29. RED[2]
Famel and Cassie moved first, launching their attack on the Class 9 Ravter Abomination the moment it stepped foot within the dominion. Members of the attack and defense squadrons rushed out, moving to suppress the incoming waves of Ravter Abominations.
Five kilometres away from the dominion, a woman in a maid's uniform watched it closely with her bare eyes. A magic circle formed around her left ear, and a voice followed immediately after.
" Irene, report," Berry's voice echoed in her ear.
" My lord," she answered, "Blank has left his domain, he's most likely searching for you now," she added.
He let out an evil laugh. "Let him come," he exclaimed. "All will go according to the plan," he said boldly.
Irene noticed a strange presence behind her. She turned her head mechanically. It was a young lady who looked no older than eighteen, seated on a black chair with a chess stool in front of her. She moved the pawns gently.
"My lord, it seems I have company," Irene said skeptically.
"Deal with it," Berry said, hanging up on her.
The girl raised her head slowly, looking at Irene with an empty gaze.
"Did I interrupt?" she asked.
" This girl is trouble, I didn't even sense her presence. I should take her out quickly," Irene thought to herself.
" No, no you didn't," she said with an uncomfortable smile.
" My name is Fubuki, I couldn't help but notice you spying on us," she said calmly.
"Irene, be cool, don't let her taunt you so easily," she said to herself.
Irene did her best to maintain a calm expression.
"Have you come to fight?" she asked.
Fubuki raised a chess pawn between her fingers as she rested her head on her palm.
" No, I came to play chess," she muttered
slowly. "How about we strike a deal? We play one round—if you win, I tell you everything I know, and if I win, you tell me everything you know," she stated.
" There's no guarantee that you will tell me if I win," Irene pointed out a crucial detail.
" Ever heard of a DEATH PACT?" Fubuki asked lacklusterly.
Irene's eyes widened in shock. "This crazy bitch… so this is what she was after all along," she mumbled to herself.
A DEATH PACTD.Pfor short. Is an agreement made by two or more individuals ensure neurality and prevent dishonesty . They bind their spirit energy to scythe of death itself. No living entity can break a Death Pact not even gods .
"Two can play that game," Irene grinned inwardly. "After all, my technique is well suited for these kinds of situations."
"Very well, I accept," she replied.
At the gate of the dominion, Famel and Cassie were currently combating the Class 9 Ravter Abomination. Every attack they launched wasn't hitting—they kept getting diverted. For the ones that weren't diverted, they lost their momentum and spirit energy.
Space twisted behind the little girl. From a blackened portal, white hands emerged—grasping, pulling—until she was swallowed whole.
"Little miss…" Asmaroth's voice slithered through the darkness.
"Asmaroth… that bitch!" Cassie spat bitterly.
"I'm annoyed too, but you know how she gets when she finds something new to break," Famel said calmly.
"What we should be focusing on is the threat at hand," he added.
No.4 began to act strangely.
Like a chained beast suddenly set loose, it went on a rampage—attacking wildly, without pattern.
The little girl found herself swallowed by an endless darkness.
A beam of light pierced through the void—just as an attack descended toward her, it was deflected upward.
Footsteps echoed.
Asmaroth stepped out of the darkness.
"Your eyes… they're the real deal, alright," she said with a pleased smile.
The little girl swung her hand, unleashing a violent gust. The darkness fractured—then shattered completely.
"Don't think you can deceive me with such cheap tricks."
Her voice was steady as her spirit energy surged outward.
Asmaroth licked her lips, a faint blush creeping across her cheeks.
"You're a feisty one, aren't you?" Her pink eyes glimmered. "Ahh… this is going to be fun."
The battlefield fell silent as both of them vanished.
In the next instant, they reappeared high above—suspended beneath the full moon, its pale light outlining their blurred forms.
Their legs collided mid-air.
A rapid exchange—kicks, punches, sharp bursts of force.
The little girl defended against every strike as if she could see each move before it happened.
"Just as I thought…" Asmaroth muttered.
She disengaged, landing lightly on the ground.
"What is a user of the Emerald Eyes technique still doing alive?" she asked, voice laced with mockery.
The girl grimaced. Her spirit energy flared violently—Asmaroth had struck a nerve.
Two hundred years ago, the Amenities—the only beings who possessed the Emerald Eyes—had been wiped out, along with their techniques, at the hands of Gudan, the Dragon of Beginnings.
"Because… knowing that psycho dragon, no one should've survived." Asmaroth tilted her head slightly. "Or did he suddenly go soft?"
The girl clenched her teeth, fists tightening.
The ground beneath her cracked under the pressure of her rising spirit energy.
"I'll make sure you regret ever saying that," she said hoarsely.
Elsewhere, Revet floated high above Berry's domain. After hours of relentless searching, he had finally found it.
His dark pupils burned with disgust as a dreadful grin stretched across his face.
"What a coward…" Revet muttered to himself, noticing the countless traps and minefields layered across the domain.
Revet smirked. "He must be stupid if he thinks this is enough to stop me."
Flames gathered in his hand, condensing into the shape of a sword. He gripped the blazing blade tightly, settling into a striking stance.
"Self-made technique… Qun One—"
He pressed his legs firmly against the flaming platform beneath him.
"Hoo…" he inhaled deeply.
"Plasmatic Slash."
A flash of blue light tore through the air at blinding speed—cleaving apart the traps and the protective barrier shielding Berry's domain.
Berry stepped out of his manor, a wide smile resting on his face as he looked up at Revet.
"Sorry… I hope my knocking wasn't too loud," Revet said coldly.
Berry frowned slightly. "No… don't worry about it."
Berry moved first.
He vanished—reappearing instantly behind Revet.
But Revet reacted just as fast.
"Tch… a feint."
His blade cut through nothing but a mass of dark muck.
In the next instant—
Berry appeared at Revet's side and drove a fist straight through his torso.
Revet coughed out blood.
"Bloody… bastard…"
He spat, his voice weakened but burning with fury.