“Nolan!”
Hank watched Nolan collapse, his heart skipping a beat. If anything happened to this man, then all those bold words and ambitions would turn to nothing. He didn’t spare a glance for the Guide he had already maimed and left unconscious, but turned and sprinted straight toward Nolan, his mind filled with a single thought, This is bad. Very bad.
A veteran of countless battles, he could tell at a glance how dire Nolan’s condition was. The man’s guard-issued chainmail had been shredded, wounds of every size covering his body and bleeding freely, especially the gaping hole through his left shoulder where blood poured without restraint. Injuries like these, this level of blood loss, would be too much even for a Silver-tier warrior.
Nolan’s condition truly was critical. The effect of Unyielding had its limits, and now the countdown to death was less than two minutes. His health had long fallen into the negative; even pouring all his experience into leveling up and restoring fifty percent couldn’t fill that enormous deficit. Darkness was rapidly consuming his consciousness.
Hank rushed to his side, about to check his injuries, only to have his path blocked by another figure.
The silver-haired girl.
She stood beside Nolan, head lowered, silently looking at the man lying in a pool of blood. Hank’s heart climbed into his throat.
A dragon.
Though it was his first time seeing one in his life, the innate pressure she exuded and that world-ending pillar of platinum fire from before left no room for doubt. He had no idea how to deal with a creature of legend. What was she trying to do? If she just stood there, Nolan would bleed out.
Hank tightened his grip on his sword, every muscle in his body tensed, preparing for the worst. Yet to his surprise, the dragon girl’s gaze on Nolan was incredibly complicated, as though she wanted to act but hesitated. There was conflict in her eyes, a trace of distaste, and even something faintly awkward.
“Miss… ah, my lady? Please step aside. My companion is in very bad shape. If we don’t act now—”
At his words, she seemed to finally make up her mind and let out a sharp huff. “I don’t need you to remind me, human.”
Then she crouched down, grabbed Nolan by the collar, and hauled him up out of the blood. The motion was so rough that Hank’s eye twitched; at this rate, she might finish him off before saving him. But what happened next left even this seasoned veteran utterly stunned.
***
Nolan felt as though he were lying in a pool of warm mud. He was so tired, so much in pain. His entire body felt like it had fallen apart, his lungs heavy as if filled with lead, each breath labored and tinged with the taste of blood. His consciousness drifted, his vision reduced to a blur of dark red. He heard Hank calling out to him anxiously, yet he didn’t have the strength to lift even a finger. He wanted to respond, but couldn’t open his mouth.
Unbidden, images from his previous life flickered through his mind: the burning royal capital of Elfin, and the final, tragic yet resolute smile of Princess Flina.
What the hell am I doing… he thought bitterly. Heaven gave me such an incredible chance, and I still ended up throwing myself into a fight like an idiot. I talked so big, made so many promises, and there are still so many regrets I haven’t fixed… And I’m just going to fall at the very first step?
Was he frustrated? A little.
But even if given the choice again, he would still stand in front of that dragon girl. This life was meant to make up for his regrets. If he chose to stand by while enemies threatened the innocent, he would never be able to forgive himself.
As his thoughts drifted, a blurry silver figure entered his fading vision.
It seemed to be that elf girl—or rather, the dragon girl. His eyes could no longer focus, and he couldn’t make out her face.
At least she and Hank were safe, and the scum from the Nihility Cult had been eliminated.
In the next moment, he felt himself being roughly hauled upright. The movement pulled at every wound on his body, and the surge of pain jolted his muddled consciousness into brief clarity.
He was about to curse when he realized the words were blocked at his lips—literally. Two soft lips, cool and trembling slightly, pressed against his own.
A jolt shot through him from the point of contact, racing across his entire body. He was being kissed. Nolan’s mind went blank, as if struck head-on by a draconic spell.
Across two lifetimes, he had been single from birth. Forget kissing—he had never even properly held a girl’s hand. This sudden intimacy hit him with a force no less shocking than the twelfth-circle forbidden spell Soul Disintegration that had ended his previous life.
So this… was a kiss? Was the heavens taking pity on how miserable he’d been and granting him one last benefit before death, to make up for what his life lacked?
His thoughts tangled into chaos. He could smell a faint fragrance from her, cool and delicate with a hint of sweetness, and feel the soft warmth of her breath trembling against him.
Then a gentle warmth flowed from her lips into his, slowly passing between them. After a few seconds, he sensed something cautiously, tentatively slipping into his mouth.
Hank stood there, completely dumbfounded.
He had been frantic, thinking of how to stop Nolan’s bleeding, yet this dragon girl had gone straight to kissing a man who was half-dead. What kind of situation was this? He had seen comrades die in his arms and enemies cleaved in two, but this was something else entirely.
He was about to say, “Hey, are you sure you’ve got the right idea? What he needs right now is bandages and potions, not… this,” when he suddenly noticed that Nolan’s smaller wounds were closing at a visible rate. Even the horrifying puncture in his left shoulder had stopped bleeding.
Was this… some kind of healing magic? Through the mouth?
Hank swallowed.
Was that how dragons did things?
Nolan, too, felt the change within his body. The warmth flowing into him was like the purest holy water, coursing through him, repairing damaged organs and nourishing dried-up veins. The pain faded rapidly, replaced by a soothing, almost comforting warmth, and he could no longer even feel the pain in his lips.
On impulse, he moved his tongue slightly, brushing against the “intruder” in his mouth.
The dragon girl was clearly inexperienced with this as well. The scent of this human—blood, sweat, and all—filled her senses, making her uneasy. Then, suddenly, she felt something strange at the tip of her tongue.
Startled like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, she shuddered and bit down.
“Mmph!” Nolan flinched in pain, letting out a muffled groan.
That sound snapped her fully awake. She immediately let go, as if discarding something too hot to hold.
With nothing supporting it, Nolan’s head dropped and struck the hard stone ground with a solid thud. A fresh wave of pain hit him, stars bursting across his vision. A bright red “-1” drifted lazily through his sight.
Amid the spinning haze, he could barely make out his status panel. The Unyielding skill that had been sustaining him had vanished, and his health had returned to positive values.
Beside his name, two new tags had appeared without a sound:
【Dragonkin】…
【Source of the Dragon】.
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