Baby System: I'm the Beast World's Only Hope!-Chapter 23: Episode : Difficult Labor

"My Queen!" The dragons shouted across the field.

Zarek caught Roxy before she hit the ground. His face was pale, his eyes wild with panic. "Roxy! What happened?!"

"Fuck!" Roxy shrieked, grabbing his hair and pulling his face down to hers. Her face was drenched with cold sweat. "It’s the fucking baby! Zarek, the damn baby!"

Zarek immediately scoops her into his arms and runs toward the direction of the cave.

Pain was a concept Roxy thought she understood. She had cramps. She had stubbed her toe. She had even broken her arm once, falling off a bike in third grade.

This was not pain. It felt like she was in the presence of death as it tore at her limbs.

"GET IT OUT OF ME!" Roxy screamed, her voice raw against the walls as soon as Zarek settled her on the stone bed.

The bed was piled high with every soft fur the clan possessed, all thanks to Lyra’s fast legs as she followed behind Zarek. But no amount of softness could cushion the fact that her pelvis felt like it was being slowly crushed.

"It is tearing me apart!" she sobbed, not even able to think. She clutched the furs until her knuckles turned white. "You big fucking lizard! Make it stop!"

Who told me to fucking have a baby when I failed at doing that last time?

[The gods try to do something, anything, cause they were also panicking]

[TheMotheroftheWorld asks you to take steady breaths.]

Roxy complies, breathing, but the pain is blinding, and the worst part is that it’s centered on her spine and entrance.

Zarek was beside her, and he looked like he was about to explode.

Lyra was sitting by the bed, her instinct to be a midwife already kicking in; she was going to be in the same situation soon, but she was awfully calm.

The Dragon King, who had faced armies of beasts without blinking, was trembling. His golden eyes were wide, darting frantically from Roxy’s contorted face to her heaving stomach.

"I cannot fight it!" Zarek roared, slamming his fist into the stone floor so hard it cracked from the assault. "Just tell me what to do, Roxy!"

"You can’t kill a contraction, you idiot!" Roxy shrieked, gasping as another wave of agony rolled through her. Tears bit her eyes, and she gritted her teeth so hard that they cracked.

[System Alert: Biological Incompatibility Detected.]

[Human Skeletal structure is under critical stress.]

[Passive Healing Buff Active: Repairing pelvic micro-features in real-time]

Her body was breaking, and the system was knitting it back together while it was breaking. She was trapped in this pain, and there was nothing she could do about it.

"System!" Roxy hissed through gritted teeth. "Epidural! Morphine!"

[Shop Error: Modern Pharmaceuticals are locked until Tier 3.]

[Suggestion: Bite something.]

You talk as if you are the one going through this labor. I was meant to be pushing this thing out of me quickly.

"I hate you," Roxy whimpered. "I hate this world. I hate dragons."

She looked at Zarek like he was the enemy. He was hovering over her, his hands hovering uselessly with a terrifyingly anxious look on his face. He was terrified to touch her, terrified he might break her further.

"Zarek," she gasped. "Hand."

He immediately thrust his hand toward her. Roxy grabbed it. She bit into it with all the strength she could muster, her fangs dug into his skin, channeling every ounce of her agony into that bite.

Zarek didn’t even flinch.

He leaned down, licking her cheeks. "I am here, treasure. I am here. Squeeze. Break my bones if it helps. Just... do not leave me."

Too bad, I was leaving as soon as I birth this child.

Another contract hit. This one was different. It wasn’t just pain; it was pressure. Massive, Impossible pressure.

"Oh god," Roxy cried out, arching her back. "It’s coming..."

Lyra peeked under the furs. Her eyes widened in wonder as she saw the head of the child peeking out of Roxy without even pushing.

It was like the child was forcing his way out.

"I see... I see his head!" Lyra shouted. "And.... a horn?"

"A horn?!" Roxy shrieked. "Why does it have a horn?! It’s supposed to be a baby, not some darn unicorn!"

[The gods are laughing at your reaction]

Anger pulsed on her forehead, but with all this pain, she didn’t give a damn about the gods.

"Push, My Queen!" Lyra urged as she watched the baby’s head. "You must help the hatchling!"

"I am fucking pushing, goddamnit!" Roxy yelled back. "It feels like I’m pushing out a watermelon wrapped in sandpaper!"

She bore down, screaming through the effort. The system buff flared, a warm tingling sensation trying to soothe the tearing flesh, but the sheer size of the dragon hatchling was overwhelming. It would have been better if it were an egg, but it was a real baby.

Zarek couldn’t take it anymore.

Seeing Roxy scream, seeing the tears streaming down her face, something inside his mind snapped. The protective instinct inside him flared, usually his greatest strength, became his enemy. He couldn’t distinguish if she was really giving birth or if the baby was actually attacking her.

"Enough!" Zarek roared. "Stop it now!"

He grabbed Roxy’s shoulder, his eyes wild. "Roxy! Don’t give birth anymore, I do not want it if it breaks you!"

Roxy stopped pushing, staring at him in shock.

This dragon has gone mad.

He was crying, like actual sizzling tears were running down his face. He was begging her to stop giving birth because he couldn’t handle seeing her in pain.

It was insane and toxic. But it was also the most heartbreakingly sweet thing she had ever seen.

The pain of her contraction was forgotten as her eyes softened for him. Her heart swelled with joy, happiness, relief, and warmth. Maybe it’s because he is not human, but the heart of a beast is better than the heart of any human.

Her mind flashed to a memory she loathed, and just the image of it caused her to shake her head.

She focused on her big dragon.

"Zarek," she gasped, reaching up to cup his face. Her hands were trembling. "Hey. Look at me. Look at me, you big lizard."

He focused on her, his pupils blown wide with panic.

"I can’t stop," she whispered. "That’s not how this works. And I don’t want to stop. This is our son."

"He hurts you," Zarek whimpered, pressing his forehead against hers. "He is cruel."

Well, you are the cruelest one, having a massive cork with a killing stamina, you are one to talk.

[TheMotheroftheWorld rolls her eyes, saying that you were talking as if you didn’t like it.]

They are not the same thing... anyways.

She cleared her throat.

"He’s a dragon," Roxy corrected, forcing a weak smile. "He’s strong like his dad. Now, stop panicking and help me get him out of me."

She hissed as another wave of contraction hit her.

"H-how?" Zarek stuttered, desperate. "Tell me. I will do anything!"

"Just... hold me up. Support my back and let me squeeze the life out of you." Roxy said, gripping his arm.

Zarek moved instantly. He pulled her up, making her rest her back against his massive chest. "I have you," he rumbled against her ear, sniffling, his arm around her, avoiding her belly but holding her tight.

"I have you..." he repeated.

His strength, his warmth, seeped into her, and it made her feel small and safe.

"Okay," Roxy panted. "Let’s do this!"

"PUSH!" Lyra shouted.

Roxy screamed, her toes curling. She pushed with everything she had, every fiber of her being. She felt Zarek go tense behind her, growling in sympathy but nuzzling against her head, his heart pounding against her back like a war drum.

Zarek made a promise to himself. He was never going to get her pregnant again.

There was a sensation of tearing, stretching beyond the limits of human anatomy. Oh fucking god, how am I gonna recover from this?

[System Alert: Pelvic Integrity.... Compromised.]

[System Alert: Repairing...]

To think I am going to give birth for different species, isn’t there a door to give up and return to death?

[Request Denied. Host can take it!]

Who’s gonna take what? Your whole family can go ahead and die, you fucking robot!

And then, she felt release. The pressure vanished.

Roxy collapsed back against Zarek, gasping for air, her vision swimming with black spots. Silence filled the cavern, and she furrowed her brows.

Shouldn’t a baby be crying right now?

For a second, Roxy’s heart stopped.

"Is it..." she whispered, too terrified to finish the sentence.

Then, a sound broke the silence. The wail of a newborn baby, not a tiny roar or a chirp, but like a human baby.

It was tiny, and high pitched. Lyra gasped as she looked at the child and announced, her voice trembling, "It is... a boy,"