Grace gazed at Lucas, momentarily stunned, as the young wolf extended his arm and offered her his hand.
After hesitating for a few seconds, Grace grasped Lucas' hand and pulled herself up. A sharp pain coursed through her ribs, causing a moan to escape her lips.
Examining the deep wound on her side, Lucas rubbed the back of his head briefly before summoning a vial of light green liquid in his hands.
The liquid gleamed within the vial as Lucas tossed it to Grace.
She caught the small container and looked at it with a dubious expression before turning to face Lucas.
"Is it poison?"
A scowl crossed Lucas' face upon hearing that. With a stiff sigh, he responded:
"Do you think you're valuable enough for me to waste my precious poison on you? Haah, please. It's a healing potion. Use it and get back to fighting."
Across the chaotic battlefield, Lucas pointed towards Nero and Quinn in the distance.
Quinn was fighting with shadows wrapped around his body to augment himself while Nero was barely moving but still trying to help the perfect Necromancer in any way he could.
They both were fighting a high-vampire – one who seemed especially deadly. But as expected of the future two most powerful characters, none of them seemed to be losing for now.
Lucas cleared his throat and said:
"Look there. Nero is struggling, and Quinn is giving his all, but it doesn't seem to be enough. Why don't you go there and help them? Make some new friends who won't desert you, yeah?"
So he was watching!
A pang tugged at Grace's heart, and even though she wanted to retort, she couldn't find the right words to utter a coherent response.
Besides, Lucas immediately vanished from sight after saying what he had to say.
Left in puzzlement, Grace hesitated for a moment before twisting the lid of the vial and consuming the potion inside it.
Once done, with determined steps, she headed in the direction where Quinn's shadowy black figure was engaged in battle.
†
Grace isn't naive. At least not as much as I would like her to be. Sooner or later, she'd realize that I had been waiting for this very moment.
The moment when she found herself utterly alone, physically defeated, and mentally drained – the moment I'd step in to guide her, to rescue her like a knight in shining armor.
However, this realization wouldn't help her. Even after all this, in the end, she'd dance in the palm of my hand and she'd be happy to do so.
I don't want her servitude. I want no one's servitude. I want soldiers, not slaves. If Grace were to serve me, much like Quinn, it would be of her own volition.
With that in mind, I continue to charge forward in the direction of Kl'Drog. I had played my final card against Grace.
And now, I was nearly certain that my gamble would definitely pay off. My plan finally fell into place. Everything played out exactly like I wanted it to, for the most part.
Yet, a chill ran down the length of my spine. God, I couldn't help but be scared of myself. I had to admit, I'm insane.
While this wasn't the first time I had come to this realization, it was the first time I had put myself in so much danger while pulling something so audacious.
This damned world had finally managed to make me go insane.
Truth be told, I would never like to face someone like me in a battle or in life. Well, I doubted there was anyone quite like me out there anyway.
Heh.
Arghh! No! Focus, damn it! I am getting distracted by my own supreme self again.
Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I continued to rush straight. Within a span of a few seconds, I arrived a few meters away from the high-vampire commander.
In my sight was a colossal crimson spike thrusting out from the ground, flanked by two smaller spikes on its sides.
The whole thing resembled a crimson cross fashioned from what appeared to be crystalline blood. Atop the two-meter high blood cross, the silhouette of a lone woman came to view.
She was impaled on the cross, the main blood spike skewering her akin to a witch crucified to pay for the sins of her life.
Her lips trembled, and her body convulsed with torment. Since her abdomen had been pierced, and her solar plexus destroyed – where a person's mana core was located – Liz couldn't cast any magic.
Any other ordinary person would've surely succumbed to the cold, dark embrace of death by now.
However, Liz was no ordinary being. To be honest, I wasn't even certain what it would take to end her.
Well, actually, I did know.
Liz's near-immortal body was a result of her control over soul magic.
The physical body revolves around the soul – it's the foundation, after all. If the soul could regenerate, so would the body.
In simple words, whatever shape the soul takes, the body follows. Yet, manipulating one's soul in such a manner wasn't a simple task.
Liz could do that, yes, but even she would die if her body suffered damage beyond her soul's capacity to repair.
Currently, it looked like the high-vampire commander aimed to do just that. He was going to rip Liz's body to shreds and kill her.
Dealing with Nero after that, in his state, would be a breeze for Kl'Drog.
Of course, I couldn't let it happen. Just five minutes. Merely five more minutes and all this would be over.
As if hearing my thoughts, Kl'Drog sensed my presence and turned around to look at me.
The bloodsucker didn't even spare me another glance as he signaled one of the vampires standing guard near him.
The vampire he just signaled to attack me, disappeared from sight and closed in on me with blurring speed.
My eyes couldn't even follow its speed. But I didn't need to follow it anyway. I already sensed that the vampire would be trying to attack me from behind.
Quickly, I spun around and raised my spear to deflect the incoming blow. But my beaten and battered body was a split second too late to react.
The vampire's blade inched perilously close to my neck, biting into my flesh and beheading me in an instant.
Kwiish—
However, before the vampire could savor its victory, it came to realize that the boy it had just killed was nothing but a distant mirage – an illusion.
I was standing far behind him.
But it was already too late. I gripped my spear tighter in my hand and clad it with crackling electricity.
With a solid step, I arched my body, withdrawing my hand. Summoning every ounce of strength I possessed, I snapped my hand forward, propelling my spear akin to a javelin.
Booom—!!
The sound barrier broke and a toppling shockwave rippled through the arena as my spear hurtled forth with the speed of a tungsten projectile unleashed from a railgun.
The vampire turned around in time but before it could do anything, my spear pierced its chest— right where its heart should've been.
Okay, that's one down two to go.
With that thought, I lunged forward, retrieving my spear from the vampire's falling body. I did not need to confirm my kill, but I still did.
And yes, I had definitely killed that bloodsucking aberration.
With that, I darted toward Kl'Drog, aiming to catch him off guard.
But before I could move anywhere close to him, another high-vampire who stood guard nearby reacted quicker and slammed into me with its shoulder.
The force of the impact sent me tumbling over several meters. I rolled a few times and then sprang back to my feet.
A low grunt escaped my lips – not of pain but of sheer frustration.
An attack like that one would have crushed a regular cadet, reducing them to a mush of flesh and bone.
Had it not been for the protection of my Phoenix's Embrace, I might have suffered the same fate.
However, what disturbed me was the fact that I should have sensed an attack like that coming from a mile away.
Arghh, perhaps exhaustion had finally started to cloud my mind. I was slipping up. Damn it, this meant I needed to finish the battle quickly.
Drawing a deep breath, I straightened my back and anxiously moved my head to look at the vampire who rammed its shoulder into me like a moving train.
However, as soon as I got back on my feet, the vampire was already in front of me. Its menacing black blade was dangerously closing in on my neck, ready to sever it.
Damn it!
Even though I knew that the Phoenix's Embrace would hold and prevent the attack from getting through, the sheer impact of the incoming attack might disorient me for a few precious seconds.
Seconds, no matter how small, could determine victory or defeat in a battle like this one. And losing here meant death.
True, the initial attack wouldn't kill me, but the vampire would swiftly follow up while I was disoriented, striking again and again.
I couldn't let the bloodsucker take control in a battle like this. Yet, its sword was closing in, leaving me no time to evade.
My eyes widened, and almost on instinct, my left hand moved, summoning my Edit Pen. But what was I thinking? There was no time to make an Edit on anything!
Right then, an idea struck me!
I'll take the first blow and then use Mana Burst to throw the vampire back. After that, I will target the vampire's armor with my Edit Pen and use it to kill the bloodsucker!
The plan wasn't half bad. As it formed in an instant in my mind, I sighed internally - there was no time for an actual sigh - and braced myself for impact.
However, at that very moment, something strange happened.
A bright red streak of light flashed across the vampire's arm, the one wielding the sword, cleanly cutting it off.
The severed arm of the vampire flew off, blood spurting out of it like a crimson fountain.
But before anyone had the chance to even realize what happened, the phenomenon repeated a few more times, the red light forming a web-like pattern across the vampire's body.
"...Huh?!" The vampire could only widen its eyes before its body was chopped apart, resembling minced meat.
With a revolting thud, the vampire died, its mutilated remains falling down in a heap. I couldn't help but frown, both in disgust and surprise.
"What in the…?" I stood there, stunned. Baffled, I looked around and finally understood what was going on.
