CHAPTER 36: SHINRA INCIDENT [6]

Holding the paper Leon had given her, Eula circled Lucian, who was using his third arm to hurl blocks of concrete at her while dueling with Ethan.

The rest of the Twilight Order showered him with spells nonstop.

Despite all that, Lucian didn’t take any damage.

Light was his only weakness.

And the person Lucian feared most right now was Ethan.

His entire focus was locked on Ethan’s movements.

Not on Eula, and not even on the rest of the Twilight Order, they posed no real threat to him.

’A perfect setup.’ Leon toyed with a strand of his hair, crafting another strategy.

Drop of Limitless, Ethan’s Light Affinity, Eula’s three-line incantation, the other members of the Twilight Order, and Leon’s own Light Affinity...

Leon had everything he needed to make this new plan flow smoothly.

After analyzing it, he didn’t waste a second.

’Alright. I hope this doesn’t kill me.’

Pulling the cork from the glass bottle, he let a single drop of [Drop of Limitless] fall onto his tongue.

The moment the red liquid slid down his throat, an intense coldness surged through every fiber of his body.

"Keeuk–!"

He coughed violently but kept his mouth shut so none of the liquid escaped.

’SHIIT!!’

The pain was far worse than before.

Crack–! Crack–!

His bones twisted at unnatural angles as blood and pus shot from his eye socket.

THUD—

Struggling to breathe, Leon collapsed to the ground.

’THIS HURTS!!’

He wanted to scream, but no words came out. Darkness fell over his eyes, and even sound faded away.

"..."

— — —

When Eula got behind Lucian, she quickly unfolded the paper and recalled the Magic Formula drawn on it.

It took her only a glance to understand its complexity.

’Impressive,’ she thought.

It was her first time seeing something this intricate.

’And he drew it that easily...’ She steadied her stance.

Folding it back and tucking it into her left chest pocket, she glided across the floor, then paused.

Lucian stood directly between Ethan and Eula, while other Twilight Order members surrounded him from the rooftops.

There was a brief moment of stillness before Eula and Ethan’s eyes met.

She shifted her gaze to the building on her right, glancing at the roof and signaling Yuki to take action.

"Hahaha," Lucian laughed, licking the blade of his Soul Eater. "Good luck ganging up on me."

He acted tough, but inside, he was wary of Ethan.

One critical strike, and he could end up as a corpse.

The others meant nothing.

That fact had Lucian grinning broadly.

Ethan’s Light Mana was still weak, and it wouldn’t withstand the full strike of the Soul Eater.

This worked perfectly in Lucian’s favor, as long as he kept track of Ethan’s every move.

’As long as it’s not Light, I’ll be fine.’

Lucian knew he had to end Ethan tonight.

If he let him live, Ethan would only grow stronger in the future, and next time, even the [Soul Eater] wouldn’t be enough to kill him.

Gripping the weapon, he let Dark Mana flood through his veins.

The skin around Lucian’s eyes darkened as his black, curly hair fell forward. His nails elongated into sharp points.

His skull hollowed, and a pair of horns tore through his forehead.

"Great, he got uglier," Eula commented, watching the transformation.

Ethan tightened his grip on his sword.

"This is... power." Lucian spread his arms wide.

"..."

"..."

"Now then," Lucian’s gaze locked onto Ethan, "I shall kill you first."

His figure vanished in a blink, and a second later, he appeared behind Ethan, blade raised to strike his head.

"Behind you!" Eula screamed in warning.

Ethan reacted instantly.

Maintaining his balance, his body spun a full 360 degrees.

Raising his blade, he caught the incoming strike.

CLANK—!!

The sheer force behind the blow was greater than before. The shockwave it generated crumbled most of the houses surrounding them.

Even the sky above went clear from the dark clouds.

Ethan felt as if a giant boulder had crashed into him.

"GHAA!"

He bit his tongue, forcing himself to hold his stance.

The ground beneath his feet cracked, half his foot sinking into the earth.

Eula didn’t waste a second. The moment the hit landed, she kicked off the ground and launched herself forward.

"Now!"

She shouted the signal, and more than twenty figures leapt from the rooftops, black cloaks billowing. Each wielded a weapon of their choice.

CLANG–! CLANG–! CLANG–! CLANG–! CLANG–! CLANG–! CLANG–! CLANG–! CLANG–! CLANG–! CLANG–! CLANG–! CLANG–! CLANG–! CLANG–! CLANG–! CLANG–!CLANG–!

One by one, the swords landed on Lucian’s body... some on his head, some on his legs, and even on the extra green arm extending from his back.

None of them left a single scratch.

"What?!"

"Impossible!"

"Commander!"

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!" Lucian’s maniacal laughter rang in everyone’s ears.

"THIS IS ALL YOU HUMANS GOT?!"

"GANGING UP ON ME AND STILL LOOSING, HOW PATHETIC!!"

’Shit!’ Eula cursed, recalling the three-line incantation Leon had given her.

’I can’t use it now!’

There was no point in casting it; that spell would only scratch the Primordial Demon’s body.

Then why had Leon given it to her?

From Leon, she understood one thing—he never did anything without a specific reason.

There had to be a reason why he gave her that spell.

’A strategy?’ she thought.

What was it about?

’Even if it was—AH! It’s for distraction!’

That’s what she thought.

And she was spot on.

Leon had given her the spell specifically to create a distraction for Lucian, so that Ethan would take the chance to aim at his head.

’That’s crafty.’

But Leon also said she could only use it once.

’We only have one shot.’

She bit her lip.

Her eyes turned toward Ethan, who was still pinned under Lucian’s sword. Glancing around, she saw her members struggling to even scratch his body.

It was frustrating.

’Ethan won’t be any help.’

Then who did Leon want the distraction for?

’Think!’

As she was deep in thought, a familiar voice echoed through the battlefield.

"Administrator command—set motion... to static."