Book 3: Chapter 4 (4/8)

This time, instead of answering Krugas, Kain flew toward him and furiously attacked using his fiery battle-ax. Krugas shook the [Carnage Inferno] off his body then used his lightning sword to block Kain’s battle-ax while creating another lightning sword on his left hand. Kain knew Krugas was aiming for his right waist, but he decided to let him succeed and continued swinging his battle-ax again using full force. As the lightning sword on Krugas’s left hand struck Kain’s right waist, Kain’s battle-ax also forced through Krugas’s lightning sword on the right hand and successfully chopped Krugas into two pieces.

“Hmm… This was too easy. Something isn’t right.” Kain thought.

Kain then touched his right waist and thought to himself, “I see blood, but there was no pain. Ah... I must have fallen for the [Blissful Mirage] spell.”

Kain closed his eyes, cleared his mind, opened it again, and saw Krugas lightning sword was swinging on his neck. Kain quickly used his Devil Wings to block it as he jumped back fifty feet then started observing his surroundings.

“There she is. That one must be a Devil Mage.” Kain thought to himself as he saw a female Devil wearing a magical robe instead of armor like other Devil Warriors. Devil Battlemages won’t wear magical robes as they preferred wearing armor for physical battles since casting magic spells isn’t their main fighting style.

Krugas said, “Not bad. You got out of the [Blissful Mirage] spell sooner than I expected. Just one more second and I would have beheaded you.”

Kain said, “Getting out of the [Blissful Mirage] spell that early isn’t anything special as I am neither injured nor lowered my guard. If our fight drags on for several hours, your plan could have success as my guard could have been lowered by that time.”

“You aren't as stupid as you look. No wonder why you can defeat Evienne. Alright, halt!”

Kain didn’t know what Krugas meant by saying halt. Kain looked around and saw the two Devil Warriors that were fighting stopped as one of them slowly flew toward Kain. The one flying toward Kain was the Devil Warrior who shook his head repeatedly when Krugas announced that he was Evienne’s father. Even so, Kain didn’t lower his guard down as he got into a fighting stance to prepare for a fight with him.

The male Devil said, “Kain Bersk, my name is Argvel Lucifuge. Evienne Lucifuge is my sister.”

Continued having his guard up, Kain asked, “What about the guy who called himself Krugas? Is he Evienne’s father?”

“Yes.”

“Then why did he attack me? Why did you shake your head earlier trying to warn me not to trust Krugas?”

“I didn’t want you to lower your guard down knowing how my father is. He wanted to kill Evienne because she brought shame to our family. I was protecting Evienne by challenging my older brother to a duel. If I win, my father will withdraw for today. But if I lose, I will have to join them in killing Evienne. That was when you came and saw us fighting.”

“How did Evienne bring shame to the family?”

“It was because she lost to you in a duel and became your Soul-Bound Creature. Our father wouldn’t agree for such a dishonored thing like that to happen. Evienne was supposed to win the arena in the Timeless Dungeon like she has always been and continues to bring the precious rewards from the Watchers back to the Lucifuge Family. Not only did she lose to you but also lose the ability to ever compete again in another arena of any Timeless Dungeon. Even worse, she became your Soul-Bound Creature which was considered a great shame for the Lucifuge Family.”

“Hmm… I tried to conjure her earlier using [Soul Bridge] but received no response. That was why I came here to check to make sure she is okay. Do you know why the portal connected to our permanent abyss link didn't open when I activated the [Soul Bridge] spell?”

“Our mother is a Devil Mage. She sealed the castle using a magic barrier to dispel all types of entry including portals."

"I see, your mother locked Evienne inside and prevented her from coming out."

"Yes. But at the same time, our father couldn’t go inside either. It has been like that for two weeks now.”

Kain thought to himself, “I didn’t know becoming my Soul-Bound Creature had created too many problems for Evienne like that. I was taking her for granted and didn't care about her feelings. I am such a bad companion.”

Kain asked, “The female Devil Mage casted [Blissful Mirage] spell on me earlier, was that your mother?”

“Yes.”

"The mother that sealed Evienne inside this castle?"

"Yes."

“Why was she trying to get me killed?”

“As long as you are dead, then the permanent abyss link that chained between you and Evienne will be broken. That is the only way to save Evienne from our father’s angry wrath.” Finished saying that, Argvel thrust his spear directly into Kain’s throat, hoping to kill him at a close range. Kain vanished because it was his [Shadow Clone] that was killed by Argvel.

The real Kain appeared ten feet away and said, “It’s never wrong to have my guard up at all times. The moment I saw you still holding your Lightning Spear, I knew you would be using that against me. Were you serious about Evienne being locked inside that castle?”

Argvel got upset that Kain could look through his ambush, but he calmly said, “I didn’t lie. Everything I have told you is true. You needed to die, Kain Bersk. That is the only way I can save my beloved sister.”

“Hmm... I understand now. Earlier, you pretended to betray your father by shaking your head repeatedly so I put my guard up against Krugas while trusting you more. After that, you hoped to earn enough of my trust by explaining that you were fighting to save Evienne. You have thought that I lowered my guard against you, that was why you attempted to kill me knowing it's very hard for me to survive such a powerful attack in such close range. Sensed my present in the Devils' planet, all of you have been putting on a show to deceit me, am I correct?"

"We don't have to explain anything. Kain Bersk, today will be the last day you can be alive."

"Do you know how many times I heard something like that? The bad thing is... I am still alive. How about this? Why don’t all of you come to attack me at the same time huh? Let me show you how powerful I am and why Evienne didn’t bring shame to the Lucifuge Family by becoming my Soul-Bound Creature.”