Florian and Shneewittchen

"GHAA…! Haaah… haaa…!"

"GHHH…! Nhnn…"

The conjoined pair separated completely!

The cedar-red-skinned elvenkin man fell to all fours, breathing heavily while the apparition stumbled back, managing to keep her balance.

"..."

The apparition shook her head, hugging herself as if experiencing the harshest of cold.

Her appearance was that of a scantily dressed female.

Her skin was as white as snow.

Her hair was as black as ebony.

And her lips and eyes were as crimson as blood.

Although undoubtedly beautiful to the standards of most intelligent species, her facial features seemed most similar to those of goblins and orcs, although far too refined to call them monstrous.

The other distinctive feature were her ears.

Long and pointy, similar to an elvenkin ones, but pointing down, aligning almost perfectly with the arch of her neck.

The least eye-catching but still distinct part of her were her pupils, gray instead of black and distorted instead of perfectly round.

"Just who…? What was that…!?"

The apparition trembled fearfully, crying out in a sweet voice, staring up towards the branches from where the red light was coming from onlty moments earlier.

"...wh-wha…?"

Meanwhile, the cedar-red-skinned man shook his head, looking around, disoriented…

"Father!? Father, where are y…?! Our soldiers…! Why is there no one around…?! Where am I…?! WHAT!?"

He pulled himself up before looking around, calling in despair, before focusing on the Sacred Tree in front of him and shouting in disbelief.

"The Sacred Tree?! Am I back in the capital…? What happened to the battlefie…?! YOU!"

The man muttered in shock before turning around and roaring at the sight of the apparition.

"SCHNEEWITTCHEN!"

He growled, reaching out to his side…

"Wha…? My equipement…! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME AND OUR LAND, YOU DEMONKIN FILTH!?"

As his hand grasped at nothing, the cedar-red-skinned elf gasped before howling.

"ENT'S AXE!"

Without giving the apparition any time to respond, the elvenkin man reached out to the side and shouted.

The next moment the ground directly under his hand bulged out and a tree root sprouted out, forming into a grandiose-looking two-handed ax with the wide axehead glistening in the sparse sunlight like the hardest of metals.

"THIS IS WHERE YOU DIE, DEMON!"

"..."

The elvenkin man tore out the weapon, roots and all, and roared, throwing himself at the pitiful-looking, vulnerable apparition.

"Hmph~!"

But as the cedar-red-skinned man swung his ax at her, Schneewittchen scoffed with a smirk…

*WHAAAAAAAAAAAM*

…and the elvenkin man's weapon passed right through her ephemeral body, hitting the ground and splitting it with a deafening explosion sending out shockwave across the area…

*THUMP*

"Huh…?"

Although the man seemed to expect that outcome to some degree, when some unidentified whitish object fell down from what seemed to be the top of the Sacred Tree, bounced off and got redirected by the spreading shockwave of his attack. It ended up slamming down at the base of the Sacred Tree, revealing itself to be a holly-skinned elvenkin woman whom the cedar-red-skinned man had never seen in his life, which caused him to let out a shocked gasp.

"Aww… Even after a thousand years, the way you are still so easily distracted melts my heart, my sweet Florian~"

"...!"

The moment of his distraction was instantly taken advantage of by the apparition, who wrapped herself around him akin to a parasitic vine and hummed playfully, getting a hold of his chin and forcing the cedar-red-skinned former second prince of the elvenkin, Florian Opalitte, to stare at her in utter bewilderment.

"Th-thousand year…?!"

"See? That's what I'm talking about~"

Florian muttered, stunned, which made Schneewittchen giggle and lean in for a playful peck on his cheek.

…but the moment her crimson lips touched his skin, they didn't stop, but instead the demonkin woman seemed to sink into his flesh, disappearing completely the next second as if sucked in…!

"..."

The lone cedar-red-skinned elvenkin man closed his eyes and lowered his head…

"..."

Only to straighten his back and raise his head after a few short moments.

"Oh, my sweet, adorably stupid Florian. That's what you get for not running away at the mere sight of Demon Lord Lilith's First General, Schneewittchen, for a second time."

The monarch opened his eyes, which pupils were crimson red, and giggled to himself, closing his eyes for a moment and opening them only to reveal that his pupils turned back to their natural color.

"But still... What in the world happened here? Huh…?"

The monarch then furrowed his brows and tilted his head looking at the partly-uprooted Sacred Tree, only to flinch at the sight of the the holly-skinned elvenkin woman donning a crown-like garland, lying limp by one of the roots.

"Haha~! Would you look at that! As if I needed another reason to be interested in you~!"

The cedar-red-skinned monarch laughed in amusement, approaching Lina.

"Hiih…!"

As he moved, he passed by the cherry-skinned woman who barely regained her consciousness and yelped in despair at the sight of him.

"Out of my sight."

"...! Th-thank you…!"

But then, luckily for her, the monarch merely glared at her and scoffed, causing his previous victim to eagerly crawl away as fast as she could, going as far as being grateful for the grace of being let go.

"..."

Being left alone, the monarch stared at the limp unmoving woman, furrowing his brows with an intense look in his eyes.

She looked as if she was merely sleeping, although the trails of blood flowing down her neck and staining the back of her attire were directly opposing such a conclusion.

A couple of moments later, he ended up kneeling down and…

…burrowed his face in her chest, nuzzling himself comfortably…

After a while of such action, he turned his head, placing one ear against her chest and keenly listening in…

"Oho~! Alive!"

As he opened his eyes, glistening playfully, the cedar-red-skinned monarch cheered out with a big grin.

"Aren't you lucky? Right now I'm so grateful to you, that I will focus all of my attention on you~ Can't wait to see how our offspring will turn o… Hmm…?"

The monarch gasped with excitement, reaching under Lina's body to prick her up in a bridal carry but let out a surprised voice when something stopped him.

After a closer inspection, the cedar-red-skinned monarch discovered that not only the garland around the holly-skinned woman's head spread roots that attached itselves to the root of the Sacred Tree.

Actually, even more thin root-like growths were extending from the Sacred Tree's root itself, digging into and embedding themselves into Lina's flesh.

"Would you look at that~! You want to keep your Chosen one alive at all costs, don't you~?"

The monarch leaned back and cheered out in amusement, turning his head and grinning towards the Sacred Tree.

He then put the woman back down and gave her body a good, long look.

"That makes the future even more interesting, though~"

The cedar-red-skinned monarch giggled, reaching for Lina's clothes….

****

"Haaa... Forget it... What a way to start the winter break…"

Melinda closed her eyes, deactivating the skill, and sighed bitterly, as if disappointed in herself, before walking into the girls' dormitory.