Chapter 258 - 253 — Hollow

The world seemed to slow, everything moving in slow motion. Several emotions surged through Zephyrion, his mind racing through a dozen different thoughts.

First came shock. If anyone had told him that, at one point during the night, he would be ambushed in his sleep by a fellow cadet, he would have called bullshit.

Then came disbelief, directed at the cadet in question; Vaelor. He had known Vaelor was unstable, especially after his loss at the Shrike settlement, but that he would go this far hadn’t even crossed his mind. Vaelor was supposed to be smarter than this. This was the entire reason why he had wanted to recruit him in the first place.

Eventually, when the blade was only inches from piercing his left eye, Zephyrion finally seemed to grasp the situation... and all he saw was red.

He dipped into the WorldPulse.

But the metal had barely formed before a blur flashed into the corner of his vision, followed by the sharp shink of metal striking metal. A brilliant spray of sparks burst between them, lighting up the night.

Zephyrion’s eyes snapped to Lumi, who now stood between him and Vaelor, having intercepted the strike. But every trace of the peace and cheerfulness from before had vanished.

Now, her eyes were deep, abyss-dark.

There was only death within them.

Vaelor gnashed his teeth.

"Shit! Fucking bitch! Why!? Why the fuck would you jump in—!?"

The blow was like lightning.

One moment, Lumi’s arm was hanging loosely by her side, and the next, her fist was buried an inch deep in Vaelor’s face. He blasted backward in a spray of blood and spittle, smashing hard into a tree.

Zephyrion was already on his feet, blades formed over both arms, his eyes subzero. He leaned forward, ready to move, when a sudden chill, followed by a brilliant burst of light, made him pause.

He turned toward Lumi, and his eyes widened.

’What...?’

The air around her shimmered like ethereal light dancing on water. Everything around her, even the air, darkness, and light itself, seemed to still. It took Zephyrion a moment to realize it was killing intent rolling off her in relentless waves.

Still... that wasn’t what gripped his heart.

The light was coming from her throat, spreading through the rest of her body in a glowing network of veins, causing her eyes to ignite with a radiant brilliance. Her hair defied gravity, whipping wildly behind her in a soundless rage.

Lumi’s inheritance...

Yet, despite all of this, it was her eyes that dominated everything.

Hollow. Dead. Emotionless.

The eyes of one who had forsaken everything else for a single purpose.

And those same eyes were fixed on Vaelor.

Apprehensive, Zephyrion instinctively reached out.

"Lumi, wai—"

But Lumi didn’t seem to hear him.

She vanished from where she stood in a gust of wind.

Vaelor slumped from the caved-in tree, blood streaming from his battered face and drenching the forest floor. He stared at his hand as it came back slick with blood, trembling.

"Y-you... you fucking bitch! You actually hit me!? Do you have any idea who I am!? I’m the greatest genius! Me! The greatest fucking genius! How dare yo—"

Lumi appeared before him, thrusting her fist forward.

"You won’t get lucky twice! Undulating Barrier!"

A sharp hum pierced the night, and the air around Vaelor began trembling at a terrifying pace. The vibrations became so intense that steam began curling off the barrier.

Zephyrion narrowed his eyes.

It was a form of the Ocren House rune art, but rather than using vibrations to enhance his speed and strength, Vaelor had directed them into the barrier surrounding him. It vibrated at such an incredible speed that even a truck hurtling into it at full speed would be shredded to pieces.

Lumi had only just ascended to Mark Six. It wasn’t something her body would be able to handle.

Then the light in Lumi’s throat shone brighter. The next moment, a shrill ripped through the night, making him wince despite the distance. It felt as though even his bones had begun to vibrate.

Still, Zephyrion’s eyes remained fixed on Lumi, and he caught it; the imperceptible wave that burst from her mouth toward the barrier. The vibrations ceased the next moment, and the barrier collapsed as though its source had simply vanished.

Zephyrion’s eyes constricted.

’What the...’

But his shock wasn’t nearly as great as Vaelor’s. The latter’s eyes had gone wide, trembling as he struggled to comprehend what had just happened.

His disbelief was shattered by Lumi’s fist exploding into his face.

For a moment, time remained still.

Vaelor’s head snapped back, suspended midair. The ground within a hundred-meter radius detonated beneath Lumi’s feet.

Then time resumed.

An explosion of dust and debris blasted through the forest as Vaelor tore backward, smashing through a tree in a burst of splinters before skipping across the forest floor, his momentum finally halted by a larger tree.

"F-fuck!"

Vaelor crashed onto the ground, blood streaming endlessly from his broken face. He could barely see. He could barely think.

Yet the rage still burned in his eyes.

"F-fine then..." he growled, glaring at Lumi as she rushed toward him like a harbinger of death. "You want to play like that? Fine. I’ll show you what I am.

Steam rushed from his mouth and nose as he slowly rose. Then it erupted, flooding the surrounding forest in a dense, scorching mist. His veins throbbed wildly, his eyes like those of a savage beast.

Slowly, he raised his arms.

Several harpoons materialized around him, each vibrating with such intensity that wisps of steam clung to them.

"Vibrating Harpoons."

Vaelor’s arm dropped.

Their speed might as well have been teleportation, each one appearing before Lumi in the next instant.

The light in Lumi’s throat brightened once more, and several piercing shrills escaped her lips. She blurred, appearing behind the harpoons the very next moment.

Vaelor narrowed his eyes.

"It’s not over!"

More harpoons materialized until the night sky was littered with them.

They tore forward as his arm dropped.