Chapter 217: Flirting During An Attack

The Excalibur.

A weapon that has been wielded by the Lightbringers for generations, one that was believed to be blessed by the goddess herself.

The truth was that it was a weapon formed by the first Lightbringer with a light filled core.

It was a weapon that would cause Alvíss to drool since it was basically the same thing he had been trying to achieve.

Anyway, it was undeniable that the sword was quite powerful, but its power lay solely in its core, which the cult master had gained possession of.

What did he do with it?

"..."

Well, Adrian was very certain that he had somehow siphoned the power from the core and created these abominations.

Unlike regular corrupted humans, these felt a lot different...perhaps stronger too, but for some reason, he also felt as if the core’s power didn’t belong to the beings before him.

Rather, according to his glasses, they were drawing power from something above the skies.

Something that even Adrian was uncertain he could handle.

"They’re coming," Renelle snapped him out of his thoughts, and he looked forward.

They were now basically surrounded by the creatures, with no other choice but to fight.

Not that Adrian minded anyway.

It was time for his lady to show off how awesome she truly was.

And Renelle wasted no time in doing so.

Before the creatures could reach them, a single petal made from ice reached them first.

The petal seemed to harmlessly pass through the first corrupted human, and the creatures seemed to hesitate for a second, but since nothing happened, they continued forward.

Renelle just smiled as the ability activated,

[The Empress’s Frozen Garden]

The creature that was hit by the petal suddenly froze, and the next second, ice vines grew out of its face, before ice roses started blooming on them.

In just a few seconds, they were completely enveloped by ice, but the attack was far from over.

Ice vines suddenly spread to the other corrupted humans, quickly encasing them in the same ice as the first.

And in just a few minutes, all seven corrupted humans that had surrounded them were now ice sculptures.

Though Adrian could see that they were all very much alive, he decided to land the finishing blow.

Besides, their goal had been achieved already as the civilians running to safety had seen how easily she dealt with those creatures.

Adrian’s shadow extended outward, touching each of the seven ice sculptures simultaneously before multiple shadow spikes pierced through the sculptures, shattering them into bits.

He then turned back to his lady, who was also looking at him, before smiling and saying, "That was quite impressive, dear butler."

"Don’t you mean, ’dear boyfriend?’" Adrian said with a teasing grin on his face as he looked at her, reminding her of what she had said during her match with the Saintess.

"..." A blush immediately appeared on Renelle’s face, but she wasn’t about to let herself be teased, so she said, "Well done, dear boyfriend. "

It was Adrian’s turn to freeze in place.....knowing that she had it to someone else was one thing, her saying it to his face was completely different.

Renelle watched her butler stand completely still with what seemed to be a blush slowly creeping up his face.

His current expression gave her dangerous thoughts, and none of them were appropriate for their current situation.

Her thoughts caused her to blush even harder before she physically tried to fan away the naughty thoughts.

"Would my lady say that once more?" Adrian’s brain finally recalibrated, and he managed to let out.

"Hmm?"

Distracted by her thoughts, she hadn’t quite heard what he said, so she asked.

"Would my lady call me here, boyfriend again?" He repeated.

Renelle seemed to hesitate due to embarrassment, but she slowly let out, "My butler is my boyfriend. "

Adrian seemed satisfied, so much so that she wished that she currently had the camera they had the previous night to capture this moment.

"That doesn’t sound quite nice," Adrian muttered mostly to himself before pausing and adding, "but I think I prefer you calling me your butler."

"I see," Renelle muttered before nodding in acceptance.

"..."

Cedric, who had returned from the outer parts of the city, was unsure of what to do....

He had watched the couple flirt for quite a while now.....in the middle of an attack that was still ongoing.

With a blank expression, he muttered, "Are you two done?"

"Cedric?" Renelle let out in surprise as she quickly turned towards the direction of her brother’s voice.

Judging by his expression, he had definitely heard all that the two had just said, which made this even more embarrassing for her.

But she quickly composed herself and asked, "How are the outer parts of the city?"

Cedric looked at her and her butler for a while before letting out a sigh.... as long as she was happy, he wouldn’t say anything.

"The civilians there have been brought to safety," he said, "and the spirit mages have already made their way there, so they’re fine."

"I see," Renelle nodded in satisfaction, but Cedric suddenly frowned as he looked behind the two and asked, "What are those?"

He seemed a bit confused, so Renelle and his butler turned around only to notice that the destroyed corrupted humans previously trapped in ice shards had suddenly pieced themselves together again.....

And they were now moving towards the three again, with mana that seemed a lot stronger than previously.

"This is going to be a headache," Renelle muttered to herself as she prepared another attack.

***

Meanwhile, back in the arena, the headmistress could be seen walking hand in hand with Isla, as they moved through what seemed to be a corridor.

Due to the attacks, she preferred the kid remain in a safe place, else she risked being triggered again.

"Where are we going?" Isla asked after they walked for a while.

"Back to the mansion," headmistress Evelina responded with a small smile on her face, "it seems there has been enough excitement for one day."

"I see, " Isla muttered, "then can I fight the monsters that appeared?"

The headmistress was silent for a while before asking, "You want to?"

"Hmm," Isla nodded with excitement.

She had been training all this while to control a power within her that she didn’t quite understand, so perhaps it was time to finally see it in action.

BOOM!

As if on cue, the wall at the side of the hallway they were walking through was suddenly blown open and in jumped five corrupted humans made from the Excalibur core.

"What perfect timing," the headmistress said with a smile, "though five might be too much for you, so how about master shows you something cool?"

Isla looked up at her before nodding, and the headmistress then lifted her hand; her red eyes seemed to glow as a couple of strings appeared in her vision.

Although limited by her ability, it was also the same ability that made the headmistress truly terrifying.

In a sense, his ability was quite simple....she had access to fate.

Perhaps it wasn’t as simple, but as one of the children of Avrea, she was one of the only few who could properly use mana without spirits.

Each thread was connected to a corrupted human, but she dismissed the fifth and focused on the remaining four.

"Pay attention and see exactly how awesome your master your master is," Evelina said with a small smile.

Isla was truly curious; after all, she knew her master was strong, she could feel it, but she didn’t know exactly how strong he was.

A moment after her words, the creatures rushed at them, but before they could reach the two, the headmistress gently grabbed onto their strings and, with the slightest tug, they snapped.

The moment the strings snapped, four of the five creatures suddenly froze. Completely stopping in their tracks.

The next second, more cracks seemed to appear on their bodies, and the golden glow within became dimmer by the second.

After a few seconds, the four corrupted humans suddenly crumbled to dust.

Isla looked at all this in surprise, wondering what just happened. As if understanding her line of thought, Evelina suddenly explained,

"What I did," Evelina started, looking at the dust that had taken the place of the four corrupted humans, "was sever their connection to fate itself."

Isla looked at the dust, then at the headmistress.

"I don’t understand," she said.

Evelina considered how to explain this to a child and arrived at the version that was both accurate and simple enough.

"Everything that exists in Avera," she said, "exists because Avera recognizes it....every living thing, spirit, and even objects has a thread."

"A fate thread," she continued after a short pause, "the thread that means you have been recognized by Avera herself as a real thing."

"And I just cut that thread," Evelina said with a smile, "causing them to cease to exist. "