Reborn in Danmachi as a Dragon-Kin (Rewrite)

Chapter 390

"Ahh, but it's a pity. I cant hold onto him…..just yet," Freya mused, her voice soft as silk.The lone magic lamp caught the silver highlights of her hair, illuminating her like a beacon in the storage room.

Her little rabbit….her perfect, precious rabbit…..was growing at a rate that defied the norm.

She could tell Bell was improving at an abnormal rate. 

His value kept skyrocketing in her eyes, transforming from a curious amusement into something far more precious, far more... dangerous.

His pure heart called to her like a siren song, drawing her further into an obsession she had not anticipated.

'It is like watching Draco grow all over again,' she thought, a bittersweet smile crossing her lips. 'Except this time the one protecting my target is quite weak.'

The comparison struck her as both apt and painful. 

Draco, her first and greatest love…..or rather, her first and greatest obsession…..had captivated her seven years ago. 

She had tried pursuing him, though with a lesser intensity she now felt for Bell.

She had watched him transform from just a boy with unusual draconic features, and a strange soul, into the current strongest adventurer in Orario.

But Draco had never belonged to her. 

He was a fleeting comet in her eternal existence, brilliant and untouchable.

Freya knew, on that day five years ago, when she watched Draco leave Orario, that she should have acted then. 

She should have reached out with her charm, should have claimed him before he slipped beyond her grasp.

After Draco's return, Freya could instinctively tell that she couldn't have him to herself even if she went to war with Bahamut. 

The connection between Draco and his goddess had become too strong, too absolute. 

They had crossed a line that she could never penetrate, had forged a bond that rendered her advances meaningless. 

And Freya was sure that they had crossed the final line, meaning that there was no place for her in his existence.

Even if there was, she wanted it all to herself. 

Half-measures were for lesser beings, for mortals who lacked the power to grasp their desires completely. 

She was Freya, goddess of Beauty, and she had never wanted anything less than everything.

The memory still burned with the heat of regret, a wound that had never fully healed despite the passage of time.

However, when Bell suddenly appeared, fresh and innocent and so terribly pure, she recognized another chance. 

A second opportunity to claim what she had always wanted.

'Ooooh, I want to play with him,' Freya laughed to herself like a little kid. 

The sound was melodic yet unsettling, carrying undertones of mischief and darker desires.

She wanted to play a joke on the one she loved, just as if she were an immature child teasing a crush. 

She wanted to see his face when he realized he was being watched, wanted to observe the fear that would flicker through his eyes before she revealed herself in all her divine glory. 

It was a game, a delicious, intoxicating game that made her feel alive in ways that eons of existence had not.

But she couldn't stop. 

It felt as though her love at first sight was driving her forward like a twinge of pain deep in her chest every moment she couldn't be with him. 

No, it was somewhat more complicated than simple longing. 

Freya felt as though she was cheating on her first love, Draco, even though it had been a one-sided affair on her part. 

The comparison should have felt wrong, should have diminished her current obsession, but instead it amplified it. 

The immoral feeling of guilt one felt for committing such an act was intoxicating, a forbidden fruit that she savored with every breath.

This was all her delusion, she knew that. 

None of it was real in the way mortals understood reality. 

But it felt real, fresh and different. 

The emotions thundering through her vessel were as genuine as any she had experienced across eons of existence. 

The very things that many deities desired in the mortal world….passion, longing, desire, connection…..were hers to savor, and she planned to indulge without restraint.

More importantly, she wanted to see her little rabbit scared, see him cry, but above all, she wanted to see his courage. 

Bell's fear would be delicious, his tears a treasure to hoard, but his soul…..his naive, foolish, beautiful, yet pure soul…..that was what she truly craved. 

It was what made him worthy of her attention, what separated him from the countless other mortals who populated this world.

On the other hand, she also desired to see Draco jealous, gnashing his teeth in regret. 

She imagined his face when he learned she had moved on, when he realized that another mortal had captured her attention so completely. 

It was a very entertaining delusion, one that would sustain her through the long hours of watching and waiting.

"Fhaa... fhaaaa.....Mmmmh?" Freya moaned softly as she lovingly stroked the cheek of the silverback beside her. 

The monster's massive form trembled at her touch, Its nose flared with each swell of air.

Throwing thoughts of Draco out of her mind with an effort of will, Freya decided to focus on the target of her new desire. 

Bell needed her attention, needed her guidance, needed her love. 

And she would provide all of it, willing or not.

She paused for a moment as a new thought flashed through her mind. 

'What if this monster accidentally killed Bell because she let it loose?'

The possibility had not occurred to her before, and she found herself pausing, her hand still resting on the silverback's coarse fur. 

If Bell died today, if his fragile mortal body was crushed beneath the monster's tremendous power, then everything would be ruined. 

Her game would end before it truly began.

She hadn't thought of that but quickly shrugged off the concern. 

If Bell died today....she planned to go after him. 

If his spirit left the mortal world, she would chase it to the ends of time and space. 

She was a goddess, after all, and the boundary between life and death held no meaning for her kind. 

She would simply retrieve his soul, bind it to her side, and make him hers in a way that transcended mortal limitations.

"I will hold him," she whispered, her voice carrying a strange mixture of tenderness and menace. 

Once she caught him, she would hold him against her passionate breasts, would make him understand the depth of her devotion, would show him what it meant to be chosen by a goddess.

Her eyes glowed with love and tenderness, but her face showed a love of cruelty. 

The contradiction was not lost on her…..in fact, she reveled in it. 

This was the nature of divinity, the beautiful horror of existence beyond mortal understanding. Her affection did not preclude her capacity for destruction; rather, it enhanced it, made every caress feel like a blade pressed against the throat.

An absolutely evil smile unrolled from her lips, spreading across her features like ink spreading through water. 

She was beautiful in that moment, in a way that transcended conventional beauty…..beautiful like a storm, like a wildfire, like the vast and uncaring void itself. 

She held the silverback's head with both hands, evil smile and all. 

Every muscle in the monster's body pulsed with energy, responding to the command that pulsed through her fingertips. 

It was waiting, ready, under her complete control. 

With a word, she could release it and send it thundering through the streets of Orario. 

With another word, she could destroy it utterly.

So many possibilities. 

So many ways this could play out.

She leaned forward and placed her lips on the creature's forehead in a gesture that was almost maternal, almost tender. 

The silverback's breath came in great heaving gasps, its primitive mind struggling to comprehend what it was experiencing.

"Look for me?" she murmured against its skin, the words carrying the weight of command.

A roar erupted from the storage room, shaking the walls themselves. 

The silverback's eyes blazed with crimson light as the last of its restraints shattered beneath Freya's will. 

She stepped back, watching with satisfaction before walking to the other cages in the storage room.

She needed some distractions to exit the Amphitheatrum, so more monsters were released for that purpose.

And in the ensuing chaos, Freya exited the Amphitheatrum.

Her little rabbit was out there somewhere, unsuspecting, going about his mundane mortal business. 

He had no idea that danger was racing toward him, that the goddess who watched over his every moment had decided it was finally time to make her move.

………………………………………………………………………………….

At the entrance of the Amphitheatrum, along East Main.

Draco had come to a halt, his gaze fixed on the west.

"Why did you stop?" Bahamut demanded, rubbing her stinging forehead.

Draco had stopped too abruptly, and she had run into him.

Such a thing shouldn't have hurt, but the place her head had hit had a rather pointy piece of scale... so it hurt a bit, a small red mark marring her skin.

"Sorry about that," Draco apologized, bending down as he planted a soothing kiss on the red mark on her forehead.

"Hmmf... trying to sweet talk me," Bahamut grumbled internally, waiting for him to explain.

Eina, who was leading the way, soon realized that they weren't following her... so she turned to ask.

However, before she could speak... a fellow guild employee came running.

His face was flushed and filled with panic... it wasn't good news.

.................................................................................................................

Meanwhile, near the western entrance of the Amphitheatrum.....chaos had erupted.

"MONSTERRRRRRRRR!!!!!!"

The peaceful street erupted into an explosion of panic at that one word.

There it was.

A monster was at the end of the street, coming from the Amphitheatrum.

It was charging down the stone road, all of its white fur standing on end.

The monster, the silverback, was enraged.

A storm within, muscles firing off at full strength, it breathed with enough force to blow everything out of its way.

It wanted her, and it wanted her now.

It was looking for a goddess.

The last it saw of her silver hair was when she brought it outside the Amphitheatrum, before disappearing into a crowd.

The completely charmed monster rushed after her with more strength and power than it had ever had before, almost as though it was being pulled by an invisible chain.

Her love!

The goddess's affection!

The monster's purest, most basic instincts had taken over its body and driven it forward.

Its quest for a goddess's love consumed it.

"Gaaaaahhhhhh!!!"

"Heeee!"

The silverback advanced down the street, swatting carts and boxes out of its way.

A crying horse managed to get out of the way.

The driver of its cart wasn't so lucky.

He was launched skyward and tumbled to the ground.

The horse wheeled the empty cart back around to its master as the silverback charged by.

It was losing the scent of the goddess.

Her sweet aroma was gone.

Had it made a wrong turn?

The silverback stopped for a moment and tried to find her scent again.

It looked in every direction, taking in big huffs of air.

Many people filled the streets once again... people running, people in shock, people screaming at the top of their lungs.

The silverback was soon enclosed in a circle of mortals.

The silverback's eyes skimmed the crowd before suddenly coming to a stop.

Its eyes had locked onto a point, a certain someone.

It saw "her" with bloodshot eyes.

A small girl with black hair and blank eyes staring right back at him.

A being clearly different from the others around her.

Someone on a whole other plane.

Someone with the same qualities as the "goddess" he pursued.

A voice climbed into its ears...

"Could you chase the small one?"

Those words whispering in its ear were hers.

'Found you!'

The silverback took one big step toward the wide-eyed little girl.

A/N: Just a little short chapter to highlight Freya's thoughts, plans and relations to both Draco and Bell…

A/N: Feel free to read ahead on pat3on, donate and read 1 extra chapter as a free member.