Luna’s eyes were involuntarily drawn to the skewer of grilled meat.
The golden, glistening color, the sizzling and slightly shrinking pieces of meat, and the aroma carried in the rising steam… all of it struck her senses with overwhelming force.
However, the vigilance in her heart was like a sturdy barrier, causing her to react with rejection almost the instant she smelled the aroma.
“Who… who would eat something from a guy like you?”
The girl turned her face away, trying to make her voice sound full of disdain and resistance, as if taking another look at the meat skewer would be a betrayal of her own principles.
But Luna’s voice had barely fallen — even before it had completely dissipated in the air —
Gurgle…
A clear and long rumble came from her belly, sounding exceptionally loud in the silent warehouse at the most inappropriate time.
The sound was full of hungry protest, creating an incredibly awkward contrast with the tough facade she had just put on.
‘Oh no!’
Luna’s heart sank as she realized something was wrong.
A flush of embarrassment uncontrollably spread across her fair cheeks.
Only now did she truly realize the state of her body.
She had gone through high-intensity battles with the Crystal Husk Legion today and had been ambushed and bound by T. Both her Mana and stamina were heavily depleted.
Earlier, she had temporarily ignored her body’s signals due to tension and vigilance, but now that she had relaxed slightly, intense feelings of hunger and weakness rushed in like a tide.
While a Goddess Angel’s Transformation State was powerful, it did not come without a price; it required the continuous consumption of Mana and physical energy to maintain.
If she allowed her energy to continue draining, the Transformation State would likely be forcibly deactivated.
At that time, she would revert to her appearance as an ordinary person…
Setting aside the fact that she would have almost no ability to resist a villain without her Goddess Angel powers, the mere thought of ‘exposing her true identity in front of an enemy’ was an absolute taboo for any Goddess Angel and could lead to fatal consequences.
This wouldn’t just mean her own secrets were leaked; the exposure of her identity could involve other Goddess Angels and jeopardize the safety of the entire system.
Therefore, whether from the perspective of maintaining her current ability to protect herself or protecting the secret of her identity, she had to replenish her energy before the Transformation State deactivated.
Even though her logic clearly told her she had to eat, emotionally, her level of trust in this V was nearly zero.
The man was an Adjudicator for the Eternal Night Gospel. Who knew if some bizarre Secret Medicine had been mixed into that fragrant meat skewer?
She couldn’t help but recall certain rumors — she had heard of colorless and odorless potions that, once consumed, would make the person obey the administrator’s every word and completely forget everything that happened while the drug was in effect… ‘If this is what V is planning…’
Various terrifying conjectures flashed through her mind, causing the determination that had wavered due to hunger to be covered by vigilance once again.
However, the tempting aroma and the increasingly obvious emptiness in her stomach were like two forces pulling violently within her.
She couldn’t help but swallow, her throat bobbing slightly.
The pink-haired girl stared intently at the skewer of meat and then quickly glanced up at Hell’s expressionless mask, her voice heavy with suspicion as she questioned him.
“You… you definitely poisoned the food… or did something else to it, didn’t you?”
Hell’s movements paused almost imperceptibly.
Although his face was completely covered by the pure white mask and no expression could be seen, Luna could feel it with absolute clarity — the other party seemed to give her a look of utter helplessness.
It was a silent emotion conveyed through his posture, the slight pause in his movements, and a gaze that seemed to pierce through the mask.
Then, Hell responded calmly in a tone that was almost a statement of fact, even carrying a hint of being too bothered to explain.
“If I wanted to drug you, I could have done it while you were unconscious and defenseless. Wouldn’t it have been more convenient and secure to concoct a Secret Medicine or use a Spell Formula that requires cooperation then? Why… wait until now?”
Luna was choked by those words, and for a moment, she was speechless. As she thought about it carefully… it seemed that was indeed the case.
If the other party truly had malicious intentions, acting while she was unconscious would undoubtedly have been the best time, with the highest success rate and the most secrecy. Why go through the trouble of waking her up, undoing her bonds, and then grilling meat skewers to use such a roundabout and uncertain method?
The logic was simple yet powerful, like a small hammer lightly shattering a portion of the overly tense barrier of suspicion in her heart.
At the same time, the alarm in her body signaling an energy deficit grew louder, and her sense of weakness became more pronounced.
The Mana maintaining her Transformation State was slowly but continuously draining away.
After weighing her options repeatedly, her survival instinct and the urgent need to maintain her identity finally overwhelmed the last shred of doubt regarding the food’s safety.
Luna didn’t care about much else anymore; she had already been caught in the embarrassing state of having a growling stomach, so being overly hesitant would only make her look ridiculous.
Thus, she took a deep breath as if she had made a firm decision.
She picked up the old chair she had knocked over earlier when she fell and awkwardly dragged it to the campfire.
She sat down not far from Hell — at a position that wasn’t too close to seem intimate, but not too far that it was inconvenient to take the food.
Then, the girl reached out with an air of desperation.
She took a grilled skewer directly from Hell’s hand without giving him another look.
Without any politeness, she opened her mouth and bit down.
With the first bite, the crispy outer skin broke between her teeth, and the hot, delicious meat juices burst forth instantly.
Mixed with the perfect amount of spices, it conquered her taste buds in an instant.
Because she was truly too hungry, and because the meat skewer was indeed charred on the outside, tender on the inside, and fragrant, Luna completely ignored the elegant image of a Goddess Angel, let alone maintaining her demeanor in front of an enemy.
She chewed in large gulps.
Grease stained the corners of her mouth, and one or two drops of meat juice even slid down her chin.
She simply wiped them away casually with the back of her hand and continued to focus on enjoying this emergency food.
Hell watched her devouring the food and offered no comment, nor did he take the opportunity to do anything.
He just silently picked up a clean napkin prepared nearby and handed it over.
Meanwhile, his other hand had already placed a newly prepared skewer on the grill.
His movements were skilled and steady, as if this situation of two opposing sides eating together was perfectly normal.
“… Thanks.”
Luna was deeply focused on eating and subconsciously took the handed napkin, mumbling her thanks.
Her voice was somewhat muffled because her mouth was full of food.
However, the moment those two words left her mouth, she froze. Her movements stiffened abruptly, and her chewing speed slowed.
Her hand holding the napkin stopped mid-air, and a flash of shock and annoyance flickered in her pale gold eyes.
‘Thanks? I… I’m… thanking a villain?!’
Even though his act of handing her the napkin was, objectively speaking, a small thing worth thanking him for… thanking a guy who was her absolute opposite, an executive of an evil organization… no matter how she thought about it, it felt weird and incredibly awkward.
It even gave her an absurd feeling that she had betrayed her own position.
The girl pursed her lips and stopped speaking.
She just kept her head down and continued eating the meat, trying to use the food to cover up the slip of the tongue that had just made her feel so embarrassed.
‘I haven’t really been drugged, have I?’