NOVEL NEXT Chapter 161: A lie
The faint pink light traveled through the ground, under heavily packed stones and soil. It traveled fast like a lightning bolt until it arrived in a room.
The assassin's wide hat was gone, revealing a face bound by strips of black cloth that left his eyes exposed. Eyes wide with surprise and bits of confusion.
"What the fuck!"
He shuddered as he remembered the fight. His hand went to his head, and goosebumps formed on his skin. He had nearly died, and it was all because of that kid!
He took a deep breath and then looked around the room before heading to the opposite side where another entrance lay. He went in and immediately kneeled.
"So you ended up using the necklace. Was the mission that difficult? I gave you two powerful artifacts that are for my personal use."
The room was dark, but the inhabitants did not seem worried about that as they could see perfectly well. The speaker was sitting on a stone chair, reading some papers.
He wore a black blank mask.
Jellyfish!
The assassin bowed. "There... are some unexpected situations. As you predicted, the Dragon Lord did not use any of his Authority and Law, so it was easy to handle him. The situation came from the... Dragon heir."
Jellyfish was about to flip his book when he suddenly paused. His voice was as calm as ever. "Explain."
The assassin did.
"Oh? He could do something like that? Erase memories? I did not know he could do that to you since you are in the third stage. Is this the power of the Dragons?"
The assassin bowed even more deeply.
Jellyfish paused for a long time. "This Dragon heir is unusually crafty. I wonder what he really wants? It seems I am going to stay in the Western Region for some time. It is going to be very interesting too!
"Oh... for you, I am going to think of a suitable punishment, but for now, I am going to send you to Burnis City. This time, be sure to bring in lots of gain.
"Before that though, where was Vacuse? Dead?"
The assassin stiffened.
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Vacuse was not dead, but he looked as if he might be close to it with the way he was breathing hard. Blood pooled around him, spreading rapidly just as the pain traveled through every inch of him.
His face was squeezed hard, but his eyes... his eyes were clear and hard.
He watched Drenvar.
Drenvar watched him.
The Dragon Lord did not call for help to treat his only heir. He took several steps forward, his hand gripping the sword hard, and the sword began to emit red light.
Vacuse tensed, ready to take action.
This was... after all, a test!
To see how much time he had before Drenvar tried to kill him! He had created the perfect situation through the assassin to see if Drenvar would take advantage and just do it then and there!
The thing was, at the moment, the two of them were in a balanced stand. They still needed each other, but not like before. They could do away with each other, but it was going to make things troublesome.
Vacuse did not want to put a dagger to his neck as he focused on other things. But he knew a dagger was in his opponent's hand. He just wanted to know if the dagger would be placed at his neck at that moment.
At the end though... the dagger was meant for him.
But, now or later?
Drenvar moved forward, complex emotions fighting in his eyes as if he was having an intense internal battle with himself. At the end though, he put his sword away and sighed.
His voice reverberated through the castle. "Healers!"
Vacuse did not relax until the healers arrived and took him away, leaving the Dragon Lord alone in the scattered library with his thoughts.
The complicated expression was still on his face.
"Should I have just killed him? I feel like that was the only chance I would have to see him so weak. But it is not the right time. I still need the Dragon for now.
"Besides, he needs to be more whole for my plan to work like I want it to."
Drenvar turned to walk out of the private library when he suddenly stopped. He frowned, then went to the spilled blood and crouched.
He dipped his finger, brought it to his nose to sniff, and his frown deepened.
Then he opened his mouth and licked the blood clean off. At first, his face was normal, but then he stiffened. His whole body seemed to freeze.
He dipped his finger again for another lick and gasped.
"What the...!!"
His eyes turned blinding red, so red that they resembled blood that welled up. "Is this... what the hell! That boy... I nearly died!"
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It took three days for Vacuse to be healed.
But it was a lie.
He was healed already on the first day due to his fast healing abilities tied to his Beast rank. He just used the chance to focus on meditation.
Meanwhile, the nobles in the castle kept sending visiting letters and sympathy letters to see him, but he flatly declined everything. The news had spread that the Dragon heir was involved in an assassination attack that left him wounded.
The only people that were allowed were Skya and the General Commander.
But on the third day, Vacuse was already up and about. He even started working, reviewing the different news of what was happening in the Region, and one thing he concluded was that... things were getting worse.
There was a buildup of tension almost everywhere in the Region, and some had already started to explode since there was no threat of a War Artifact to hold anyone back.
Even the General Commander had departed to start quelling some of the troubles.
As Vacuse read the different letters, his eyes gleamed. "It seems we have to resort to war after all!"