Chapter 24: Fighting Apostle Noint!

A few minutes ago.

In the same place where Nader had appreciated the beautiful sunrise horizon when he was inside the kingdom's property, the surrounding space rippled and distorted slightly as three beautiful beings appeared from within.

Indeed, the three figures belonged to Nader, Yue, and Yuki.

Activating his spiritual senses, Nader surveyed the entire palace territory and a small, almost imperceptible smile appeared on his face when he sensed the presence of a person he was familiar with.

'This place hasn't changed at all in these months'.

He looked at Yue's face and learned that she had her eyes tightly closed. She was still not used to the sudden change of place, she felt a little dizzy.

Her eyelids fluttered prettily until beautiful crimson eyes were revealed for the first time in a long time above the surface.

The expansive landscape, the white clouds floating high in the blue sky, and the gentle breezes of the wind caressing her cheeks greeted her.

As if she did not believe what was happening in front of her eyes, she turned and looked at Nader's beautiful face. He just smiled warmly at her and nodded.

"Let me welcome you to the surface, Yue". He said, opening his arms for her to embrace him.

Yue, unable to contain her boundless happiness, jumped into Nader's chest, giving him a tight squeeze around his neck. Nader hugged her back while gently patting and caressing her golden head.

"I...really came back." Her eyes watered with happiness as she sucked in a breath of fresh air along with Nader's intoxicating scent.

It was pure, delicious air, air that filled one with freshness and with the feeling of living. Something that many, many years ago she had forgotten.

For three hundred years she had to endure the polluted and stagnant air of the labyrinth. Today, however, she was finally able to step out of that rotten puddle and once again appreciate the beautiful sensation of surface freshness.

"Mmm, thank you, Nader...".

"The Kiss is more than enough for you to thank me," Nader said mischievously, which added another touch to her already beautiful face.

"Mmm..." Yue happily agreed and kissed him affectionately to the lips. It was a kiss that conveyed her feelings of happiness and boundless love she felt for him.

After a few long minutes of passionate kissing, they pulled away from each other, leaving a thin line of saliva joining their lips.

Yue licked her lips seductively and averted her gaze to the distant reddish sun that was halfway around the world.

The gentle breeze that washed over her and the scorching warmth that was given off by the sun's arms reassured her that she was where she always wanted to be. And to her greatest happiness, she was next to a fiendishly charming existence, the only existence she loved.

Seeing the solemn look on the little vampire's face that she had been freed from her bonds, Nader stood beside her, hugging and caressing her as they watched the sun hanging in space.

So much of what she had gone through, experienced and suffered: he was aware of all this. For that very reason, he wanted to make sure she enjoyed her new life together with him; bestowing everything she could not have.

They simply stood there, in silence. However, unlike the awkward silence that usually accompanied one when with someone, the silence they felt was comforting.

A few minutes later, Yue broke her gaze from the sun and looked back at Nader, the being who had brought her out of her eternal suffering.

She remembered the precious time they had spent together.

Even though a month seemed short, for them, who had no one in their lives, to be accompanied by another being they loved and wanted to protect even at the cost of their lives, was a completely different feeling.

As if he knew what Yue was thinking, Nader said: "Yue, you will never again have to go through what you have gone through. No matter what difficulties we encounter on our way. Together, we will overcome them. I will always be there beside you, providing you with everything you need, and I will do everything in my power to make you always happy, okay?".

Without waiting for her to respond, he lowered his face and kissed her softly on her warm lips. When a few seconds had passed, Nader pulled away from her and looked at the hearts floating above her head.

It was a phenomenon that so far had no answers. He felt that the truth was on the tip of his tongue. However, just as the realization was about to hit him, Yue's seductive voice brought him out of his thoughts.

"Fufu... I want to lay you down right here... Nader".

'~Sigh, Hey. I just created the sentence of my life for you, and this is how you answer me...?'

With a complicated smile plastered on his face, Nader patted Yue's butt, "Now we have something to take care of. At least wait until we go to an inn."

"Where is this?....". Yue put aside her seduction and surveyed the surroundings, curiously.

"Oh, this is the territory of the Heiligh Kingdom." Nader replied, "Although I have nothing to do with them, I have no choice but to come to this place to deal with some problems. Besides, an acquaintance is living here". Nader added, he knew she saw the kingdom as a prison, it was understandable after what she had been through.

"Oh, you came here for a girl? I see... I'm jealous". She mumbled and squeezed Nader's arm, the gleam in her eyes dulled.

Nader realized what was going through her mind, so he quickly added another line, "Wait, wait! Shizuku and I are just acquaintances, at most a friend. We haven't really even talked much".

"... So Shizuku" she muttered and then continued in a depressed tone and buried her face in his chest, "I see... you've only played with me... how cruel."

"Hey, Yue, what the hell are you saying...!?".

"... You've always loved another woman... sniff...".

"Yue! Are you listening to me!? You haven't even paid attention to what I said!". He yelled and shook Yue's shoulders.

He didn't know what was going through Yue's mind, so he pulled her body tighter against him and when he lifted her chin to kiss her, he saw that she...

"Hey, did you seriously just tease me...?". Nader muttered. A dumbfounded expression was coloring his face as he watched Yue's smiling expression.

"Fufu... It's funny when I tease you... even in bed".

"Heh! You naughty little vampire, you'll see what you get tonight". He said with a soft smile.

At the angelic yet demonic smile, an electrifying shiver ran down Yue's back, as if she already knew what was in store for her tonight.

Naturally, as cheeky as she was, she didn't shy away and instead puffed out her small chest in defiance, "Fufu... I'll be waiting for punishment".

She slipped Nader's finger inside her mouth. Her slippery tongue played and fluttered around his finger, producing lewd sounds as she looked at him with a tender and bewitching gaze.

This sight undoubtedly made Nader aroused to the max. After all, she happened to be dangerously seductive.

"Seriously Yue, you really have no shame, do you. Lately, I feel like you're getting more and more, much more aggressive and perverted...".

"Kyu!".

"Do you like it...?". Yue said and ignored the bunny over her head as she pulled Nader's fingers out of her mouth.

"I won't deny that...".

"So, do you like it?".

"Yes..." he affirmed.

He knew he couldn't win against her, no matter how much he wanted to. That was also the reason why he always let himself be knocked down by her, after all, he liked too.

"Fufu...", she smiled prettily before her eyes radiated a light full of resolve and competitiveness, "Nader... let's go meet that girl".

Nader looked at her and expressed, "Ok, let's not just go for her though, you know?".

However, she simply hummed in response.

"~sigh, okay. Right now, they're in a room inside the palace. Let's go..." Nader sighed and intertwined his fingers with Yue's as they disappeared from their place.

*****

"I came here for her". Nader pointed to a specific girl.

Like rusty old robots, everyone in the room turned their faces to look at the person Nader had pointed at.

They were surprised when they saw that he was pointing in the direction of the maids, who were trembling on their legs. Although there were some among them, all who had their cheeks painted red: apparently thinking about what Nader would do with them once he took them with him.

However, Nader's finger was pointing at the girl in the middle of them all, something they had noticed. With trembling steps, they stepped gently back from their positions leaving behind, a girl with silver hair.

The beautiful face, along with the expressionless gaze the girl wore, moved imperceptibly. She had not believed that even in her disguise she would be discovered so soon.

In fact, her disguise could not be called a disguise, as she only wore a black dress with a white apron along with a garter that gathered her shiny hair in the shape of a mushroom; a typical uniform of the castle maids.

Aside from the aforementioned, her eyes, hair, and even her face remained the same, which is why Nader had recognized her as the girl who was supposedly God's apostle. The same girl who had chased him that night of escape.

"Hahaha! Aren't you ashamed to have such a beautiful girl on your lap and still try to kidnap another girl in front of everyone? You're a pretty bold kid. The titles they gave you fall quite well on you". The voice along with the Emperor's mocking laughter echoed inside the room.

His gaze contained a hint of curiosity. And at the same time, envy; he thought that if he had at least 30% of Nader's looks, he would have no difficulty getting any girl he wanted.

"..."

Yue's eyes glowed crimson light as she directed a stoic, chilling gaze towards the Emperor. Those present felt the temperature in the room drop to alarming degrees.

Nader patted her head and muttered, "Let me deal with them."

"Mmm..." Yue nodded and settled her bottom in his lap as if nothing in the world could disturb her.

Shizuku, who was watching the whole scene along with her friend, Suzu, ignored the Emperor and looked at the maid, who was no different from an expressionless robot.

With her perception quite high, she was able to pick up on one or two things that might have happened in the past between the two of them.

However, a cute "Kyuuu" instantly caught her attention.

Like a predator stalking from the darkness to its prey, Shizuku turned her head and her gaze fell on the white ball above Yue's head.

Indeed, it was Yuki. She was looking at the Emperor with a piercing gaze. Even though she didn't know the human speech, her intelligence was quite high, not to mention that she was slowly gaining sentience, so it wasn't hard for her to tell that the Emperor was insulting Nader.

Feeling a shiver that made her soft hairs stand on end from the impending danger, she let herself fall behind Yue's back.

When she peeked her head behind Yue with her ears twitching, she could see a Shizuku who had myriads of stars shining inside her beautiful eyes.

"Kyuuu..."

'How cute, I want to hug her!' Unknowingly, Yuki has awakened Shizuku's feminine side. A side that only she and Nader knew...

Nader ignored the antics of his little pet and looked towards the Emperor.

"And you are?".

"Please forgive my insolence". Although the Emperor apologized, his tone of voice contained no hint of regret, as usual...

"Let me properly introduce myself. I am the Emperor of the Hoelscher Empire, Gahard!".

"Oh. I am Nader", he replied without much interest. In his eyes, something like the title and status of a being is something rather useless that was of no importance whatsoever.

Learning what he wanted to know, Nader ignored the Emperor's existence and turned to the silver girl again. However...

"Boy, is this how you treat an Emperor? Shouldn't you at least show me a sign of respect?". He said with a certain arrogance. He couldn't help but let his expression turn a bit ugly because Nader had ignored him in front of the audience.

Nader waved his hands in annoyance and uttered, "Hey, you do realize you're interrupting the conversation of some old friends, right?"

The Emperor averted his gaze to the girl and looked her up and down as if to inspect her, "Oh? Old frie-?".

However, the words stuck in his throat as a whistling wind swirled through the surroundings before the girl disappeared from her position like a ghost.

The emperor's eyes widened, he hadn't even caught a glimpse of the girl's blurry silhouette!

'Quick!'

Even though he had enormous strength with which he was so proud, he did not trust himself to do what the girl who previously looked like a mere helpless maiden had just done.

A gust of wind hit Nader's face as the girl suddenly arrived in front of him.

The reflection of the bluish sword, which in the past had almost claimed his life, shone within his heterochromatic eyes.

Disregarding the cold edge of the sword, Nader raised his hand to parry the incoming attack. However, reality struck within his mind, causing his beautiful face to lose all color.

With a face so pale that one could mistake him for a ghost, Nader retracted his hand and, without a second thought, disappeared from the chair next to Yue and Yuki.

Not even a second later, the slash of the silver and bluish sword cut vertically through the residual images of the three. The compressed air at the tip of the girl's sword was unleashed and cut the ground with utmost ease.

However, the dangerously sharp cut stopped when the compressed wind collided with the wall due to the invisible barrier Nader had erected earlier.

Everyone present who witnessed the previous attack was shocked beyond words. Their gazes showed disbelief.

An attack servant? Their thoughts were mutual and intertwined.

"A-Apostle Noint!" The King let out a cry of disbelief.

Until moments ago he had believed that his life was about to end, yet he had never imagined that one of his maidservants was Noint, the Apostle of the very God he revered.

What did that mean? His God was always on his side to the point where he had sent his Apostle to watch over him and protect him from his enemies!

However, the reality was quite different from what he believed...

As the King smiled in relief and prayed silently towards his God, Shizuku frowned tightly. Her red eyes were full of worry.

Like everyone else present, she had been able to catch Nader's pale face at Noint's sudden attack. Shizuku knew how strong Nader was. But did a person as strong as he has to retreat in haste?

...

A few meters away from the table, three silhouettes glowed, and there appeared Nader holding Yue in a princess bag next to Yuki, who was sitting on Yue's chest.

Hastily, Nader lowered Yue to the floor and, as if afraid that something would slip out of his hands, quickly approached the table.

"Hey! It would be a shame for such great and delicious meals like this to go to waste".

"..."

"..."

"..."

.

.

.

If Shizuku at this moment was walking, she would have tripped and slammed her face into the ground. She shook her head with a small smile of relief before hiding it, so the others wouldn't suspect anything.

Not caring in the least about the stony silence that hovered inside the room, Nader flickered from place to place in front of the meals that disappeared soon after.

In just a second, the previously untouched meals were delightfully decorating his storage. With a nod of satisfaction, Nader patted his hands and wiped the imaginary sweat from his face.

The reason he had previously not stopped Noint's attack was that the shockwave that would be caused by the collision of their blows would have needlessly obliterated the plates of food.

Apparently, Nader wished to eat a delicious meal after several days without eating anything apart from the fruits he had found inside the labyrinth. It's not as if it was necessary to eat food with his current strength, but he was used to it. Besides, food-filled him with satisfaction, so any food in sight was welcome.

Again, the piercing sound of the wind being cut buzzed in Nader's ears. Now that he had all his previous worry inside his storage, he no longer had to hold back in fear of destroying the place.

Both Yue and Yuki looked at the scene without any hint of fear. They were aware of Nader's true strength, a strength that was capable of destroying everything in its path.

Under everyone's gaze, Nader turned his body and struck forward. The sound of metal clashing against metal echoed inside the room from the sharp blade colliding against Nader's bare hand.

The terrifying physical defense stats coupled with the powerful strength that Nader possessed was not to be scoffed at. Even the sharp blade of God's Apostle was not enough to make the skin on his hand scratched.

Due to the force of the impact, the floor beneath Nader cracked and a crater a few feet deep was created, while the nearby wall along with the window panes was pulverized by the powerful shockwave.

Time seemed to stand still for a few seconds as the wind howled like an angry beast before a silhouette shot out like a kite backward, causing the clouds of dust that had risen to cover the roof to disperse.

With a thunderous bang, the room shook to the point where pieces of the ceiling fell as the silver-haired girl was buried inside the opposite wall. If it weren't for the barrier Nader had put up, the girl would probably have gone flying a few miles before she could stop herself.

Normally, collisions came with a powerful shockwave. Because of this, the audience watching the battle in front of their eyes were pushed back with panicked screams escaping their mouths.

Obviously, Yue and Yuki had not moved a single inch from their places. Yue's face remained as stoic as ever, on the other hand, Yuki was jumping and cheering on her friend's golden head.

As for Shizuku, she was looking with some surprise at the barrier covering her. The barrier was a yellowish color that was reflected from the necklace around her neck as if it was a hologram.

"Why so aggressive? Didn't your God teach you that you should respect others when they are eating?". Nader muttered as he shook his arm, numb from the earlier blow.