CHAPTER 228: CHANGES

Sophie froze in fear, she looked at the man with shaky eyes. When he saw that she was afraid, he let out a smile, his guard lowered a little. He stretched out his hand to grab her, and then all of a sudden, she picked up a stone.

Bam

She swung so hard that it cracked his skull, sending him straight to the ground, writhing in pain and agony, but she was anything but done. She got on her feet, the fear in her eyes had vanished. She picked up his sword, and before he could move or try to stop her, she stabbed through his chest.

He struggled for a few seconds and then stopped moving. Blood flowed out of him slowly but in high quantity.

She stared at the body, her hands shaking. She took a few steps back and collapsed to her butt. Her eyes refused to leave that body, as if forced to see the action she had committed. She had killed a man.

She moved to the carriage and leaned her back against it. She looked at the body again, then drew her feet up to her chest and closed her eyes.

Back in the forest, Riven and Noel were completely unaware of what happened with Sophie. They were locked in battle with the men.

The leader of the attack finally moved when he saw that they were going to lose. He roared and charged forward, leaped into the air, aiming for Riven.

Riven looked up, and with a smile, he used Flame Blast. The leader was taken by surprise, but he wasn’t a newbie to battle. His sword got covered in ice as he slashed down, thinking he would slash through the attack, but the moment the flames touched his sword the explosion followed.

Boom

He was thrown back, slamming into a tree and ripping through it. He coughed blood as he slowly got back on his feet, his armor heavily damaged by the explosion.

He looked at Riven, a cold glare in his eyes, his breath haggard. This was no longer about an assassination, he was genuinely pissed at Riven and he was going to make sure he took him down now.

He charged in at full speed, sword in hand, his body tilted forward. Ice spread over the sword, he attacked with a horizontal slash. Riven leaned back and dodged the sword. He landed on the ground, but before he could counter, the leader was already in front of him, sword lunged toward him.

He parried the attack easily, but couldn’t counter. The man was fast and blocked the counter. The ice around his sword increased suddenly and then shot out spikes.

Riven reacted fast, but a few cut his body, causing blood to drip down.

Crackle.

Suddenly they both heard lightning. The leader turned only to see a massive bolt coming for him. Quickly he formed some sort of dome of ice over his head, but the lightning shattered it and he was thrown back.

Noel landed on the ground, he stared at the man with a grin on his face.

"Shouldn’t you be taking out the rest?" Riven asked.

"No need, that dog of yours is crazy, it’s burning them to crisps," Noel replied, then looked at the leader. "Nearly all your men are dead, you are what’s left."

A heavy frown formed on the man’s face, he looked at Noel with a glare. "You brats, I’ll make sure I drag your fucking asses back to my boss in a bag!" he roared and attacked, rushing toward them.

But the both of them stared at him unfazed, then Noel took a step forward. He stretched out his sword, and lightning crackled all around him before he dashed forward.

Clang, both swords collided, ice and lightning. The man started pushing Noel back with his superior strength, but Riven attacked with a flame arc. The man couldn’t block the attack and it hit him right in the side, leaving a deep burn cut.

"Arghhhh!" He cried in pain, and his stance weakened. Noel took that as his invitation to attack. He stabbed, his lightning-coated sword pierced into the man’s lower abdomen, but not through any vitals.

He left the sword there and then looked at the man. "I’ll be straight with you. If you make a move, all the lightning I can summon will be poured into your body, cooking you alive from the inside out.

I don’t want to do that, but I will. After all, I already killed all your men, you won’t be any different," Noel said, the shine in his eyes showing that he wasn’t joking.

Riven watched this and he couldn’t help but think, something had changed with his brother, and it happened after he went to the afterlife.

’There is something that Noel isn’t telling me. I’ll have to find out,’ Riven thought.

"Fuck you, brat," the man cursed with blood in his mouth. Noel immediately twisted the blade, causing more pain to shoot through the man’s body.

"Arghhhhhhhh!" He screamed his lungs out.

"Don’t play smart with me, or do you not value your life?" Noel asked.

"Kill me, brat, if you have the balls for it, my face will haunt you for—arghhhh!"

Noel poured lightning through the sword before the man could even finish speaking. The man’s body trembled hard, smoke had begun to come out of his mouth and ears, and only when he was close to death did Noel finally stop.

The man stayed unmoving, the horror on his face evident. Right now, he had met the devil, and he had the face of a kid.

Noel pulled the blade out and grabbed the man by the collar. "We have some questions for you, and you better answer right," he said before dragging the man on the ground toward the carriage.

Riven simply followed behind without saying a single word.

’Since the afterlife, he has been eager for battles and fights. Something is definitely different with Noel,’ Riven thought.