Setting aside my katana, I extended both hands and grasped the ominous, sinister mist wrapping around my head.
Shoving it violently to either side, I hissed, “We’ll deal with you later.”
Just as I turned to strike the half-breed mages, I saw that all of them had already dropped to the ground as lifeless corpses.
Looking down, Scatroj stood there waving at me.
He had finished the job before me.
I turned back toward the carriage, toward Luna.
Relieved to see her chest rapidly rising and falling, proving she was breathing, I shifted my gaze back to the black mist I had just detonated.
“What the hell are you?” I muttered.
The black mist let out a piercing, ear-scraping shriek.
“You…
How can you hold me?!
No mortal can touch me, let alone grasp me!” it roared.
Pressing my hands together forcefully, I detonated the mana within me outward, completely erasing the mist from existence.
“Save your breath,” I said as I slipped into the carriage, took Luna into my arms, and carried her out.
When Scatroj and I returned to the safe zone where the portal was located, we found only Velmora waiting.
Seeing the unconscious, bruised, and battered Luna in my arms, Velmora closed the portal in sheer panic and rushed over to us.
Taking Luna from me, she carefully laid her on the ground and began scanning the young girl’s body from head to toe with a green healing aura.
The moment Scatroj turned around to scout the perimeter, I drew my katana from my inventory with blinding speed.
I pressed the sharp tip of the blade directly against Velmora’s throat as she tended to Luna on the ground.
Noticing my sudden movement, Scatroj leaped forward in shock, crying out, “My Lord?!” Oblivious to the resulting blood, he shielded her by thrusting his hand directly between her throat and the razor-sharp edge of the katana.
Velmora slowly turned her head toward me, not a single trace of fear in her eyes.
“My Lord?” she asked calmly.
I glared down at her with eyes filled with a mixture of disgust and hatred.
“Do you really think it’s a coincidence that demon sympathizers are nesting this close to the grand, glorious Sun City, Velmora?” I hissed.
“On top of that, not a single soul here sensed the slightest abnormality or eeriness.
And you didn’t stop there…
You even hired Scatroj’s soldiers to conceal this ritual, didn’t you?”
Gripping the sharp edge of the blade dug into his palm, Scatroj firmly forced the katana upward.
Ignoring the blood dripping from his hand entirely, he demanded, “What are you talking about, Kaan?
What hiring?”
When I explained to him the pureblood demon veins inside Brom—whom I had just killed—and the trap he had laid, Scatroj released the blade and sank into a deep silence.
Looking down at his bleeding hand, he sighed, “I knew of Brom’s dark choices in the past, that he carried demon blood…
But Kaju begged me for him, begged me to give him one last chance.”
This time, I pressed the tip of the katana directly into the flesh of Velmora’s throat.
As a thin line of crimson blood began to trickle down her neck, Velmora’s pupils suddenly slit and sharpened into a vertical form.
“Lord Kaan…
The security of this border region is entirely managed by Ermo and the council.
Ever since Kyso was born, I have stayed completely away from such political matters.
My sole purpose in this world is him,” she said, referring to Ermo.
I let out a soft chuckle.
“I know…
I know very well that he is your sole purpose.” Then, gesturing toward Scatroj, I said, “Could you go on ahead, Scatroj?
Velmora and I have something private to discuss.
Please, keep this between us.”
Just as Scatroj furrowed his brows to object, Velmora moved with a sudden, unfathomable leap and touched his forehead.
Moving so fast that even a high-tier warrior like Scatroj couldn’t react, Velmora looked into his vacant eyes and whispered calmly, “Sleep.”
Scatroj’s body instantly went limp, and he collapsed onto the spot.
Velmora turned back to me smoothly.
“Alright, he can neither hear nor listen to us now,” she said.
With a sharp motion, I sheathed my katana and stepped between her and Luna on the ground.
“Smart…
If you had tried to use that dangerous memory-wiping spell on him, your head wouldn’t be sitting on your shoulders right now,” I said in a bone-chilling voice.
Clasping her hands in front of her, Velmora began to circle me with slow steps.
“Do you really think you could have done that, Kaan?” she asked.
I despised her tone; she was weighing me, belittling my strength.
Maintaining my silence, I kept my guard up.
Velmora stopped right in front of me, completely shifting the form of her eyes as she released that ancient, terrifying creature aura.
“If you do anything to bring even the slightest harm to Ermo, you will not survive in this world, Kaan.
This elf whore was merely trying to curry favor with Ermo by leaking information about us.
I was simply delivering her punishment, nothing more.”
I looked at her with narrow, suspicious eyes.
“And you did that…
by cooperating with demons?” I questioned.
She rolled her eyes and resumed circling me.
“You know…
this place was nothing more than a game to you all.”
Taking a massive stride forward, I closed the distance between us.
“Say whatever you have to say and cut it short.
The others are waiting for us beyond the portal,” I commanded authoritatively.
She drew so close that I could feel her breath.
“There is so much you do not know, pathetic human…
You only draw breath because you are close to Ermo, because you are his companion.
You shameless creatures who know nothing of balance,” she whispered. Read this novel at novelping.com for the best experience.
Turning my back to her, I scooped Luna up from the ground into my arms.
“Don’t drag this out.
Open the portal, cut it short,” I said, completely disregarding her menacing aura.
She was visibly taken aback by my cold, indifferent reaction.
Waving her staff, she reactivated the massive blue portal.
Just as I was about to step through, she suddenly grabbed my arm tightly.
“If you say a single word to Ermo—”
Instantly unleashing my mana at full power, I generated a colossal pressure barrier throughout the room.
Velmora gasped for air.
“I told you not to drag this out,” I said, violently shoving away the hand holding me before stepping through the portal.
The moment we crossed through, a harsh mountain wind whipped my hair back.
Seeing the wounded Luna in my arms, Ramia lunged forward in a sudden reflex and took her from me.
“Thank you,” she said, moving ahead to carry Luna.
Meanwhile, over at the campsite, Ermo had taken off his jacket and was rolling up his shirt sleeves.
Enwoybi covered his face with his hand, laughing and grumbling, “Man, this is so pathetic, so disgraceful.” Scatroj, now fully snapped out of the spell, looked at Ermo with a smirk and rolled up his sleeves as well.
“Is that so, Ermo…
Looks like there’s no running away this time.”
To match the atmosphere, I immediately conjured a wide military duel barrier around the two of them.
Flying directly above the barrier to hover in midair, I called down, “Rules are simple, gentlemen!
First one whose back touches the ground loses!”
As the two collided with immense force, I floated over to Enwoybi’s side.
I whispered in his ear, “Who do you think buries the other?”
Enwoybi crossed his arms and smiled confidently.
“Ermo would never lose right in front of Velmora’s eyes, mate,” he said.
True to his words, Velmora was on the sidelines cheering like crazy for Ermo, screaming her head off.
Laughing, I opened my palm.
“I say Scatroj.
I’ll take 100,000 gold,” I countered.
Enwoybi laughed as well, pulling a heavy pouch of gold from his inventory and placing it in my hand, accepting the bet.
When the initial moves were made below, Scatroj landed a heavy blow, causing Ermo to lose his balance and stumble backward.
Seeing this, Velmora’s cheering grew even louder, her shouts intensifying.
As Ermo tried to recover by pacing backward, Scatroj suddenly exploited a gap in his defense, ducked under his guard, and grabbed him tightly by the waist.
Slamming Ermo down with all his might, Ermo utilized an incredible reflex at the last second to keep his head and back from touching the dirt.
Both kept circling each other, constantly looking for an opening to secure dominance without losing their footing.
Right then, Enwoybi next to me feigned a slight sneeze, discreetly forming a small runic magic circle in his hand.
Below, the ground exactly where Scatroj stepped suddenly liquefied into mire.
Failing to notice this hidden magical intervention, Scatroj lost his balance and couldn’t evade Ermo’s fierce countermove.
Pinning Scatroj beneath him, Ermo slammed his back into the ground and raised a single arm to declare his victory.
Enwoybi looked at me, a treacherous grin spreading across his face.
Grumbling, I handed over the pouch containing 100,000 gold from my pocket.
Leaping down into the arena, I muttered, “Man, screw an emperor like you…
Talk about garbage luck.”
Ermo puffed out his chest and looked at me.
“I suppose imperial duties and that palace life have exhausted you terribly, my Emperor.
Your reflexes have grown rusty,” he teased.
As we all burst into a massive collective laugh, Ramia quietly approached me and gave a slight bow.
“My Lord…
Luna is awake.
She is currently in her room, bound to the bed with runic chains,” she informed.
I shifted my eyes to Velmora standing off to the side for a brief moment, flashing her a threatening glare, before following Ramia into the mansion’s corridors.
As we neared Luna’s room, Ramia abruptly stopped in front of the door, blocking my path with her body.
“Lord Kaan…
No matter what happens, that girl is the sole heir to the Ice Elf tribe.
Do not ever forget that,” she said in a stern tone.
“This is no longer your little playhouse universe that you can reset whenever you feel like it.”
I attempted to dismiss her and push past, but as she made a move to leave, I gripped her shoulder firmly with one arm, halting her in her tracks.
She snapped her head toward me, a shocked and frightened expression in her eyes as if asking, “My Lord?”
I leaned in close, locking my eyes with hers.
“If you disrespect me like this a third time and cross the boundaries of audacity…
I will never forgive you, Ramia,” I said in a freezing voice.
Flinching in fear, she leaped backward, bowed her head, and hurried away down the corridor.
With a sharp movement, I threw the door open and stepped inside.
I didn’t even look toward Luna lying on the bed; instead, I walked straight over and lay down on the wide couch beside it.
Staring blankly at the ceiling, I noticed Luna remained entirely silent.
There were no screams, no curses.
Quickly sitting up, I checked on her.
Chained to the bed, Luna was staring at the ceiling with hollow, soulless eyes.
Resting my chin on my hand, I asked, “Why are you so calm?”
She turned her head toward me slowly, with a mechanical movement.
“I’m going to die anyway…
Does it matter whether I’m calm or not at this point?” she whispered.
I shot her a deep, meaningful look.
“I’m not going to kill you, Luna,” I said.
“You will…
Even if you don’t, those above will kill me sooner or later.
Right now, I’m nothing more than a walking corpse.”
Clicking my tongue, I walked slowly around her bed.
“But what if…
despite everything, I am the one who protects you?” I asked.
She rolled her eyes and returned to blankly staring at the ceiling.
“No matter how strong you are, you are just a human, Kaan.
You have limits, whereas above—”
I didn’t let her finish her sentence.
Suddenly, a high-tier Soul Contract Spell radiating pitch-black sparkles erupted from my palm.
The moment Luna felt that dense, ancient mana in the air, her eyes widened as she stared at me.
“Are you serious?” she stammered.
I elevated the magic circle toward the ceiling directly above her bed, ensuring she could clearly see the runes.
“If you sign this contract, our souls and lives will be sealed together.
If you die, I die,” I said in a clear, resolute voice.
The soulless expression in her eyes vanished instantly, replaced by a sharper, more vivid gaze.
I leaned down toward the head of her bed.
“I am entirely serious, Luna.”
When no answer came from her for a long while, I straightened up and turned my back to her.
Opening the wardrobe in the room, I tried to change the subject: “Let’s get you some new clothes—”
My sentence cut off mid-word.
At that exact millisecond, I felt the freezing, sharp pressure of a small metal blade against the side of my throat.
Feeling Luna’s warm breath directly against my neck, she whispered ominously into my ear, “But what if…
I kill you right here, right now?”
Slowly raising my hands, I stared into the wardrobe.
“You’d never make it out of here alive, and you know it,” I said calmly.
She let out a soft laugh.
“I’m going to die either way…
Taking you down with me doesn’t sound like a bad idea,” she countered.
Right at that moment, my knees and legs began to tremble involuntarily; the remnants of the parasite spell had weakened my body.
Exploiting this lapse, Luna suddenly delivered a sharp backward blow with her elbow, sending me face-first onto the floor.
Pinning me down, she applied heavy pressure to my back.
“Just as I thought…
You are terribly weak against sudden magical maneuvers.
You need to prepare beforehand, to arrange runes.
Exactly what is to be expected of a human,” she said arrogantly.
Struggling to lift my head, I looked up at her from the floor.
“Abandoning your tribe, the glorious Ice Elves behind you, completely to their fate…
Coward,” I gasped out.
Hearing this, her mana violently flared, whipping cold winds into the surroundings.
Fortunately, thanks to the thick barrier I had cast before entering the room, no one outside could perceive this massive explosion of energy.
“You know nothing, wretched human!” she shrieked, slamming my lifted head hard against the floor.
As my forehead struck the ground, I clenched my teeth in pain, but I began to sense the massive conflict and fear deep within her.
From the floor, I whispered up to her: “I’ve implanted a hidden magical mechanism within my body, Luna.
If I die here, a runic script will manifest on that wall reading, ‘Kaan was killed because of the heir of the Ice Elf tribe.’ And I assure you…
once those words appear, when my companions mobilize, Oberon will look like an angel compared to them.
They won’t leave a single living cell of your tribe intact.”
Luna fell completely silent for a while.
Feeling the heavy pressure on my back slowly ease, I made a slight move to push myself up.
Luna quickly took a step back and lowered the knife.
Looking straight into my eyes, she said in a firm voice, “I’ll sign it…
I will sign that contract, and you will completely guarantee the safety of my tribe.”
As she signed the contract with her runic blood, a slight smile appeared on my face.
“See…
That wasn’t so hard, was it?” I remarked.
She locked her eyes directly onto mine, her hatred still burning vibrantly.
“One day…
I will find a mage in this world powerful enough to break this contract spell from its very roots.
And the exact second that spell shatters, I will kill you with my own hands, Kaan,” she vowed.
I nodded in approval.
“I’ll be looking forward to it.”
With the contract finalized, I walked slowly toward the door.
Just as I was about to exit, I abruptly turned around at the threshold.
She flinched and looked at me, seemingly startled by my sudden turn.
“Remember…
You are now equal to everyone else here, Luna.
What happened here stays in this room.
As long as you behave and follow the rules while in this mansion…
your tribe will be protected to the death, both by me and indirectly by those immense powers you saw below,” I said.
She nodded her head up and down in desperate, helpless resignation.
Seeing her surrender, I bent down toward the floor and picked up the small elven knife she used to bring me down earlier.
Looking straight into her eyes, I forcefully plunged the blade directly into my own neck in one sudden motion.