Chapter 384: You brought your sword~

"Tell me everything, or this will be the end, Neroth Vhalzaryn."

Vivienne spoke as she glared at Lucian with obvious killing intent and Lucian—

"...teacher, what are you talking about?"

"Do what I told you."

Vivienne instructed. It was very clear from her face that she was not fooling around. Just that...

There was absolutely no way Lucian could repeat every single word he had said to her from the moment he met her.

"I am not Mike Ross, you know? Nor do I have a Mental Palace."

He tried to defend himself but it didn’t work. Vivienne tightened her hold around her sword, then she moved.

Lucian’s body reacted, he tried to move back but he lost control, used too much of his strength and shot himself up into the air.

That sudden movement made him lose sight of Vivienne for the slightest second and when he looked back—

She was no longer there.

"!!!"

Lucian’s eyes widened in surprise.

He looked around, trying to find her and she...

She was already floating above him, with her sword pointing at him.

"It’s the end, Neroth."

She spoke coldly as she swung her sword, ready to pierce through his heart.

"I am not Neroth!"

Lucian screamed in desperation as he closed his eyes. Then, a few seconds passed by, the pain he thought was about to come did not come. That made him slowly open his eyes and he looked at Vivienne’s sword, hovering right above his chest.

His eyes slowly moved towards her, she stared at him, then she moved her sword away and suddenly, whatever Energy was holding him in the air disappeared and he dropped to the floor.

"Owww..."

He groaned in pain.

"Stop acting, there’s no way that hurt you."

Vivienne spoke as she landed on her feet next to him.

"What was that about?"

Lucian asked as he stared at her.

"If Neroth had devoured your consciousness, he would have read your memories to avoid seeming suspicious. Since it would have been a recent read, he would have been able to say what I wanted him to."

"...so if I had repeated every single thing I said to you."

"Then I’d know you weren’t you."

Vivienne nodded.

Lucian stared at her for a moment, then he grinned.

"...what if I am Neroth and I knew it was a trick you pulled? Would this mean I’ve now managed to fool you successfully?"

Vivienne stared at him with a cold look on her face when he said those words, Lucian quickly raised both his hands in surrender.

"Just joking, joking."

He clarified very, very quickly.

At the same time, he also stared at the woman in front of him in silence.

Lucian... froze.

He still couldn’t believe it. The moment he thought she was attacking him, his body moved away, but when she appeared in the air right next to him, his entire body... froze.

As if... it simply gave in because it realised there was no way out...

That had never happened before.

Even when Lucian sparred with Vivienne, his body never froze up like this. He always fought till he could no longer move, only then did this woman end it.

But today...

Today the ’battle’ ended before it even began.

He still remembered that exact moment when he saw her above him, his mind thought of multiple things he could do, but every single thing he thought about, it felt like he didn’t have enough time.

That smallest moment was so overwhelming that his body just froze.

It was... strange.

He kept staring at her, wondering why this had never happened before and...

He could only think of one answer...

Vivienne had never attacked him seriously before. All the times they sparred, it was her holding back, letting his mind and body calculate the right move before she thwarted whatever he came up with.

Today, however... she didn’t even give him the time to think...

She just... disappeared and appeared right next to him, prepared to end the battle this very instant.

’Is this... how strong she is...?’

He wondered inwardly.

Then, he shook his head on his own.

No.

She might be even stronger.

Lucian laughed at that thought, he had come this far and he still had absolutely no idea how strong his teacher actually was.

"This is not a matter you should joke about, Lucian."

And while Lucian remained silent, thinking about all this in his head, Vivienne spoke with a cold look on her face before she looked away.

That made Lucian pause.

He stared at her for a moment, then, his eyes fell on the sword in her hand and... a very daring, playful smile appeared on his face.

Vivienne noticed that hateful smile and she narrowed her eyes.

"What?"

She asked in a cold tone.

Lucian didn’t answer instantly, he just kept staring at the sword in her hand and...

"You brought your sword~"

He spoke with this calm, playful tone.

Vivienne looked at him, Lucian’s grin widened as he remembered one of their conversations from before.

He had asked Vivienne what weapon she used, she gave him the most generic answer possible.

All of them.

And honestly, he believed her. The woman knew everything there was to know about fighting, so he wasn’t surprised that she knew how to use every single weapon there was.

Still, he wanted to know what her favourite weapon was, what she preferred in a battle and she shrugged at that.

She said he’d know when he was strong enough to challenge her.

He asked her to just show it and Vivienne said...

I don’t hold my weapon unless I have a reason to use it.

Those words were still stuck in Lucian’s head.

"I guess you did have a reason to use it today."

He grinned.

Vivienne stared at him and Lucian’s grin widened even further. Vivienne immediately knew where this was going.

"It was me.

The reason was me."

His grin became very insufferable.

"Stop that."

Vivienne’s face became even colder. Lucian, however, did not stop.

"Teacher..."

"Lucian."

"I think you’ve started to like me."

The moment he said those words, Vivienne let out a cold, dismissive snort.

"I have invested a considerable amount of time in you. Allowing you to die would make that time worthless."

Those words made Lucian stare at her, that insufferable grin on his face did not fade away.

"That’s so affectionate."

"It wasn’t."

"I’ll take it."

Vivienne stared at his grin, then, her face turned even colder.

"Lucian Cross."

She said his full name.

"If you continue saying things like this...

I will kill you myself."

She declared coldly.

And those words only made Lucian’s grin even more insufferable.

"See? That’s definitely affection.

I am certain of it.

They’d call you tsundere in Japan, you know? It’s a term tha—"

"Do not test me."

Vivienne narrowed her eyes.

"I will kill you."

She looked very serious.

She did not like the smile on Lucian’s face at all. Only this time, Lucian’s smile became even more arrogant as suddenly...

"It might not be that easy now, you know?"

And the moment he said those words, Vivienne’s face changed. The coldness on her face disappeared and now, it was replaced with clear interest.

Lucian saw that and his eyes glowed.

"Explain."

Vivienne demanded even though she already had a rough idea of what Lucian was trying to say.

Lucian chuckled at her reaction, then, he started speaking honestly.

"After I consumed Neroth’s Blood, everything in my body changed."

Vivienne listened more intensely. Lucian continued.

"My muscles, bones, blood, the density of my energy, my senses, my regeneration, even my abilities like telekinesis, the barriers I use, pretty much every single thing about me is different now."

"How different?"

Vivienne asked.

She could obviously feel that he had changed, she even noticed the little changes in his facial features, how he seemed... even more attractive now, even his energy seemed different.

But...

Despite all that, Vivienne wanted to hear the answer from him.

"Hmm... I don’t know..."

Lucian thought about it for a moment, thinking about what he should say, then, he thought of something very interesting.

"In the battle, Neroth destroyed my head.

It regenerated in seconds."

He revealed and the instant he did—

"...what?"

He got the exact reaction he wanted.

"My head was destroyed and regenerated in seconds."

"How much of it was destroyed?"

"All of it."

Lucian answered instantly.

"Everything just vanished because of the absurd amount of energy he attacked me with. There was nothing left."

"Even the brain...?"

"Even the brain."

Lucian nodded with a grin.

"I felt like I lost consciousness for a moment, only for everything to return faster than ever. It was... definitely an experience."

Lucian explained. Vivienne kept staring at him with rising interest and he stared at her like a demon tempting his target.

"So? What do you think? Would you like me to show you how much my energy has changed?"

Vivienne nodded at those words.

Lucian nodded, then he raised one hand and his absurdly dense Demonic Energy moved and—

A giant, thick, black, opaque barrier appeared right in front of him.

"For reference, that’s me trying to control my energy."

Lucian smiled and Vivienne...

She just kept staring at the massive barrier in front of her.