In The Heat Of The Moment

An hour had passed.

The battlefield no longer resembled anything close to what it was an hour ago.

It was a complete disaster zone, torn apart by flame and frost, marred by black scorch marks and deep cracks in the earth, mixed with slick puddles of melted ice, shattered ice spires, and half-burned trees.

In the heart of the destruction stood Arthur and Lavinia, both swaying slightly on their feet, panting heavily.

Arthur's Scale Mail was in ruins. 

Red scales were cracked, frozen, and chipped, some missing entirely, exposing the scorched fabric and bruised skin underneath.

His dragon wings were limp, hanging at his back, and his helmet was gone some time ago.

His crimson hair was messy, signs of freezing at the tips, and dried blood trailed from the corner of his lips down his chin.

Lavinia's Majestic Attire was similarly damaged.

The once-immaculate snow-white dress was now ripped at the edges and smudged with dirt and ash.

The crystals had cracked or fallen off, and her tiara was snapped in half, one jagged piece still barely hanging from her hair.

Her gloves were shredded, revealing pale but bruised knuckles, lips red with blood and shoulders trembling from exhaustion.

The two stood mere feet apart, breathing heavily, the air thick with the residue of their clashing elements.

Arthur spat out a bit of blood and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Even with all that shit... You were still holding back."

He muttered, voice low and raw.

Lavinia smiled faintly through the blood on her lips, brushing it away with her fingers.

"Says the guy who was pulling his punches. Too scared to bruise a lady?"

She replied, eyes flickering with amusement.

Arthur let out a short, dry chuckle, then shook his head slowly.

"Nah. It's just that it'll be a waste... killing a pretty face like yours."

Lavinia blinked.

Her expression softened a little, surprise flickering across her dirt and blood-smeared features.

"That was pretty smooth, I give you that much."

She said with a light sigh.

"But I'm not falling for your words, Arthur. Try that on someone else instead."

Arthur's gaze didn't waver.

His voice came low, calm, but sincere.

"I'm not trying to bullshit my way out of this. Everything I said was the truth."

He stepped forward once, his green eyes unwavering.

"If anything... I'd rather take you out for dinner, take you somewhere peaceful and quiet, just you and me, and then when the time is right... I will make you mine."

Lavinia's eyes widened as she stood still for a moment, her breath catching slightly.

A soft hue of pink crept into her cheeks, barely visible beneath the grime and scratches.

A chuckle escaped her lips. It was short, unsure at first, but then genuine.

"You…"

She shook her head with a small smile, biting her bottom lip slightly.

"You're by far the most honest guy I've ever met. Most boys I talk to either make fake promises of love and sweet nothings or they just freeze up like frightened animals the moment I look at them."

Arthur smirked faintly, wiping more blood from his chin.

"Well, those guys were pussies. I'm just built differently. You can thank my mom for that."

He said, dragging in a deep breath. 

They both laughed, weak but real.

Just for a moment, the tension lifted.

But only for a moment.

Arthur charged forward and threw a punch directly at Lavinia's cheek.

It connected with a loud crack, sending her stumbling to the side.

But she didn't fall.

Her eyes lit up with defiance as ice formed instantly around her fists, encasing her hands in thick gauntlets of frost.

"You asshole."

She muttered and retaliated with a punch of her own, striking Arthur in the side of the face.

They both staggered back.

Then lunged again.

Both of them cried out in rage and fury, their fists slamming against one another's bodies, shoulders, stomach, and faces with pure spite and stubbornness.

"Just stay down, you ice bitch!"

Arthur roared as he swung another wild punch.

"You stay down, you mistake from God!"

Lavinia screamed back, driving her knee toward his stomach.

"Redhead!"

"Blondie!"

"Jerk!"

"Bitch!"

"Lizard breath!"

"Eskimo pussy!"

Their words blurred with their movements, both screaming profanities, insults, and petty names in-between each hit.

The fatigue showed in their footwork, in the way their arms struggled to lift, yet neither of them would stop.

They kept hitting, kept yelling, as if throwing fists and slinging insults was the only way they could understand each other.

Heracles watched them from a melted iceblock, one eyebrow raised and his mouth slightly ajar.

"Are they even still fighting at this point… or is this some kind of weird flirting?"

Regulus, resting in his lion form beside him, muttered.

"Hoenstly, I have no idea. But it's starting to get very heated up."

The two of them continued their brawl while in the background, Georg had long since given up watching.

He now sat cross-legged atop another rock, flipping through a thick tome, only glancing up occasionally to make sure neither fighter had died yet.

Cao Cao, meanwhile, had left the mist dome some time ago, muttering something about "personal training" and vanished.

Back in the center of the battlefield, the chaos was reaching its end.

"DIE!"x2

Arthur and Lavinia's fists collided one final time, right across each other's faces.

The sound echoed like a gunshot across the ruined land.

Both stumbled back.

And both fell to their hands and knees in the mud.

They were soaked, bruised, bleeding.

They were filthy from head to toe, their Balance Breakers damaged from their attacks.

Arthur coughed and spat to the side, blood mixing with the mud beneath him.

He looked up, and Lavinia was already lunging toward him.

He barely reacted in time before she tackled him into the muck, and now they were wrestling in the mud like animals.

"Hold still, you brute!"

Lavinia yelled, straddling his waist and trying to pin his arms down.

"You hold still, you crazy ice queen!"

Arthur roared, writhing underneath her.

He snapped his head forward and headbutted*

her straight on.

"Ow! Damn it!"

She cried.

He seized the moment to roll them over, straddling her instead, and forced her arms above her head with one strong grip from his left hand.

Mud clung to both of them.

Her hair was stuck to her face, soaked and messy.

His eyes, wild with adrenaline and raw emotion, locked onto hers.

They both froze in place as they breathed heavily.

Their faces were so close that their foreheads touched.

Arthur's emerald eyes burned with stubborn passion.

Lavinia's sapphire eyes glittered like gemstones.

They just stared at each other in silence.

Their breaths uneven, their bodies trembling, but in that moment, the violence faded.

There was only the sound of their panting and the sound of their heartbeat.

Their gazes didn't falter, as if peering into each other's souls, each one trying to understand the other without a single word.

But then, Arthur made his move.

Arthur's right hand was shaking, balled into a fist above Lavinia's face.

His eyes were locked on hers, panting heavily, lips trembling as if he was trying to fight the confusing emotions tearing through his chest.

Then Lavinia giggled softly beneath him.

"You know, don't you think this position is… very erotic?"

She said with a breathy laugh.

Arthur's eyes widened slightly, his breathing hitched.

"What?"

He muttered.

Lavinia's lips curled into a smile, even with dried blood at the corner.

Her pale cheeks were flushed slightly, both from exhaustion and something else.

"I mean, look at us. A beautiful woman lying helpless beneath a handsome, strong man. She's beaten, bruised, pinned beneath his weight, at his mercy."

She continued with the teasing. 

Arthur gritted his teeth, the heat rising uncontrollably to his chest.

"Shut up..."

She went on, voice dipping into something more sultry, yet oddly sincere.

"And then, that same man will claim her as his own. Tearing her clothes apart, violating her innocence, and taking her completely until she's crying his name and lost in nothing but the pleasure of being his..."

"Please... just stop..."

Arthur rasped, almost begging.

His heart was hammering in his chest like a drum.

The pulsing in his ears nearly drowned her out, but he could still hear her voice, soft, beautiful, dangerous.

"And then..."

Lavinia's smile turned wistful, warm.

"He will make her bear his offspring. She'll give birth to his children, again and again. And maybe… in the future he'll conquer more beauties along the way... but she'll still be his first. The one who was there when his conquest began... His one and only princess."

"I said shut up!"

Arthur's fist dropped suddenly, not on her, but next to her face.

*Crack!*

The muddy ground exploded with a crack as his knuckles sank into the earth, inches from her cheek.

His whole body was trembling, his breath was erratic, eyes burning into her, caught between rage, desire, confusion, and something far deeper.

Lavinia didn't even flinch.

She just looked up at him, calm, honest.

"Arthur... I'll be honest with you."

She whispered, the teasing gone now.

Arthur blinked.

"What…?"

"When I first heard the name Arthur Pendragon, the new Red Dragon Emperor who killed Balor, I didn't know why but I was curious. I wanted to learn more about you... I wanted to understand you... I wanted to meet you... So I studied everything I could get."

Arthur's breathing slowed, just slightly.

"There wasn't much, but I got a rough picture. Enough to realize what kind of person you might be. And… I became interested. To tell you the truth, when we first met last night in the Chairman's office… that was when it started."

She said softly. 

"My heart skipped a beat, and my soul… it screamed for something. For you."

Her voice cracked slightly.

"I didn't know what it was. But I wanted to be close to you. That's why I lied about sleepwalking. I just… I needed to be near you... To be with you."

He stared at her in shock, lips parting in disbelief.

Lavinia laughed, softly, wistfully, her blue eyes glistening.

"I never believed in love at first sight. I thought it was a stupid that only happens in fantasy stories. But then our eyes locked, and it was like… like a missing piece of me was finally there. Right in front of me. So close I could reach it."

She stared deep into his eyes now, her sapphire gaze filled with tears she didn't let fall just yet.

"You felt it too… didn't you?"

She whispered.

"That connection. That aching in your whole being. That moment of peace when we were lying in bed together. Please… Arthur. Look me in the eye and tell me you felt it too."

The battlefield vanished.

In Arthur's eyes, all that existed now was her.

Lavinia's beautiful face shimmered in the flickering glow of the dying fire nearby.

Her golden locks clung to her cheeks, her torn dress sticking to her in places from the mud and blood.

And yet, she was more radiant than ever.

Arthur's entire body trembled as her words echoed in his mind.

He had felt it too.

In that quiet room. When her head rested on his chest. When her fingers hold on to his body. When the silence wasn't empty but full.

His left hand slowly released her wrists.

Lavinia didn't move.

She lifted one of her freed hands and touched his bruised cheek, her fingertips feather-light, trembling.

Arthur leaned slightly into her touch.

"...Isn't this going too fast?"

He asked quietly, his voice barely a rasp.

"I don't know... but I don't care."

Lavinia said without hesitation.

He tried to resist.

"I'm younger than you... you should know that already."

"I know. But when I look at you, all I see is a man."

His eyes closed for a second, jaw tightening.

"You don't get it... I'm a selfish, arrogant, self-centered freak that has lots of issues. I don't know if I could give you what you wanted. I… I might not have only you... I don't know how many women will end up in my life... I'm a flawed man who wants to have everything at his fingertips."

Lavinia smiled, it was gentle, forgiving.

"I know... And I don't care. I don't need to be your one and only. My heart knows this is real. What I feel for you… it's all true... If there are other women in your life, it's fine... Because as long as you keep loving me... even if it's only just a piece of me remains in your heart..."

Tears began falling from her eyes, quiet and warm.

"That's more than enough for me."

Arthur's eyes widened.

His hand clenched in agony.

He couldn't take it anymore.

At that moment, something deep inside him...

Snapped.

Arthur leaned down and crushed his lips against hers.

Lavinia's eyes widened in surprise, then slowly closed, tears trailing down her cheeks as she kissed him back.

Her arms wrapped tightly around his neck, holding him like he might vanish.

Arthur held her too, one arm around her waist, the other cradling the back of her head as their mouths moved together in a heated, desperate kiss.

Their mouths opened and their tongues met.

They fought for dominance, but Arthur won, tilting her head back as he deepened the kiss.

Lavinia moaned softly into his mouth, wrapping her legs around his waist, holding onto him as if afraid he might disappear if he did.

Their public act of affection lasted for God knows how long.

When they finally pulled apart, only a single strand of saliva connected them.

Their eyes were glazed, cheeks flushed, bodies hot with raw emotion.

They were both panting like dogs in heat.

Arthur stared at her, eyes burning with conviction.

"You. Me. Bedroom. NOW."

He said between heavy breaths.

Lavinia nodded breathlessly, her face glowing.

She leaned closer to his ear, voice trembling and sultry.

"Please... make me yours..."

Arthur's mind blanked.

Without another word, he stood up, still carrying her in his arms.

His dragon wings flared wide, sparks flicking off them as the fire of his aura reignited.

He soared upward, holding her tightly.

[PENETRATE!]

In an instant, they cut through the thick purple mist barrier with ease, flying past it like it was never there.

Silence fell behind them.

Heracles stood frozen for a second before letting out a long whistle.

"Arthur, you lucky bastard."

Regulus slowly nodded.

"The boy has certainly earned my respect."

The two were quiet for a moment, but then they muttered.

"Nice."

Georg, finally closing his book with a soft thud, stood up and brushed dust off his coat.

He sighed deeply, muttering.

"I'm too smart for this nonsense."

Georg turned to walk away, deactivating Dimension Lost as he teleported away from the ruined training ground.

But inside Arthur's room, the real 'battle' has just begun.

DxD

Hello readers...

So... am I going too fast or is this fine, because I have my reasons as to why this is happening...

I... will be attempting to create an R-18 scene in the next upload, but... I am unsure of my capabilities in making said scene because I have never created it before...

So there's a 50/50 chance I either upload one or not... but you will know in the next chapter...

Thanks everyone and... uhh laters...