Chapter 380: Valentina Made Me Eat (6K Asking for Subscriptions)

Legend has it, in a mysterious village shrouded in mist all year round, there lived a group of kind-hearted villagers.

They lived quietly, free from worldly disputes.

But such days did not last long. One day, they were suddenly targeted by a terrifying giant beast.

That giant beast had always wanted to destroy this peace!

In the end, after probing several times, it finally launched its attack!

And at the moment of crisis, just as all that was beautiful was about to be destroyed by that terrifying beast, the righteous prince appeared!!!

At the cost of himself, he summoned an evil giant dragon, which easily destroyed and killed that beast.

At the end of the story, the evil giant dragon ultimately abducted the pure prince—the prince sacrificed himself for this!

The giant dragon Young Lady was too hungry.

The famished giant dragon ate the little prince over and over.

As if playing, she would swallow the food and spit it back out, swallow and spit out again… until both were utterly exhausted, before finally swallowing him whole.

And so, the giant dragon lived a happy and beautiful life!

Mm, the prince as well.

Although the little prince was a bit tired, the prince's life was also very happy and beautiful…

……

After abducting Herbert, Valentina had not gone far before she could no longer hold back, preparing to find some random corner and execute him on the spot.

Devour him whole!

In the end, Herbert still managed to pin her down with great effort, forcibly suppressing the impulse, and brought her along with the three chimera corpses to her former territory.

After ensuring the Heroic Spirit Pool fragment was safe and wouldn't be snatched away by someone halfway, Herbert finally set his mind at ease and walked into the pool water together with Valentina.

Anyway, this battle couldn't be avoided, and he didn't want to run from it either, so he might as well pick a good spot.

He could find any patch of grass, but he preferred soaking in the pool.

Very moist.

And it saved effort.

Although a sacred place like the Heroic Spirit Pool wasn't the place for such things, who cares?

Besides, no one was going to mind.

Oh, wait, although no "person" was minding, it wasn't as if no "god" was minding either.

【"Hey! This is my Heroic Spirit Pool! Don't go too far!"】

The Joke Goddess Young Lady expressed strong dissatisfaction at this, complaining into Herbert's ear as he was tackled into the pool by Valentina:

【"You doing it in my temple before was one thing, but now you're not planning to spare the Heroic Spirit Pool either?"】

Damn, are you even human?

What exactly are you planning to do?

I'm not asleep this time!

Don't do that kind of thing right in front of me in my Heroic Spirit Pool!

Too much!

This is really too much!

Nie Nasha lodged a protest against Herbert's sacrilegious behavior, issuing a strong condemnation.

But Herbert paid no heed to Her complaints.

While resisting the hungry dragon Young Lady's assault, he replied to the Joke Goddess Young Lady's protest in his mind.

"Hey! Why are you getting so worked up? It's just using your Heroic Spirit Pool for a bit! Be more generous! You won't lose any flesh."

Besides, you don't have any flesh to lose right now anyway…

【"No!"】

Nie Nasha bit down and wailed:

【"How can you shamelessly do such sacrilegious things! You disgrace to the holy knights—"】

"Sacrilege?"

Herbert's mouth twitched as he retorted, "What are you talking about? What I'm doing here is a pure act between two willing parties, with not a shred of coercion."

Although to outsiders it might look like she's forcing me, actually… I'm enjoying it too.

This is a little something between the two of us, I advise you all not to meddle!

"Besides, you're talking to me about sacrilege now? I already did it in the temple, so what's one more Heroic Spirit Pool?"

Things have come to this, why keep dwelling on it?

If you're going to dwell on it now, what about before?

Why didn't you complain back then!

If Nie Nasha weren't in front of him, Herbert would definitely have shot Her a "what the hell are you even saying?" look.

【"Wuwuwu, my Heroic Spirit Pool, wuwuwu…"】The Joke Goddess Young Lady wailed, bemoaning Herbert's sacrilegious atrocities against Her.

"…Tch."

After a moment, Herbert rolled his eyes and snorted, "That's enough, have you had your fun yet?"

【"Wuwu… puhaha!"】

The convincing crying instantly vanished, replaced by a delighted giggle.

【"Not bad~"】

Would Nie Nasha actually cry over something like this?

What a joke~

How could He possibly be that fragile.

He simply didn't care what Herbert did inside his own Heroic Spirit Pool, not bothering with this minor detail at all.

He was merely seized by a whim, wanting to play a little "playing the wronged party" role-playing game with Herbert.

【"Did I act like it or not!"】

Nie Nasha asked proudly: 【"Were you fooled by my superb acting skills?"】

"Like it! Like it! It was simply too alike!"

Herbert rolled his eyes, nodded forcefully, and read aloud in a flat tone: "I'm really so scared! Don't do this again next time, okay?"

【"Hmph hmph~ Then next time it depends on my mood~"】 Nie Nasha hummed happily, quite pleased with herself.

He could tell that Herbert's answer was mostly passive-aggressive.

But He didn't care~

The Lord doesn't care!

Whether Herbert was being passive-aggressive or sincerely moved, Nie Nasha didn't care either way.

Anyway, he said it himself, so I'll be happy~

The two of them are an inseparable whole — when one flourishes, both flourish; when one suffers, both suffer.

Such passionate interactions are merely little tricks the two use to deepen their feelings.

Many people believe that gods influence mortals, that Their mighty power shapes the thoughts of mortals.

But what they don't realize is that when gods influence mortals, they are simultaneously being influenced by mortals.

And after being in contact with Herbert for so long, He too was influenced by Herbert, picking up some bad habits — pulling a prank, very happy!

Especially after Herbert's snarky remark, He said contentedly: 【"Alright, you two go on and play, I'm going to go study this Heroic Spirit Pool fragment~"】

After the Young Lady of the God of Harmony, that troublemaker, departed, Herbert could finally devote all his energy to slaying the Hungering Dragon.

This epic-level battle was extremely intense!

Blow and counterblow, neither yielding.

Valentina became harder to kill.

In the past, the two of them had barely fought to a draw.

And after successfully advancing, both planned to seize this opportunity to display their might and crush the other.

Both sides thought they could win this time, but neither expected that while their own realm had risen, the other hadn't been left behind either.

Just when Herbert thought he could finally stand tall, it turned out Valentina had also advanced!

High-tier against Legendary — neither side gained the upper hand.

Legendary against Epic… the two sides were still evenly matched!

In the end, after a prolonged slaughter that nearly turned the Heroic Spirit Pool murky, the scales of victory still tipped toward Herbert.

He truly hadn't completely overpowered her physically — exhausting an Epic-tier giant dragon to death would be far too difficult.

He relied on experience and technique honed elsewhere, finally seizing an opportunity and winning through a technical knockout in one decisive push!

Victory!

In the end, the righteous holy knight defeated the evil dragon!

*Clap* — applause!

*Clap clap clap* —

……

"Haah! Haah…"

Valentina collapsed limply into the now rapidly clearing pool water, leaning her body back against Herbert's chest.

Tilting her head up, she looked at Herbert with a suspicious gaze and muttered: "Why are you so skilled at this?"

Why?

Is this my imagination?

Why do I feel like you seem even more practiced at this sort of thing.

"Well, that's obviously because I've advanced, and now I have more ability to support me in deploying more techniques."

"Really?" The Hungering Dragon Young Lady expressed doubt about this.

"Of course it's true, hehe."

Herbert merely smiled at this, placed his palm on top of her head, and gently stroked her blood-like red hair.

"Speaking of which, your hair has changed."

He hadn't had time to notice before, but now that he was free, he discovered that Valentina's hair had become deeper in color than before.

No longer like raging flames, but somewhat more composed — a blood-crimson hue.

"Mm?"

Valentina herself hadn't noticed this either; she tugged a strand of hair over to her eyes for a look.

"Oh! I know, it's what He mentioned, that… bloodline revival! He said my bloodline seems to have improved again, moving closer toward the original ancient giant dragon? Something like that."

"Aiya, it's fine, He shouldn't be trying to harm me anyway."

Herbert's brow twitched as he caught the details in her words — bloodline revival? Ancient giant dragon? He?

"What did you dream about when you were advancing?" Herbert asked softly.

Based on his understanding of Valentina, she absolutely could not know so many technical terms.

Reading books is impossible — in this lifetime, reading books is impossible.

And since she hadn't learned it from reading, then someone must have told her.

With a reasonable inference, the truth isn't far off.

Herbert guessed that Valentina must have encountered some new existence again in the inheritance space of her Epic advancement.

Based on what she had said before… an ancestor dragon in the inheritance space?

"Dream? What dream? I didn't… oh!"

Valentina blinked her big, unpolluted-by-knowledge eyes, thought for a moment, then suddenly paused.

Valentina, whose surname had suddenly recalled something, rolled over huffily.

Splash!

She leapt from the water, but the surging waves slammed into Herbert at once, carrying him with them and knocking him against the poolside — twice!

"Mm? You, mm—!"

Valentina pressed Herbert down firmly, lowered her head, and bit his shoulder viciously!

Leaving behind a… shallow tooth mark.

She hadn't really bitten down, only made a symbolic gesture with her teeth.

"…Hmph!"

But Valentina seemed a little wronged again, occasionally tapping lightly with the tip of her tooth, as if hesitating over whether to bite down.

Wanting to punish this bad fellow, but also a little reluctant to.

In the end, she could only turn that tangle into unwillingness to let go, hugging Herbert tightly and squeezing his body hard.

"Mm?"

Herbert was briefly stunned, feeling her strange, complicated emotions, and was somewhat surprised in his heart.

Why did she suddenly start acting coquettish?

He raised his hand, soothingly stroking the head of the hungry dragon Young Lady, and asked gently: "Did you have some nightmare?"

"Mm…"

Valentina pouted, gave a soft hum, and muttered: "I had a weird dream. The you in the dream was so mean to me!"

"You scolded me! Said I was some kind of Illusion, told me to get lost!"

"I was crying so miserably, and you still wouldn't comfort me — only at the very end did you reluctantly give me a hug!"

The more she spoke, the angrier she got; in the end she wasn't even wronged anymore, just letting out a vicious, furious snort.

"Hmph!"

"That's really too much!"

Valentina had basically vented it all out, while Herbert, held in her arms, fell silent.

At first, Herbert hadn't paid much attention to her words, only assuming she had had a nightmare.

But the more he listened, the more nervous he grew, feeling the situation was getting more and more off!

Is this right?

This can't be right!

Sweating.

Folks, sweating!

Why does this nightmare Valentina had sound so familiar?

Why does it sound more and more like that scene in the Illusion of 【Silence and Clamor】?

…No, not just "like"!

This freaking is exactly that!!!

"…Gulp."

Herbert silently swallowed, a faint sheen of sweat breaking out on his forehead.

That was actually real?

That potion actually really dragged Valentina's consciousness into One's Own Illusion?

Wasn't it just a legendary potion? How could it have so much energy?

Did something go wrong?

And if Valentina's side is real, that means the others' sides are real too?

Fu Leimei and Elisa are fine on their end; the key is that last one… my dear Lady Ash Bishop, that Lady Ophidia.

If even this one is real, then… hiss.

Herbert had vaguely sensed something at the time while in the Illusion — otherwise he couldn't have known the Ash Bishop's name.

But he had no concrete proof, and had suspected he had simply cobbled together a name from his impression of the Ash Bishop, planning to test it on her later.

And now, he had finally gotten an answer — yes, all of that was real.

Ophidia really is the Ash Bishop's name!

"…Very good!"

The corners of Herbert's mouth lifted slightly, and a host of wonderful ideas suddenly sprang to mind.

But there's no rush now; the Most Urgent Now is to first coax this gullible evil dragon Young Lady through it.

He held the wronged Valentina, his palm sliding gently along her spine, feeling out that slick, pale skin, and soothed: "Don't be sad, don't be upset, those were all just dreams."

"It's fine. There's a saying back home: everything you dream is the opposite."

"The me in the dream was so mean to you — doesn't that mean the real me is very gentle with you?"

Hearing this, Valentina released her bite, propped herself up against Herbert's shoulder, and stared seriously into his eyes: "Really? You really won't leave me?"

Herbert nodded lightly and smiled: "Need you even ask? I will absolutely never leave you, and absolutely never let you leave."

"Valentina, I'm very greedy — I will absolutely never let you escape from my side."

I will not leave you, and I will not let you leave me.

This is Herbert's promise, and also his greed.

Binding another person to oneself—some call it love, others call it control.

Herbert couldn't care less about other people's opinions on the matter.

He simply didn't want to lose anyone.

"Honestly, what are you even saying?"

Valentina rolled her eyes at him and huffed: "What are you thinking? How could I possibly run away from you?"

"Even if you chased me away, I still wouldn't leave!"

She lowered her head and pressed a forceful kiss onto Herbert's lips.

Greedily demanding, as if wanting to suck his very soul away.

If one side forcibly binds the other unilaterally, perhaps it can be called control.

But if both sides want to bind each other… then that should be called a perfect match.

Locked in.

Their lips parted. Valentina licked her own lips and flashed Herbert a seductive smile.

"Hehehehe…"

Very good.

She was hungry again.

Valentina felt she had mostly recovered, and that it was time for a second round.

"Mm!?"

Herbert suddenly sensed an intense sense of danger and hurriedly raised his hand: "Wait, hold on a moment!"

"It's already been a day and a night! We should head back! If we're any later the others will start worrying… wait! Mmph!"

Before he could finish speaking, Herbert's mouth was sealed shut.

"No~wait~"

Valentina hugged Herbert, pressing her chest right into his face, smothering him completely.

"If they're anxious, let them come looking! Anyway… huh?"

But just before Valentina made her move on Herbert, she suddenly froze, thinking of a certain issue.

She let go of Herbert and asked curiously: "Herbert, you said dreams are the opposite of reality, right?"

"Ha, ha… yeah, that's right, what about it?" Herbert, seeing the light of day again, gasped for breath and unconsciously licked his lips as he spoke.

Gotta say, the face-washing-milk custom is truly a wonderful civilization.

But Avarantina said, somewhat uneasy: "But, I also dreamed before that you were really nice to me? Was that fake too?"

Hm? Oh!

"No, of course that's real." Herbert laughed and shrugged easily: "If I'm good to you in a dream, then in reality I'm good to you too."

Valentina:?

"But… aren't dreams the opposite?"

Herbert smiled and said softly: "Can't figure it out? There's a difference between the two, you know."

"Mm?"

The Hungry Dragon Young Lady, for once, racked her brain, but in the end found it was still a total blank.

What difference is there between the two!

"Back in my hometown there's another saying—whatever benefits me is true, whatever doesn't benefit me is false." Herbert's smile was radiant.

The old Zhong people have always been very pragmatic.

Left eye twitch—that's getting rich.

Right eye twitch—that's feudal superstition to be discarded.

A deity that can do things for mortals is a good deity, worthy of incense offerings.

A deity that doesn't do things?

Screw it, I'll blast your mother to high heaven with a cannon!

"Oh… oh? Oh!" Valentina nodded half-understandingly, feeling she sort of got it, but also sort of didn't.

Still, since Herbert said so, there was definitely no problem.

He'll keep loving me!

"Hehe!"

And with this interruption, Valentina's mood had dampened considerably. No longer talking about a second round, she just hugged Herbert with a grin, nuzzling him coquettishly back and forth.

Seeing her like this, Herbert secretly breathed a sigh of relief and changed the subject: "Speaking of which, don't you think your true form is a bit too big now?"

Herbert had expected Valentina's true form to be quite large after advancing to Epic, but he hadn't expected it to reach the exaggerated kilometer-level.

Some people might not know what a body length of a kilometer actually means.

Valentina's original hundred-meter-long body was already enormous, lying there like a small hill.

Among all the current anomalous monster girls at the Penitentiary, Valentina's special trait was the most straightforward—simply a larger body size than her kin.

And a larger body meant greater strength, purer destructive power—but this strength was still within an acceptable range.

Yet, after advancing to Epic, it had leapt all the way up to the kilometer level in one go.

Is this reasonable? Is this normal?

Obviously not normal!

Under normal circumstances, even an Epic dragon's body length is only around a hundred meters.

Even a Saint-tier dragon probably wouldn't exceed five hundred meters!

But Valentina, having only just entered the Epic stage, had already reached the kilometer level—and it was clearly still going to keep growing!

How much bigger is she going to get!?!!

Ten thousand meters?

And faced with Herbert's question, Valentina posed a counter-question that left him utterly silent.

"Isn't bigger better?"

A perfectly innocent counter-question, spoken softly, yet it struck like thunder to the deaf ears.

"……Mm."

Herbert silently nodded, lowered his head to look at her chest, nodded again, and added: "Very good, bigger is great!"

Although a bit smaller wouldn't be bad either—it has its own charm—but bigger is definitely no problem.

"Speaking of which, who is this 'He' you keep mentioning?"

"He?"

Valentina blinked, gave an "oh," and said: "Oh! You mean He—He is……huh? What was His name again?"

'Mother of Ten Thousand Dragons.' The Sage quietly offered a reminder.

"Oh right, right, right! He said He is the Mother of Ten Thousand Dragons, some kind of ancestor of mine."

The Hungry Dragon Young Lady said with an indifferent snort: "He had me accept some inheritance of His, awakening my ancient bloodline."

"Hmph, if it weren't for the fact that He's very strong, and said I could become just like Him, I wouldn't have listened to Him at all—it hurt so much!!!"

At the end, Valentina even pouted in grievance, grumbling and complaining.

"So that's how it is……" Herbert nodded silently, understanding dawning in his heart.

That explained it—the changes in Valentina were probably because of that ancient dragon's inheritance.

She was drawing closer to the dragons of the ancient era, gaining an even more massive physique.

Herbert nodded thoughtfully, and gently soothed: "Then you've really had it tough."

"Mm!"

Valentina's eyes rolled, and she suddenly hugged Herbert tight, saying loudly: "I've had it really tough! So, comfort me properly!"

Saying so, the now-hungry-again Valentina prepared to dig in once more.

"Hey hey hey! Wait a moment, wait a moment—"

And just as Herbert was about to be devoured clean by the Hungry Dragon Young Lady once more, in another direction within the mist, at the Heroic Spirit Legion occupying another fragment of the Heroic Spirit Pool, the legion commander slowly raised his head.

He silently looked toward the direction where Herbert and the others were, no one knowing what he was thinking.

"……"

And through the gap in his helmet, one could see in those half-transparent eyes of his……

A deathly stillness.

(End of this chapter)