Elena’s figure turned into a flash of light, reappearing several meters away and escaping Damien’s clutches.

“Don’t think…you can…stop me so easily…!” She growled between breaths. Before Damien could take her by surprise again, she immediately began her counterattack.

Her body bent back slightly, her left hand covered her face, and her right arm extended until it was pointing at the sky.

“Heed my call, O spirit of the world! For I have been named by the Void, I am the darkness itself! None shall stand in the way of my reign!”

Damien’s face paled. “No…anything but this…” he backed away in fear.

Elena grinned. “Ah! The God of Destruction’s left eye, and the Flames of Darkness I have sealed within my arm! They are reacting to an unknown presence! You, assassins who have come to fell me, reveal yourselves!”

Damien closed his ears. “Stop! Stop! Stop! No more, I beg you!”

Elena’s grin widened. “Oh, my! What happened to you? Did you not like my little play?”

“You…how did you find out about that?” Damien stuttered.

“Kekekeke! Those assassins you were talking about, who do you think was actually there?”

Damien’s face paled even further. A repressed memory appeared in his mind.

It was a young Damien, desperately attempting to explain himself to an equally young Elena who, strangely enough, had the same smirk on her face as the one in front of him.

“Vile. Truly vile.” Damien shook his head. His eyes turned cold. “You know too much. My dark history…can never be revealed to the world.”

He disappeared from his position, appearing in front of Elena before she could react and grabbing her arms, holding them above her head and pinning her to a nearby tree.

“Forgive me. I can’t allow Rose or Ruyue to ever find about about the things you know. I have to shut you up here.”

Damien went to deliver the final blow. There was a single spot on Elena’s body that reacted even worse than it did when he tickled her sides. With a single poke, she would become completely incapacitated.

He grinned wildly and went in for the attack. But before he could finish, he was forced to abruptly stop himself.

“…kuhum…um, you aren’t a kid anymore, huh…” He muttered awkwardly. He, of course, remembered the position of Elena’s weak spot. It was just, the area that used to be a washboard had now become a voluptuous pair of breasts.

Elena’s face reddened in embarrassment. She looked down at Damien’s finger, which was hovering over the position of one of her most sensitive places.

“You…don’t tell me you’re scared?”

She didn’t know where the words came from. She almost wanted to punch herself for saying them. After all, wasn’t she supposed to be giving him the silent treatment?

But seeing him hesitate like this, she felt a sort of competitive urge rising within her that she couldn’t suppress.

Damien, however, was feeling a completely different kind of urge. When he heard her words, he suddenly became aware of how provocative their current position was.

In a forest where there was only them alone, he had her pinned to a tree, only a few inches separating them. His hand was hovering so close to her towering peaks that if a sudden wind blew, he’d end up plunging it into that soft pillow of flesh.

“Scared? Why would I be scared? I just don’t think you’ll be able to take it.”

The words that came out of his mouth matched her provocation. In the same way she couldn’t stop herself, nor could he. This was how their relationship had always been. Once provoked, they would fight until one of them surrendered.

It was just…the current fight was completely unlike any of the other ones they’d had.

Damien looked down into Elena’s eyes. That ocean-blue color seemed to shine in the sunlight above them.

“H-hmph!” She snorted. “If you’re scared, just admit it. I won’t lose to you this time.”

He was at a loss for words. Should he fall for her provocation or should he maintain his distance? He really couldn’t decide.

His goal when he entered this secret realm with Elena was to hash out all their previous problems and start anew. He wanted them to have a proper conversation about their past behavior and learn how to proceed from now on.

But now, it seemed that step had been entirely skipped. Judging from her behavior, he knew exactly what she wanted. And it wasn’t like he didn’t want it either.

But that conversation was still something that needed to happen at some point. So that they could properly move on, they needed to settle their past.

But as he was thinking, he suddenly felt something press into his outstretched hand. Unexpectedly, Elena had made the first move.

She shifted her body forward and filled the gap herself, not waiting for him to take action. When he looked back into her eyes, he could see the defiance hidden within.

He smiled wryly to himself. ‘I see. Somewhere inside, I was still treating her as just a childhood friend. I wasn’t quite able to overcome that barrier and take the next step, even if it was something I desired.’

But he has gone through too much to hesitate here. He had already resolved himself to take her as his woman, and he had already resolved himself to give her everything she wanted to make up for his faults in the past.

His hand no longer stayed idle. If she wanted to deliver herself to him, then he’d happily accept.

“Mmm…” Elena let out a quiet moan.

He moved slowly. It wasn’t like he had experience doing such a thing before. Even when he had felt Rose’s or Ruyue’s breasts in the past, it had been wholly by accident.

He lightly squeezed the pillowy mound in his hand, reveling in the sensation it gave. He kneaded it just as gently. Within seconds, he could feel a faint protrusion brushing against his palm.

“Ahh~”

If you put a joystick in front of a man, it was his instinct to play with it. And when such a thing happened to Damien, he followed that instinct.

But, it was a little too hard to grasp it as it was now.

He moved his hand away and let it snake into Elena’s robes. The feeling of her skin on his hand was entirely different than the sensation from before.

From her waist to her back, his hand took its time feeling her up until it reached a certain point on her upper back. Feeling the latch there, he fondled with it until it came undone.

“Ah…”

Elena gasped in surprise. She didn’t know how the situation had turned out like this, but she didn’t plan to stop it. Just as he enjoyed the sensation of her skin on his hand, she couldn’t get enough of the euphoria she felt when he touched her.

Her chest felt breezy. Her bra dropped to the ground. But that breezy feeling didn’t last long. A large and warm hand soon enveloped her freed breast, kneading it with care as if it was a priceless treasure.

“Ahhh~”

Damien’s fingers pinched that bright pink cherry he had felt before. Now that there were no obstructions in his way, he felt like he had a lot more freedom in his movements.

But things were going too slow. Even until now, he couldn’t see what he had been feeling all this time.

He removed his hand from pinning Elena’s and grabbed the hem of her robe. And without suspense, the cloth covering her upper body gently fell around her waist.