Chapter 93: Reclaiming Strength, A Tender Kiss
Shiro's body swayed unsteadily, her eyes gleaming with a brilliant, star-like radiance.
"Quick, stop Shiro!" Ariel shouted in a panic.
The patrons in the dining room looked at one another, completely bewildered by the sudden commotion. Among the four spider sisters, the most reliable eldest sister, Ael, lunged forward and snatched the wine glass right out of Shiro's hand.
But the moment Ael turned her back, Shiro flicked her finger, shooting out a strand of pure white spider silk. With a sharp tug, she yanked a massive wooden liquor keg straight off the bar counter.
*THUD!* The keg slammed heavily onto the floorboards, splashing alcohol everywhere.
"The booze in this joint isn't half bad~ Here, try a taste of this one!" Shiro hoisted the massive keg, swung it around twice, and threw her head back.
*Gulp, gulp, gulp!* With half a pound of fiery brandy cascading down her throat, the crimson blush on her face burned even brighter.
"Heh... hehehe..." Shiro patted her stomach, a deeply satisfied expression spreading across her face as she let out a loud alcoholic hiccup.
Ariel covered her mouth, staring in absolute disbelief. What had she just witnessed? Spider silk?!
"Shiro, you... you've recovered your strength?!"
Shiro narrowed her bleary, heavily intoxicated eyes, tilting her head as she tried to process the thought. "Mmm..." She knitted her delicate brows, seemingly still unaccustomed to the dizzying sensation as her body drifted entirely out of her control.
"You brat! You wrecked my tavern, don't think a single one of you is leaving here today!" The tavern owner–a hulking, heavily built brute of a man–came marching over, brandishing a massive battleaxe with absolute killing intent. He glared furiously at Shiro. *Don't think just because you look like a literal goddess, this old master won't dare lay a hand on you!* Shiro raised a hand to wipe the residual liquor from her lips, planted both hands firmly on her hips, and announced with absolute bravado: "My Ariel has more than enough cash! Put it on her tab!"
The tavern owner froze. He had never encountered someone so profoundly arrogant in his entire life.
"Hmph!" He let out a cold snort, swung his massive arms wide, sprinted forward... and aggressively pulled out his most prized, top-shelf vintage liquor from behind the counter.
"Please enjoy, Great Boss," the owner offered, presenting the premium bottle with a thoroughly submissive, people-pleasing grin.
Shiro arched an eyebrow, casually accepting the bottle. "Mm, you've got a very bright future ahead of you, kid." She laughed gleefully, patting his massive shoulder before hoisting the keg to chug several more heavy mouthfuls of the fiery spirit.
"Waaah~ Splendid booze!" She let out another thunderous hiccup, her cheeks turning an even brighter shade of rosy pink.
This display gave Ariel a massive fright. She frantically lunged forward to restrain her, completely caught between laughter and tears. "Shiro, you absolutely cannot drink any more! If you keep going, a massive disaster is going to happen!"
"Don't smother me," Shiro mumbled, waving a petite fist as her voice grew slightly raspy. "I am perfectly sober right now, you know~"
"Shiro, quickly focus on the raw energy inside your body! Try to construct a magical formula!" Shirazawa urgently prompted from the side. This was an unmissable, golden opportunity; they absolutely had to ensure Shiro successfully triggered her awakening today.
"No way! If she unleashes a spell inside the premises, this entire town will be obliterated!" Ariel strongly objected.
The pure joy blinding Shirazawa's mind instantly vanished, jolting him awake. *Oh crap, she's right! In my current fragile state, wouldn't a stray blast completely vaporize me along with the town?! A blindingly drunk Shiro is highly likely to accidentally pull off something exactly like that!* This terrifying realization caused a cold sweat to instantly saturate Shirazawa's back. He immediately reversed his strategy, desperately trying to persuade Shiro to abandon the idea and locate an isolated, unpopulated wilderness first.
But the thoroughly wasted Shiro was completely beyond the point of reasoning. She casually raised her hand to the sky.
In a single fraction of a second, hundreds of dazzling, intensely vibrant magic circles materialized out of thin air, floating gracefully around her. Swirling spheres of multicolored cosmic light cascaded through the room, creating a breathtakingly beautiful, surreal spectacle.
"Holy mother of god!" The tavern owner nearly wet himself, his legs turning to absolute jelly as he collapsed heavily onto a chair. "Ma–Magic!"
"Heavens above, what on earth is that?!"
The surrounding patrons erupted into chaotic shrieks, frantically scrambling in every direction to flee the establishment. Hundreds of high-level magic circles manifested simultaneously–was this individual even human?! Furthermore, the suffocating pressure radiating from each individual magic circle easily rivaled a high-tier spell. Even if they were just basic elements, it would require thousands of master mages casting in perfect unison to achieve an effect this catastrophic.
Witnessing a phenomenon that entirely shattered the baseline laws of magical composition was completely unheard of.
Run! Run for your lives!
The moment these magic circles discharged, the entire town would be reduced to a crater of absolute nothingness. Their remaining time was ticking down by the second!
"This is bad, pin her down!" Ariel reacted with lightning speed, immediately charging forward in an attempt to forcefully drag Shiro away. As long as Shiro didn't unleash the magic right here, they could still avert a catastrophe. But Ariel had overlooked a critical detail: nobody present possessed active Spatial Magic to teleport her away, meaning they couldn't physically remove her from the epicenter.
"Hehehe... Bloom, my beautiful world!" Shiro laughed gleefully, aggressively channeling the cataclysmic, boundless energy coursing through her divine veins.
Instantly, an infinite torrent of raw elemental power converged directly above the tavern, weaving into intricate celestial patterns and blinding auroras. A pillar of pure white light erupted straight toward the heavens, instantly blasting a gaping hole clean through the tavern's roof.
The magic had begun.
But in the very next instant, it came to an abrupt, violent halt.
"Mmm~"
Shiro's hazy, unfocused eyes slowly began to center. She stared blankly at the sight directly in front of her face. Her lips had been suddenly and forcefully sealed, a profoundly sweet, incredibly soft sensation sending a massive electric jolt racing through her entire body.
Deprived of the raw energy required to sustain them, the hundreds of hovering magic circles instantly fractured and dissolved, transforming into a spectacular cascade of multicolored sparks that erupted across the night sky like a magnificent fireworks display.
The rest of the group was thoroughly dumbfounded by Shirazawa's incredibly smooth, outrageous maneuver, their jaws dropping in unison.
Beneath the shimmering, star-filled canopy, the ambient glow of the magical fireworks illuminated the two interlocking white figures. The scene was breathtakingly beautiful, dreamlike, and utterly intoxicating. Merging together so flawlessly, they looked exactly like a priceless masterwork painting.
Shiro's cheeks burned a spectacular shade of crimson, yet she didn't make a single move to push the young man away, entirely surrendering her senses to the chaotic, passionate embrace of the kiss. As her consciousness rapidly dissolved into complete bliss, only a single lingering thought remained in her mind: *This feels so incredibly wonderful... BOOM—SNAP! The magnificent sparks detonated in a final crescendo, dissolving into thousands of shimmering, crystalline fragments that drifted gently through the air. The residents of the border town stared blankly at the night sky, completely stripped of their capacity for rational thought, frozen in a state of absolute awe. *So beautiful...* Shirazawa lowered his head, his nose gently pressing against Shiro's as he deeply inhaled her intoxicating, sweet fragrance. They gazed intensely into each other's eyes, their pupils perfectly mirroring the other's reflection.
Suddenly, Shiro's lips curled into a faint, devastatingly beautiful smile. That singular expression carried a lethal, hypnotic allure, practically begging Shirazawa to lean back in and continue the kiss. However, the young girl in his arms instantly went entirely limp, her eyelids fluttering shut as she plummeted straight into a deep, heavy slumber.
"Wait... that's it? It's over?" Shirazawa's face went entirely blank.
As the full delayed force of the alcohol finally hit her system, Shiro drifted off into a profound sleep, softly murmuring unintelligible syllables under her breath.
The surrounding group looked at one another in a sea of awkward silence.
"What do we do now?" Sophia asked, pointing a tiny finger at the absolute warzone of shattered debris and wreckage surrounding them.
"This..." Ariel stared blankly at the catastrophic devastation for a long time before her brain finally rebooted. Shiro had literally dismantled the entire tavern single-handedly!!! Just how much gold was it going to take to compensate for this level of destruction?!
Her heart twitched with absolute agony, desperately wishing she could drag Shiro out of bed and give her a thorough thrashing. However, now was not the time to argue over the damages. Ariel gritted her teeth with absolute violence, glaring directly at a certain primary culprit. "You had better provide a thoroughly flawless explanation for this, or I am never letting you hear the end of it!"
Shirazawa held the sleeping Shiro with one arm while using his free hand to awkwardly scratch his head. "To be completely honest, I'm also desperately trying to figure out what just happened..." In a situation like this, playing completely dumb was the absolute best tactical play.
As for the exact mechanics of how Shiro had suddenly reclaimed her god-tier strength, nobody possessed a single clue. Even the girl herself was completely oblivious, offering nothing but a blank stare and zero answers whenever questioned.
The following morning.
Having wiped her memory entirely clean of the previous night's antics, Shiro slowly woke up inside the heavily damaged guest room. The moment her eyes landed on the massive, gaping hole blasted right through the ceiling of the tavern, she was thoroughly paralyzed with shock.
How on earth did things end up like this? Could it be that the wretched old elf had actually launched a surprise ambush on their location?
*Damned Potimas, just you wait until I completely stabilize my power. I will personally ensure you suffer a fate worse than death!* While aggressively cursing the old elf in her mind, she scrambled out of bed, putting on her clothes and washing up. Just as she was about to head downstairs to ask Ariel for an official briefing on the situation, a massive, boisterous clamor echoed from the ground floor. Judging by the audio cues, it sounded as though people were engaged in a fierce argument.
"(＞人＜;) We are deeply, truly sorry!"
"We have caused you an immense amount of trouble!"
Shiro witnessed the spider sisters and Ariel frantically bowing and delivering a barrage of incredibly sincere, over-the-top apologies to the tavern owner.
Shiro tilted her tiny head, thoroughly confused. *What is wrong with them? Shouldn't the actual culprit who blasted the hole be the one standing there delivering the apology? This isn't their fault at all.* While she was drowning in bewilderment, she noticed the tavern owner standing behind the counter with an incredibly dark, furious complexion, his entire frame trembling with suppressed rage. If it weren't for the terrifying realization that he stood absolutely zero chance in a physical brawl against the female demon king from the previous night, he would have launched a violent tirade hours ago.
Ultimately, under the absolute, overwhelming power of Ariel's heavy financial compensation, the owner's furious expression instantly melted into a radiant, joyful grin, cheerfully promising to drop all potential charges. Only then did the massive crisis finally draw to a peaceful close.
*Wretched old elf... I am officially adding this entire financial bill straight to his tab. Sooner or later, I will personally help Ariel collect every single penny of this debt from him. Hmph!*
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