The Goddess' Champion

The prospect of death.

"In fact, my body is so strong that I merged with the stones, but you? you're going to be crushed into a patty~" The voice was amused, but Constantine wasn't.

"My name is Constantine."

"You're oddly calmed..."

"Not my first time about to die, but if you could tell me how to get away from this place, that would be helpful." Constantine scratched his head, in any case, he needed his cores to replenish and chatting with some skull seemed like the perfect thing to do.

"My name is Seledus, the White Lion."

!!!

"What?!" He obviously remembered this name, having heard it for a while prior to falling into this pit.

"It seems you know me, rare... I have no recollection of your face."

"You're Seledus, the one that has helped Zamira?" The conqueror probed, there could be many Seledus in this world.

!!!!

"Y-You know her?!" That reaction told Constantine everything he needed to know.

'so this is where he ended' he sighed with pity before answering the enquiry"Yes, she's my companion."

"What do you mean companion?! you little bastard!" The voice answered with outrage and wrath that Constantine never expected, like a father who just heard his daughter has a boyfriend.

"We're... travelling companions..." By now Constantine realised he better didn't talk about their intimacies, this is obviously the same Seledus from the guild.

"Where is she? where is the young miss?!" The voice asked with a form of addressing that once again surprised Constantine, 'Young Miss?' it was respectful humour.

"She's safe, just now I sent her away as we were attacked by some werewolves... I killed one of them but the other escaped, however... they can't know where she is, Zamira is together with the princess of the Wolf Empire, the daughter of the Priestess, do you know?" Constantine didn't mind revealing all of this information to a corpse, in fact, it might be worthwhile to obtain more information.

"She's safe... she's safe... w-wait, the daughter of the priestess, they're together...?" The voice sounded with a stutter of measurement before shock ensued.

"How can we come out of this place?"

"..."

"Why aren't you answering?!"

"Has the young miss... has she gotten the sword?"

"Sword? yes, she has." He contemplated, how? 'how can this person know that Zamira got a sword? moreover... could it be-'

"Tell me the name." The voice asked threateningly, he could even feel pressure, it was ridiculous, this is merely a corpse plastered against a stoned wall, yet... it can emit such a pressure!"

"Kurohana."

"I see... you're indeed acquainted with the Young Miss."

"What do you know? about her or about the priestess' daughter, Nia?"

"..." The voice didn't answer, rather, it seemed to be contemplating, this silence wasn't working for the impatient Constantine who also began emitting a pressure of his own.

"Why don't you answer!? How can I get away from here?!"

"You have the aura of a king but the strength of a shrimp... how hilarious. There is no hope for me boy but you can still escape... however, you have to do it fast otherwise you will die."

"Why didn't you say that previously?!" The conqueror screamed in disbelief.

"I thought we could spend some time together until you died, sorry, loneliness is disgraceful~"

"Bastard!"

"Listen and listen well, boy... you must take care of the young miss... I can't do it anymore, I'm beyond salvation... the curse of sandork has poisoned me and I'm already merged with these rocks, I can't escape..."

"Curse of Sandork? what exactly is this place dammit!"

"The exit up there is closing as we speak, the portal is going to open soon... if you don't get out of here you will be dragged down there and who knows when you will be coming out."

[You need to get out of there, he must be talking about an interdimensional portal like the one from before!] Zebellia referred to the one they had so adamantly avoided above the ogres' hideout.

"I happened to fall with some bastard, we had an intense fight and before I noticed... the exit was already closed... only then does the entrance to that accursed place open, and it is unavoidable... you need to escape!"

"You should have said it sooner!" Constantine got to work soon

"Wait! Boy!"

"What?!"

"Please, the young miss... you must take care of her, no one can realise her identity, not even you... allow her to have a peaceful life."

"She's a weretiger." He deadpanned.

!!!!

The voice shivered momentarily before he heard a sigh of relief.

"Y-Yeah, that's it... she's a weretiger, that's what you know and leave it at that, I'm going to give you something, if her identity is ever revealed, with your current strength you won't be able to do anything except watch her be taken away..."

"Why are you telling me all this?"

"Because I have no other option, you happen to be the only person I have met after being taken to this disgraceful place, and you happen to be acquainted with her too, that can't be a coincidence."

*RUMBLE!!!*

Foreign pressure was emitted together with a white aura of gallantry, and then he saw it, something started to protrude from the corpse

"UGH!!" The voice yelled in pain and despair.

It was a heart!

"T-The heart... of a lion never dies before its owner... you need to eat it, eat my heart and become stronger... I hoped to lay my heart bare for the young miss to devour... but that moment won't come, the moment it is separated from me, it will die... you need to eat it directly from my corpse!" The voice grunted, cursed inwardly that this elf bastard is taking so long.

"Very well... but what is going to happen to you?" As for Constantine, it wasn't his first time eating a raw heart, at the times of survival, everything is legal... he grasped it, still a little reluctant, the heart was big, hot and palpitated like nothing he had seen before, it was like a piece of organic steel.

The Hearth of a Lion.

'I hate lions with all my heart, but if I can become stronger by devouring this, fair price.'

"After you take my heart, what do you think is going to happen? at least... at least I will finally be able to rest knowing that the young lady is in good hands."

"About the sword."

"Keep it, but be advised, the bearer of that sword has thousands of enemies."

"... thanks for the info."

"It's yours but you better not treat it wrongly boy, that sword belongs to my lineage! whenever you use it, make sure to annihilate your enemy and leave nothing left, conquer the land and plunder the riches!" The voice once again emitted pressure.

'He's quite passionate about his sword...'

"Thank you Seledus, do you have any other request aside from helping Zamira?" He'd do that even if this man didn't say anything.

"Nothing... our Golden Lion Dynasty is long gone, everything sacrificed just to save a single individual... there is nothing I can ask you that is nearly as important as the young lady... only, if she ever remembers... if she ever recalls my presence. Tell her that she doesn't need to worry about me, for assisting her was my pleasure."

"... I will do it. What is going to happen to me after I eat this?"

"Bastard can't you just eat the heart and shut your mouth!?

"Answer the question, do you want me to just eat a raw heart that was presented to me without even the slightest suspiciousness!?"

"Tch! so stubborn, others would just dig in this marvellous opportunity... you're going to become a werelion... you will gain my white lion mutation and become a werebeast, you have potential boy, but the current you is too weak... Sandoria is a merciless world, if you're not strong enough, whatever it is that you desire will be plundered by someone else, some other warrior, some other god... remember that."