~ Support & Read 22 Advanced Chapters on My Patreon!
~ 1 Chapter Today, Sorry!
<><><><><>
At the same time, inside a hotel double suite.
The air carried the scent of shower gel. Xenovia, the blue-haired Holy Sword wielder who had already removed her battle attire, sat silently by the bedside. Currently, she was dressed only in a white bathrobe provided by the hotel, with the hotel logo embroidered on the left chest.
Her cloth-wrapped Holy Sword, Durandal, rested at the foot of the bed. Gazing through the floor-to-ceiling window at Tokyo's nighttime skyline, Xenovia's curvaceous and slender figure was distinctly reflected—even through the bathrobe.
Xenovia Quarta. That was her full name.
Abandoned by her birth parents as an orphan, Xenovia spent her entire childhood in an orphanage.
If nothing had changed, Xenovia would've left the orphanage at sixteen and lived alone, possibly working odd jobs or even begging to survive.
Fortunately, fate was somewhat fair to her. Although she never had a joyful childhood, Xenovia possessed an extraordinary gift that others could never hope for.
Unlike Irina and others who entered the Church and were selected as Holy Sword wielders after undergoing rigorous selection—examining their faith, aptitude, and many other aspects—to finally receive divine blessings, becoming artificial Holy Sword users—
Xenovia herself was born as a natural Holy Sword wielder.
To give a simple analogy, it was like someone needing to undergo extreme trials and life-threatening methods just to barely wield a powerful sword, whereas Xenovia could effortlessly wield all the legendary blades without lifting a finger.
Though the nature of these comparisons was not identical, it roughly conveyed her exceptional talent.
Precisely because of this unique gift, Xenovia easily joined the Church and became an official Holy Sword wielder.
For the first time in her life, Xenovia found her own purpose and meaning.
Different from others who joined the Church for power or authority, Xenovia's life truly began only after entering the Church and becoming a Holy Sword wielder.
If judged solely on purity, Xenovia undoubtedly was the Church's most pure Holy Sword wielder. She listened to no one and lived only to swing her blade in God's name.
From the beginning, she had only one purpose: to fight for God. This purity also earned her the title "Slashing Princess."
Empowered by such simplicity, Xenovia's fighting style became exceptionally decisive and merciless. She could even kill vampires who were once human without hesitation or emotional conflict.
But now, things had changed. She learned something she never should have known:
—The God she believed in was already long dead.
It was as if the very foundation of her faith suddenly collapsed; Xenovia instantly lost the reason to wield her sword.
From orphan to Holy Sword wielder, everything she had was given by God. She fought for God, swung her sword for God—but now, knowing that God had died long ago, what meaning was left to her actions?
While struggling with these thoughts, Xenovia suddenly remembered her partner, Irina Shidou.
Both of them being Holy Sword wielders from the Church, she never once doubted Irina's faith. In fact, she always believed Irina's devotion was stronger than hers.
Yet, surprisingly, when Irina found out about God's death, she didn't show extreme despair. Instead, she'd even cheerfully mentioned earlier about meeting her childhood friend for dinner.
In many ways, Irina seemed utterly at peace.
Thinking about it, perhaps this was natural. Unlike Xenovia, Irina had family, a joyful childhood, and even a precious childhood friend. Even learning that God was no longer there, Irina could still find reasons to move forward. Life would still go on; there would always be something beautiful in the world worth striving for.
But for Xenovia, things weren't that simple.
To repeat, Xenovia's entire life purpose and pride were derived solely from God. Without Him, she lost her very reason to fight.
But if she had to find another reason...
For some reason, the scene of Bokue Keikain stepping in to shield her from Kokabiel's lethal blow flashed through Xenovia's mind.
Certainly, for over ten years, her life's entire meaning and pride came from God. But right now... her life itself was preserved by Bokue.
There was no doubt: if Bokue hadn't blocked Kokabiel's sneak attack for her back then, right now she'd already be lying cold in a hospital morgue instead of staring blankly at the nighttime cityscape through her hotel room window.
If that was the case...
Beep.
The sudden sound of the door unlocking interrupted Xenovia's thoughts, and she instinctively turned around to look.
As the door opened, Irina Shidou, having just returned from her "dinner date," appeared at the entrance.
The twin-tailed girl stepped through the door, which softly closed behind her. Seeing her partner sitting by the window and looking over at her, Irina blinked rapidly, trying to appear calm.
"W-what's up, Xenovia?"
"...Nothing much."
Xenovia's expression remained unchanged.
"Did you go shopping with your childhood friend? You're back pretty late."
"Y-yeah, we went for a walk after dinner..."
Mentioning dinner with Bokue, Irina's cheeks immediately reddened.
After all, they'd planned to only have dinner, but unexpectedly progressed to... that step, and it even happened in an open-air park...
"How about you, Xenovia? Did you have dinner yet?"
"Yeah, I ate downstairs at the hotel restaurant. Dinner was provided."
"Oh, that's good."
After exchanging a few casual sentences, Irina gestured toward the bathroom near the door.
"You've already showered, right Xenovia? Then I'll go take a shower now~"
"Alright."
Xenovia made a scrubbing gesture.
"Need me to scrub your back?"
As fellow Holy Sword wielders and Church combatants, their daily missions involved considerable physical activity and sweat. Being partners and both girls, helping each other scrub their backs had become the norm.
But unexpectedly, this time Irina actually declined.
"No no, it's alright. I didn't sweat much today, I'll just quickly rinse off."
With that, Irina directly went into the bathroom and shut the door behind her.
❁❁❁❁
Inside the bathroom, Irina leaned against the door and softly sighed helplessly.
It wasn't because her shaken faith caused issues with Xenovia. Rather, she currently had several strawberry-red marks lingering on her body—especially around her neck and collarbone. The high collar of her combat suit covered these, but they'd be clearly visible once undressed in the shower.
Of course, there was another, even more important reason.
Irina leaned against the sink, reaching behind to awkwardly unzip her combat suit.
She clearly remembered Bokue had carried her back just now. In that posture, with her entire body pressing closely against his back, naturally, a certain amount of pressure focused on her abdomen.
The inevitable outcome was, naturally—
After several seconds, as she slid off the upper half of her combat suit and lowered the fabric past her thighs, the inner lining of her suit was clearly an utter mess under the bathroom's bright light.
Instantly, her face flushed bright red.
Jeez... he actually released that much inside...
She had to carefully clean herself up and rest early; otherwise, she wouldn't be able to get up tomorrow morning.
As for leaving the Church... well, she'd think about it tomorrow.
"I'll just deal with it tomorrow morning..."
At the same moment, sitting by the window outside the bathroom, Xenovia quietly murmured the exact same words to herself.
<><><><><>
~ 22 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon!
https://p-atreon.com/dragonnx
(Just remove the hyphen to access Patreon normally.)
<><><><><>
Keep the chapters coming—Support with Power Stones!