CHapter 122 - Deal with the Devil

The evening air ran through his hair, waving the red and black strands of his bangs in front of his eyes.

Rei, an adventurer, stood in an open space of land near the outskirts of Istoria closest to the Industrial District. He had been waiting for most of the day there after hearing the details of his meetup with Vye.

Vye, the mysterious woman who attacked him in the alley and overwhelmed him. Her lasting impressions on him roamed through his mind like a bad experience that played back any time he least wanted it to.

He tapped his feet as the street lamp's light flickered on and off in quick bursts. It was powered by Makrum stones but that one seemed to be in its last few seconds.

He looked annoyed, which was expected since the only information he received from Kana was: “Meet her at the Industrial District's outer streets, anywhere with a large open space. She’ll be there once it reaches its darkest.”

Rei was dressed in his armour with both Chakrams planted under his back in their straps. All that was left was for her to show herself…

“Sigh…how long has it been?”

His deep sight resonated through his body as both shoulders dipped into a sluggish form that curved his entire upper body forward.

The moment his breath left his throat, the street light above him reacted by giving out its final flicker. Suddenly the street was left without light and a pair of feet broke free from their place.

Rei felt a tingle down his spine and a moment later drew his weapons. He had no idea where it came from but there was no need to. It had to be her, he was certain of it.

The blade remained in the air without any opposing force, nothing but air passed by him.

***

“Did I read it wrong? I was sure I felt bloodlust…”

A soft voice that sounded like honey on the ear, whispered over my shoulder and made my eyes shoot open.

“You’ve got good instincts, for an idiot that is.” The sharp curve of her dagger rested on my backside. “Not good enough though.”

My body froze, I didn’t know what was happening to me but whatever it was, it kept me from moving. Was it fear, panic, was it something she did to me? Those thoughts and many more all raced through my head at once in a barrage of inaudible gibberish as I struggled to regain control.

No–if I can’t keep my head through this then I won’t last another second against her! Not again! Not again! I won’t let it happen again!

My lips separated and then smashed together in a passionate roar.

“SHADOW STEP!”

{User has activated Shadow Step}

I appeared above her, just a couple of feet off the ground with my hand aimed to the floor where she stood. She was covered by her hood, from the top I could only see the black material over her head.

Not that it mattered. I had her and refused to let the opportunity simply pass up. I forced out another powerful cry.

I needed something powerful, something I knew would be able to put an end to any fight placed in front of me, without a chance of them escaping. Not from that angle at least.

“There’s no escaping this one–Dragon’s Roar!!”

The skill formed in front of my hand, a large red dragon made from moving lights of aura. The dragon's head took shape and just as its mouth opened to reveal the flames in its jaws, a line appeared through its mouth.

A single beam of light pierced the flames before they could leave its jaw and cut through my skill entirely.

My eyes jolted open and I felt a wave of pressure hit my stomach before I had a second to react. My eyes dropped to the origin of the pain and noticed an arm extended out from in front of me. I traced the smooth wheat colour of her arm toward the floating figure before me.

Her eyes flashed beyond the cover of her hood just for a second but it was enough to confirm my suspicion. Those glowing violet eyes and cold stare…yeah it was definitely her.

My stomach was still in the process of riding out the intense pain she left me with when suddenly her foot came into view. I didn’t think it through, my body screamed for me to move and I listened to it.

“Second step–” A sharp slash from her dagger crossed my chestplate and cut me off before I could finish.

Luckily it was sturdy enough to endure her attack but the resulting force sent me crashing into the ground with a massive explosion of dust to follow.

Dust surrounded me and filled my nose, I had no idea where she was. The stuffy cloud around me forced out a cough. Suddenly her voice appeared from beside me, every time I turned to her it travelled in a new direction and threw me off at every turn.

“You’re still too predictable, not fun at all anymore. Now that I’ve seen your trick you’re nothing special. Skill, skill, skill, you never do anything else do you?”

The dusty cover that shrouded her slowly lifted as her legs came into view. Two plump thighs rubbed against each other with every step as she walked towards me. My Chakrams rose as I prepared for what could have come but she didn’t attack, she didn’t even look prepared to fight.

She looked at me with an aloof stare, the same one a child who grew bored of their favourite toy would have.

“There’s hesitation in your strikes, slow reactions, quick to cast your skills too…Just so much to complain about honestly. The simple truth is that you’re weak.”

She stood opposite me, in plain sight. Her voluptuous figure made me question how she managed to move so quickly at all. Logging those beach balls on her chest looked more like a form of training than anything else.

She wore a dark hood over her head that hid the short cream hair underneath slightly, it slightly covered her chest and shoulders too but everything else was exposed. By everything, I mean everything.

From the head down, the only clothing she had on was the black bra and panty covering her most private areas as well as a few bandages and material wrappings around her belly and arms.

She was next to naked and acted as though it were nothing. I had to double-check just to make sure I wasn’t seeing something out of a dream. It felt like a dream, looking at a body like that, it didn’t seem real for any person to have a figure that perfect.

“So then?” She asked.

I didn’t trust her, I raised my weapons even closer to my face as I prepared for any sneak attacks or sudden movements that she might throw. She met my cautious behaviour with a scoff.

“Please. If I planned to take you down again, I would have done it already. Not to mention, you invited me here didn’t you?”

I didn’t like it but she was right. Even so, I couldn't bring myself to lower my weapons. Her weapons were under her hood and yet I still felt she was dangerous, like her guard never really dropped.

“Why did you attack me? What did–what do you want with me?”

Her smile intensified.

“Is that all? Well, that should be simple, I said it last night to you.” She walked closer to me and stared into my eyes without regard for the blades held to her neck from my hands. “I’m interested in you, Rei.”

“Interested? What do you mean by that? Surely you wouldn’t attack me if you were interested in me!”

Her smile faded away and the grin she wore so passionately turned back to its cold self. She stepped away and my hands finally stopped shaking. She stopped once she put some distance between us again and glanced back at me, her eyes turned blank, like the surface of a wall.

“We both know that didn’t matter to you, not in the slightest. There’s something else you wanted to ask me, isn’t there?”

“Yes…”

“Will you ask it then? The real thing you want to know?”

My lip trembled as the thought I had pushed away came flooding through my throat and out my mouth before I could catch it.

“How…how did you become so strong?”

Her smile returned. She leaned back and brought her chin up to the sky almost as if she were looking up at someone.

“That’s it! That’s the burning passion I thought was so interesting!”

Her excited yells turned to a satisfied grin that made me feel uneasy. She stared through me, glaring past my skin and to my core.

“I’ve got some good news for you, a limited-time offer! I’m sure our consultant has told you of my deals by now, hasn’t she?”

“She has…” My face winced.

She licked her lips, pleased by what she had to say.

“I’ll make you stronger, as strong as you can be…”

“And in return?” My eyes focused on her.

“In return?” She gave it some thought and placed her finger along the curve under her lip as she pondered up at the sky. She pulled the finger away from her thick lips and pointed it up to show me she had come up with an idea. “One favour, I’ll call on you for one favour when the time seems right. How does that sound? Is it a deal?”

My heart grew restless, everything and anything around me fell out of tune and faded to silence. Nothing but the incredibly loud drum beats of my heart filled my ears as I tried to think it over.

No. There was nothing to think about. She had power, a power I wanted. It might have been a deal with the devil but it was one I was willing to make.

I lowered my head slightly and locked eyes with her, I showed my determination with an intense glare and nodded.

“Deal .”

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