"…the Commander said he will come meet you directly after everything is sorted out…"
"It's still a mess here, but does he really have to come now. How troublesome…"
The words between Frederik and the Captain of the Infantry company did not enter the ears of Sunhyuk at all. His attention was solely focused on the semi-transparent lady flying in the sky.
She was extremely beautiful, as she was turning her body this way and that without any sort of shame or embarrassment. How could a man possibly avert his gaze from something like this? It seemed that the private parts were deliberately dimmed, but thinking that he could clearly see them with a bit of effort, he was intensely staring at her.
"Mmhm…"
A sudden moan automatically escaped from his mouth. Even the women he had met at the Geumnam area [TL: A province like Gangnam] usually wore robes or thin long clothes, so with his current weakened and exhausted state, this was excessively straining on his body.
Not only that, what was harder to endure was that Atiya's face was strangely familiar. He belatedly realized the truth as he quickly turned his head.
"Oh my…"
Ahn Yoojung who was glaring at him, while running towards him seething. But the face of that woman and the Elemental resembled each other so much, that there were hardly any differences.
While the infantry were dealing with the aftermath of the battlefield, Sunhyuk and Yoojung departed from the group briefly to have a quick talk. Since it felt like she had sinned with how her comrades were oddly looking at her, it was understandable why she wanted to move away from the group.
"Anyhow, can you return her to me by any chance?"
Staring at Atiya who was looking around her surroundings with awe, Yoojung asked. He had thought that she would be extremely angry, but her calm voice was somewhat surprising.
"It is accurate that I have called for her. But as for the method of sending her back…"
"You just have to tell her to go back."
Since he had no experience, he had not thought of a simple method like this due to being shocked by Atiya's appearance. When he ordered Atiya to return, the Elemental stared at him and nodded her head.
'Please, please call for me again.'
"Alright. I'll definitely call for you. Definitely."
He unknowingly accepted Atiya's request, which caused Yoojung to click her tongue. Surprised, he looked over and saw her looking at him dumbfoundedly.
"Do you have anything to say?"
"I'm sorry. It wasn't intentional."
Sunhyuk quickly apologized since it was understandable for her to become angry because he had stolen her Elemental. Not only that, it would have been an insult to her after how he blatantly stared at the Elemental which resembled her very much - flying around naked in the air.
"It's okay. All I have to do is form a contract again with the likes of a Basic Elemental."
But she was accepting of his apology too easily. It was certain that his attribute dominance was reigning over her strongly, seeing how she was frowning from the strange influence.
"Above all, what's your identity exactly? You stole my Elemental, and did that with the Elemental… well. You could tell me at least this much."
Unable to reference the topic of the naked Atiya, she blushed from reminiscing.
"Mmm…"
Sunhyuk stared at Yoojung briefly. It was only a matter of time before his ability will become known. A Basic Rank such as himself had surpassed an Advanced Knight from the enemy opposition, and still succeeded in penetrating through the highly infamous Sastane Cavalry.
With just these achievements, it was way too much to escape the interests and attention of the Royal Family.
"The Class I was assigned to, the Dragon Rider, is a bit special."
Subsequently, he did not hide it. However, he had no thoughts of telling her his other secrets so he sufficiently explained the situation.
"It was wrong of the Instructor who assigned the Rank to neglect you at that time."
"I did not have much choice so."
Though he had followed the manual, he did not hold a good impression about the authorities who had assigned him as a Basic Rank at the time. As such, he did not wish to talk about that matter.
"Anyhow, what are you going to do now? You've contracted with an Elemental regardless of it being a Basic-grade, and you've dominated the duel against a level of strength of an Advanced Knight. In addition, you've been properly acknowledged by the highly competent, skilled cavalry."
Yoojung was inadvertently referring that with his ability and achievements alone, it wouldn't be strange if he were to be immediately promoted and called for by the Royal Family, so he should join her along the way.
"With how we are going to be used and discarded, wouldn't it be better to combine our strengths?"
Seeing how more aggressive she was in recruiting him than the previous time, he shook his head.
It wasn't a bad choice as both Johnstein and Yoojung had sufficient ability, and with these achievements, they will solidify their positions back at the center. If he were to form a group with someone, it would be advantageous for him to have her, who was not able to freely dominate her attribute, by his side.
Moreover, she did not settle for the riches of the Royal Family and had clearly distinguished between herself and the Royal Family, which made her quite a trustworthy leader apart from her ideology.
"Even if we were to fly and crawl, we're nothing in front of real monsters. So please reconsider again."
"That may be so but…"
Through this event, he realized that although he could borrow the strength of an Elemental, if he were to meet a Knight in a similar instance elsewhere, he might be the one the losing at end. With how many countless monsters there were in the world, it was quite a frightful thing.
"You're right. If I were to join you guys, then we would be able to benefit a lot from each other."
"Then you should…"
Sensing she had succeeded, she smiled brightly.
"But, that would all be true if I were to return to the Center."
"Yes?"
"I don't have any thoughts of entering the Center, nor do I want any resources from the Royal Family."
Yoojung had a surprised look as if she did not predict his inner intentions would be like this.
"I do not have any thoughts of increasing my debt, nor do I want to pledge my loyalty to those whose faces I do not know of. If my debt were to be cleared with this event, then I am thinking of discharging myself from the army."
"What kind of nonsense are you talking about! With many achievements, how could you…"
"I can say this because I was able to achieve this much. After this day, I realized just how difficult it is to even achieve this much."
He was able to clearly realize just how appalling war is within these two battles. Thus, he was slowly thinking his mentality wouldn't be able to endure; these vicious cycle of battlefields at this rate. Whenever he tried to sleep, the faces of the dead Sastane Cavalry would appear in his dreams, and when he tried to confess these dreams to his comrades, he was desperately trying to maintain his psyche in check, but he did not know what will happen to him if this life style continued any further.
Whether he would become a slave succumbing to the moment - drowning as a killer. He did not desire this at all, so his commitment to discharging from the army became even more unyielding.
"Please reconsider… If you were to travel to the Center, you wouldn't have to think of being deployed to this wretched battlefield again. What the Royal Family wishes is for you to become a cornerstone supporting the Kingdom."
Though she invited him a couple of times, it was meaningless as he was dissatisfied with his current way of life. She did garner a noncommittal reply; of how he would consider her proposition positively if he were to not discharging.
"But why are you paying attention to a guy like me?"
If it was because of dominance, then it should be uncomfortable for her to be near him. Not only that, even if it wasn't hard to contract with an Elemental, she had been robbed of one. He wondered why she was so focused in recruiting him. Not understanding her reason of thinking at all, he stared at her with a puzzled expression.
"Just that with one more talented person with so much ability, we would be better in preserving our authority."
"In other words, you're scouting for talents."
Summarizing the situation, he nodded as she looked at him with a baffled look.
Once the fatigue from the battle had somewhat dissipated, the Riders of Mengsk had returned back to the fortress while the infantry followed behind them loaded with wagons of supplies and spoils.
While returning back, Yoojung had contracted with the Elemental again in the end, and was explaining that there were certain things that one should be forbidden from doing.
"The appearance of an Elemental relies on the heart of a Contractor."
"No. I didn't mean to do anything else!"
When she spoke, of how the appearance of the Elemental relies on what the one contracted her wishes, he felt a sense of guilt dreading over him.
"Well, it could be that the fact an Elemental looked like me might be why."
"That's right. That's precisely…"
"However, the fact that she wasn't even dressed…"
There was no excuse. With his ascetic life, he was in a desperate state. Thinking back, the body of Atiya looked like the mosaics of certain images that he was so obsessed with in the other world.
He had to admit this. He was a lewd devil.
"I think you are the most beautiful woman among the ladies I've seen recently…"
"Stop talking nonsense."
Sunhyuk flinched while trying to make an excuse, ending up being scolded in the end.
"Unfortunately, the appearance that you first decided on will not change. So I would like it if you would not call for her in front of me."
Yoojung's expression was completely different from his first impression. He did not know if it was the influence of his attribute dominance, or if it was because he had revealed his true ability and was recognized for it, but what was certain was that he was able to study much more about the Elemental.
In that sequence, he was able to clearly see the difference between dominance and affinity. With her, the Elemental was a friend that was building affinity, one that would borrow her strength when the relationship was good.
As such, when Atiya had deliberately terminated the contract, it would not have surprised him if the Wind Elemental did not regret leaving her, and staying with him in the first place.
"Among the five Elementals, only two of them had revealed their names to me. Since the child that went to you is quite a troublemaker, I only call for her when it's necessary."
Although Atiya was too mature to be called a child, but he did not point that out.
"Soon, I have to sign with an Intermediate Elemental, but I can't even muster up the thought of trying."
She was referring to how one had to satisfy what an Elemental wanted, and when they were unhappy, she had to cooperate in persuading them. Those were how Elementals were like.
Whether her implication was true or not, he was amazed at how much Yoojung was revealing her abilities as he stared at her in amusement. Belatedly realizing that she had talked too much, she quieted down soon enough.
The ability that Ahn Yoojung displayed in finely controlling the Elementals was wonderful.
Though he had the cheat-like ability of dominance, even he was unable to control the Elementals specifically. She had used her Elemental to block any sort of information leaking out from their conversation. As a result, they were able to share an informative conversation during the ride back without anyone else being able to eavesdrop.
Thanks to that, unexpected rumors had emerged. It was on the content that Sunhyuk and Yoojung were in a relationship due to their frequent conversations.
"Well, what's wrong with it. Since those who are alive have to live on. Isn't that great? She doesn't lack appearance, and she even has ability. In addition, they're both Strangers so they look good in my eyes."
Putting asides their excuses that it was not, the cavalrymen chatted amongst themselves.
"Ugh."
Hearing the grunt, Sunhyuk looked over at Yoojung who had a troubled face. Well, it made sense considering how it wouldn't look good for her, to be caught up in rumors of a romantic relationship as leader of the group.
Of course, he thought of this under the premise that she would not have an affair. However, unlike his thoughts, her mind was rather complicated.
At first, she was able to uphold her pride, but now, even that was hard. Now, it was hard for her to even look up at him as she subconsciously lowered her head and felt a desire to obey him, which caused her to feel embarrassed of herself.
Lately, she was unknowingly explaining her abilities, and had even taught him the basics of Elementalism in order to win his favor. All of this had nothing to do with her own will.
"This is definitely not normal."
These were not romantic feelings, as she was not soft cuddly type of personality, nor was she one who couldn't differentiate from her own self-interests. Despite that, she was increasingly unable to refuse the man's words the longer they were together.
It can't be this way. She can't be dragged towards him any longer.
As soon as she realized this, she felt a sense of crisis towards her position and authority would soon collapse, so she desperately resisted.
But even so, she could not escape from the Dragon Rider in front of her, who was dominating the power of the wind. As time passed, she was exposed further to Sunhyuk's dominance, and after some more time passing, she had unknowingly and completely succumbed to him in the end.
That was precisely the power of domination, and the power that the owner of the attribute had.
TL Afterword:
Calvis: Holy shit. I can tell that MC is going to be so overpowered. I've read stories based on the overbearing presence of a Dragon, but for a novel to actually use that and write a novel of this caliber was beyond my imagination. Amazing so far, and loving the progression. Really excited to see what will happen between Yoojung and Sunhyuk.
TL Notice: N/A
PR Afterword:
Sai101: Domination over others can be useful…
BM: N/A
PR Notice: N/A
Blood Dagger Clan Discord:
Translator: Calvis
Proofreader: Sai101, BorderlineMasochist