Legacy World 4.19

To the angel's horror, Vanora did not dodge like he had expected her to. His slashes had covered every path she could take, but it was the weakest in the path that she chose, which was to fearlessly continue heading towards him.

Her flesh got cut up. Some chunks flew off. Some hung off like an open flap. Her right hand was like a claw going straight for his heart.

He jammed his swords straight towards her. It was a final, straightforward, and desperate attempt to at least take her down with him.

Vanora let herself be stabbed. One went through her chest. The other went through her right arm. In return, she grabbed onto his arms. Before anyone could blink, his arms got tossed to the floor. His cry of pain filled the air. Before he could fly away, Vanora caught the bottom of his robes, then flung him to the ground. The impact broke several bones. The initial pain and shock momentarily paralyzed him. He helplessly watched Vanora comfortably land in front of him. Now that he could study her more closely, the blood stains covering her from head to toe looked old.

"How many of us have you killed already...?" He croaked out his question with much difficulty.

Vanora peered at him, then down at herself. She tilted her face up to stare at the expansive orange sky, closed her eyes, then took a deep breath. When she opened her eyes again, her pupils became mere slits and the golden specks in her eyes glowed. She felt alive and renewed. She looked back down at the angel with mirth, then licked her lips where a little blood had splattered onto her face. It tasted deliciously familiar to her. "I wonder." She finally replied his question.

Her crazed look and the orange sky behind her was the perfect demonic picture that instilled fear into his heart. She pulled the swords out of her body in an agonisingly slow speed. Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion to him. He stared at her hand nearing him, like it was the claw of death itself. He trembled uncontrollably like a leaf in the wind. Her hand froze just before she touched him. His eyes slowly travelled up to her face and he found her looking towards the South. He caught the tiny smirk she had on her face before she stood back up.

Knowing that was where the main battlefield was, he guessed her intention. /No. No, no, no, no. Not her. This one's crazy. She can't go./

"You're insane!" He yelled. "You'll only die if you go there!"

Again, she reacted in an unexpected way. Her smile grew so wide as if he had said something extremely pleasing to her. "Well, wouldn't you love that. Actually, that isn't such a bad idea. Someone like me deserves to die, right? I should just die, right?"

Then, she suddenly started pouting. "But I can't. I'm supposed to get stronger. I have to get stronger." She sighed dramatically. "Hey, tell me, if I can't get stronger, does it matter if I'm killed now or later? It doesn't, right? So, I might as well go there and try my luck, right? If I do get stronger from that, I'll surely survive anything after that!" Vanora beamed and skipped like a child who just solved a very difficult question. "Looks like it all worked out in the end!"

The angel knew at this moment that there was only one way to stop her. He had to kill her. Reason clearly did not work on her. Ignoring the pain he was in and his fear, he flapped his wings and used his legs to fight. Because she ignored him to head to the main fight, he managed to catch her in a deadlock, but this only annoyed her. Her power increased along with her annoyance. Her nails punctured his flesh as her grip on him tightened. When she stretched her limbs further, she easily tore him into half. More blood splattered onto Vanora. This time, she licked a generous portion of it off her lips and hands. "Mmm...!" It tasted so good that it instantly improved her ruined mood and increased her desire for more.

Just as she turned to take off, Vlad appeared in front of her, blocking her from advancing forward. Her mood immediately turned sour again.

Vlad was thoroughly upset. Vanora fought recklessly and without a care for herself. What had looked demonic to the angel only looked like seduction and flirtation to Vlad. Despite all the provocations, he faithfully stood by the side without intervening. Yet here she was, making another reckless decision, one that he could not accept.

"You're injured. It's time to rest." Vlad said in a stern voice.

However, Vanora also refused to back off. "What injuries?"

Vlad glanced at her body that was previously littered with gaping wounds. Flesh grew back with every second that passed. /So she can recover this quickly now. That means she won against an angel with the power to suppress our regenerative ability./ As good as this news was, Vlad continued to frown deeply. /But at what cost?/ He looked into her eyes and felt that her gaze was completely foreign. "You're not ready for the main battlefield. If you go there now, you're wishing for death, not growth."

Vanora continued to stare at him in defiance. She did not want to waste her breath on him.

Her stubborn gaze told Vlad that she would not budge. He gritted his teeth in annoyance. /Fuck it. I'm done with listening to you like some faithful dog only to watch you do something so self-destructive./

Suddenly, Vanora ran past him. Vlad rolled his eyes and sighed, then turned around to glare at her. Her body instantly froze. He took his time to walk to her, then placed himself in front of her again. Her eyes glowed brightly, revealing her rage and frustration. Witnessing how feral she looked and behaved at the moment, he shook his head slowly. /She's definitely losing her rationality./

"I didn't expect that I'd have to use this against you. I'm sorry." He lightly stroked her cheek with the back of his four fingers while he teleported them back to the room in the inn.

"Go take a nice hot bath now. After you're done, you WILL eat the food that's on the table." Vlad instructed in a commanding tone.

Vanora felt her body comply even though her mind was unwilling to.

As soon as Vanora washed off all the blood that was on her body, her mind calmed down and she zoned out.

[Va... Vanora?] BaoBao's voice sounded a little shaky. [Vanora...?]

/Hm? BaoBao?/

[Vanora! You're baaaack!] She could hear from BaoBao's shaky voice that he was crying uncontrollably.

/What's wrong, BaoBao?/

[I don't know why, but over the days you responded to me more and more slowly! Today, was the worst, I tell you! The worst! I wanted to remind you that it was truly too early to enter the battlefield since I have been charting your growth and comparing it with your opponents, but you did not respond to me at all! I called you so many times! I was so scared! I didn't know what to do!]

/You did?/

[Of course!] BaoBao wailed indignantly.

Vanora recollected whatever happened earlier and realised to her horror how she had almost went out of control. She also remembered hearing a small voice, but treating it like an annoying bug. /Oh my god./ Her mood spiraled downwards once more and she felt extremely embarrassed. /I'm so, so, so sorry BaoBao. I'll be more careful from now on./

[Please do...!] BaoBao gave a tearful reply.

Since Vanora was still under the influence of Vlad's orders, she could not stay in the bath for too long. Although she was going along with Vlad's order, she could feel a tiny difference in the way she moved. It felt equivalent to moving on auto-pilot.

When she returned to the room, she was greeted with a table full of food. Plates covered every inch of the table. Each plate was filled to the brim with top quality venison dishes. The smell of the dishes caused her hunger to kick in again and she jumped at the food, then mindlessly stuffed her mouth with food without bothering to sit down. Vlad had to physically sit her down. All the while, she continued to eat.

Only after she almost consumed all of the food on the table, was her hunger satisfied. Her senses returned to her once more and she stared blankly at the giant half eaten elk's thigh in her hand. Her mood plunged way back down again. /This is really my punishment... I'm behaving so unsightly and eating without restraint like some wild animal.../

[Well... You didn't look THAT unsightly... You just ate so fast that anyone could tell you've been starving for days.]

/I've really made a big mistake this time.../ She absentmindedly lowered the thigh onto her plate. /I lost the battle against myself and let my emotions get the better of me. I allowed it to cloud my judgement too... I really deserve this humiliation./

He had fully intended to berate her for her carelessness, but those feelings completely vanished upon seeing her looking so embarrassed and humiliated. "Feeling better now?" Vlad sounded extremely soft and gentle.

Vanora nodded.

"Looks like you're back to normal." Vlad teased her lightly.

Seeing her still looking down and out while eating the rest of her food made him feel sorry for her. She likely did not have an easy time. He also felt that he had at least some blame for her current state. If he had not pissed her off at the start, perhaps things would have progressed differently.

He rested his chin on his palm. "You may have lost a little bit of control but it's not all that bad, is it? I hope this brief period of insanity has helped you learn something?"

Vanora nodded, but her mood still did not improve. Vlad frowned as he inferred that she misunderstood his question as berating her for her carelessness.

"What I'm asking is, are you now familiar with the potential of your powers?"

She looked into his eyes in surprise. /The potential of my powers?/

"Don't be afraid to think back to how you were for the past week and re-experience it." He hinted.

She looked back down at her food to consider what Vlad said. After awhile, she closed her eyes as she attempted to re-experience the previous days. Now that she recalled everything in a calmer state, she understood what he meant. She was now familiar with how it felt to use her enhanced instinct. It was quite contrary to her usual way of fighting, which was to calculate every move she made. She simply acted on what she felt was right. There was hardly any thinking involved.

She opened her eyes and fell deep into thought, while her mouth and hand continued to move by themselves, putting food into her mouth each time it was empty. /I may be getting the hang of controlling and mastering my enhanced instinct but... My control over my emotions is still a problem. I still can't feel and not feel whenever I want./ This strongly reminded her of why she had chosen to suppress everything from the beginning.

Vlad studied her expression closely. So, he could tell that there was still something troubling her. "Would you like to share what's troubling you right now? Maybe I could give you some advice."

"Nothing's troubling me." Vanora lied through her teeth.

Vlad silently stared at her for a while. "I see. Then let me just put this out there. I'll be making sure that you show yourself basic care, whether you like it or not. This includes you eating, bathing, and sleeping properly. Humph, I can't have you seducing and flirting with every man out there in front of me." He looked genuinely disgruntled.

His ending comment caught her off guard, causing her to reveal an uninhibited look of surprise, then confusion. "Wh-"

"Don't you dare say that you don't know what I'm talking about. Licking your lips that way, smiling so unreservedly, and talking so freely with some angel you just met. You've never done any of those with me before." He pouted.

She did not know how to defend herself other than clarifying her intentions. "You know that I wasn't being my-"

"Ah! Or could it be that he's your kind of guy?" He cried out in distress.

His ridiculous inference made Vanora's face fall flat again. /What in the world runs through this guy's mind? He's so.../

[Eccentric.] BaoBao completed her sentence while trying to stifle his laughter. The second male lead of this world was very entertaining for him. Moreover, BaoBao noticed that whenever Vlad acted this way, it never failed to distract Vanora from her worries. It helped her stay rooted in the present moment.

Vlad started to debate with himself if he should change his looks to make it more similar to that angel. It was like he was putting on a show for Vanora. Just as she was done with the last plate on the table, Vlad came to a conclusion. "Ah! Forget it. I'll never stoop to look like some angel. You'll give me a chance, won't you?" He asked with a shit-eating grin.

Vanora looked at him weirdly. /He can really entertain himself./

He continued without waiting for her reply. "Anyway, I'll take care of everything else, so don't you worry. Just do what you have to. Go ahead and immerse yourself in your journey to getting stronger."

His tone dramatically and suddenly turned serious and he gazed directly into her eyes. "Don't worry about getting lost or stuck. I'll always be here to pull you back and support you." It was an unspoken promise.

Vanora blushed and looked away. "How absurd." She said under her breath.

Vlad smiled warmly, then ushered her off to bed. "Okay, off to bed you go now."

Thanks to Vlad being a distraction from her negative feelings, Vanora did not take too long to fall sound asleep. Vlad finally relaxed after seeing her retire for the day, so he went about the room doing what needed to be done, before joining Vanora in bed.