CHAPTER 33: SHINRA INCIDENT [3]

"Is this the place?"

Ethan whispered, leaning closer.

"Hey, back off a bit," Leon pushed his face away and answered, "the place is the same as in the letter. I think he should be here any minute."

After checking the time, Leon studied the surroundings.

Empty roads, abandoned houses. District Four of Shinra was a perfect place to murder someone.

’Eula must have already arrived with the rest.’

He looked around, searching for the Twilight Order’s members on the roofs.

But he didn’t find them.

’They’re hiding well. A confusion spell?’

Either way, for a Primordial Demon, this kind of confusion spell would not work.

Leon planned to take Lucian by surprise. With Ethan’s Light Affinity and the rest of the Twilight Order helping him, it would be possible to take down a Primordial.

The only thing stopping Ethan was the fact that he was still not sure if Lucian was truly a demon.

Unlike Eula, Ethan didn’t have the resources to do his own digging.

"Say, Ethan, I’ll tell you one last time. Please cut off Lucian’s head as soon as you spot him, okay?"

To his words, Ethan replied.

"Are you nuts?"

Leon knew it already.

’I hate goody-shoes protagonists.’

He had tried every trick to manipulate the guy into doing as he said, but Ethan’s morals just didn’t approve of it.

’Well, he’ll be the one fighting the demon, so it’s his fault if he wants to make it tougher.’

Moreover, Leon would only watch from the alley they were hiding in.

"At least use a tiny bit of Light Affinity when you attack."

Leon tried one last time.

"..."

Ethan didn’t answer.

Just as Leon was about to say something, he heard someone approaching.

Instantly, both Ethan and Leon went alert.

They peeked behind the wall and saw a boy with messy black hair, wearing a speckless familiar noble uniform and a sword on his belt, walking down the road.

"He’s here." Leon whispered.

The way he was walking, holding onto a letter in one hand, could make anyone believe that he was human.

And his confidence would now make Ethan think that he was not a demon.

"He doesn’t look like a demon..." Ethan muttered.

"No demon would introduce themselves before killing you." Leon muttered under his breath.

"Did you say something?"

"Not at all." Leon shook his head in refusal.

Lucian stopped in the middle of a cross-section, right below a giant building.

He looked around, and suddenly, his head twisted upward toward the terrace in an unnatural manner.

CRACK—!

The bone-cracking sound could be heard from a far.

This made Leon grin.

"Alright," Leon whispered to Ethan, "if that’s not a demon, then you need glasses."

This time Ethan grabbed the hilt of his sword and infused it with Light Mana.

A lightning spark trailed behind as Ethan shot toward Lucian.

Leon tilted his body to get the full view.

’This idiot!’ he cursed, watching the scene.

Just as he feared, Ethan didn’t cut off Lucian’s head. Instead, he went for his joints, making his body fall backward.

His severed leg hit the ground with a wet thud, as blood spattered across the cobblestone.

’It’s clearly a demon, why didn’t he cut off his head?!’ Leon wondered.

That would have made things a lot easier.

’Alright, there is still a chance...’

Leon didn’t lose hope. With Ethan’s Light Affinity, it would be practically impossible for the demon to block his next attack.

Calming his racing heart, he watched.

A maniac broken voice echoed the surrounding.

"What... was that?"

Lucian, despite having both his legs cut off, somehow managed to retain his sanity. He neither screamed nor showed terror.

Ethan stood a short distance away from Lucian’s fallen body, the edge of his blade radiating Light Mana in the open.

Lucian lifted his eyes to the white-haired boy aiming a sword at him, his voice calm as he spoke.

"Hm? Did you do this?"

Ethan shot him a glower.

"How did a demon like you enter the city? Who helped you? What’s your goal?"

As someone who despises demons, Ethan’s jaw clenched as he stared at the Demon’s severed limbs.

Crrrrk—crrrrchhhhk—!

Bone shards wriggled inside the torn flesh, sliding back into place like twisted marionette strings.

His muscles, and skin sealed shut.

Lucian frowned when he saw Ethan clearly.

"I know you. You’re a first-year student."

"Answer!" Ethan barked.

Watching the exchange, Leon felt frustration boiling inside him.

’Why is he doing a Q&A session with a demon? Just cut off his head!’

There was no reason to question a demon upon spotting one. The only thing that needed to be done was to execute them on the spot.

’Eula must be watching all this.’

Discovering an unknown boy attacking Lucian must be confusing for her.

Leon had never spoken about Ethan to her, and neither was she aware of him possessing Light Affinity.

’She thinks Light Affinity is a myth.’

Tonight, that myth would become real.

"First of all, tell me," Lucian spoke, pointing at the sword in Ethan’s grip, "is that sword enchanted?"

"What?" Ethan raised his eyebrow.

"How could that blade give me such a deep cut? I’ve never seen an enchanted weapon harm a demon of my status."

Lucian was a Primordial Demon. There was no way a normal steel could pierce his skin. So either the blade in the boy’s hand was a weapon born to slay his kind...

or the boy himself was someone special.

"Heh," Lucian chuckled, standing up completely fine, "either way, I’ll have to kill you."

This made Ethan smile. "Then let’s see who survives."

He took a step back, absorbing Light Mana inside him and channeling it toward the blade in his hand.

The edge of the blade lit up immediately, vibrating the air surrounding it.

"What is this mana?" Lucian demanded, unable to grasp its true nature.

The sheer aura of it sent chills down his spine.

It was his first time feeling this anxious.

To clear his confusion, Ethan calmly answered, raising his sword.

"Your nemesis."

Lucian’s eyes widened as he finally grasped what that mana was.

"Light Affini—-"

He didn’t get the time to finish his sentence.

He saw a blade accelerating toward his face, dense with Light Mana all around it.

CLANG—!

A sharp, ringing shock split the air.

Ethan’s eyes widened at the fact that his blade infused with Light wasn’t cut through his flesh.

Blocking it was a sword as black as a starless sky, its surface writhing with dark mana.

The light around Ethan’s blade shivered, repelled as if the two forces were natural enemies.

The air between them twisted, as the ground below their feet shook violently.

A dangerous force to the kind of catastrophe that could level a city screamed in space.

Lucian’s grin stretched wider, his eyes glinting fell on Ethan’s.

"I knew it..." his voice was almost a purr, "...it wasn’t a myth after all."