“Kel Grigor, for all his looks, seemed to have a rather gentle heart.”
August Varian sighed softly as he watched Kel Grigor crash into the wall.
Cutting off a limb or two wouldn’t have posed a problem, yet he couldn’t help but think that being kind, even to an extreme, was part of Grigor’s nature.
“Well, he’s a sturdy fellow, so there shouldn’t be any major trouble. Heh heh!”
August Varian, as if he were not particularly worried, pursed her lips and dodged the wave of lethal energy coming at him with murderous intent.
Her retreat was light-footed, but the sight of Christian pursuing him was rather unnerving.
“I just don’t quite get this…”
Kakkkang—! Kakakeang—!
Blocking with her left hand, she parried the sword aiming for her solar plexus with her right hand immediately afterward.
Christian wasn’t finished there, using that rebound to execute a swift kick. Her movements showcased someone extremely familiar with combat.
However, what August Varian couldn’t make sense of pertained to something else entirely.
“Did I perhaps kill your parents or maybe your lover?”
The mana emitted from Christian had a deathly intensity that made her skin tingle.
Such lethal aura within mana couldn’t be amassed by anyone except those who had weathered life’s storms repeatedly.
Yet, within this youth, who barely seemed twenty, such lethality brimmed remarkably.
“Taciturn men are not popular.”
As much as August Varian hoped to demystify this curiosity, Christian didn’t seem interested in providing any answers.
“For about three days, it’ll keep me pondering.”
Putting aside her frustration, August Varian seemed poised to resume her “work” as she gripped the daggers in reverse and leaned back.
Without sustaining any injury or attack from Christian, August abruptly fell to the ground, feathering Christian’s brow with amazement.
Srrrrr—!
As soon as August Varian touched the ground, she vanished as if merged into the very floor.
Christian’s expression, halted in surprise, subtly shifted.
“Same as ever, aren’t you.”
Shukakaka—!
With a chilling grin, Christian swung his sword toward the floor where his shadow lingered, effortlessly slicing through the solid floor as if it were cheese.
And from that spot…
“…?!”
August Varian hurriedly sprang out from the shadows, retreating.
The edge of her attire was sliced, revealing dark skin beneath it where red blood oozed slightly.
Overwhelming déjà vu and surprise clouded August Varian’s mind in place of pain.
“Ha, haha…”
Covering her face with her hand as if in disbelief, she shook her shoulders slightly with suppressed laughter.
August Varian couldn’t bring himself to attack Christian, her incredulity mirrored.
As Christian brushed back his hair, he confronted August Varian straight on.
“You…”
Christian grinned with all teeth showing, looking at ease as though a mystery had been solved.
In sharp contrast, August Varian’s curiosity had deepened, nearly suffocating him.
“So, you are still that half-blood, half-wit fool.”
“Blood?”
August Varian, enveloped by a dark mist of mana, tilted his head in confusion.
To her, the words made no sense.
“Let me just ask you one thing.”
“If you answer my question first, I’ll respond in kind.”
“Fair enough. Ask away.”
Had Christian insisted on asking first, August would’ve immediately charged him.
Yet, his willingness to let her inquire first halted her. Quietly formulating her question, she asked Christian.
“Who exactly are you?”
Christian shrugged and replied.
“Christian of the Worden family. Sixteen years old.”
Christian truthfully answered August Varian’s question.
“No lies detected…”
August Varian perked up her ears. Being an elf, she possessed the “Eyes that See Truth” and “Ears that Judge Lies”, blessings from the World Tree.
Thus, Christian’s response bore the mark of truth without any falsehood.
‘Strange.’
Despite this, a vague sense of déjà vu lingered. Although it wasn’t a lie, there remained a lingering discomfort.
“May I ask my question now?”
“…”
August Varian nodded silently.
Despite her penchant for sly maneuvers, she was known to keep her word.
Therefore, she wanted to verify something.
“Are you still keeping the Nightmare Box?”
“The Nightmare Box? What’s that… What?!”
Upon witnessing August Varian’s confusion, Christian abruptly attacked.
The fearsome mana embedded within the wave-sword intended to pierce anything in its path.
Christian’s expression turned icily cold despite employing such ferocity.
“Truly, for all looking otherwise, quite the underhanded young master.”
As if caught off guard by the unexpected assault before an answer could be given, August Varian hurriedly wrapped herself in darkness, fusing with it.
Suddenly appearing above Christian, she swung her dagger.
“Let me sever your limbs first before I assuage my curiosity.”
Shukakaka—!
The wave imbued with dozens of slashes in a single swing descended upon Christian.
He neutralized most vitals-targeting attacks amidst the eye-dizzying wave, deflecting or twisting some, while evading others with a turn of his body.
Controlled movements. Concise action.
All contributed toward achieving the optimal outcome.
Though Christian bore some cuts, the horrendous end of being dismembered was avoided.
Even having seen it first-hand, August Varian’s smile stiffened somewhat in disbelief.
Watching her, Christian launched a punch at her face, speaking.
“Should you not complete your assignment first?”
“To hell with that. There’s more fun right here before me!”
“Your crooked nature remains unchanged.”
Christian’s tone was friendly as if they were familiar, yet August Varian discerned the underlying chill in his words.
“Now then…”
Kwa-a-ang—!
Upon hearing a distant explosion, Christian halted his movement.
August Varian, however, reappeared beside Christian, as if anticipating it, after disappearing into the shadows.
“Dear handsome young master, might you prioritize me over those ladies?”
With a sweet smile, she stabbed her sword into Christian’s side.
Yet Christian’s gaze focused intently on not the menacing blade, but on the two women not far away.
Emerging from the buried debris was a massive beastman, charging toward the women.
‘Aira…’
Aira was unfazed.
Calmly regrasping her sword, she, alongside Neria, opposed the beastman.
Despite the obvious disadvantage, Christian remained wholly unperturbed.
Barely twisting his waist, he dodged August Varian’s dagger aiming for his flank, and simultaneously prepared for further attacks with a protective barrier.
Despite the rapid, sharp strikes and her possessing a mana atypical for an elf…
‘This isn’t the August Varian I knew.’
The August Varian he once knew—imbibed with the dragon’s blood as ‘dragonkin’—was nowhere to be found.
Nor did she possess the Ether Weapon ‘Nightmare Box’ that once inflicted grievous wounds upon him and haunted countless others with nightmares.
Yet, with a smile as if finding amusement, August Varian persistently targeted Christian’s limbs, retaining a fragment of that madness he once knew.
Creak—crunch—!
“Ahaha!”
Upon blocking her dagger with a reinforced sword aura through quintuple wave overlap, August let out a manic laughter while skilfully softening the blow, retreating.
Simultaneously, black mana seeping from August Varian’s body congealed into several forms. Humanoid in shape, each held a weapon.
Seeing this, Christian exercised extra caution.
‘Yet, the black mana is still the same.’
Unlike the extremely viscous and sticky consistency he remembered, that black mana remained one of August Varian’s concentrated powers.
Difficult to classify as simply another manifestation of mana, those forms were closer to curses or residual thoughts.
‘Though she’s a half-wit, I’m not much different…’
Compared to their past lives, both had largely lost their powers.
Nevertheless, she wielded her innate black mana and those abilities seamlessly.
Conversely, Christian still struggled to unleash his inherent power fully.
Instead, accumulating experience to compensate for the gaps.
‘Then, let’s…’
Christian began to release his mana. Not only from his mana reservoir.
One of the mana essences dormant within him slowly stirred to life at his will.
As the mana essence of Zephyros’s Wings took its place in the center of Christian’s mana reservoir, his mana’s nature transformed.
Immense mana filled Christian’s being. Though it wasn’t his own, he showed no repulsion towards foreign mana.
As someone who once wielded twelve Ether Weapons, known as the Ether Weapon Master, this mana was all too familiar to Christian.