Devil's Whisper (2)

Chapter 52: Devil's Whisper (2)

"Isn't that right, Azrail Astaroth? Or should I say…"

Azrail's eyes shook in fear when he heard those words, and Lyra's fingers dug into his skull, her nails piercing through his bones and tearing apart the mushy insides of his brain.

Lyra paused for a second, allowing Azrail to fully understand her words before she continued in a barely audible, bone-chilling voice. "Michael…"

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.

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As if petrified, Azrail's movements halted.

'Ah…'

Lyra's eyelids dropped when she saw Azrail's dreadful expression, and a light blush appeared on her cheeks.

To see a glimpse of despair in those otherworldly, aloof and arrogant eyes — all of her hard work had paid off.

The pain and suffering she went through vanished into thin air, and a pleasant, euphoric feeling replaced it.

'I want to gauge out his eyes right now…'

Although tempting, she gave up on that thought.

"Hahh…!"

After a few seconds, Azrail's body reacted instinctively, snapping out of his paralysed state before his legs pushed him backwards.

The sudden, frantic movement caused Lyra's fingers to remain embedded into his skull, her nails digging deeper as he tore himself away from her grasp.

Azrail's skin split under the pressure, and a sickening, wet sound echoed through the room because the sides of his head ripped open.

Blood spurted in jagged arcs, painting the floor beneath him, and his torn skin hung loosely, exposing raw muscle and bone.

However, despite suffering from injuries others would consider lethal, his body healed within seconds.

"You…"

Since their conversation began, Azrail had maintained his neutral expression well.

Even when Lyra threatened his parents, his expression didn't change despite his demonic aura surging, but he couldn't do that anymore.

Shock overcame Azrail's face, his eyes widened and his mouth agape.

'From his reaction, it seems like I'm the first person after Pythagoras to mention anything about his reincarnation…'

Lyra knew what kind of person Azrail was. If he reacted to something with such intensity, that secret must be of significant value to him.

'And the fact that I mentioned his real name must've been a surprise…'

At this moment, she was most likely the only person alive who knew his real name.

"You were watching… all my bodies."

As expected, Azrail immediately realised how Lyra knew of his real name, which made the latter smile in satisfaction.

"One shadow, no matter how many bodies you have… From now on, remember not to throw around important details just because you think you're alone."

Lyra had watched Azrail every second from when they last parted ways.

Exploring her dungeon, splitting his soul, finding Gleipnir, facing Pythagoras, Arondight's conversion into a Holy Demonic Sword, his days as Bucharest's overseer, and his experiments in the deepest parts of his first laboratory — Lyra witnessed it all.

"Yes, I can see your other bodies. Go ahead, contact Alice or Ajuka."

"Damnit…"

Azrail's hand trembled slightly as his face distorted in anger and annoyance.

"Finally, a genuine reaction. Just like at the banquet…"

Those words made Azrail fix his expression almost instantly, and Lyra continued with a light, playful giggle.

"I still can't get the image of you despairing after Beelzebub's speech out of my head…"

She liked the banquet so much that she rewatched Azrail's despair dozens of times, but she booed from the bottom of her heart every time Ajuka played it off as a prank.

It only took him a second to understand the meaning behind her words. "Whose memories did you read?"

Rather than answering his question, Lyra asked, "Guess."

The less Azrail knew, the more distressed he would be.

However, Lyra knew she couldn't take this approach for long.

She had seen him grow over the last few months and was wary of his talents.

No, wary would be an understatement.

His growth and talent were the main reasons Lyra acted soon after she found enough information to corner him.

Who knew what absurd methods he might create if she gave him more time to mature?

Azrail frowned after hearing her reply, worried about who she targeted for their memories.

He must have figured out that Lyra read Elmenhilde's memories from the evidence she provided, but he had no way of knowing if she targeted someone from his family, too.

However, before he could speak, she opened her mouth. "How about a wager?"

"What kind of wager…"

"Let's fight…" Lyra's lips curled into a small smile, and she raised her index finger. "If you can even leave a scratch on me before I kill you three times, I'll admit defeat…"

Other than showing Azrail the difference between their current abilities and bullying him, there was no particular reason behind this wager.

"Fine..."

It seemed like Azrail knew he couldn't do much in the situation other than play along with her whims, so he agreed without resistance.

With a satisfied smile, Lyra activated [Shadow Teleportation] and transferred them inside her dungeon's combat area, where she exercised herself and trained her subordinates.

It was a place Azrail had already seen when he explored her dungeon a few months ago.

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"By the way…" As a sword made out of darkness appeared in Lyra's hand, she stared at Azrail, who stood across her with Arondight in his hand. "You want to create a 'path' for your soul through [Soul Corridor], don't you?"

It wasn't hard to reach that conclusion.

If Lyra had the same abilities as him, she would've tried to do the same — achieve a state where nothing could threaten her life.

Azrail also understood that, so he replied without delay. "What about it?"

"If you win our wager, I'll be your 'path.' Who else can survive dangerous situations better than me? And if I die, you can always resurrect me…"

If that happened, so long as one survived, the other would, too.

"That sounds too good to be true…"

Azrail narrowed his eyes in vigilance, and his grip around Arondight's hilt tightened subconsciously.

'He's starting to doubt his own [Lie Detection] because he feels defenceless right now…'

That thought made Lyra smile, and she spoke calmly as her expression relaxed without taking a defensive stance. "Feel free to attack when you're ready…"

Crack!*

The floor beneath Azrail's feet cracked moments before he appeared in front of Lyra, horizontally slashing down Arondight towards the latter's chest.

'What a straightforward attack. The only thing on this brat's mind is to win the wager…'

Lyra strengthened her body with [Aura Enhancement], blocking the incoming attack with her shadow sword.

Despite the enormous force behind Azrail's attack, it didn't even make Lyra's sword budge, but as if he had expected it—

Swoosh!*

He lowered his body weight and moved the attack's direction towards his left.

The force behind his attack caused his body to make an unnaturally fast complete turn, and within an instant, his sword appeared on the left side of Lyra's neck.

'Not bad…'

Azrail purposefully held off using [Gravity Magic] to ensure his speed would momentarily surpass Lyra's physical reaction time in close range.

'If it were someone else with the same strength as me, they would've suffered a grievous injury at the very least…'

It wasn't that Lyra lacked the speed to dodge this attack but that the sudden movement was faster than the time it'd take her to move her body consciously.

She wasn't on guard against Azrail, which led to him taking advantage of her defenceless stance.

'But he's underestimating my defensive capabilities simply based on what I showed him previously...'

After experiencing countless battles, Lyra's body could react to surprise attacks instinctively without conscious thoughts.

Before Azrail's sword could touch her skin, a dense layer of hardened blood manifested on the side of her neck, and—

BOOM!*

A loud explosion occurred when Arondight's blade crashed into the hardened blood, creating a strong gust of wind and causing Azrail's eyes to widen in shock.

"What the—?!"

Out of the two-centimetre thick layer of hardened blood, his sword barely managed to pierce half of it.

The attack was too focused on speed and lacked power, which made it easier to defend against.

"[Blood] and [Darkness]… I'm equally proficient in manipulating them."

"Tch…"

Azrail clicked his tongue, and just as he was about to retreat—

"Huh…?"

Lyra's hardened blood extended from her neck to his sword like a parasite, soon reaching his hands, neck, chest, and down to his feet, completely immobilising him.

"That's your first death…"

Before Azrail could break free from the hardened blood with [Anatomy Control], Lyra raised her palm towards him.

A magic circle appeared in front of her palm and—

Boom!*

Azrail's body flew in the opposite direction, coughing up blood as he crashed into the wall at a distance.

However, since the spell wasn't too strong, Azrail managed to slow his crash down enough not to demolish the wall with [Wind Magic].

The reason Lyra counted it as a 'death' for Azrail was simple.

If she had the time to cast a spell to push him away, she could have also slit his throat at that moment if she wanted to.

'What a resilient body...'

Azrail recovered from the internal damage he received within seconds, staring at Lyra with deadpan eyes.

She wasn't a Wizard-type fighter, so her using magic against him meant one thing: she was looking down on him.

As he walked forward, Arondight transformed into a Holy Sword.

'Arondight's original form… It'll counter all my [Darkness] based abilities except [Shadow Merge]…'

After thinking about it for a second, Lyra threw her pitch-black sword towards Azrail, and as she had expected, Arondight absorbed her sword.

"The unique ability to consume darkness and shadows. Arondight might be the worst nightmare for the current generation of vampires…" Lyra let out a small laugh, creating a sword from her blood. "But it won't make a difference here…"

Arondight's [Holy Aura] couldn't affect Lyra's strength much, so as long as the Holy Sword didn't hit her directly, it wouldn't do anything to her.

Not to mention, she already knew about all its original abilities.

"You talk too much."

"They are not empty words. I wasn't lying when I said I wanted to work for you willingly…" She knew Azrail wouldn't trust her words even if his [Lie Detection] proved their authenticity, so she continued without pause. "Your talents are incredible. I'd happily work for you — for the right conditions, that is..."

After all, no matter how much advantage Lyra had over him, Azrail's life was not in danger.

She could destroy his social life, kill his parents, reveal his identity as a reincarnator, and make him a public enemy, but that was at the cost of her own life.

If Azrail wanted to eliminate her, he'd lose his identity. If Lyra wanted to ruin his life, she'd die.

In a sense, they were at a standstill — a perfect ground for negotiations.

"Seriously…" Azrail clenched Arondight's hilt so tightly that his hand trembled, revealing a fake, frustrated smile. "I liked it better when you didn't even dare to look into my eyes…"

No matter how much he tried, he couldn't hide his frustration any longer.

It must feel disgusting — standing on equal grounds with someone he once considered nothing more than a slave.

'Haah…'

The more Azrail's frustration grew, the livelier Lyra felt. She would happily live this moment for the rest of her life.

"Enhance your body as much as you want…" Lyra's aura surged, enhancing her physical attributes, and she licked her lips. "I'll attack this time…"

And she did just that, charging towards Azrail. He took a defensive stance, but before she could reach him—

"Huh…"

A pitch-black portal appeared between them, absorbing Lyra's body before disappearing.

The portal appeared and disappeared within a thousandth of a second, which made it too fast for Arondight to touch and absorb it.

Azrail looked around in vigilance, and on his left side, he saw a small, needle-sized pitch-black hole levitating mid-air.

Instantly, the hole expanded into a fist-sized portal before the blade of Lyra's blood sword emerged from it.

Clang!*

Azrail barely managed to block the blade from stabbing his neck with Arondight's blunt side.

'I can't push him back…'

Even with Lyra using her [Aura Enhancement], she couldn't overpower Azrail's pure physical strength. Just how much did he enhance his body?

'But his movements are all over the place…'

It seemed he still hadn't adapted to fighting with pure physical strength rather than Demonic Power Enhancement.

Lyra surged her Demonic Power, creating dozens of small portals around Azrail.

From within each portal, a blood sword emerged.

"Shit…!"

Azrail cursed and activated [Shadow Teleportation].

His shadow rose from the ground, devouring his body before any of the blood swords could pierce his skin, and he appeared on the other side of the room.

Lyra followed his tracks, creating a large portal beside him and emerging from it to stab him.

'How did he…'

However, much to her surprise, Azrail detected her presence instantly.

For a brief moment, their eyes met, and Arondight's Holy Aura surged as it moved towards Lyra's face.

'Crap… I'm stuck…'

Lyra's body, from the waist down, was still inside the shadow dimension.

'I was taking it easy, but to think he'd catch me in such an awkward position…'

She couldn't avoid the incoming attack in her current state, and the Holy Sword would inevitably slash her head in two.

Not to mention, because of Arondight's Holy Aura, using [Blood Manipulation] to defend against it wouldn't work again.

'Impressive…'

Lyra's lips curled into a smile as a thin, pitch-black line manifested around her head, and when Arondight's blade came in contact with that line—

Swoosh!*

The blade passed through her head as if it wasn't even there, slicing apart air and creating a strong gust of wind, much to Azrail's surprise.

"Arondight can't..."

The blood sword in Lyra's hand disappeared, and she placed her right palm on Azrail's face.

Her fingers clenched, crushing his skull under her strength as she continued, "Absorb shadows that have merged with physical matter…"

BOOM!*

Azrail's body crashed into the wall, and this time, the impact completely demolished it.

His head had collapsed in on itself under Lyra's strength, turning into a bloody mush while his body also suffered from some minor injuries. However, as usual, his body regenerated within seconds.

'I never thought I'd use [Shadow Merge] against this brat, even if it were partially due to my carelessness…'

That thought made her giggle.

She hadn't used [Shadow Merge] in combat since her battle against Lilia Astaroth, Azrail's ancestor.

As Azrail got up from the ground after his body healed, Lyra commented. "That's your second death."

"You sure are having fun..."

"Don't look at me like that… I held back quite a lot, you know?"

Azrail must have realised it by now, but someone who recently reached the Ultimate Class could never beat Lyra, no matter how extraordinary they were.

She was about to taunt him more, but before she could, Azrail appeared in front of her.

"Attacking out of nowhere in a duel…"

Lyra stepped back, dodging the tip of Arondight's blade by no more than a centimetre.

She had no weapon in hand, so she retreated to create some distance, and much to her surprise, Azrail followed her without delay.

'Is this his maximum speed?'

Azrail pursued her relentlessly, so much so that he didn't even let Lyra create a weapon, forcing her to be defensive.

'His mastery of [Way of the Wind] is nowhere near Alice, but when paired with his [Gravity Magic], it makes a frightening combination…'

Even though Azrail had only entered the Ultimate Class recently, his speed was already beyond what most Ultimate Class Devils could achieve.

'At his current level, I can't beat him while maintaining a [Shadow Domain] like I previously did…'

To think he improved so much in such a short time — most of which he spent tinkering with magic rather than training.

'But…' Lyra once again dodged Azrail's attack by a hair's breadth, making sure the sword didn't somehow cut her hair. 'This isn't enough…'

Azrail's speed was roughly the same as Lyra's current [Aura Enhancement], but his attacks weren't hard to read.

That was why she could dodge effortlessly despite their similar speeds.

Even when he used [Holy Slash] or Magic, it didn't make a difference.

"The last attack you finished our battle with…"

Watching another one of Azrail's attacks incoming, Lyra increased her [Aura Enhancement] to her current maximum.

"It inspired me…"

However, rather than retreating, she charged straight towards her enemy as two blood daggers manifested in her hands.

The sudden change of strategy surprised Azrail, and the moment his sword was about to touch Lyra, she dodged it effortlessly.

He probably expected her to counterattack, and his eyes widened in surprise when Lyra dashed towards him instead.

Lyra moved headfirst into him, and in the last second, her entire body became pitch blank and phased through Azrail's body as if he weren't even there.

"To create an attack that no one can block, only dodge…"

[Shadow Merge] deactivated as Lyra's body manifested behind Azrail.

'I can refine this technique to become a final attack, but…'

She looked down at her hands, absorbing the blood daggers back into her body.

'The Magic Power consumption is too much for repeated use…'

[Shadow Merge] was a power-consuming skill, so Lyra rarely used it on her entire body.

That last attack alone took 12% of her reserves.

Using it in battle too much wasn't possible.

'Although, I can still use it for assassination missions…'

Had she thought of this skill a millennial ago, her battle with Lilia would have ended much differently.

'It'll be perfect if I can reduce the consumption to 8% or less…'

After analysing her abilities for a brief second, she turned around and—

Thud!*

With a loud, meaty thud, Azrail fell to the ground, his body covered in numerous life-threatening wounds.

The previous attack destroyed all of his limbs, leaving several injuries on his chest and face.

Lyra walked over to his side, looking down at him as his body regenerated rapidly.

"How does it feel…"

Four arms extended from her shadow, hindering the regeneration process of his limbs while holding him in place.

It was what he did to her when they met inside this dungeon for the first time.

"Being in my position?"

By now, Azrail had probably calculated the situation and calmed down, so he didn't react to those words.

Their eyes met, and she smiled at him.

"I have crossed blades with thousands of people, killed tens of thousands, and ran into various kinds of psychopaths, but you…"

Lyra placed her knees on each side of Azrail's waist and leaned forward, bringing her face a few inches above his.

"The look in your eyes… I mistook it for a cold-blooded murderer at first glance, but it's different. Just looking at it terrifies me…"

Her hands rested on Azrail's cheeks, caressing them gently.

"I don't know what happened for you to end up like this, but... I can tell you one thing. With eyes like that, the only thing that awaits you is a grand demise..."

She still remembered the look in his eyes when he killed and resurrected her endlessly...

Just remembering that moment sent shivers down her spine.

"Haah… Haah…"

Unknowingly, intense killing intent started pouring out of Lyra's body like an endless stream as she took deep breaths.

Killing intent was when someone merged their intense emotions to harm others with their aura.

The more people someone has killed, the stronger their killing intent would be, which could cause various effects on opponents depending on their mental fortitude and strength.

In Lyra's case, her killing intent was enough to drive those weaker than her into madness if exposed to it for too long.

And naturally, Azrail was no exception.

"I want to see how far you can go. You're the first person who has pushed me this far, so…"

Azrail's body went numb under the intense killing intent, his eyes trembling in fear as her nails dug into his skin.

Lyra's expression showed nothing but pure bliss, and she stared at him with an unknown obsession, her red eyes gleaming with sadistic pleasure.

"Don't disappoint me, Michael…"

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In truth, Lyra had concluded that Azrail was a reincarnator even before Pythagoras mentioned it, primarily because of two main reasons.

The first was his soul formation.

When their souls connected through [Soul Corridor], Lyra noticed something strange.

Azrail's soul had no affinity with devils — not in the slightest. He had their racial abilities, limitations, and weaknesses, but beyond that, his soul was entirely different.

To make it worse, he had a natural affinity towards [Darkness], and his soul's base formation was closer to a vampire than a devil.

It wasn't something anyone could notice without having detailed information about vampires and closely inspecting his soul.

If it weren't for [Soul Corridor], an infinitely long yet unmeasurably short passage between their souls, Lyra wouldn't have been able to notice this detail even if she sat next to Azrail for a decade.

It was when she became suspicious that he wasn't a 'normal' devil.

The second reason came from Elmenhilde's memories. Everything Azrail created, his ideas, knowledge, and perfectionism weren't something a child could accomplish, no matter how many memories he extracted from the dead.

Not only that, but some of his actions felt off.

One such action was when Azrail transformed into a blonde young man after awakening from his slumber inside the fourth laboratory.

The strange nostalgia in his voice piqued Lyra's interest, but no matter how much she searched, she found no clues about that young man's identity.

However, up until this point, everything was Lyra's suspicion.

In reality, Azrail himself confirmed his identity as a reincarnator to her after the incident with Pythagoras.

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"Michael... Brother…"

"Brother… Michael…"

"Forgive me… Brother…"

"I can't hold on any longer… Michael…"

Crack!*

The muscles in Azrail's wrist clenched, causing the pen's nib to break, spilling ink all over the document he was writing.

"I know it has been a while since anyone has called me that name, but…"

Placing the broken pen on the table, Azrail turned towards the Angel strapped onto the bed behind him.

"Can't you stop calling my name already? It's distracting…"

"What are you…"

The Angel stared at Azrail with his intoxicated eyes, his words unclear because of the pipe going inside his mouth.

"Ah… It seems I've spoken too much…"

With those words, Azrail knocked the Angel out by hitting his head.

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"That's more or less it…"

Lyra smiled at Azrail, who stood in front of her.

After he asked how she did everything, Lyra gave him a small summary of things that happened after they had parted ways.

When her explanation finished, Azrail looked down at the floor and commented. "You did a lot of hard work behind my back…"

Lyra was about to reply, but when she opened her mouth—

Clap!*

Clap!*

Clap!*

Azrail clapped with his hands, slowly raising his face towards Lyra as he continued.

"I knew retaliation was inevitable, but never in my wildest dream did I imagine you'd corner me this much… In our current standing, I can't threaten your life without losing my identity…"

Their eyes met, and a shiver ran down her spine.

"Congratulations, Lyra. You passed the test with flying colours…"

Subconsciously, Lyra jumped backwards, creating some distance between her and Azrail.

"You want us to be on equal terms? I don't mind… However, for it to work properly, I'll need to ensure you don't look down on me first…"

Without any warnings, Azrail summoned Arondight and charged towards Lyra.

Ba-dump!*

Just as she tried to summon her weapons to defend herself, a wave of dizziness washed over her consciousness, and she barely managed to dodge the incoming attack, but—

"Gahh...!"

Azrail still managed to slash her left arm off.

Lyra stumbled, and her magic Power started pouring out of her body without her consent, unable to hold herself together as blood gushed out of her wounded shoulder.

With a pale complexion, she turned towards Azrail. "How did you…"

She couldn't understand it.

There was nothing wrong with her soul, so why?

Azrail didn't even surge his Demonic Power.

What did he do?

"Your plan had one flaw, Lyra…"

"What?"

Azrail gave her a small, relaxed and mocking smile.

"Since when were you under the impression that I cared about my identity?"

Huh?

He didn't care about his identity?

Wasn't he the one having a mental breakdown when Beelzebub almost exposed him?

Lyra didn't even have the time to comprehend his words, and Azrail attacked her again.

His attack was but a simple sword slash, but because of her current state, Lyra barely managed to dodge it.

"What are you doing?! If I die, your life as Azrail Astaroth is over…! All factions in this world will be after you! Your crimes will be public knowledge!"

However, despite those words, Azrail kept attacking Lyra without restraint, a wide grin plastered on his face. "Do it, then! Ruin my life in exchange for your own!"

"Have you lost your mind?! You'll lose everything you built in this life! Everyone will know about your identity as a reincarnator! If they knew about your abilities, they would hunt you down to—Blegh!"

Boom!*

Before Lyra could finish her words, Azrail punched her in the stomach, sending her flying towards the wall, destroying it in the process.

'Has this fucker completely lost it?'

The punch was strong enough to rip a hole through Lyra's stomach, and she coughed up blood violently.

"You bastard…"

Azrail placed his hands inside the pockets of his lab coat, slowly walking towards Lyra. Arondight flew beside him, pointing its blade towards the barely conscious vampire.

"What did you do to me?"

Even now, Lyra's Magic Power kept pouring out of her body without pause. She had no control remaining over it.

[Aura Enhancement], [Darkness Manipulation], [Blood Manipulation], and [Magic]… All of her skills were practically unusable now.

"I didn't do anything to you, Lyra…" Azrail looked down at Lyra, his lips curling into a smile. "I only changed my body a little…"

"What nonsense is that…."

"You're quite naive to think that I'll just rely on control over your soul in case of a guaranteed betrayal. My paranoia isn't that weak…"

Azrail raised his right hand, summoning something from his shadow. "Do you know what this is?"

It was a corpse — Lyra's corpse!

"This is your original body, Lyra. As for your current body, I made it from my own, so…"

Azrail's smile widened when he saw the absolute horror in Lyra's eyes.

"I can control your body as if it were mine…"

"Impossible! You can only control the two extra clones you create! Not the other bodies made of your flesh…"

She now understood what happened to her.

Her body and soul were no longer in sync.

"I never said that, Lyra… The extra bodies have no connection with the 'infinite power source' dimension, so I need to expend Demonic Power to control them, but that doesn't mean I can't do it…"

"No. You couldn't do that earlier…"

"Your second mistake was never doubting Elmenhilde's memories…"

Azrail summoned a blue orb from his shadow inside his left hand, holding it between his index and middle finger.

"That is…"

Mind Reading spells had one definitive weakness. They couldn't tell if someone had altered their target's memories previously.

"Elmenhilde's true memories — the ones she left in my care after I ordered her to alter her memories…"

'Wait… If he told Elmenhilde to do that…'

Goosebumps emerged all over Lyra's body, and her eyes shook as the realisation dawned on her.

She spoke in a trembling voice. "You knew… You knew I could deceive [Soul Corridor]!"

"No. At first, I had a hunch, but..." Azrail crouched next to Lyra, bringing his face to her level. "While searching for Gleipnir, do you remember my conversation with the White Dragon Emperor just after Liese guided us to those massive doors?"

{These doors are over twelve hundred years old…}

{How can you even tell that?}

{I just can.}

The conversation between Azrail and Vali wasn't of importance, but because of Lyra's perfect memory, she remembered it vividly.

"There was nothing wrong with the memories you showed me, and I couldn't think of any problems with the [Soul Corridor], either, but I did notice something strange…"

Azrail grabbed a handful of Lyra's white hair, forcefully pulling her face closer to him.

"Your memories dated back to around 18,000 years, but your body was 'far' older than that… There was only one explanation: someone altered the memories I saw…"

"However… No matter how much I looked, nothing was out of order — 18,000 years worth of altered memories with no inconsistencies. Even I don't think I can accomplish something like that…"

The praise was genuine, but Lyra felt no happiness despite that compliment.

"As time passed, I became anxious because you weren't making a move. I feared it'd mess with my plans if delayed for too long, so I tried to give you something that no one else would know… My real name."

'He… baited me into revealing myself too soon by exposing his identity as a reincarnator?'

That thought made Lyra's skin crawl in disgust.

As if knowing what was on her mind, Azrail continued. "Never once in this life did I mention my previous life, no matter how alone I believed I was… What makes you think I did it out of nowhere?"

Ever since the beginning… She was dancing in the palm of his hand without even releasing it.

"Don't push your luck…" Lyra grunted, forcefully holding onto her consciousness out of pure anger and hatred. "Your life is over if I die…"

"That's what I like about you, Lyra…" Azrail smiled at her words, a light blush appearing on his face. "Unlike Elmenhilde, you'll never give in…"

"I know you can destroy my life with one thought, but I want to ask…" The smile on Azrail's face disappeared, and he spoke with an emotionless face. "So what?"

Before Lyra could even reply—

Rumble!*

Azrail pushed her head into the wall behind her and pulled it back towards him moments later.

"If it comes down to it, I am willing to sacrifice everything for my goal…" Azrail's grip around Lyra's hair tightened, and he stared at her with a gaze that sent shivers down her spine. "But what about you, Lyra? What are you willing to sacrifice?"

His gaze was of someone who disregarded everything in front of him, looking far ahead at something Lyra couldn't understand.

A suicidal lunatic who didn't even care about his own life, what was there that he could not do?

At this moment, Lyra understood what kind of person Azrail was at his core.

"Don't look at me like that… We'll be spending the rest of our lives together, remember?"

Azrail stood up and pulled Lyra's body with all his strength, making her circle through the air before hitting the ground.

"Gah….!"

The impact of her crash left a crater beneath her, and Lyra groaned in immense pain.

Azrail looked down at her pathetic state, his lips curling into a small smile.

"Now that I think about it, I haven't introduced myself yet…"

Lyra watched as Azrail crouched down again, bringing his face right above hers, and with a bright smile, he continued.

"My name is Michael Kezess. I look forward to our time together, partner…"

'I… shouldn't have accepted that damned request…'

Whoever requested her to kidnap Azrail — they were done for the moment she found out about their identity.

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Words: 5,311

A/N:

Great King Faction now has two nutjobs out for blood. Spoiler alert: they're cooked.

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Also, y'all need to chill out and not jump to conclusions. At least let the scene finish.

The previous chapter was clearly meant to show a similar situation to the banquet and how much Azrail has changed. When faced with sudden difficulties where he can lose his life (the connections, family, and identity he has, not his legit life), he doesn't lose his sanity over it, unlike him in the past.

This wasn't meant to give him character development but to show how he has changed. He's emotionally more stable, too.

Y'all straight-up labelled him as a fraudulent dumbass. Most people even forgot he lives like 100 seconds for every second Lyra does.

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I was excited to write this chapter at first, but when I saw the comments, I went like… "Maybe I was excited for writing a bad scene..."

Didn't open Webnovel for the last two weeks and started uploading on QQ.

Reading the older chapters again reminded me why I started this fic, so I went back to writing this chapter this chapter.

I opened WN two days ago and saw like… 500+ notifications. I closed the app again and decided to not check comments until this chapter finished lol. Otherwise, it would've taken another ten days.

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Chapter Tags: Femdom. Domination Loss. xD

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Anyway, I'm back. Hope no one died while I was away.

Sorry for the wait.

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Question: I can't open my profile in the WN app. It says to update, but the app store says I'm on the latest version. What?