"I will take you home right now!" Helare screamed.

Home! The word slammed into Rafe like a rock.

He wanted to go back home. Of course he did. He had never wanted something as much as he wanted to disappear from this damned planet.

Slowly, he started to come back to himself. Once again, he had been too lost in his emotions he didn't even notice what was around him. It was strange, the way he often broke down these days, like he couldn't think of anything other than the grief in his heart.

And then he saw Helare.

His first instinct was to flinch away from her, from that blue hair and cruel smile. But the colour was different, brighter, purer. And she wasn't smiling cruelly at him.

She was crying. Because of him. He made Helare cry.

"Hey…" he tried, but the hoarseness of his voice made him uneasy. "Hel, stop. No, don't cry."

He tried to go forward and touch her cheek, but a revulsion rose from deep in his body.

He was…afraid of her, he realised. Even a bit disgusted by the thought of getting close to her. But that did not make sense. It was Helare. How could he be afraid of her?

"I will take you home right now!" she shouted, her hands still on his face.

She moved closer to him.

Rafael shuddered involuntarily, but he did not move away. This was Helare, for crying out loud. She had been the girl of his dreams for…well, about three months or so.

She leaned up and kissed him, the second time they kissed. It was still her initiative.

Struggling all the while, Rafael lifted his hands. He embraced her, pulled her closer. Maybe he thought something sweet could wash away the bitter taste deep in his throat.

Her breathing changed as Rafe got more violent in his passion. Her body started to wriggle against his.

"Rafe…" she moaned. "Rafe…we can't," she struggled to get out in the moments her lips were free.

"Why not?" he replied, right before reclaiming her lips.

"This place…it's…too open," she said. "Too bright. Let's go to the cave over there, huh?"

Rafe stopped for a second to study the cave she indicated.

It was dark, cramped, scary.

He flinched. And Helare saw it this time. It was like a bucket of cold water had been dumped on his head, dousing the growing heat. He retreated from her, frowning down at his shaking hands.

"Rafe…" Helare asked slowly. "What happened to you?"

Rafe looked around in a panic, his eyes flinting around everything, every corner, every rock. He almost forgot he had a racial ability that let him see everything around him.

That was right, Rafe thought. He needed to find a way to grow that ability. He would never be caught off guard the way he had been the night before.

"Filoria…" Rafe said, his voice sounding small, defeated even. "She… she sneaked into my tent while I was sleeping. And she, she…"

Helare frowned. Then she thought about it a bit, and sucked in a breath, clearly having come to some kind of conclusion.

"She did…that?" Helare asked, her eyes looking towards his crotch area. Then they fell into silence for a bit. "But…why are you acting like it's the end of the world?" Helare asked. "It wasn't your fault, was it? You don't have to be guilty. And even if it was…" her voice broke a little on this.

"It was disgusting!" Rafe said, like he hadn't heard any of the things she tried to console him with before. "It was painful. It was embarrassing, demeaning."

"...it was… your first time?" Helare asked, her eyes bulging in disbelief.

Rafe didn't understand why she would struggle with that concept. It was indeed his first time. It wasn't like he was trying to keep himself pure before, but he never got the chance. But when it happened, when the flower was forcefully plucked, it injured the plant.

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"That bitch," Helare said through gritted teeth. "I'll—" but she couldn't say anymore.

She took a deep breath, trying to control her temper. Then when she calmed, she turned to Rafe again.

"I am going to take you away from here," she said. "I'm going to take you home. We'll go together. If you'll have me, that is…"

The last part was said slowly, hesitantly even.

Rafe trembled, not daring to hope. Still, he had to make sure he heard her right.

"You…can get me off this world?" he asked.

"I promise!" Helare said. "So…um, can I go with you? I kind of want to go with you too…"

The moment she said she could, Rafe's mind switched off. He thought he'd need to wait until the promotion event in a few months, but that didn't seem to be the case.

He didn't even hear the rest of what she said. He moved forward and hugged her, pulled her into his chest.

He heard her squeak a little from surprise, but then she wrapped her arms around him as well. She rubbed his back gently.

Rafe thought he should be a gentle man and replicate the gesture, but soon his hands strayed too low.

He heard Helare's breath hitch, a familiar sound. Her breathing got heavy, and suddenly the mood was hot again.

He leaned down and joined their lips. He kissed her even more passionately than on the previous occasion.

"We…don't need to go to the cave," Helare's breathy voice tried.

But he was not scared of the dark anymore, Rafael. He carried her up from the ground and brought her into the dark cave, never taking his eyes off her bright hair. Why should the dark scare him when there was a light?

"I can help you forget that awful experience," Helare promised as Rafe fumbled with her clothing.

Just like that, Rafael had his second experience, and it was as magical as he had imagined. It was also Helare's first time, but she didn't seem to care about anything except making Rafe comfortable.

It tugged on his heartstrings.

For a few moments, Rafe was deep in the throes of ecstasy. He forgot about the past few hours, forgot all his anger and hatred.

Helare was straddling him, moving slowly. Occasionally, her lips would trace a path down his torso.

And his lips were willing to reciprocate.

He was so lost he forgot about his promise to be vigilant, to always keep an eye on his surroundings. Even in the dark, his first racial ability should have been able to notify him of any changes in their environment.

As it was, his ears were the first to notice, and that at the last moment, when it was already too late.

"You damn bitch!" a familiar voice shouted.

Helare and Rafe froze, like naughty children caught in the cookie jar. And that was the second mistake.

Before he could do anything, a familiar spear tip penetrated Helare's bare chest.

Rafe didn't understand what he was seeing.

Helare looked down at her chest in shock, then she looked up at Rafe. She tried to open her mouth, but blood rivered down from it. Then she spat a mouthful of blood onto Rafe's face.

"DIE!" that hateful voice said again.

And then the spear receded, in it's place a hole gouting red.

Rafe's hands moved up to Helare's bare chest. He didn't know what he was trying to do. Maybe he was trying to dam the hole in her chest with his bare hands.

But then the spear returned, stabbing Helare again, again. The sound of her flesh tearing was all Rafe could hear for a while. Rafe felt her getting cold where their bodies were still joined.

And then Filoria stuck the spear in her belly and pulled, finally separating them. She pulled the princess's body up like some kind of straw dummy.

Rafe was only frozen for a moment. The next, he was already running, his murderous intent surging.

All he saw was red. He growled, and his voice sounded so unfamiliar, bestial even. All he knew, deep in his heart, was that he was going to kill this bitch.

For the first time since he got to Primus, Rafe unleashed the full brunt of his mutated aura skill.

Filoria was frowning at him, but then her expression changed to one of concern. She tried to throw Helare's body away, but it was stuck on the spear, not letting it go. With a yell, she threw the whole spear away. She looked towards Rafe with bulging, scared eyes.

Rafe did not care at all. He was going to destroy her. Hurting him was one thing, but killing the princess? That was a step too far. Even the chosen wouldn't save the bitch this time.

He stretched out his hand to grab at the enemy's throat.

But something intercepted him. He only felt unparalleled force tossing him aside, like what he imagined being hit by a truck felt like.

He got onto his feet immediately, ignoring the pain surging through his body. He turned to survey the new enemy.

An E grade. E grades. Lots of E grades.

Seeing them like this, Rafe got confused.

He knew, since he came to the camp, that the princess had a bunch of high level guards. He remembered them. Always watching her, but never interfering. But why were they trying to protect the princess's killer?

Then, in the background, Rafe heard the sound of fighting. There was a battle between two groups of E grades that Rafe hadn't noticed before in his quest to kill Filoria. And one of the groups was severely out numbered.

Studying the situation, Rafe realised the princess's murder was premeditated. And not by someone inconsequential as well.

And just at that moment, Rafe saw a weird surging of mana. He turned his head to where Helare's body had been thrown at the mouth of the cave. And there was water there, shining a weird shade of blue light. The water came from the spring outside. The spring which was more than ten feet away from the cave.

He watched the water drag the corpse away. On the surface of the spring was a boy so white, he seemed to be frozen. In fact, there were visible ice shards on his brows. He lifted a finger and made a gesture for Rafe to stay quiet.

Not that it mattered, because of course the other people in the cave would notice the body being dragged away by water. But that was not a bad thing. At the very least, it would provide a sufficient distraction to the E grades.

"H-hey!" Filoria shouted. "Get the body!"

The E grades who were guarding her turned toward the body that was gently flowing away.

Rafe didn't waste a second, flashing towards Filoria, all his killing intent condensed, his aura condensed.

E grades were faster than him though, and there was one before Rafe could get close enough to truly hurt Filoria. But all Rafe needed to do now was throw with all his might.

He didn't touch her, but Filoria fell down with a cry. And then the second aura blade came, and the third. She started bleeding from the nose, then the mouth, and finally the eyes.

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