NTR School: S Rank Student

"look, there's the Dragon King!"

"Who is that on his shoulder?"

"Did he kill her?"

As the sun had already fallen, only a few students still walked the grounds of the Six Schools, but those who witnessed Raphael carrying the bloody form of Seraphina, The Seventh Angel, whispered about him.

Of course, he did not care.

It was hardly the first time that Raphael had made himself the centre of attention. Such events had come to be expected of him, so even the students were not surprised.

Once he reached his destination, a bloody trail following him in his wake, he knocked on the door that stood in front of him.

"Come in." A soft, yet monotone voice answered from the inside.

Raphael stepped into the Office of the Sword Queen and found the lady lying on her sofas, clearly in a resting state. As usual, she wore jeans, but her blue puffer jacket was discarded to the side, and she was now wearing only a white buttoned shirt.

Raphael's eyes glanced over her body, as always impressed by her curves.

Cecilia looked up at him, to see the bloody body of a naked woman, and the expression on her face hardly changed. It was as though seeing such a sight was a casual event for her.

Raphael made his way over to the table that lay in front of the sofa and placed the woman on top of it.

The hole in her stomach was smooth and hollow, with dried blood surrounding it. The Sword Queen sat up to take a look at her.

"Can you heal her?"

Without answering, Cecilia hovered her hands above the woman's abdomen and began to work the powers of her birthright. A faint green energy radiated from her hands, alongside a dull humming side filling the room.

As she worked, she looked the woman up and down before laying eyes on Raphael.

"You're going to have to explain to me what happened."

---

Seraphina felt her eyes gradually opening, as her consciousness was returned to her.

She was filled with nothing but shock. After all, the last moments she remembered were being torn open by a great power.

And the owner of that power now stood over her, with a beautiful blonde woman beside him.

"H-how am I..." Seraphina croaked, though unable to finish her sentence. She realised that a blanket had been draped over her body, covering up her breasts and lower region.

Then, Raphael handed her a flask of water. It seemed as though despite trying to kill the man, he was not yet done with her.

Will I be tortured?

Seraphina took the flask and took a deep swig.

"Before we answer any of your questions, I'd like to ask you a few of my own," Raphael said, sitting down on the sofa opposite her. The blonde-haired woman did the same, sitting beside him.

Seraphina did not respond.

"First of all, why does King Helix wish to see me die?" Raphael asked.

The mentoring of her king filled Seraphina with great fear. She had failed her mission, and would not be able to return to the north without facing punishment.

And the punishment for an Angel failing to fulfil the requests of the King, was death.

Seraphina's face grew solemn at the thought of it.

"I can not say." The angel responded. "The king will have my head for treason."

Raphael placed his face in his palm, dissapointed with her answer.

"I don't see King Helix here now. Surely he cannot care for you that much."

Seraphina was taken aback by the words. Such thoughts had never run through her head before.

Of course the King cares for me, she wanted to say. But how could she be certain?

"And besides," The blonde woman next to Raphael started. "You have larger problems to worry about. You are no longer in the north and have been captured by the Dragon King. Whatever punishment your king could deliver to you, this man can do worse."

A chill ran through Seraphina's bones, as she looked at the man sitting opposite her.

She recalled some of the titles they had heard being bestowed upon him.

Born from the flames... Son of the Dragon...

It was then that she came to her decision.

She would answer the man's question whilst trying her best not to give away any information that could jeopardise her nation.

I must be vague.

"King Helix simply wanted to test you." She responded, before taking another swig from the flask. "It was nothing personal. He does so with any men or women that he sees as worthy figures."

Raphael nodded his head after hearing her words.

"So life is a joke to him then?" He said, accusingly. "I've done nothing to the man, and yet he sends such a beautiful woman to risk her life, just to take mine."

Seraphina felt her cheeks blushing at the compliment, though she did not understand why. Being one of the ten angels meant that she was not allowed to have interactions with any men who weren't King Helix unless she was being sent to kill them.

So the strange feelings that she was receiving whilst talking to this man had thrown her completely off balance.

"I've never met him, but I believe I understand King Helix," Raphael said, directed to both ladies in the room with him. "He is a power-hungry fool that should be killed."

Seraphina's heart lurched in her chest. She wanted to lean forward and dispute the man's words, but a sharp pain in her stomach stopped her.

"Be careful." The woman next to Raphael said to her. "Move too abruptly and you will undo my healing."

Seraphina had no idea who this woman was, but judging by her beauty, and the fact she was in a room with dragon king, she must be a noteworthy figure.

"You cannot." Seraphina said, "King Helix cannot be killed."

Raphael raised an eyebrow towards her.

"And why not? I've killed a man who called himself an Emperor already, what difference is a king?"

Seraphina wanted to dispute the man's words, but something about the sheer confidence that he spoke with stopped her.

She had full confidence in King Helix's power, and although she had never witnessed the man's birthright with her own eyes, those who had, claimed it to be one of the strongest in all of Vailstone.

But she had also witnessed the Dragon King's birthright. The three different flames that he utilised in battle, and how he had used them to tear a hole in her stomach with ease.

A treasonous thought suddenly filled her head.

Could this man possibly rival King Helix in strength?

...

No. He has only beaten me, the seventh-ranked angel. After this man is done with me and kills me, King Helix will send the others.

That will be his true test.

Realising that he would get no more answers from the woman, Raphael let out a sigh.

The moon was now high, and he wished to sleep after the eventful night.

"We will continue this in the morning." The man said, before rising to his feet. "Come with me, and I'll take you to a dragon school dorm where you can sleep."

Seraphina was taken by surprise.

"Y-you're letting me live?" She asked in shock.

Raphael couldn't help but let out a laugh.

"What, you were expecting me to kill a woman with a body like yours?" He asked in a playful tone. Seraphina now felt conscious of her naked state and pulled the blanket closer to cover her breasts.

"Unlike King Felix, I do not send my women to their deaths."

Seraphina's surprise was replaced by confusion.

"But I am not your woman?"

The Dragon King Laughed again.

"That's right. Not yet."

Before exiting the room, the man glanced at Cecilia with gratitude on his face.

"Thank you for the aid, Cecilia. It will not be forgotten."

The Sword Queen tried to sheepishly hide her happiness at the compliment, but the blush of her white cheeks was obvious.

There was a strange air between the two of them.

"It was nothing." The woman said, returning to her work at the desk. "Just make sure to... Repay me soon."

As she spoke the words, she was hardly able to meet the man's eyes. There was a clear undertone to her request, but Seraphina did not understand it.

Raphael apparently did, as his grin grew wider.

"Come Seraphina, let us leave the queen in peace."

The Queen... So that's who this woman is.

If she is a queen, then why does she act so nervously around this man?

Are they not equals?

Seraphina rose to her feet with the questions in her mind and followed the Dragon King out of the room.

And now having met the man face to face, both in battle and conversation, she had become certain of one thing.

Raphael Brooks had been underestimated by everyone in the north. The man was truly a formidable king.

And although she hated it, she could not help but worry for the other angels who would inevitably be sent to kill him.

How many would be torn open, like she was?