Chapter: 217
In a world hurtling toward destruction, with horrific abominations that made one feel lightheaded just by looking at them, and humans becoming ever more accustomed to killing to survive.
To protect Lian, who had soft hands that had never even properly held a sword, Iris needed to stay sharp and focused.
…But that was easier said than done.
“…”
“Uh… why are you staring like that?”
“…”
“Iris…?”
Iris looked up at Lian silently and puffed out her cheeks. Realizing what she wanted, Lian’s eyes darted around while his face turned beet red.
Tap, tap.
As she playfully poked her cheek with her index finger, Lian found himself unable to escape and squeezed his eyes shut.
Smooch.
A gentle breath brushed softly against Iris’s cheek and then pulled away. If Iris had a tail, it would be wagging like crazy — she was that excited!
Lian, turning a deep shade of red as if he might bleed out paint, covered his chin with his unbound hand.
‘Just a quick kiss… why am I so embarrassed?’
It wasn’t even on the lips; it was just a peck on the cheek, and yet he felt like his face might explode. He was so flustered that steam might just start puffing out of his ears.
Iris’s face was also flushed but not to the same extent as Lian. He covertly rolled his eyes to steal a glance at Iris’s face.
With a smile that seemed to melt in the sunlight, her cheeks puffed out made her look like a hamster who had stuffed its cheeks full of sunflower seeds, or perhaps even like a baby bunny.
So unbelievably cute.
Seeing Iris’s expression was so adorably sweet just because of his kiss made Lian’s heart skip a beat. He found himself unconsciously staring at her soft, cherry blossom-colored lips.
What kind of reaction would she have if I kissed those? Would her face flush as red as mine? Or would she be too shocked and hide her face? They looked so soft; were they even softer than her cheeks?
Desires typical for someone in love began to swirl chaotically in Lian’s thoughts. It didn’t take long for him to suddenly snap back to reality, wide-eyed and shocked.
‘W-What am I thinking…’
Frantically shaking his head to dispel the vivid imagery, he raised a hand and slapped his own cheek as if to snap himself out of it.
“…! O-Op-pa!”
The slap echoed loudly, surprising both of them. Iris approached him with a stiffened expression and took hold of his hand, rendering both of his hands captured by her.
“Why did you suddenly hit yourself?”
“Uh, um… well…”
He couldn’t bring himself to say, ‘Because I was thinking naughty thoughts about you,’ and ended up sweating profusely as he awkwardly crafted an excuse.
“T-there was a bug! I was trying to swat it! Haha! But I might’ve missed it!”
That was a pretty plausible excuse, or so he thought, when Iris’s hand suddenly moved towards his cheek.
With a gentle, delicate touch, her hand swept across his face like she was handling fragile glass, filled with affection and concern, and Lian went completely stiff.
Then, he registered that Iris was on her tiptoes, desperately trying to balance. Instinctively, Lian bent down a bit.
“If a bug comes out, I’ll catch it, so don’t hit me.”
“No, I can handle a bug…”
Before he could finish his sentence, Iris’s hand slid down to grip his chin. In the blink of an eye, her soft lips were inches away from his. Gasp! He held his breath, and at the same time, something warm touched his cheek.
Smooch.
With a light sound, the heat in his cheeks reignited.
“If you do that again, I’ll bite you.”
“Uh, y-yes.”
With a teasing smile as she pinched his cheek, Lian nodded obediently like a well-trained puppy. At that, Iris smiled as brightly as a blooming flower.
‘Wow…’
Could that smile destroy a few countries?
Her smile was so dazzling that it made Lian think for a moment he was standing in the middle of a paradise flower garden, rather than a ruined street.
When he snapped back to reality, he found himself walking hand in hand with her down the street.
The objective of this outing was to find food and supplies, but the atmosphere between the two felt more like a springtime date.
Keek!
Squish.
Gurgle!
Crunch!
Occasionally, monstrous abominations would pop out, but they fell helplessly before Iris’s sword.
Although she couldn’t use mana, some inexplicable power aided her, allowing her to slice through monsters three meters tall with ease.
‘…It’s Lian’s power.’
Instinctively, Iris realized that the support she felt was related to the protective barrier Lian had set up, as the gag deity had mentioned.
‘Is Lian okay?’
As she thought about the barrier Lian created to protect her, she remembered the way his body was covered in bruises.
Thinking of the gag deity hugging him made her grip Lian’s hand tighter, eliciting a small groan from him as a sudden pain shot through.
“Ah.”
“…! Oh, Lian, I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine. Did you see something scary?”
Looking into Lian’s gentle gaze settled Iris’s anxiety like a soothing balm. For reasons she couldn’t explain, she felt assured that the person in front of her was indeed Lian.
Perhaps she had fainted earlier and was now here in this place with Lian, or maybe she had entered into Lian’s innermost self.
Regardless of the scenario, the fact remained: the person before her was Lian, and it was her duty to protect him.
‘For now, let’s focus on keeping Lian safe.’
With that resolve, the two continued to walk through the world on the brink of ruin.
*
About two weeks passed. Both of them had grown accustomed to living in the crumbling world.
During the day, they searched for supplies, and at night, they cuddled up in a safe place to sleep.
They would fetch water from a nearby river to maintain cleanliness. Items for hygiene were lying around, making them easy to obtain.
A translucent abomination lived by the river, which uniquely maintained the water’s quality.
It would happily gulp down humans drawn by the clear water, but if they offered up a corpse, it would give a brief window to use the water.
It didn’t just enjoy human corpses; it also had a penchant for feasting on the dead abominations, allowing the two to procure water easily.
The hardest thing to find was food. Most places like stores had been cleaned out completely, leaving only garbage that couldn’t be used as food.
They had nothing to barter for a trade.
The two would gather food from corpses or, for reasons unknown, somehow receive offerings of food from people who treated Iris like a sacrificial goddess.
Additionally, they would search for the dead at night and harvest sweet fruits during the day from trees that bloomed with flowers and bore delicious berries.
As the days went by, the closeness between them grew rapidly.
Iris’s brakes were malfunctioning, and Lian had no reason to refuse.
It became routine to fall asleep in each other’s arms every night, and now they were kissing, not just pecking on the cheeks.
“Phew…”
“Phew…”
Still, they were both inexperienced in kissing, so they would just hold their lips together, not really doing much more. They hadn’t moved on to actual kissing yet, but… it was a significant step forward.
Facing each other while holding their breath and then pulling away made them laugh, and they exchanged honeyed gazes.
From that point onward, Iris wanted to kiss whenever there was an opportunity. It was a heavy request for Lian, an ordinary guy who was not blessed like Iris, whose flower scent lingered even without bathing.
‘I’ll wash up..! I’ll wash up for you!’
Every time he shook his head inwardly screaming like that, Iris would make an incredibly pouty face. As a price for making her pout, he knew he’d have to kiss her as much as she wanted after cleaning up by the river.
After pouring countless kisses that left heat on their lips, a satisfied Iris would burrow deeper into Lian’s embrace.
Her hair, softer than any cloth, brushed against his arms, and the rhythmic thumping of her heart, unable to hide her feelings, made his head spin.
Though the world was in ruins, it felt as if they had finally found peace.
‘I’m happy. I wish this moment could last forever…’
Lian, who had only been blending into the world to survive, finally had a genuine desire. He began dreaming a sweet dream of wanting to live together in a world where she was breathing and alive.
A crack.
That was… a choice that defied the power of the divine. Somewhere, a sound of breaking echoed.
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