It has been almost half an hour since Ryu had begun brawling against Darla. To his surprise, he had been unable to defeat the centaur girl even after so much time had passed. Although he was not at his prime by any standards, he had still not anticipated the once whiny centaur to grow this strong. 

If only he still had his seeds with him, this fight would have been over long ago. "Give up, girl. You are still no match." Naturally, Darla had begun to falter after a long struggle. "You have certainly improved and I acknowledge it. But I have simply grown even more." 

"This is not it. I can keep going." Her red countenance was a piece of evidence that Darla had pushed her luck beyond what her body allowed. While she was unable to win, Ryu's new strength convinced her of her choice. If previously she chose him out of the naivety of youth, right now she had been forced to accept her choice as the best possible outcome. 

The pummeling her aunt Naila had put her through in these past weeks motivated Darla to do her best. At this point, she had accepted Ryu's superiority, yet now she wanted him to appreciate her increased strength and dexterity as well. 

In the second she was distracted, Ryu's hands moved in to grab her wrist. In a blink of an eye, his other hand was choking her neck. The strength of his hold forcibly brought the centaur down to her knees before disarming her for good. 

Darla would have kept struggling, however, Ryu's big dark eyes simply invaded her mind as she gave up. "You win." The human teenager revealed a small smile and then put his lips onto Darla's. 

The hands choking Darla, lost their grip as they began caressing her neck instead while their kiss deepened. Left alone with no one to disturb them, the centaur wrapped her long arms around the boy, embracing him with complete devotion. 

"I missed you so much, Ryu," Darla mumbled, letting the boy hold her as well. This sense of connection was what she had craved for so long. "I missed you too, my girl. I didn't imagine us meeting under such circumstances." 

"It might be presumptuous of me to say this.. but this is something father regularly tells me. Life is never the same. You must gain the mental strength to cope with even the most adverse situations." 

Darla had been trying for so long to cheer him up. Finally, Ryu seems to start responding to her. "I know. Thanks a lot for what you have done." Although she had a hunch Ryu what this Ryu was thanking her for, held in his arms she can't help but blush heavily. 

"You are the love I chose for myself. So I will do everything to protect you." "Protect me? Hahaha.. big words." This was how Darla had imagined Ryu to be. His infectious laugh was back as he aggressively locked lips with her. 

Exhausted, both of them fell to the ground, rolling in the grass like kids while hugging each other. Eventually, Darla held Ryu's head in her bosom as they chose to rest for a while. "I still can't believe it." 

"Believe what?" Seeing Ryu had things on his mind, Darla readily made herself available to discuss them. "That woman who attacked us. I can't believe she turned out to be none other than Master Lyod's long-lost wife." 

Once Ryu returned after rescuing Itzel's group, he was met with this disclosure by the lady who called herself Ms. Yalda. Understandably, this piece of news caught the boy completely off-guard. All over the way, he was deliberating at this point only. How can a wife do such a horrible thing to her husband?

"They were pretty sure about the identity of the lady. So, I don't think we should doubt their claim." Darla said with a pondering expression. "I know you must be wondering why she hurt your master if they truly were married at one point in time." 

Ryu didn't say anything, waiting for Darla to share her point of view. "You must approach this matter rationally. That woman had been missing for years in a hostile dimension. What's worse is that Aunt said she has probably been experimented upon using Demonic magic. You think anyone can keep their sanity after such a thing?" 

It is only when Darla put things in order, did Ryu notice the missing piece of the puzzle. Things made complete sense to him now. Master Lyod had a wrong impression when he sent him his last mental note. According to his old master, he had assumed the hostile woman to be from the capital city, sent by some powerhouse to kidnap him. 

However, that was clearly not the case. Taking a rough guess, Ryu can easily attach her to the hostile demigod he had made contact with through the Krypto vines. "What happened? Why are you sweating?" 

"It is nothing." Ryu swiftly wiped off the perspiration covering his forehead. "Just a little tired after dealing with all the mess today." Darla laughed softly as she pushed his head into her chest once again, hugging the boy with all the affection in this world. "Don't worry, momma is here. I will protect you." 

While Darla's mockery deemed it necessary to give her a spank, Ryu was too lost in thought to notice her teasing. The Demon had been right all along. His naive misadventure with the vines has painted a big marker on his head, so much so that now people are being sent from that other dimension to capture him. This was a big concern for the young boy who wasn't even old enough to attend a magic academy. 

The fact that the lady named Paula was so easily able to pinpoint him among the thousands of humans living in Korua gave the boy a severe headache. Were his days limited? After all, how many times will someone like his grandma or Darla's Aunt be around him to save his sorry ass? 

If those guys could send one person, they can send more. Apart from being more vigilant from now on and hoping for the best, there was nothing Ryu could actually do in this matter. He was just too weak and allowing Demon to take over is too risky.

Now that he had concluded why the attack happened. It made Ryu feel even more guilty towards Master Lyod. If not for him, master Lyod would have never met such an end. Tired both mentally and physically, Ryu ended up falling asleep in Darla's embrace. 

Other than his concerns related to the identity of Paula, one thing Ryu didn't discuss with Darla was the matter of him losing control for a short time. The modus operandi of Demon was similar to how it had been over the last time. 

He would wait for the boy to entangle himself in the worst of situations, possibly in a circumstance where the persons he is close with are in real danger. Then he would start the incitement along with slow brainwashing. 

But while all the other time whenever Ryu lost consciousness to the Demon, he would end up going on a reckless rampage. This time was different. Despite losing his mental balance for a few seconds, Ryu could tell that the Demon actually refused to take over his body. 

Whether he had already detected Darla's aunt in the proximity and hence decided to play it safe or he had some other reason to not act, Ryu had no idea. 

The next time when Ryu woke up, he found himself huddled over Darla's horseback while the sun was beginning to set over the horizon. While they were still navigating through the forest cover, there were signs of the woods slowly receding. It meant they were already inside the borders of the Cylon Empire. 

"Feeling good now?" Rubbing his eyes, Ryu found himself to be the center of attention. The fact that everyone from Itzel to Mrs. Linda to even Ms. Naila was staring at him, made Ryu shrink in his imaginary shell. "Haha.. you slept like a baby." 

To add insult to his injury, Darla turned her back and planted a kiss on his forehead like a parent to a child, leaving the boy with a burning red face. Ever since his soul had transmigrated, Ryu had rarely left himself so vulnerable during sleep. 

Everyone was smiling, so he could only shrug off his embarrassment and nod half-heartedly. "Yeah, I did have a good sleep. I got quite an exquisite mount, you see." "You jerk...!!" 

Naila was watching the ensuing banter between Darla and Ryu with a critical eye. When she had first learned of Darla's affair with a human, she certainly had some suspicions of her own. 

Nevertheless, with the background of the boy and the genuine fondness both of them shared for each other, Naila felt like she would be doing wrong if she imposed her mature worldview on these kids. All she could see was the care and love between both of them with no tinge of malice. 

'I hope you are aware of the hardships this bew relation of yours is going to bring in your way, Darla.' As a senior, Naila surely had some anxiety vis-a-vis her close friend's daughter. But as a centaur, when did she ever let these matters bother her? And there were ample signals that her little girl was no different. 

The group was able to reach the transit village between Korua and the northeastern forests only after sunset. Before they could change course to Karua, Ryu proposed they should accompany Itzel's group all the way over to their village, despite Itzel herself suggesting otherwise. 

Ryu was already feeling bad for the traumatic experience he made the group suffer through. Not intending to take any more risks, he was adamant about dropping all three of them safely to their homes. Naila had no qualms about the small detour as well, leading the group to band together and head toward the impoverished village where Ryu had met Dorothea for the first time. 

Surprisingly, along the way a certain personality chose to establish contact with him. 'We need that woman, boy.' The slumbering Demon soul in his psyche usually never contacts him on its own accord. Whenever it chooses to do so, it means the matter is of utmost importance for both of them. Because in the end, one thing that connected Demon to this world was Ryu's body. 

For no particular reason at all, when Demon began relaying messages to him, Ryu's gaze turned towards the so-called 'wife' of Master Lyod. 'I need access to her memories to properly assess how much trouble we are in.' 

'Are you an idiot?' Ryu was rightfully mad at the outrageous suggestion. 'Don't you remember what happened last time when I touched those damn vines?' Having earlier established the fact that Demon required him to be alive for whatever sinister plans he wants to set in motion, Ryu knew both of them were in the same boat. Thus, his outburst.

After messing up last time, the boy simply wanted to do nothing with that demigod being. His actions had already claimed the life of his master, he can't afford to put even more lives in danger. 

Ryu can't even be faulted for not finding the courage in himself to touch Paula. Two of the most powerful being he knew in this life, first being the friendly Dragon and second being this antagonistic Demon, had at different times admitted they were no match for that demigod entity. 

Both the Dragon and Demon are way more powerful than even his grandmother who was a reputable grand mage in the country. If such individuals were incapable of dealing with this threat, what chance does his insignificant ass have?

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