Chapter 262
The nonchalance in his voice, paired with the faintest hint of a smirk, was like oil poured onto the flames of Vasoth’s temper.
The demon’s hands clenched into fists, his sharp nails digging into his palms as he struggled to rein in the fury building within him. His pride had already been bruised, but the human’s taunts were salt on an open wound.
Vasoth gritted his teeth, seething at Oliver’s attitude.
“Interesting…” Sera interjected. “How many moves did it take to take Drul down?”
“Let me think… five, no, maybe four.” Oliver put a finger to his chin as if in deep thought.
His casual tone was deliberate, designed to infuriate, and it worked. The surrounding demons exchanged uneasy glances, their confidence in their superiors momentarily shaken by the implication.
The simplicity of his answer made the surrounding demons stiffen. A hush fell over the crowd, each soldier processing the implications.
The silence grew heavy, broken only by the faint rustling of the wind and the distant crackle of torches. For the first time, the soldiers felt a flicker of doubt—a crack in the aura of invincibility they associated with their captain.
“Impressive… Your bone density and aura… How old are you, really?” Sera asked, her curiosity piqued.
She didn’t care about others and seemed unaffacted by Drul’s death.
“I don’t really keep track, but I should be close to ten by now.”
“…”
Sera fell silent, her usually sharp expression giving way to something unreadable.
Her narrowed eyes flicked over his form, searching for signs of deceit, but there was none. His words hung in the air, heavy and undeniable.
She had hoped her analysis was wrong and that he was deceiving them with his appearance and fresh aura. But reality hit differently.
He was really just a kid.
Her gaze lingered on him, the realization sinking in like a stone dropped into deep water. Each ripple of thought left her more unsettled than the last.
The air seemed colder now, the weight of the revelation pressing down on her shoulders. A child had bested one of her inquisitors—a child with power that challenged the common knowledge about humans.
A human kid had managed to take down one of the inquisitors.
It wasn’t Vasoth, who lacked strength, but Drul—someone well-suited for combat.
Were her subordinates weak?
No.
It was this kid, this human child.
He was a monster that Drul couldn’t defeat.
“I think it’s time to end this. Let me ask you, are you willing to submit yourself? If you are, your interrogation will be less painful than it would be if I have to force you to submit.”
She spoke in a serious tone, her aura backing her statement.
The oppressive energy radiating from her pulsed outward, pressing against Oliver like an invisible weight. It was a warning, and the surrounding demons stood straighter, invigorated by her commanding presence.
“Interrogation by you inquisitors to be less painful? I might have believed you for a moment if your little subordinate back there hadn’t threatened me so maliciously,” Oliver sneered. “And you actually expect me to believe a demon?”
The mockery in his tone cut through the tension like a razor. His smirk returned, though faint, as he watched for her reaction.
Sera laughed lightly and said, “You shouldn’t. It wouldn’t be interesting that way. I want you to struggle to your last breath as we extract every piece of information from your skull.”
She grinned and disappeared, leaving behind a flash of silver in the dark.
The sudden burst of movement caught Oliver off guard, and his instincts screamed in alarm. He strained his eyes, channeling espera in a controlled manner to his nerves and enhancing his sight to the maximum.
Her speed was ridiculously fast for him to follow otherwise.
Clang!
Swish!
The sound of metal clashing, the screeching of weapons grinding against each other, and the faint tapping of footsteps against the cold, muddy floor—all of it synchronized perfectly.
Oliver countered as much as he could, but as seconds passed, the strikes he failed to deflect increased, his blind spots widened, and his form became unbalanced.
Sweat dripped down his temple, stinging his eyes as his movements became more erratic. His muscles screamed in protest, but he gritted his teeth and pushed forward, refusing to give in.
Sera, though confident, was also cautious. She herself had experienced the devastating counter from that rapier earlier. As much as she hated to admit it, the technique was incredible.
She hadn’t told Oliver everything when he asked about the damage she had inflicted. For obvious reasons, she didn’t want him to have any hope of scratching her again.
Her lips pressed into a thin line as she recalled the lingering turbulence from his earlier strike, the chaotic ripples of espera still gnawing at the edges of her own energy. Even now, the memory of that disruption made her fingers twitch involuntarily.
What she didn’t reveal was that his espera from the strike had been turbulent as it passed through her body. While conversing with him earlier, she had been secretly working to remove the large residual espera that was disrupting her dark espera and threatening to turn it chaotic.
It was a flawless rapier technique, effortlessly transferring one’s own espera into the enemy’s system in a chaotic and discrete manner.
“If I could learn that technique…” she thought, her eyes narrowing as she analyzed his every movement. “With its power from my weapon, no one should be able to counter it.”
She had to learn that technique at any cost—or any others he had yet to show. If she could master them, her strength would grow exponentially.
Additionally, there was the possibility that he would become even stronger in the future, posing a significant threat to their army. He needed to be eliminated or captured now.
Despite this, she couldn’t deny her eagerness to witness his growth and potential and face him again in the future when he had become far stronger.
For now, she had to compromise and focus on capturing him.
Her attacks intensified, ruthlessly targeting his blind spots one after another, not giving him any time to adapt. The fact that a human, one rank below her, had managed to keep her engaged this long was already impressive.
Her subordinates, oblivious to the finer details, couldn’t understand the gravity of the situation.
To them, she was toying with him, drawing out his defeat for her amusement.
But she knew the truth.
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