CHAPTER 45: A YOUNG LORD AND A TENDER KNIGHT.

’Dammit! These girls don’t ever listen to me!’

Dorian opened his eyes, the monster’s hand still clamped around his neck and pulling him deeper into the darkness.

Thanks to his Supervision skill, the darkness was not something he needed to worry about. He could see it all.

All around him were crawlers, rushing forward through the narrow tunnel like wild beasts hungry to kill.

Not a single one laid a finger on him. Their target was the woman racing towards Dorian at the moment.

Maria.

Seeing this, Dorian knew he needed to act fast.

Suddenly, he grabbed the monster’s hand and conjured his flame magic. It started as a small spark, but then it spread, completely igniting the monster’s flesh.

KKKAKK!

A scream echoed from the darkness before the monster’s grasp loosened, and Dorian was free from its hold.

As soon as this happened, all the monsters who were once charging forward stopped and turned to look at Dorian.

Their green eyes intensifying.

Of course, in that moment, Dorian’s plan was simply to get Maria out of the tunnel.

As he landed on his feet...

[You are currently using the skill Fast Speed.]

Step!

He zoomed forward, dodging and slipping every attempt the monster made to grab and stop him from getting to Maria.

In less than a few seconds, Dorian had closed the distance with Maria, grabbing her by the hand.

"Lord Dorian—"

Maria was shocked to see him suddenly appear before her.

She had assumed the monsters had taken him even deeper into the cave, since she could barely see anything as she ran and had to depend on her senses alone.

"You’re getting an earful after this!!!"

Dorian yelled, pulling her close, his hand wrapping around her waist, causing Maria to do the same, only she hugged him as tight as she could with both her hands.

For a second there, she grabbed her blade, ready to fight alongside him while he held her. That was until she felt his warmth pressing against her slender body.

Her head found a secure resting place on his shoulder, her flushed cheeks cleverly hidden. Her eyelids drooped, seeking shelter from the storm of emotions within her.

Why was her body suddenly refusing to do a thing?

A delicate blush crept up her neck, a stark contrast to the cool cave air, betraying the intense warmth she felt.

Simply being held by Dorian, as if she were the most precious princess in all the realms, sent a dizzying flutter through her heart. In his embrace, the looming shadows of danger and the urgent whispers of their precarious situation faded into a distant hum.

Every beat of her heart resonated with a newfound sense of security and an almost forgotten innocence. The tighter he held her, a fierce internal battle raged within her mind. One part yearned to surrender completely to the intoxicating comfort. He had never held her before; it was addicting, most definitely addicting if she gave in.

Yet another, more pragmatic part clawed at her, reminding her that she was his knight and meant to protect him, not the other way around.

Dorian’s feet slid against the hard ground as he made a quick stop, dodging the rest of the crawlers already racing toward him from the back.

"Hold on tight!"

Maria so desperately wanted to ask to fight. Even if she couldn’t see, her senses were several times more advanced since she became a Lord Rank; she could easily battle with her eyes closed.

And yet, her mouth refused to say a word.

She shoved her face deeper into his embrace, her chest pressing against him.

Once Dorian saw the opening he had been waiting for, he quickly took it.

He whooshed forward like a rocket, flames following around him, sending any crawler close to him slamming into the tunnel walls.

His speed was beyond normal, covering several feet in a couple of seconds. So fast that none of the crawlers planning to block his path could react fast enough for an interception.

Soon, Dorian made it out to the other side of the cave.

Still holding Maria, he stopped right next to the corner, a place where he could see everything without any crawler ambushing him from the back.

Perched at the corner, Dorian frowned; he could tell the crawlers were closing in.

But just then, his eyes picked up on something else.

Where he was was entirely different from the rest of the mining hole.

The space was enough to cover more than three times the size of the Aurelian barony. It stretched far, like an abandoned terrain, with nothing but dragon iron ores growing out of every corner like plants and trees.

Suddenly, his gaze fell upon something extraordinary.

The area he stood in starkly contrasted the rest of the mining hole.

It was a vast, desolate expanse, stretching over three times the size of the Aurelian barony. Dragon ores sprouted from every corner, resembling an abandoned landscape of plants and trees.

Right at the center was a stream of blue glowing water, surrounded by even more dragon ores, purer than anything Dorian had been mining.

"Incredible..." Dorian blurted in awe.

"My lord, is the monster gone? I am sorry I can’t be of help to you right now."

"It’s fine, just hold on tight; you only just got to Lord Rank, and it’d be foolish to assume you understand your powers well. Though I don’t think these monsters care all that much to spare your life for it."

Just as he was saying this, he noticed the crawlers had appeared like he predicted, their form slowly creeping towards him.

[Caution: If you are to go into combat with these monsters, avoid getting their saliva on any part of your body. It leaves permanent damage that can never be cured.]

Dorian scowled.

’Perfect, that isn’t nerve-wracking at all. I just hope Seraphina isn’t stupid enough to actually fight these—’

Mid-thought, a crawler appeared out of thin air, right beside Dorian.

Unlike the rest, this one was bigger and looked even stronger.

Dorian moved swiftly; there was no time to question where the monster came from.

Bending forward with Maria, he avoided the monster’s initial blow.

Then he launched an attack.

He snapped his finger, causing the ground beneath the crawler to open up, drawing it in and closing before the monster could descend completely.

This left the upper part of the crawler exposed, but this also caused the rest of the crawlers to charge aimlessly towards him.

Dorian did the same, summoning a huge ball of water just above his head, then running forward and jumping into the air.