Adrian was sitting before Ruby after he patched her wounds and gave her a potion, the only one he had.

Now, he was studying the explosives before him.

Back on earth, he had only seen bombs in movies and they were nothing like what he was observing at the moment.

"Do you know how to take it out?" Ruby asked curiously as she tilted her head.

From her expression, no one could tell if she was good at pretending or actually wasn't scared.

Adrian shook his head, "This is a newly introduced artifact, or whatever you call it. I have never seen something like this."

Ruby hummed, "Yes...I heard they were blasting things, but never thought such a small thing could cause such large destruction."

She couldn't observe how they triggered it but she had faced what these explosive artifacts could cause.

She was right before one when it exploded and she was sent flying away. She lost consciousness for a few moments, and when she woke up, she was under the stone slab.

Her mind was barely working and since she didn't have her armament, she couldn't slice the slab away nor conjure enough strength to get out.

Her last resort was crafting runes on one of the nearby stone pieces and getting out of there. But fortunately, Ariana and Adrian came on time.

"Hmm...this is complicated. I have a feeling that they have installed a secondary trigger."

His words made her frown, "You mean...taking it out recklessly might just set it off?"

Adrian nodded. While the timer has turned off because of the Time Chamber's effect, he couldn't be hasty and just pull the bomb away.

He knew there were no books or guides in the chamber to help him here. And none of the items offered by the System would be effective here.

Then...what can he do?

Ah!

"Forgelet." He called out, "Are you there?"

Ruby tilted her head...thinking he was talking to himself.

Meanwhile, his message was delivered.

There were three people online, and fortunately, one of them was Forgelet.

Naturally, the Idiot was also there.

Forgelet: [Yes? Do you wanna exchange something? I was craving for something diabetic sweet.]

Adrian wryly smiled, "Right now, I need help. You see my friend is..."

Adrian paused and frowned. The system was blocking his messages...because it contained information about his personal life. Fuck!

'System, this is important. I want to save her so stop censoring my words.'

[The host must learn the fourth thread to unlock-]

'I will learn it! You know I will, so just fucking stop blocking me!' He growled, making Ruby blink in confusion.

The system remained silent for a moment, before offering,

[The system would allow the host to share personal information considering the situation, but in return, the host must learn the first stage of the fourth thread in ten days or the Host would lose the Shop feature.]

"..." Adrian was stunned. What the...hell?

'You are now playing it unfair, huh?' He wasn't surprised but disappointed.

[The host must understand that everything the system does is to ensure the host's safety and make sure that the Host never stops learning.]

Adrian rolled his eyes, 'Okay, fine, just unblock it.'

Forgelet: [Hmm? Are you there?]

The system didn't respond, but Adrian assumed that it must have worked, so he asked, "Ah, yeah, can you tell me how to remove an explosive from a person? It's on her thigh."

Idiot: [H-Her? D-Darling...who are you with?]

Adrian gritted his teeth, "Not now, Idiot. A friend is about to die so stop talking." He told her.

"Wait, Idiot?" Ruby frowned as she mumbled under her breath.

She remembered that in the group, or wherever Anna interacts with her Darling, her name is Idiot too.

Meanwhile, Adrian talked to Forgelet, "Can you help me?"

[I can help you but I have to know what kind of bomb it is. The explosive used, the mechanism...]

"I don't know anything. But I can give you a description of the bomb." Adrian responded, his eyes never leaving the explosives.

[Yes, go ahead. Don't forget any details.]

Adrian nodded before starting to describe, "Two long bricks, brownish-white, are connected with thick...thread, no, it is made of fabric."

[What the hell? They used such basic tools to make it? And yet you haven't exploded-]

Idiot: [Forgetlet~]

[A-Ah, I mean....you need to be more careful now since that thing is unpredictable.]

Adrian hummed before asking, "Can I remove it?"

[Hmm, can you find out how it is hooked to your friend?]

Adrian asked Ruby, "Can you lift your leg?"

Ruby nodded before she slowly curled her leg and allowed Adrian to inspect the bomb better.

"It's just...tucked to her stockings."

[Hmm, then you can just remove it. But be careful to not touch the thread joining them.]

Adrian took a strong gulp, "You sure?"

[Yes, just be careful-]

Valor: [And XXXX, lock it up in the pod I gave you.,]

Valor, who had been silent until now, interjected.

Adrian's eyes landed on the metal orbs nearby.

He had requested them for this occasion.

He took one pod, big enough to store a four-year-old child.

Adrian tapped the pod's switch before it parted from the middle.

"Ruby, hold this-"

Idiot: [Huh? Ruby?!]

"...!" Adrian's eyes widened. Fuck! He forgot to disconnect.

He first got off the chat and handed the pods to Ruby.

He decided to think about the Idiot later and deal with the danger first.

Ruby asked, "Do I lock the bomb in this?"

Adrian smiled, "Smart girl. Yeah, that's exactly what you have to do."

Ruby took a strong gulp and nodded.

Adrian exhaled a long sigh before he brought his attention to the bomb.

He tucked his fingers on either side of the explosives.

But just when he pulled, her stockings began to get pulled as well.

He looked at Ruby and found her holding the pods.

In the end, he had no option but to press his lips against her ankle and grab the stocking with his teeth.

"Nngh~so rough."

"..." How can she play around at this time? He didn't say anything and started to pull the explosive up her thighs.

Slow and cautious...inch by inch.

And after a whole minute, Adrian finally pulled it out and commanded, "Ruby!"

He released his hold mid-air, and Ruby instantly slammed the pods from either side, caging the bomb inside at once.

She kept holding it together with all her strength, her breathing rough.

Adrian got up and looked at the pod before telling her, "You can put it down. Once sealed after being parted, they won't open ever."

Ruby nodded before slowly putting the pod on the ground.

They took a few moments to cool themselves down.

And when they calmed down, the first thing Ruby did was to ask,

"Now ....tell me everything."

Adrian sighed...this night is long.

°°°°°°°°°

A/N:- Thanks for reading.