Ch.161Love Justifies Everything

“A place where I can watch all flowing time. What I’m part of is something like that. A world where time no longer holds meaning, and space cannot interfere. It’s all thanks to my master. If you hadn’t researched time magic, if you hadn’t built the theoretical foundation for me to see beyond, if you hadn’t encouraged me, and… if you hadn’t placed a soul bond on me to open the possibility of seeing other worlds. It was a realm I could never have reached otherwise.”

Olivia’s voice directed at me carried both seduction and stickiness. Her hand caressing my chest was becoming increasingly explicit.

“This is the fruit of our love.”

When Olivia whispered that in my ear, my body trembled. A chill ran down my spine. Regardless of my reaction, Olivia continued.

“Master. I have a dream. A lifelong aspiration, plan, and wish. You’re curious too, aren’t you? You’ll grant my small wish, won’t you?”

I didn’t want to hear it. Whatever Olivia was about to say, I just wanted to ignore it all.

But I couldn’t. Olivia’s hand stroking my head firmly fixed my gaze on her.

“What it is, is killing this entire world.”

Her eyes meeting mine were filled with ecstasy. Olivia was getting excited by her own words.

“Kill and kill again, until only you and I remain in this world, Master. Eliminate everything else, annihilate it, exterminate it, erase everything except this tiny space for you and me.”

The area between Olivia’s legs pressed against my abdomen began to moisten. I could feel the cloth covering her intimate parts becoming damp even through her stockings.

“Master, I simply cannot bear the fact that there exists a world where you could stay even after leaving my side. You should only stay by my side; we should be together forever. I cannot endure the existence of a world where you can see, hear, and touch after leaving me, where you have a foundation to live on after leaving me.”

Olivia hugged my body tightly and slowly stroked my back.

“I’m jealous of all those things. I can’t stand the jealousy. I’m jealous of the ground that allows you to stand somewhere other than by my side, jealous of the sunlight that embraces you, jealous of the water that moistens your throat, jealous of the wind that cools your sweat. Because I’m greedy. Just as you monopolize all of me, I must monopolize all of you. Just as I only look at you, you must only look at me. This small space is enough for us. I can never, ever let you leave this place.”

Olivia, who had been nuzzling her face against my chest, raised her head. I saw eyes emanating an ominous aura. It wasn’t directed at me.

It was directed at everything except me.

“So, I decided to eliminate it all.”

Olivia’s hands embracing my back tightened. My ribs screamed in pain. A cracking sound with ominous undertones echoed from my sternum.

“Everything except this small space for you and me. That’s what you want too, right? Right? I know everything. You want me, and you want me, so how could I not know? Your thoughts are my thoughts. Hehe.”

Unable to withstand the merciless pressure, my ribs finally crumpled and pierced my lungs. When I inhaled, blood bubbled up with a gurgling sound. A handful of red liquid flowed out of my mouth.

“Last time, I failed because a bug near you interfered, but this time will be different. I can’t disappoint you again. You trust me, and I can’t betray that trust. It’s a shame I couldn’t handle that bug myself, but it’s okay. Yes, it doesn’t matter because in the end, I’m the one who remained by your side. Besides, thanks to that bug, you were able to give me a great gift. You engraved an indelible wound on my body, on this heart that’s pounding so hard at the sight of you.”

Olivia straightened her body. Then, she raised her fingernails, plunged them into her left breast, and tore sideways. Flesh and muscle ripped apart, and lumps of blood dropped to the floor.

Her delicate hand shattered all her ribs. Bone fragments flew in all directions. Olivia reached into her widely opened chest and pulled out something from inside.

It was her heart.

Despite being forcibly removed from where it should be and placed in Olivia’s hand, it was still pulsating, fulfilling its role. In the center of that heart was a vertically torn stab wound. It was a wound that had nearly split the heart in half. Olivia gazed at it with ecstatic eyes.

“Do you see? This is the gift you gave me. It’s proof that you love me.”

Every time the heart throbbed, red blood dripped down. Olivia didn’t seem to mind at all that blood was soaking her wrist.

Suddenly, the sensation of plunging my sword into Olivia’s heart came back to me. I forcibly suppressed the rising nausea. Despite wanting so desperately to forget, I couldn’t.

Olivia, looking at her own heart, shuddered with a moan and carefully put it back inside her chest. Her body instantly returned to normal.

The black pupils looking at me began to take on a dreamy appearance.

“Master, please trust this unworthy disciple one more time. I’ll definitely succeed this time. I’ll eliminate everything except this small space for you and me. Can you wait until then? Can you do that for me?”

I didn’t answer. Perhaps, I couldn’t answer.

Because Olivia had already gone beyond what I could handle. She wasn’t someone I could soothe and calm like Charlotte, Serena, or Christine.

Whatever I said here, even if I cursed at Olivia or used violence against her, she would surely consider it love.

“Only when I leave only Olivia in your world, and only you in Olivia’s world, can love become eternal.”

Olivia’s body slowly moved downward. A sticky liquid remained where her buttocks had brushed against.

“Olivia, you—”

“Shh.”

Before I could say anything, a slender finger covered my lips. The extended index finger pressed against my lips, crushing my front teeth and pushing into my mouth.

“My killing other bugs and erasing this entire world is something that must be done.”

Olivia took off the top that had covered her chest. The fruits hidden inside bounced, revealing their milky presence.

“Because I love you, Master.”

A face full of desire approached right before my eyes.

“With that alone, everything can be justified.”

Our lips overlapped.

—Do you understand what it means to be fixed in time?

Charlotte bit her lip and indicated denial. It was quite humiliating, but even for Charlotte, this was a concept she was hearing for the first time, so it couldn’t be helped.

The dragon pushed its calm voice into Charlotte’s mind and continued the explanation as always.

—Being fixed in time means that all the laws of the world are watching that child. While everything else is swept away by time, only that child remains stopped at that very moment, free from the shackles. Conversely, the act of that child’s time flowing has become contrary to the laws of the world, and thus, he has no choice but to live eternally. When that child is injured, it means he’s deviating from his time-fixed state, so the concept that makes up the world intervenes to restore the child’s state to its original form. Whether that change is positive or negative.

Only now did the puzzle in her head start to fit together a bit. So that was why. The reason her husband couldn’t build strength or activate his mana circuits.

It was natural since time had stopped. No matter how much he trained his body, his body would remain fixed at that very moment when the curse was placed.

“If you know the cause, you must know the method. Tell me. What must I do to unlock the fixed time?”

Charlotte gritted her teeth as she met the dragon’s gaze. She wanted to somehow break the fixed time placed on her husband.

If the situation wasn’t favorable, it wouldn’t be bad for Charlotte herself to be under the same curse and live eternally with her husband.

—Child, can you see time with your eyes?

Charlotte froze at the dragon’s question about seeing time. She could more or less perceive time, but that wasn’t what the question implied.

Literally, it meant whether she could see flowing time with her eyes.

—If you cannot see time, can you see the space entangled with that time?

Charlotte couldn’t answer this time either.

She understood the concept of space itself. Among the magic Charlotte used, there were spells that isolated space itself or overlapped two spaces in one place.

But the meaning of space that the dragon spoke of was something closer to a more primitive essence. It meant something different from what Charlotte dealt with.

To begin with, it said space entangled with time. Since she couldn’t see time, naturally she couldn’t see the space entangled with it.

Charlotte’s clenched hands trembled.

—Therefore, child, you cannot solve this.

At those words, like a death sentence being handed down, Charlotte gritted her teeth and blazed with fierce determination.

That lizard told her that solving this was impossible for her, but that didn’t mean she would give up on her husband. If she couldn’t solve it, she would keep charging ahead until she could.

No matter what price she had to pay, she would not give up on love. She would not give up on her husband.

Even if she had to overturn the laws of this world to do so.

—However, if I help you, the story might be a bit different.

“…What did you say?”

It was completely unexpected. Charlotte’s eyes widened slightly.

—I’m saying I’ll help you see what cannot be seen.

Charlotte remained silent. She couldn’t guess the inner meaning of those words. As Charlotte kept her mouth shut, the dragon added:

—My intention to properly teach you hasn’t changed, but your determination to save your beloved won’t change either. Then we should first solve the problem at hand to create possibilities. Your talent is worth bowing down to this extent. Even while teaching dragons in Lair, I’ve never been this interested, but looking at you, I can’t contain my joy. How fascinating.

To summarize the dragon’s words: seeing that Charlotte would absolutely not change her mind, it would solve the immediate problem first and then formally begin teaching her.

“…How long will it take?”

Honestly, there was no reason to refuse the offer.

—That depends on you, child.

“Very well.”

Charlotte nodded. She didn’t know why that lizard was going this far for her, but if it was willing to yield, she didn’t want to refuse.

Though she would have to probe later why it had yielded to Charlotte.

—However, this will be a process of understanding higher-dimensional concepts that are unimaginable to humans, though not to dragons. If you’re not careful, the shock might shatter your eyes and melt your brain. Are you still okay with that, child?

The dragon conveyed its voice subtly, as if testing Charlotte’s resolve. It was a kind of warning and threat.

“Lose my life? Me?”

Of course, Charlotte wouldn’t be intimidated by such warnings.

“Until I get my husband back, I will not die.”

Her eyes flashed with heterochromia.

“Absolutely not.”