Inner Destroyer

　"Ah. That's why I said you were stupid."

　Sasa floated around the hot spring and rolled her eyes.

　"You don't need to pretend to be a gentleman, do you? You're not a shining hero, are you? You're the kind of guy who, even though you have a gentle fiancée ready to take you to the hot springs, still wants to have a blast with some powerful woman. Why don't you just admit it?"

　"It's okay to fly, but you still act like, 'Wow, she's great, I'm just admiring her'... Qi Xing, you have to admit your desires."

　At this point, Sasa paused for a few seconds, then his tone became unusually serious.

　"Remember what I told you before? You didn't think that taming the desire to dominate meant taming all desires, did you?"

　"The second silver coin you have now is 'illusion', the desire for 'change'. What do you think the desire for change is?"

　Of course Qi Xing wasn't so stupid as not to understand what she meant.

　The desire to "dominate" is essentially the pursuit of control; however, human desires are subject to change.

　Although he liked Elaine very much, as the saying goes, men can't help but look at what's in the pot while eating what's in the bowl... Especially the strong and powerful ones with enough room to spare, the overlords, will like one if they see one, and like two if they see two...

　"No! I just want someone who loves me!"

　"Just keep lying to yourself."

　"I said I would be responsible!"

　"Don't you feel tired thinking about such heavy things every day?"

　"I just want to be friends with Lin, don't think that's wrong!"

　"Ugh."

　Sasa shook his head, despairing of his own immaturity as the chosen king. He still lacked the magnanimity to be a king.

　Just like Qi Xing now only knows how to give "orders" and "judgments" with the silver coins of "Domination", his mind has not yet come to its senses.

　It would be fine for ancient people, since they all understand how power works.

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　If we think about it carefully, we should know that "command" and "judgment" are the only means of domination, control, and ruling power.

　A superior can command his subordinates without the need for "the power of the king," and a judge can judge criminals without the need for "the power of the king." So what exactly is "the power of the king"?

　But now it seems that this is a bit off topic.

　The point is, Sasa, you know exactly what's going on in Qi Xing's head—he always feels like, "I'm different from this ridiculous ██████████████!" So he doesn't dare do anything erotic. Even if he does, he has to find some plausible justification for pure love, like, "Responsibility is pure love, not lust, so you can't have a harem."

　In Sasa's opinion, this was stupid. Qi Xing was just trying to restrain his passionate desires and strength.

　But it doesn't matter! She's here!

　Let's see how Samael, who possesses amazing wisdom, awakens Qi's true self and makes him understand that he doesn't actually want to make friends with the beautiful girl, he just wants her body!

　When Qi Xing finally becomes a little self-aware, he will definitely be able to become even more powerful!

　She shrank back silently and disappeared.

　Qi Xing just thought that she had disappeared into the shadows again, and didn't think too much about it. He relaxed and continued to soak in his hot spring.

　However, not long after, just as he finished eating the edamame, Qi Xing suddenly sensed a breath.

　The stone-built hot springs were spacious and intricately arranged. Though their view was obstructed by steam and rocks, even with their superhuman five senses, they could still sense... a presence nearby.

　who is it?

　Qi Xing thought that there was no one else in the hotel today, and that the three of them must have reserved the whole place... Could it be Lao Lang?

　It's impossible... not really. If it was just an ordinary person, it would be fine. If it was a wild animal jumping into the hot spring, it wouldn't matter. But what if it was a "True Buddhism" or some Satan-worshiping assassin...

　Even though the possibility was very low, Qi Xing took action immediately and followed the scent through the edge hidden by the rocks.

　At the same time, the breath and figure on the opposite side seemed to be surprised from the bottom of their hearts, and turned around inadvertently, as if they were completely off guard.

　Facing each other, through the dense mist, Qi Xing finally saw - saw her.

　Lin was sitting quietly on the edge of the hot spring pool, with her head slightly tilted back and her eyes closed.

　The water covered her shoulders, revealing only the clearly defined collarbone and a section of her snow-white neck. She seemed to be submerged in the fog, yet also to have emerged from it.

　The moonlight shone through the branches and the flowing mist, making her already cold and sharp face appear holy and unapproachable.

　Since she was taking a hot spring bath, of course she was not wearing anything.

　This body belonged to a young girl, to an extremely powerful warrior, and to a demigod on earth.

　The mist and steam from the hot springs imbued her fair skin with a lustrous sheen, like jade or untouched snow. Her hair, slightly damp, clung to her shoulders or drifted gently with the current. A healthy body is lean where it should be, and full where it should be.

　Her appearance embodies the desires of countless men, like an ideal come true.

　Every breath she took seemed to move the air and water, making people feel an indescribable rhythm.

　Like the wind blowing through a moonlit shrine, like the pure fire just lit on the altar.

　At this moment, Qi Xing was really stunned.

　He had originally thought that after ten years of fighting, he'd already become accustomed to the world's "beauties." After all, there were so many things in this world that were too weird in terms of sight, sound, and smell. He should have been calm enough, no longer easily shaken by his five senses.

　But this is not "beauty".

　It is not the ordinary physical beauty.

　Rather, it was the kind of beauty that made all the gods hold their breath, as if it was the moment when the goddess of beauty Aphrodite was born and rose from the sea.

　It is a combination of a saint and a warrior, a girl and a lion, a god and a human.

　There are no words, no actions, only the divinity that comes out naturally and does not need to be deliberately displayed.

　Don't disturb her.

　We cannot destroy this scene.

　The word "sacred and incomparable" seems to describe such a picture.

　In an instant, all his understanding of Rin was slightly shaken.

　Qi Xing originally thought that he "liked her style", "admired her strength", and "felt she was a good fit" - even though Samair complained and Elaine asked him questions, Qi Xing insisted on his own ideas.

　But now he understands.

　It wasn't "admiration", it wasn't "respect", it wasn't "mutual understanding between two strong and willful people", but it was something very human, very primitive, and irrational... the desire to get close, to touch, was like hot spring water, steaming up from deep within Qi Xing's body, layer by layer evaporating away the "rationality" he had pretended to have.

　Sasa's taunts still echoed in his mind.

　——"You're not a bright and shining hero, are you? You're not a gentleman, are you?"

　He wanted to protest, but he knew—this time, he couldn't deny it.

　He didn't simply admire her.

　That kind of heartbeat is not the excitement of battle, nor the tacit understanding of friendship, nor respect or envy.

　Rather, it was a kind of quietly rising feeling, a mixture of impulse, wonder and joy...

　He finally realized... Damn, there aren't that many mixed-bathing hot springs coincidences in reality. Sasa, you did this, didn't you?

　That is when

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　, Lin opened his eyes.

　Those sky-blue eyes saw him in the blend of mist and moonlight.

　The two looked at each other, their eyes reflecting each other's expressions.

　The air froze for about three seconds.

　——Then Lin slowly raised his eyebrows: "Why are you peeking?"

　"It was a complete accident. I was worried it was an assassin."

　Qi Xing raised his hands and spoke calmly as he soaked in the hot spring again.

　"Hmm? Maybe Dad ripped down the grille between the men's and women's baths because there were no customers during the off-season..."

　Lin frowned and sighed. She really didn't seem to care.

　"It's okay, don't mind it. My father is a weirdo, and he was just saying how much I like you. I hope you don't mind."

　Good God. Now it was really hard for Qi Xing not to mind.

　"Your father seems to be a very special person?"

　He remained expressionless...but asked with curiosity.

　The Association had already investigated Rin's father, Shinji. He was 43 years old and originally from Germany. He likely came to Japan at age 20, initially in the Kanto region before arriving in Tohoku three years later, marrying into the Shingo family and becoming a naturalized immigrant.

　As far as the "Association" investigation is concerned, he should not have any supernatural connections.

　Furthermore, the Association doesn't have much information about Kamigorin's mother.

　"Come to think of it, I've never met your mother either. Isn't she the shrine maiden of your generation?"

　"Ah."

　Talking about her parents, Lin showed a complicated expression.

　"My mother...has been in poor health since I was born and has been living in a private nursing home."

　"I visit her every week. But..."

　But what?

　Lin didn't say it directly, but Qi Xing could guess a little.

　First of all, the mother-daughter relationship has been like this since birth, which is probably not like that of a mother and daughter in a normal family; secondly, if a person knows from childhood that her mother has been in poor health since she was born and has to be hospitalized for a long time, she will probably have some complicated psychological feelings.

　"My father told me that my mother's poor health wasn't my fault, and it wasn't because I was special. But sometimes I still can't help but think—"

　However, the words Lin murmured next frightened Qi Xing.

　"——Humans are really too fragile."

　Humans are too fragile. A mere embrace will shatter them. So many things in this world are too delicate.

　This is a feeling that only a creature born to be the strongest can have.

　A master like Qi Xing, who had cultivated himself through painstaking training, probably couldn't have the same firsthand experience. It was only after recently obtaining "silver coins" that he warned himself, "Don't get addicted to it and just keep using [Domination] to randomly attack others."

　"The relationship between my father and mother... although I may not be qualified to speak, I feel that my mother was not loved by my father, but rather pitied by him. What my mother longed for was not my father's love, but... a certain kind of pity."

　Well.

　This is a bit of a complicated family relationship.

　Qi Xing ran away as soon as he traveled through time in this life, so he has no real sense of family relationships, but the relationship between his parents in his previous life was quite good.

　But the word "compassion" still slightly touched a certain feeling in Qi Xing's heart.

　Mercy?

　Qi Xing had this thought from time to time: he felt that others were weak and needed his protection. For example, he had seen Elaine and some of his other friends. It was more accurate to say that he was afraid to make friends because he was afraid of others being too weak.

　So he deliberately distanced himself from others and avoided too much contact with them. In this respect, Lin and Qi Xing were similar.

　Although the specific situation of the Jingo couple is not very clear, if the difference in strength between the couple is huge, whether they can truly love each other is probably a difficult question to answer.

　And pity… pity is actually a strong word, a somewhat condescending thing.

　"Although I'm not interested in that kind of thing right now, I might get married and start a family in a few years."

　Then, Lin suddenly said these words without warning.

　"Sometimes I wonder if I'll ever be able to have the love between husband and wife when that happens... and whether marriage is really a good thing."

　This is not just about worrying about the disharmony between parents and their spouses.

　Even Qi Xing could see that Lin was doubting whether she could fall in love with someone.

　This was probably the first time Qi Xing saw her worried.

　"So besides boys' comics, I sometimes read some romance comics... although there are also romance comics in JUMP. But to be honest,"

　Having said this, Lin sighed again.