“Cough, Luke?”
Iberis’s eyes widened as the distance between him and Lucas suddenly narrowed. A shadow seemed to fall across his face, then a warm doctor’s gown gently wrapped around his shoulders.
“Are you alright?”
“Huh? Oh, yes. Of course I’m fine.”
Iberis awkwardly answered the abrupt question about his condition. His heart fluttered unnecessarily at the voice tinged with concern for him.
“Are you injured anywhere?”
“No.”
Iberis smiled faintly as if to say not to worry. The monsters that remained in the dungeon-transformed rift were annihilated without touching a single hair on his body. He inhaled a little smoke in the process, but it was nothing to worry about.
“I’m glad.”
Lucas finally relaxed after confirming Iberis’s face was clean without a single scratch and his internal mana was more stable than expected.
Knowing that Iberis had been oddly depressed for days after the investigation concluded with Isaac Miller’s death, Lucas had worried that he might not be able to focus on the battle, but it was an unnecessary concern.
“You must be tired? I’ll guide you right away.”
“Hm? It seems the subjugation isn’t over yet…”
At Lucas’s words about proceeding with guiding, Iberis’s gaze turned beyond the barrier. They had conquered the rift, but the ground battle was still ongoing.
“Leave the cleanup to others. We just need to catch the swarm of bees trapped inside the barrier. Major Jonas and Major Rose will handle that much.”
“Isn’t there too many to call it a cleanup? There seems to be thousands, and our troops are also there…”
“Lieutenant Cali will command the troops.”
Lucas cut him off as if to say there was no need to worry, and put his arm around Iberis’s shoulder. Perhaps because he hadn’t used his ability in a while, despite his calm appearance, the cold emanating from his body was quite fierce.
“Come on, let’s help for a bit. Okay?”
“Major.”
“It’s a good opportunity to show that there’s nothing wrong with my body.”
“…Alright.”
Unable to break Iberis’s stubbornness, Lucas removed his hand from the round shoulder. He wanted to forcibly drag him to the utility vehicle, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. After all, it was he who had suggested the need to show the outside world that Iberis was still strong.
After the news of Iberis’s injury was reported, many were curious about his physical condition. Both those who were grateful to Iberis and those who held grudges against him wanted to know more about him in detail.
When Iberis returned to work after his sick leave, it seemed that interest was waning, but it flared up again due to documents found at the scene of Isaac Miller’s death. There were contents and photos showing that Iberis had visited several private hospitals earlier this year.
At the press conference announcing the conclusion of the case, the military investigation bureau revealed the contents of the documents and stated that Isaac Miller had urged villains to commit terrorism by claiming Iberis had health issues. As a result, people’s interest in him was once again piqued.
Judging that it needed to be quelled before the controversy grew, Lucas accepted the support request from Major Jonas and Major Rose.
Not content with just that, he asked Winfried to invite war correspondents to the scene. It was to showcase Iberis’s overwhelming abilities in front of them and leave a record.
If an article came out saying that Iberis had conquered the rift just before the dungeon break occurred, suspicions about his health would naturally dissipate and public opinion would become even more favorable.
“You must not overexert yourself.”
“I know.”
Iberis chuckled at Lucas’s admonition and walked towards the mana barrier.
“Step aside for a moment.”
“Gasp, Major?”
Several people stepped back with surprised expressions at Iberis’s appearance. He entered the barrier without hesitation as soon as the path cleared.
Monsters couldn’t penetrate the mana barrier created by ability users because they were beings from a different dimension. The mana of monsters and humans had different properties.
For this reason, monsters found it difficult to gain additional power on Earth beyond the internal mana they possessed, and they couldn’t pass through walls made of Earth’s mana, which was incompatible with them.
Conversely, the mana barrier had no effect on ability users. Anyone could freely pass through the mana barrier. Just like Iberis now.
Woong…!
The poison bees, recognizing the enemy, gathered as one and made a threatening sound. Iberis calmly watched the swarm of poison bees, now shaped like a giant bee, rush towards him and stretched out his hand. The air churned violently, and an ice storm arose around him.
As a fierce blizzard raged inside the barrier, the poison bees, sensing something was amiss, scattered in panic. But it was already too late. The snowflakes that clung to the bees’ wings and bodies quickly grew in size, freezing the monsters.
Thud, thung…
In the blink of an eye, the frozen solid poison bees fell to the ground one by one. The bees that had been in groups of dozens became round ball-like ice chunks and tumbled down.
“Phew…”
Iberis, who had subdued thousands of poison bees in an instant, exhaled a breath tinged with white steam. Whether it was just his feeling or not, the power of his ability seemed to have become stronger than before. It was also much easier to manipulate mana.
Is this the effect of raising the guiding stage?
Iberis clenched and unclenched his fist with a slightly curious feeling. The only recent change he had experienced was progressing to stage 3 guiding with Lucas, beyond stage 2.
Perhaps because their skinship had deepened, the matching rate, which had been stagnant for a while, also increased. The first digit changed from 7 to 8. The higher the matching rate, the stronger the influence of guiding, so it was natural that his physical condition improved.
If I had known it would be this effective, I should have tried it earlier.
Iberis chuckled at the thought he would never have had before. Although it was still embarrassing to do such things with Lucas, he understood why other espers preferred higher-level guiding.
It was undeniable that as the guiding level increased, one gained faster and more powerful effects. Coupled with a euphoria more intense than drugs, there was nothing for espers to lose. If anything, it was all gain.
“My goodness.”
“Wow…”
The soldiers watching Iberis from outside the mana barrier gaped at the overwhelming battle unfolding before their eyes. While they had been laboriously killing bees one by one with mana guns, Iberis suddenly appeared and killed thousands with a single use of his ability. It was indeed astonishing.
Of course, some others could also catch multiple monsters at once. However, it was impossible to annihilate a swarm of monsters with just a light gesture like he did.
The soldiers gazed at Iberis, who was coming out of the barrier with an indifferent expression as if it were nothing, with eyes full of awe.
“Where are Major Jonas and Major Rose?”
“Ah, they both went to receive guiding for a moment.”
“I see. Leave the cleanup to N-1 and N-2 units. Tell them to kill every last one without leaving any behind.”
“Yes, Major!”
Iberis, after ordering a nearby soldier, walked towards Lucas who was waiting for him. Lucas was tilting his head as if something displeased him.
“Why the expression?”
“I told you not to overdo it…”
Lucas, with a sulky face, trailed off and grabbed Iberis’s hand. Unlike before, his internal mana was unstable.
“Sorry, I didn’t know they would cluster and charge together. In that case, it’s better to clear them all at once, right?”
“Well, you did well there. The reporters were all impressed. Thanks to that, the rumors about your health issues will probably disappear.”
“Is that praise or sarcasm?”
“Both.”
Lucas gruffly replied and pulled Iberis away from the scene. Since he had instructed Caleb to clear away the reporters beforehand, no one interfered or blocked them on their way to Iberis’s official vehicle.
“Get in.”
Lucas pushed Iberis into the car and roughly closed the door. Then he immediately cupped Iberis’s cheeks and pressed their lips together.
“Wait, mmph…”
Surprised by the tongue lapping at his lips relentlessly, Iberis opened his mouth to say something. Immediately, a thick flesh invaded his mouth. As the warm tongue and cold tongue rubbed against each other, and hot breath mixed with cold breath, a strange heat bloomed in his mouth.
Lucas ravaged the cave-like, moist, and cool interior of Iberis’s mouth with his tongue, overwhelming him. As he stirred the tender mucous membrane and swept over the teeth, their saliva mixed stickily.
“Mm, hah, stop… hah.”
Iberis couldn’t regain his senses from the kiss that pushed on relentlessly without giving him a chance to breathe. His body, still excited from the battle, quickly heated up from just one kiss. His body, losing balance, tilted backward.
Slurp, smack.
As the kiss deepened, wet sounds continuously escaped from between their sealed lips. Iberis, feeling his body gradually being laid down, clumsily entwined his tongue. As his breath quickened, his vision blurred as if covered in frost.
“Wait, st… hah, I said stop.”
Iberis finally separated their lips and raised his hand to block Lucas’s face.
“…What is it?”
Lucas twitched one eyebrow when Iberis made a gesture refusing his kiss. Then he bit Iberis’s gloved hand, which was emanating cold.
“No, it’s just, there are people outside… ah!”
A short moan escaped from Iberis’s parted lips at the tingling sensation rising from his palm. He looked at Lucas, who was nibbling on his hand, with a bewildered expression. Although he knew Lucas wasn’t particularly affected by his cold, it was still surprising.
“Don’t worry about it. They can’t see inside the car from outside. And it’s soundproofed, so there’s little chance of sound leaking out.”
Lucas didn’t stop at just biting Iberis’s hand; he caught the tip of the glove with his teeth and pulled it off completely.
“But, ah, why the glove, hah, what are you…”
As hot breath tickled between his cold fingers and soft lips fondled his bare skin, Iberis hunched his shoulders tightly.
Trying to ask what he was doing, Iberis hesitated when he saw the golden eyes revealed between his parted fingers. For a moment, the nape of his neck tingled at the sight of those golden eyes shining brightly like those of a hungry beast.
