Although they needed to leave, Cristine and Strax realized it wouldn't be possible, as they were too exhausted. So, they decided to sit down and wait a bit to catch their breath before returning to common civilization.
Strax sat on a tree stump while wiping the blood off his swords, listening to the crackle of the flames that rose into the night sky. The smell of burnt flesh and blood spread across his view. In his hands, his two daggers were being carefully cleaned with a small cloth he had just stolen from one of the bodies he had killed so cruelly.
"Thank you, my dear wives," he commented while wiping the blood from the daggers. Of course, he knew those words carried some weight, and it was felt by the two dragons, who couldn't help but smile...
"He finally called us wives..." Ouroboros remarked as her body writhed with possessive love. She hadn't even been touched or felt by him, but her inner spiritual body trembled with warmth...
"Wife of the Demon Dragon! Yes! That's perfect! I want to be the Dragon of the Infinite Demon!" She screamed internally, excited about the current situation, though, well... it wasn't exactly like that—there was still much to achieve...
Tiamat was no different. "Wife... I never thought I would be called that in all these thousands of years... I wonder if my master was ever called 'Wife' too?" Tiamat pondered aloud, feeling content as she lay in her golden palace...
"Is it true... has the master fled the spiritual world?" Tiamat asked herself as she recalled a certain Blue-Eyes White Dragon.
"Thinking about Albion? That crazy bitch must have run to the Crimson Empress to fight like the two bitches they are. How many worlds have they destroyed with that rivalry? I think more than thirty," Ouroboros teased, provoking Tiamat, who sighed deeply.
"Why do I even try talking to you, letting my words reach there..." Tiamat murmured. She was at least trying to maintain good relations with Ouroboros, but the Possessive Dragon didn't want to admit this form of "friendship" Tiamat was attempting to create.
While Strax continued to thoroughly clean the blood from his daggers, Cristine stared at Malek's body on the ground, her heart still racing...
She tasted revenge, but not in the way she truly wanted. There was a bitter taste in her mouth. The brutal and chaotic violence she had so longed for seemed pale compared to the lack of significance that followed the event.
"It was too quick..." she murmured, her eyes fixed on Malek's body. "I wanted him to suffer more."
Strax silently sheathed Tiamat, his piercing gaze resting on Cristine. He understood her desire for revenge, but he knew that prolonging Malek's suffering could have exposed them both to unnecessary risks. To him, the mission wasn't about personal revenge; it was about efficiency.
"Revenge doesn't have to be slow to be complete," he said, breaking the silence. "What matters is that he's dead, and you've gotten your justice, at least part of it."
Cristine clenched her jaw, still wrestling with the whirlwind of emotions inside her. Part of her wanted to scream, destroy everything around, release all the pent-up frustration. But as she looked at Strax, she realized there was another way to handle her anger—a control as sharp as the blade of a dagger.
"It's so..." she murmured, clenching her fists. "Uninteresting, isn't it?" she asked, following her gaze toward the woman holding back tears...
"Well, now no one will know what happened here," Strax grinned, making Cristine question, "You could have done that the whole time?"
Strax chuckled softly at Cristine's question, his eyes sparkling with a mix of amusement and mischief. He shrugged as if the answer had been obvious, but he had purposefully saved it for the end.
"Of course I could," he replied, his voice relaxed as he glanced around the scorched clearing. "But where's the fun in that? Besides, you needed to feel the taste of victory, not just watch it."
Cristine narrowed her eyes, feeling a bit of frustration as she realized Strax had been in control the entire time. "You... like to complicate things, don't you?"
Strax gave her a mischievous grin, like someone caught in a playful prank. "Let's just say that complicating things is sometimes the most fun. No challenges, no growth, right?"
She shook her head, unable to suppress a smile. There was something about the way he saw the world that was strangely comforting, even if it was utterly chaotic.
"You're going to drive me crazy," Cristine murmured as she walked beside him, still holding his hand.
"Ah, madness, my dear, is just a matter of perspective," Strax replied, his playful tone contrasting with the devastation around them. "But for now, let's focus on the main bosses. The real fun is still ahead."
Cristine sighed, though she was growing more accustomed to Strax's unpredictability. There was something intriguing about the way he approached life, and despite everything, she felt a little stronger, perhaps even more at peace with herself.
As they walked, the scorched clearing became a distant memory.
"So," she said, raising an eyebrow, "what else are you hiding? Besides being a part-time pyromaniac, of course."
Strax let out a loud laugh, his eyes gleaming with amusement as he looked at her. "Ah, Cristine, you haven't seen anything yet." He grinned while wrapping his arm around her waist. "Let's just say you're going to learn a lot more about me, more than you already know... Or do you think I didn't notice you spying on me at the Duchy? Oh, Cristine...
you're just too cute," he murmured into her ear, sending her heart racing with both anticipation and dread.
'HE KNEW?!!' she screamed internally, recalling all the times she had secretly watched him, whether while he was sleeping or going about his day, before revealing herself as "Sister Cristine."
"Spying on people is wrong, you know? Good thing you're my wife now... otherwise... I'd have to punish you," he said, his voice dripping with playful menace. Cristine immediately caught the double meaning behind his words.
'Lunatic!' she thought, her heart pounding even faster, torn between amusement and exasperation at his audacity.