31 Lilith

Whosh!

A faint glow was emerging from the crystal that the demon was wearing and Lucas was glad she wore it because if she didn't Lucas would be like a blind man who was trying to strike with luck. For a moment, he felt like he wanted to thank the demon for not having an ability to see in the dark.

Lucas swung his sword at the hand of the demon which held Carl's neck with all his strength which he was given a mocking laugh from the said demon telling him what kind of prank was he trying to play at.

"LET CARL GO! YOU DEMON!"

The female demon looked at Lucas, amused as he seemed like a powerless kid throwing a tantrum because his friend got injured.

"Heh~ What do you think you can do, you prick?" She playfully said as her grin became wider and wider, thinking how miserable the situation for that brat was. And she loved looking at the miserable struggle of the humans.

Lucas didn't pay attention to what the demon said and he had no thought of inflicting a wound on the demon. He knew that he definitely couldn't no matter how he tried. What he mainly focused on, in the current time, was to heal unconscious Carl to have his full strength in the smallest of time. It was his only hope and he needed time to do that.

'I have around 6 seconds.... At most 10...' Lucas calculated. It was all the time he could safely get from the demon. He didn't know when the demon would stop being amused by his state and decided to kill Carl.

'Lucian! You better give me more mana this time or I will be an accomplice of Ryosuke in destroying the world.'

Lucas didn't know whether threatening Lucian would work in this situation but he needed to try all the ways he could think. At once, he conveyed his healing mana on Carl in one go, wishing anxiously that it was enough for Carl's injuries. He didn't know whether it was because of using a lot of magic at once or not but he felt like his heart beat so fast as if it was going to get a heart attack, feeling difficult to breathe in.

"Ga--"

Suddenly, even before Lucas was able to adapt to his physical situations, he felt a kick on his abdomen which sent him backward flying and made him roll pretty much on the rocky floor. He had an urge to scream out as he felt an immense pain from the impact.

'F*ck.... that hurts!'

Lucas tried to stand up again but only to fall back kneeling on the ground. It seemed that his body, filled with scratches and some minor injuries but there was still a throbbing pain where he was kicked. Lucas kept the urge to heal on himself as he didn't know when he might need his magic later.

"Boy, I respect your courage but do you really think you can heal him at this time?" She playfully laughed which made Lucas irritated.

'Did it not succeed?' Lucas just stared at Carl, as he gathered his mana again to heal his knight from a distance.

But to his satisfaction, he could see that Carl had regained his consciousness, gripping his sword again as it slash through the demon's hand that was grabbing him. It was lucky that the demon wasn't expecting that which made Carl get a chance to free himself from the demon's grip and stepped back towards Lucas swiftly.

"Oh my,... you really did it boy." Although she was slashed in her hand, she laughed faintly again. "You are going to be a good experiment material..."

'Experiment? What experiment?' Lucas was dumbfounded by the demon's words, wanting to know what experiment the demons were starting at as the demons usually had no habit of doing such things.

"I am sorry for my carelessness, young master....."

Lucas looked up at Carl who was now standing in front of him. Although he seemed tired, Lucas was glad that Carl still had some strength to fight back. But Carl didn't look back at Lucas, giving his back only as he couldn't shift his gaze from the demon in case she attacked.

"And don't use your magic anymore. That's enough..." Carl continued as if he knew what Lucas was trying to do.

'Yea... I think I shouldn't do it, too...' Lucas was still feeling pain all over his body and now he was starting to get dizzy, keeping him to kneel still on the ground, not wanting to move. He missed his bed at the mansion, so badly that he would head straight to it after they finished this mess.

A whip of lightning emerged from the demon's hand, heading swiftly at Lucas which made his eyes widened but it didn't reach him, being defended by Carl's flame sword. The mixture of white and red sparked as they engaged in the battle and it made Lucas feel more nauseous looking at the sparkling colors. Lucas was happy to see Carl with full strength again but he still couldn't let down his anxiety for which the demon seemed like a high ranked one.

They parted again after a close strike towards each other, and stepped backward as if they were inspecting each other.

"You have my respect for being able to last this far."

"I don't need the respect of the demon."

'Teacher! Ryosuke! Tus! Eura! WHERE ARE YOU GUYS!!' Lucas started to want to cry. They didn't have that much chance to win at the rate if the reinforcement didn't come. 'They are like the police in the movies....' He remembered those movies where the police arrived only when everything was done and he hoped this would not turn out like that.

"Why are you taking this long?"

From the dark, there was another woman walking towards him and seeing this Lucas instantly deleted his hope to survive.

'Not two... but three!?' Lucas didn't know if fate really hated him.

Carl also stepped back towards Lucas with his face filled in despair, not knowing what to do anymore.

"I am sorry, my lady. It's just that this pair is so interesting. I will finish it immediately."

It was when Lucas also started to stand up and Carl started to think about running. But even if they run, would they be able to get free?

"Wait."

Lucas looked at the newcomer, not knowing why she told the other to wait. But he had to admit that he sighed in relief when she told her to do so. He saw that the reddish brown eyes of the demon was gazing at him as if she was inspecting him carefully. When Lucas looked at her hand, Lucas felt like he was going to vomit from nausea as he could see a bloody figure which she dragged along, pulling the hair.

'Is it the woman that shouted?' Lucas thought in agony. The figure which seemed like she was tortured, was not moving anymore which was why Lucas didn't know whether she was still alive or not.

"Let's go back, Mara." She slowly spoke.

Her words made everyone in the tunnel have widened eyes not understanding why she did that. Of course, Lucas was surprised but at the same time he was very happy, secretly wishing that the demon would not change her mind later.

"But why, my lady? That boy... he has...."

"It's not like the orb is working." She sighed, dropping the figure that she was dragging. The demon named Mara didn't seem to be satisfied with the answer but it also seemed that she didn't dare to protest the other as she slowly stepped away and stood behind what she called Lady.

'What does she mean by orb?' Lucas wondered whether it was related to the experiment that the demon named Mara said or not. But he didn't need to make the demon stay longer by asking her questions. All he wanted was for them to leave here as fast as they could.

"We will be meeting again, little lord." Her reddish brown eyes flickered as she spoke and it made Lucas feel terrified.

"You won't!" Carl scowled, his eyes seemed somehow scary unlike his original personality. But Lucas pulled the cloak of Carl, signaling him that it was not time to provoke them.

'She definitely knows me.' Lucas could tell just from looking at the demon's eye. 'But how.....?' He couldn't think of a situation where he met that demon. 'Was it when the demon attacked Evandall city?'

As soon as the demon said her words, she held Mara's hand and with her wavy red hair flattering, they disappeared into the thin air, stating that she could teleport.

Lucas fell down to his kneel again, thinking that it was all over. He didn't know the reason why the demon let him live and had no idea of what she meant by the orb. Lucas didn't have a good feeling about that but he had no idea to heavy his mind with these things currently. Both Carl and he were alive. And it was all he wanted.

"Young master! Are you ok!?" Carl became too worried as Lucas flopped down to the ground, sighing heavily while panting. When Carl looked closely as he lit up the flame again, he found that Lucas was filled with scratches and there was blood on his body here and there.

Guilt welled up in the mind of Carl. He was supposed to protect Lucas but he let him suffer. If Lucas didn't heal him in time, he might be in an unconscious state forever and if the demon didn't let them live, they might even die. They were at the mercy of a demon because of his own uselessness.

'I was powerless....' Carl hated his own state. He hated his own strength which was useless when meeting a high ranked demon.

"I am really sorry, Young master..." Carl looked like he was in despair. "I....."

"It's ok. I am fine. You are fine. All is good." Lucas slowly stated. There was still a throbbing pain from his inside. 'Why couldn't she be a little bit more merciful when it comes to a child?' He wanted to protest against the demon.

"Carl, let's check that lady." Lucas looked at the bloody figure which was lying not far from them. It seemed that she was the owner of the scream that they heard before.

It seemed that she was brutally tortured. 'Is it related to the orb and experiment they had said?' Lucas thought while looking at the lady while Carl lifted her up, making her lean her back against the rocky wall.

And both Carl and Lucas were surprised to see her pointy ears, describing the fact that she was an elf and they couldn't believe it when they found out that the lady was still breathing but just faintly which was not be that surprising to see if that breathing had stopped.

Lucas held her hand, focusing on the leftover mana that he had kept for Carl.

"Young master!" Carl immediately held back the small hand of Lucas but Lucas didn't let go.

"Why are you always doing that!? If you heal her fully in this situation, your mana wouldn't be able to last!" For the first time, Carl snapped against Lucas.

'I don't plan to heal her fully?' Lucas was dumbfounded. He only planned to heal her until she stabilized her situation and it was not that difficult.

'What should I do with this young master.....?' Carl even thought about force stopping Lucas by making him unconscious. But even before he did that he found that Lucas's little hand was pulled away by the elf.

"Stop.... I am ok, now."

A small voice came out from the elf's lips and he could see that the elf's eyes were opened again. Although she was not all fine, at least her situation was stabilized and she regained her consciousness.

"Thank you." She slowly said. "I will repay you somehow."

"No need to, miss! I am gla--"

Lucas couldn't say more as he felt a rusty taste of fluid coming up in his mouth.

Cough!

There was some blood on his hand which he covered his mouth before coughing. It was only then he realized about the immense pain he was feeling and the dizziness he was getting. He instantly remembered about his injuries that he didn't heal and decided that it was the time to heal himself.

'Hope that my mana lasts though....' Lucas cracked a smile somehow.

"Young master!" Carl supported Lucas who was a bit wobbly because of the pain and dizziness. As usual, seeing Lucas's situation, his mind was alarmed with worries and despair. Seeing that small smile which somehow seemed to be a relief when everyone was safe, Carl felt really hurt.

"I am going to sleep a bit, Carl...." Lucas informed, worried that Carl would go haywire when he suddenly collapsed. "Don't take me back to the mansion." He ordered. If they took him back to the mansion unconscious, Lucas seriously knew that the mansion was going to be haywire, too.

Lucas felt really really sleepy after he had told everything he wanted and he let his conscious mind drift away. He could see some light coming from afar. 'It must be Brother Ryo and others...' Lucas felt comfortable, somehow, thinking that they were just like police in the movies who only came when the cases were over.

And he slowly fell unconscious, hearing the voices desperately calling his name, becoming far and far away.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

"My lady, I don't understand why you left that boy... His magic is too strong so the orb might react." Mara still couldn't understand why her master did that.

"It doesn't mean that the orb will only react in strong magic." The said demon chuckled. "And I can always catch him when necessary."

Mara didn't get the exact answer she desired but she stopped herself from prying into further.

For which she knew what kinds of consequences would be coming if she made her lady, Lilith, to be annoyed.