"… What do you mean by this, princess?" Raiden asked, his tone surprisingly becoming calmer.
There was a hint of a dangerous air to Raiden right this moment.
He had been raised as an assassin since he was young. The idea of leaving a threat—though likely crippled—was against every fiber of his being.
That wasn't to say he feared what Theron might grow into, but that it felt like he was going against his very nature. When he attacked today, he had no intention of letting Theron see the light of tomorrow.
Whether others thought that was cowardly or not, he didn't care. He wasn't a warrior; he didn't even see himself as a cultivator first. The reason his master put so much emphasis and belief in him was that he had always been an assassin first and foremost.
He embodied every inch the character of one.
"I mean what I said." Sadie reiterated. "You cannot kill him. He is useful to the organization."
Raiden looked at Sadie deeply. He had wondered why this girl had revealed herself to Theron so easily.
At first he thought that it was because she was just afraid of death. He was a bit disdainful of that, but it was still acceptable for someone so young.
However, it seemed that there was another reason entirely.
Given the conversation between Theron and Sadie earlier, they knew one another through some other means. He wasn't sure exactly what that other means was right now, but what was more important was how Sadie felt about that relationship.
"He just tried to kill you after learning your identity," Raiden continued just as calmly.
"He did not know my identity." Sadie refuted.
"I heard you introduce yourself."
"No. You heard me say I was part of the Nightingale Clan. While you may have recognized me, he clearly did not. He had no way of knowing if I was lying or not. And even if he thought I was telling the truth, he doesn't know as much as you do. He only just recently joined the organization. From his perspective, the Nightingale Clan is the enemy of Daggers of the Night."
Raiden paused.
He hadn't expected such a good argument from what he thought was an emotional little girl.
In that moment, he completely re-evaluated Sadie much like Theron had. He realized then that tricking this little girl, or trying to use the fact he saved her as the end-all, be-all, wouldn't be possible.
Seeing the situation for what it was, Raiden changed his approach.
"So you mean to say that you want him to live no matter what?"
"Yes." Sadie replied with a sharpness. She was starting to get annoyed. Raiden should clearly understand her intent already.
"Even after he tried to kill you?"
"Yes."
"And if your Clan were to know of this?"
Sadie froze.
"Mm." Raiden hummed out an acknowledgement as though Sadie had already given him the answer he wanted.
Since Raiden realized he couldn't easily control this little girl, then he would shift the sort of relationship they had. He wasn't used to being under someone else's thumb anyway.
If he was going to have to take the uncomfortable risk of allowing Theron to live, then Sadie was going to have to squirm for it.
Here, he knew he was taking yet another risk.
If this was just a childhood crush, in a couple of years, Sadie was sure to get over it. Maybe even in as short a time as a few months.
By then, all that would be left was resentment toward him. So even if he wanted to take advantage of this, he would have to toe the line properly—not pushing things too far, but taking what he could get at the same time.
He turned back to Theron. Knowing that Sadie was sharp enough to understand his meaning, he didn't bother to elaborate as he walked over.
"I get it." Sadie spoke out.
Raiden's eyes narrowed. Sadie's voice wasn't nearly as agitated as he expected. In fact, it was quite cold.
However, he only nodded, still walking forward.
"What are you doing?" Sadie asked.
Raiden reached Theron's body as he felt Sadie's Mana spiking, but he didn't even react to it, bending down and reaching for something in the grasp of Theron's hand.
His short sword.
Raiden grasped at part of the hilt and pulled.
A frown curled his lips when he didn't casually tug it out. He pulled a little harder and finally wrenched it out of Theron's grasp.
There was a flicker in Raiden's eyes at that moment as he began to hesitate. Should he really let this boy live? How did he have such a strong grip on his weapon in this situation?
Theron was practically unrecognizable, his breath so shallow it would be unlikely to even fog glass. Charred from head to toe, there wasn't a single part of him, including his face, that hadn't been burnt.
Even now, there were sparks of lightning dancing across his body.
Raiden's pupils constricted when he noticed this. That was because the lightning almost seemed to be flowing out from Theron's body and across into the damp soil around him as though being pulled out by osmosis.
Water Mancers were supposed to be more susceptible to Lightning Mancers, not less. What was going on?
He had come here because he noticed something special about Theron's short sword. Well, not really… it was just a bit of intuition.
On the outside, there was nothing special about the sword at all; it looked like an inferior Bronze Resonance weapon.
But back when it passed through Sadie's neck, something had hitched in her Dark Mana. The real reason Sadie was disoriented after escaping Theron's blow should be this short sword, because as far as Raiden saw, Theron didn't have time to use Mana.
If he wasn't going to get to kill Theron, maybe he could at least get something out of it.
But watching his Lightning Mana—his Silver Resonance Lightning Mana, at that—be shuttled out of Theron's body… he began to wonder if he really should let him live.
A glint of sharpness danced in his eyes as he leaned crouched on the ground. With his back to Sadie, there was a strong desire for murder in his eyes.