The Camellia Tattoo - Chapter 35
Amber closed her eyes, biting her lower lip. Despite her attempts to stifle it, a lascivious moan finally burst forth.
“Ha-ahhh!”
A high-pitched scream filled the air.
At the moment when Igmeyer’s rough movements from below abruptly ceased, tears streamed down the woman’s face.
The water around her waist was disturbed by his turbulent come, creating a murky hue.
‘Oh, this time was too short. What a shame.’
Embracing him even tighter, Amber sighed at her inadvertent thought.
Something was off. She, too, felt her mind had somehow gone astray.
Otherwise, it’s a shame to even feel lacking.
‘I guess I have to endure the annoying thoughts when the act stops. That’s probably why.’
She tried to convince herself, but deep down, she knew. It was the pleasure she got when he pushed her beyond limits.
Unconsciously, Amber placed her arms around Igmeyer’s neck, silently urging for another round.
Igmeyer didn’t refuse.
* * *
This is a dream.
Igmeyer sensed it.
Otherwise, the current situation wouldn’t make sense.
‘It’s utterly destroyed.’
The ruins in his dream were the primary military outpost, the place he arrived at today and the place where he slept.
So, it must be a dream.
Grrrrrrr!
Above his head, a bony monster let out a cry.
Squinting at the ominous energy spreading around, Igmeyer discovered a gate emitting a sinister aura from all directions and narrowed his gaze.
The gate is completely black when it first opens. Then, after expelling all the monsters, it turns red. Right now, the center is black, and the outer part is red, indicating that it’s in the process of expelling the monsters.
Suddenly, Igmeyer looked down at his own hand. It was a bare hand without gloves. There was a familiar sword at his waist, and the cloak draped over his shoulders was soaked in blood.
Once he recognized himself, fatigue washed over him. The sensation in his joints and muscles felt stiff, as if he had been fighting without rest for three days.
‘This is strange. Can a dream be this vivid?’
Today’s dream didn’t involve the princess dying. While that was fortunate, witnessing the collapse of the primary military outpost wasn’t particularly pleasant either.
‘Is this dream a reflection of my fear of the war with Nidhogg?’
Igmeyer tried to wake up, thinking about the read books. After all, it was a nightmare, and what good could come from seeing more of it? Only unpleasant scenes were likely to unfold.
However, the dream didn’t break. Instead, he found himself drawing his sword and taking a step forward.
“….”
Stumbling along, he absentmindedly looked down at a pool of congealed blood. His appearance of exhaustion, a hardened gaze—characteristics of someone who had been in a prolonged battle.
There was something odd, though.
“What did he put on his eyes?”
Wiping it away with the back of his hand, dried blood powder fell off. There was an odd smell, and he noticed that his ear was catching a faint voice.
“If you smear chicken blood on your eyes, you won’t see hallucinations. So, don’t kill chickens recklessly.”
A calm and gentle voice—Amber’s voice.
Igmeyer let out a bitter laugh. It seemed that her words had subtly influenced his subconscious. Otherwise, how could he dream in such vivid detail?
‘If fighting with chicken blood on my eyes is the cause, then yes. Those phantom breed creatures, too, would appear.’
As he thought sarcastically, the gate rippled and disgorged something. A “something” enveloped in a hazy smoke, neither having a definite form nor being entirely formless—a “something” shining in a bluish glow.
The appearance of this new, unseen creature caused every muscle in his body to instinctively tense.
But this dream was particularly strange.
His “thoughts” were in line with what he would do in reality, but his “physical self” was acting within the dream. Drawing his sword with an annoyed tone, he faced the “something” as if he had confronted it multiple times before.
Following that, he untied the cork from the gourd-shape container filled with oil, hanging from his waist.
Gurgle. He poured oil onto the blood-stained blade, and with a low sigh, he ignited it. Putting it on fire was easy; after all, debris was scattered everywhere and was already ablaze.
“Annoying phantom breed bastards…”
His mouth opened, and a deep voice echoed as if lamenting.
Honestly, Igmeyer found even that strange.
Why did it feel so eerie?
Why did it seem like he had actually experienced such a bizarre situation before?
His pondering didn’t last long.
It was the encounter with the phantom breed and the fierce battle that ensued.
While engaging in combat, Igmeyer muttered curses numerous times. He regretted wiping one eye earlier. Due to that, while his left eye was normal, his right eye continued to show strange hallucinations.
Feeling like he might lose his sanity, Igmeyer eventually closed both eyes.
It was better to rely on his other senses and fight without seeing.
The damn phantom breed had no arms or legs, so there was no movement, yet the sound of a pounding heart could be heard.
In this way, throughout the night, Igmeyer fought off the phantom breed and eventually greeted the morning with weary eyes.
Whether Amber’s nightmare had transferred to him or not, it left him with a very unpleasant feeling.
