V3 Chapter 74

When the storm slowly disappeared, and the strong gust of wind calms down, Amadea slowly came out from the broken ground full of debris with a shocking and fearful expression.

Her left arm was severed, causing green-colored sap to drip on the ground. But she ignored her wounds, or perhaps, rather, she had not noticed it as she watched the incredible destruction of the entire place.

“Cian!”

She cried out in anxiety, however, what saw made her stumped for words.

When the clouds of dust and dirt slowly faded, two figures could be seen standing, face to face. Now, the wolf king standing in two legs has numerous bleeding wounds all over its body, some look fatal, but it doesn’t seem to bother the beast. On the other hand, her lover, Cian was kneeling in the ground, panting.

“Ciaan!!”

Amadea yelled desperately and charged, full intent on dying for the sake of her lover’s escape. She willed all her remaining power and sharp roots immediately shot towards the Beast King, but one must know, Amadea had already used most of her power just to defend herself. And thus, she was now by far weaker than she already is.

Sensing her attacks, The Beast King suddenly disappeared before the sharp wooden spikes had reached him, and the beast appeared almost magical just in front of her. Amadea who was running desperately couldn’t afford to stop in time, and could only watch as the Wind Wolf King’s sharp claws descended on her.

Amadea smelled the scent of death.

“Run…”

Her expression, however, was calm. She muttered under her breath, words she hoped had carried to her beloved by the wind.

Blood spurted.

“Oi,”

Amadae’s eyes widened in shock. A stream of warm flow surged through her body all of a sudden. It was then followed by a familiar voice appearing out of nowhere.

“This is the first time I’ve been ignored… now you really pissed me off,”

An angry-filled voice reached her ears.

Amadea saw Cian’s back and was speechless. He was standing in front of her, his hand was gripping the claws of the beast barehanded. Blood dripped from his hand. Though he seemed trembling, however, if one looks closely, the arm he was gripping was quivering as well, so as the monster in front of them, which seemed to give its whole strength in pushing its arm down.

“...and I hate being IGNORED!!”

Amadea heard Cian cried out in anger, and then, with a loud roar that was unusually coming from him, his body gleamed in dim, golden light- [Body Enhancement], [Herculean Strength], [Barbarian’s Fury], [Tough Vitality], and lastly [Barbarian’s Strength], was all invoked in an instant.

His strength skyrocketed, and Cian swung his arm, flicking the wolf king’s claws away. Then, in a flash, he turned around and kicked the beast.

The wind wolf king, hit on the chest caused a cracking noise to echoed, and was sent flying.

Cian wanted to chase immediately, however, he stumbled before vomiting a mouthful of blood.

This is…?! My body is weakening?!

Cian widened his eyes, did he overdone it?

Indeed, he had never used his new demonic transformation ever since he had integrated with the Heavenly Fox Demon.

But to think my physical body would not be able to endure the power this long?

“Cian, are you okay?!”

Amadea cried out in panic as she embraced him, supporting him with one arm.

Cian smiled wryly; “Of all the lives you should worry about, Amadea, I told you, mine is not one of them. I ain’t dead yet,”

“No, Cian. This is enough! Let’s run! You can’t possibly fight again with those wounds…! Please, Cian, let’s run away from this place!” she pleaded.

“Not yet!”

But Cian doesn’t want to yield.

He felt death was staring him, yes, he admit that. Even now, something was surging inside of him other than power. It’s the instinctive fear of death- something he had never felt for a long time. Still, he doesn’t want to retreat, nor turn his back against the enemy.

Perhaps, it’s because this monster challenges his pride.

“It’s really been a long time since I felt death breathing down my neck like this…”

It’s the first time he had faced such a strong opponent since coming into this world. Even still, though not comparable to it, he has faced life and death battles before, especially in the previous world. And all of those situations is a point of no return…that one mistake could lead him to death. And yet, he still survived.

And he felt this situation is no different than them.

Perhaps that’s why, his instincts are telling him to fight it, to devour it, and gain its enviable power. He cannot turn back…no, he doesn’t want to leave. He wanted to defeat it, kill it, eat it, after pitting everything he has against it.

If his current strength cannot defeat it, then that’s it. He’ll die and live again with. And that time, with no regrets.

But if he survives and won… then, he is certain that he would once again reach a realm he had never could before.

“...but that’s also why I can’t stop!”

“Cian!”

“Amadea,”

Cian glared at her, an expression that she had never seen before. She was dumbfounded, stunned.

This was the first time Cian has looks at her like this. And this is also the first time, that Amadea had wondered who Cian was. Not, doubting who he was, but doubting if the person in front of her was truly, Cian Cahlo, the man she loved and adored.

But then, that scary expression disappeared after a moment, making one felt as if they were just seeing an illusion. A gentle expression returned o his face, as he smiled at them.

“I’m fine, and I’m going to finish this…now,”

Amadea was speechless and stared at Cian. Somewhat frightened by what happened before. The latter’s eyes went past her and look at the beast that was walking in two legs, towards them.

“And this wouldn’t last long…”

“How stubborn, thou Cursed Blood! Why don’t thee just die!!”

Cian stood up, and took a step forward, facing the wolf king’s anger. Though he felt that he was already on his last leg, he also felt that the beast king was also similar. Its body covered with blood, its wound bleeding continuously, clearly its self-healing was weakening and so was its magic power.

“WOLF KING!!!!!!”

He cried out.

This is the last round.

If I still can’t defeat you with this, then…!

“I will show you, why I was called a Grim Reaper. That’s because I never failed…”

… I would rather die!!

Then, slowly, Cian felt his blood boiling, and his perception heightened immediately. If even his last trump card [Blood Release] cannot defeat this monster, then he would die.

But it doesn’t matter.

Death is never a source of fear, especially for him!

But if I live through this-

“That which cannot kill me will make me stronger…!”

And you will be my ticket to that power!!

Snap!

As Cian felt his blood seemly being boiled, suddenly, as if a chain had snapped, something seemed to slowly wake up within his subconscious. This is something he had felt for the first time.

He ought to fear this new, and strange sensation, but contrary, he felt more at ease.

Cian felt dizziness struck him.

He tried to fight it but he failed.

‘You’ve had your fun, now, it’s my turn!’

Cian’s eyes widened in shock; ‘You!? Why are you here?!’

‘Cian’s’ eyes pupils gleamed, and his lips curled into a maniacal grin.

Then, suddenly, when he spoke, another voice seemed to overlapped him.

"Now...it's my turn... Well then, first comes destruction...."

… …

“What are you doing, Aanuel?”

Cian asked as he glared at the grey-haired boy in front of him, sitting on a throne-like chair arrogantly, while he sat at the opposite, a fiery hearth between them.

Cian looks at his counterpart with cold indifference, while the latter was looking at him with an arrogant demeanor.

“Bonjour brother… isn’t a greeting usually the first thing you should say, and not some rather scary looking scowl as you currently have?”

The demon prince was dressed in a black long shirt v-neck that clung to his body like vegans clung to kale. His demonic demeanor, which Cian had known was good since he also shared the same divinity, in these clothes, looked casual but bewitching.

“I said, what are you doing Aanuel!?” he repeated, this time with more clear annoyance.

“Doing what, exactly? Of course, doing what should have been done, isn’t it obvious?” the grey-haired boy, who was in fact, the true personification of Aanuel, giggled with an amused expression.

“You’re trying to take control… I thought you have disappeared for good,”

Cian snorted.

“And now, what are you trying to do? Are you picking a fight?”

“You know, I wasn’t,” Aanuel replied.

“Well, I indeed wondered how I came to be. But looking at your memories, aren’t you the one who should be clear about the reason than anyone else.”

Cian narrowed his eyes.

“... Why now?”

“Why now? Why now? Why now?" Aanuel grinned with an icy dead glare. "A very good question, but sadly, I don’t know either. Up until now, I was feeling rather numb, knowing everything and awake, but couldn’t move... as if my limbs were tied with heavy chains... c'est ennuyeux… But then, those shackles slowly loosened, and loosened until I was able to break them myself.”

"... ...??"

Aanuel shrugged, “Truthfully, I was already awake and free for quite some time, but I didn’t do anything- I have fun watching you through our eyes.”

“Then what are you planning to do now that you're awake? Taking back your body?”

Cian thought he would feel anxious about it, but for some reason, he doesn’t feel anything. It’s as if he was just asking, whether the sky was blue or not. It was a simple question, a natural question. And the answer doesn't concern him at all.

“You know better than us, in what will happen to us. Does Father, and Mother, and Sister, and all the members of the family consumed by their other side, dear cherie?”

“... …”

“No… light and dark needs to be balanced, or else it will cause us our destruction. The First had already proven that. Our Ancestor has lost his way and become a monster... that's not something I would wish to repeat. I have been given a second life, losing it again would be rather, a waste, isn’t it?”

Aanuel laughed maniacally.

“… You and I are the same. Whoever takes over, will always be us. We are different, we are the same. The generation of confusion had already ended with the story of Jekyll and Hyde. The people after that had been living while understanding our true nature-”

“Were you always this reasonable, Aanuel?”

Cian asked suspiciously.

“Don’t know, Je m'en fous.” Aanuel snorted. “My previous life is like a dream, and I know you felt the same way about your life on the other side. And now we are both awake. Shouldn't we grab each others hands, since we are the only one who we can trust.”

“This is an unexpected conversation…”

Cian said with a doubtful expression as he stared at Aanuel who was drinking wine from a goblet that had appeared out of thin air. The Demon Prince seemed to take this reasonably well that he couldn't help but feel suspicious. He scowled, and glared at Aanuel; “I know I will meet you again, perhaps in the afterlife. But I have expected that we would have a rather, well, more interesting encounter. Not like this, it’s-”

“- Boring, I know, and I shared the same expectation. In fact, I have been wanting to speak to you, Cian,”

Aanuel stared at him with a smirk.

“That way you're living your life... is rather boring.”

Cian's expression darkened, and immediately the next moment, he released a terrifying killing intent.

"... what did you say, Aanuel?!"