Morning came.
I squinted my eyes open.
I was naked. And right next to me, also naked, was a demon girl.
The cave was no longer shrouded in darkness—the weak glow of the morning sun barely reached inside. I noticed small holes scattered throughout the walls, likely where the monsters had retreated to hide.
I nudged the demon girl awake. She yawned groggily, and I couldn’t resist pinching her chubby cheeks playfully before leaning in close.
I gazed into her crimson eyes.
Then, I gave her a short kiss.
She stared at me for a moment.
And then she lunged, showering me with more kisses. Things escalated, and before I knew it, we indulged in our morning glory.
Afterward, I led her toward the other side of the tunnel where I had fallen through.
To be honest, the cave was terrifying. I still couldn’t believe I had spent the night here—let alone making love to a demon who had tried to kill me.
But I had to find a way out. Climbing up? A death sentence if I fell. And if I did manage to make it up, Evelyn definitely wouldn’t be teaching me how to fly after that.
And now, I wasn’t just trying to get myself out—I had to take the demon girl with me, too.
For some reason, she had been eerily quiet ever since. The only words she had spoken to me were: "Thank you."
"Hey... what’s your name?" I asked.
She tilted her head.
"I’m Asher. Asher Reynolds!" I pointed at myself.
"A- Asha?" she murmured, her eyes widening as if uttering my name took every ounce of her strength.
"Yes, I’m Asher. What about you?" I gestured toward her.
She hesitated, then pointed at herself. "Asha."
I sighed. "No, I’m Asher. You—ah, forget it. I’ll just give you a name instead. Rin. Yeah, how do you feel about that?"
She blinked blankly.
I pressed a finger right between her breasts and boldly declared, "Rin!"
It took some effort to get her to accept it, but eventually, she embraced the name. She stood up like an excited child, repeating, "Rin... Rin..." with a bright, contagious smile.
She was just adorable.
Back to my training. After countless failed attempts to take off into the sky by flying, an idea struck me.
The Wind Gale skill I always used to shove my enemies away—what if I used it to launch myself up instead?
There was only one way to find out.
"Rin, come. Let’s go." I motioned for her to wrap her arms around my neck.
I summoned as much wind magic as I could, compressing the force beneath me. The pressure nearly shattered the cave floor before—BOOM!—I rocketed into the air and landed roughly on the surface, right where that brat had pushed me yesterday.
Pain shot through my body. Definitely broke a rib or two. But before worrying about myself, I had to check on Rin.
She had crouched down, shielding her face with her hands.
"Rin!" I called, kneeling beside her.
She wasn’t hurt. But as I pulled her up, she instinctively covered her face again.
I reached into my pocket dimension, pulled out a long black coat I had stored for emergencies, and handed it to her.
Instead of wearing it, she held it above her head like a shield.
That’s when I realized—she was afraid of the sun.
There was no sign of Evelyn anywhere. Just great. I was prepared to fight through the hellish forest again, with trees bullying me like last time. But as Rin and I passed through, her curled under the coat, the trees did something strange.
They moved aside.
Not aggressively. Not to attack. But to clear a path—like they were afraid.
Good. Maybe I came back from that cave more intimidating than before.
When we arrived at the castle, the guards were already on standby, weapons brandished.
Before I could even process what was happening, Rose came out of nowhere—charging straight at Rin with a fury of punches!
She ripped the coat away, exposing Rin’s bare skin. Rin immediately shielded her face from the sunlight.
"SYTHRAYA UMBRAFLAME!!!" Rose roared, throwing punch after punch.
I jumped in, yanking Rose away and flinging the coat back over Rin.
"What the hell is wrong with you, ROSE?!" I snapped.
"That’s my question! What the hell is wrong with you?!"
"Huh?"
"You’re walking casually with that catastrophe! I sensed her dark, massive aura before you even got here!"
"Dark... massive aura?" I blinked and glanced at Rin.
She was crouched under the coat, unbothered by Rose’s attacks, as if they hadn’t affected her at all.
Rose clenched her fists. "Ugh... you didn’t even sense it! Move, Asher! I need to finish this bitch before she wipes us all out!"
"Hold on, hold on!" I stepped in front of Rin. "I can’t just let you attack my... friend like that!"
"Friend?" Rose raised an eyebrow. "Do you even know what you’ve brought here? She was supposed to be nothing but a pathetic little snake for the rest of her life! How did she regain that form?!"
"Wait... you know her?"
Rose paced back and forth, rubbing her temples as if I had just invited a monster into the castle.
Then she stopped, pointing a trembling finger at Rin.
"That’s Sythraya Umbraflame. Draegonoth’s younger sister."
My heart skipped a beat.
What?
Rin peeked up from under the coat, staring at Rose like she was some kind of lunatic. Then, she simply pointed at herself and muttered, "Rin." Her eyes were as innocent as ever.
No way. No way she was that bastard’s sister.
"Listen, Rose. I think there’s a misunderstanding. I found this girl in a creepy-ass cave. She was a giant python."
"Giant?" Rose’s eyes widened.
"Yeah. Massive."
"How is that possible?" Rose looked horrified. "I cursed her fifty years ago into a small snake and tossed her into that cave. I assumed she suffered and died down there."
"Well, she didn’t." I crossed my arms. "And why the hell would you do something like that to this innocent girl?"
"Innocent?" Rose snapped. "Innocent?! That bitch was a sociopath! She enjoyed killing. She’s the reason so many of my brethren lost their lives."
Her voice trembled.
"Including my parents."
A tear slid down her cheek.
I stepped closer. "Rose... I’m sorry, but can’t you see? She doesn’t seem that bad. Maybe she’s changed."
"No!" Rose shoved me away. "She’s going to pay for her crimes!"
And with a furious glare, she conjured her dark whip.
Ready to tear Rin into tiny threads!