Chapter 45: Apology

"... it's a concidence to find both of you here"

Lucias said as he stopped in his tracks on his way home, staring at the two girl standing in front of him.

"... want some?"

Lucias asked before throwing a can of coffee towards the Xenovia and Irina with a casual smile on his face.

"Thank you"

Irina thanked while staring intently at Lucias with an awkward expression on her face.

"..."

"Let's move to a more secluded area... I know this isn't just a simple coincidence, Xenovia Quarta"

Lucias said as he walked passed them, ignoring the admiring stares that he was getting from the girls of his school.

"... Sometimes... why does it feel like you're reading our minds?"

Xenovia asked as both of them followed him from behind while cautiously looking at their surroundings.

"That's just your imagination... and don't worry, no one is following us"

Lucias assured causing both of them to sigh in relief as they followed him to a dark alley close to the school with a serious expression on their faces.

"... [Sound nullification barrier], [Camouflage]"

Lucias casted causing the two of them to raise their guard as a large magic circle appeared below them, illuminating the dark alley as two thin layers of mana surrounded them.

"Talk, what's your purpose for meeting me?"

Lucias cut to the chase before leaning against the wall with his arms crossed against his chest.

"... Lucias Frey... I just want to properly apologize for what happened a few days ago"

Xenovia said before bowing her head in front of him together with Irina.

"I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive what we did a few days ago... I know what you said before in the restaurant are nothing more but empty words"

"... You're quite sharp aren't you, Xenovia Quarta"

Lucias praised before releasing a portion of his aura to pressure the two girls in front of him, causing the two of them to kneel down on the ground, struggling to breathe from the extreme pressure coming from the man in front of them.

"L-Lucias..."

Irina called out while holding her chest as she struggled to keep herself concious.

"Calm down, Lucias"

A soft and feminine voice echoed from behind, causing Lucias to halt as he gazed back at the woman behind him.

"What are you doing here, Asia?"

"You're aura suddenly spiked so it was easy to find your location... Lucias, I know you're angry, but... getting rid of them is not worth it"

"I was not planning to... I just wanted to set a few warnings"

Lucias said before gazing back at the two girls who were kneeling at the ground, desperately trying to stabalize their breathing.

"*Sigh*... I guess holding a grudge against them is quite childish of me... I already knew that they were ignorant of reality, but... I didn't expect for them to become this blind by their own faith"

Lucias said before gazing back at Asia who was looking at him with a sweet smile on her face.

"I'm happy that you're this protective of me... but I hope you understand that I'm not that weak, I can take care of myself"

Asia calmly said before walking towards the two girls to help them stand up from the ground.

"Thank you..."

Both of them muttered before staring back at Lucias with a determined look on their faces.

"Lucias-"

"No need to repeat it"

Lucias immediately cut her off before placing his palm on top of their heads with a light grin on his face.

"I'll forgive both of you this time, but... I won't tolerate it anymore if you do that again"

"W-We understand"

Xenovia nodded her head in response while patting her body to get rid of the dirt on her robe.

"..."

An awkward atmosphere spread through their location as the silence devoured them causing Lucias to awkwardly scratch his cheek.

"So... Is that the only reason why you two approached me?"

Lucias asked causing the two of them to look at each other, nodding their head before looking at him with a serious expression on their faces.

"No... we have another matter that we want to discuss with you"

Irina said before taking out a piece of disfigured meat with an odd colored blood dripping from its flesh.

"..."

[Gastreas' raw meat

Grade: Rare

A piece of meat of a modified spider type gastrea, created by the True Goddess of Lust to fight against the True God of Destruction.

Increase the strength of those who consume it by 100% in exchange for 

Reconstruct the body of the consumer into a humanoid type gastrea.

Corrupts the flesh and skin of any who touches it.

Durability: 30/30]

"Where did you get that?"

Lucias asked in a grave tone as he hurriedly took the piece of meat from their hands.

[Due to the player's higher bloodline, the effects of the item has been negated]

"What's wrong?"

Xenovia asked, confused about the sudden change in his demeanor.

"[Ignite]"

Lucias casted causing a small bright blue flame to burn the meat in cinders, shocking both of the girls from his sudden actions.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? THAT WAS AN IMPORTANT EVIDENCE!!"

"You don't know how dangerous that thing was, Irina come here"

Lucias ordered with narrowed eyes causing her to reculantly walk towards him.

"Stay still..."

Lucias said before placing his palm on top of her head.

"[Purification]"

Bright white light suddenly came out of the palm of his hand, slowly entering her body as the spell tried to purify her body from the corruption brought by the item.

[Purification failed]

"What?"

Lucias muttered in shock as he dazedly stared at the notification in front of him, causing Irina to look at him in confusion.

"What's wrong?"

"... Sorry about this, Irina"

"Wha-"

She tried to ask but was cut off when Lucias suddenly kissed her soft pinkish lips, causing them to look at him in shock as she struggled to break free from his grasp.

"MNNN!!"

[Absorption of corrupted cells under progress]

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?"

"LUCIAS!!"

Both Asia and Xenovia shouted as they tried to pull both of them apart but failed due to his tight hug around her body.

"Mnnn..."

Irina hummed between their kiss, while her strength slowly left her body. Slowly her hands slid down her chest as her body slowly relaxed in his embrace.

"Mn..."

"Lucias let her go!!"

Asia shouted, but froze when she noticed the sudden changes in his body. A small portion of skin on the back of his neck slowly died, causing her to panick as she tried to heal his body. Fully knowing what he was doing.

"[Heal]!"

She started pouring all of her mana into his body, slowly recovering the dead cells on his neck.

"Don't distrupt him or she will die!!"

Asia shouted in panick while staring at Xenovia who was trying to pull Irina off his body.

"W-What is he doing?"

"His absorbing the [Corruption] inflicted to your friend... If we distract or stop him, it will damage both of their body and mana circuit"

Asia explained while staring at Lucias with a worried expression on her face.

[Absorption of corrupted cells complete]

[The player's body has negated the effects of corruption]

A string of notifications appeared in front of Lucias, causing him to sigh in relief before seperating from their kiss, causing a string of saliva to form between their lips.

"Sorry about that"

Lucias apologized before checking her status to see if there was any other problem concerning her body.

"... You're quite tenacious aren't you, Irina-san?"

Lucias muttered, surprised by her tenacity to survive the corruption brought by the raw flesh of a gastrea as a normal human being.

"M-Mn"

She dazedly nodded her head in response before snapping back to reality as her cheeks flushed increasingly red. Pushing Lucias away with a flustered expression on her face.

"Y-Y-You molestor!!"

"..."

Lucias awkwardly scratched the back of his head in embarrassment as he couldn't deny her accusations since he did forcefully kissed her without her consent.

"Ahem... Don't worry about the meat from before... I'll investigate this matter myself. It's better if both of you don't get involved with it and next time... If you ever encounter one of those creatures again, I want you to run away"

"We can handle-"

"Even though they are easy to kill, they're corpse is infested with different plagues so don't even try to get close to it. If I didn't notice the corruption in her body... she would've died tomorrow"

Lucias revealed causing both of them to freeze from their spots.

"This matter is more serious than you think, and solving it will be extremely difficult if it has spread widely throughout this country"

"Lucias... that is?"

Asia asked in confusion while pointing at the ashes of the meat on the ground.

"A gastreas' meat"

Lucias answered causing her to widen her eyes in both surprise and confusion.

"Gastrea... But I thought they only exist in 'that' dimension"

"You're correct... they only existed in that dimension... but I have a few ideas why this happened"

Lucias said before gazing back at the two holy sword wielders in front of him with a serious expression on his face.

"Remember my warning you two, and tell Koneko that I won't be able to join you all in your search for the other holy swords. I'll send someone else to take my place"

Lucias said before dissapearing from his place together with Asia who followed him from behind as they ran towards the mansion at incredible speed.

"Lucias, is it her?"

Asia asked as they ran from roof to roof with light steps to avoid making any sounds that might alert the people in their neighborhood.

"Possibly... but... how was she able to open the dimensional rift if she has no connection with that dimension?"

"What do you mean?"

"The reason why I was able to open a dimensional rift in the past is because of my mana signature in the girl's body... There are trillions of dimensions that exist and locating a specific dimension out of that number is extremely difficult, so the only way I can actually open a desired dimension is when there's one person or item in that dimension with my mana signature"

Lucias explained as both of them arrived in front of the mansion.

"Or... if there is a small rift in space that connects this dimensions to my desired dimension... We True Gods can just expand the rift to use it..."

Lucias added before getting greeted by Gohg and Illya who were playing at their front lawn.

"Master-sama~"

"M-Master"

Both of them called out as Gohg suddenly clung to his body with a large smile on her face.

"Uhehehe"

She quietly laughed while wrapping her arms around his waist, while her large jellyfish flew above her.

"... Gohg, Illya... Go inside the mansion"

"Eh? Why?"

Illya asked as she ran towards him with her wand following her from behind.

"We need to discuss a few things together... regarding Xaosis"

"..."

The two of them narrowed their eyes from hearing her name before nodding their head and complying with his commands.

"Finally! Gohg will be useful to master-sama~"

"I-I'll try my best!"

Both of them immediately ran inside, leaving Lucias and Asia outside the mansion.

"I'll call Sephie and the others... we will discuss this back at the headquarters. Asia... take care of the kids while I'm gone and... please stop Yami and Artoria from joining this fight"

"Don't worry, I already know how to make them listen"

Asia assured with a gentle smile on her face.

"I'm the head organizer of your harem Lucias so I will naturally have the ability to manage every girl of your harem"

Asia confidently explained before entering the mansion with a light smile on her face.

"... Head organizer?... How come I didn't know about that?"