AOAKT Chapter 70

※Contains gruesome depictions.

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Douglas’s POV

When Gail woke up, he didn’t go berserk as before, but he didn’t seem to remember what he’d done.
His blank expression and lack of words made me worry, as he moves solely on instinct to chase after Chika.

Flying during the day, walking at night, and a few short breaks in between, we gradually approached Chika.
The three dots displayed by Paris’ magic were already very close to our location.

I searched for Chika from the air as we headed north.
I don’t know what Gail will do now, but I have to find Chika before he does.
After searching from the air at a slow speed for a while, I spotted a figure walking down a mountain path.
A small human being with black hair was carried on the back of a large man with fiery red hair… It was Chika.

I signaled Johan and the others to descend, but Gail must have noticed Chika too, as he began to descend at a tremendous rate.
I hurriedly chased after him.

“Hey, Gail! Calm down! Don’t rush!!!”

My voice echoed in vain.

Gail and I got off and blocked the red-haired man’s path.
Something inside me almost exploded when I saw Chika slumped on the man’s back.
Drawing my sword, I unconsciously got into a position where I could slash the man at any time.

“Daddy! It’s mommy!”

I came to my senses when I heard Licht’s voice which was close to me, but Gail couldn’t hear it.
The man, who had noticed our presence, seemed to be wondering what to do, but there was no sign of him holding Chika hostage.
Then I noticed a dully shining object around Chika’s neck.
That was a sl*ve collar.
And bandages wrapped around his entire body.
An uncontrollable rage welled up from the pit of my stomach.
Damn, I’d be consumed by rage too.
However, Gail moved faster than I did.
Gail’s overwhelming rage was so strong that it completely devoured everything in his way.
Even my eyes had a hard time following his movements.

“Bastarrddd!!!!”

That man put Chika down and hastily prepared himself, but it was too late.
In an instant, Gail closed the distance and sliced ​​off the man’s left arm with his great sword.
The impact blew the man away, and he regained his balance but pressed his left arm in agony.
Chika also seemed to have finally realized what was happening, his small eyes widening in shock.

Gail stepped firmly on the ground as he approached the man.

“You touched my person, my ‘mate’… I’ll kill you!!!”

Gail’s furious expression filled with the madness I had seen under that moonlight.
Gail readied his great sword as he approached the man, step by step.
I don’t want Chika to see Gail laughing as he kills someone.
No, I feel like I shouldn’t let Gail kill that man right now.
Despite that, I pathetically couldn’t move from the spot.
The same was true for the rest of us.

The man was already within Gail’s range.
The pain of his limbs being cut was too much for him to transform into a dragon, and a look of resignation appeared on the man’s face as he slowly closed his eyes.

Gail raised his great sword and swung it down on the man.

“Gail-san!! No!!!”

The view from there was terribly slow.
No, maybe it was just what I felt.
Chika jumped out from the side and exposed himself to shield the man from the swinging sword.
The man’s eyes were wide open in shock, or rather, everyone present couldn’t believe it.
The trajectory of Gail’s great sword appeared in a frame-by-frame motion.
It was gradually approaching Chika. If it continued like this, Chika would…

I desperately move forward and shout.

“Gail, stop it!!! Please, stop!!!”

However, it was too late.
At that moment, I realized that Licht, who should have been at my chest, was gone.

“Daddy Gail, noo!!!”

Licht rushed over to Gail, jumped on his right arm and bit it.
The pain brought Gail to his senses, and he used his left hand to stop the sword from swinging further.
But he was one step too late.
The sharp tip of the sword slowly digs into Chika’s shoulder.
Thanks to Licht’s restraint and Gail’s self-restraint, the blade went slightly into Chika’s shoulder, stopping its momentum.

Gail breathed heavily on his shoulder, his whole body shaking and groaning.

Chika grimaced in pain and collapsed on the spot.
A large amount of blood flowed from his shoulder.

My screams and Gail’s echoed throughout the place.

 

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Chika’s POV

It’s been a few days since Garris told me the story, but I haven’t been sleeping well ever since.
I tried to sleep, but my head was spinning, keeping me awake.
Garris seemed to notice my condition and didn’t force me to walk much. He often carried me on his back.
I know that there’s no point in thinking about it.

If the ‘Yuki’ Garris spoke of was ‘Yuki-kun’, I would definitely treat him.
No, I would treat him even if he wasn’t Yuki-kun…
Besides, the fact that I came to this world can’t be changed.
No matter what the reason for that was.

Was I really this bad at coming to terms with myself?

“Chikayuki, let’s take a break by the stream over there. Your body feels strangely hot, are you okay?”
“Is it hot…?”

Garris put me down, and I stepped my feet into the stream nearby. The cool water and the gentle current feel good on my skin.
However, the world before my eyes gradually distorted… I can’t stand up.

“Hey!”

I collapsed into the stream.
My whole body felt cool and comfortable. I hadn’t noticed that I had a fever.
But I was quickly picked up from the comfortable water.
Garris rescued me.

“Hey, hey! Are you okay?! Stay strong! Hey!”

As I was held by his strong chest, I remember my two companions.
Ah, I miss them.
Then, I lose consciousness.

 

The next time I woke, my body was wrapped in a blanket.
Garris looked at me worriedly.

“I’m sorry, I think I might have a fever. I seem to have less stamina than most people…”
“I see… sorry, I don’t have any medicine on me.”
“No, it’s fine. Let’s hurry to Dragnea.”

I stood up.
I feel a little weak, but it should be fine.

“What are you talking about? But there’s no point in staying here. Come on, get on my back.”
“Sorry, I’ll take you up on that.”

I leaned my body onto his broad back.
Garris said nothing and started moving towards Dragnea again.

 

…I lost consciousness on Garris’ back once again.
I realized in a haze that Garris had stopped walking.

“Daddy! It’s mommy!”

For some reason, I could hear Licht’s voice.

“Hey, Chikayuki. Are these guys related to you?”

Garris’ voice awakened my consciousness.
I opened my eyes and saw Gail-san and Douglas-san through Garris.
Behind them were Johan-san, Theo-sama, and Paris-san.
I could see Licht wagging his tail at Douglas-san’s feet.
Oh, this is not a dream…
It felt like a long time had passed since we last saw each other, even though it had only been a few days.
A deep sense of joy welled up from the bottom of my heart.

No, this was not the time to be thinking about such things.
First of all, I had to do something about this situation.
Even I could tell that Gail-san and Douglas-san were exuding murderous intent.
Their weapons are already unsheathed in their hands.

“Let me explain the situation. Can you put me down?”

I whispered in Garris’ ear, and he nodded.
However, I felt such a powerful force the next moment that I could hardly breathe.
It came from Gail-san.
His usual calm expression, which I knew well, was tinged with anger, and the clumsy but kind Gail-san was no longer there.
It wasn’t only anger in his expression but also madness.
My beloved emerald eyes felt dull and cloudy.

“Bastarrddd!!!!”

Gail-san let out an angry roar I had never heard before and came at us with his great sword.

“Stay away, Chikayuki!”

Garris hurriedly put me down, but the next thing I saw was Garris’s left arm being chopped off by Gail-san and blowing him away.
The severed arm fell to the ground extremely slowly, as if in slow motion.
What I couldn’t believe even more was Gail-san’s expression…
Gail-san was laughing.
At that moment, I felt a throbbing in my stomach.

Gail-san approached Garris with each step firmly on the ground.

“You touched my person, my ‘mate’… I’ll kill you!!!”

Garris’s act of kidnapping me, their ‘mate’, from Gail-san and Douglas-san was unforgivable.
I had told Garris that they might kill him because of this.
But now… my instincts screamed that I must not let Gail-san kill Garris.
My stomach lurched over and over again as if the child inside me was telling me to stop his father.
I felt that if things continued like this, the always kind and gentle Gail-san I loved would never come back.
Gail-san was approaching Garris with a smirk of madness on his face.

Garris squeezed his left arm, which had been severed and was gushing blood, and he looked in agony.
If Gail-san took a few more steps, Garris would be slashed to death.
The next moment, I ran out.

I knew that what I was about to do was definitely not right.
No, it was certainly not right for me to do this as I should protect the child in my belly; it would be the worst choice a mother could make.
Depending on the outcome, it could make the situation worse.
Still, this was the only thing I could do at the moment.

Gail-san raised his great sword and swung it down at Garris.

“Gail-san, No!!!”

I put myself before Garris, shielding him from Gail-san’s approaching great sword.
Strangely enough, I wasn’t afraid of the approaching blade.

“Chikayuki!”

I heard Garris’ voice from behind me.
Gail-san’s expression changed as he caught sight of me.
It went from crazy to horrified.

Gail-san’s great sword slowly approached me.

“Gail, stop it!!! Please, stop!!!”

I could hear Douglas-san’s voice.
Yet, the speed of the approaching blade didn’t slow down.

“Daddy Gail, noo!!!”

I saw Licht jumping on Gail-san’s right arm and desperately biting it.
I wondered if everyone would forgive me for making such a foolish decision.

“OOHHH!!”

Gail-san desperately held back the swinging down of his right hand with his left hand.
The blade’s speed slowed down, but it still closed in on me.
My choice is still… My foolishness in putting the baby in my belly at risk saddened me.
I feel something sharp and cold cut my skin and dig into my shoulder.
The next thing I knew, I was hit in searing pain.
But I couldn’t cry out because it’s my choice.
The blade dug into my shoulder, stopping its movement.

Gail-san in front of me was frozen stiff, with a tearful expression.
The choice I made ended up causing Gail-san pain.
I wanted to beg for forgiveness, but I couldn’t put it into words yet as I collapsed to the ground.

In my daze of pain, I thought I heard the cries of two beasts.

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