The Sponsored Heroines Are Coming for Me

Chapter 253

A bitter taste of blood.

It was like well-roasted coffee—deep and filling my mouth with its bitterness.

That bitterness was decadently intoxicating.

— Haa...

Our lips parted for a moment.

Her breath ran roughly over me.

The Blood Witch’s eyes, with saliva stretching between her lips, glowed redder than any blood. Eyes that looked as if they could devour me at any moment.

And yet, I no longer felt fear in the face of that predator’s gaze.

She must have felt it too.

That I no longer cared about her.

Her crescent-shaped eyes confirmed that truth.

“You’ve grown.”

A gaze as if admiring something precious.

As I pondered the nature of the affection filling her eyes, her lips met mine once more.

She was more skilled than anyone.

She pressed her lips against mine as if squeezing every ounce out of me.

Even the way her tongue moved—melting me, as if dissolving candy.

Blink, Blink.

After exchanging a few glances, she smiled, her eyes curving like a crescent moon.

The stronger the excitement, the faster the oxygen depleted.@@@@

I placed my hands on her shoulders and pushed her away.

“Haa...”

Our breaths tangled and mixed.

I asked her.

“I don’t know what you’re trying to do.”

“Hmm, as far as I know, this isn’t your first kiss.”

“I don’t see how that matters.”

“We’ve shared our lips. You and I.”

The Blood Witch spoke, a faint smile playing on her lips.

That smile was both teasing and lethally seductive.

No matter how much I grew, I would never stand above this enchantress.

That thought crossed my mind.

The Blood Witch continued speaking.

Her crimson lips parted slowly.

“You were curious, weren’t you?”

“...?”

“What happens when two opposing forces mix?”

There was a sharp edge to her words.

What I needed was realization.

To blend the life force I had gained from the Bloodstone Cult’s teachings with my Earth element.

I didn’t know how long she had been watching me.

But the obsession she showed was anything but small.

This enchantress knew me.

The half-tilted smile she showed was proof of why I could never escape her.

Her lips parted again.

“I’ll show you.”

From within, her long tongue slithered like a snake.

◆

Training should always be done in a completely stable state.

It’s rare—no, it’s unheard of—to train while one’s body is overheated or excited.

Stimulation that affects anything other than the mind is just a useless distraction.

That’s what I had believed.

And yet, the Blood Witch was leading me forward with precision.

I simply followed her lead.

And I realized—

Even excitement was something utterly natural.

In fact, excitement follows an even more sacred principle than growth itself.

If growth is tied to the desire for survival, then excitement is linked to the desire for reproduction.

Reproduction—the act of leaving behind a future generation—is an innately sacred and meaningful thing.

So, is it truly right to exclude excitement from training?

Perhaps the inability to embrace such fundamental emotions is what’s truly wrong.

‘This desire is also part of me.’

I accepted it.

The moment I made that decision, many things changed.

I embraced the heat of the Blood Witch.

I felt the texture and taste of her tongue.

The faint energy she exuded was life force—gained from absorbing vitality.

I overlapped it with my own magic.

And the earth is me.

So it was not an impossible concept.

Slowly, I awakened the earth slumbering within me.

The earth is the origin.

The foundation of all things.

A warm glow filled me from within.

I pulled it out, shaping it into form.

The moment the earthy aura gathered around me, it took shape.

A semi-transparent, soil-colored sphere.

I held it in my left hand.

“...Hoo.”

Now, the other hand.

The realization I gained within the Bloodstone Cult—my blood, my flesh, my very life force.

I called it forth.

A deep, almost blackened crimson energy surged around me.

I held that in my right hand.

One was the Earth—this world itself.

The other was me—my very existence, my life.

I merged them.

The two opposing elements met and seemed to blend—

— Pazzzzzzt!

But instead, they violently repelled each other.

A failure.

I must have been holding them too tightly.

They resisted each other and exploded apart.

The intensity was no different from a destructive spell.

‘How do I fuse something that refuses to mix?’

The thought crackled through my mind like electricity.

Once again, I shaped the element and life force into spheres.

But this time, I looked deeper inside.

Thin, vibrating strands of mana formed a tangled web, pulsing in waves. Like coiled threads twisted together, these trembling strands formed the sphere. ṙα₦ŐBЕ§

I tried again.

— Uwoooooong!

This time, it was different.

The two opposing elements touched and trembled, as if trying to reject one another.

But slowly, they began to synchronize their movements.

I pushed them together just a little further.

And finally—

— ...

A long silence fell.

The bright light vanished.

The vibrating hum disappeared.

I slowly looked down at my palm.

“...”

Not radiant—

But a sphere of absolute black.

“...Ah.”

A form I had never seen before, pulsing slightly in my hand.

Like a living thing exhaling in slow, steady breaths.

I understood.

I had reached a new realm.

And—

Because I had stepped into this realm, the Cult Leader must have advanced to the next as well.

◆

At the peak of a mountain,

A man sat cross-legged, draped in white robes.

His hair was as white as his robes.

But upon closer look, strands of ashen gray could be seen woven within.

— Gooooooh...

For an instant.

His white hair—

Became even whiter.

The man opened his eyes.

They were red.

And as his gaze lifted, the sky turned crimson.

All the world lay beneath that red glow.

Whether it was the man’s doing or simply the setting sun—

No one could tell.