“It seems, huff, worse than that time, cough, cough!”
Iberis, muttering in a hoarse voice, coughed violently as if choking. Then he panted with a pale face. His heartbeat, which had been racing fiercely just moments ago, was gradually slowing down.
Iberis easily found the cause. The rampaging mana was moving like a snake through his blood vessels, emitting an icy chill. This caused his body to cool down and his blood to circulate poorly. With circulation issues, his heart naturally slowed.
No, it wasn’t just slowing down; it was freezing. If his heart stopped like this, he would die.
What should I do?
Iberis pondered with a blank face, realizing he could really die. Without a radio, he needed to go seek help himself, but he didn’t have the strength to move a finger. More accurately, he didn’t want to do anything.
Just a feeling that everything could end like this? He was enveloped in an intense helplessness he hadn’t felt in a very long time. The depression he had forgotten while living with Lucas began to creep up from his chest.
Is this how I die?
Feeling death approaching, Iberis weakly opened and closed his eyes. Like his blurry vision, his mind was becoming hazy. All his senses were dulling.
At this point, he wasn’t particularly afraid of death. After all, he had been living a life where dying at any time wouldn’t have been strange.
Although it was much earlier than the doctor had predicted, he thought it wouldn’t be bad to close his eyes like this. Rather, he felt a faint sense of liberation. Because it seemed he could finally escape the terrible cold that had been tormenting him.
“It would be nice, if it were warm.”
Surely he wouldn’t have to shiver in the cold even after death? Iberis muttered with a small wish. His frozen lips barely moved.
If he was going to die anyway, he hoped his breath would stop quickly with as little pain as possible. Iberis closed his eyes, waiting for the peace that would come to him. His face was so serene it didn’t look like someone facing death.
As Iberis stopped resisting, the rampaging mana became even more violent. His mind gradually fell along with his dying body. For a brief moment, someone’s face flashed in his mind and a corner of his heart ached slightly, but regret and attachment soon scattered with his fading consciousness. Just as he was about to let go of life, his collar was roughly grabbed.
“…!”
Iberis’s eyes flew open at the touch forcefully pulling his body. His body, forcibly raised, creaked and screamed. His lips parted involuntarily at the pain that felt like his entire body was breaking.
Who?
Iberis mouthed silently. His throat must have frozen too, as white breath flowed out instead of his voice. A blurry figure appeared in his hazy vision, as if trapped in thick fog.
Whoo.
Before he could identify who had grabbed his collar, a soft warmth touched his cold lips. Then, hot breath flowed through his slightly parted lips. That alone was enough to clear his mind. Even the mana that had been greedily swallowing Iberis momentarily stopped moving.
Unable to grasp what had happened to him, Iberis blinked blankly. The chills that had been persistently tormenting him just seconds ago subsided, and his vision cleared as if fog was lifting. Then he saw golden eyes that seemed to hold the sunlight itself.
“What, is…”
Iberis moved his lips with a bewildered expression. With just one breath, his stiff throat loosened. Like spring wind melting winter snow, the warm breath had thawed his frozen throat.
“What do you mean, what?”
Lucas, who had breathed his breath into Iberis, replied in a calm tone. His stern face, deep eyes, and monotone voice were the same as usual, but somehow he seemed angry.
“It’s guiding.”
“Gui…ding…?”
Iberis blankly repeated Lucas’s words. A terribly cracked voice flowed from between his quivering lips. Lucas’s brow furrowed slightly, as if displeased by this.
“What do you mean, guiding?”
Iberis muttered with a dazed expression. He couldn’t believe what had happened to him. As his senses returned, he felt the arm firmly wrapped around his waist. Only then did Iberis realize he was in Lucas’s arms.
“You’re not asking because you don’t know, right? These days we always start with hand-holding, but originally, the basic method of guiding was mucous membrane contact. It’s still the most effective method.”
“That’s, not, huff.”
Iberis, about to say something, quickly closed his mouth and suppressed a cough. He was too close to Lucas. Ahem, he cleared his throat internally while biting his lip.
“Why, are you here…?”
Iberis asked in bewilderment after finally stopping his cough. Just before fighting the boss monster Queen Spider, he had sent all the team members, including Lucas, out for safety reasons. He clearly remembered confirming that they had all left the crack. So why was Lucas here? His confused eyes trembled slightly.
“Did you… come back?”
“Yes, I came to get you because you didn’t come out even though the battle was over.”
Unlike the flustered Iberis, Lucas was calm. However, the atmosphere was slightly different from usual. His brusque tone was the same, but there was a strange irritation in his voice.
“You came to get me?”
“It’s a pair’s duty to take care of the Esper after a battle.”
“Duty? Ah, cough!”
Recalling the recent contact at Lucas’s words, Iberis coughed again.
“Tch.”
Smelling the blood mixed in his shallow breath, Lucas hardened his eyes and clicked his tongue. The superior before him was clearly dying.
“You… huff, didn’t you say, premarital chastity?”
“Ah.”
I did, didn’t I? Lucas’s lips twisted as he recalled the old memory. Seeing that you have the luxury to think about such things in a dying situation, he replied in a gruff voice, his mood completely twisted.
“I see you still have the presence of mind to worry about others’ premarital chastity?”
“Huh?”
“You seem to keep forgetting, but I’m your pair guide and military doctor.”
“What?”
“I’m saying that protecting my Esper as your exclusive guide and following the Hippocratic oath as a doctor who saves lives is far more important than that premarital chastity nonsense.”
“What did you say?”
“What use are principles when a person’s life is at stake? You sent me away earlier telling me to be faithful to my duties as a doctor… Now you’re questioning why I’m guiding when I’m trying to fulfill my duty as you ordered, Major?”
“When, when did I question it? I…”
Who was it that said they only do level 1 guiding because they’re a premarital chastity believer? Feeling somehow wronged, Iberis moved his lips. He wanted to refute Lucas, but his voice wouldn’t come out well.
“Premarital chastity or whatever, shouldn’t we save the person first? Do you know what your condition is like now, Major? You’re on the verge of death. Hand-holding? Hugging? That level won’t cut it. If I don’t guide you now, you will definitely die.”
“Ah…”
“You weren’t thinking of dying like this, were you?”
At Lucas’s question, Iberis’s lips closed again. The silence was affirmation. Lucas’s eyes narrowed as he looked at Iberis, who didn’t deny it.
Ha, this person, really.
Lucas gritted his teeth, feeling a fire rising inside him. After following Iberis’s orders to lead the team members and move all the injured outside the crack, he had anxiously waited for the battle to end.
He didn’t think Iberis would lose to the Queen Spider, but he couldn’t help worrying about his physical condition. So Lucas kept watching the mana flow inside the crack.
But even though the swirling mana inside had subsided and the battle seemed to be over, Iberis didn’t come out. There was no response when he called him through the radio.
Feeling uneasy, Lucas finally entered the crack to find Iberis. He discovered Iberis collapsed on the floor, covered in blood. At that moment, he felt his heart plummet and all the blood drain from his body. It was fear.
Even without using his x-ray vision, he could feel Iberis’s rampaging mana eating away at his life. Realizing this, his body moved before he could think. When he came to his senses, he had already kissed Iberis. The fear of possibly losing him made Lucas break the principle he had maintained for years.
After going to such lengths to save him, what was he saying?
Lucas pressed his already tightly closed lips as if to crush them. It was still mind-boggling to think about. What angered him most was that Iberis had willingly accepted the death that came to him. If he hadn’t come here, Iberis probably would have…
His dark golden eyes flickered with aimless anger and sadness. He knew Iberis didn’t value his own body much and lacked the will to live, but he had foolishly believed things had improved significantly. This was no different from a breathing corpse.
Did you think I’d let you die?
Lucas stared at Iberis with a face full of determination. He had originally intended to save Iberis, but as he became aware of his emotions, a fierce and gloomy obsession filled his chest.
Finally, he fully accepted the feeling he had been refusing to name all along. He could no longer deny it. He… Iberis…
“I’m sorry, but I can’t watch you die, Major.”
“…Why.”
Why? Why? Why are you trying to save me? Iberis looked at Lucas with confused eyes.
The perceptive Lucas could understand all the questions contained in that short word. So he answered nonchalantly, as if being asked something obvious.
“Because I want you to live.”
I can’t bear to see you die before my eyes, so what else can I do? I have to save you somehow. Lucas moved his hand, not taking his eyes off the gray eyes that had widened at his words.
“Ugh.”
Iberis instinctively shrank his shoulders as the warm hand brushed down his eyes and cupped his cheek. Lucas’s mana seeped into his skin along with the hot body temperature.
“So…”
Lucas gazed at the slightly trembling eyes that seemed to hold snowflakes and lowered his head with somewhat urgent movements. There was no time to leisurely chat. Gently pressing his lips against the cold, chapped ones, he whispered to Iberis as if giving an order.
“Open your mouth, quickly.”
“Wha-, mmph…!”
Iberis’s eyes flew open as the soft warmth touched his lips. The soft lips rubbed lightly before pressing firmly.
Lucas gently bit the rough flesh with his teeth, as if urging Iberis to open his mouth. As soon as the lips parted in response to the stimulation, he pushed his tongue in eagerly.
“Mmnh…!”
Momentarily dizzied by the unfamiliar heat invading his mouth, Iberis grabbed Lucas’s shoulders. The hot, moist flesh explored the tender mucous membrane, and the hot breath warmed his ice-cold mouth.
“Hnn, Luke, ngh.”
Iberis moaned, at a loss with this contact he was experiencing for the first time. His breath quickly quickened at the sensation of tongues rubbing together and saliva mixing.
Slurp.
Lucas didn’t give Iberis time to assess and accept his situation. Sucking on the lips wet with saliva of unknown origin, he tilted his head, deepening their kiss.
“Haa, wait, mnn, mmm.”
Feeling short of breath, Iberis tried to pull his chin back. However, as if refusing to let him escape, a large hand firmly gripped the nape of his neck. The arm holding his waist also tightened.
“It hur-, ha, uh…”
Iberis groaned as pleasure and pain rose together. At the mumbled complaint of pain, the tongue that had been ravaging his mouth like a starved beast hesitated.
But only for a moment. Lucas soon resumed conquering Iberis’s mouth as if nothing had happened. The only difference was that the kiss had become gentler than before.
“Huu…”
A strange moan mixed with the groans as the flesh gently tickled the roof of his mouth and slowly rubbed the inner mucous membrane. Iberis helplessly fell into the pleasure Lucas was giving him. As if his partner’s body heat had spread, his ice-cold lips warmed, and his eyes grew hot.
Like a warm spring breeze melting his frozen body, the mana dissipated the cold that had seeped into his bones, and the pain that felt like sharp thorns pricking his skin disappeared.
What is this?
Iberis felt fear at the continuous kissing. The gentle yet persistent kiss made him dizzy. The sensation from the guiding was similar to receiving a mana shower, but the physical pleasure was distinctly different.
During level 1 guiding or mana showers, Lucas always consciously controlled and adjusted his mana. But now, Lucas’s mana flowed naturally through their connected lips and bodies without needing separate adjustment. Just as much as Iberis wanted, just enough to make him feel the best.
Iberis trembled and gasped for breath at the wave-like heat. His vision blurred and his legs weakened at the increasingly intense sensation. His already weakened legs buckled, unable to withstand the excitement.
As Iberis staggered greatly, Lucas lowered the arm that had been holding his waist to support his hips, then lifted him up entirely.
“Ah! Hngh.”
Iberis let out a scream-like moan of pleasure at the floating sensation and opened his eyes in surprise. Their gazes locked in mid-air.
“…!”
Iberis’s Adam’s apple trembled as his eyes met Lucas’s. His neck chilled and his hair stood on end at the brightly shining golden eyes that seemed like they would melt him completely.
I’m scared.
Iberis tightly closed his eyes as if avoiding Lucas, feeling a chill different from the heat run down his spine. His heart, which had remained calm even in front of numerous monsters and in the face of approaching death, lost its composure at this kiss disguised as guiding. It was that intense of a stimulus.
“Lu-, ha, mph.”
Although the change in position and eye level made Iberis look down at Lucas, their lips remained pressed together as if never to part. Lucas sucked in all the moans and saliva that escaped through the gap of their tightly pressed lips.
“Major, where are you?”
“Please answer!”
“Haven’t you found the Major yet, Captain?”
The seemingly endless kiss stopped when they heard shouts searching for them. At the voices of Brenda and the team members who had belatedly followed Lucas, their tightly pressed lips slowly parted. As the transparent thread stretched long and then snapped, Iberis shuddered as if waking from a dream.
“Major! Captain Illum!”
“Luke, th-the people, hnn…”
As the footsteps of those searching for them grew closer, Iberis anxiously tried to push Lucas away. He couldn’t let the team members see them like this.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
