Sword of Salvation-Chapter 65: - Ethereal Heart (2)

As if provoked by Mariel’s assessment, the monster unleashed another destructive wave with its roar.

Mariel had no intention of finding out what would happen if he took the attack again. He immediately switched places with the monster, causing the monster to be hit by her own destructive roar.

The monster was flung dozens of meters, crashing into chunks of earth. She was dragged along the ground before finally the momentum died down.

The lack of light made it hard to see. Mariel didn’t know how severe the monster’s injuries were. However, with the regeneration ability every demon possessed, Mariel wasn’t concerned. As long as the princess didn’t revert to her human form, no significant injuries would remain.

Mariel jumped onto a tall chunk of earth, and just at that moment, he saw the monster hovering in the air. Without the tail and horns, her silhouette would have looked majestic. But the presence made her terrifying.

Mariel frowned as the creature remained still. The monster should have been roaring and growling before charging at him again. But it remained floating there, its large black butterfly wings flapping gently to keep it in the air.

"Is she starting to control herself from her demon instincts?"

No, that wasn’t it. If the princess was regaining control, she would have fled. But the opposite was happening. The demon floated calmly—too calmly.

Mariel’s eyes narrowed when he saw the monster’s horns and tail begin to shrink. Her hair also brightened in color. More than that, when her tail and horns vanished, the black butterfly wings transformed into a light brown, perfectly matching her long hair.

"What’s going on? How did she manage—ah, I see. You’re controlling her now, aren’t you, Levia?"

As if answering Mariel’s question, the princess shot forward with a single flap of wings.

The closer she got to Mariel, the clearer she became. Her expression was blank, her eyes staring emptily ahead. Blue lines resembling veins covered her face and body, confirming Mariel’s conclusion. In an instant, she was in front of him, her claws swinging sharply.

Mariel had initially intended to test the monster’s combat abilities. But now he changed his mind. There was no point in prolonging the fight. He even dispelled his wind armor and barrier. He would end this unnecessary battle now.

Just before the claws reached him, Mariel’s signature ability activated.

The claws instantly shrank, and at the same time, the demon and spirit powers of the princess disappeared. Her face showed surprise, not expecting the sudden turn of events. However, the shock lasted only a moment; her consciousness had fully faded.

Losing her strength and awareness caused the princess to fall, but Mariel caught her before she hit the ground.

"You’re still pretty lucky, huh?" Mariel gazed intently at the girl, who appeared to be 11 or 12 years old. "What would have happened if I hadn’t come to this land?"

The answer was clear enough. Depending on what Levia wanted, she could have made the princess her servant like Nea—or allowed her to continue rampaging until she could control herself. Neither possibility boded well for the princess.

"But I guess I’m pretty lucky too."

This event put King Maggio in great debt to Mariel. He had also secured an agreement that allowed him easy access to the palace. Oh, he could also offer to help the princess control her powers. Truly, the situation that had befallen King Maggio worked entirely in Mariel’s favor.

First, I have to make King Maggio abandon his kingdom’s neutrality and fully ally with Lasyana.

That wouldn’t be easy, Mariel understood. Abandoning a long-standing tradition would leave anyone uneasy. But that wasn’t a big problem. Mariel would make the king understand that neutrality wasn’t always good. Sometimes, for a greater cause, taking a side was necessary.

"I thought you’d do it more spectacularly."

Mariel immediately turned around after hearing the ninja’s voice. He wasn’t surprised by her presence. He hadn’t sensed Celinee because she had suppressed her aura. However, Mariel’s stillness wasn’t without reason; he had been waiting for her to approach him.

"My original plan was like that, but you noticed the strange occurrence, right?"

Celinee nodded. "It felt the same as when we were in that village. Primordial Demon Levia?" she asked.

Mariel nodded.

"But how is that possible?" 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

Mariel shrugged. "Levia may have many methods of using Levia Flower," he explained. "Planting the flower in the middle of the chest is just one of them. The flower was embedded in this girl’s body. I destroyed it, of course, but I don’t know if there are any side effects."

"Do you know what that demon wants?"

Mariel shook his head and jumped down from the chunk of earth. He landed right beside the ninja. Celinee immediately began to walk. Mariel’s steps naturally fell in line with hers as they headed southeast, where the Sterminatore members and mercenaries had gathered.

"I don’t know Levia’s objective," Mariel answered after a moment. "But her power isn’t effective on me. We’ll probably deal with her more in the future, but there’s nothing to worry. Anyway, can you track the flower?"

If Celinee could sense and track it, they could free the kingdom of the demon’s influence.

"That’s impossible. The flower is no different from a normal one. No matter how deeply I concentrate, I won’t sense it until it activates."

Not a surprising answer. Even though he asked, Mariel had already suspected that would be her response.

"What if you use that cheating power of yours on a massive scale?"

Mariel’s eyes instinctively flicked to the ninja after she made the suggestion.

Was the suggestion serious? Or was she asking just to make Mariel explain why he couldn’t do it?

Mariel’s signature ability had a time delay. The greater the distance from the target, the longer the interval. The number of targets also affected the delay. If Mariel nullified the power of ten people, he would need to wait 23 seconds before using the ability again. There was no way he’d let anyone figure that out.

"I won’t waste time on something that could be futile. That would only waste prana."

"Don’t want to... or can’t?"

"I’ll leave that answer to your imagination."

Celinee snorted but didn’t press further. Sterminatore members were already flocking toward them, along with several mercenaries.

Mariel could imagine what they were about to say. So, before any of them could speak, he spoke first.

"We must take the princess to the palace immediately," Mariel said as he created a dimensional portal. "You should head back to the city as well. There’s nothing else to worry about."

Without waiting for a reply, Mariel jumped into the portal. Celinee followed without hesitation. Someone tried to follow them into the portal, but he was too late – it had already closed.