Unwillingness...
After being swallowed up by the thorns, this feeling suddenly exploded in the middle of Naiya's dead heart. Even she herself did not know why.
Unwilling! Naiya felt very unwilling!
The thorns cut through Naiya's body, stinging her and eating up her life like crazy.
Just when Naiya was actually facing death, the thorns seemed to turn her heart upside down, revealing her true emotions inside it.
Unwillingness grew in Naiya's heart.
Not willing to be killed by someone other than Lucius?
Is it because of this ridiculous reason?
Naiya herself was not sure...
"Lucius…"
In the moment of being overwhelmed by the thorns, Naiya instinctively murmured his name. She had no control over herself, she reached out trying to grab something, but her limbs were pinned to the ground, unable to move.
"Turn to ashes alone!"
Lissner has waited this day for a long time. Since the moment Naiya showed her strength, Lissner has been deliberately trying to get rid of the Empress, who would threaten his future.
But when his most beloved son turned into an ugly monster and died because of her, his attempt to get rid of the Empress became an emotional one!
A hatred that Lissner had been preparing for a long time, just for today!
As the one in power, he hated anything that would threaten him.
As if in response to Lissner's indignant emotions, the thorns squirmed more violently, clenching the body wrapped in them bit by bit, her blood splattering everywhere!
The pain was all over Naiya's body… Almost every part of her body is in bone-chilling pain, tormenting her!
'Perhaps, Starla was also filled with pain in this way….'
The wounds on her body should have left her without a single intact skin, making her face hideous and horrible. If she saw her appearance now, she would definitely be disgusted.
Lucius's figure has always been entangled in Naiya's heart...
Naiya was already familiar with the feeling of being suffocated in darkness. It was like this when she was young, and it was also like this after Muccia's death...
But then, Naiya saw a beam of light!
'Light?'
Naiya widened her pupils. In the darkness surrounded by thorns, a dazzling beam of light appeared in front of Naiya.
Almost instinctively, she reached out and grabbed the tiny glint of light that was glowing in the darkness…
Naiya was holding it! She couldn't believe the touch of her hand, but she really held it... the cold feeling in her hand is so real!
Darkness quickly disappeared from Naiya's sight. In the next second, fresh air poured into her body, and the feeling of suffocation disappeared instantly!
Naya hasn't figured out what's going on but found that there is a heartbeat inside her ears, a familiar heartbeat!
'This is...'
Naiya raised her head in disbelief. The same familiar face appeared within Naiya's line of sight…
'Lucius....'
The appearance of this name almost made the grievance inside Naiya uncontrollable!
Naiya realized that she was being held in his arms!
"She is mine!"
Icy cold voice without a trace of emotion, straight into the deepest part of Naiya's brain...
Three short words, no one was allowed to refute.
Naiya looked at Lucius's face close at hand and finally could no longer restrain her inner emotions. She reached out and hugged Lucius's neck, buried her head into Lucius's chest, and cried out loud!
She didn't forget what she was. She's just a toy.
Naiya now realizes that her action is like a child in a fit of anger...
'On that rainy night, in the village where everything was taken from me, what Lucius brought was not endless darkness, but light!'
Like Muccia, he gave Naiya a new life.
He was the one that Naiya relies on.
Naiya tightly wrapped her arms around Lucius's neck, afraid that Lucius would run away again. Even though she knew that Lucius would be angry, Naiya didn't want to let go at all! She blindly buried her head in Lucius's chest and cried loudly, releasing all the grievances she had suffered.
Because the only place to cry in this world besides crying alone in the corner is in Lucius's embrace.
The strong Empress cried like a little girl. Maybe she had always been a little girl.
Naiya has always been a childish little girl, but Lucius gave her the identity of an Empress.
....
Lucius felt his shirt gradually soaked by Naiya's tears.
This man in front of him was going to destroy what he had painstakingly created?
Lucius swore... this is the first time since Lucius came to this world that he felt this unquenchable anger!
Lucius's bright golden vertical pupils stared straight at Lissner!
He simply fell to his knees out of his control, and the breathtaking majesty that descended from the sky crushed Lissner's body to the ground fiercely!
The sky that was originally densely covered with stars was suddenly enveloped by a thick layer of dark clouds.
The sky rained.
Raindrops sparsely fell on the ground...
No... this was not any rain at all...
It was blood!!!
Scarlet blood fell from the sky, covering the entire forest.
Lucius's thin figure stood in the blood rain and gradually became blurred. Only the pair of golden pupils crossed time and space, looking directly at Lissner's soul.
"Huh..."
This human, who had difficulty even to support his whole body, suddenly moved his hands... His old arm gradually stretched out to the iron nail that had lost its target and fell by the grass.
"!!!"
Lucius's pupils narrowed, and the blood dripping on Lissner's body turned into needles, piercing his body!
Lissner was a level 5 being! His ability was not much worse than the strongest knight Don Quixote. There was no way for the dragon pupil to suppress Lissner for a long time or to control the blood inside him.
Finally, Lissner touched the nail.
In an instant, the rain of blood that was originally dripping down on Lissner's body disappeared from around his body as if it was hindered by something.
"AH, HAHAHA.. YOU CAN'T KILL ME ..." Lissner shouted as if he had gone crazy. His kneeling body slowly stood up, and while raising high the iron nail that was held tightly in his hand, he shouted: "YOU CAN'T FUCKING KILL ME!!!"
Lucius didn't say much, his pupils were slightly opened, and the blood gathered around Lissner's body instantly turned into sharp thorns, and it pierced Lissner's body abruptly!
"Heh."
Lissner did nothing, but when the blood-made spikes were about to touch his body, they disappeared instantly, turning into blood and falling to the ground again.
The Dead River did not have any effect on Lissner at all.
To be precise, it was the nail in Lissner's hand!
At the top of the nail that Lissner held in his hand exudes a faint power... like a talisman, exempting all the power that belongs to the vampire.
"See?" Lissner's face took on an expression of inexplicable frenzy: "You lowly and dirty vampires in the darkness! You are nothing in front of this thing! You can't kill me! Without blood, you are just a group of weak... I will kill you all."
Lissner tried to figure out the lines on the nails and rushed towards Lucius.
The blood on the ground formed a thick wall, but Lissner easily crushed it. The dripping raindrops turned into sharp needles, but none of them could pierce Lissner's body.
"DIE!"
Lissner ultimately rushed unhindered towards Lucius, only to saw a hint of pity in Lucius's pupils.
STAB!
The sound of lightning burst suddenly in the sky!
Lissner's body was stunned and stopped suddenly where he was. He lowered his head and looked at his chest in disbelief. He didn't know when there was an extra cavity….
There was no blood, only burnt black meat and flickering light.
'That is... my heart?'
Lissner fell to his knees but saw a blue shadow next to Lucius slowly floating down from the sky.
"Indeed, we are very weak." Lucius held Naiya tightly, who had no heartbeat in his arms: "But, being weak and small taught me how to live in this world! I have never care how strong I am, because in the world, there is always something that can kill you, isn't it?"
Having the Dead River doesn't mean being omnipotent!
"Also, there is something in the world, you humans call it companions, I call it tools..."
Under Lucius's gaze, Lissner's body was surrounded by blue thunder and blue lightning!
"Xerath…"
Lucius faintly swept a glance at the being who was beside himself and was controlling these thunderbolts.
After Xerath saw Lucius make a shushing mouth shape, Xerath knows how to grind this noise-making guy into residue...
"Summoner, didn't your initial order let me torture this ignorant human?"
"He's too noisy." Lucius replied faintly. "It will disturb my subordinate's rest…."
"...."
Xerath glanced at the young girl who had quietly fallen asleep in Lucius's embrace and nodded in understanding.
Because her nerves were always in a tight state, and she was afraid and distrusted anything around her. Naiya was extremely exhausted, but she relies on Lucius. She put down all of her vigilance and fell asleep in Lucius's arms.
"She doesn't have much life left, she won't survive the night..." The arcane magus felt that the tiny life inside of Naiya's body was swallowed up by the thorns that the sacred nails had multiplied.
"Xerath, do you think I will like someone?"
Lucius looked at Naiya's peaceful sleeping face, beautiful and tranquil...
"..."
The spirit Xerath didn't have any expression. He could only answer Lucius's question in silence.