novellhall Chapter 338: Bite
Chapter 338: Bite
"Rory... I’m sorry..."
Vincent’s voice grew quieter and quieter, carrying a faint tremor he could no longer hide.
He kept his head lowered the entire time, not daring to look into Rory’s eyes, terrified he might find the same fear and disgust the others in the clan had shown him.
Rory stared at him, her heart twisting so painfully it felt hard to breathe.
Unable to hold back any longer, she suddenly yanked hard on the chain connecting them, pulling Vincent toward her before rising onto her toes and wrapping her arms tightly around him with all her strength.
"Do you not trust me?"
Her voice cracked with emotion.
"How could I ever see you as some kind of monster?"
As soon as she finished speaking, she punched his chest hard.
Then she buried her face against him and muttered in a muffled voice, "I don’t care if you’re red or black. You’re still Vincent. You’re my Vincent."
"In my eyes, the way you look now... is even more beautiful than before."
Rory lifted her head and gently touched the dark feather mark between his brows with the hand that was not chained.
"This is beautiful too. I really like it. Truly."
Her sincere, unwavering gaze was like a beam of light splitting through endless darkness, striking directly into the chaos inside his heart.
Vincent’s rigid body trembled violently.
In the next second, he abruptly grabbed the hand resting against his forehead.
Slowly, he lowered it from the feather mark, his pitch-black eyes surging with violent emotion.
Then he bowed his head and kissed her fingertips with reverent care.
The cool softness of his lips made Rory’s fingers curl instinctively.
Vincent lifted his gaze, those dark eyes fixed solely on her.
"Rory... say it again."
"Say what?" Rory asked.
"Say you like..."
He hesitated briefly before speaking with careful vulnerability.
"Say you like the way I look now."
Looking at the fragile longing hidden deep inside his eyes, Rory tightened her grip around his hand and repeated each word slowly and clearly.
"I like the way you look now, Vincent. No matter what you become, I’ll still like you."
"What if I turned into an ugly toad?" Vincent suddenly asked.
Rory fell silent.
Seriously? At a moment like this, shouldn’t he be deeply moved? What kind of person asked something this ridiculous during an emotional confession?
"Hmph."
When Rory failed to answer immediately, Vincent let out a dissatisfied snort and pulled her into his arms.
"I knew you were just saying that to comfort me."
As he spoke, he lightly bit her earlobe.
"But even so... I’m still very happy."
Rory suddenly did not feel like indulging him anymore.
Stay calm.
Do not argue with lunatics.
With that, she bit down hard on his jaw.
Vincent sucked in a sharp breath from the pain, but he did not move away. He simply let her continue biting him.
Only after Rory had vented enough did she finally release him.
Looking at the deep bite mark left on his jaw, she curled her lips in satisfaction.
"So what if you’ve gone dark and crazy? You still need to work for me."
"I want one hundred Rank Eight beast cores. Go get them for me."
Vincent slowly raised a hand and gently brushed his fingertips over the bite mark carrying her warmth and scent.
His throat bobbed.
A strangely feverish flush spread across his face, and the expression he wore looked disturbingly satisfied, almost as if he had enjoyed it far too much.
"Rory..."
He lowered his head and deliberately turned the other side of his jaw toward her.
"One more bite. This side wants one too."
He was actually treating it like a reward.
Rory realized that when it came to being unhinged, she truly could not compete with any of them.
She lifted a hand and pushed his handsome face away.
"Keep dreaming. Hurry up and get my beast cores."
Vincent looked at her with deep grievance in his dark eyes.
"When Xarion asked, you gave it to him immediately. Why won’t you give it to me when I ask?"
"Rory, you really don’t care about me at all."
Rory finally understood.
This lunatic remembered every single thing from before with crystal clarity, except for everything involving his rebirth.
"Fine, I’ll bite you again, alright?"
Leaning forward, she bit the other side of his jaw as well, leaving behind another neat row of deep teeth marks.
Vincent looked at her, his eyes overflowing with satisfaction.
"Can I go hunt mutated beasts now?" Rory asked with a smile.
"Right now."
Vincent scooped her into his arms as a pair of fire gold wings exploded open behind him.
The instant they unfurled, Rory noticed there was not a trace of black upon them. Before his rebirth, his wings had burned crimson like living fire, but now they had transformed into radiant gold touched with molten flame.
Every feather blazed with golden fire, flowing with divine light. Sacred and domineering, they looked powerful enough to incinerate every impurity in existence.
In the next second, the world around Rory blurred.
Before she could even comprehend what had happened, they had already appeared deep within the forest.
She glanced at the time displayed on Vincent’s communicator.
From the cabin to the heart of the forest, he had carried her across the distance in less than a second.
That was not speed anymore.
That was teleportation.
Rory was still reeling from the shock of it when a savage, rotten stench rushed toward them.
A deafening howl exploded nearby, shaking the earth violently beneath their feet.
A Rank Eight mutated beast charged toward them at terrifying speed.
Thick saliva mixed with corrosive venom dripped from its jaws. Every drop that hit the ground instantly ate deep smoking holes into the earth.
Faced with such a monstrous creature, Vincent did not even blink.
He held Rory securely in his arms, and she did not even see him move.
In the next instant, the Rank Eight beast collapsed to the ground.
A glowing green Rank Eight beast core floated quietly before Rory’s eyes.
"Take it, Rory. We’ll find the next one."
The moment Vincent finished speaking, Rory had barely taken the beast core before the scenery shifted again.
Then his voice sounded beside her once more.
"It’s done."
A second Rank Eight beast core appeared before her.
The speed was absurd.
This was not hunting.
It was practically harvesting vegetables.
As the landscape around them changed over and over again, Rory gradually realized something.
She was no longer inside Imperial territory.
They were somewhere beyond the outer domains, on a barren wild planet.
Not only were there almost no traces of beastfolk civilization here, but Vincent’s communicator had completely lost signal.
Meanwhile, back inside the castle, Vangar and Xarion returned with dark expressions after failing to find them.
The moment Jasper saw them, he immediately asked, "You still haven’t brought Rory back?"
Xarion ground his teeth in frustration.
"That lunatic must’ve awakened some new ability after rebirth."
"He’s too fast."
"Even Vangar and I together couldn’t catch him."
Vangar turned toward Nix, whom Yuel had called back.
"Nix. Did you locate Vincent yet?"
"No." Nix shook his head gloomily. "I searched every known location within the inner domains and found nothing. I think he probably took Female Master beyond the outer territories."
The moment Jasper heard that Vincent had taken Rory outside the domains, his chest tightened painfully.
"Rory has never been beyond the outer territories before. There’s nothing out there. She won’t be able to adapt to an environment like that. What exactly is Vincent trying to do?"
Far beyond Imperial space, on a desolate planet outside the domains, Rory looked at the nearly overflowing pile of beast cores filling the new storage ring Vincent had given her and let out a tired yawn.
"Vincent, I’m tired. Let’s go back and rest."
"Alright." Vincent nodded immediately.
Still carrying her, he vanished from the barren planet in an instant and reappeared on a civilized world near the outer territories.
He chose the finest interstellar hotel on the planet.
"Rory, go take a bath first. I’ll make dinner for you."
The suite came with its own kitchen, and Vincent had already prepared all the ingredients.
Every single dish was something Rory liked.
But Rory was not interested in food right now.
She glanced down at the chain still locked around her wrist and looked at him.
"You really don’t plan on taking this off?"
Vincent met her gaze, his black eyes impossibly deep.
"Not yet. But it won’t stay for much longer. Rory... wait a little longer for me."
He still could not return to his original appearance.
Which probably meant another episode was coming.
And this time... He might not survive it.
All he wanted before he died was a little more time alone with her.
But before the illness fully consumed him, he would send her safely back.
Then he would disappear somewhere far away.
Far enough that he would never frighten her with what he became.