Chapter 71. The Kiss Given to a Hero
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"Separation is for the sake of meeting again, but after meeting…"
Atalanta looked at her gradually translucent hands and smiled wryly. "But now we have to part again. We've waited so long, yet the time we spent together is so short. I don't even have time to complain to you. It's really unfair."
"I'm sorry," Cyd said, stepping forward and hugging Atalanta.
"Really, men are so annoying. They always want to solve everything with a simple 'I'm sorry,'" Atalanta closed her eyes and leaned her head against Cyd's neck, breathing in his scent. "But unfortunately, I've never been angry with you."
"Even about what you said before?" Cyd blinked. "About love and such?"
"!"
Atalanta's face turned red. She opened her mouth and bit hard into Cyd's neck.
"Ah haha~ I'll forget," Cyd said, raising his hand to pat Atalanta's head.
"No, you need to remember those words firmly," Atalanta clutched Cyd's clothes tightly. She could feel her existence fading. If she became too strong again like before, she would miss it once more. "I love you."
"You…" Cyd pressed on Atalanta's shoulders, trying to see her face, but Atalanta clung tightly to Cyd's clothes and pressed close to him.
"Remember, I have not died, and we have not separated," Atalanta stood on tiptoe and whispered into Cyd's ear. "I will always watch over you from the sky. You can never escape my hunt (love)."
"Even if you chase me to the underworld?" Cyd chuckled. "Even if it's a place beyond time, you'll find a way to pull me out."
"Regret it?"
"Well, I should have done something before leaving," Cyd said with a grin. "I've been holding back."
"Men are always like this," Atalanta sighed, taking a few steps back and turning her back to Cyd. "Well, let's wait for the next time. But I can give you a little reward."
"Hmm?"
Just as Cyd looked confused, Atalanta turned around quickly, reached out, and wrapped her arms around Cyd's neck. Under Cyd's dazed gaze, she kissed him, using an unfamiliar but wild demeanor to claim him.
After a while, Atalanta released Cyd, playfully blinking. "How can the return of a hero be without a princess's kiss?"
"Though this princess is quite wild," Cyd said, blinking. "Can we do it again?"
"Next time~"
Cyd rested his hands behind his head and smiled as he watched Atalanta transform into light particles and disappear into the air.
"Really looking forward to it."
"By the way, why haven't you disappeared yet?" Cyd looked toward Jeanne d'Arc, who was looking dejected not far away.
"Soon, soon," Jeanne d'Arc said with a frown. She had been touched by the master-student bond between Chiron and Cyd, and the love between Cyd and Atalanta.
Why, when it came to her, did it shift from reluctance to urging?
"Nothing really happened, did it?" Cyd shrugged. "The world hasn't become better, and it hasn't become worse."
"This kind of thing isn't something that can be clearly explained now," Jeanne d'Arc sighed lightly, with a faint light spilling from her body as her presence began to fade. "But at least it proved one thing. I should trust you."
The gods of Greece did not descend upon the world with Cyd's return, and the Lord's revelation told her that her duty was done.
In the end, she had agonized over nothing.
"I'm really incompetent."
"At least you knew to stand in front of me. Although not firm enough, it's worth praising," Cyd said, giving a thumbs-up.
"You really are a good person," Jeanne d'Arc smiled faintly, raising her hands and clasping her fingers together in front of her chest. "The Lord will bless you."
"I don't believe… has she disappeared already?" Cyd scratched the back of his head.
"Hmm," Laeticia nodded. "Miss Jeanne d'Arc has already left."
"Ah~ Then we should leave too. This place won't hold out for long," Cyd stretched and yawned. "What do you think? Saber's Master, no, Sisigou."
"You still remember me," Sisigou said, standing up and dusting off his clothes. "I always feel like an extra, but at least I got well-fed."
"Dog food?" Laeticia tilted her head, not understanding why Sisigou suddenly mentioned dog food.
"I don't know what he's talking about either," Cyd shrugged. The cape on his right shoulder transformed into two dragon claws, grabbing Laeticia and Sisigou. "Let's leave here first."
"Hey! Is this really safe? It doesn't feel real at all!" Sisigou grabbed the dragon claws around his waist. They didn't feel like a living being at all, more like a bunch of scales put together. His hand even went straight through them!
"Do you know the height here?"
"It's fine, it's very sturdy," Cyd shrugged. "Or are you scared and want a princess carry?"
"I'm just worried about the little girl," Sisigou said, pointing at Laeticia, who was pale, closing her eyes, and praying constantly. She had clearly guessed how Cyd would leave this aerial garden.
"Laeticia, are you scared?" Cyd raised an eyebrow.
"I… I trust Mr. Cyd."
Ah~ Clearly forcing herself.
A girl trembling with fear at what was about to happen looked at him with a pitiful gaze. As a hero, shouldn't he reassure her with his embrace?
After thinking for a moment, Cyd gave a thumbs-up.
"Thank you for your trust."
With that, a heavy hammer formed from [Reforged Pandora] behind him.
"Well then, let's set off!"
Cyd gripped [Reforged Pandora] with one hand and smashed it into the ground with a powerful blow.
"What is that!"
Just as they had barely evacuated from the Hanging Garden to the ground, Caules gaped, his glasses crooked, not noticing the enormous collapse.
The bottom of the huge Hanging Garden crumbled.
Large and small rocks fell like meteors, mixed with the iron stakes of Vlad III that were dispersing.
The iron stakes were disappearing due to Vlad III's death, but those rocks were real and deadly!
But they should be relieved that it was only them…
Just kidding!
"Dress, dress," Fiore fumbled with her wheelchair. "The dress is already ruined!"
"Ah~ It's all over."
Just as they were in despair, a shadow landed on the ground earlier than all the stones. Countless black scales surged, intertwining in the air to form a giant dragon claw that firmly grabbed the crumbling Hanging Garden and placed it on the ground. The process was as easy as picking fruit from a tree.
"Safe landing~" Cyd snapped his fingers.
"It's… it's not safe!"