Chapter 282 Painfully Cold (End)

Nove l B(in).C OM

"AAAHHH!"

"Brianna!"

As he shouts in panic, Barnabas dashes at me. The Divinity he is exuding has become more intense, making my alarm go off as he eliminates the distance between us. His sword cuts through the air and creates a vacuum in its wake. The Barrier that Rexorem's Magic Stone has generated wraps around me, but I know it won't help me much.

Crack!

True to my expectation, the Barrier quickly shatters upon contact with Barnabas' sword. I have fortified my stance, so I can still block his sword with Rexorem. Still, the impact of the clash makes me grit my teeth for the first time. I can loudly hear my bones breaking at an alarming. My muscles are strained to their limit. My skin is scorched by the Divinity.

I can't hold much longer, so I plan to stop fighting and let Barnabas launch me away. As I am about to do it, though, Barnabas abruptly retracts his sword and kicks me straight in my solar plexus. I hear some more of my bones break before I am sent flying. I throw up a mouthful of blood as I am in the air, creating a trail of blood that disappears soon after.

Shrrk!

Since my feet remain unharmed, I managed to land on the ground standing. Too many of my bones have been broken, though, so it is quite hard for me to keep standing as I skid on the ground. still, I managed to keep standing in the end. It turns out that Barnabas went serious in his attack, so I receive a Power-up soon after. It heals my injuries in the blink of an eye.

Turning my attention to the Grand Paladin who is still struggling to cut the roots that immobilize Brianna, I grin coldly. I snap my fingers and Teanosvera immediately takes that as a cue to teleport Brianna somewhere—beside me, to be precise.

As his sword hits the ground instead of its intended target, Barnabas quips his head at me. His gaze only stays on me for a couple of seconds before moving to Brianna who is next to me.

"You accursed creature!" he shouts as he rushes at me like a rabid dog.

The amount of hatred I can sense in his tone doesn't come from the fact that I am a Demon. He is mad that I lay my hands on Brianna. If I get their official relationship correctly, he should be Brianna's bodyguard. His feelings make it clear that he considers their relationship more than it, which means he has reciprocated Brianna's feelings.

What an interesting development. I wonder how Jacques will hear it if his favored harlot has fallen for his subordinate.

Clank!

Boom!

The ground below me sinks in as I block Barnabas' sword. I bend my knees slightly to fortify my stance, causing the ground to sink in deeper. Since I am taller than Barnabas, despite bending my knees, I can still look him in the eyes. I can see Brianna's reflection in them which shows what he is focusing on.

"Do you think pounding your Master's slut behind his back is ethical?" I ask with a knowing smile.

"You know nothing about us!"

"That may be true but I know a lot about Brianna." I cackle briefly. "You should have asked her how many dicks she has sucked and ridden on."

Barnabas' muscles twitch slightly but I can't tell what irritates him—the fact that Brianna has such a wild history or the fact that I don't stop blabbering. Either way, it is a win for me since I have made sure he will fully use his power in his next attack.

N0 v el Next. CoM

"AAHHH! It hurts! Barnabas, help me!"

"This bastard! Move out of the way!"

Brianna's call for help, again, managed to spark something inside Barnabas. His power explodes, allowing him to send me flying for the second time today. Teanosvera acts quickly, teleporting Brianna to where I will land soon. Expecting Barnabas to immediately rush there, I am pleasantly surprised to find him propelling himself at me.

I raise Rexorem highly, activate [Great Impact], and swing it down as powerfully as I can. Mana fills up the veins in my arms, almost causing them to burst.

Boom!

When our swords clash against each other, the air explodes, and the clouds above part. My veins burst and I am sent to the ground like a meteor. My Barrier is half-finished when my body crashes into the ground. My body punches a hole through the ground and I keep going down for a few seconds.

When my body stops moving deeper into the ground, I remain unmoving for five seconds. Every bone in my body is broken, so I can only move after the Power-up heals them for me.

Since I have Luxia with me, I can immediately get out of the ground without backtracking the hole I made. Upon returning to the surface, I am greeted by a surprise. Barnabas is waiting for me instead of rescuing Brianna. His sword is coming down at me, ready to split my head as soon as I came out of the ground.

Smirking at that, I make a dent in the ground that he is currently standing on. This destroys his balance; therefore, disrupting his swing. Using the ability of Logan's Relic that Rexorem managed to steal, poison smoke comes out of Rexorem. Barnabas quickly takes a distance, doing his best to get out of the smoke's reach.

I tell Teanosvera to teleport Brianna to my side again. As soon as she appears next to me, I tell Luxia to increase the power of the roots that are pulling and squeezing her breasts. Luxia hesitates but does it eventually. As if water squeezed out of a wet towel, blood spurts out of Brianna's breasts.

"AAAAACK!"

Brianna wails loudly. She no longer sounds like a human but a pig that is about to be slaughtered.

"BRIANNA! This damned Demon—I will kill you even after you die!"

It drives Barnabas crazy. I heard that high-ranking Paladins rarely lose themselves to their emotions. The High Paladins I have killed didn't lose themselves until the end, so that claim is not an exaggeration. For Barnabas to go berserk, he must love Brianna dearly.

Despite his near-to-mindless state, Barnabas is dangerous regardless. He can still execute his techniques and cast his Spells perfectly. Right now, he is swinging down his dimension-cutting sword at me and I have no way to dodge it. Using every Skill that I have to lessen the injury that I will sustain later, I block his sword.

[Senbonzakura], which wraps around his sword, turns into vapor in the blink of an eye. The Barrier that Rexorem's Magic Stone generated is shattered even before his sword touches it. The Barrier that I erected myself also doesn't last long. My last hope is [Death Blow] that comes into effect as I swing Rexorem.

Even then, it doesn't work. The explosion that it produced didn't even wind Barnabas up.

Spurt!

Even though I manage to keep Barnabas' sword away from my body, my shoulder is still getting cut. It wouldn't have mattered if the cut didn't deepen but it does. I won't receive the Power-up until the attack has ended. I can't force Barnabas to end it and I can't hold much longer. Therefore, I decided to retreat.

'The space is locked! I can't teleport you out of it.'

'How surprising.'

'Hold on, Master! I will distract the Grand Paladin.'

'No, stay there! We can't risk letting them get away.'

The only choice I have in my current state is to endure it until Barnabas decides to retreat. By that time, I am sure my body is already split in half. It wouldn't matter before but it will be a huge disadvantage for me now. Barnabas is focusing on me. He will kill me before the Power-up I receive does its job.

Luckily, I can still turn the table. I can tap into the power that lies dormant inside me—the Demonic Essence.

'You will lose your mind. Don't ever think of using it without anyone that can stop you in that state around!'

Luxia, however, is against it.

Ever since I assumed my True Form to fight Phoebesius, my Demonic Essence has been growing exponentially. Even though I purposely keep it dormant, it will leak from time to time. I would have been excited if I could control it. The last time I tried to assume my True Form, Velucan and Lemius ended up bedridden for two days for putting me down.

Using it now is a risk but I have no choice. I will bet on my ability to stay conscious.

Boom!

"You…!"

Barnabas widens his eyes before putting more force behind his sword. The Demonic Essence blast must have given him an idea of what is going to happen. He tries his best to push me down but to no avail. The more Demonic Essence rushes through my veins, the stronger I become.

I would like to grin cockily but my consciousness is slipping away. I feel like something is pulling my soul down to the bottom of a dark abyss. The darkness is caressing me and it is a very comfortable sensation to experience. I know I shouldn't indulge myself in it but as I try harder to resist it, the more comfortable I become with the darkness.

"Wake up, sleepy Prince. It is not the time to sleep!"

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The darkness disappears instantly and I regain my consciousness. My heart beats crazily but my body is incredibly cold. Looking down at my right hand, I find it grabbing Barnabas' head. The Grand Paladin is still breathing but already right in front of the door's death. Looking ahead, I find my left hand grabbing something.

When I realize it is Luxia, I immediately let go of her. My heart tightens as I see the fear in her eyes. The moment I am about to apologize to Luxia, I notice Teanosvera limping at me with hesitation. One of his wings is torn apart.

A power that you can't control is a curse—the painfully cold reality reminds me.