Shota's Isekai NTR Adventure Chapter 2008: Has its own awareness

I lifted my hand, prepared to seize the egg hurtling straight toward me.

Yet right before it could touch me, the egg abruptly halted its motion.

It lingered suspended in the air, hovering right there in front of my face.

The way it dangled motionless gave the impression that the egg was staring directly at me, even without eyes or a face.

After a tense pause, the egg began drifting nearer to me, inching forward cautiously. As it closed in, I stretched out my fingers toward it, aiming to grasp it firmly.

But contact eluded us when a voice rang out, interrupting the moment.

"They’re coming." Klein called from behind me, but in truth from ahead, the path we planned to follow. That was also where the monsters surged from, shaking off their earlier stupor.

With no moment to spare, I lunged forward to snatch the egg.

The egg offered no fight, letting me take hold of it and settling calmly into my palm.

As soon as my fingers closed around the egg, the strange energy it had been emitting vanished in an instant. It felt like the source powering it had been abruptly severed, turning it back into an ordinary egg.

I glanced at the egg briefly before tucking it safely into my pocket.

Once the egg was stored away, I pressed the hand bearing the Mark of God against Joan’s forehead, triggering a response from her own Mark of God. It wasn’t long until she completed gathering the flames, unleashing them in one powerful exhale.

Just like earlier, the flames surged forth and cloaked her in a protective shell of fire, propelling her straight toward the cave’s entrance.

The beasts pursuing us froze in shock at the sight of Joan—or rather, the blazing inferno hurtling their way.

The instant they spotted that fiery orb barreling down on them, memories of their kin scorched by the flames flashed in their minds. Thus, they scattered aside in panic the moment the blaze approached.

Still, a few seemed to spot an opening and veered off to the flanks.

Joan’s flames burned hottest at the forefront, designed for this forward-rushing assault. Yet it stemmed partly from her lack of practice in fully encasing herself in a dense fiery barrier.

Achieving that demanded immense focus and precision, so she could only intensify the blaze ahead of us. The fire along the sides paled in comparison, far less potent than the front.

That left them vulnerable to a breakthrough if the monsters targeted those weaker flanks.

I squinted at the creatures closing in from the sides, then lifted my hand to channel my strength against them. Meanwhile, the royal guards urged their wyverns to ready for combat with the encroaching foes.

In the end, though, no action was required.

A weird tingling stirred from my pocket, right before that familiar energy burst forth once more.

This was the very force that had drawn the monsters before, but now it served another role entirely.

On this occasion, the energy seemed to solidify, unleashing in a powerful surge.

As the surge washed over the horde charging at us, it hurled them all backward. The monsters stood no chance, completely overwhelmed and flung away by the energy’s force.

Even so, as the wave hit, an peculiar expression twisted across the faces of the repelled beasts.

They didn’t appear to hate the sensation in the least...

Still, I turned my gaze downward to the egg that had slipped free from my pocket amid the chaos.

I already knew it could manipulate objects with that energy, as proven by how it now kept itself afloat. But I never imagined the power would pack enough punch to scatter the monsters like this.

Actually, even beyond that, another shock hit me first.

"Are you self aware? Do you have your own consciousness?" I found myself blurting out to the egg hovering before me.

At first, the egg remained still after hearing my words, but then it began bobbing up and down, as if nodding eagerly in response.

That simple motion was proof enough that something within the egg had awakened to sentience, capable of reaching out to the world beyond its shell. All while still trapped inside...

"What is this thing?" I wondered aloud in my mind, utterly baffled.

From every angle, this clearly wasn’t just any ordinary egg.

"Your majesty, we need to leave now. They’re coming back to their senses."

Klein’s urgent words yanked me from my trance, and I whipped around to eye the monsters strewn about us.

The egg’s energy had shoved them back, but without enough force to wound them. Most were just left stunned from the push, far from enough to halt their pursuit.

With that, I signaled Joan to summon her flames again, and we bolted out of the cave.