The violent turbulence subsided after half a minute. The Crystal Nest seemed to have been severely damaged by that strike, allowing the Silver Big Dipper fleet to catch their breath and surge upward as a whole.
Looking down from above, only one spot on the Crystal Nest’s surface gleamed with an obvious golden-red hue. The crystalline substance swirled like a giant vortex, its depths unfathomable to the naked eye. As for what lay deeper, even radar couldn’t detect it anymore.
Some Silver Big Dipper soldier muttered in awe. “Was this really…done by His Highness the Crown Prince?”
Inside the mecha Tianshuhao, Xie Yuduo’s face turned pale.
So His Highness Ryann’s special condition had finally been exposed to the whole army…
…No, wait, at least they hadn’t seen His Highness’s dozen eyeballs, three or four vocal cords, and countless human organs nodding in greeting – that was somewhat acceptable…
“Major, Major General Xie!”
Just then, reinforcements from the Third Fortress connected to the screen in front of Xie Yuduo.
That officer’s face was ghost-white as he stammered, “We re-request support…”
Xie Yuduo, already suffering from a headache, laughed bitterly and sneered. “I say, fella, weren’t you supposed to be supporting us!? Where’s your commander? Get them on the line!”
“Our commander…” the Silver Big Dipper officer was nearly in tears, “was… was… was taken by His Highness Ryann’s crystal bones!”
Xie Yuduo: ??
In the next few dozen seconds, the Major General received a series of shocking updates.
What, Little Excellency Jiang had awakened?
What, these reinforcements were under Little Excellency Jiang’s command?
What, the Little Excellency and his mecha had been swallowed by the golden crystal and disappeared!?
Cold sweat broke out as Xie Yuduo forced himself to stay calm. “It’s… it’s fine, not a big problem… hand over command to me for now. Both Their Highnesses should be able to return on their own…”
Though he said this, the Major General’s heart was in turmoil.
Actually, he wasn’t worried about the Little Excellency being grabbed by the Crown Prince’s crystal bones. After all, he had personally witnessed the Crown Prince swallow the Little Excellency whole and spit him out completely unharmed before.
But the problem was!
If the Little Excellency saw His Highness Ryann’s dozen eyeballs, three or four vocal cords, and countless human organs nodding in greeting, or perhaps even nuzzling over for a kiss…
“Ugh…”
Xie Yuduo’s mouth twitched, his expression pained as he closed his eyes, unable to bear thinking about it further.
Could it be — could it be that their empire’s divine romance would end today!?
That must not happen!
****
At the same moment, L-Yaoguang landed in a patch of golden-red crystals.
“…”
Ryann slowly raised his upper body, his gaze unfocused. Massive crystalline matter extended from his back, and his limbs were vaguely merging with the crystal.
But perhaps his subconscious still knew not to frighten Jiang Jianming, so he hadn’t completely mutated, barely maintaining his human torso and handsome features.
The golden crystal bones slowly crawled up the Yaoguang’s cockpit door, and the mecha soon made creaking sounds of strain.
Clearly, even in his confused state, Ryann wouldn’t let Jiang Jianming’s mecha crash.
But that was the limit – one couldn’t expect more rationality. For instance, he would absolutely resort to violently breaking open the cockpit just to get the disabled human out more conveniently…
Finally, Yaoguang’s cockpit door made a pitiful clang and was completely detached.
The crystal bones swiftly moved in, cutting through the safety belts and pulling out the black-haired officer inside.
“Hiss…”
Jiang Jianming frowned slightly. He had briefly passed out earlier and now struggled to open his eyes. “Ryann…?”
How was the army doing… and what had just happened? L-Yaoguang was undoubtedly an S-class mecha, yet it had been pulled down without any chance to resist…
Before he could figure out the situation, his vision focused and suddenly his shoulders were gripped tightly. The familiar face before him suddenly enlarged—
Ryann moved in at lightning speed, gripping his shoulders and bringing their faces close, their noses nearly touching.
“Your Highness!?”
Jiang Jianming jerked back in surprise. But with crystal behind him, there was nowhere to retreat. Instead, he was pushed forward, crashing directly into Ryann’s embrace.
The crystal silently gripped his waist. The sensation was indescribable, both soft and hard, warm like skin.
He couldn’t help but take a quick, sharp breath.
Something wasn’t right – this aura, this state…
Jiang Jianming held his breath and looked up, meeting a pair of cold, inorganic green eyes.
Crystal bones blocked out the sky as Ryann, in his half-crystallized form, restrained him without speaking or moving, his eyes clouded.
A crystal bone reached out, tentatively touching the disabled human’s pale cheek.
Jiang Jianming said, “Is it…Your Majesty?”
Ryann furrowed his brows in a daze. “Jiang?”
Jiang Jianming sighed in relief. He grasped the crystal bone before him and said in a deep voice. “Yes, it’s me. I’m here to take you back. Come with me.”
But Ryann suddenly showed an awakened expression and said blankly, “You… why did you come…”
“Your Highness?”
Ryann’s expression grew increasingly terrified. He looked around in panic, then back at Jiang Jianming before him.
At the moment of breaking free from the Crystal Nest’s control, the original consciousness had once again merged with the Base Body. The chaos only grew more chaotic as a result.
He seemed to have self-awareness, but it wasn’t true clarity – rather, he had fallen into another kind of confusion.
He recognized that Jiang Jianming had brought reinforcements to save him, but confused it with another nightmare.
Before Jiang Jianming realized something was wrong, he was already tightly bound by the rapidly growing crystal bones!
“…!?”
The black-haired officer was forced to tilt his head back, his face pale and breathing rapid as he endured the pain from his joints. “Ryann!! You—”
Before he could finish, Jiang Jianming’s pupils contracted in disbelief.
“Why… did you come…”
Ryann murmured hoarsely, an empty and sinister light dancing in the depths of his eyes.
As if under some spell, his limbs rapidly merged into crystal, his face covered in translucent golden-red scales like fish scales. “Why…was it me who ended up causing your death…”
“Don’t leave… don’t leave me, don’t… leave me…!”
“Ryann!!”
Jiang Jianming struggled desperately as crystal surged towards him from all sides. “Wake up… I’m fine, weren’t you protecting me!? Look at me…Your Majesty Kaios!”
“Ry… Ryann!… Mmph!!”
The next moment, crystal bones covered Jiang Jianming’s mouth and gripped his neck with its pulsing tendrils. He could only stare wide-eyed as—
Ryann tilted his head back expressionlessly as crystals expanded, tearing through his handsome flesh, ruthlessly reconstructing this being’s structure.
The Crown Prince’s crystallization once again reached a state where flesh and crystal fragments intermingled. His chest and abdomen split open into a huge hole, crystal clusters growing wildly like vines, reaching three to four meters in height in an instant.
“—!!?” Jiang Jianming’s vision blurred. Unable to move or speak, he could only watch as everything descended into absurdity and horror.
The monster approached the disabled human, the void in its chest and abdomen like a gaping maw ready to devour him.
A terrifying shadow fell over Jiang Jianming’s upturned pale face.
…I’m going to kill him again, Ryann thought in his confused state.
Jiang was so sick, so weak, could die at any moment. And this was the terrifying nest of crystal particles, everything around threatening to harm him, consuming his faint life force.
There was only one way to protect him, only one way to spare him from suffering.
Devour him.
Just like all these years.
But in the moment before opening its “mouth” to swallow, a final shred of rationality barely held it back.
Ryann vaguely sensed that Jiang seemed somewhat unwilling. Different from before, different from all these years.
It couldn’t force him. Jiang had taught it many times that using power or force to coerce the weak against their will was wrong.
Jiang wouldn’t like it doing this – he would get angry, scold or physically discipline it. Actually, it didn’t mind Jiang’s discipline, but if it made the sick person’s condition worse, the consequences would be serious.
So the monster slowly lowered its body, looming from above, its eerie green eyes fixed on that tiny… human it had nearly enveloped.
It struggled to form a human shape, but only from the chest up, like a crystal doll cut in half.
Ryann tilted its head slightly and spoke. It clumsily mimicked its human way of speaking, each syllable chillingly soul-stirring.
What it said was—
“Do… you… want… to… be… eaten… by… me…?”
“…”
Jiang Jianming’s blood ran cold. Suddenly, he felt the crystal bones covering his mouth loosen, so he quickly answered. “No.”
Ryann: “!”
The monster froze.
It had been cruelly rejected.
It was lost and helpless.
Jiang Jianming was still shaken as the crystal slowly retreated from his body. He panted softly while staring at the monster before him. The human part of the monster stared back at him.
The two people… or rather, one and a half people… gazed at each other in the vast depths of the Crystal Nest.
“You don’t want to,” Ryann repeated with difficulty. “But then…”
The monster blinked slowly, endless sorrow and confusion welling up in the depths of its clear green eyes.
“Then,” it brought its human head closer to Jiang Jianming, asking in a trembling voice, “…what… should I do…?”
Jiang Jianming gazed at the monster before him.
His arms could move now, so he silently reached out toward Ryann. The latter leaned in, lowering his head to nuzzle against his palm.
Although most of the original memories had faded, Jiang Jianming realized that Ryann’s loss of control was triggered by the indirect death of the commander during the First Holy War.
A deep ache suddenly filled Jiang Jianming’s heart.
In his already faded past life, had he also told Ryann “no” countless times like this, making him so sad?
He didn’t know why His Highness had become like this. If he hadn’t nearly died a year ago, would Ryann have avoided experiencing such sorrow?
“I can’t let you eat me right now, Little Highness.”
Jiang Jianming lowered his eyelids and said softly, “Because there are people waiting for me to return, and battles yet to be won.”
His thick black eyelashes cast shadows as his hand moved back, fingers running through the soft platinum blonde curls, pulling Ryann into his embrace.
“But if you behave, if you’re good…”
He pursed his lips and whispered, “I might consider it, after we’re done with all this, when no one’s around, like at night. Just the two of us hiding away, I’ll quietly…”
“Let you eat me.”
“Would that be acceptable?”