296 Now, bow and lick my feet?
White Dragon Labyrinth Exploration Arc.
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(POV: Akashic Records)
The large demonic arms reached towards Aaron.
Their grotesque claws tore mercilessly at her clothes, a panicked scream escaped her lips.
Her small yet perky breasts peaked out of her torn clothing, and little bits of her slender yet curvaceous body slowly came to view.
"PLEASE STOP!!"
Aaron shouted at the top of her voice.
"I'LL DO ANYTHING YOU WANT JUST MAKE IT STOP!!"
She shouted again.
"Hm, that's good enough for me..."
In that moment, Lumiere swiftly snapped his fingers, and the darkness that had enveloped them faded away, leaving Aaron unscathed on the ground, her sword laid beside her.
It was as if nothing had happened.
The biggest fake in history.
Dazed and disbelieving, Aaron glanced down at her trembling hands, still in the shock of her narrow escape.
When she mustered the courage to lift her gaze, she found Lumiere standing before her, offering a sheepish smile as he scratched the back of his head.
"Sorry about that," he admitted, partly embarrassed. "I didn't think you'd listen if I tried talking then."
He opted for the one method that was sure to work.
"The way of Tenebrous Slade".
Fight first then talk after.
Beside Lumiere stood Ravenna, she was silent.
Aaron, in a shaky voice, finally managed to ask the question that had been burning in her mind.
"W... What did you do?"
Fear and confusion weighed heavily on her words as well as her uncertain eyes.
Lumiere paused, briefly glancing at Ravenna before meeting Aaron's gaze again. "Well, I—" he began, but before he could take a step forward to explain, Aaron let out a piercing scream and scrambled away from him as fast as she could.
She frantically crawled until her back was pressed against the cold, wall of the labyrinth.
Her entire body trembled with fear, beads of sweat rolling down her forehead.
"P... Please, just stay where you are," Aaron pleaded with a trembling voice.
Lumiere understood completely and nodded in response.
"Of course," he assured her gently, his voice soothing and calming.
"Oh, and sorry about the ear..." He then gestured towards her ear and pointed out, "I've already healed you, I don't know how long it'll take for the anti-magic barrier to completely through my mana canopy."
Confusion crossed Ravenna's features as she spoke up.
"Mana canopy?" she questioned.
"Oh yeah, I guess I didn't really make it clear what I was doing... Huh..."
"Mhm, all you did was cover her in a cocoon of darkness and we started waiting..."
If only Ravenna could see what Aaron saw.
Lumiere then explained to them what he did throughout the battle.
(1) The small dense orb of black matter he was spinning was him fully compressing all the mana he absorbed from Vito Heights when he almost consumed the entirety of the Blue Tree?s infinite rings.
The amount of mana present in Vito Heights was so much that even Klaus stated the destroyed landscape would regenerate overnight.
(2) The black matter (Eterna Noctis) isn't magic itself, it is a primordial material. However, it is controlled or propagated by mana or any other form of energy with a strong enough force to.
So provided the black matter was present, the internal mana source would keep it from losing control while its external self wouldn't be affected by the anti-magic barrier.
Lumiere was "lucky" enough to have been playing with some black matter as they walked in the labyrinth.
(3) After Lumiere detonated the black matter, he released all the excess mana he'd been storing within it.
He quickly created several mana canopies, layering them until there were about sixty of them.
The mana canopy sheltered their radius, allowing anything within it to safe from the anti-magic barrier. Which explained why both he and Aaron could both use magic.
With sixty mana canopies layered, it'd take some time for the anti-magic barrier to cancel out all of them as the mana was extremely dense.
(4) All the illusions that Aaron saw could've easily been made real by Lumiere.
While Lumiere didn't necessarily have [Illusion Magic] or anything near it, he used something unorthodox.
He created something called a "reality canopy".
When Lumiere's [Consuming Void] was absorbing everything in sight as well as tearing through reality to enter other "realities". It stored in itself, something referred to as reality particles.
These reality particles were consolidated by the black matter and used to create a field of distorted reality around Aaron.
An idea he adapted from how the labyrinth could play tricks on them. However, his was much more realistic and could've been way worse had he wanted it to.
...
Ravenna dark eyes opened up like flashlights as she smiled at Lumiere's explanation and nodded appreciatively.
"Woah, you're so cool," she commented.
"( For a woman who can easily drain my life force if she wanted to, I don't think so... But yeah, sure... )"
Lumiere adjusted his hair casually and shrugged.
"It was more of a last-minute thing, but it worked out in the end," he replied nonchalantly.
Inside, he was satisfied it actually worked.
It gave him an idea of something he could use when he got out of the labyrinth.
Lumiere took a step forward, intending to approach Aaron, but her voice suddenly cut through the air, filled with fear and panic.
"No, please! Don't come any closer!" she pleaded, her voice trembling and her words taking on a deep dive.
Lumiere sighed, his shoulders slumping ever so slightly.
"I promise, I'm not gonna kill you," he assured her earnestly. "If that was my intention, I would have done it already."
"..."
"Besides... You're not Gallus.." Lumiere whispered to himself.
Tears welling up in her eyes, Aaron continued to beg him.
"Just please, stay away for now," she implored with a weak voice.
She was unable to even make contact with Lumiere's face, she felt like she'd vomit at the sight of it.
However, she was better than most. Any other person would've fainted by that time.
Lumiere rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
Though he was a bit disappointed, he understood.
"Well, that's a bummer," he mused, a playful tone in his voice. "I had some questions I wanted to ask you."
Lumiere's eyes then narrowed a bit as he thought.
"( I don't know why I even wanted to strip her to begin with... Jeez, Serena shouldn't hear about this... )"
Interrupting their conversation, a petite figure emerged from the shadows, gracefully walking past the mana canopies.
With each one she walked past, the canopy shattered, and she did it so effortlessly it felt like she didn't know there was even such a thing set.
Laura smiled proudly and cleared her throat when she was in front of them.
"You may bow now," she declared with some authority.
Both Lumiere and Ravenna exchanged confused glances before responding in unison, "Eh?"
Lumiere couldn't resist commenting on Laura's height, his playful nature taking over.
"So cute, she's almost as tall as me!" he exclaimed, poking her cheek teasingly.
Laura's expression remained stoic as she replied, "It seems you're courting death, Lumiere."
"Hm?" Ravenna uttered, noticing the petite woman actually said Lumiere's name.
Lumiere's smile widened as he continued to poke her cheek, undeterred.
"Yeah, the death of your cuteness," he retorted playfully.
He then leaned in closer, even more curious. "So, who are you? Aaron's little sister, perhaps?"
The cheek poking continued, frustrating Laura bit by bit.
09:20
"What do I call you, Battle God Jr. ?"
The cheek poking continued, frustrating Laura bit by bit.
"What do I call you, Battle God Jr. ?"
Immediately recognizing Laura, Aaron's heart leaped in her chest and she rushed forward.
She fell to her knees before Laura, her head bowed in a gesture of deepest respect.
"I... I'm sorry," Aaron stammered, her voice barely audible but filled with sorrow. "I know I have no right to beg for your trust or respect anymore. If... If you want to take my life for my unbearable failure, then... then I won't... I won't resist."
Lumiere, scratching his chin in thought, glanced at Laura with a quizzical expression. "Hm? Am I missing something?" he asked.
Laura placed her hands on her dainty waist, her gaze fixed on Aaron.
"You don't need to do that," she said, her voice steady but firm. "It's my fault too. I should've known the Curse King was capable... I should've handled him myself."
Aaron's eyes widened in shock and she shouted.
"No! Don't say that! It's my life to take, not yours!"
She rose slightly, still on her knees, pointing her sword to her own neck.
"I'll end it myself, if that's what you want," she declared, her voice trembling.
Laura, with a gentle yet resolute expression, reached out and gently knocked Aaron on the head. "You're such an idiot," she murmured affectionately, partly exasperated. "There's no need for that. If I killed you, who's going to bathe, feed and read me bedtime stories?"
Aaron nodded, her eyes brimming with tears and the tiniest hint of a smile playing on her lips.
"Thank you, milady," she whispered.
Ravenna, standing a few paces away, couldn't contain her surprise. "Ooooooh," she uttered.
Lumiere, tilted his head and let out a low chuckle. "So she can smile," he mused.
After, Laura turned her attention to Lumiere.
"From now on, you will direct all your questions to me, the Imperial White Dragon..."
"Eh?" said Lumiere and Ravenna.
The petite woman flung her hair back proudly.
"Now, bow and lick my feet."
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