Grand Lust Sovereign

*Clang!* *Clang!*

"Cough! Cough!"

Missing an arm and bleeding profusely from the wounds, Julien saw his third teammate Jack, a short and slim boy in tattered adventurer's attire fighting against a tall and slender boy.

The tall boy's expression was that of amusement as he maneuvered his sword swiftly to toy with the young boy.

It was clear that he could've killed the boy anytime, but did not because he was having fun torturing him.

Julien was behind a tree with Amelia. He said in a soft voice, "Please stand here quietly. I'll be back."

"No, savior, let me do it. You've done enough for us already." The nun held Julien's hand and stopped him. 

Julien was quite annoyed by the constant formalities and he couldn't help but flick the nun's forehead. 

"Ouch!"

"Savior, why…" The nun looked at Julien as if she had been wronged. 

Julien wasn't looking at her, when he flicked her forehead. His eyes were on the third teammate. 

When the nun pitifully asked why, he turned to look at her, only to have his heart skip a beat as he saw her run her forehead with both her hands. 

This…

Julien couldn't believe what he was looking at. 

The nun…

The fully conservatively covered nun…

Just from her face alone looked so cute!

Shit. These are blasphemous thoughts! 

Julien quickly shook his head and shoved aside those thoughts. 

He knew he had flicked her forehead gently so she shouldn't be in much pain. 

"Stand here, I'll be back. He's my teammate too now and it's my responsibility to protect him."

Julien didn't give the nun a chance and dashed towards Jackie, his third teammate. 

"Kekeke, shall we end this now, boy?" The tall youth sneered as he swung his sword with a swift, brutal force. With a resounding clang, Jackie's sword was sent flying from his grasp.

Without anything to defend themselves, Jackie knew it was over. 

Everything looked like a blur and Jackie's vision slowly dimmed as life slowly came to an end. 

The last thing Jackie saw was a silhouette… a silhouette of a third person…

I'm sorry… mo…ther…

Jackie lost consciousness and collapsed. 

The tall boy with fiery red hair, having his back face Jackie, was about to flash a victorious grin, but didn't do so at the last minute. 

Something felt amiss.

With the defeated boy's collapse, a thud sound should've resounded, but there was none. 

Confused, he turned around.

"Huh!?" 

The boy was not there!

"What? Where did he go?" The tall boy's eyes darted around in surprise.

Just as he took a step forward to search, a sudden, forceful shove slammed into his side, driving hard into his ribcage, and sent him flying. 

"Ahhhhhhh—!" The tall boy's painful howl echoed in the whole forest. 

From the spot he was sent away, Julien looked at it in surprise.

"So I did get strong." Julien swayed his legs and said. 

From the distance, a thud echoed in his ears. 

Turning to look at it, Julien roughly measured the distance and found it to be an astonishing 100 meters. 

"Sweet mother of…" Julien sucked in a cold breath of air, astonished by his own strength. 

"I shouldn't have used my full power…" Julien said softly and made his way towards the tall boy to check up on him. 

The tall boy was unconscious and lying limp on the ground in a puddle of his own blood. 

Julien drew in a sharp breath of cold air as he took in the sight of the boy's deformed sides. Pink bones jutted sharply from his body, and if not for the faint rise and fall of his chest, Julien would have thought he was dead.

No organs were spilled out and it was just the bones. If the boy was breathing properly, his lungs weren't punctured either or filled with blood. He could be treated and cured. 

Julien had taken Jackie to safety, towards Amelia, and the nun stated that she could heal him. So, Julien could take this boy to her and put him away from death's way. However…

Julien first checked the boy's pockets. What if he had healing items on him? 

Essence was precious and he didn't want his teammate to use it on someone who didn't belong to their team. 

From the boy's clothes, he looked like someone rich, and shuffling through his pockets…

"Bingo!"

Julien found a few healing potions. They were in glass tubes and green in color. 

This was the same potion that could be brought from the merchant before the Labyrinth trial, so Julien could easily recognize it. 

He used his leg to shift the boy on his back, and doing so caused a bone to pierce further out of his body.

"Ssssss…" Julien felt pain in his own body from watching this scene. 

He tried not to think about it and got behind his head, then slowly raised him at an incline and stuffed the open end of the glass tube in his mouth. 

The potion went down his throat and his wounds visibly began healing. 

Julien let go of him and made him fall back on the ground with a thud. 

"Oops…" Julien dusted his hands and exclaimed. 

"Now to take your token and steal—ahem, I mean take remuneration for helping you…" 

Julien took everything available on the boy and let out a satisfied grin. 

"A fruitful encounter." He stretched his hand up lazily and said. 

*Swissshhhhh*

"Ooooh… it has gotten chilly…" Julien somehow felt colder on his back than his front. "Must be some weird wind in this trial. Anyway…"

Julien went back to his teammates and was glad to see that Jackie's bleeding had stopped. 

His face and body was covered in blood and it let out a putrid stench. 

"Oof… how did you two get into such a situation? Jackie's so hurt…" Julien said, and regretted instantly when he heard pitiful sobs. 

"Sniff… it's all… sniff… it's all my fault… I shouldn't have…"

"Oh, for god's sake…" Julien rolled his eyes. 

Amelia's red blindfold was soaked with tears. Julien couldn't help but wonder if she was truly blind or if the cloth was merely there to catch her constant flow of tears.

"Forget about that. Do you know where the nearest token deposit center is?" 

"Yes…" Amelia sobbed and said. "Keep walking in the east and you'll find one."

"Okay. I'll be right back. Don't move from here and try to protect yourself and Jackie."

"Understood. I wish you a safe journey, savior." The nun prayed. 

Julien ran as fast as he could in east. His hair fluttered in the wind and for some reason, his back felt colder than his front. 

Was this a bad omen? Or was this a sign that something bad was going to happen? Did his curse finally realize it hadn't cursed him enough in this trial and was starting to flare up?

Julien didn't know. And honestly, he didn't care at this point. Going with the flow was the best thing he could do since everything about himself was uncertain. 

Five minutes later, Julien reached the deposit center. 

How did he know it was the deposit center?

Well, it was because…

"Hohoho! Welcome, Player!"