Chapter 690: I value my life.

’She stood up.

And it seems like she is waiting for you.’

Imperia relayed what her Ant saw. Kael, hearing those words, no longer wasted any time. He rushed towards Lavinia and saw her standing right beside her brother’s body with an emotionless look on her face and the Judgement of Feraos in her hand.

"Lavinia."

He called out.

Lavinia turned towards him, the look on her face did not change. Kael did not mind it, he gently held her free hand and—

"Are you alright?"

He asked a silly question.

She obviously was not alright.

However—

"I am."

Lavinia nodded in a flat, emotionless tone, which made Kael frown.

"Lav, you don’t have t—"

"My brother would not want me to be weak, Kael."

She spoke in a more certain tone as she tightened her hold on Kael’s hand. Kael felt her grip and the intense emotions behind it.

Lavinia, on the other hand, continued—

"Not when there is so much we are supposed to do."

Kael clenched his jaw at those words.

He understood it as well.

This was the beginning.

The first player in the game had been sacrificed.

Now it was time for them to make their move.

"What do you want?"

"I will kill my father."

Lavinia spoke as her violet eyes shimmered with determination. Her hold on the Judgement of Feraos tightened.

"Lavinia—Aargh!!"

Zzrrpp

Kael tried to take the Judgement of Feraos from her hand, however, the instant he touched it, he felt a strong resistance that forced his hand back.

He stared at it with a frown.

"You cannot touch it.

Did you forget?"

Lavinia spoke in a calm tone.

Kael stared at the sword for a moment, then he let out a dry laugh.

"I guess being a Hero isn’t all that, huh?"

"A Hero isn’t supposed to do everything, some things are better left to others."

Lavinia smiled lightly.

That made Kael look at her, then, with a serious look on his face—

"You are not going to use that, Lavinia."

He spoke directly.

"I will."

Lavinia did not back down.

"It takes away half your Life Force."

That surprised Lavinia for a moment, then she realised it and looked past Kael. Kael didn’t say anything, he only stared at Lavinia, waiting for her to answer.

"My father has the Raiment of Feraos, there is no other way to defeat him."

"That is untrue."

Kael instantly shook his head.

"The Raiment only stops him from being wounded, there are other ways to kill a man than that."

"Like?"

Lavinia tilted her head.

"Capture him alive, starve him to death, or let him die of thirst. You do not necessarily have to kill him either, disarming him should do the trick.

You told me this before and I am saying this to you right now—

One man alone cannot be unstoppable.

We cannot kill him, yes, but we can kill his allies.

We will find them and kill each and every one of them, we will take away every single possibility of him winning this battle, we will leave him so helpless that it won’t be surprising if he drops the Armour on his own in despair."

"That will indeed be a sight to see."

Lavinia smiled lightly.

Kael, however, did not.

"So drop the sword, Lav."

He repeated his words.

But Lavinia—

"No."

She shook her head.

That made Kael narrow his eyes, however, before he could say something—

"I do not plan to use it."

Lavinia made it clear.

"I value my life.

I value what I have.

I have a brother who always protected me from behind, the brother who had blind faith in me and kept investigating my exile when he only stood to gain from it, the brother who has now given his life to protect mine.

Then I have you.

The man who swore to protect me, the man who saved me from the pits of hell and gave me a life worth living.

I also have my beautiful children, the children who accepted me and were with me all the time.

I have too much to live for to shorten my life, Kael.

I do not plan on throwing any of it away.

But..."

Lavinia then took a small pause.

"I will keep the Sword with me, in case I ever need it—

To protect the things I cannot live without."

She spoke as her eyes shone with a strong light.

Kael stared at her for the next few seconds, he could tell that she wasn’t going to back away, so instead—

"Alright, then put that inside your Sanctuary."

He sighed in defeat and compromised.

The last thing he wanted was for Lavinia to use the sword by mistake, and while he knew very clearly that it was highly unlikely for her to do something so foolish, he still didn’t wish to take any chances.

Heck, if it were under his control, he would rather Lavinia put the sword inside her Sanctuary and forget about it.

But—

"I can’t do that."

Lavinia shook her head again. Kael frowned at that, she was going too fa—

"The Judgement of Feraos cannot be stored inside one’s Sanctuary."

She revealed.

"This is the reason Father kept it inside his Vault, where there was a possibility of it being stolen."

Kael’s expression changed at that.

"So you are supposed to carry it with you?"

He frowned.

He did not like the idea of his Lavinia openly displaying that she had the strongest Relic in existence to the entire world.

But—

"Yes."

Lavinia nodded.

Kael stared at her for a moment, then he sighed again.

His gaze then returned to Edric.

"Do we proceed with the rites?"

He asked carefully.

He wanted Lavinia to have as much time as she wanted before they did anything, but Lavinia—

"No."

Lavinia shook her head.

Though her reasons were different from what Kael believed.

"We have other things to do right now."

"What?"

"Reveal the truth to all of Nerathis."

"We can do it la—"

"We cannot.

We do not have time."

Lavinia spoke in a somewhat urgent tone.

"First, let’s inform the Stormholds."

"Alright."

Kael nodded as he took out the Communication Crystal, however, just as he was about to activate it, it activated on its own and—

[K-Kael!]

Elira’s panicked voice came from the other side.

[W-We are being attacked!]