"Zihan, your—"
The girl, who had immediately noticed the Honkai energy markings that had already spread to her lover's neck, found her voice trembling.
However, before she could finish her sentence, the boy's lighthearted voice cut her off.
"It's just that parts of my body were eroded from implanting the Herrscher Cores."
"Just a small hiccup during the experiment."
Casually, the boy dismissed the potentially fatal corrosion on his body as a "small hiccup." He sat up in bed and stretched, and as he did, the arms that had been hidden in his sleeves were partially revealed.
Mei's face grew even paler.
The eroded areas weren't just on his neck; his forearms, too, bore the marks of Honkai energy corruption. A significant portion of his entire body had probably already been corroded.
"It won't affect tonight's party," the boy, whose physical condition was indeed quite poor, said with a smile to the girl who had just entered. His smile was as bright and cheerful as ever.
This attitude of treating a fatal wound like a minor scratch clearly infuriated Mei.
"How can you still be talking about a party at a time like this?!"
The girl, completely unable to comprehend her lover's behavior, abandoned all her refined upbringing and ladylike demeanor. She grabbed the boy's collar and roared in a low voice. In that moment, she was like a furious lioness.
The Rice Herrscher suddenly showing the aura of the Herrscher of Thunder is actually pretty scary, Li Zihan thought, looking at her angry purple eyes.
"Relax, I won't die that easily."
Staring at the amethyst eyes, filled with rage and almost pressed against his own face, the boy reached up and scratched his cheek, looking a little uncomfortable.
He was telling the truth. As someone possessing a Composite Saint Graph, multiple Herrscher Cores, and having studied a fragment of the Second Magic, his life force was incredibly tenacious.
In terms of speed, he could use the fragment of the Second Magic, the type to vanish in the blink of an eye.
In terms of defense, he had the tortoise shell from the Little Sun—the Armor of Fáfnir.
His vitality was even more exaggerated. The Battle Continuation of Berserker Cú Chulainn, the self-regeneration of the Dracula Stigmata, the self-reconstruction of the Herrscher of Reason... It could be said that Li Zihan had basically maxed out his survival stats.
He had thick skin and high defense, was unbelievably fast, and on top of that, he had worked with Ling to eliminate the soul lurking within the Void Archives, allowing him to perfectly wield the Authority of Reason.
The difficulty of actually killing him... was rather high.
"Compared to the power I've gained, this is a small price to pay, isn't it?" the undeniably powerful boy said.
Although his physical condition wasn't great, his strength was indeed skyrocketing. As long as he had a sufficient supply of Honkai energy, he could pin most Lostbelt Kings and Beasts that hadn't reached their final stage to the ground and pummel them.
Unfortunately, Honkai energy was a specialty of the Honkai world. The boy felt a twinge of regret, knowing his combat power would surely drop in other worlds due to an insufficient supply. He would have to find a way to convert Imaginary internal energy into Honkai energy.
"Zihan, you..."
Looking at the boy who showed absolutely no concern for his own body, the girl felt like she was about to go crazy. If he kept this up, he would die sooner or later.
"Relax. How could I possibly bear to die before I marry you?" the boy with the vivid red eyes said, looking at the girl who was worrying about him with utmost seriousness.
Before I marry you, I will not die.
Without any warning, a direct pitch landed squarely on Miss Mei.
As if her system had crashed, the girl who had been on the verge of slapping this bastard for not taking care of himself, froze completely.
And then—as if she had been steaming in a sauna for a long time, Miss Mei felt her head grow dizzy.
The confession had come too suddenly.
The girl's pretty little face flushed a deep red. Shyness and bewilderment, like the finest dyes, bloomed across her cheeks in a heart-wrenching shade of peach.
"Wh-What are you saying?"
In an instant, Miss Mei's heart was a tangled mess.
"Have you ever heard of a 'Geis'?" Li Zihan said, uttering a word that most often appeared in Celtic mythology.
A Geis was a common element in Celtic mythology, an arcane vow or prohibition. It was a sacred oath for Celtic warriors that, once made, was fundamentally unbreakable. It often served as a hero's unknown taboo or fatal weakness—Cú Chulainn and Diarmuid had both died because of one. However, it was less a death curse and more a strict code of conduct, a rule like "under X circumstances, one must not/should not/cannot fail to do Y." It had a side that bestowed blessings and a side that imposed restrictions. Obey, and you benefit; violate, and you suffer.
"It's hard for me to explain my reasons for doing all this." The boy, who absolutely wouldn't be trying this hard if the girls he'd provoked didn't have such ridiculously high power ceilings, said with a faint smile.
"Since that's the case, then I will make an oath to you."
The boy with the vivid red eyes extended a hand and smiled gently at the girl before him.
"Before I marry you, I will never do anything that could possibly lead to my certain death."
The vow, which had led to the deaths of countless Celtic heroes, was uttered from the boy's lips, binding the one who swore it.
Unknown runes materialized in the air and then—like chains, they attached themselves to the boy's body.
"Zihan, you—"
The girl, finally recalling the true meaning of a Geis, looked at the boy who had just sworn an oath to her, completely at a loss.
"It's just an oath, to you," the boy, having made the first Geis of his life, said with a gentle smile. "For your sake, I won't die so easily."
For her sake, he would absolutely not seek death.
The red on the girl's face grew even more vibrant.
The intention to question him about why he didn't cherish his own body, and why he was always attracting other girls, had long since dissipated.
And then—she took a deep breath, as if mustering all her courage.
Before Li Zihan's slightly surprised eyes, the girl's cherry-pink lips landed on his cheek.
"What was that?"
"A reward. Celtic heroes always receive a reward for upholding their Geis, don't they?"
The girl, her face almost completely crimson, turned her head away, not letting her lover see her expression.
"Also, about the Seele thing... I forgive you."