Chapter 10: The Birth of the King

Chapter 10: The Birth of the King

……

At the bottom of the abyss.

Bizarre and magnificent stalactites in an inverted cone shape pierced the ceiling of the cave, leaving a circular opening at the very top, like a volcanic mouth.

Apart from this, there were no other openings.

Green minerals were haphazardly piled up into an irregular oval shape. The oval was vast, about a meter high, and the outer rim of green minerals spread out in a mouth-like shape, fading into the surrounding darkness.

This was a giant monster's lair, with a slightly recessed, nest-like center at the bottom, which wasn't hard but covered in abyss moss and soft grass.

Footsteps echoed in the air. Lu Lin'an continued piling energy stones around the lair, simultaneously pulling a gold coin from a suddenly torn space to tightly seal the crack.

His expression while doing all this was subtly conflicted, as if reluctant yet resigned. Black-scaled wings draped behind him, dragging two deep scars on the soft grass as he moved around the lair.

Occasionally, he would find glowing flowers in the abyss and pluck them for colorful decorations in the crevices.

He alternated between building the nest and crouching at its edge, carefully observing the young man sleeping at the center.

The ground of the abyss was cold, so Lu Lin'an thoughtfully laid a feather-soft blanket for Yun Huai and, feeling his posture might be uncomfortable, took off his coat to fashion a pillow, gently placing it under the young man's head.

"Your skin is as smooth as the fruit of the milk tree."

"But I still think your eyes are the most beautiful. Why do you have such eyes, and how come I've never seen you before?" Lu Lin'an's voice was low and soft. "Were you just repairing an Ita clan's war machine? You're so cute, but they're all deceiving you."

An Ita clan's war machine cannot be fixed with a screwdriver.

In the enclosed space, only his eerie monologue resonated. Lu Lin'an glanced at his wings before speaking across the not-too-high green nest, "Your scent is also very nice; it makes my spirit power very comfortable. They want to be close to you, never have they been this disobedient before."

Lu Lin'an sat outside the nest, one hand supporting his distinct jawline. He alternated between watching Yun Huai and chuckling softly to himself. If anyone else were here, they'd probably cry out in fear at his current state.

Yet, the man didn't make any harmful moves. On the contrary, he seemed to be guarding the young man at the center, not even allowing an abyssal insect near him.

In Yun Huai's world, however, a massive famine was occurring.

Even in his slumber, he felt the pangs of hunger, unconsciously curling up and placing his hands over his stomach.

Lu Lin'an's expression changed as his dangerous black wings calmly folded behind him. The edges, once ablaze, now extinguished, but the temperature rose instead, with hot gold-red blood visibly coursing through vein-like paths.

"Are you hungry? What would you like to eat? I have emergency nutrient fluid," Lu Lin'an reached out, pulling a white bottle from a spatial rift, "But you need to wake up to drink it."

Speaking, he stepped into the nest, approaching the beautiful young man sleeping in the center. He raised his hand, attempting to gauge the right amount of strength to lift him in the hazy light.

But as soon as Lu Lin'an's fingers touched Yun Huai, Yun Huai abruptly opened his eyes.

His eyelids slightly lifted, staring at Lu Lin'an. As the man's lips barely moved, Yun Huai suddenly raised his hand, grabbing the protruding bone spike at the tip of Lu Lin'an's dragon-like tail.

Lu Lin'an's golden eyes suddenly narrowed into sharp vertical pupils.

Wisps of white spiritual power slowly spread, and as the spiritual power threads climbed, the scorching edges of Lu Lin'an's wings gradually got covered in white frost. He glanced at it, not shaking off Yun Huai, but instead turned his back, finding a suitable angle to offer his giant wings entirely to him.

"I'm glad you like this," the man's voice was indulgently deep, "It's an honor for it."

Yun Huai was forcibly awakened by the immediate sense of crisis before him, but he wasn't fully conscious, his vision still hazy. His hunger, never this intense before, made him unable to resist grabbing and consuming a small part of the fiery red energy sea.

Just that small amount warmed his stomach, giving him an unprecedented feeling of fullness.

It was like a feast.

The young man's eyes gradually cleared, and Lu Lin'an's genetically superior face reappeared in his line of sight. Yun Huai looked at those narrow, focused eyes and closed his own for a moment.

...No mistake.

...Giant wings.

That's good.

Although he's a monster with large wings, he's a handsome monster without a strange smell, not enough to trigger Yun Huai's food phobia.

He didn't really fall into the crevice before fainting from hunger, most likely because this man in front of him can fly.

He didn't kill him, but saved him.

The other might not have noticed that he had stealthily consumed some of his spiritual energy. Yun Huai remained silent for a while before slowly speaking, "Sir, you don't ask where I come from or who I am, and you don't even care about my strange appearance in the abyss. Aren't you worried that I might be a monster too?"

The young man's tone was cold and gentle, as if he feared nothing, or perhaps, cared about nothing.

Lu Lin'an laughed softly, "I'm not worried."

Yun Huai propped himself up, his gaze sweeping around the large oval nest. His presence hardly occupied even two square meters of it.

Lu Lin'an suddenly asked, "Is just that little bit enough for you?" He extended his hand, his fingertips sparking a tuft of dark red flame, "I have a lot more. You seem really hungry."

Yun Huai breathed slowly, "You even knew I just stealthily consumed your spiritual energy."

Lu Lin'an said, "It's not a big deal. You’re very smart. I've taught many how to take others' spiritual energy without rejection, but none could learn. Only I could — oh, and now you. We both learned instinctively."

Yun Huai was numb to the compliments, realizing this creature truly feared nothing. Nothing seemed to alert him except for Yun Huai's own unconscious attempts to escape.

The air was filled with the sweet aroma of fruit wine. Lu Lin'an squinted his eyes, sniffing momentarily. He willingly lowered the temperature and blood flow of his wings, wishing to let the white frost linger longer on the bone spurs.

It was cool and icy, a gentle and comfortable sensation his burning blood had never felt before.

Lu Lin'an kept his eyes fixed on Yun Huai, wishing the other would talk more because he found Yun Huai's voice very pleasant.

He also consumed spiritual energy, and Lu Lin'an had never met anyone who dared to consume his energy without any repercussions, a true genius.

He was certain they belonged to the same world.

Only, Yun Huai was too young, almost like a cub, needing proper nourishment to grow.

“What about the war robots?” Yun Huai suddenly asked, “You didn’t dismantle them, did you?”

“No, you like those things. I wouldn’t destroy them. They're probably flying around the cave looking for you right now.”

Yun Huai hugged his knees, silently moving to another corner of the nest. Lu Lin'an's pupils contracted slightly in dissatisfaction, barely suppressing his restless wings.

"I don't want to stay here," Yun Huai attempted to communicate with the creature in this bizarre situation. "I want to go to the surface. You can surely do that."

Lu Lin'an fell silent for a moment: "Why? Don't you think this nest is beautiful?"

“……”

Yun Huai: "Any normal person wouldn't stay here. Sir, you and I are different. I'm a normal person. I want to leave the abyss. It has nothing to do with whether your nest is beautiful or not."

"You haven't complimented it since you woke up," Lu Lin'an frowned, completely on a different wavelength from Yun Huai. "If you're not satisfied, I can build a new one for you."

As he spoke, he suddenly let a gold Lug coin slip through his fingers. "Don't like green? How about gold? I can do black too. Red won’t work; my red nests are too hot, and you'll get hurt."

Yun Huai thought Lu Lin'an might be ill but couldn't pinpoint exactly what was wrong. This man seemed to have taken a liking to him, and the only difference from those who had been attracted before was that he seemed unlikely to harm him.

But he looked troublesome. Yun Huai just wanted a peaceful life.

He deliberately lowered his voice, which ended up sounding huskier and cuter, "I just controlled a war robot to attack you. Although it wasn’t successful, it should count as a dangerous act. Keeping me in your nest might risk me killing you in your sleep."

Lu Lin'an: "Pfft."

Yun Huai: "?"

What are you laughing at?? Are you looking down on me?

A portion of the man's black hair was swept up, with some strands falling on his sharp eyebrows. He looked at Yun Huai intently, his gaze lacking the warmth of a human, more akin to a wild, untamable beast.

Lu Lin'an's wings flared and stretched momentarily, creating a gust of wind akin to a spaceship landing. "Because of your arrival, my wings can't retract now. It's not that I won't take you up; it's just that doing so would cause a disturbance. Most citizens of K420 have low spiritual power. My unretractable energy would crush them all."

Yun Huai glanced at Lu Lin'an's wings and suddenly noticed something peculiar: "Then why am I unaffected?"

"Isn't he supposed to be the weakest?"

Lu Lin'an: "Because you seem to have a resistance to me, and—"

He said this, smiling lightly at the young man and snapping his fingers: "I'm protecting you, too."

The concealed fiery sea around them suddenly rose, but Yun Huai felt no scorching heat. He slowly lifted his gaze, falling on the invisible barrier that enveloped him.

It was continuously dripping with tongues of flame and magma-like spiritual energy. Without this absolute space, he would have been incinerated instantly.

The man, amidst hellish flames, with golden pupils that seemed to have undergone countless temperings, stared unemotionally and directly at Yun Huai.

“I won’t ask why you fell into the abyss. Let’s consider it a gift from the god of fate to me. No matter what dangers you’ve encountered, they can no longer happen before your eyes.” The handsome monster with enormous black wings leaned in slightly, his hand gently touching the barrier. His expression was inhumanly cold and proud, yet tinged with a faint obsessive desire. “It doesn’t matter who you are; I can save you countless times, you can't kill me—”

“Because, I am the strongest.”

Author's note:

Absolute Space (×) Couple's Space (√)

[Mini Theater:]

The diagnosis results for Lu Lin'an finally came out.

The anxious young king stepped forward: “How is he?!”

The doctor, pushing up his glasses, said: “Severe love sickness, incurable. Just take him home.”

The young king: “……”