The Psychopathic Beast Emperor-Chapter 79: A Conversation with Exildra

Bahamut and Exildra could be seen walking side by side, with Exildra supporting him to walk. He had eaten a bit too much, forgetting that he had suppressors on. For some reason, only he could see the suppressors; others couldn’t see them.

"Why did you have to eat like that?" Exildra asked him with a worried tone as they side-stepped a rolling body. The outer sect was really full of unhinged people, it seemed. People were indulging in all sorts of things everywhere they passed.

"I didn’t eat yesterday..." Bahamut spoke with a little difficulty, causing Exildra to chuckle.

"Do I have something on my face?" Bahamut asked in confusion.

"You look cute when you’re not being bloody," Exildra blurted out unconsciously, closing her mouth quickly at the slip.

"Uh... So, about what I asked..." Bahamut completely ignored the slip-up, and Exildra was thankful for it.

"Uhm... Can we go somewhere more private?" Exildra stated with a faint blush on her cheeks.

"Mm."

...

They left the main paths behind.

The noise of the Outer Sect gradually thinned: shouting turned to murmurs, murmurs to the distant clatter of training weapons. Stone gave way to packed earth, and the smell of cooked food into clean air tinged with grass, bark, and faint spiritual pollen.

They stopped beneath an enormous tree.

It wasn’t especially tall compared to the mountains around the sect, but it was old. Its trunk was wide and twisted, bark layered like overlapping scales, each groove etched with faintly glowing runes, natural ones, grown rather than carved. Pale blue leaves drifted down lazily, dissolving into motes of light before they touched the ground.

A formation circle was embedded beneath it, barely active, just enough to calm qi flow and steady the mind. The air felt... slower here. As if time itself had decided to sit down and rest.

Exildra guided Bahamut to the base of the trunk and helped him sit.

He exhaled, long and low.

"...This place is nice," he said. "Feels like it won’t stab me."

"That’s a very low bar," Exildra replied softly.

She sat beside him, close but not touching, knees drawn slightly inward. For a while, neither of them spoke.

Leaves drifted.

Somewhere far off, a beast roared. Somewhere closer, someone screamed, either in training or enthusiasm; the Outer Sect was flexible like that.

Bahamut rested his head lightly against the tree, blindfold tilted slightly as if he were gazing up through it.

"So," he said eventually, tone calm, almost too casual. "About what I asked."

Exildra’s fingers tightened in her lap.

"You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to," he added. "I just... don’t like guessing."

Silence again.

Then...

"Elves don’t fall in love easily," she said quietly.

Bahamut didn’t interrupt.

"When we do... it isn’t sudden. It’s not sparks or obsession." Her voice trembled, just a little. "It’s recognition. Something deep. Like a thread tightening around the heart."

She swallowed.

"I noticed you during the trial," she continued. "Not because you were strong. Plenty of people are strong. It was because you were... anchored. Everything was chaos, and you were bleeding, blind, and still choosing to move forward as if the world had already agreed to bend for you."

She laughed softly, a sound with no humor in it.

"I hated that."

Bahamut smiled faintly.

"And then," Exildra said, "you saved me. Not dramatically. Not heroically. You just... did it. Like it was obvious."

Her eyes shimmered.

"That’s when the thread tightened."

She turned to face him fully now.

"I don’t expect anything from you," she said quickly, almost defensively. "Elves don’t demand love. We endure it. Even if it hurts."

Bahamut was quiet for a long moment.

Then he reached up and tugged the blindfold slightly aside, not enough to reveal his eyes, but enough to make the gesture mean something.

"That sounds exhausting," he said.

Exildra blinked. "What?"

"I’m bad with emotions," Bahamut admitted. "I break things. I shout. I eat like I’m trying to erase the concept of hunger." He let out a small huff. "I don’t know if I can be... what you deserve."

She opened her mouth...

"But," he continued, "I don’t hate the idea of that thread."

Her breath hitched.

"I don’t fully understand it yet," he said. "But I’d rather know it exists than pretend it doesn’t."

The tree hummed softly, reacting to the emotional resonance between them. A few more leaves drifted down, glowing brighter than before.

Exildra stared at him.

Then, carefully, she leaned sideways until her shoulder brushed his arm.

Just barely.

"That’s... enough," she said softly. "For now."

Bahamut chuckled. "Good. Because I think if this gets any heavier, the suppressors might file a complaint."

She laughed, really laughed this time.

For a while, they sat there beneath the ancient tree, surrounded by drifting light and distant chaos.

The Outer Sect continued to grind, clash, and scheme.

The Citadel continued to shift its unseen gears.

And beneath it all, something quiet and dangerous took root.

Not a promise.

Not a confession.

Just a thread.

Tightening.

But as the saying goes... all good things must come to an end.

"That was a very nice confession. You’re really lucky," a cold voice sounded from above them, causing them to look. Because of the sun, they couldn’t see well, but they could outline something flapping.

"Thank you, Senior," Bahamut said with a faint smirk, making Exildra look at him in confusion.

"Who?" she asked, her eyes growing dark. Bahamut felt chills down his spine at the look she was giving him.

’That’s scary! I thought she said she wasn’t obsessed!!!’

"Oh? That’s my senior, Apollonia. She’s very cool," Bahamut replied, still smiling. He then turned towards Apollonia, who had landed, her long hair swaying in the wind.

"Nice to meet you, too, Lady Esteria," Apollonia said with a faint bow, causing Bahamut to raise his eyebrow in confusion.

"Oh... Uhm, please just call me Exildra. I don’t like titles that much," Exildra said.

"As you wish," Apollonia nodded at Exildra and turned to Bahamut. "Master is calling you."

"Like right now?"

"..."

"Uh, sorry. So how do we get there?"

"..."

"I will talk with you later. See ya!" Bahamut turned to Exildra and bid her farewell when he realized that Apollonia wasn’t going to mind him. Her face said it all.

One more question, and I will send you flying down!

"Okay. Take care. And thank you for listening!" Exildra said loudly as Bahamut was grabbed by the collar of his clothes and hoisted like a sack of garbage by Apollonia as she flew away.

Exildra stood there staring up as they faded away, her long hair swaying softly, while her eyes shimmered with countless emotions.

’I didn’t get rejected...’ she thought, a faint blush covering her cheeks.

"Now... to get rid of that fox!" Exildra muttered coldly, her eyes becoming obsessive. Bahamut enjoyed the thrill of flying, unaware of the chaos he would soon be dropped into.