Overwhelming Firepower

The leader’s head was hurting. Ever since Lucen muttered the name Cassandra Rook, she started feeling nauseous and wanted to puke.

’What does he mean brainwashed? Like those cult fanatics? Is he saying I’m someone like that?’

The leader wanted to deny his words, but for some reason, she couldn’t do it. She, who was known for her devoted loyalty, had hesitated.

”What are you doing just standing there?”

When she heard Lucen’s voice, she finally noticed that he had gotten near her without her noticing it.

’What am I even doing?!’ The leader screamed in her mind as she quickly took some distance from Lucen and shook her head, trying to focus.

”I can pretty much guess what you’re thinking. Why am I reacting to this young man’s words? What is he talking about, Mind Control? Why did I hesitate to answer and tell what he’s saying is utter nonsense? Or something along those lines, right?”

Lucen’s ruby-red eyes stared directly at the leader, and she felt as if he was looking directly into her soul.

Lucen knew who this was, as she was a named character. The future executioner of Justice, the future Saintess of the Goddess of Justice and Judgment.

She was once the hidden blade of Marquis Valeire. In the beginning, she was the most loyal blade of the Marquis.

She truly believed that the Marquis represented justice and order for Norvaegard, more so than even the Judicar family.

Her faith in her lord started to waver when he ordered her to kill people who seemed to be righteous. But what truly broke her faith was when the lord ordered to burn down an entire village.

It was at that moment that memories of a past she had long forgotten came back to her. Her lord was not a benevolent lord, but a crazed b*stard who only believed in his own righteousness.

She later defected from her organization, gathered evidence against her former lord, and took him down. She, who was filled with remorse and a heart of justice, was chosen by the Goddess Thalara.

She then became a true blade of judgment. Depending on the route chosen by the player, you might not be able to see her.

There were only a few routes in which the protagonist became a vengeful being, and in those routes, Cassandra would hunt the protagonist down. The only route were it was possible to make her an ally was the secret true route, which was the most difficult route.

’Right now, she must still be under Marquis Valeire. This might be a good chance to fast-forward her story a little bit.’

***

The leader didn’t know what was happening, but seeing Lucen was distracted, she decided that this was her chance.

She quickly dashed forward with a dagger at hand, aiming at Lucen’s neck, but the second she was about to attack, she once again hesitated. She then felt something hit the right side of her abdomen.

She then stumbled to the side and started puking. She then saw Lucen’s right hand was balled into a fist, and she realized that she had punched him without aura or mana, but that punch was incredibly powerful.

Her vision blurred as bile and blood mixed on the floor. The pain was sharp; it was not fatal, but humiliating.

’He didn’t even coat his fist in aura or use any enhancement spell.’ Yet it felt like being struck by an iron weight.

Lucen stepped forward, his ruby-red eyes still staring straight at her, making her feel even more uncomfortable.

”You hesitated again. I’m sure you’re starting to think that the orders of your lord don’t seem as righteous as you thought.”

The leader gritted her teeth as she clenched her fist even tighter. Everything Lucen said was the truth, and she hated not Lucen but herself for thinking such things. Her lord was her savior, someone who saved her from that burning hell.

Her breath trembled. Memories, fragmented and disjointed, flickered like fire behind her eyes. It was like she could still feel the burning sensation from that day.

”You must be remembering that burning hell, aren’t you?”

The leader was once again stunned by Lucen’s words. ’Can he really read my thoughts?’ Seeing her reaction, Lucen smiled.

”No, I can’t read your thoughts, but your reactions are quite easy to read. I also know about that burning hell in your now supposed fragmented memories.”

The leader frowned. Just how much does Lucen Thornehart truly know?

”I know much more than you.”

When Lucen answered again, as if he was able to read her thoughts, she gnashed her teeth in irritation. This young man was obviously messing with her mind to make her faith and resolve waver.

The leader then lashed out as she threw several daggers at Lucen. She didn’t know why, but she felt very uncomfortable with every word Lucen was saying.

Lucen swayed his body to evade the incoming daggers. His agility and dexterity had increased over the years, so that he was able to catch one of the daggers, pinching it between his two fingers.

The second he did that, he became excited. ’That was so f*cking cool! If I took a video and posted it online, it would’ve surely gone viral!’

He always wanted to try doing that, or something like catching a dagger and then deflecting the incoming daggers with it.

While Lucen was momentarily distracted because of his excitement, the leader had approached him and made a piercing motion.

Lucen unconsciously sidestepped, grabbed her wrist, and flipped her. The second she was flipped, the leader tried to kick Lucen’s head, but it was blocked.

She then stretched out her remaining hand and pushed herself backward. As she did that, she threw three daggers at Lucen, who evaded them.

The leader steadied herself. Sweat dripped down her brow. Her aura mantle sparked to life, but the glow wavered, unstable, conflicted, like her heart. She then started chanting as he started fighting Lucen in close quarters.

She was on high alert and focused on finding an opening in Lucen’s defense. As the fight went on, she once again realized how strong Lucen was.

Even without using his mana or aura, he was able to keep up with her, who was not only enveloping herself with her aura mantle but using physical enhancement spells.

Her breathing sharpened. Her movements became more instinctive, more refined, no hesitation in her body now, only in her heart.

The leader finished her chanting and backed away as she plunged her dagger into the ground.

The floor erupted. Pillars of ice burst upward like spears, forming a dome around Lucen in an instant. Frost raced toward him at high speed, intending to trap and pierce him from all sides.

Sharp crystalline thorns lashed toward him like hungry jaws. He twisted, ducked, bent his body unnaturally low, evading by instinct alone.

One shard grazed his cheek, drawing a thin line of blood. The second that happened, the intensity of his new trait, battle-crazed, intensified.

”Are we getting serious now?!” Lucen spoke as he felt excitement surge deep within him.

The leader clasped her hands together, reinforcing the spell. Her voice trembled, not with fear, but emotion.

”If I kill you, doubt will fade. My loyalty will remain unshaken.”

This was the first time she had spoken since meeting Lucen, and it was with such conviction. Ice converged on Lucen, forming a cage meant to crush him from all directions. Lucen smiled faintly.

”So you’re finally willing to speak, and those are the first things you say? You’re afraid of the truth more than you are of anything else.”

Her spell wavered, barely noticeable, but in a fight like this, any opening given was fatal. Lucen enveloped his body with an aura and stomped on the marble floor.

The frozen ground splintered underneath him. He shot upward like a bullet, breaking through the forming cage, shards exploding into glittering rain.

Lucen appeared in front of the leader with the glittering shards of ice alongside the moonlight as background, the ruby-eyed monster stood in front of the leader with a manic grin on his face.

The battle-crazed trait was truly a powerful trait, but it also made it hard to calm down during battle.

”So do you have any other tricks to show?”

The leader’s breath turned to mist. Her dagger trembled in her hand — not from fear of death, but from the war waged inside her mind.

Lucen stood above her like a crimson-eyed specter, fragments of ice drifting around him like falling stars. His grin was wild, unrestrained, too alive, and the words he spoke echoed in her mind like a curse.

The temperature dropped further, frost crept up the walls, and flowers of ice bloomed across the floor. This time, she did not hold back as she spread her arms.

”Second Chant: Frost Execution.”

The air turned sharp, a white circle formed beneath her feet, runes spinning like clockwork.

Lucen tilted his head, grin widening. ”Oh? Multi-layered spell casting? Now we’re talking.”

The leader’s pulse thundered in her ears. If she struck now, if she killed him, then the doubts eating her from within would surely vanish.

”Please... Just disappear!” The leader spoke as if she were begging. She thrust both hands forward.

Ice surged like a tidal wave, not as a cage this time, but as a guillotine. Razor-edged frost shaped itself into a colossal blade overhead, descending to bisect Lucen where he stood.

Lucen didn’t dodge. He stepped into the attack. Aura flared, a dark, scarlet hue licking around his frame like demon fire. He raised his hand and caught the falling ice blade with his bare palm.

Cracks webbed across its surface. The leader’s eyes widened. ”Impossible!” Seeing her reaction, Lucen’s smile deepened.

”This was a good spell, but you keep on hesitating. Your spell is good, but your heart right now is weak. Spells aren’t all about mana and constructs; it is also about will, isn’t it?”

’Also, compared to that nightmare called the frost titan, this level of ice spells could barely make me shiver.’

”So are you willing to talk now?”