Chapter 113: Who Gave You Permission to Touch My Kin?
Lin Yan’s eyes were vacant, her movements mechanical.
She should have been in the underground chamber, reactivating the device. But now, she had appeared behind Bai, delivering a fatal backstab.
She pulled the greatsword from the wound, Bai’s blood staining her leather armor, dripping onto the ground.
Bai’s face was pale, but the Vampire bloodline was already working, the wound beginning to heal.
But for every bit of flesh that regenerated, another seemed to tear away.
Ara rushed to Bai’s side, catching her as she stumbled, her face contorted with fear and grief. “Bai, Bai, don’t die…”
Bai leaned on Ara, struggling to stay upright.
“She won’t die, little Weapon,” Azakana’s voice echoed as his true form, the goat-horned demon, appeared behind Lin Yan, a grotesque smile on his face. “I must admit, despite your… squandering of the Abyssal Lord’s power, you’ve done well.”
“Now, I will reclaim what doesn’t belong to you.”
He had calculated the wound’s depth perfectly, enough to incapacitate Bai, but not kill her outright.
“…Azakana,” Bai’s voice was a hoarse whisper, “what did you do to her?”
“Her?” Azakana chuckled, looking at the trembling Lin Yan. “Just a bit of fun. Controlling her mind took quite a bit of effort…”
“But at a time like this, you’re still worried about others? Heh… should I call you sentimental, or foolish?”
He had returned to his initial form, the elegant, yet menacing, demon Bai had first encountered.
Why are all the Abyssal Lord’s followers so… unstable?
Lin Yan’s body convulsed, her eyes flickering, and she collapsed, her heavy armor clattering to the ground.
“Oh? She broke free so quickly,” Azakana said, surprised. “I used my true Demonic Runes… hmm? The corruption didn’t take? Unexpected…”
Bai looked at Lin Yan, relieved to see the demonic aura fading from her.
As a Legendary Knight, with her Authority, she wasn’t so easily corrupted.
In the past few centuries, only one Legendary Knight had been corrupted by Demonic Runes, the one whose mind had been twisted by the Heart Demons.
“No matter,” Azakana said, turning his attention back to Bai. “How do you feel now? Your Vampire bloodline is incomplete. A wound to the heart, though not immediately fatal, will disrupt your blood circulation, preventing you from healing.”
He knew far more about Vampires than Bai had anticipated, even their weaknesses.
He was confident of his victory, so much so that he was even indulging in a bit of banter.
But he was right. Besides [Rebirth from Death], Bai had no other options.
But she wasn’t sure if she could control herself after another rebirth, especially with Azakana present.
“It seems you have no other tricks up your sleeve,” Azakana said, disappointed that Bai hadn’t shown any other demonic traits. “I wonder what power you stole from the Abyssal Lord… well, I’ll find out soon enough.”
He walked towards her, his aura oppressive, his amber eyes fixed on her, as if trying to see into her very soul.
This is so frustrating…
Bai gripped her sword, Ara clinging to her side.
She had warned Ara not to engage Azakana directly, to avoid losing control of her powers.
So, despite her anger, Ara held back, her power simmering beneath the surface, her gaze fixed on Azakana.
“Return—” Azakana’s expression was one of rapturous ecstasy. He no longer saw Bai, only the power within her. “The Abyssal Lord’s power… it’s… mine…”
In his eyes, Bai’s crimson hair shifted, becoming silver, her eyes a deep, indifferent dark gold, as if observing the world from a great distance.
“Beautiful, so beautiful…”
He reached for her, and she, with her remaining strength, swung her sword.
Her strength was fading, but this attack, fueled by her desperation and her Demonic Runes, was stronger than any before.
At the same time, Ara unleashed her own power, a concentrated blast of [City Breaker] and [Shatter], aimed directly at Azakana.
But it was useless.
Azakana, though a weak fighter for a demon commander, was now a World Ender Class being, on par with Queen Shaya.
He effortlessly blocked Bai’s attack, and Ara’s blast was redirected, carving a massive chunk out of a nearby hill.
“Don’t struggle. It will be over soon,” he said, his expression turning sinister. “You will pay the price… for stealing the Abyssal Lord’s power, and even…”
Even his memory of the Abyssal Lord had been replaced by Bai’s image.
This was what angered him the most. The great Abyssal Lord, in her slumber, her very image stolen by a common thief. The ultimate humiliation.
His hand seemed to pass through a different dimension, reaching for Bai’s silver-haired soul.
“Is this… the end…?”
Bai felt herself giving up. She was no match for him.
But he wouldn’t get what he wanted.
Attacking her soul would only trigger her [Rebirth from Death].
And if she lost control, the capital would become another Saint Noyes.
In that moment, she pushed Ara away.
“Run, Ara, run as far as you can…”
…I hope I can see you again, safe, when I wake up.
She closed her eyes.
Just then, a familiar, yet arrogant voice echoed in her ear.
“Azakana, who gave you permission to touch my kin?”
