CHAPTER 214: ERASE THE PATH

"This is good enough," Dominic said quietly.

Shiao Yi stopped in midair whileholding them both steady with telekinesis.

He could feel the shift through Dominic’ body, his muscles tightening and the pulse of power rising beneath his skin.

Shiao Yi couldn’t sense magic directly, but he could feel it, like heat and pressure vibrating through the air.

Soon, that pressure swelled outward from Dominic’ body, spreading around them like invisible waves.

The air itself grew heavy, vibrating with energy.

Shiao Yi could feel it in the way gravity seemed to bend slightly around them.

Dominic’ golden hair whipped upward, glowing faintly as the energy intensified and Shiao Yi’s own hair rose and trembled as if caught in a strong wind.

Then, the light began to pour from Dominic’ skin.

The sheer density of magic made the air shimmer, the molecules themselves becoming charged glowing with a faint electric brilliance.

Woom!

From his outstretched palm, unseen power shot downward toward the earth.

The massive force traced a visible path through the air, like a solid column of light.

The instant it struck the ground, the desert shook violently. A deafening explosion split the air and a wall of sand shot up like a tidal wave.

The entire sky turned gold with the storm of dust. For a long while, Shiao Yi couldn’t see anything but swirling clouds of sand.

When the air finally began to clear, he blinked through the haze and saw the result of Dominic’ magic.

The ruins and the sands had vanished and swallowed whole. What remained was a vast crater, raw earth exposed beneath the desert, as if the land itself had been torn open.

"The path is completely gone now," Dominic said, surveying the crater. "I can’t sense any trace of that magic anymore."

"Y-yeah... You really erased it completely," Shiao Yi stammered, staring at the destruction in awe. "Dominic... did your magic just get stronger or something?"

There had to be a limit to this kind of power... right? That level of destruction was absurd.

"Perhaps," Dominic said with a faint, amused smile. "Ever since I began living with you, I feel my strength has grown. My energy capacity seems to be increasing."

He said it so casually and then while still holding Shiao Yi close, he bent down and kissed his forehead. Despite having unleashed that enormous attack, Dominic didn’t even look tired.

Wait. Was that because of what they did earlier?

Did that mean... after making love, Dominic’ magic actually leveled up?!

Shiao Yi’s face flushed bright red as the realization hit him.

Oh no. Seriously? What kind of absurd otherworldly logic is that? That’s so embarrassing!

Still clinging to Dominic in midair, Shiao Yi buried his flushed face against the man’s chest, trying to hide how red he’d gotten.

"Well then," Dominic said calmly while looking around the endless expanse below them. "Where are we? I can’t even tell which direction Rosaria is."

From their height, the view was clear and wide. Far away, faint mountain ridges stretched along the horizon, but everything else was a golden sea of sand.

The desert spread endlessly in every direction.

It was definitely nowhere near the Rosaria Kingdom.

"I’ve heard there’s a desert far west, beyond the Dalmasca mountain range," Dominic murmured, narrowing his eyes. "If that’s where we are, it’ll be troublesome. Crossing it won’t be easy."

He frowned slightly, studying the barren land below.

"We don’t have any gear for crossing a desert," he said. "All we have are our swords."

And the deer-hide loincloths around their waists. With so much bare skin under the burning sun, they’d soon be covered in blisters.

"There’s no barrier here, it’s definitely the surface," Shiao Yi said, lifting his head. "I know the coordinates of our home in Rosaria. I’ll jump us there. It’s far, so if we can’t make it in one go, I’ll do it in several jumps."

Dominic looked startled, his golden eyes widening slightly. It made sense, up until now, Shiao Yi had only teleported short distances.

The farthest he’d gone was from the Dashtadem fortress to their estate in Rosaria.

But Shiao Yi had once performed long-distance jumps that made that look like nothing.

His record had been from a satellite to the planet’s surface, a standard job back in his previous life, jumping between spacecraft.

He still remembered one mission where he’d jumped more than five hundred thousand kilometers in a single go. The exhaustion afterward had been so extreme that he couldn’t stand for hours.

The farther the distance, the greater the distortion in space and time, which made precise teleportation harder.

Between celestial bodies, that distortion grew enormous due to gravity, every bit of mass bending space like invisible waves that tore at his strength and mind.

It drained everything out of him, leaving him feeling like a hollow shell.

He’d sworn never to attempt something like that again.

And yet... he’d done it fifteen times.

All because of those sadistic officers.

"You’re a B.O.W, aren’t you? This should be nothing for you. It’s your mission, so hurry and go!"

Yeah, it’s easy for them to say that. Then why don’t you try it yourselves? I could take you along and you’d definitely vomit.

He’d cursed them in silence more times than he could count.

Maybe they should’ve drunk some of Dominic’ calmness for once.

"Shiao Yi," Dominic said softly, his tone filled with quiet concern. "Don’t push yourself. It must take a lot of energy, doesn’t it? There’s no need to rush. We can take our time."

See? That kindness, that was exactly why Shiao Yi would follow him anywhere, even across worlds. With Dominic, he felt like he could do anything.

He finally understood what Dominic meant when he said being together made his strength grow. It worked both ways.

Just being beside him made Shiao Yi feel invincible.

You’re my best and highest commander, Shiao Yi thought with a faint smile.

"Dominic," he said aloud while tightening his arms around him. "I’m jumping."