"A dream?"
Apparently, she was asleep.
Ryuna's consciousness wakes up, and her vision gradually becomes clearer.
When Ryuna woke up, she was lying in a tent. She is on a carpet spread out on the sand.
"Ouch...!"
Her head ached. It was probably caused by the dream she had just had.
After having a 'Precognitive Dream,' which is one of Ryuna's Priestess abilities, she often gets a headache.
For a while, she crouched down and held her head, and the pain gradually subsided.
"That dream again... it seems that 'the time' is approaching..."
The dream in which she was captured by the Guru Rudanaga and sacrificed to the evil god.
It was the same dream that Ryuna had experienced many times since her awakening as a Priestess, and it was an affirmation of the end of her life.
Ryuna has felt her 'death' since she was a child. With each passing year, 'death' comes closer to her step by step.
Shakuna's sister, Shakuna, tries to save her, but the premonition never disappears.
She saw the premonition over and over again as if the end of the dream was a definite future.
"I was caught off guard... I hadn't had it recently."
About six months ago, she stopped having the premonition.
The presence of death, which had always been with her, disappeared, and she began to have other dreams instead.
Instead, she had another dream in which the Maafern sisters were being devoured by a man.
"Baskerville-sama..."
Ryuna squeezes her bosom, calling his name as if she is longing for him.
He is the main character of this nightmare. He holds the sisters in every possible way and position and devours them with his lust... It is not a very good dream, but for Ryuna it is a gospel of hope that she may survive without being devoured by the evil god.
At first, she fainted with shame every time she woke up from the dream... but she had begun to look forward to the young man's appearance in her dreams.
Many years before she met him, Ryuna Maafern had fallen in love with Zenon Baskerville.
"Baskerville... is that your honey's name?"
"......!"
A third person's voice is heard on Ryuna's back as she gets up.
She turns around in a hurry, and before she knows it, a tall brown-skinned man is standing in the tent.
"You... are the demon. You brought me here."
"YES, that's right! This great me is the crazy demon who killed your fellow priests and took you away from your honey... the Knight of Hell, Veinrune, that's who I am!"
"......"
Ryuna's face twists.
She remembered that her companion Hadiss had been stabbed in the back and died.
She glares at Veinrune as if to offer some resistance, but it does not make any difference to the man, who is a high-ranking demon. After all, he just hummed to himself and spoke to her.
"FOO... this great me may look like this, but I feel sorry for you, okay? Sacrificing yourself for the resurrection of the old gods, seriously, this great me feel sorry for you. Even if it's a love rival, who loves the same man... it's really pathetic."
"Do you know about the evil god Ilyanka Noburunaga?"
"Yes... that's her name. I mean, I know her, but... well, she's just an acquaintance of my parents, that's all."
"Acquaintance of your parents?"
"The demon is a being created by that goddess from a certain old god's body and soul, so you could say this great me is a child of an old evil god. But...that doesn't mean I want the evil god to come back!"
Veinrune licks his lips and shakes his shoulders in amusement.
"That man... my cooperation with Rujanaga is just a contract. This great me is only employed by him for a limited time in return for his sacrifice. I thought it would be a thankless job... but I was lucky to meet V-Very pretty honey."
"Honey... uh, well, that's okay. But please don't say it."
Ryuna shook her head and felt deep sympathy for the man she loved.
It seems... he has been spotted by a pervert man.
"So... what can I do for you?"
"Yes, this great me here to pick you up because the ceremony is ready. It's almost eclipse time. Time for the ceremony."
"Kuh...!"
Veinrune grabs Ryuna's arm and pulls her to her feet.
Ryuna tries to resist, but there is no way she can win in a contest of strength with a demon.
She is dragged out of the tent.
"Well, do you think honey will come here to help you? If so, great. If so, great. We can make love to our heart's content this time!"
"Well... I don't know. I don't see it either."
Ryuna bites her lip.
She wonders if he will come this far.
To help her. Will he come to a place where he might die?
On the one hand, Ryuna wants him to come, but on the other hand, Ryuna does not want him to come because of the danger.
"Which... do I want?"
"We love the same man, 'kay. If you have a last will and testament, I'll listen to it."
"...I don't have a will. There's nothing I need to tell you. Nothing at all."
"FOO... I see.... then do as you please."
Veinrune shrugged his shoulders in reply.
Ryuna was taken to a desert altar surrounded by big rocks.
It was the 'altar of the snake god' that she had seen many times in her dreams.
"Hahahaha... The sacrificial lamb. An offering to our true Lord."
"......!"
And an old man was waiting.
His face is wrinkled, but his body is well muscled.
His age and background are unknown.
"I was in a great hurry when you ran away, but I am relieved to see you back in my possession... The sun has just begun to fade. It's time for the ritual."
Rudanaga smiles as he utters the same words Ryuna has heard in her nightmares.
Above her head, the sun was beginning to wane, as if it were being eaten away by a monster.
