My Husband Was Clearly a Paladin
Chapter 43
His eyes were the same as those whose bodies and minds had been completely consumed by demonic energy.
His pupils glistened a blood-soaked red.
Those turbid eyes were filled with an intense, unidentifiable desire.
Every single person whose eyes had changed like this…
‘Turned into monsters and killed people.’
Those consumed by demonic energy begin to hate every living thing.
She had seen it countless times—how they would fall into a frenzy, unable to tolerate the presence of humans, beasts, or even a single flying insect.
‘Why Michael…!’
Instinctively imagining the moment Michael became a monster, Irene gasped, her mouth hanging open.
If he, of all people, were to turn.
‘Everyone is in danger.’
When the process of monsterization begins, a human becomes more ferocious and exerts a monstrous strength beyond human capability. Because of that, it usually took several knights lunging at once to barely subdue a single person undergoing the transformation.
But if Michael were to become a monster, there was no one in this fortress who could stop him.
“Ah…”
The moment she realized the gravity of the situation and tried to scream—
Grab!
He covered Irene’s mouth with his hand.
“Be quiet.”
His voice was incredibly calm and steady for someone consumed by demonic energy.
He maintained eye contact with Irene as he spoke again.
“I am still… still alright.”
Liar.
Irene swallowed those words.
In the darkness, a thick scent of blood wafted from his body before her.
The nausea rose within her, driven by the terror that came with that smell. Just as she was trembling, not knowing what to do, he spoke again in a low voice.
“Please, purify me.”
Purification. Irene snapped to her senses at those words.
‘He’s still maintaining his reason!’
Though his eyes were completely stained with demonic energy, he was merely speaking in a voice quieter and lower than usual; he wasn’t rampaging, nor was he trying to kill her.
So if she purified him now, surely it would be okay.
No, it had to be.
Irene reached out and gripped the hand covering her mouth, her own hands trembling with fear.
Normally, she would have hesitated to perform a purification, but right now, she had no room to worry about the embarrassment that came with the process. The only thought remaining in Irene’s mind was that she had to purify him to survive—and to save Michael.
Meeting the gaze fixed upon her, she gripped the hand covering her mouth firmly with both of hers.
As if waiting for that very moment, the demonic energy overflowing from his body began to pour into Irene’s.
“Ugh…!”
Though she had braced herself, accepting the demonic energy was still an agonizing ordeal.
Perhaps she had grown accustomed to it after a few times, for even as her body shook pitifully, she began to absorb his demonic energy rapidly.
Small sparks burst before her eyes, and a faint pleasure accompanied by pain spread through her veins.
“Ah, ah…”
Her body began to respond quickly to the spreading stimulation.
She panted, feeling a ticklish sensation deep in her lower abdomen. Irene’s eyes grew wet and red as she suppressed an emotion that felt no different from surging lust.
At any other time, she might have at least breathed easily.
But the hand pressing down on her nose and mouth permitted only the bare minimum of air, making her breathing even more ragged.
Throughout it all, his gaze remained fixed on her.
Since she was attempting purification, it was only natural that he should become somewhat stabilized, yet the desire behind those smoldering red eyes continued to burn fiercely.
What was burning inside him wasn’t an urge to kill. It was something deeper and thicker. But it was certainly dangerous.
When Irene didn’t look away despite her trembling, the corners of his mouth curved into a satisfied arc.
Even so, those burning eyes were ominous, as if he might tear her throat out if she looked away for even a second.
Meanwhile, the blood he was covered in was slowly being purified.
Thanks to that, Michael’s form became slightly clearer despite the darkness. And then, Irene noticed something strange.
Staying in a dungeon for a long time leads to demonic energy poisoning, but becoming this severely affected usually only happens when one has sustained a fatal wound.
Deep contamination is only possible when a monster’s claws or teeth have gouged into the flesh.
‘…There are no wounds.’
No injuries were visible on his face, neck, or arms where the red blood had vanished.
That wasn’t the only strange thing.
‘Where on earth did he encounter monsters like this?’
He was a man who always dealt with monsters cleanly. Even in mid-grade dungeons where others had to risk their lives, he would return looking more composed than someone who had merely gone for a stroll.
For someone like him to be this drenched in blood and in such a mess, it must have been a high-grade dungeon—one where particularly difficult monsters appear.
‘But no such dungeons have appeared right now.’
Feeling suspicious, Irene scanned the rest of his body.
Then, in the darkness, she saw red blood remaining on his upper abdomen.
Blood that had not yet been purified.
Irene tried to reach toward it. But Michael snatched her hand, forcing her to grip his body again.
As if he wouldn’t let her pull away even for a moment.
‘But I can’t just leave it like that.’
Thinking there might still be a wound there, Irene carefully moved her hand along his body without letting go.
Her slender fingers brushed past the hard muscles of his arm.
Was it alright as long as she didn’t lose contact?
Unlike his rough grip from a moment ago, he left Irene’s hand to move as she wished.
Gaining courage, Irene kept her hand on his body and continued to move.
His muscles twitched wherever her slowly moving hand touched, as if the contact tickled.
Eventually, her hand reached his neck, where his veins were bulging.
The monster blood smeared there had been purified and turned into a viscous liquid.
Because of that, Irene’s hand slipped, unintentionally sweeping down over his chest.
“Kh…!”
Michael’s body jolted violently, and he let out a short groan.
Worried that he was in pain, Irene froze her hand right there.
Because it had stopped over his thick pectoral muscle right above his heart, Irene could clearly feel the fierce pounding beneath the slimy liquid.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
His heart was beating so fast it was hard to believe it belonged to a human.
As Irene felt the strangeness and looked up again, she met Michael’s gaze once more.
His pupils, which seemed to have grown even redder rather than being purified, were scanning her.
Gulp.
Her frozen body found it difficult even to swallow.
From the moment she touched his hand until now, her body had been tingling from the constant influx of demonic energy.
If that were the case, it meant he was certainly being purified, yet Michael’s eyes showed no change at all.
As if he had been born that way.
‘Why isn’t the demonic energy being fully purified?’
The demonic energy seething inside him wasn’t the only thing that was strange.
Irene cautiously lowered her gaze. Even in the darkness, the red stain remaining on his white uniform was clearly visible.
While the monster blood on other parts of him had been purified cleanly, that specific area remained stained red.
Thinking she should at least finish purifying what was visible, Irene painstakingly lowered her hand.
Faint light drifted at her fingertips. It was the phenomenon that appeared during purification.
Until now, it had been almost invisible because her purification power was so low.
But now, a faint light began to dwell at Irene’s fingertips as well.
“Hss…”
Gathering her fading consciousness, Irene poured all her strength into the purification.
However, the blood soaking his abdomen did not change in the slightest.
“Why…?”
Why wasn’t it being purified?
While Irene was wondering, Michael reached out, grabbed her hand, and pulled her even closer to him.
“…!”
Because of that, Irene collapsed into his arms.
His other hand wrapped around her slender waist; her sweating forehead touched the crook of his neck, and her panting chest pressed against his.
Startled by the complete contact of their bodies, Irene tried to get up. But the hand holding her waist gripped her firmly, trapping her in his embrace.
She was about to say that she needed him to let go so she could purify him, when he spoke.
“Here.”
Michael moved Irene’s hand slowly while still holding her wrist.
His bulging, hard abdominal muscles touched her palm with frightening clarity.
As if enjoying himself, he slowly moved Irene’s hand, making her stroke his stomach.
Every time Irene’s palm flinched, his abdominal muscles twitched in response.
Irene followed his movements helplessly, caught in the slow motion that felt somehow lewd.
“This blood.”
He whispered into the ear of the trembling Irene in his arms.
“…is not the blood of a monster.”
