Chapter 529 - Perseverance

Lusica placed the tired Peter on the palace floor, and the boy was pale. He was not a vampire, so his regeneration was not the same, even though it was still enhanced beyond normal. As the boy closed his eyes, Ark looked at him with worry.

"I guess not even a shapeshifter can handle amputation," sighed the Knight of Courage with a worried expression. Lusica nodded as he looked at the boy's legs, which were still glowing and healing.

It seems this was one of his shapeshifting abilities, even without the enhancement of the vampire. Peter told them that he would have to use other human parts to recreate his body when this happens.

'As if he is a self-created homunculus,' thought Lusica as he remembered another fact about this young boy, and it was the fact that he never grew older. His ability trapped him in this body forever, but he never wanted to assume a different one.

Lusica felt like the Seika would have been interested in his abilities, and Oriole wanted to make the boy his assistant in creating artificial life.

Ark was a little older, in looks, and taller than Peter, but these two were especially the same: biological creations. This made them grow a bond that no one else could understand because they understood each other.

The scene reminded him of Lux, previously known as Kaza. Their start was similar to this, but loneliness was what bonded them. However, the two of them were separated by their tasks, and he was worried about his friend.

"I feel like if the time comes, you will save the Seika instead of me," his friend told him before entering the battle. Lusica had no answer to that.

There was no correct answer because both of them meant so much to him. Lux was his lifelong friend, and he could never be replaced, but the Seika was the man who saved him from suffering.

"You need to calm down," said the Knight of Courage to him, and he met her with confusion. "Your aura is overflowing."

Lusica turned to look at his own body, and it was indeed so, but it made no sense because this was the first time it happened. However, he then remembered the one trait that the Seika noticed him because despair made Lusica stronger.

Lusica looked at the dark aura radiating out of his hand and listened to the voices of the knights, the hunters, and everyone who wished to stay alive. This was no longer a battle to bring back the Seika but one to save the countless humans that the vampires devoured.

"It seems you are growing stronger," said the knight as she walked toward him. "We need to go now, Ark."

"I am not leaving him."

The youth said without a moment of thought, and it made a helpless smile appear on her face. Ark needed to guide them toward the location of the saint, and he knew that.

"I can feel that Saint Ai is in the middle of the palace, where the throne should be. Therefore, I will stay by his side until he recovers."

Lusica turned around and walked away, not waiting for any more instructions. The Knight of Courage stood rooted in her spot before sighing and crouching beside Ark.

"You can teleport away if a vampire comes here."

Lusica heard his feet strike the varnished marble floor as he walked toward the throne room. There was a pulsating calling of despair coming from there, and it made him grow uneasy with every second.

"Lorius must be there," said the Knight of Courage as she appeared by his side, taking out her sword. "I know that you are powerful, Lusica, but do not overestimate yourself."

"I will do whatever necessary to accomplish my duty. The saint is necessary to bring the Seika back."

"I've known him for a lot longer than you have," said the knight with nostalgia. "I believed that he was too ruthless, scared, and unforgiving to rule anything. However, he made me realize that forgiving the enemy is evil."

"What are you trying to say?"

"I have lived for too long, and I have committed many sins," she said and did not elaborate further. "You are a good kid, Lusica."

His heart wavered a little, a very short-lived escape from the despair of the war. Lusica turned toward the knight with a blank expression, and she returned it with a smile. It might be due to his childhood, but these words left him scared as if it was the ending of a chapter.

A movement ahead interrupted their conversation, and a figure jumped from behind a corner, carrying a blood sword that he brought down to kill them. The two knights moved simultaneously, and the vampire lost its head, and its body was frozen.

"We do not need to kill them. Instead, make sure to disable them long enough so that Lorius cannot summon them back."

"Yes, captain," replied Lusica as he whipped the blood out of his dagger. The blood splashed over the walls, creating an arch that then started to move toward the throne. "The blood is returning to Kar. You should turn the blood to ice."

"That is a good idea," she said as she walked forward, the ice surrounding her hand. Lusica kept a lookout on the surrounding until she was done, but it took her a long time.

"We need to keep moving since you are done," said Lusica as he turned around and found that the blood had stopped moving.

"...I am not done because I did not do anything."

As she muttered with confusion, Lusica started to notice how cold the surrounding was becoming. His breath turned into white smoke as it left his mouth, and the ceiling and walls were being covered with a layer of ice.

"Then, who is doing this?"

"...there is only one person here who has a stronger command on ice than I am, but even her should be unable to freeze a whole palace."

Lusica closed his mouth as he realized she was referring to the Princess of Ice and Fire. However, this was counterproductive to their plan, so he did not understand why the princess did this.

"It must be a fight against that vampire," said the Knight of Courage. "We need to find the saint as soon as possible. Let us hope that we won't run into Lorius."

"That is almost impossible," Lusica shook his head and pointed toward the throne. "That monster is there, and so is the saint."

The Knight of Courage was silent before she sighed. Her long sword started to freeze as well, growing in magnitude until it became a great sword that was half as wide as a man.

"Then, a battle is inevitable."

Lusica watched as the knight's blue hair rose upward like spikes, and her eyes glowed with blue, making her befitting of her name, a demon. His heart clenched as he realized that the battle to come was not one they could survive without sacrifices.

"...don't die," he said before rushing forward. Lusica was unaccustomed to emotions, and showing any clinginess was a sin, in his opinion.

Their march to the throne went unhindered, which bothered the two of them. However, as their feet stepped into the hall, the reason became apparent.

Rivers of blood flowed through the various doors and windows into the hall, all gathering in the center. A throne of blood that had the face of a man in agony devoured all the blood, growing only larger.

"Welcome, dear guests," said a man sitting on the throne, leisurely sitting as if he ruled the world. "I was waiting for your arrival."

"Ancient One," the Knight of Courage gritted her teeth. Lusica can tell her wrath, but she did not attack. "We are here for the saint you kidnapped, but that is not enough anymore. I am taking your head for all the lives that you took."

"And what will you do if you realize the number of people I killed over the years?" laughed the man. "I cannot believe that Solomon made you a knight of his. A barbaric bandit who knows nothing but to kill."

"I am a barbaric bandit, but you are a monster. Atone for your sin."

As she declared, her aura exploded and raged through the hall. Lusica backed away as he looked for the saint, who was supposed to be here, but he could not find her.

He found something else, and it was the voices within the blood, which had been drained from countless victims. Lorius did not care much about the wrathful, but he was interested in Lusica, who stood behind her.

"You are the Perseverant," said Lorius with interest. "However, do you know what that means? Nothing can break you, but you are destined never to rest. Nameless will take hold of you eventually."

Lusica glared at the vampire until he heard a voice in his mind, guiding him toward the saint.. His eyes turned toward the throne, and he could see a passage below it.