That’s Not What Kissing Means! - Chapter 116

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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That’s not what kissing means!
Episode 116

The Senior Priests could only call out Lionel’s name in helpless desperation. Since they had come to Ashford Estate in secret, they couldn’t even take him to a hospital.
His body twisted grotesquely. A sensation of something tearing deep within his chest surged upward.
This was no ordinary pain. It was less like the agony of a shattering body and more like his very existence splitting apart.
He clutched his chest more desperately. His heart felt hollow and empty.
No, to be precise, something was being torn away from him. Invisible, yet unmistakably felt.
Something intense within him was being dragged outward by an irresistible force.
S-stop…!
Lionel’s eyes rolled back as he gasped for breath. His hands, which had been gripping his chest, clawed at the dirt beneath him.
In that moment…
With a sharp snap, something severed completely.
His body remained in place, yet something felt profoundly twisted.
Lionel instinctively understood what this meant.
All the countless misdeeds he had committed were returning to him in full.
No, this can’t be…!
He opened his mouth to cry out, but his voice curled inward, swallowed.
The Clerics watching the grotesque convulsion held their breath.
“This won’t do. We must get him to a hospital at once…!”
“What are you saying! If Duke Ashford finds out, what then!”
As they panicked over what to do with Lionel, something changed.
Suddenly, Lionel’s thrashing ceased.
As if nothing had happened, he fell silent.
The Clerics exchanged wary glances and carefully called out to him.
“Lionel Priest, are you alright?”
…
Rather than answer, Lionel simply opened his eyes. Then he lay there quietly, his expression blank.
Relieved by his calm demeanor, so different from before, they breathed easier.
They then had the Holy Knights help Lionel to his feet.
“It seems your body has been strained.”
“There have been many pressing matters of late.”
Lionel said nothing and was led by his companions out of the Forest.
They all walked slowly out of consideration for him, and the journey took longer than expected.
Until then, the Forest remained silent. Unnervingly so.
“…Isn’t something strange?”
Eventually, someone who could no longer hold back spoke up.
A Senior Priest beside them nodded cautiously.
“Why hasn’t the fire started?”
Instead of flames, only the chirping of birds filled the air.
They had committed countless arson attacks alongside Lionel. They knew exactly how fires ignited and how rapidly they spread.
“Something’s wrong, isn’t it?”
“Lionel Priest, perhaps you should go back inside and check….”
All eyes turned toward Lionel.
“….”
He simply stood motionless, not even blinking. No matter how many times they questioned him, his response remained the same.
One frustrated Cleric cried out.
“Lionel Priest, please say something!”
“Are you still in pain? You seem to be walking fine….”
The Senior Priests continued calling to Lionel, but he gave no answer.
Instead, his unfocused eyes stared through them with an eerie intensity.
A strange sense of déjà vu washed over them.
And then they understood.
He resembled exactly those hollow-eyed souls who had ceaselessly kindled flames in the Subterranean Temple.
By the time they realized how gravely wrong the situation had become, it was already too late.
A terrified Senior Priest spoke to the Holy Knights.
“We must… we need to escape this place at once.”
A forest that wouldn’t burn, and Lionel stripped of his will….
They had fallen into a trap.
What were they to do now?
Should they retrace their steps?
Fear clouded their minds. Even so, Lionel stood like a puppet, utterly motionless.
Finally, one Senior Priest spoke with a grim expression.
“We’ll consult the map and slip away through a back route. Once we reach the Gate, the administrator we arranged with will assist us.”
That was when it happened.
“There’s no need for that. Whichever path you take, my knights will be waiting.”
Duke Ashford blocked their way. His Knight Order stood behind him.
The Holy Knights quickly drew their swords.
From behind the armed Holy Knights, a Senior Priest shouted.
“What have you done to Lionel Priest!”
“I have no idea.”
Theo answered with perfect composure.
“No idea? How can you say that after seeing him like this?”
“I truly don’t know. The magic circle we inscribed simply reflects dark sorcery back onto the caster. So wouldn’t you know better than I?”
“….”
“I’m curious myself. What kind of sorcery did you cast to reduce Lionel Priest to such a state?”
The Clerics exchanged nervous glances, unable to utter a single word.
Theo continued speaking.
“If all magic cast within the Forest is dark sorcery, it rebounds to the caster. If it’s ordinary magic, it’s simply absorbed by the magical formation. In essence, it’s rendered completely ineffective.”
Now I understood why the flames wouldn’t ignite.
The fire-conjuring spell had been absorbed directly into the magical formation the Duke had inscribed.
“That’s impossible… Fire-conjuring magic should possess tremendous power…”
As the Priest muttered in bewilderment, Theo responded.
“If the magical formation’s power exceeds what it’s meant to counter, it simply won’t work.”
The magical formation carved into the rock was composed entirely of Theo’s mana.
Realizing there was nowhere left to retreat, the Senior Priest ordered the Holy Knights to attack.
Two Holy Knights brandished their longswords and charged toward Duke Ashford’s group.
Theo gracefully evaded the blade’s edge, then drew the magic sword from his waist.
He drove the blade into the Holy Knight’s abdomen, but it struck something solid.
Armor had been hidden beneath the robes.
Yet even armor covering the entire body had gaps between its plates.
Theo and the Ashford Knight Order exploited those openings.
The Holy Knights found themselves in a disadvantageous battle—outnumbered, overpowered, and outmaneuvered.
“Let’s leave them to handle this and escape!”
“Y-yes! We must return to the Holy Kingdom and report the situation to the Grand Cleric!”
The Senior Priests concocted a plausible excuse and looked toward Lionel.
“Come quickly, Lionel!”
“….”
But Lionel had no way of understanding their words.
In the end, the Clerics abandoned Lionel and fled deeper into the Forest.
With Duke Ashford blocking the entrance, they had to find another route.
Not long after, they encountered another knight order.
The Red-haired Knight approached them with a contemptuous smile.
Beside him stood Evelyn, whom I had seen at the Temple.
“My, it seems Goddess Yulia isn’t protecting you two after all.”
Evelyn wore an expression of profound regret.
“Well, you were the ones who abandoned the Goddess first.”
The Senior Priests spoke to Evelyn, their round, gentle eyes appearing easy to persuade.
“We possess nothing…! We merely followed the Grand Cleric’s orders…!”
As they pleaded with sorrowful faces, she replied in a softened voice.
“I see. It’s difficult to refuse orders from superiors.”
“Y-yes… So please, just let us go…”
“Yet that doesn’t excuse harming others. Or playing with fire.”
“….”
Evelyn let out a scornful laugh.
“Excuses. When it all stems from your own greed.”
A cruel smile bloomed across her gentle features.
“I’ll make Lionel Priest a companion so he won’t be lonely.”
At her words about severing body from soul, they trembled violently, their limbs shaking.
“Such a horrific act…! And you dare call yourself human!”
“I’ll return that question to you. First, bring me that.”
Evelyn tilted her head toward the Senior Priest. He gripped the bag slung across his shoulder tightly in his hands.
“Do you know what that is…!”
“We’ll find out soon enough.”
With those final words, the Knights around her surged forward.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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