....
Luther carried Ivery to a room where the finalists waited for their upcoming matches and all of the waiting participants stared at Ivery and Luther.
"You're making everyone look at us." Ivery told Luther, feeling embarrassed
"So? let them look." Luther smiled as he held Ivery in his arms
"Are couples even allowed to participate in the same entry assessments?" The blonde haired sword user from the first match spoke out as she glared at Ivery and Luther
"I don't recall there being any rules at all." Ivery responded
"And I'm saying that there should be for couples, this is practically cheating." The woman crossed her arms
"Why do you always bother to speak to worthless things?" Luther asked Ivery, disregarding the woman completely
"Worthless?!" The blonde woman was taken aback
"She said something to me, so I must respond in kind, no?" Ivery said to him
"No, you mustn't." Luther shook his head
"Alright.." Ivery took his words into account
The blonde woman gritted her teeth and hoped she'd have Luther as an opponent for her final round, she swore she wouldn't go easy on him if he was.
...
The doors opened to the room.
"Master I won!" Eness gleefully ran up to Ivery who was still being held by Luther
"Good job." Ivery smiled at her
"It was too easy, they didn't even last after one hit." Eness sighed, wanting something more challenging to do
"Not many humans can fairly fight against you Eness.." Ivery told her
"How boring.." Eness pouted
.
.
The final matches began and the first participants stood in front of each other.
The 15-minute timer started.
The blonde woman held her sword tightly and smirked when she laid eyes on her opponent for the match.
Luther who stood a couple of feet away from her looked entirely disinterested and didn't even look at her once yet.
He didn't even intend to move from what she observed, she thought he was a fool for underestimating her. Her longsword glowed with a blue aura and she took a deep breath and readied herself to run up at full speed.
"I might have spared your life if you hadn't opened your mouth earlier about matters that did not concern you." Luther spoke
"What?" The blonde woman looked confused, was he threatening her?
Luther put his finger against his lips and smiled, finally making eye contact with her for the first time.
Chills immediately spread across her body and her heart began skipping beats and her body shook with fear, she then felt nauseous under his gaze but strongly held back her urge to vomit.
Her nose, eyes, and ears started to drip and soon flow with blood.
"W-What are you-!?" She shouted as she started coughing up blood
Suddenly the woman's left leg twisted completely around, breaking her bones as it did.
*Crack*
"Augh!" She screamed in pain as she fell on the ground and stared at her broken twisted leg
Before she could process it, her right leg followed and twisted, facing backward. She cried, not understanding what was happening in the slightest.
"Shh." Luther's index finger and thumb pressed together and the woman's mouth shut immediately, muffling her cries.
"The sound of your voice is irritating.." Luther's eyes glowed
She tried to separate her lips but couldn't no matter how hard she tried..
She looked at Luther and knew he was somehow causing this, she weakly grabbed her sword and with every last bit of strength she had, she threw her sword infused with her aura straight at him.
The glowing blue sword sped right toward Luther and just when it reached him, it shattered into pieces. Her mouth dropped and her eyes stretched at the sight.
Her shocked expression did not last long as her spine painfully snapped backward. The other participants watched with horror-filled expressions as they saw her body be broken by an unknown and unseen force.
Her limbs went completely limp, she couldn't feel them anymore...she could only move her eyes.
Luther walked closer and her body lifted as he got closer. She looked at him with widened, bloodshot eyes, not being able to fathom how any of this was happening and how she didn't even last a second as his opponent, despite wishing he'd be matched up with her.
"Hm.." Luther wondered if he should kill her so quickly, especially since the timer was only at 13 minutes..
"Ah.." Luther grinned as he snapped his fingers
Suddenly the woman's body began to move again and she sat up by herself as her spine was quite literally, magically realigned. She felt the sensations in her body again and felt even stronger than she did before.
"What happened?" She began patting her body in awe
"I thought this shouldn't be such a boring encounter, so try your best before your time is up." Luther wanted her to suffer a bit longer after she rudely spoke to Ivery earlier
"E-Encounter? This is a fight.." The woman trembled and almost couldn't find the right words
"A fight? A fight is between two people exchanging attacks, this is a one-sided massacre" Luther's eyes turned black and his dreadful aura spilled from his being
"I give u-" The woman desperately looked up at Rhea, the S-rank adventurer, intending to withdraw from the match that she knew she couldn't win
She then saw that Rhea was standing eerily still, with both hands at her sides like a statue, her eyes were dull and lifeless, not watching anything but just staring at absolutely nothing, but the scariest thing was that Rhea was smiling widely, and it was the most unnatural smile she had ever seen, it spread goosebumps across her skin and chilled her right down to her bones.
"You thought I'd let you withdraw?" Luther laughed
"There's no avoiding the outcome, so pick up the sword.." Luther sinfully grinned
A sword suddenly flew at her and she dodged it in the nick of time, it then clanged onto the concrete ground beside her.
She began to sweat profusely and looked behind her at the other adventurers who were watching. She stared in shock as they shared the same creepy smiling expressions and stance as Rhea, completely still, with lifeless dull eyes.
She then had a glimmer of hope when she noticed Ivery who appeared normal and looked at the scene with her arms crossed, along with Eness who hid behind Ivery, with a fearful expression.
"Help me!" The woman cried out to Ivery for help
"Once he wants you dead, there's nothing that can be done for you.." Ivery shrugged her shoulders
"You poor soul.." Eness teared as she looked at Luther who had the resemblance of a dark god as his black mist spread across the ground and his black eyes looked at the woman with heavy murderous intent
"N-No.." The woman shakily got up and dashed over to Ivery with incredible speed and even hid behind her along with Eness
"How comical..." Luther's voice deepened
"You think hiding behind my wife will save you?" Luther held back his laughter
"W-W-Wife?" The woman looked at Ivery and couldn't believe that she was married to a...
'Monster...'
'No..he couldn't be called a monster..even monsters would fear him..'
'A demon?' No... even demons would bow to him..'
"Death.." The woman murmured
'Death' He was death itself in a physical form...
"Please help me! Please!" The woman dropped to her knees and screamed as she pulled her own hair, quickly losing her sanity
"Just entertain him...you might get a faster death.." Ivery looked down at the pitiful woman, admittedly feeling sorry for her, since she lucked out and got Luther as an opponent right after opening her mouth about them
Luther walked to where Ivery stood and grabbed her arm, pulling her close to him, and away from the woman and Eness who both hid behind her.
"I don't like it when things stick close to her.." Luther said, tightening his hold on Ivery
Eness quickly ran off, out of Luther's sight. Even she felt like her life was in danger being that close to him...she had grown even more admiration for Ivery, for being able to be so close to him in that state and have not an ounce of fear..
"Are you going to hold me the entire time?" Ivery asked
"And if I do?" Luther inquired
Ivery sighed and didn't even waste her breath trying to answer his question. She lets him do what he wants anyway..
"Oh look, the timer is at 5 minutes.." Luther pointed out the remaining time that was left
Tears ran down the woman face, she looked at Luther with horror-filled eyes as she backed up against the wall...
Luther simply stared at her with a smile on his face,
His black eyes were like an abyss, an abyss that she was falling deep within.
The woman screamed in what sounded like agony as her skin turned pale white, as if all of the blood had been drained from her body, then her skin began to stick to her bones, making her look incredibly malnourished. From the roots of her hair to the ends turned grey and then clumps of her hair fell on the ground from her scalp, and very quickly her eyes turned a white cloudy color. Her entire body stiffened as if rigor mortise was triggered in a corpse.
In Luther's free hand, his sword materialized and as soon as he gripped it, he threw it toward the haggard woman.
She watched as his sword headed straight for her with intense speed and then, in that split second...there was darkness..
Luther's sword flew back at him as if it were a boomerang. And just as he caught his sword, the woman's severed head hit the ground with a thud, and rolled in front of her headless body.
At the same moment, all of the eerily smiling adventurers were back to normal, and suddenly within a blink, Ivery was back in line with the other adventures, along with Eness who had ran away earlier. They all looked at the scene as if nothing strange had happened. Then out of nowhere, several men dressed in white collected the woman's body and head and quickly carried her pieces away.
Luther was immediately passed for entry into Ridgefall.
...
Soon it was Ivery's turn, she had been matched with a hooded man wearing a black robe, he held a silver staff in his right hand and he looked at Ivery with a dejected expression.
Luther who didn't want to leave until Ivery and Eness finished their matches, stood on the side on his own, far apart from the adventures watching and also waiting for their own matches.
He didn't break his focus from Ivery who stood several feet away from the robed man.
The 15-minute timer was started.
The robed man didn't waste any time and aimed his staff at Ivery, he began silently chanting, and a large blast of red magical energy shot at Ivery
Ivery didn't move from her spot and crossed her arms with a sigh.
The magic blast hit Ivery and she nonchalantly swatted it away with the back of her hand, the blast was then redirected to the wall and created a giant hole, the robed man's magic then completely dissipated.
Ivery dusted off her clothes.
The man looked at Ivery with widened eyes and couldn't believe she brushed his attack off as if it were a pesky fly..
Rhea watched with amazement, she didn't think such a thing was possible..
"Got anything else before I wrap this up?" Ivery asked the man
"Augh!" The man furiously and blindly shot several magic attacks at Ivery
She continued to swat away his magic and yawned, covering her mouth with her free hand.
The man panted, and exhausted most of his magic, he dropped to his knees and sweat dripped from his face onto the ground.
"I give-" As soon as the robed man looked up at Rhea, intending to withdraw the match, he was immediately sent flying up into the air after receiving a punch to his abdomen by Ivery who appeared in front of him in a flash
He spit out blood as he soared up into the air, and then fell unconscious immediately.
As he started to fall down, Ivery flew up and grabbed him by his hood, and flew back down carefully. She tossed him on the ground and he slid up to the feet of the men dressed in white, who were already waiting for him. They picked him up and carried him away.
She, unlike all of the other participants, didn't feel the need to kill her opponent, especially not someone as weak as he was.
Ivery was then passed to enter Ridgefall.
Ivery walked over to Luther with a smile, he smiled back at her and pulled her in an embrace.
"You're so perfect.." Luther whispered in her ear
"Stop.." Ivery blushed
"I can't help myself.." Luther kissed her neck
"Luther there are people here.." Ivery blushed harder and felt like she was melting
"So?" He continued to kiss up her neck
He pulled away from her neck to then quickly kiss her lips. Ivery still couldn't get used to his speed..
All of the adventurers, including Rhea blushed and couldn't help but stare at this power couple displaying public affection.
Ivery's eyes looked over and saw that everyone was watching them..
"L-Lut" Ivery tried to speak as Luther continued to kiss her and deepen it further
"What?" Luther's expression was filled with frustration, he already wanted to do much more
"Everyone is looking.." Ivery told him
He turned his head and indeed, they were being looked at.
"To think they'd delay the assessments for this.." Luther narrowed his eyes
All of the people nearby turned pale and felt cold and shivers ran through their bodies, spreading goosebumps across their skin and making the ends of their hair stand up. The air then became thick and it was hard for them to breathe...
They immediately looked away and began preparing for the next match.
.
.
Eness quickly finished her match and her opponent was barely left alive. She was also granted entry into Ridgefall and happily ran over to Ivery.
She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw her beloved master being eaten by a demonic being in front of her..
"Master!" Eness watched in horror
"Mmn" Ivery was in an endless kiss, still stuck in Luther's arms
Eness dropped to her knees and teared at the fact that she could do nothing to save her master from the current clutches of 'death' that had assumed the form of a man..
Even while being a few feet away, she felt her body quivering in fear of him, she could vividly hear her heart beating harshly against her chest. She, an ancient dragon, was completely and utterly defeated by him without trying, and it couldn't even be a thought to fight him...it would never be a fight...as for he would always have the upper hand..
"M-Master..I'm sorry.." Eness pouted and felt great sorrow
"Let's go now.." Luther broke the kiss to say as he lustfully looked down at Ivery
She nodded, stuck in a daze with flushed cheeks. She already knew what was going on in his mind..
.
.
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