I Reincarnated into a Single-celled Organism! - Chapter 209

I stood just inside the cavern, staring down into one of the dark corridors that traveled off into the mountain. My eyes narrowed as my hand trailed the stone wall beside me. The wall was hot, which gave credence to my theory that this entire mountain was an active volcano. Behind me, Fate stood with her hand at her hip, holding the hilt of her blade where it sat still in its scabbard.

“First things first, we’ll collapse all the tunnels leading into this area,” I told Fate.

She tilted her head. “All of them?”

I nodded. “It will buy us a lot of time. Anyone who wants to reach the wyvern will need to burrow their way into this chamber. It will also narrow the direction of attacks.”

“If we do this, we’ll be backing ourselves into a corner. How will we escape, especially while carrying the eggs?”

“You do your best fighting when you’re backed into a corner.” I teased, but when I saw she wasn’t convinced, I continued. “I’d rather have a wall to my back than a sage beast or a paragon with a knife.”

“The wyvern says that it will begin laying its eggs at sunset, and it will take until sunrise to complete the process. The enemies will quickly realize what’s happening when the wyvern’s mana begins to fluctuate. The best thing we can do is make it more difficult for them to confirm what is happening. It isn’t just a physical obstruction, but it will also block their ability to scout the situation in here. It will cause them all to be more cautious, and hopefully give them time to deal with each challenge one at a time rather than all at once.

“It seems… you have thought about this.” Fate responded.

“It’s about our survival, so why wouldn’t I take things seriously?” I responded as I led her around.

We started collapsing the tunnels. With my senses, it was rather easy to determine the structural weaknesses, and with my strength, a single punch was usually enough to collapse a tunnel. Once the last one collapsed, sealing us within the cavern with the wyvern, I began to work on creating traps. There wasn’t much we could work with, but I could at least build a few chokeholds and construct some pitfalls. I mostly depended on the flowing lava for this. Redirecting it was easier than lugging around a stone. If a certain sage beast turned out to be immune to lava, I didn’t know what I would do.

“You seem to avoid fighting, don’t you?” She asked as I tried to hide a small pool of lava under some dirt so that some unsuspecting sage beast fell into it.

“What makes you say that?” I glanced up at her.

She was covered in sweat and dirt by this point. Without ventilation, the room was quickly growing hotter, but Fate didn’t complain about it. I could vaguely sense she was using mana to keep the heat from overwhelming her. Perhaps, she thought something like she couldn’t complain as long as I could handle the heat, given that I had no mana to resist.

“You’re using petty tricks and traps to avoid a frontal confrontation.” Her expression looked a bit displeased. “I understand why we must, but it feels a bit dishonorable.”

“Honor is a luxury for paragon families that like to play at war,” I told her, causing her frown to deepen. “This is a real battle, Fate, not some competition your houses made up. There are only two kinds of people. Those that survive, and those that don’t. Real fights are messy… they’re dangerous.”

“Are you looking down on the paragon families?” She asked.

“No, I’m just observing my own life experiences. Where I grew up, things were rough. People died all the time. Friends, family…” I shook my head as if to shake away those memories. “We used to have a saying on the streets. Every fight could be your last, so don’t pick a fight unless you have no choice.”

She stared at me for some time, but then she asked, “Is that why you hold back?”

“What?”

“In battle,” She stood calmly, her eyes locked on me. “You’re stronger than you appear. That’s what Abigail thinks. I had my doubts, but I’m starting to believe it. You shouldn’t have been able to dodge my surprise attacks back at the inn, but you did. You shouldn’t have been able to survive the howl demon, yet you came back. You shouldn’t have been able to outrun the mercenary leader, yet here we are. Now, I see no way we’ll be able to make it out of this alive, and yet, standing next to you, I don’t feel nervous at all. Rather, I feel like our success is likely.”

I glanced back at her. I didn’t have an answer to give her. Even if I told her everything about me, it wouldn’t change anything moving forward. Instead, a thought came to me, and I smirked a gesturing for her to follow me.

“Come here.” I slid into a crack just narrow enough for an adult to slide through.

Fate tried to follow me, but her chest nearly prevented her. Her cheeks turned pink, but after another attempt, she made it into the small alcove. As soon as she entered, she let out a sigh of relief. This alcove was protected from the lava, and the result was that it was considerably cooler. After being in the other area, it felt like stepping into an air-conditioned room from a hot day of summer. Fate closed her eyes and let out another sigh as she pressed her neck against a cool stone wall. I watched her as sweat dripped down her body.

“You know, Fate.” I put on my best smile. “We still haven’t left the cave, technically?”

She opened her eyes. “What?”

“Our agreement.” I grinned. “Until we leave the cave, we’re still lovers. So, at least right now, you’re still my woman.”

Fate’s cheeks turn red from something other than the heat. “You’re impossible.”

“And yet…” I stepped forward and gently kissed her.

She didn’t resist, tilting back her head as our lips combined. Slowly, our kissing grew more aggressive. Her tongue danced across my lips. As our tongues began to explore each other, I wrapped my arms around her. One hand slipped beneath her shirt and rubbed her back. The other hand squeezed her firm butt, causing her to gasp into my mouth. Our lips separated, but before she could recover, I kissed her again, this time even more aggressively.

However, just as things were starting to get good, she pushed me away shyly. “We can’t, the wyvern will hear.”

As if on cue, a voice filled our minds. “I will be focusing on starting the process. My senses will be temporarily sealed off, and I will hear nothing. If you must, this will be the best time.”

I wanted to thank the wyvern for being my wingman. Well, it was a woman if it was laying eggs, but it still helped me a bit. Despite its words, though, Fate still looked reluctant and shy. I decided to use one of the most classic lines.

“We might not survive the night,” I told her, keeping my eyes pure. “Before, we were under the influence of the aphrodisiacs. Since this will be our last time, shouldn’t it be something we both enter willingly?”

I gave her my most innocent and sincere look. Even a priest might have trusted these words. She hesitated for a moment, but then she slowly nodded her head, and I internally clapped. It worked every time.

“You promise, this will be our last time. No matter what our hearts want, we will move on after, presuming we survive this.”

“I promise.” I lied while keeping the face of a Buddhist monk.

Fate let out a soft sigh and then slowly reached out and touched my face. Her hands were surprisingly cold, and my heart sped up. My eyes met hers. We both had the same feelings and the same desires, but neither of us dared to take the first step. So, we stood there, staring at each other. Then, I gently lifted her chin and kissed her. This kiss was gentle and warm. Our lips were just barely pressed together, and for a long moment, they lingered.

The mood of the room changed as soon as our lips met. It was different from the last time. Back then, we had both been overcome by aphrodisiacs, unable to think clearly. This time, however, the emotions were much more potent.

Slowly, the kiss deepened. Her tongue traced across my lips and then entered my mouth. It wrapped around my tongue, and as we intertwined, I pulled her closer to me. Her large breasts pressed against my chest. My heart was beating so fast, I was sure she could hear it. I didn’t know how long we kissed for.

Eventually, our hands began to move, and our clothes fell to the floor. I guided Fate’s body to the floor, and we began our second round.