Chapter 169: I Will Be There
Barbara’s eyes widened behind the mask as a dark blade sliced at her with incredible speed.
Her survival instinct kicked in, forcing her to tilt her head a little—enough to keep the sharp blade from splitting her face in two. But it still kissed her. A crack spread across the right side of the mask, and with a heavy thump of her heart, a big chunk shattered away, revealing the cut underneath on her cheek.
Crimson liquid oozed out from the fresh cut and drizzled down to her chin.
’So fast!’ Barbara gritted her teeth and quickly looked over her shoulder. ’If only... If only he hadn’t triggered the Pyre Overload; even with this shadow golem he summoned, I wouldn’t be having this much trouble.
’And what’s with him? Why is he calling me a Demon? Did he lose his mind?’
It was her first time fighting someone unhinged before.
Back in the Blood Rite, she had seen how people reacted after sensing the chilling embrace of death. Some of them begged. Some of them cried. Some of them accepted their fate in silence. She had never seen someone lose their mind like this.
And meeting Kai’s gaze that seemed to stare at her like she was his blood-nemesis was scary.
For someone to bore so much hatred was quite scary to see.
’Fighting him is not worth it,’ Barbara clicked her tongue and turned around to flee.
Deg—!
Just a few steps in—her step faltered as her mind began to hear things. Whispers that came out of nowhere. She kept running and regulated her Divine Locks to pump out more mana to get rid of these whisperers.
It barely worked.
’His blade is coated with a poison?’ Barbara shook her head. ’No, it’s the blade itself. It’s also an enchanted weapon.’ She turned to look at Kai, who was rising to his feet. Even now, black aura seethed from his shoulders, dancing fire, and when their eyes met, she could feel her chest tighten. ’If I get closer, he’ll induce me with sleepiness. If I get cut, these whisperers would appear. If I keep my distance, he’ll fire energy slashes at me. And he can even summon a golem that could help him in battle.
’How is he this strong?’ She gulped harshly. ’It’s almost like he was tailored to win any duel.’
As her mind was distracted, Perion charged in.
He had already anticipated her next move.
Before Barbara realize, he had already arrived on her when she made a sudden dash away— from Kai, rock-fist raised high, and then hurled it down with strength. Barbara surprisingly caught the fist and stopped its momentum, though she fell to one knee still.
In a desperate exertion of strength, Barbara pushed up and moved to the side.
Perion’s fist slammed into the stone ground and cracked it.
But as Barbara was about to continue on her escape, Perion already swung his arm and struck her squarely against her chest. All the air inside her lungs was forced out as she was pushed back a couple of steps.
She stopped the momentum at the third step and hugged Perion’s arm tightly.
"I’ve had enough!"
Crash—!
Like a savage barbarian, Barbara kneed Perion’s arm and cracked it before she squeezed with both arms, shattering his arm into pebbles. She then leapt and pulled back her arm, intent on punching Perion straight to his face.
As her muscles coiled, her senses screamed.
Barbara leaned back and avoided a vertical slash from Kai.
She watched the dark blade cut past her by an inch and quickly retaliated—sneaking in a kick at Kai’s face hard as she fell. It landed perfectly, but her mind was stunned again as Kai’s hand clamped around her thigh for the second time and used Deep Slumber on her.
It lasted a second longer than the first time, and the effect was worse.
Barbara landed on her feet but stumbled; the sleepiness was attacking her mind rigorously.
As she slapped her own face to stay awake—her eyes caught sight of her own feet. Darkness had already swallowed them. ’I remember the rumours stating that he has the ability to erase people as a Supernal of Moros,’ She gritted her teeth. ’How many imprints does he have?!’
Boom—!
Perion came down from above with a hammer fist.
His intertwined hands slammed into Barbara directly, pressing her into the ground.
Despite everything, Barbara still managed to react, crossing her arms to block.
But Perion didn’t stop there—he grabbed Barbara by her torso with his massive hand, lifted her up from the ground, and then slammed her into the ground again. He did it several times, cracking the ground with each impact, and forced a mouthful of blood to burst from Barbara’s mouth.
Against his strength, she was helpless.
After the fifth slam, Perion threw Barbara away as she bounced and skidded across the stone.
The blood from her mouth left behind a crimson trail along the way.
Barbara coughed out blood a couple of times and pushed herself up with trembling arms. She was a grade-two Awakened Supernal, and the bruises and bleeding cuts across her stature were regenerating.
But it wasn’t fast enough.
Everything was spinning, and pain lanced through every inch of her body.
In the distance, Kai was charging the Blood-phantom Scimitar with the Dark Discharge.
He was encircled by a black aura that seethed from the ground.
From the moment Barbara began to escape, and Perion intercepted her before she could go far, Kai had already been charging like this. His scimitar that was already pulled back was shaking from the amount of mana it was charged with.
Kai raised his gaze and glared at Barbara.
In his vision, her broken mask flickered from white to red. Her swaying long red hair became silky smooth and white. And the sight of her on the ground panting hard fueled the euphoria inside of him.
"Demon," Kai’s chilling voice seeped out from his lips. "Mark this... I am weak no longer."
Swoosh—!
Kai launched forward; the seething black scimitar carved a trail of darkness through the air.
Every muscle in his body contracted, coiled to the breaking point, driven by the singular intent to make sure that the Demon before him would die for good. For that to happen, he must exert everything he has.
The Inner Strength of Stone surged through his body, making his stomp heavier.
It boosted his propelling speed.
His intuition seized on Barbara’s neck; the obvious weak point, and his jaws clamped shut with such force—that a bony crack resonated from his own mandible. The wind screamed against his skin as he zeroed in. Every fiber of his being locked onto that single, vulnerable target.
Like this was what all his efforts had amounted to.
Amounted to killing the Demon that had been haunting him ever since that day.
Once he was near striking distance, he pulled the scimitar further back and then swung.
A heavy and violent slash aimed at the staggered Barbara.
Barbara was staring death in the eyes, and she could only raise her arms in desperation. She made sure that her left arm was in front and her right arm braced behind it, making sure that her remaining vambrace would take the hit.
Praying to Zeus that it would be enough to allow her to survive this attack.
And the moment the blade touched the vambrace, the impact detonated.
Boom—!
Dust and smoke exploded outward, swallowing them both whole, and a spectacular discharge of black and crystal-pink mana ripped through the haze. Kai breathed heavily within the thick smoke; his abyssal eyes fixed on his target.
He felt resistance; something stopping his blade from pushing through.
Reckoning that it was the vambrace, he pushed harder as the blade ground against the fierce resistance that refused to yield. But when the smoke thinned, he was surprisingly greeted by a shimmering pinkish membrane.
It was rock-solid.
Cracks spread across its entire width from the point where Kai’s blade met its surface.
Spiderwebbing outward in a lattice of fractures.
And on the other side stood Bree.
Her eyes were blazing with bright, defiant light, with both hands outstretched. On the side of her face, the mark glowed with the same color and emanated mana that was quite intense. Far more mana than she normally emanated.
"Get away, now!" She screamed at Barbara. "Get away as far as possible!"
Even with the shout, Barbara was still out of it.
The induced sleepiness she could manage, but it was the cut on her cheek that undid her. The whisperers of the damned were relentless. She had held them at bay before without a problem, but after what Perion wracked her body, there was almost nothing left in her to resist.
It was worse when the whisperers had grown more specific.
They beckoned her to kill herself for the sins she had committed.
All of them even knew about the nightmare that had been haunting her for years; a nightmare that was caught by the mistake from her past that no one else should’ve known. Not even her family knew. It was almost as if the whisperers dug deeper into her mind, reaching the dark places they should not, and learning the pieces as her mind deteriorated.
"Barbara!" Bree shouted again.
And this time, Barbara raised her gaze to meet with hers.
"Snap out of it and get away!" Bree shouted again; more desperately this time. "He won’t stop if you keep being here!"
Realizing what was going on, Barbara nodded her head and rose to her feet. She stumbled to turn around; her body still reeling, but she endured it and quickly walked away. Slowly, she began to jog, trying to get away as fast as she could.
In Kai’s fractured vision, another horned Demon stood where Bree was standing.
He pushed even harder, worsening the cracks.
"Kai, it’s me! Bree!" Bree shouted as she tried to resist the gushing dark mana that had already started seeping through the cracks. "Stop! Please, stop!"
Just then, arms latched around Kai’s own.
Dorian on one side, and Bryan on the other—their shoulders drove against Kai’s, using their weight to stop Kai from pushing forward and to break the membrane. Both of them whispered into his ears, calling out to him and telling him to stop.
Over and over again.
Each one was trying to pierce the darkness that had swallowed his mind.
Kai did not hear them. He refused to hear them as his black eyes remained fixed on the fleeing shape of Barbara in the distance, and he strained forward against the resistance. A maniacal killing intent still burned inside him.
"When you walk alone in the night, I will be there."
"When you close your eyes to sleep, I will be there."
"Wherever you hide, I will be there."
"Whatever you do, I will always be there! I will kill you—Demon. Do you hear me?! Believe me, I will!"
