Seth sighed, throwing his body weight back just enough to force Connie to loosen her grip a little. Not that she was trying to smother him, but... well, being with a Rank-S Slayer literally hanging off you like an electric blanket didn't make walking any easier.
"Connie," he muttered, with a tired half-smile, "you could... I don't know, leave my right lung alone for a few minutes?"
She didn't answer straight away. She just buried her face a little deeper into his shoulder, as if deliberately ignoring his request.
"...They're waiting," he said, pointing with his chin at the still petrified group at the side of the square.
The group that had come out of the dungeon with him - Lila, Logan, Kevin, Maria and Sam - looked like a static painting of astonishment. Kevin had his mouth ajar as if he'd been trying to form a sentence for five minutes. Maria was still clutching her blouse with trembling hands, as if protecting herself from the emotional shock. Lila... well, Lila seemed to have entered a Zen-like state of denial.
Logan was the first to make a move, taking a hesitant step forward.
"Are you... really going with her?" he asked, like someone staring at a sleeping dragon with a stick.
Seth forced a step forward, even though Connie refused to let go completely. She slid in beside him, arm entwined with his like a possessive snake.
"Yes. I... will... she's my wife," Seth replied. "She's not going to let me hang around here anyway, and honestly, I'm on edge."
Connie gave the group a quick, sharp look, as if to say silently, "Thank you, now get out of here before I change my mind." Sam huffed.
Sam snorted. "It was an honor to fight with you, brother. And... to survive. That too."
"Surviving was definitely the highlight," Seth replied, with a sideways smile.
Maria finally caught her breath and shook her head. "You're not normal, Seth. We saw what you did in there. That wasn't luck."
Seth opened his mouth to reply, but Connie squeezed his arm tighter and whispered just for him to hear: "Don't say anything about it, pretend nothing happened."
He closed his mouth, then just nodded.
Lila, still silent, finally approached with light steps. Her eyes locked onto Seth's - and there was something there. Respect. Fear. Perhaps... disappointment? She stopped less than a meter away, looked at Connie, looked back at him.
"... We could have died"
Seth replied with a bitter little smile. "Yes, entering a portal is like that."
Lila closed her eyes for a second, took a deep breath... and held out her hand. Seth squeezed it lightly, just to be polite. But she held on tighter.
"Thank you," she said firmly. "For getting us out of there."
He just nodded again. There was nothing to say. He didn't feel like a hero. Not by a long shot.
Connie impatiently muttered "Enough", like a bored queen watching too many subjects talk to her chosen one. She pulled his arm back close, as if trying to prevent the world from touching him once again.
"You've done a good job," she said coolly, without even looking directly at the group. "Surviving a Red Gate is more than most people manage. Use that as motivation. And remember... the world is crueler than you think."
And with that, she began dragging Seth with determined steps towards the black luxury car that was already waiting for them at the end of the square.
Seth, his head still turned back, waved to the group with a quick gesture. "See you around."
"Or not..." Logan muttered, as he watched the pair walk away. "Man... was that real?"
"She's going to kill someone for him one day. I can feel it," Maria said, still in shock.
"Did you see her eyes?" Kevin whispered. "She didn't blink! She doesn't blink! Who doesn't blink looking at someone else?!"
"She's already killed," Lila said, putting her hands on her hips. "She was married, remember?... he said she was his wife..."
She let out a sigh before speaking, "Rank-S hunters aren't people," Lila decreed, putting her hands on her hips. "They're like... entities. And this guy's screwed if he's not a Rank-S... dealing with a woman like that..."
Meanwhile, inside the car...
Connie sat next to Seth, her hands still intertwined with his. She didn't look at him, but her mana floated restlessly.
"You shouldn't play with my sanity like that," she said, her voice low. "You disappeared. I felt your absence as if someone had ripped out part of my heart."
Seth looked out of the window, his face tired, but his eyes... alive. He still didn't understand everything inside him. He still didn't know how the hell he had gotten out of that hell. But he did know one thing: she had waited.
He turned his face towards her and smiled softly.
"I'm back, aren't I? Even if I'm broken." She stared at him. And, for the first time since she'd seen him, a genuine smile appeared on the Lightning Hunter's lips.
"Then let me fix you up."
Connie slowly leaned closer, her golden eyes like embers in the dim light of the car. The touch of her lips on Seth's was soft, warm, and for an instant... the world stopped. The ghosts of the dungeon disappeared, the pain vanished, the fear fell silent.
There was only her. And him.
But then-
"COF! COF COF COF!!!"
An aggressive, almost theatrical cough ripped through the air like a siren in the middle of the night.
The two broke apart in shock, like two teenagers caught by their mother on the sofa. Seth blinked several times, still a little dizzy, while Connie slowly turned her face away with the deadliest expression she possessed. Her eyes glowed with contained electricity.
In front, at the wheel, Kaguya stood with one hand covering her mouth and the other on the steering wheel, looking through the rearview mirror like someone watching two children messing about in the mansion's living room.
"Miss Connie," Kaguya said in a dry, debauched voice, "I think you'd better worry less about that eight o'clock soap opera vibe and more about that vad-"
She stopped, sniffed slightly, correcting herself with a forced smile.
"-with guild master Black Rose."
Connie narrowed her eyes. "You were going to say 'slut', Kaguya."
"Of course not, miss. I would never refer to a woman as... refined as Lady Vixen Rose using vulgar language. I just wanted to warn you that she literally declared that she was going to rip it out of you when she passed me, so I'm warning you."
Seth raised an eyebrow. "Can someone explain to me who this woman is?"
Connie crossed her arms and leaned back in her seat, clearly irritated by the interruption - but also by the name she had just heard. There was something about the way she squeezed her golden eyes shut, as if just the sound of those syllables brought back unwanted memories.
"Vixen is a Rank-S Slayer. Heiress to Black Rose - that ridiculously expensive cosmetics brand that is also, ironically, one of the most influential guilds on the continent." Connie's voice was cold, cutting. "She hates losing. She always has. And apparently she thinks you belong to me. And since we don't exactly have a... friendly relationship, she now wants you too."
She gave a sarcastic little smile.
"Basic."
"Basic...?" Seth asked, as if he'd just discovered he was in the middle of a civil war and no one had warned him. "Are you all psychopaths like that or is it just a statistical coincidence?"
Kaguya couldn't help herself. She laughed, low and venomous, while keeping her hands firmly on the steering wheel. The city lights streamed through the car windows like reflections of a distorted dream - neon signs, shadows of buildings and the subtle threat of a night about to explode.
"You still don't understand what you've gotten yourself into, love?" Kaguya said, her voice melodic and laden with debauchery. "You've gone from Rank-E driver to the husband of one of the most dangerous women on the planet. Envy will roll in from all corners... and it won't be because of you."
She paused. Then she muttered, like someone letting off steam:
"I mean... let's be honest. Nobody cares about you, Seth."
Seth turned his head slowly.
"...Thank you?"
Kaguya continued, impassive. "You're a Rank-E. Literally irrelevant. The scandal isn't you. It's her being with you. That hurts egos. It hurts pride. It stirs up hatred."
"Delicate," Seth commented. "Very nice to know that the reason I'm likely to die isn't because I'm special... but because I'm... disposable."
"Exactly." Kaguya nodded with a friendly smile, like someone who had just been given a cooking tip. "You're beginning to understand."
Before Seth could reply, Connie tugged on his arm and nestled in with a slow, feline, possessive movement. Her head rested on his shoulder naturally, as if that place had always been hers.
"If something like this happens... I'll just kill it," she said, sweet as a promise of eternal love. "Anyone who tries to touch my husband... dies. Simple."