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Vol 2 Chapter 34: Offend Me And Run Away?
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The moment Diana id eyes on Elyssa, she was utterly transfixed.
In her gaze, there existed nothing but Elyssa. The only sound that registered in her ears was Elyssa's voice, drowning out evehunderous pounding of her ow. Her decision had been resolute just moments ago: to leave this pce, abandon her freedom, and fulfil her duty. Yet, with Elyssa’s sudden arrival, her resolve wavered.
“…”
A voice murmured something indistinct beside her, but Diana couldn’t decipher the words.
"Stop me? With just you?"
Elyssa’s tone brimmed with unyielding arrogance as she uhed a delicate rapier. The bde, entwined with rose-like vines and adorned with intricate carvings, gleamed menagly.
In the instant, flowers formed of crimson blood bloomed across the street. The heavens, the earth- everything morphed into a macabre sea of blood and mist. The world was bathed in the eerie glow of a scarlet moon, its refle painting blossoms upon the sanguiide.
Amidst this crimson abyss stood a petite figure, her silver hair casg like a waterfall against the stark bck of her dress. She was a striking vision, dominating this scarlet realm with her ethereal presence.
"You’d do well to watch your back, dear."
Even as her words hung in the air, the shoulder of the draic guard ierced by her rapier. He reacted swiftly, swinging his sword in a powerful arc toward the space behind him- yet his assaint had already vanished.
“…What sorcery is this?”
"Not even a glimmer of prehension? You’re more of a disgrace than that wretch of a guard. And you call yourself a protector?"
This time, her voice echoed from his left, but wheurned, he was met only with empty air, as though she had never been there at all.
"Ah, well. I’ve no particur taste for protracted torment. Let’s end this, shall we?"
A soft plink, like a droplet disturbing still water, marked the beginning of his end. The wound on his shoulder expanded grotesquely, snaking down his arm, his chest, and his neck.
Splurt.
A torrent of blood erupted from his body, merging with the vast crimson sea below. His sciousness ebbed away with the relentless flow, cimed by an exsanguination so profound it bordered on the surreal.
"Such feeble strength, a you dare posture before me?"
Elyssa flicked her rapier with a delicate motion, scattering droplets of blood to the ground. She had merely invoked a fra of her power t the guard into a subspace of blood. He had been utterly defenseless within her sanguinary domain.
‘That sea of blood will need a thh sing ter…’
Such thoughts drifted through Elyssa’s mind as she approached Diana with slow, deliberate steps.
"Tell me, my dear, where were you pnning to flee after deceiving my little silver dragon?"
“…”
Diana stared mutely at Elyssa, who stood a head shorter than her. Words escaped her.
It was true that Diana was youhan Elyssa. Among the dragonkin, adulthood e around a tury, though this varied. By such measures, Diana was still very much a young maiden.
Elyssa, however, beloo the vampire race- a race with lifespans so vast they eclipsed even those of the dragonkin. As one of the vampire dukes, Elyssa’s age dwarfed Diana’s severalfold. To the a dukes who had weathered the Dragon-Demon Wars, Elyssa was sidered youthful.
“…Why?”
“Hm?”
“Why did you e here?”
In truth, while Elyssa’s overwhelming might had easily dispatched the draian guard, it did not mean the vampires could tend with the ey of the dragon . The dragonkin possessed many beings capable of rivalling a vampire duke. Were a flict to break out, the vampire race would likely face signifit losses. And whether the other vampire dukes would support Elyssa was far from certain.
“Why? What foolishness do you prattle about? You sullied my honor, dear. I warned you I would see this debt repaid.”
“But…”
Before Diana could muster anument, a hand emerged from the portal behind her, grasping her firmly and pulling her in.
“Click.”
Elyssa’s sharp senses detected the shift immediately, and she luo seize Diana- but it was too te. Diana had already been whisked away into the heart of the Draic Empire.
“…Ah…”
Diana’s eyes were fixed upon the portal as it closed, the st image burned into her mind being Elyssa’s desperate attempt to grab her.
“Wele back, Yhness.”
A host of nobles opulent attire bowed deeply as Diana emerged into the imperial halls. Beside her, a draic guard armour identical to the fallen one released her arm.
“My apologies, Yhness. Given the urgency of the situation, I had no choice but to act.”
Anuard k in apology before her.
“You…”
Diana gazed at the assembled dragonkin, realizing she was back within the empire’s borders.
“Elyssa…”
“With all due respect, Yhness, that vampire duke poses a grave dao you. I strongly reend- ”
“Silence!”
Diana’s voice rang out, sharp with anger.
“Danger? Elyssa, she- ”
“Were you calling for me, darling?”
The short query froze the room in stunned silence. Yet, where the dragonkin reeled in shock, Diana’s face lit with delight.
At the spot where the portal had vanished, a jagged tear in space appeared, as though fabric had been ripped asunder. From the breach, Elyssa’s slender form emerged, halfway into the room.
“Trying to flee, are we? Not so fast!”
Taking advantage of the dragonkin’s stuupor, Elyssa seized Diana’s wrist and pulled her back through the rift.
Diana, unbanced, stumbled forward, colliding with Elyssa’s slight chest- a faint bump that was heless unmistakable.
“What’s this? You’re ba my arms already, and it’s barely been a day.”
“W-what are you talking about?”
Flustered, Diana’s thoughts spun wildly. Memories of the previous night- when she had imbibed too mud engaged in what could only be called ‘mischief’ with Elyssa- resurfaced unbidden.
She hadn’t been pletely inebriated. Rather, she had feigned drunkeo take liberties with Elyssa.
“…Don’t remember, do you?”
Elyssa’s smile was sweet, but her eyes bore no mirth. Caught between admitting the truth or maintaining her ignorance, Diana was at a loss.
This was not how she’d envisiohings at all!
“Never mind. Let’s set that aside for now.”
Turning her gaze, Elyssa addressed a third figure standing nearby.
“Thank you for your assistance, Miss Farkonia.”
“Oh, think nothing of it,” the woman replied with a light chuckle.
“Given that Miss Diana here is one of my kin, lending a hand seemed only natural.”
Elyssa’s ability to traverse space so decisively had, in truth, beeo Farkonia’s intervention. While formidable, Elyssa cked the nuanced expertise to manipute the dragonkin’s specialized le portals. Farkonia had arrived just in time, trag the portal’s lingering energy and forcibly linking the spaces.
“You’ve done enough. Please, return to the inn. I shall hahe rest.”
“…Very well, Miss Farkonia,” Elyssa said with a nod of gratitude before whisking Diana away to the inn.
