性瘾者

Nikolai was the first person who opened his eyes after getting hit by the blinding light.

He thought the roar that he kept hearing was coming from Calyx Dalton’s Soul Beast (assuming that the child was indeed a de Moonasterio). But much to his shock, the Elemental Guardian greeted him instead of a Soul Beast.

[And it has to be the White Lion, of all things.]

He gripped the armrests tight until they cracked under his hands.

[The White Lion is the symbol of the Knight Order that serves the emperor. Moreover, the White Lion is considered the most elusive among the Elemental Guardians. In fact, this is the first time in history that the White Lion appeared after Nero Roseheart died.]

“It’s an Elemental Guardian!”

.....

“And it’s the White Lion- no less!”

“I thought it had already disappeared because it didn’t want to accept a new master?”

“But if Lord Calyx has tamed the White Lion, then does it mean he’s someone special?”

“Maybe the rumor about him being the emperor’s child is true-”

“Shh!”

Having a sharp sense was both a curse and a blessing to Nikolai.

Right now, he thought his sharp hearing was a curse. Why would he want to hear that people were now assuming that the obnoxious young crow was his child? It made his skin crawl.

Unfortunately, he didn’t have the power to stop people from talking.

Thus, he ignored the noises around him.

He focused his attention on his daughter, who was standing in front of Calyx Dalton and the White Lion. Neoma looked shocked upon seeing the Elemental Guardian.

[Neoma...]

To be honest, he was also worried about Hanna Quinzel.

He saw Calyx Dalton whisper something in his niece’s ear before the young lady exploded in anger.

[I’m pretty sure Calyx Dalton is the reason why Hanna left the way she did.]

He almost covered his ears when South, the Vermillion Bird, yelled in his head. His mind was connected to his Soul Beasts, so those little punks could invade his thoughts if necessary.

He felt his heart drop to the floor. To say that he was worried would be an understatement.

he asked the Soul Beast, speaking to South using mental telepathy.

He gripped the armrests tighter, crushing them completely in his hands.

A god was an enemy he would never underestimate. Yes, one of his hobbies was slandering the gods he hated every chance he got. But that didn’t mean he was looking down on their strength.

[Is it a Major God?]

The Major Gods weren’t allowed to descend on the human world without a proper reason, though.

If he could, he would split himself into two in order to stay here and guard Neoma, and go back to the palace for Mona and Nero at the same time.

But he reminded himself that Mona wasn’t weak, and she was capable of protecting their son while holding the fort even if she had to face a god. Moreover, William was there. The Grand Spirit was too obsessed with his wife and son for him to let them get hurt.

he ordered his Soul Beast,

He almost covered his ears again when South yelled.

But it sounded like the Vermillion Bird was talking to someone else.

West, the White Tiger, was the Soul Beast he sent to guard Lukas- the Dark Elf- who was currently locked up in the Light Temple. Aside from Lukas, Jeanne Audley (the only woman among his Paladins) was also there.

What?

Hanna was in the Light Temple, and she wanted to destroy it?

[Does Rufus know... wait.]

Come to think of it, Rufus and Amber Quinzel were nowhere to be seen.

Hanna wasn’t the type to quit a fight midway. If there was something that Calyx Dalton could threaten his niece with...

[The crows have Rufus and Amber?]

And the fact that Hanna headed straight to the Light Temple where the Dark Elf was currently locked up...

[Helstor.]

The God of Eternal Darkness was messing with the Quinzels with the help of the crows!

Nikolai said firmly.

***

[THE SUN is shining brightly today.]

Neoma stared at the open roof of the Moon Arc Arena while Headmaster Salvatore was explaining to the crowd that they had no idea why Hanna suddenly left. While spacing out, an imaginary bulb in her head lit up.

Oh.

[Delwyn, listen to my brilliant plan.]

She shared her crazily brilliant plan with Delwyn while the headmaster was giving yet another boring speech.

After Hanna quit the match without a word to the officials, the headmaster stopped the match for a moment and climbed up the ring. Then Headmaster Salvatore then announced that Hanna was now disqualified from the fight.

Jaxson Emmett, the vice-captain of the Black Hawk Knights, left the premise to probably follow Hanna, even though he probably did not know where the Quinzel Princess had gone to.

[Hanna, go and save Duke Rufus and Duchess Amber Quinzel.]

She wasn’t dumb, so she figured out what might have happened to her cousin.

The Duke and Duchess Quinzel’s disappearance.

Calyx Dalton’s “whisper.”

Hanna’s outburst.

[That fucking crow psycho definitely kidnapped Duke and Duchess Quinzel to force Hanna to quit the match.]

And it was obviously a trap.

[Hanna, be careful. If they forced you out of the match, then it only means they have set up a trap for you.]

But Hanna was a smart girl, so she knew her cousin was aware of that.

[Look at the sun smiling down at us as if it’s saying today is a beautiful day to commit murder.]

Yeah.

Her Lunacy was seeping out again- threatening to devour her sanity- so she was staring at the roof to distract herself.

The retractable roof structures over the east and the west ends of the stadium were open partially, allowing sunlight into the arena. It was a pretty sight, but she would have liked it better if it was nighttime.

[The full moon peeking in the open space between the east and west roofs would be lovely.]

“Now that Lady Hanna Quinzel has been disqualified, we will restart the match between His Royal Highness Prince Nero de Moonasterio and Lord Calyx Dalton,” Headmaster Salvatore, who couldn’t hide the sparkle in his eyes while stealing glances from the beautiful and majestic White Lion, declared. “Your Royal Highness, Lord Calyx, the floor is yours!”

After saying that, Headmaster Salvatore used a teleportation spell to leave the ring.

Neoma gathered her shit together, hoping that it was enough for her to hold her Lunacy at bay before she faced Calyx Dalton and the White Lion.

“Now it’s just the two of us,” Calyx Dalton said, smiling. “Just like how it’s supposed to be- argh!”

The crow psycho was forced to stop talking as he coughed up a huge chunk of blood.

[Who’s dumb enough to wait and listen to their opponent’s monologue in the middle of a fight?]

A collective gasp once again erupted from the crowd as they witnessed hundreds of ice spears emerge from the ground- the ring that was now covered in a thin layer of ice- and stab Calyx Dalton’s body.

Long and sharp ice spears pierced through his chest, stomach, arms, and legs.

Too bad the ice spears weren’t long enough to reach his head.

But she was a bit satisfied to see the crow psycho covered in his own blood.

[Delwyn, gear mode.]

Ice blades appeared and attached themselves to the bottom of her shoes, elevating her.

She glided through the “ice rink” while crouching low. When she opened her hands, a pair of ice daggers materialized. She grabbed them by her hands, her eyes laser-focused on Calyx Dalton, who was melting the ice spears with his Mana laced with some bluish sparks.

.....

Oh?

[Is it blue flame?]

The crow psycho could control the fire element just like her, huh?

[A copycat, through and through.]

The roaring White Lion suddenly appeared in front of her, leaping in the air with its huge mouth opened wide as if it was about to bite her.

What a beautiful beast.

[Its golden eyes remind me of Lewis’s eyes.]

She just observed the majestic White Lion, admiring its beauty while taking notes of the unusual things she noticed.

Golden collar and chains, huh?

[I wonder what those are for.]

Just when the White Lion was close enough to maul the hell out of her, Delwyn appeared in his fake wolf form and growled, creating a sound similar to a wolf’s howl while lunging at the Elemental Guardian.

She almost laughed while imagining Delwyn in his human form, howling like an animal that he wasn’t.

But she held back.

If she laughed now, she would let out a frenzied laugh like a villain she wished to be.

So, she controlled her expression and ducked lower while Delwyn and the White Lion clashed above her- the two beasts biting the hell out of each other.

[Savage.]

She slid through the ice faster, using the long ice blade of her daggers like ski poles resulting in the blades scratching the ice ring, when she noticed that the ice spears that had pierced through Calyx Dalton’s body earlier had already melted.

The crow psycho was now glaring at her, his green eyes glowing menacingly while his ivory dancing with the wind coming from the palm of his hands. He was gathering his Mana in his hands until fireballs materialized above his palms.

[Ballsy.]

Calyx Dalton yelled angrily while throwing the fireballs at her.

The two fireballs, while in the air, were divided into two. The process repeated again and again until she couldn’t count them anymore. But she could clearly see Calyx Dalton coming at her at full speed.

She created a Dome to protect herself from hundreds of fireballs that attacked her all at the same time. Her Dome might be weaker than normal, but it was enough to protect her from the fireballs that bounced off of her barrier- making them fly away in different directions.

Since there was a barrier around the ring, the audience was safe.

The Headmaster, along with the other teachers and the remaining ‘Guardian Knights’ (Lewis and Raven) had to create their own barriers to protect themselves from the fireballs.

She didn’t have the time to worry about other people, though.

Calyx Dalton produced a sword made of blue flame. He swung it, producing a sharp sword aura that cut her Dome easily.

[He’s a Swordsmaster, huh?]

After all, only Swordsmaster could create a sword aura.

[Damn, Calyx Dalton is also built different.]

Although the holes in his body were bleeding like crazy, he still moved like he wasn’t injured. In fact, it even looked like he couldn’t feel pain.

[Crazy bastard.]

She blocked the sharp aura with her ice daggers, but her weapons just melted- threatening to burn her hands, so she dropped the daggers like hot potatoes. It was a good call. After all, the weapons she dropped melted the part of the floor that they hit.

Then, all of a sudden, the crow psycho was already in front of her.

Calyx Dalton swung his flaming blue sword again.

This time, she blocked it by grabbing the flaming ‘blade’ with her bare left hand.

Since she was a fire user as well, the ablaze sword didn’t burn her. But she had to admit that her hand trembled because her physical strength had been reduced drastically due to her fucking period.

“Our dear Crown Prince is a genius, huh?” Calyx Dalton said sarcastically while pushing her harder using his flaming sword. “The fact that you can touch my flame without getting burned means on top of having the ice attribute, you’re also a fire user.”

“Cry about it then,” she said, dishing out a sarcasm against the sarcasm she received.

If the real Nero got questioned about ‘his’ fire attribute, they would just say that he borrowed it from a Fire Spirit. Since her twin brother was a Roseheart, it was plausible.

“You really hate losing in an argument, don’t you?” the crow psycho growled.

“And you really love sprouting bullshit in the middle of a fight,” she snapped back at him, using all her strength to push back and take a step closer to him. Then she grabbed his neck with her other hand and squeezed it tightly- distorting Calyx Dalton’s handsome face in pain. “A de Moonasterio interrogates the enemy after subduing them, punk.”

[Mochi, lend me your power.]

She would love to lift Calyx Dalton while strangling him with her own strength.

Unfortunately, she was weak at the moment. Thus, she borrowed Mochi’s wind ability to lift the crow psycho. Thanks to the Wind Spirit, she just didn’t haul him up roughly- she also threw him up in the air.

Mochi’s wind pushed Calyx Dalton higher and higher in the air until his back hit the trap that she set up above the ring.

It was a sphere of ice with hundreds of sharp blades attached to it.

The real reason why she was looking up at the roof was that she was giving Delwyn instructions about the trap that she came up with. Plus, she crouched low at the beginning of the fight so that Calyx Dalton wouldn’t notice the trap she set up above them.

“Piercing holes in my body again?” Calyx Dalton asked, smirking. His whole body was now engulfed with a blue flame in an attempt to melt the ice sphere along with the ice blades stabbing his body. “The same trick won’t work-”

“Who said it’s the same trick?” she hissed, cutting him off. Then she put her hands together. “Fuck off, psycho.”

Calyx Dalton’s eyes went wide when the ice sphere began swallowing him.

Slowly but surely.

The crow psycho struggled to detach himself from the ice sphere and the blades embedded in his body, but his efforts were futile. In fact, ice quickly covered his entire body until he could no longer produce his blue flame.

In the end, the ice sphere swallowed Calyx Dalton.

The ice was thick, and it wasn’t clear, so the crow psycho disappeared from everyone’s sight.

Then the whole crowd fell silent, as if they couldn’t believe what they had just witnessed. The silence didn’t last long, though.

A loud cheer erupted from the audience.

But she didn’t relax because the fight wasn’t over yet.

She turned around and saw Delwyn and the White Lion still engaged in a brawl. The “wolf” was losing, though. The White Lion was mauling the hell out of Delwyn.

[Poor ahjussi.]

Delwyn was weaker than the White Lion because while fighting the majestic beast, Delwyn was also using more than half of his power to create and maintain the ice sphere.

She ran at full speed towards the two beasts to rescue Delwyn while she was brainstorming with herself about what to do aside from subduing the White Lion.

Even though it bruised her pride to admit this, Calyx Dalton was strong. He would definitely get out of the ice sphere in a few minutes. And once the crow psycho was out, she was pretty sure he’d finally go out.

Yep, she could tell that Calyx Dalton hadn’t used his full strength yet.

She wasn’t insulted since she used the crow psycho’s arrogance to her advantage.

[I’ll make him regret not going all out from the beginning.]

“Delwyn,” she yelled when the White Lion bit the wolf by the neck, then threw the bleeding and bruised Delwyn in the air. “Take a break!”

Delwyn, still in his wolf form, howled as a response.

Then the Ice Spirit disappeared before he hit the ground.

As soon as Delwyn vanished, the White Lion came at her while roaring. Then it disappeared. In the blink of an eye, the White Lion appeared right above her- charging at her in full force.

The majestic’s quick teleportation caught her off guard.

[Fuck, beautiful beings are savage.]

The next thing she knew, her back was already pressed against the hard and cold ground while the White Lion pounded her. If she didn’t raise her arms in time, the majestic beast would have bit off her face.

The White Lion’s long and sharp fangs dug deep into her skin, almost snapping her poor, slim arms into two. If she didn’t have the sturdy body of a de Moonasterio, she would have lost her arms by now.

But that wasn’t the reason why she was pissed as hell.

“You big savage cat,” she snapped, the blood from her arms trickling down to her face. “If you touch my face, you’re dead.”

The White Lion roared angrily at her face.

She growled back at it, surprising the beast.

All of a sudden, the White Lion stopped biting her arms off. It was still crushing her with its weight, but it remained still while giving her a look of disbelief.

[Oh?]

She smirked when she realized that her hunch was correct. “You’re conscious,” she said, then she carefully touched the golden collar around its wide neck. There were also golden chains tied around the White Lion’s legs. “You’re not serving Calyx Dalton at your will, are you?”

The White Lion remained silent.

But she could tell by the way its golden eyes stared back at her that it was listening to her intently.

That was good enough for her.

“I’ll do my best to free you, but you have to get away from me in the meantime,” Neoma whispered to the White Lion, then she gently ran her fingers through its soft and luscious mane. “Run- I’m about to self-destruct.”

Only Neoma could beat Neoma, after all.

***

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