."

Lira choked.

Not figuratively — literally, the air she was processing found resistance somewhere in her throat and produced the specific sound of someone who didn’t expect what they just heard.

She turned around.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about."

"I sensed your presence behind the rock."

"I was waiting outside. The mountain pass has lots of rocks."

"Specifically behind that rock."

"Coincidence."

Serah looked at her.

"I moved there on purpose."

Lira opened her mouth.

Closed it.

"Why would you do that?"

Serah tilted her head.

"So you’d listen." Her markings pulsed, steady, without the heat of combat. "So you’d know how Kai and I show each other love." A short pause. "And to prove to you that he’s only mine and that you could never make him feel what I make him feel."

Lira didn’t respond.

"Because I have this."

Serah gave a small hop.

The E-cup bounced with physics and gravity making her point emphatically clear.

Then she kept walking to catch up to Kai.

---

Lira stayed where she was.

She watched Serah’s chest moving away.

She looked at her own chest.

Went back to Serah’s.

A challenging smile appeared.

"So..." she said, quietly.

Then she stopped.

Her cheeks with the same heat as before.

"No, what am I thinking." She shook her head — literally, her black hair moving with the motion everywhere, creating a mini tornado.

"I don’t want to be with Kai."

Pause.

"I don’t."

She kept walking.

---

[Warwolf: SERAH GAVE A HOP TO PROVE THE POINT HAHAHAHAHA]

[Drakeking: "VOYEURISTIC VAMPIRE" SERAH SAID IT OUT LOUD]

[Dr_snow: Lira choked. first time Lira loses composure from words.]

[Chris_Murray: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) "I don’t want to be with Kai / I don’t" said twice ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)]

[DraconicLegacy: "so... well I’ll prove to you I can make him feel better" — Lira in challenge mode against Serah]

[Udo_Ehmen: Lira’s arc is the best secondary arc of this stream. I say it without doubt.]

[Per_sudin: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ "I DON’T WANT TO BE WITH KAI. I DON’T." ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ]

---

Aldric looked up when the three entered the guild.

"Good morning." He looked at the physical state of the three — Lira’s shoulder, Kai’s forearm, Serah’s markings in the glow of someone who recovered but took a while to do it. "Did it go well?"

"More or less," Kai said.

"The quest said no one had entered and returned with usable information."

"We returned."

"I see." Aldric took the report Kai handed him. He read it. Read it again. Looked at Kai. Went back to the report. "An A_D_M administrator."

"Yes."

"With goat horns."

"Yes."

"And a face of..." Aldric looked at the description Kai had written. "Colon and capital D?"

"Permanently."

Aldric processed this with his coffee.

"And the six-hundred-meter labyrinth?"

"That too."

"And the creatures with six arms, two-meter tentacles, and triple-layer bone plates?"

"Those too."

Aldric looked at Serah. At Lira. At Kai.

He drank.

"Alright." He put the report away. "Since you’re here and apparently still functional, there’s a demon on the outskirts of Mount Heiguers terrorizing A-rank hunters. If you want—"

"No," Kai said.

"We’re exhausted," Serah said.

"We’re going back to the inn," Kai said. "To rest."

Aldric looked at Lira.

Lira didn’t say anything for a second.

Then she looked at Kai.

Then at Serah — who had the expression of someone sure of her victory.

Serah’s markings pulsed once.

Lira looked at the markings.

"I’ll do it."

Kai looked at her.

"I can go too—"

"No." Lira was already taking the quest details from Aldric’s hands. "You two rest. I’ll handle it."

"Lira—"

"Rest."

She crossed the guild door without looking back.

---

The silence she left lasted exactly as long as it took Aldric to look at the closed door, then at Serah, then at Kai.

He drank his coffee.

"Did something happen between them?"

Serah looked at the door.

"No."

Kai looked at the door.

Looked at Serah.

Looked at Aldric.

He opened his mouth.

Closed it.

"I don’t know."

---

[Jack_Moore: ALDRIC ASKED WHAT WE ALL WANT TO KNOW]

[Warwolf: "did something happen between them?" the question of the century]

[Drakeking: Serah said "no" with a face that knew exactly what happened]

[Dr_snow: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) Kai said "I don’t know" and he’s right. he doesn’t know everything that happened ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)]

[Chris_Murray: Lira ran off to kill a demon so she wouldn’t be near Kai and Serah. the character arc.]

[DraconicLegacy: Serah marking territory with the hop. Lira going off on an impossible mission to clear her head. this is high-quality drama.]

[Udo_Ehmen: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ LIRA VS THE DEMON ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ SO SHE DOESN’T THINK ABOUT KAI ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ]

[Per_sudin: ┗(°0°)┛ ┗(°0°)┛ CHAT ALSO WANTS TO KNOW ┗(°0°)┛ ┗(°0°)┛]

[System — notification]

[Current viewers: 27,400,000]

Author’s Note from Exxs: Hi, if you’ve made it this far, could you drop a "." or a meme or something? Mostly to see who the readers are that are caught up with the Chapters so I can add them as chat users — since I don’t exactly know who you are — and thank you somehow for reading hahaha. I also left a Chapter talking about bonus Chapters, though I know it’s still too early for that, but oh well xd.

+++

Thank you for reading

Golden Ticket Event active: each donated ticket is multiplied by 2

Don’t forget to support the novel with a Power Stone or Golden Ticket! Every vote helps a lot.

Thank you!