So It began..

The morning sun slipped through the broken windows of the ruined chapel, warming Kaito's bare chest.

He groaned and shook, he was sore in all the right places.

His wounds were gone.

His body felt stronger.

And Lyria… was still beside him.

Naked under a fur cloak turned blanket, her arm resting across his chest like she had claimed territory. She even snored a little. Somehow, even that was hot.

[PASSIVE BUFF: PROTECTIVE INSTINCT +30% | STRENGTH +15% IN BOND PRESENCE]

The system flashed that like it was proud.

Another message floated up behind it, slightly blurry:

[NSFW MODULE: Stabilizing… Sync Residue Detected… Clean-up Recommended]

"…I'm not cleaning anything," Kaito muttered, rubbing his face.

Yesterday had been insane.

Battle, blood, sex, fire then more sex.

It was evidently the greatest day of his life.

Honestly, he wasn't even sure how much of it was real.

He glanced at Lyria.

Yeah, definitely real.

She stirred beside him, her silver hair lay across her face, messy and wild. Her hand slid across his chest, fingers brushing a scar near his shoulder.

Then, without warning, she leaned forward and kissed his collarbone.

"Still alive?" she murmured.

Kaito smirked. "Barely, you fight like a demon. You ride like one too."

She gave a low dangerous smile. "Good."

Then her hand moved under the blanket.

He flinched. "Wait... again?"

Her voice was calm, serious even. "I'm testing the bond."

"That's a lie," he said.

She didn't argue.

Instead, her hand wrapped around him slow, warm but firm.

Kaito's breath slowed, his hips twitched slightly.

She leaned closer, her lips brushing his ear.

"Still not afraid of me?" she whispered.

"I'm afraid of how fast you're making me want to bend the laws of physics to do that again."

Her eyes glowed faintly. Amused maybe.

[SYNC RESPONSE: +12% Arousal Feedback Detected]

[WARNING: NSFW MODULE MAY TRIGGER UNINTENTIONAL SKILL EVENTS]

She straddled him in one movement, no teasing this time, no hesitation.

She just mounted him hard.

Kaito gasped, head falling back. "You're... wow... okay."

She rolled her hips, slow at first, then sharper.

The fire had burned out, but the heat between them was already back.

Kaito gripped her hips and moved up into her. "You like that?"

"okay... Glitch boy" she growled.

It wasn't sweet, it was raw.

They moved together, breath to breath, skin to skin, like the bond had become a rhythm of its own.

For a moment, everything faded.

Just her, him, the heat, the moans, then the system flickering in the corner.

[ALERT: MAGIC SIGNATURE DETECTED – CLASS: ROYAL SCRYING]

Kaito froze.

Lyria stopped moving, her body went still like a hunter catching a scent.

Her eyes snapped toward the window.

Red light danced in her pupils.

"…Shit," she whispered.

Lyria moved fast.

One second she was on top of him.

The next, she was off the bed, pulling her sword from the wall like she'd never been naked at all.

Kaito sat up, still under the blanket, thoroughly confused and still very... ready.

"Uh, I'm gonna need context. Did I do something? did we break something?"

She didn't answer, her eyes were still locked on the broken window scanning the treeline beyond.

Then she whispered something under her breath. Not at him, at herself.

[ALERT: TRACKING RESIDUE DETECTED – ORIGIN: ROYAL SCRYING PULSE]

[TRACELOCK INITIATED – TARGET: LYRIA – BLACK FLAME FUGITIVE]

His interface flashed again, but this time, the error wasn't horny.

It was cold.

[SECONDARY TRACE: UNIDENTIFIED ENTITY – SYSTEM CODE ANOMALY DETECTED]

[WARNING: Desire Core Not Registered]

"What the hell does that mean?" Kaito muttered.

Lyria turned toward him, sword at her side, eyes sharp.

"You need to leave."

He blinked. "We just had... bonding, you don't just kick a guy out after unlocking flame immunity and butt stats."

"This isn't a joke," she snapped.

He stood anyway, wrapping the blanket around his waist like a dumb toga.

"I'm not joking, I don't even know what's happening,.."

"what's a trace lock?"

Her jaw clenched, she hated this.

"They found me," she said. "Or at least, they found my fire."

"So what, You're a wanted fugitive?"

Lyria actually paused.

"I was part of the Black Flame Legion," she said. "We were an elite magical force, until we weren't."

"yeah, then you, you know...." kaito stopped, he didn't know if it was wise to complete it.

But she didn't deny it.

"I lost control," she said. "I bonded with my captain. And when he tried to use that bond to control me like a puppet... I snapped."

[FRAGMENT MEMORY PING DETECTED – MATCH: "ASH MEMORY" – TRAUMA LOCKED]

The system buzzed behind Kaito's eyes, another piece of her buried.

"I didn't kill them on purpose," Lyria said. Her voice dropped. "But it doesn't matter, the kingdom branded me a monster. I've been hunted ever since."

Kaito took a good look at her.

The scar down her body.

The fury in her grip.

The pain in her voice.

He stepped forward slowly.

"You think I'm afraid of you?" he asked.

He was.

"You should be," she said. "Everyone else is."

"Maybe," he said. "But I'm not everyone else."

The bond between them pulsed.

[SYNC UPDATE: EMOTIONAL LINK DEEPENED]

[NEW FLAG: Empathic Trigger Detected – Trauma Memory Unlocked]

[WARNING: Sync Level Approaching Fragment Dungeon Threshold]

Lyria stumbled back a step.

She wasn't crying, not this time. But something cracked in her expression like the mask she wore had slipped just for a second.

"You don't understand," she whispered.

"Also maybe," he said. "But I'm trying."

Silence followed.

Outside, birds didn't chirp even the trees seemed to be eavesdropping.

"I should go alone," she said.

Kaito shook his head. "You're not alone anymore."

She stared at him.

Then pulled her sword back slowly, she muttered, "You're still an idiot."

"And you're still terrifyingly hot."

"Shut up."

Kaito grinned. "I can't, it's a side effect of being turned on and slightly terrified."

Lyria turned away, hiding a smile behind her hand.

[SYNC LEVEL: 3 REACHED]

[BOND UPGRADE: EMOTION SHIELD – You now take 30% less damage when protecting her guilt]

"Wait, What does that even mean?"

To Be Continued....