Nemesis

With an Aethervoid glass knife in his hand, Theodore rushed at the surprised Henrich. However, before Theodore could reach the boy, Barnaby emerged from the cloud, and at the very moment he saw Theodore, he moved to attack without hesitation.

However, this time, Theodore was prepared for him. He had heard Henrich calling out for Barnaby to regroup and expected him to appear.

Barnaby's attack, while powerful, was extremely straightforward. Without the element of surprise, it was easy for Theodore to avoid it.

Slipping past Barnaby's punch with his smaller and nimbler body, Theodore slid his glass knife into Barnaby's side, the Aethervoid glass blade penetrated right through his Aether Armor and his robe, sank into his flesh, and brushed by his right kidney. At least, that was what Theodore had intended to do. However, though he was successful in drawing blood, Theodore missed the vital organ by several centimeters.

Although the Demon Lord had memories of the technique, Theodore's small hands were not well practiced with them. That being said, perhaps that was not all...

(Did I... Did 'Theodore' intentionally avoid a killing blow?)

Unable to land a decisive strike, Theodore quickly pulled away just as Barnaby slammed his arm, reinforced by Aether, down at him, missing Theodore by a mere hair's breadth and smashing into the ground.

(Not yet! If I stop taking action here I'm screwed!)

As the garden soil flew into the air from the impact, Theodore sent a thread of Aether into his back pocket. Though he had entrusted the slime with his belongings, he had kept just one Aether crystal on him.

Using the thread, Theodore hurled the crystal at Henrich, who was pointing his wand in Theodore's direction, ready to launch another attack.

Seeing the crystals flying towards him, Henrich reflexively focus on the object, and at that moment, the crystal released an intense glow. It was a glow strong enough to temporarily blind a person staring into it up close. For Henrich, a possessor of the Aethersight Eyes, it was as if his eyes were scorched by the sun. Feeling the sting of the far too brilliant light, Henrich recoiled, disrupting his aim with his wand.

Barnaby, instinctively sensing something dangerous from the intense Aether activity within the crystal, forced his body to move, tearing his wound in the process, and pushed Henrich out of the way while using his own body to cover him.

Then, a blast was felt by Barnaby. The force was not as large as he had expected, though it would certainly be strong enough to punch a hole through a person's torso. Due to having covered himself in a layer of highly condensed Aether, Barnaby was relatively unharmed by the explosion.

By the time Henrich had regained his sight, Barnaby was on the ground, clutching his wound. For the moment, Barnaby had stopped the bleeding with his Aether, but the blade that injured him was coated with some kind of paralysis poison and had rendered him immobile.

The poison came from Kalman and was non-lethal, just in case it was ever used against him.

As for their mysterious intruder, Theodore, he was nowhere in sight. He had taken the opportunity to slip away, gathering his shredded belongings and disappearing into the night.

"Barnaby, how's the wound?" asked Henrich, putting on a calm voice despite his concern.

"He got me good... But I'll manage..." answered Barnaby, lying on the ground, trying to fight against the numbness in his body.

"I have already memorized the flow of his Aether. The next time I see him, I swear I'll kill him for sure."

"No doubt... I'll look... forward to it..."

"Save your strength. I'll go call for a healer."

"Many thanks..."

Perhaps due to the ruckus of the battle, mages were beginning to gather near the mansion, healers included. Thanks to that, Henrich was able to quickly find help for Barnaby.

Unfortunately, no one appeared to have seen the intruder. No one dared to get too close while the battle was ongoing, especially when it was happening on a property owned by a master battlemage. Who knew if a stray magic would come flying and shred them to pieces or reduce them to ashes?

It also happened that Theodore had memorized the streets well enough to know how best to avoid the crowds before he was able to retreat into the sewers.

***

Upon climbing back into his room, Theodore flopped onto the ground like a deflated pufferfish. It had been a long night, one filled with accidents and mistakes.

His most notable mistake was the failure to finish off Barnaby and Henrich. Now that Henrich had seen his Aether with his Aethersight Eyes, he'll be able to recognize Theodore no matter what disguise he wears. Theodore was most certain that not killing him on the spot would prove most troublesome in the future.

Yet, when he remembered the sensation of his knife sinking into Barnaby, Theodore felt his stomach churn as a wave of disgust came over him. 'Theodore' was clearly not fond of hurting another person, much less killing them. The very thought of killing people around his age, children more or less, made him sick to the stomach.

"I'm so screwed..."

Realizing his weakness, Theodore let out of heavy sigh while remaining on the floor. He eventually fell asleep in that same posture. With Peter curling up beside him, Theodore slept like this till the next morning.

***

End of Chapter 115

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