Chapter 19: The Domino Effect Starts Now

It was the first time in a long while she'd been so gravely injured. Healing up was also a pain.

Some might've thought they were on even terms.

However, Clara knew better than to believe the samurai didn't get injured to push her to the brink.

She knew his demeanour was merely a bluff.

Her sword had cut tendons and caused a puddle of blood form on the floor. His wound was festering.

If he didn't get treatment, then he'd definitely die.

She wanted to see if he'd continue to bluff or try to escape, but her expectations had been ruined.

Rather, who'd expected him to be so aggressive?

Not only did he not submit to her, but he even went as far as to stop the bleeding with crazy methods.

A flame burnt from his hand that traced the line where she slashed him, then 'stitched' it together.

Shane was one scary individual…

To think he'd personally cauterise his wound!

Didn't that hurt a lot? And yet, he didn't give her an opening to attack. He was ready to fight any time.

A hand always on his Black Steel Rifle Sheath.

Regardless, the villainous woman noticed that his powers were unlike what she'd seen in her life.

It made her interested…

On top of that, the slick samurai seemed to be angered by the way she ignored her dead 'father'.

A wicked smile formed on her beautiful face.

"What~? You're looking at me so intensely… Do you like what you see?" She twirled her hip seductively.

An action that threw her opponent off-guard. The mask only helping him hide his apparent confusion.

Though his feelings didn't escape her notice.

She looked at Duke Bryan's corpse. How his eyes were still wide open, as if he had a lot to live for.

Her body leaned over to the upper half of her father's corpse, grabbing his face and lifting it up.

She faced it towards him while moving its jaw..

…then started to ingloriously mimic his voice:

"Oh no~ I died before even seeing my daughter's wedding~!!! If only I was more competent of a Wizard, then maybe a certain beauty would have at least TRIED to save my pathetic excuse of a life~!"

It wasn't like her taunts were working on him, he was just averse to acting without thinking first.

Rather than fight immediately, he decided to stall to heal after seeing she wasn't calling anybody.

In fact, they seemed to be the only ones awake.

There was a small chance there'd be one or two servants left walking around, but it was alright.

He wasn't planning on waiting for long.

"You're a crazy bitch."

"Takes one to know one." She said while pointing at the two corpses he'd been ignoring all this time.

This made him glare at her while releasing flames.

The thing she noticed about that 'fire' was that the Attribute he was using had deviated from the norm.

Rather than manifesting into an ethereal bundle of embers, rose petals of fire surrounded his body,

It was something that made her prepare for combat… Only to see him back down immediately.

He suppressed his hostility and continued:

"But he was your father… so why didn't you-"

"Save his PATHETIC life?" She empathises on the latter part of her words while dropping the corpse.

Her eyes had no interest for her biological father.

Instead, she curiously spoke with a certain tone:

"I would've… if a certain someone didn't somehow break his limits and create a powerful attack that ripped through all defences. I wonder… how did you manage to do that?" Her face came closer.

The moment her breath hit his face, he resisted the strong urge to submit that seeped into his bones.

Though she wasn't surprised by this…

If he was strong enough to cauterise his wound on the spot, then he could definitely resist her 'power'.

Still, she didn't give up on getting him to her side.

Yes… This would make up for her mistake in letting her target get away. He was worth her attention.

"What does it matter?" Although he didn't want to talk to her, doing so lengthened his time to recover.

He was also sure she'd attack if he stayed silent...

She made sure her attitude was coercively heavy.

"Don't brush it off~ It's an interesting ability." It was only for a moment, but she felt a familiar energy.

However, it vanished too quick for her to be sure.

"Then how about you tell me how many Spell Slots you have left?" He didn't fear this would set her off.

The slick samurai wasn't afraid of death.

She found this trait to be the most charming part of his personality. His 'feistiness' only made her red.

The girl embarrassedly fiddled with her hands before closing in. Seeing right through his scheme.

"You know, the moon looks beautiful tonight." She pretended there was a window to look out of.

In fact, there was one a little down the corridor behind him. Though that only made it weirder…

How would she know if it was beautiful or not?

"Since it's past midnight, are you worried it would take a full day before my Spell Slots regenerate?"

"…" Shane didn't answer her, but his deeper frown lead her to figure out her guess had hit the mark.

"Don't worry~" She came closer and whispered into his ear: "Midnight has no meaning to me."

These words caused his matchlessly courageous figure to falter. She knew exactly what he realised.

And to prove it, Mana radiated out of her body.

Even though she uses up a Spell Slot earlier to heal her wounds, her strength hadn't diminished at all.

On top of that, her fearless way of approaching made him understand she figured out his ability.

The only thing lacking was an explanation.

Since it had came to this, she was sure Shane would cough out the details of the Innate Gift.

And that's exactly what he had done:

"It's called a 'Semblance'."

"I've never heard of that category. I've heard of Late Bloomers and the like, but nothing like this."

"I'm pretty sure it's because their lack of clear uselessness gave them the name of 'Inept Gifts'."

"…Really?" She seemed hesitant to believe his words, but he still continued to buy more time:

"My Semblance is 'Night Inside'. It's a manifestation of my feelings and personality given form inside of me. Which then extends to my technique 'Major Moon Slicing Draw'. Now change the subject."

Seeing how he adamantly refused to say any more made Clara disappointed, that wasn't much to hear. However, there were other things that could make her curious… like the power he'd cut her with.

The initial slash that almost killed her.

"Did you come from a Cultivation Realm?" She spoke while wrapping her arms around his chest.

The pressure her hug put on his wound made him feel immense pain. Her embrace curving his back.

Her way of 'seducing' him was like an ignorant wannabe playboy's idea of what seduction was.

She showed a clear disregard for anything about his thoughts or feelings. He was just a trophy.

One that she would bring to her own master…

"Get off…!" A black electrical charge separated them. It was like a taser that covered his body.

"This is what I mean. You're control of Mana is too high to merely come from a mere Mortal Realm."

"I don't understand at all… Oh for fucks sake!" He dodged when she manifested her Spirit Essence.

The situation suddenly turned dangerous when he'd rejected her advances, but she didn't use her full strength. Instead, she merely exchanged blows with him without the use of Reinforcement Magic.

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Her slashes light as feathers, but lethal as knives…

She pushed her unsheathed long sword onto his Red Steel blade, her eyes seemed mildly annoyed.

"That hurt~ You really did learn that trick from a Cultivation Realm, didn't you? I knew it was like that!" She spoke with certainty. The golden blade in her hands weighing down on Shane's arms.

"I have no clue what your saying, you fuck!"

"Swearing is emotional abuse!" She whined while sheathing her blade into a similar stance to his.

Shane rolled out of the way of a blade unsheathing quick draw. He finally snapped after seeing that.

He couldn't believe he dodged a cheap imitation!

"Die in a ditch…!" He was already recovered enough to move around, but not enough to use his trump card again. Not even the dreadful 'Major Moon Slicing Draw' could be used right now.

The damage was too extensive…

However, he had his ways of fighting back.

This time, rather than exploding energy from within for a short duration to increase potency, he used Reinforcement Magic the common way first. The skill they called 'Darkening' was applied on him.

The power of dark energy seeped into his marrows from his skin, all the way until it reached his heart.

Then… it started to 'ripple' again internally.

This was his signature technique. A variant of Internal Reinforcement called 'Heartbeat Frenzy'!

His body started to move as she droned on:

"If your from a Cultivation Realm, what's with that poorly made sword? Did you have no money to get Array Inscriptions on it?" Only she knew these words weren't intended to be heard as a taunt.

Multiple sword waves of energy were slashed out in his direction. Her intentions only to 'play around'.

However, it was thanks to that she got to see something interesting. His skills were on display.

She wasn't sure why he had 'technology' in his primary weapon rather than Spell Circles or Array Inscriptions, but the way he used Reinforcement Magic almost seemed like a beautiful art form.

Like a masterpiece being put on display…

Every time he unsheathed his blade, an arranged number of slashes would follow after each time.

The way they randomly switched each quick draw added an unpredictable element that allowed him to draw closer. She could tell that he'd given up on using power, and wanted to win using proficiency.

However, he'd regret underestimating her technical prowess and deep foundation as a swordswoman.

Their swords collided once again.

This time, Clara seemed to at ease that she yawned with one hand and fought with the other. 

Even going as far as to monologue:

"You know… My master always told me to look out for people like you. Cultivators are like deviants."

"They choose a reason to exist, create blades that mimic Spirit Essences, and fight to get to the top."

"Betrayal and scheming being their daily routines."

"All Classless duds are like that. They think they're something just because they can use some Mana."

"Let me show you the difference between us." Her demeanour changed while focusing on him entirely.

The five Spell Slots radiating from her body were equivalent to E Rank Qi Centres or above in power.

Compared to her opponent, this was a five times difference that couldn't be overcome with tricks.

Not only did that put him at a disadvantage, but the nature of 'Spells' was like detonating Qi Centres.

This alone put him at a serious disadvantage. Much less the fact that she'd achieved that fabled level.

The one where Spell Slots kept regenerating…

It was only at this time that he spoke to her without any prompting. This causing her to listen close:

"My master also taught me something…" As if giving up, Shane stood there lazily without form.

He was close enough to slash her, but the lack of positioning himself made it clear he wouldn't strike.

After all, attacking without clearly putting your body in the right position to strike was inefficient.

If he did try anything, she'd catch on first.

Shane continued while secretly putting his hand on the trigger of his Rifle Sheath, all with a toothy grin:

"…He said the strong ones talk too much."

The moment he said that, the trigger was pulled.

An explosive burst propelled the handle of his blade into her chin, making her wince in pain.

Just as the blade was falling, he grabbed it from mid air and twisted it along her sword to disarm both of them. The aggressive parry left room for him to use three of his last signature techniques.

The first was simple hood stomp to the shin.

An action that caused her so much pain…!

Too much, in fact. She couldn't control her actions when the other two attacks were inflicted upon her. 

Clara felt a internal damaging technique drop down on her neck like a hammer, then a fist struck deep.

It impaled into her stomach like a spear…

These two moves decided the battle's results.

The woman looked down on the unconscious body of her opponent straight after. It was a hard fight…

However, that was only because of carelessness.

When the 'Guard Opening Hammer Drop' and 'Extreme Inch Spear Thrust' slammed into her, she accidentally retaliated by purposefully cutting him down on the exact wound she had done before.

Her knifehand strike turned into a blade that immediately cut open the wound he got earlier.

She had no choice but to acknowledge him.

This wasn't someone she needed to offer to her master… No, it was better to turn him into 'family'.

An evil energy different from the one that brainwashed Jake Arcadia started to radiate.

She reached towards the unconscious figure's head… Close to creating an unbreakable 'link'.

It was only then that a gunshot resounded.

It came from a blindspot behind her, but the passive barrier around her was enough to block it.

The bullet bounced off and hit a nearby wall.

When she turned around, her eyes were confused to see a familiar face coming out of a certain room.

The same one she and the Duke were in earlier.

"Assistant Researcher Judetta Darby, what are you doing?" She asked the woman who had appeared.

An annoyed look appeared on her face when she realised she had been stopped by a true 'dud'.

A woman with no magical signature whatsoever.

The researcher in a pure white lab coat dropped her firearm and made a face that said: {Ooopsie~}

She put her tongue on her cheek and spoke:

"I'm thinking of retirement now. See ya!"

Clara thought she hearing a funny joke. How was this woman planning to 'retire', by dying right here?

It was only then she noticed that earlier gunshot was meant to distract her from a thrown grenade.

It was a typical firearm without any magic infused.

However, the strength of it warranted her to defend herself. The explosion alerting all in the mansion.

She waved her hand to brush away the smoke and ashes that disrupted her vision straight afterwards.

Then noticed that the duo had vanished…

She wasn't sure how a mere dud was fast enough to escape her, but she chose to deal with another headache first. Although the Arcadia Household was brainwashed, it didn't take away rationality.

Clara would have to deal with the after effects of this incident first. Finding them would come later.

And she wouldn't let them go when that happened.

It was only later did she realise this night had set in motion a decisively important domino of events…

…and that they would end up leading to her doom.

The first event giving a push that all that would come later being how her 'little sister' escaped.

Along with the disappearance of Duke Bryan's second wife, who had all of his research notes.

And the lonely widowed duchess who was left…

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