26 Chapter 25: Don't you love him?

All those who were pushed backward grunted in pain as they tried their best to get up. It must be said that the shockwave caused by the collision of the two forces had caused their orientations and balances to be severely altered.

However, the stats of everyone present, including the weakest in the palace, far exceeded the stats of ordinary humans, so they were soon able to clear their minds and get up. Obviously, accompanied by some physical aches and pains.

They looked with undisguised amazement at the scene before them. More so the Emperor and the King.

The former was amazed by Nader's terrifying strength. He thought the rumors were a big lie. Able to fight two hundred men? Hell! ¡Even if he fought thousands of opponents, he would probably come out unscathed and still keep victory on his side!

However, he still vastly underestimated the extent of Nader's real power.

On the other hand, the King was trembling in his seat. He could not believe that the person who would lose in the first clash of forces would be God's Apostle!

Oblivious to the scene unfolding behind him and his thoughts, Nader turned his gaze to the inside of the crevice where Noint lay unharmed; only in her disheveled, dust-stained clothes. Her gaze remained as indifferent as ever, a machine-made solely to carry out orders.

Their gazes met as Noint's eyes glittered slightly. She stared into Nader's heterochromatic eyes as if she wanted to cast a spell on him like a succubus casts a spell on its prey. However...

"Sorry, girl. You're not my type." Nader joked.

In fact, Noin had just used a mental spell against him. This spell was commonly known as a hypnotism spell to seduce an enemy when eye contact was made. If this skill was executed against someone with a weak and vulnerable mental defense, that someone would instantly fall into the enemy's gaze, lowering their defense completely and leaving their neck in the open air to be cut.

However, if they used the same mental technique against someone like Nader, who literally had 75% mental immunity, it was no different from punching a world and trying to pierce it with a needle; it was a big joke. Even if Noint's mental strength was hundreds of times stronger than her current one, it was destined to fail in trying to hypnotize Nader.

*Crack*

With a thunderous sound, much of the wall collapsed as Noint leaped out of the giant hole it had left.

She looked down at the maid's clothes she was wearing and in the next instant, her clothes were replaced by a white dress that had metal plates on either side of the waist. A silver helmet with wings protruding from both sides decorated her silver head. Her slender arms and hands were covered by metal gauntlets that squeaked as she tightened her grip on the handle of her double sword.

She looked back at Nader with her emotionless eyes and a monotone voice was heard inside the room, however, only Nader could hear it while the others only saw her lips moving.

"My lord charged me with an important mission to end your life a month ago. But because I let you survive then, you acquired a power beyond any limit of this world. I must accept that it was my fault for not carrying out my lord's order immediately."

The only reason Noint had let Nader escape, back then, was because she wanted to fulfill her lord's will to increase the source of his amusement; she wanted Nader to think he was free and get someone to accompany him on his journey, only for her to destroy everything he had obtained in front of his eyes so that Nader would fall into the abyss of despair. After all, that kind of spectacle was what her lord liked to see the most.

However, for the very reason, she had let him escape, Nader had managed to surpass the limit of power that a human or any other race possessed in this world, something she had not foreseen due to her arrogance of the moment.

"But... the fate my lord wants for someone who should not exist is death. So here, your fate on the game board is sealed."

From the beginning where the girl started speaking to the conclusion of her speech, Nader looked at her as if he was looking at a person who had some loose ends inside her head. Since when did one start talking about the reason for action within the battlefield? Or at least, he wasn't used to witnessing such a scene.

With all she wanted to say, the girl took a step forward, and a pair of beautiful silver wings that resembled the plumage of a bird made their appearance behind her back.

She kicked the ground and floated in the air as she looked down at Nader from above as if she was looking down at a mere mortal.

To the eyes of those present, Noint, who was surrounded by a silvery aura as she floated gracefully in the sky, looked like an angel who had descended from the divine realm to the mortal plane. It was as if they were in front of a celestial being.

'Yue, I'll be gone for a few minutes to finish this girl. Do you want to come with us?' Nader relayed his message through his spiritual sense, as it also functioned as telepathy.

His feet lifted off the ground, and he began to float and gently rise into the sky until he landed at the same height as Noint was floating.

'Mmm... I'll stay with Yuki.' Yue replied through her telepathy.

'Okay, take care of yourself.' Nader nodded.

He knew more or less what she would try to do while he was away for a few minutes. He wasn't worried about her safety, either, as no one in this world could endanger the little golden vampire.

Her stats after her training alongside Nader and Yuki while they were still inside the abyss, along with the 20% power granted to her by the title "Throne", was terrifying. Of course, her powers, including Nader's current powers, were only considered powerful in the category of worlds that were on the same level as Tortus.

Although, Tortus had only been enhanced due to the presence of Ehit, who was an inhabitant of a world superior to him. The inhabitants of Tortus could be considered quite weak for the current category of this world.

"Well, silver bird, what do you think, do you want to change our terrain? After all, this place is too small to execute a big battle." Nader said.

And without waiting for the girl to respond, he waved his arm and space answered his call. With a strong spatial upheaval that surrounded both Nader and Noint, space folded, and their figures, previously floating in the air, disappeared from their positions.

Yue looked at the space where Nader and Noint had disappeared into moments ago. Her small body shuddered as her gaze trembled; in the depths of her eyes, there was a glimpse of fear, fear that Nader would abandon her.

However, she shook her little head and sighed deeply as she threw the insecurities of her heart out the window. She now had a much greater mental defense than before, but still, she had that little insecurity that still lingered in her consciousness due to her past traumas.

While it was true that she was unwilling to separate from Nader by even a few feet to the point that she had become extremely clingy, there was a situation that required her immediate attention.

Her crimson eyes glowed slightly as she turned her stoic face in the direction of Shizuku, who was staring in surprise at the place where Nader had disappeared.

As for the others, their expressions revealed surprise at what had just happened as they sighed in relief at Nader's disappearance. Their trembling bodies were drenched in a cold sweat.

Paying no attention to anyone but Shizuku, Yue started walking towards her with a sweaty and shivering Yuki on her head. It was as if she had already predicted what was going to happen.

Yue saw a person start running towards Shizuku as she looked at Yue, and she could even catch Rey's gaze on her before she started muttering under her breath to the Emperor. However, she didn't care in the least.

Her attention was on Shizuku, however, there was always someone sticking their nose where it didn't belong...

"Excuse me, miss, may we know your name?" Kouki asked with a bright smile plastered on his face as he arrived near Shizuku.

However, Yue completely ignored him without even giving him a glance, which made him feel a bit uncomfortable.

But still, he kept his smile as he said, "Is it you and that guy, acquaintances? Or has he also forced you against your will to follow him? If so, you can trust me and stay on our side. Sure to protect you!"

Yue's footsteps stopped and, for the first time, she looked at Kouki. Her gaze contained no hint of expression within it. Her mood soured completely, to say the least.

"What did you say...?" Yue's voice contained a slight tinge of anger.

But considering how dense Kouki could be; someone who only saw things in his way, ignoring the very fact that was often presented in front of his eyes, normally, the true meaning behind Yue's words was treated like the wind blowing out the window.

"I said you could come with us. It's much better for you if you stay away from that scum who killed over 200 men without a second thought. Besides, who knows how many girls he's raped so far-."

Unable to bear the words coming out of her childhood friend's mouth any longer, Shizuku sighed wearily and interrupted him.

"Stop it, Kouki. You don't know anything about Nader's situation, so you can't accuse him of what he's done. But knowing you, even if you did know, you'd probably ignore it as usual."

Shizuku was quite tired and stressed lately since her friend Kaori had disappeared from her side. How could she not be? Kaori was someone extremely important in her life, but now, who knows what hardships her dear friend was going through.

All in all, she no longer had the same patience in dealing with Kouki as before.

"W-what!? Shizuku, do you agree with that gu-?"

Even before Kouki could finish his words of disbelief, he disappeared from his place. Or rather, a torrent of windswept Kouki backward as he screamed. He flew for a few seconds through the air before falling heavily to the ground in front of his companions.

"Hypocrite..." muttered Yue and lowered her hand, surrounded by the wind.

Naturally, Yue had attacked Kouki with her wind element magic. She couldn't bear such slander directed at her beloved Nader. If it weren't for Shizuku, who seemed to know Kouki well enough to call each other friends, Yue hadn't done anything else, otherwise, she would have made his life miserable.

Not wanting to drag things out any longer than necessary, Yue unleashed her aura and made everyone present, whether weak or strong, stiffen in their respective positions. Obviously, this did not apply to Shizuku, as she had no malicious intent towards her, and had even spoken in Nader's favor; though little, it was enough.

Panicking, Shizuku quickly turned her face to look at Kouki's condition. Although Kouki deserved someone to show him his place long ago, she was still his childhood friend, so she simply couldn't let him die.

Aware of Shizuku's concern, Yue spoke in a neutral tone, "He's not dead..."

With a sigh of relief, Shizuku looked at Yue again. From the way Yue had looked at her, she concluded that Yue wanted to talk to her. Although she didn't know why because this was the first time they had met.

However, she couldn't stop her concentration from drifting to the bunny that beautifully decorated Yue's head. Yuki felt the same predatory gaze on her and simply squealed as she snuggled more on Yue's head.

When Shizuku turned her gaze back to those crimson eyes, Yue was already in front of her, her eyes locked on hers.

"..."

"..."

Without a word, Yue raised her small hand and, to Shizuku's surprise, her hand pierced the barrier covering her without any difficulty. There was not even a hint of force exerted on Yue's hand, simply the barrier broke through for her.

This was because Yue was wearing a necklace made of the same material as Shizuku's, and even Yuki's; moreover, the necklaces were made of the same existence, so they did not repel each other.

Obviously, this would be a different case if Yue had expelled malicious intentions towards Shizuku.

Before Shizuku could react properly, Yue had already grabbed the beautiful pink necklace hanging around Shizuku's neck from her hand.

Shizuku knew that Yue had no ill intentions towards her, so she merely looked curiously at the little girl accompanying Nader. Several seconds of awkward silence passed before Yue looked up.

"Mmm..." Yue nodded as she let go of Shizuku's necklace before declaring, "Shizuku... I accept your challenge."

"Huh...?" A large question mark appeared above Shizuku's bowed head.

She was at a loss at Yue's words, had she accepted his challenge? What challenge? She didn't know. Despite working her brain twice as hard as normal, she could not come to an immediate conclusion.

However, seeing that Yue had a necklace of the same model but with a different color, it wasn't that hard to come to a conclusion based on what Yue had done; Yue had taken the necklace that Nader had given her and since Yue was with him, Shizuku guessed that he had misunderstood something.

"Is this somehow related to Nader?".

"Mmm..." Yue merely nodded with her stoic face.

"Sorry. But Nader and I don't have a relationship in that sense, so there's no need for you to worry."

Shizuku believed that Yue was jealous, something no one could deny. It could even be said that Yue was extremely jealous because Nader, her love, had given a woman an earring similar to hers, with the only difference being its qualities. However, even though she was jealous, she wanted to compete with Shizuku for Nader's affection, for she knew she would not lose to anyone.

Yue's existence was etched deeply into Nader's heart and soul, so no one could move her from her position, no matter how much she wished and tried.

"Don't you love him...?"

When Yue's sudden question reached Shizuku's brain, Shizuku automatically thought of Nader as she had seen him in her dreams, that is; a knight in shining armor who had rescued her from the danger that threatened her. At that moment, she couldn't help but imagine herself wrapped in Nader's arms as a beautiful princess. However, she soon shook those thoughts out of her head and looked at her rough hands full of marks; proof of her hard training with the sword.

"Love him? No. That's impossible." However, her slightly flushed cheeks gave her away.

*Rumble* *Rumble*

Before Yue could continue talking to Shizuku; the ground, air, and even space began to tremble fiercely, causing everyone to lose control over themselves and fall to the ground, again.

And this time, even Yue, who was the strongest in this place, moved slightly from her position.

"Kyuu!" Yuki jumped as she stood up from Yue's head, preparing to fight.

Yue looked to a distant place, where she sensed Nader's presence. Her eyes held a slight concern.

"Nader..."