Chapter 93: A Real Man Won't Be Toyed With by a Bad Woman JPG (23)

【"Your relationship with me is far more inti~mate than others think, isn't it?"】

Nie Nasha's voice was sickeningly sweet, dripping with a clingy, watery tenderness.

She spoke with deep implication, in a way that easily stirred the imagination and conjured all sorts of X-rated images.

But… this trick was useless against Herbert.

"Heh."

Herbert didn't take Nie Nasha's suggestive whisper to heart at all; after a derisive snort, he put it out of his mind.

Promises made with nothing but words can only fool children.

For something like this, sincerity must be shown first.

A true tough guy won't be toyed with by a bad woman — at the very least it takes thighs and palms, and for the strong ones, lips and tongue.

【"Hehe, getting shy~"】

"Heh, I think you're the one who's shy."

【"Ah, right, right~ I'm so shy right now~"】

Nie Nasha chuckled twice, fully returning to her usual state, and said leisurely:

【"Herbert, from now on don't care what others say about this kind of thing — just stand in front of me and choose to trust me unconditionally!"】

Tch.

"Talk about standing in front of me — you've clearly been hiding in some dark corner, secretly peeking at me."

You peeping pervert!

Before, you at least bothered to disguise it a little; now you just brazenly show up right behind me and do it in the open.

You're really getting more and more brazen with me.

【"Is~that so? Is it possible that I've actually always been by your side, and you're just too weak to see me?"】

"Heh, say whatever you want."

Stop pretending — weren't you the big sister who went offline from anti-addiction in broad daylight earlier?

【"You don't believe me? Fine, close your eyes."】

"…You're serious?"

【"Close your eyes. Be good."】

And then…

Phew~

Herbert felt a light breath against his ear, and someone pinched his ear.

No, wait… it was a bite!

!!!

He snapped his eyes open and looked beside him, but found absolutely nothing; he reached up to touch his ear, and felt no trace of anything either.

After being teased once more, Herbert couldn't help but praise:

"You really deserve to die! Serves you right for being sealed!"

【"Hehe~"】

After this brief exchange, the relationship between the two didn't seem to have changed on the surface, but in truth it had taken another step forward.

Possibly many steps.

There were quite a few concrete signs.

Before this, Nie Nasha would never have so brazenly stood behind Herbert, trailing her mischievous little fingers back and forth across his back.

【"Herbert~ turn around and look at me~"】

"Tch, don't touch me."

【"Hey! I won't~ If you've got the guts, come stop me!"】

A little annoying.

But considering Nie Nasha's fingers were cool and refreshing, and being touched actually felt quite pleasant, he'd let her off for now.

"By the way, what's your current state? Would you count it as being free?"

【"No~t~yet~"】

After finishing the more important business between them, the two finally remembered to chat about those "trivial" little matters.

【"Wanting to break free of the seal — how could it be that simple — but still, my current state really is quite a bit stronger than before."】

【"I never, ever expected that he would actually let you touch my true body — honestly speaking, he's really a good person, isn't he?"】

"Mm, indeed."

In this incident, the Archbishop deserves the top credit; no one's contribution can compare to his.

He not only supplemented Herbert's knowledge about the Holy Maiden, but also provided the two of them with such a fine opportunity for a secret face-to-face transaction.

How wonderful!

【"To keep him from noticing anything wrong, I only transferred a portion of my soul that didn't contain the power of Law; the rest remains dormant within the Holy Image."】

【"By the way, he let you touch my hand — why did you touch my head instead?"】

Herbert didn't answer, his gaze as firm as if he were about to join the Party, as if he hadn't heard a thing, and continued: "Then what about your current strength? How much have you recovered?"

【"Eh, didn't you hear me? I said why did you touch my head… forget it, you're asking about strength, right?"】

Nie Nasha pressed suspiciously with another question, and seeing he had no intention of responding, gave a light hmph and let the topic go for now.

She was in quite a good mood today, so she'd let it slide this once.

【"As for strength, I've recovered about one percent? Hmm, one-thousandth of my power? No, not even one ten-thousandth!"】

"Tell the truth."

Sis, stop bragging.

It's just the two of us here — can't you just be honest?

Can't we be a little more open with each other?

【"Aiya, you really won't give me face — not the least bit romantic!"】

Nie Nasha, ruthlessly exposed, didn't feel the slightest shame and muttered indignantly: 【"Tch, anyway if I tell you the specifics you wouldn't understand anyway — you weak little thing have so many demands."】

"Just give me a rough description."

【"Roughly speaking, um… just think of it as me being able to exert roughly Legendary-level strength right now."】

【"Of course, because there's the risk of being exposed to others, I only suggest you call on me in an emergency, okay~"】

Legendary strength, huh?

Herbert narrowed his eyes and pondered for a moment — he was fairly satisfied with this result.

In the battle between Valentina and Flora, he had already seen just how terrifying Legendary-level strength could be.

Although Miss Hungry Dragon was already at the peak of Legendary — already the pinnacle of what Legendary could achieve — she seemed to have little reference value for ordinary Legendary standards.

After all, there are gaps between Legends too.

But Herbert believed that even with only early-Legendary power, the strength Nie Nasha could bring to bear would be nothing to sneeze at.

Not to mention how terrifyingly the ancient gods controlled power — back in the day, the Saint Nie Nasha alone was enough to fight across ranks on battle experience alone.

Because she really could fight.

"Then how do I keep helping you recover your strength? Go touch that holy statue again?"

【"That won't be necessary."】

Nie Nasha understood the Archbishop's strength better than Herbert did — being lucky enough to touch it once was already a blessing of fate.

The difficulty of getting another chance to touch the Desecrated Holy Statue was simply too high.

Either Herbert would have to render some enormous contribution to the monastery and make a request to touch it again,

or Herbert would have to become one of the rotating Cardinals of Suppression — then he could steal from under his own watch, have a good fondle, and give it a proper once-over.

【"Same as before — you help me gather some monster materials. I can draw more power from those materials now, and what I can grant you will be more too."】

【"Also, in daily life, I can give you a little bit of help~"】

As Nie Nasha's words fell, a tentacle of gathered shadow crept out from the shadow beneath Herbert's feet, climbed slowly up his calf, and waved left and right in front of his eyes like a greeting.

Hi~

Herbert looked at the tentacle, his eyes narrowing involuntarily — he suddenly realized something.

The thing that was touching my back just now… wasn't this thing, was it?

(End of chapter)