A Couple Dynamic

“My fiance. Are you alright?”

Kousuke heard the voice that he longed for. He quickly opened his eyes and found that everyone surrounded him on Arabella’s lap. “What happened?” Kousuke inquired.

“You seemed to have a nightmare,” Arabella replied.

Kousuke rubbed his forehead. “Ah, right, the trial. Do you pass it, my lady? What did you see?”

Arabella curled up her lips, “I passed it, but I would rather keep it secret. And I believe Saint Antony is almost omniscient.” She glanced at Antony before she looked at Kousuke again.

Antony just chuckled. He muttered, “A shrewd woman, eh?”

Kousuke turned his head toward Hal and Adelina. “Would you rather keep it secret as well?”

“I passed it,” Hal said, “I saw what happened without you, Peasant. I killed many knights, therefore, I was also the one to blame. Amusing trial.”

Ah, you mean it sounds like a scolding rather than a trial.

“I saw the past, Sir Sniper!” Adelina was a bit teary. “It was,” she revealed her teeth and gleamed again with her hands on her back, “lovely”.

So in your case, it wasn’t even like a trial!

“Am I the only dumbass here? I failed,” Kousuke snickered at himself. “Peddler, do you have a longbow?”

“Yes, I have, Sir Sniper!” Adelina said.

“I saw the future. We are going to be messed up by the Dark Knight Maxentius, Saint Antony’s insane friend,” Kousuke explained. He gazed down and looked apologetic. “I’m sorry. If I didn’t play around, we wouldn’t have been possibly trapped here.”

“We can’t turn back time. So what’s important for us is you are finding a way for a better future,” Arabella smiled and consoled Kousuke.

“Consider this as how I repay you, Peasant,” Hal commented.

“Without you, I couldn’t see the past, Sir Sniper!” Adelina said. “So thanks.”

How wholesome.

“Alright, go back first or whatever. I need to try again and again until I find the best way to defeat that knight,” Kousuke crawled and leaned on the tower wall. “I can repeat as many as I wish, right, Saint Antony?”

Antony replied, “Sure, isn’t that your plea?”

Then Kousuke closed his eyes and repeated his trial.

***

So this is my save point.

Kousuke realized that he was going to push the crimson door. He quickly turned around and said, “Listen, His Holiness’ friend, the Dark Knight Maxentius, is going to cast Magic Debuff at first. He also has a sword that nullifies any magic. Therefore, [Blessing Shield] and any magic skill won’t be effective as usual. It’s probably best to assume magic skills are useless.”

“What an annoying trick,” Hal said. “Fractional attacks also contain magic attacks. Will they be useless too?”

Kousuke nodded.

“Was that why you asked Adelina for a longbow, my fiance?” Arabella asked.

Oh, so now I hold a longbow and wear a quiver.

“Yes. Maxentius has four attack patterns. Multiple slashes that create multiple [Air Cut]s, or a slash while he dashes in midair. And when he moved his sword up and down, he is either creating stalagmites above us or freezing our legs. We can’t do anything if he freezes our legs, so please jump and use [Wind Blast]. Is everything clear?”

Everyone nodded. “Let’s go,” he said.

Before Kousuke pushed the door, Arabella raised her arm and said, “Dekever’s Calibur, D. Calibur!” She also buffed herself with some skills like [Speed Booster].

I see you again, Maxentius. You look relaxed on your throne. Then you grab your sword and challenge us. You also cast that damn Magic Debuff. The only way to beat you is through endurance and spamming physical skills. You are a pain in the ass, Maxentius.

Kousuke, Arabella, and Hal rushed toward Maxentius.

Hal didn’t form the huge hands with his cubes because he seemed to realize they would be dispersed by Maxentius’ sword. So he was going to slam down Maxentius with a cube. He couldn’t use the cubes for ranged attacks either, because when the cubes flew, they contained magic. So Maxentius could break them with the sword.

Kousuke halted his rush and started to spam Maxentius with 12 arrows per minute.

But it seemed Maxentius didn’t see Kousuke’s attacks as immediate threats. So he just raised his sword and moved it up and down.

Kousuke panicked. “Jump! JUMP!” he shouted.

He jumped and cast [Wind Blast] at the same time with Arabella and Hal. The water from the ground got blasted by [Wind Blast], but in the blink of an eye, Maxentius was already in front of Arabella and swinging his sword in midair.

Fuck! I forget that he always prioritizes the mage, just like that minotaur. I was too occupied by her death.

Once again, he had to see the death of his lover.

***

“Hah...” Kousuke sighed and rubbed his forehead. Antony chuckled. “Is this amusing to you?” Kousuke protested.

“Isn’t it, eh?” Antony replied.

“Is that really the future?”

“The scenarios in your head aren’t dictated by me. I offer, but not decide. The miracle does the work. I simply pray and let it work as I don’t need to sacrifice anything for that.” Antony grinned, “But of course, I could see it as well, and I was amused. By your foolishness.”

Damn it.

“Let me try again.”

“Sure, feel free to do so, fellow saint.”

Then Kousuke closed his eyes again.

***

Kousuke realized that everyone surrounded him and nodded. He also saw the painting of a freckled, crimson-haired woman. Ah, this is when I have explained Maxentius’ attack patterns. The save point changes.

“My lady, go back,” Kousuke said coldly.

Arabella put her index finger on her cheek, “Why? Is it too dangerous for me?”

Kousuke scratched his hair. He tried to be thoughtful with his words, so he could convince Arabella. “You have seen enough of this castle, and you can look around later. Let’s just skip writing about Maxentius for your guidebook. Yes, he is too dangerous for you and maybe everyone. That’s right, I’m the Saint of Immunity, let me beat his ass by myself.”

“Hmm,” Arabella pondered. “Okay. I trust you, my fiance.” But when she turned around, a transparent barrier was formed on the walkway, blocking her way.

“Ah, fuck!” Kousuke was frustrated. He knew he was going to repeat the nightmare over and over again as he didn’t have any single clue yet on how to make everyone survive, especially Arabella. Now I remember that to challenge Maxentius, a mage is required, and this is the warp point. I have been overwhelmed by her death, so I forget many things.

“I won’t attack,” Arabella consoled Kousuke, “if that can make you feel better. I will just run around to avoid him.”

“It's futile,” Kousuke retorted, “he is faster than [Speed Booster], and he prioritizes the mage. I had just foreseen he would freeze your legs and cut you. And why did you become closer to me, anyway? Why did you hold my hand out of nowhere? Why do we have to bother traveling around the world to write a damn guidebook that likely no one would ever read anyway? Who the hell wants to travel around the world!”

Now, he argued.

“Excuse me, my fiance,” Arabella looked angry. “Didn’t you promise me to always be on my side? And what’s going on? Why do you suddenly become COWARD and argue? Aren’t you always a bit RECKLESS, my DEAR fiance? You never gave us a briefing like this. Are you a weakling?”

In a way, my life becomes a romance story as I only focus on how to make her ba-dump ba-dump. So what do you expect? We need to argue!

We need those couple dynamics!

This is a romance!

Kousuke moved closer to Arabella. “You haven’t answered why did you hold my hand out of nowhere.”

“What’s wrong with holding hands out of nowhere, my DUMB fiance? I held your hand because I just wanted it. What’s wrong with that?? Do we need a reason?”

“Then, can I kiss you? No, right? Also, are you really going to marry me after all of this bullshit? I doubt that.” Whatever Kousuke bottled up started to seep out.

“So. Do you want your doubts to become reality?”

“Ehehehe... can we go in first?” Adelina interrupted and rubbed the back of her head.

“Shut it!” Kousuke and Arabella said at the same time and glared at Adelina. Adelina jolted and got scared. Hal just closed his eyes and shook his head. Hal knew he should have shut up in that situation, like when Flavia got angry.

“Ah, fuck!” Kousuke pushed the crimson door. “Why do I have to argue in my delusion!”

And he failed again.

Although this time, he was happy because he had time to argue with her, even though it was just momentary.