"Trust me, you really don't want to hear that…" Razeal said finally, his tone calm, low, and strangely steady too steady for the tension that hung between them. His crimson eyes flickered faintly.

Maria, pale and still lying on the cold ground, stared back at him weakly. Her breathing was ragged, her blood slowly spreading into the water around her. "And trust me," she said, her voice trembling but firm, "I wouldn't ask… but I need it. Because I'm fucking dying. So yeah.. I do wanna hear it. Be fast with whatever it is." Her tone was sharp, laced with both irritation and desperation.

Well, whatever but if you're saying that, then fine. But don't regret it later." He leaned a little, meeting her eyes with that same neutral, unreadable look. "I can heal you pretty fast… all you gotta do is"

He paused, the corners of his lips twitching slightly. Then, flatly: "kiss me."

For a second, absolute silence filled the water.

Then

"???"

It felt like question marks literally floated in the air between them.

Maria blinked once. Then twice. Her brain completely froze. "…What?"

Even Neptunia, standing a few steps away, blinked, her eyes darting between them with visible interest. "Wait, wait, wait what did he just?" she mumbled, her lips curving upward in amusement.

Black veins spread faintly across Maria's pale face from the demonic heart reacting inside her chest, but her expression was pure disbelief. "Are you fucking with me right now?" she snapped, her voice shaking with fury more than pain. "I mean.. are you seriously trying to take advantage of me in this condition? And that's your lousy excuse?.. Like Really!"

Her left eye twitched violently as she glared up at him, fury replacing the exhaustion for a brief moment.

Razeal didn't even flinch. His voice very calm. "I'm not. And no, I'm not interested in you like that." He looked down at her with that same emotionless expression, hands in his pockets. "I told you, you wouldn't like the answer. And for the record, it's you who's dying, not me."

That expressionless tone that infuriating calmness only made Maria angrier. "I'd rather die than have to kiss you!" she shouted, voice cracking slightly as she clenched her teeth. "You can't convince me, no matter what you make up now!"

Razeal's crimson eyes narrowed slightly. Then, slowly, his lips curved not into a smirk, not a smile, but something faintly mocking. "Wait, nah," he said casually. "That's where you're very wrong."

She blinked. "What?"

"Who said I'm gonna convince you?" Razeal asked, his tone dripping with dry sarcasm. "It's you who has to convince me. Because, frankly, it's me who doesn't want to kiss you."

Maria stared at him blankly, her mind blanking out completely.

Razeal continued, unfazed, "Do you even understand? Whatever small brain of yours is thinking, this whole thing is disgusting. Me kissing you?" He looked genuinely revolted. "Never happening."

For a moment, even Neptunia just looked between them... As her eyes twitching with deep intrest as of whatever was going on in here.

Maria's lips trembled as her eyes widened in disbelief. "Di–sg–gusting?" she repeated, her voice cracking. The sheer nerve of him left her speechless for several seconds. Her fingers twitched at her side, trembling in pure rage.

If she wasn't half-dead, she swore she'd get up right now and murder this bastard on the spot. She could already imagine strangling that calm, stupidly perfect face of his.

Her hands twitched again. "You.. You !" she stammered, unable to find words strong enough to express her wrath.

Neptunia, however, had no such restraint. From the side, she tilted her head and said with a confused grin, "And here I thought you two were in a relationship already."

Both Maria and Razeal turned their heads sharply at her their gazes synchronized, equally confused.

Neptunia raised her hands defensively, though the smirk on her lips didn't fade. "Don't look at me like that! I'm just saying. I mean, he's the one who called you his 'bitch,' remember?" she added teasingly, glancing at Razeal.

Razeal just stared back at her blankly, as if deciding whether to strangle her or ignore her existence altogether.

Maria's face twitched at that but she didn't even have the strength left to argue anymore. Her body was weak, the pain returning in waves. She sighed shakily and let her head fall back, staring up into the dark, endless ocean above them.

She didn't even know what to feel anymore. Rage? Helplessness? Fear? Her mind was spinning with a mess of thoughts.

She had hoped stupidly, perhaps that once Razeal woke up, things would be fine. That maybe, despite his arrogance, his heartlessness, his absolute lack of common decency, he'd do something. That he'd fix it. He always did, somehow for himself Right? But now?

He was standing over her, calm as a statue, suggesting this as a cure.

Her lips parted slightly, but no sound came out. Her eyes just stared blankly at the red-stained water rippling beside her.

Her heartbeat was slowing.

She was scared.. genuinely scared. The reality was sinking in: she might actually die here.

She just went silent.. Staring at sea in front don't know as what was going on in her head.

Meanwhile, Razeal, despite his detached expression, had his mind running in the background. His crimson eyes flickered toward her again.. she looked worse. The glow around the demonic heart was fading; her pulse, slower now.

He exhaled softly and spoke inwardly, System… is there no other way? His mental voice was calm, but beneath it lay something else a quiet urgency that hadn't been there before. There has to be another method. Come on, you can do something. Give me a favor.. a spell or anything. I took her under my responsibility. It'd be… embarrassing to let her die like this.

His face was emotionless as ever, but inside, the weight of those words pressed hard. There was something faint.. something different in the tone he used when he looked at her now.

Not as a tool.

Not as an annoyance.

But as… a person.

Maybe even his person... Maybe this is because of him becoming vampire.. He thought so too

[There are other methods, yes,] the system finally replied, tone analytical, though quieter than usual. [But not directly usable right now. Not with the time you have left.]

[You can't just learn to heal someone from half-death in four minutes, Host. Even with your talent. Low-level spells won't work she's already past the point of normal regeneration. Her body's collapsing from internal failure. To pull her back from that… you'd need something instant.]

"Hmmm, alright," Razeal muttered after a moment of silent thinking, rubbing the back of his neck with a tired sigh. "But I don't wanna make her into a vampire… and no, I don't wanna give her a kiss either." His crimson eyes flickered slightly, avoiding Maria's direction. He stood there, arms crossed, trying to think of something else. "Oh, how about I ask Neptunia to give her a kiss? It would work, right?"

There was a pause before the system answered.

[A female kissing a female?] Its tone was dry, unimpressed.

[That doesn't count as lust for it, Host. That's… evil to even think about.]

Razeal frowned. "Now come on, we're talking about demonic stuff here. Lust is a demonic and evil concept to begin with! It should work. Why would it not?" He argued, voice firm but tinged with irritation. "Don't act like there's a moral rulebook for this kind of thing. We're literally dealing with sin-born demons here!"

The system sounded oddly judgmental this time.

[And I'm not making things up from myself, Host. I'm simply explaining how the demonic principles function. Lust as a sin requires a balance of male and female essence. It's about energy transformation and polarity. Two of the same won't activate the response you need.]

[She won't activate her regenerative core by kissing another female. It has to be triggered by the opposite polarity. That's how Lust demons function.]

It paused dramatically before adding:

[And besides… girls kissing each other? That's evil. The most evil.]

Razeal blinked, genuinely baffled. "…How is that evil?"

[Because Yuri is NTR. And NTR is beyond evil. Even for demons.]

For a moment, Razeal just… stared into the air blankly. His mind froze at that explanation.

"…How," he said slowly, trying to make sense of it, "is that NTR? Do you mind explaining?"

There was a small silence.

>…Do you want me to?]

"I have nothing to do with this woman in the first place," Razeal replied dryly. "So whatever female kisses her, it's Yuri or whatever you want to call it but it's definitely not NTR for me."

[Well, I thought it might be for you,] the system replied, almost smugly.

"It's not. In any way." His tone was flat, final.

[Well, whatever it is, it doesn't matter. The rule remains. She can't heal by kissing another woman. It has to be activated by a male. Only a male can trigger it.]

Razeal sighed deeply, shaking his head in frustration. "Whatever." He folded his arms across his chest, his crimson eyes glinting faintly as he fell into thought again. His expression was calm, but his silence was heavy. He was clearly thinking hard trying to come up with any other solution.

The water around them was eerily still now. Only the faint ripple of Maria's shallow breathing and the distant hum of energy filled the air.

"What?" Maria finally asked, her voice low and rough. She had been lying there the whole time, watching him thinking with himself and the air like an weird person as always. Her brows furrowed weakly. "What are you even doing? What's going on in that overcomplicated head of yours?"

"Nothing," Razeal said, voice flat as ever. "Just waiting for when you finally try to convince me to kiss you. Because I'm definitely not doing it willingly."

Maria blinked. The environment went completely silent. Even Neptunia looked between the two, eyes flickering with something.

"…What?" Maria finally asked, disbelief dripping from her tone.

Razeal didn't respond immediately. He just nodded calmly, confirming it.

"You're serious?" she pressed, her voice rising slightly, frustration flaring up through the pain.

He nodded again, tone steady. "Completely serious."

The silence stretched again, tension filling every inch of the space.

Maria's teeth clenched, her breathing turning heavier. She could feel the warmth leaving her body, her blood slowly leaking into the ground beneath her. The faint glow of the demonic heart in her chest was dimming. Her pulse slower, weaker.

"Are you sure the kiss will work?" she asked suddenly, her voice lower now calmer, but filled with a quiet desperation.

"It will," Razeal said without hesitation, his tone confident almost too calm for the situation.

Maria stared at him, her lips pressing together, trying to ignore the fear creeping inside her chest. "Any other option?" she asked again.

He looked at her silently for a second, his gaze heavy but flat. Then, with a faint exhale, he nodded slightly. "I would love to have one," he said, his voice low, "but you see… I don't."

Maria's heart thudded painfully in her chest. The fear the primal kind that comes only when death feels close.. began to rise up in her throat. She took a slow, trembling breath. Her eyes softened for a second then hardened again, resolve replacing fear.

"…Alright. Do it then."

Razeal blinked, as if he didn't hear her correctly. "What?"

"I said do it," she repeated, her voice firm despite how weak she sounded. Her eyes locked onto his unwavering, sharp. "I don't care anymore. If that's what it takes to live, then do it."

Her hand, trembling, clenched tightly into a fist beside her.

It was hard for her ..her pride screamed against it. Her mind hated the idea. But the truth was, she didn't want to die. Not here.. not like this and definitely not after everything she had survived until now. Her life was precious to her even if it meant swallowing her pride and dignity.

She closed her eyes, took a shaky breath, and said softly, "It's just a stupid kiss. I'm not losing my life over something that stupid."

Razeal stood there quietly for a moment, staring down at her. His expression didn't change calm, unreadable. Then he shook his head slowly.

"No," he said finally.

Maria's eyes snapped open. "What do you mean, no?"

"I mean no, I won't."

Her voice rose instantly, anger flooding her tone. "What do you mean you won't?!" she yelled, her voice echoing in the water. "You just said it's the only way! You said it'll work!"

"It will work," Razeal replied calmly, folding his arms again. "But I don't want to."

"But whyy??"

"Because you don't deserve it," Razeal said simply.

His tone was quiet but cold stripped of all warmth, like it was just another plain fact of existence. He stood over her, expression flat, crimson eyes calm, his face unreadable. No hesitation. No emotion. Just those four words that cut like knives.

Maria blinked, stunned. For a second, she couldn't even process it. Her mind froze, her chest tightening painfully not from her wound, but from something else entirely.

"Huh? What the fuck…?" she breathed out, her voice trembling, her tone half in disbelief, half in outrage. "Do you… do you think this is some joke that's going on right here??" Her voice rose sharply, echoing faintly through the water around them. "I'm fucking dying, and that's what you have to say!?"

She struggled to move, to lift her head even a little, but pain shot through her body like fire. Her veins glowed faintly black from the demonic corruption inside, yet her voice didn't falter. It only grew sharper. "Are you out of your fucking mind?! You recommended this to me! It was you who said it! Not me! And now you're going back on it?!"

Her voice cracked, tears threatening but not falling her pride too strong to let them. "I agreed to give my first kiss away like it was nothing! My first kiss! And that too to you! Someone like you!"

She was shaking, her voice trembling with raw emotion. "Do you even understand how hard it was for me to make that decision? I made it because I don't want to die! Because I'm scared! Do you understand that, you heartless bastard? I'm scared.. Am FUCKING SCARED!"

Her words echoed through the water, the desperation and anger in them heavy enough to make even the surroundings feel still. Neptunia, standing nearby, watched silently, her brows furrowed but her eyes unreadable.

Maria continued, her tone breaking between anger and grief. "And this isn't the time to play games or act superior! You say I'm not deserving? How DARE you?"

She clenched her fists weakly, blood dripping from her fingers into the water below. "It's you who isn't deserving! Tell me, what's desirable about a person like you? It would be my biggest regret to lose something so precious my first ever kiss.. to someone like you!"

Her voice trembled, but she didn't stop. "I don't like you! I even hate you sometimes! You're disgusting. Utterly, absolutely repulsive! And now you're ending it with this? Saying I'm not deserving? You wanna kill me? Then fine.. let me die. But don't do it like this. Don't humiliate me before I go!"

Her words burned with raw venom, but beneath that anger was something fragile something that hurt deeper than the physical pain.

She forced a bitter laugh through her trembling lips. "I have some dignity too, you know? You think it's funny? Every single time, you say I'm not deserving.. like it's some cool phrase that makes you look bigger, smarter, better. You humiliate me every chance you get. You enjoy it."

Her voice cracked again as she remembered. "You did that to me before, remember? In front of the whole empire." Her words slowed, quieter but sharper. "You said I'm not deserving. You humiliated me then. Then, again, you called me your bitch in front of her."

She glanced sideways toward Neptunia, then back up at him, her face twisted in frustration and disbelief. "You just keep doing it, over and over again. Is that what you enjoy? Just… tearing people down?"

Her breathing grew heavier, the wound in her abdomen pulsing painfully, but she refused to stop.

"You gave me hope. You made me believe for a moment.. just for one second that I had a chance. That I could be saved. I actually believed you. And you know what?" she said, her voice breaking completely now, though no tears fell. "That hope was the cruelest thing you could've given me. Because I made my decision. I convinced myself to do something I'd regret my whole life. I trusted you."

Her fists clenched weakly against the ground. "I trusted you," she repeated softly, her voice almost a whisper now, bitter and shaking. "And when I finally readied myself, when I decided that I'd swallow my pride.. you just said this."

Her lips trembled. "Yes… it would be better to die. Now I regret even asking for your help." Her voice cracked, but still, no tears came. "I don't even know why I ever thought you'd help me. I must've been delusional."

Her voice rose again, louder this time, filled with anger and grief that finally burst out. "I'll die with regret ..not because I'm dying, not because I still had things I wanted to do but because I asked you for help."

She glared at him now, her eyes wet but blazing with fury. "You know what you are? You're a disgusting person."

Her voice grew stronger, sharper with every word. "You said to trust you. Trust you! You pierced my chest! You took my heart, replaced it with something I didn't even understand! And I stayed! You said there was no other way ..that it was necessary. And I believed you!"

Her voice was breaking, every word like a scream forced through pain. "I fought for you. For ten minutes.. more than that! I didn't run away, I didn't hide. I did exactly what you told me to do. I trusted you.. and this is my reward?"

Her voice wavered. "After all that, after everything, this is what I get?!"

Razeal didn't respond. He stood still, silent, his eyes watching her, his expression unreadable and totally expressionless.. Just looking at her silently.

Maria continued, her breath ragged, her tone trembling between rage and heartbreak. "I've watched you these past days. You.." she stopped, gritting her teeth, her gaze burning into his. "Yes, you're arrogant. A piece of shit. A heartless bastard who doesn't care about anyone even when you choose not to go after the. Ones who got lost behind just because it wouldve.. Taken time? But still, I thought… maybe if I tried to trust you, if I stood by you, things would be different. Maybe I could be different."

Her hands trembled as she spoke. "But I was wrong. So, so wrong. You're the same disgusting person you've always been someone who only thinks about himself, who never considers anyone else's feelings. You don't care about people, about trust, about loyalty.. nothing! Everything to you is just a joke."

Her voice cracked, but she didn't stop. "Everything is for your own interest. You can do whatever you want, whenever you want, and everyone else is just supposed to go along with it. That's who you are. A selfish, heartless, disgusting man."

Her breath shuddered as she spoke her last words, quieter but more painful. "I thought… maybe, after what happened with Selena, you changed. I thought… All that punishment.. You disappearing and and coming back.. Well all this time i didn't saw you look at any woman weird way or with bad or wrong eyes, so I thought maybe, just maybe, you learned something. But no."

Her lips curled bitterly. ".. Rather to respect a girl.. To not force them. Now girls just aren't worth your time anymore, are they? You're too good for them. You look down on them, laugh at them, humiliate them.. like you're doing to me right now."

She coughed, blood spilling from her lips, her body trembling, her energy almost gone. Still, she glared up at him, voice trembling with venom and sorrow.

"Alright then…" she said weakly. "I'd rather die than deal with this. I should've died back then before I even asked you for help!"

Her voice cracked one last time, then went quiet.

"I should've just died… And should now too" she whispered softly, her gaze dulling.

Razeal stood there silent. His eyes lingered on her, his face calm as always..

He said nothing not even moving or anything.

Neptunia, standing off to the side, had gone silent too. Her smirk from before was gone now. She'd stepped back when Maria began speaking, giving them space and now, she only watched from a distance. Her expression unreadable, her usual teasing gaze replaced with something more serious.

Razeal and Maria just stared at each other

neither saying a word, neither daring to move.

Maria's breaths came shallow and uneven, her chest rising and falling as if every inhale was a struggle. Her body trembled; the color was draining from her lips. Yet even in that fragile, dying state, her eyes burned with fury and disbelief. She glared at him with pure loathing, the kind that made the air itself feel heavier.

The moment between them was suffocating.

Tense. Silent.

Even the water seemed still, holding its breath with them.

Maria's gaze didn't waver. In her mind, she'd already made her decision she wasn't going to beg him again. She wasn't going to lower herself, not for him, not for anyone. Whatever hope she'd felt was gone now, shattered beyond repair.

To her, it was clear now. Razeal wasn't trying to save her.

He just wanted to humiliate her. To break her. To prove he had the power to make her kneel before him, only to turn away. And she hated him for it every bit of it.

The heaviness in the atmosphere was almost physical now. Neptunia didn't move, didn't speak; she only watched from the distance, her expression unreadable, as if even the ocean around them dared not disturb what was about to happen.

Razeal said nothing for a long time. His face stayed emotionless, but his crimson eyes were dark, unreadabe no one knowing whats going inside his head.

Seconds dragged like hours.

And then

He moved.

IRazeal took a single step forward. The sound of his movement echoed faintly through the still water. Before Maria could even react, his hand shot forward, grabbing the front of her torn dress by the collar.

Her eyes widened, a startled gasp escaping her lips

And then, without a word, Razeal pulled her up and closed the space between them

his lips pressing firmly, suddenly, against hers.

Maria froze, completely unprepared, her mind blanking out in shock.

She didn't even get the chance to resist.

Her breath hitched, her fingers twitching against his stumack as her eyes widened in disbelief

but all she could feel was the heat of his lips, the coldness of his grip, and the violent pounding of her heart that refused to stop.

The water around them rippled softly, as if even the ocean had stirred.

----

Yoo guys! Thanks so much for reading and sorry for the long chapter 😅. Sigh… it was getting late, only about four minutes left before the next day's upload, so I didn't have time to split the chapter properly. That's why it's posted like this. And yeah, I can't divide it later since it's a privilege chapter.

And about the story's development 😂 don't worry, I'm not gonna mess it up. I've got everything planned, and the relationships will make sense nothing unreasonable, promise. Just trust your author; I know exactly where this is going

----

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.