性瘾者

"LET\'S MAKE the game simple, Neoma."

[Simple, he said.]

"Uh-huh. I think I know what you\'re thinking," Neoma said while looking around. "I don\'t have Tteokbokki, and I can\'t use Skewer because that would require me to use my demonic power. I\'m sure you wouldn\'t want us to fight with our fists, so I only have one thing left: my Moonglow."

"Why do you think you only have your Moonglow left?"

"Huh?"

Ruto smiled and shook his head. "I\'ll tell you later," he said. "But you\'re right about using your Moonglow in the game I have in mind."

"What is it?"

"Defend this school with your Moonglow."

"Oh, by using a Dome?" she said while nodding her head. "Then you\'re going to attack using Veton?"

"I don\'t have Veton with me right now," he said. "But Veton and I have the same attribute, so I\'ll still be using thunderbolt."

"Are you P*kachu?"

"Hmm?"

"Nothing," she said while pouting. "I just don\'t like the fact that you and the Sun Priestess use the same attack."

"I can use my actual power, but I don\'t want to hurt you."

She tilted her head to one side. "Your actual power?"

"I only developed my electricity attribute because of Veton," he explained, then he ruffled his hair. "I\'ll show you my actual power if you act cute in front of me."

Her hand automatically moved to lightly punch him in the chest. She wasn\'t mad. But she was just not used to Ruto behaving that way. After all, it was usually her who did the teasing and not the other way around. "No, my aegyo doesn\'t come that cheap!"

He just laughed it off before he jumped.

[Hmm?]

She was surprised when all of a sudden, several floating steps appeared behind Ruto as he continued jumping in the air backwards until he got smaller and smaller from her point of view.

[Ah, right.]

She took a deep breath, then she summoned her Moonglow until it leaked out like water with a sparkling surface on the floor.

[Tsk, it\'s harder than I thought.]

She was trying to cover the entire school with her Moonglow, and this was the first time she\'d cover something of that scale.

[The school is too wide. But I can\'t let the quality of my Dome drop. It has to be as sturdy as the previous Domes I\'ve created or else it would break easily. I can\'t switch to a Wall since Ruto would attack from above.]

She took another deep breath.

[Don\'t panic,] she told herself. [All you have to do is pour more Moonglow, Neoma Ramsay. It\'s alright since your physical body doesn\'t restrain your ability to control your Moonglow in this dimension.]

That was enough pep talk for her to gain more confidence.

She summoned a massive amount of Moonglow. Since she was no longer hesitating, the amount of time needed to create a Dome of that size quickened. But just when she was starting to be confident she\'d win, she felt an enormous amount of power that made her shudder.

[What kind of power could feel this… terrifying?]

When she looked up, she was surprised to see Ruto suspended in the air. And he was holding a small yet blinding ball of light floating above his right hand.

The feeling of impending doom was coming from that small ball of light.

But why was she shaking in fear just because of that?

[Ruto won\'t hurt me, so why am I feeling this way?]

She turned to Ruto to force herself to look away from the scary ball of light. But she froze when she met his glowing purple eyes that seemed to be lighter in shade than usual. His expression was blank, and so was his gaze.

[He doesn\'t look like my Ruto.]

But strangely enough, she felt even more drawn to him more than ever.

[He\'s beautiful…]

Was it because of the setting sun behind him?

Well, to be honest, because he was positioned against the light, she couldn\'t really see his expression aside from his glowing eyes. But there was something about his aura, and the terrifying ball of light in his hand, that made him look brooding and handsome.

[Oh, Ruto looks hot when he looks dangerous.]

One thought ruined that moment for her though.

[Ruto is stronger than me…]

And yet, Neoma still felt safe with him.

***

[IT SUCKS to be a loser though.]

Neoma didn\'t have the energy to move after using so much Moonglow at once, so she just plopped to the ground lifelessly.

[Wow, look at all those craters.]

The school was completely destroyed.

She felt like she was having déjà vu, since the same thing happened after the Sun Priestess attacked her with thunderbolts.

[My poor Dome…]

"Did you get hurt, Neoma?" Ruto asked when he landed in front of her. Then he squatted down while checking her for injuries. "I didn\'t accidentally hurt you, did I?"

She wasn\'t hurt because Ruto\'s thunderbolts didn\'t hit her.

It was as if each thunderbolt was programmed to avoid her, and to only hit the school buildings after her Dome collapsed. She tried to recreate the Dome each time it was destroyed until she ran out of Moonglow.

"I\'m hurt," Neoma said bluntly. "My pride is hurt. Getting beaten up back to back by two people serving the Sun Goddess hurts my pride as the Moon God\'s descendant."

"Well, isn\'t this a humbling experience for the arrogant Princess Neoma?"

"Shut up."

"Are you upset?"

"More like embarrassed," she said, then she covered her face with her hands. "Gosh, I recall the moments I called you weak in the past. My audacity to call you weak when my Dome didn\'t even last ten minutes is appalling."

"Neoma, your Dome is the exact copy of Dominic Zavaroni\'s Dome."

"Well, he was my mentor."

"Just because he was your mentor doesn\'t mean you need to copy it exactly like how he did it, right?" he asked. "Neoma, acting like a model student doesn\'t suit you."

She removed her hands from her face to glare at him. "Are you dissing me just because you beat me once, huh?"

"That\'s the attitude that you should apply to your techniques, Neoma," Ruto said casually, ignoring her outburst. "You have a fierce personality, so don\'t play safe. Do you know what I think of your Dome?"

She covered her ears with her hands. "I can tell you\'re going to diss me again, so I don\'t want to hear it."

"Your Dome is so boring to look at," he said bluntly. "I was an eyesore, so I destroyed it as fast as I could."

"Ruto, do you have a death wish?"

"Your Dome is your only technique that doesn\'t have your personality," he continued with his criticism. "I\'ve seen you use the Death\'s Scythe, and I liked it because I can tell it\'s completely yours now."

"Because I turned Skewer into pink?"

He nodded. "You also use your Soul Beast\'s ability in an unorthodox way. You\'re the first one to use your Soul Beast\'s abilities as \'gears\' instead of summoning it to fight for you. I like how you think outside the box, Neoma."

She removed her hands from her ears. "Praise me more."

He chuckled while fixing her hair that he tousled earlier. "Don\'t copy Dominic Zavaroni\'s technique completely. Since our Neoma is bright and creative, I\'m sure you can improve your mentor\'s technique and own it."

"But I think his technique is already perfect, so I can\'t think of a way to improve it," she said. "Ruto, you seem to know something. Spill it."

"Do you want to be spoon-fed?"

"Yes, I want to be spoiled."

"I\'ll give you a clue as a compromise, since I can\'t tell you everything," he said as a bargain. "Neoma, you often seem to forget that you\'re half de Moonasterio-half Roseheart. Just because you\'re using a technique that requires Moonglow doesn\'t mean you can\'t use your Roseheart Blood."

She blinked in surprise. "Oh."

"And think about why it\'s called \'Roseheart Blood,\'" he said, then he gently flicked her forehead. "Moreover, the rose embedded in your heart isn\'t for decoration. Why are you denying your Roseheart Blood? You depend too much on your Moonglow and your demonic power."

"It\'s because I feel like Nero is more of a Roseheart than I am," she confessed while avoiding his gaze. "Nero was easily accepted by the Spirit World while the Spirit World ignored me. I know it\'s petty, but I felt like I should reject anything related to me being a Roseheart before they reject me."

"Neoma, do you want to beat me the next time we fight?"

"Of course," she answered immediately, then she turned to him with burning eyes. She may be fond of Ruto, but that didn\'t mean her competitive spirit diminished already. "I will beat you helplessly next time."

"Then listen to me," he said gently. "You have the three major attributes in your soul at the moment. Your Moonglow, the divine power you inherited from Lord Yule, is a Light attribute. The demonic power you have is the Darkness attribute. And lastly, your Roseheart Blood is something similar to Nature. If you learn how to balance the three of them, Sie– I mean, the Sun Priestess and I could never beat you again."

She tilted her head to one side while thinking.

[Ruto has a point.]

She had always treated her three sources of power as different elements, so she never tried combining them. Tteokbokki was always her number one weapon of choice. Then her Spirits. And finally, Skewer.

[I should ask Mochi about my Roseheart Blood later.]

"Penny for your thoughts?"

She smiled at what Ruto said. "I was just thinking we should have had this conversation as soon as I regressed. I think we could have taken this world over if we worked together earlier."

"Retaining the memories of my previous life has its price, so I couldn\'t move freely even now," he said. "And just like I said earlier, I was devoted to getting rid of your enemies without your knowing."

"Do you intend to do that even after I already caught you?"

"Yeah, I still have things to do that I can\'t tell you," he said. This time, he looked and sounded apologetic. "I know it will make you uncomfortable, but I have to fulfill my duty not just as someone who follows you, but as someone who serves the Sun Goddess as well."

"Even if I hate it?"

He nodded. "Yes, even if you end up hating me."

"Do we really have to work separately?"

"For now," he said. "Don\'t worry about the crows. I already blew up their secret headquarters here in the West Continent, and killed some of their executives."

"You did what?!" she asked, very shocked. "You know where they hide?"

"That\'s how you use the memories of your past life properly, Neoma," he said in a slightly scolding voice. "Kill your enemies before they get the chance to kill you. Just because they haven\'t done anything bad to you yet doesn\'t mean they\'ve become good people this time."

"I beg to differ," she said stubbornly. "Nero was bad to me in my previous life, but he\'s the opposite now."

"I said enemies," he said stubbornly as well. "The crows. They won\'t change, no matter how many times we regress."

"In my defense, I didn\'t know Regina Crowell was a crow until recently."

"That\'s why I planned to get rid of her secretly," he said while nodding. "Don\'t worry about the crows for now. They lost so much in the recent years I\'ve hunted them down, so they wouldn\'t actively search for you in the meantime."

"Ruto."

"Hmm?"

"What would you gain from all of this?"

"I\'m not really sure," he said with a sad smile on his face. "I just don\'t want you to die first before me again."

Ah, so that was it.

"I died before you?"

"A servant dying for his master is considered an honorable death," Ruto said bitterly, and it seemed like the bitterness was directed at himself. "But Neoma, what do you think a servant would feel if his master died for him instead of the other way around?"

Neoma, at that moment, finally realized Ruto\'s true feelings for her.

And it wasn\'t romantic love, it seemed.

***

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***

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