Extra's POV: My Obsessive Villainous Fiancee Is The Game's Final Boss-Chapter 338: Preparation Is Key

The wind curled gently around the pagoda, carrying bits of snow. The snow slightly obscured the view, but after a few seconds, the wind died down once again.

Ren and Lilith sat at the edge of the wooden platform, their legs dangling off the side, watching the golden sunlight spill across the craggy peaks of the Arondale mountain range.

It was quiet. A comfortable silence between two people who were at peace. Right now, nothing could destroy their happiness. Not even the fact that tomorrow, they’ll have to face Nero and Contessa.

Lilith leaned her head against Ren’s shoulder, her fingers lightly twined with his. The warmth of her touch was familiar now, but no less electric.

"It’s beautiful up here." She whispered.

Ren nodded. "Yeah. It feels like the world finally stopped spinning."

She let the silence return, content to breathe beside him. The beating of her heart was steady, not pounding in fear or anger.

This was it. What she’d been chasing for a long time. And it felt good.

She reached out, tracing slow patterns against his palm.

"Promise me something." She said suddenly.

Ren turned to her. "Anything."

"Promise you’ll never leave. Not for anything. Not for the world. Not even if you think it’s better for me. I want you here. Always."

He reached out and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "Lilith. There’s no version of this world I want to be in that doesn’t have you in it. I swear it. I’ll always be here. No matter what comes."

She nodded, eyes misting. "Good."

They sat there for a while, wrapped in the cold mountain air, but warm in each other’s company.

Below them, the world stretched endlessly with peaks and cliffs, mist and sky.

Ren pressed a kiss to her forehead. For once, no one needed rescuing. No one needed guarding. It was just them.

Then came the sound of crunching snow.

Dario approached, with Thorn trailing behind him.

The guide wore his usual grin, but his eyes were calm.

"Interrupting something?" He asked.

"Just existing." Ren replied.

He glanced down at Lilith to see a soft smile on her face. She was just in such a good mood that she hadn’t even tried to do something about Dario interrupting their alone time.

"Well, don’t mind me." Dario chuckled, patting his coat. "I just came to say thanks for the gift. That wine? Top shelf. I’ve already hidden it where no one will ever find it but me."

"It was the least we could do." Lilith suddenly spoke, not shifting from her position, her head still on Ren’s shoulder. "Thanks for officiating the wedding."

"Is it just me or do they look like they’ve been married for a long time?" Dario turned to Thorn, a grin on his face. "They don’t seem like newlyweds to me. More like a couple that has been together for a decade."

"They’ve been married since they were eleven. Ren just doesn’t know it." Thorn chuckled.

"I see." The two shared a laugh.

"Ahem. "Ren coughed, getting their attention.

"Well," Dario turned his grin to Ren, "I’m heading out. My job’s done. You made it to the Seventh Peak, and I officiated a wedding. That’s two tasks off my bucket list."

Thorn stepped forward. "You’re really leaving?"

Dario nodded. "Time to disappear into the snow again. But I’ll miss your rambling, Thorn. You were a surprisingly good conversation partner."

Thorn laughed. "Right back at you. I don’t think I’ll meet another guide quite like you."

They clasped forearms.

Ren spoke from where he sat, giving the guide a smile. "Thanks, Dario. For everything."

Dario tilted his hat. "Don’t mention it. You two make a good pair. Try not to die before you make it home. It’ll make me quite sad."

He gave Ren and Lilith a final wave. "Take care, kids. And keep each other alive. You’re not done yet."

With that, he turned and walked down the path, and off the Seventh peak. They watched him for a few minutes, the snow swirled in his wake like a curtain falling.

Then, he was gone from view.

The three of them stood in silence for a moment, watching the path in the distance where Dario had vanished through.

Ren exhaled. "Well. That’s one Chapter closed."

They sat again on the edge of the pagoda, this time with Thorn joining them. The quiet returned, not awkward, but thoughtful.

"What happens next?" Thorn asked eventually.

Ren glanced up. "Tomorrow, we head to the Truth Stone."

"The deal with Nero." Lilith said, her tone flat.

Thorn frowned. "You think we can trust them?"

"We don’t have to trust them." Ren replied. "Just the Stone."

Thorn leaned back, arms behind his head. "Still, I think we should set limits. Ten questions. No more. We don’t want to spill everything we know."

Ren and Lilith exchanged a look, then nodded.

"Ten questions." Ren agreed. "That’s fair."

They sat in silence for another moment. The wind picked up again for a few seconds, before dying down.

Lilith looked off into the distance. Her eyes narrowed. "Still... we’re not at our best. I don’t like it. If things go wrong, we’re in no shape to deal with it decisively."

Ren nodded. "I’ve been thinking about that. There’s something I can do. It’s risky to do it all at once, but... I still have three hundred thousand gold coins."

Lilith perked up.

"If I feed all of it to my Tithecraft, and dump the energy into my body switch, I’ll get a massive boost to my physical stats. Speed, strength, durability... everything."

Thorn’s eyebrows shot up. "All three hundred thousand coins? That’s our whole stash. We’ll have nothing left. Can’t we save a hundred gold coins? For a rainy day."

Ren shrugged. "What good is money if I’m dead?"

Thorn didn’t respond immediately. He rubbed his chin, eyes troubled. "Doesn’t change the fact that it’s a lot to lose."

"We can always get more when we need it." Lilith said firmly. She leaned in toward Ren, her hand on his arm. "I support it. If it gives Ren an edge, then we do it."

Thorn sighed. "Alright. If Lilith’s on board, I’m on board. But if we end up broke in the middle of nowhere, I reserve the right to say I told you so."

"Deal." Ren smiled.

Thorn chuckled. "You’d better end up with some kind of glowing abs or divine spark out of this, though. I want some payoff."

Lilith laughed. "He already has glowing abs. Haven’t you been paying attention?"

Ren covered his face, groaning. "Why are both of you like this?"

"It’s how we show love." Thorn said.

They fell silent again.

Ren knew he’d been stupid in the past few months. He’d ignored all the tools he had at his disposal.

With his Soulbinding, he had two enhanced groups of objects that could help him in battle. The first were his teleportation coins.

With them, he could blink around the battlefield, striking from anywhere. And if things went off the rails, he’d grab thorn and Lilith, and get them out of the fight.

He’s already dropped a coin at the pagoda for short ranged teleportation, but if he really needed to go for long range, he’d dropped a coin back at Gravegrove, after he had rescued thorn from the Soul Wraiths.

There was no way they’d be followed from the Seventh peak back to the cliffs beyond Ur in a second. Not without a teleportation or portal ability. And from what he could see, Nero and Contessa had neither.

The second group of objects were his bracers. But since they were currently empty of energy, they wouldn’t be helpful in this fight. He’d used the kinetic energy within them just to survive the Widow.

Ren also has his Druidic magic, which he’d gotten from his mother. It had become Tithecraft, and came with three switches. Plants, animals, and himself. Three things he could grow with money.

And finding money hadn’t been a problem. After all, he’d stolen a lot from the Penny Prince before he had killed the man. He’d use what was left of the gold to boost his physicality.

Since he’d already spent six hundred thousand coins on it, dumping three hundred thousand gold coins would give him a significant 50% increase. That was a massive boost, and it was worth it.

But that wasn’t all that Tithecraft had to offer. He’d neglected the Animal switch, so he couldn’t rely on it for this battle.

Fortunately for him, he’d dumped a lot of money into the Plants switch, and that gave him the ability to grow vines even from hard rock. It would help him shape the battlefield or capture his opponents.

He also had his Push resonance. With that, he should be able to stop any physical attack from even hitting him.

And if push came to shove, he had his Hypnosis skill.

He wasn’t just planning to survive. He was planning to win.

And whatever happened, he was walking out of it alive with both his companions.

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