Sword of Salvation-Chapter 78: - Deceit and Sweet Lie

CELINEE glared sharply at Lergen, who stood below, laughing disgustingly while looking up. Her two black angelic wings spread wide on her back. Her amber eyes—now turned blue, matching the color of the single horn on her forehead—locked onto the doctor’s green irises.

Celinee had thought she would die. If she were to survive, it would be because Mariel saved her. But reality turned out differently. She did not die. Nor was it Mariel who saved her. It was Envy King Leviathan who kept her alive. That creature had decided she was finally worthy of using its power.

Celinee had never felt as strong and astonishing as she did now. Being in spirit unification mode made her feel invincible. She was indeed in a demonic form as well, but she was sure she would still feel undefeatable even if she suppressed all her demonic power.

Just as the doctor’s laughter subsided, Celinee flapped her wings and dove sharply. Water bullets shot from her mouth, but they failed to reach the doctor. The bullets she fired instantly dissolved before touching Lergen and were absorbed into his body.

Celinee did not care. With both hands elongated and transformed into double-edged black swords, she attacked the doctor at a speed far surpassing anything she had ever achieved.

Lergen was far from panicked. He calmly leaped backward to dodge the ninja’s strike. Celinee did not let him escape. She flapped her wings, accelerating toward the doctor. Lergen extended his right hand and unleashed hundreds of water bullets—something the ninja had not anticipated.

However, even in an unavoidable situation, the ninja did not panic.

Celinee immediately projected a time frame to the moment before Lergen created the hundreds of water bullets. At the same time, she slowed down time around her. Lergen, the animals, the air—everything was affected by the time deceleration. Only Celinee remained unaffected.

In her normal mode, she could only project time frames. But in unification mode, she could slow down or speed up time on both small and large scales.

Lergen was somewhere between surprised and unsurprised. Yet, even though he could quickly control himself, there was nothing he could do to escape the effects of time deceleration. With his reaction speed and motor functions reduced a hundredfold, the doctor was powerless against Celinee’s speed.

As a result, after countless attempts, the ninja finally succeeded in piercing the doctor’s heart. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

Celinee slashed Lergen’s neck with her other hand. Only then did she lift the time deceleration effect. Her left leg then kicked the doctor’s body, sending it flying against a tree trunk, while her right foot stomped on the head that had just fallen to the ground.

Celinee had never felt this exhausted after a battle, but she had also never felt this satisfied. Using unification mode drained more prana and stamina—especially since it was her first time using it. But that did not matter. She exited unification mode and kicked Lergen’s head hard.

"Kukuku. How cruel...."

Celinee’s eyes widened in disbelief. She abruptly turned her gaze back to the doctor’s body, which was now leaning against the tree. She had already severed Lergen’s head. She had just stomped on it and kicked it to her left. Yet, the doctor’s body had grown a new head.

Celinee instinctively glanced at the head she had kicked. But the darkness of the night had swallowed it. Even if she went there to look, she might never find it again, as it had likely disintegrated. Realizing this, her eyes snapped back to the doctor’s body—specifically to the hole her hand had created.

The hole was still there. Blood still seeped from it. However, she did not see a gaping heart. She did not see the most vital organ for demons and half-demons alike. Celinee did not understand how—

Her eyes widened again as her detection technique performed its job flawlessly.

"Kukuku." Lergen slowly stood up—the gaping hole in his chest rapidly regenerating. "It seems you understand now, Subject 811," he continued, tossing a pierced heart at the ninja’s feet. "I still have three more hearts. These three hearts activate automatically when my main heart is destroyed. Kukuku. You should have destroyed my entire body immediately."

Hearing that the three hearts only activated after the main heart was destroyed, Celinee understood why she had not sensed their presence before. This was a situation she had never imagined. As the doctor said, she should have obliterated his body instantly.

"But, well, your power is quite troublesome. Kukuku. If I let my guard down, I will truly die."

Celinee re-entered spirit unification mode and immediately flew toward the doctor. She could not afford to let the fight drag on.

-----[ ooOoo ]-----

Mariel gave a faint smile as he felt the immense power surge just now. He didn’t need to be a sensory ability user to know who that power belonged to. Mariel was one hundred percent sure it was Celinee—she had successfully entered unification mode. He had made the right decision by not immediately following Celinee.

Quickly discarding his smile, Mariel refocused his attention on the doctor’s trusted assistant.

"...Aside from what I just told you, I can’t think of anything else." Livera stopped explaining, a little hesitant. "But," she continued, "if Doctor Lergen does have a secret goal, maybe only Rhemea knows. That old woman is the only living person who shares blood ties with Lergen."

Rhemea... That name was no longer unfamiliar to Mariel. He had never seen her before, but Celinee had thoroughly explained everything about the second most important person she needed to eliminate.

"Are you satisfied?" Livera asked, her gaze filled with hatred. "If you kill me after I’ve revealed everything, I will kill you, even if it costs me my soul and body."

"How will you kill me when you’re already dead?" Mariel asked, bending down and placing his right hand under the woman’s chin. "And what if I tell Lergen that I obtained all this information from you?"

Livera slapped Mariel’s hand away. "My life is more important to Lergen than all this information," she retorted. "And don’t even think about taking me hostage. Doctor Lergen will give you a response you won’t expect. He may be annoying, and his laugh is disgusting, but he can also be terrifying."

"You trust Doctor Lergen so much. Do you like him? Are you two in a special relationship? Have you—"

"You idiot!" Livera shrieked, cutting Mariel off. "Doctor Lergen would rather have a demon’s heart than a naked woman’s body. Even if a woman spread her legs in front of him, he’d just raise an eyebrow and laugh."

"So, you do like him."

"I never said that!"

"But you didn’t deny it."

"That doesn’t mean you can just jump to conclusions."

Mariel shrugged and stood up straight. "I won’t kill you. But," he paused while conjuring two wind spears, "I need to injure you badly enough to knock you unconscious. This is just in case he isn’t as trustworthy as you think. You don’t mind, do you?"

Livera glared at Mariel with murderous intent but then sighed in resignation.

She knew she would already be dead if Mariel truly intended to kill her. She was also in no position to fight back or escape. So, whether she liked it or not, she had no choice but to nod in surrender.

"Why are you doing this?" Livera asked. "You don’t have to worry about Lergen killing me. Even if he gets mad, he’ll understand that I value my life more."

Mariel gave a faint smile. "Knowing that I caused the death of a woman as strong, beautiful, and captivating as you... That would haunt my thoughts."

"You’re disgusting."

"Thank you."

"That wasn’t a compliment!"

Mariel let out a small chuckle, but his expression quickly turned serious. "Close your eyes," he said. "This will hurt quite a bit."

Livera scoffed, but her eyelids betrayed her—she obeyed Mariel and closed her eyes.

Mariel wasted no time and immediately drove one of his wind spears into Livera’s body.

Livera’s eyes flew open in an instant. Her face was filled with utter shock. When her eyes fell on the spear’s point of impact, a deep sense of betrayal overtook her expression.

"You—"

Mariel didn’t let the woman speak. The other wind spear had already pierced straight through Livera’s forehead.

"You shouldn’t trust others so easily," Mariel murmured as he created a dimensional portal. "But don’t worry," he added, carrying Livera’s body into his personal dimension.

Mariel placed Livera’s body beside Lukhiel. He withdrew the two spears impaling the woman and let Livera slumber in the timeless space. She wouldn’t die. Mariel had only wounded the edge of her heart. So, Medea or any healing mage would be able to heal the woman.

Mariel then exited his dimension and returned to the cave.

"I’ve decided what role Doctor Lergen will play," Mariel muttered as he stepped forward to follow Celinee. "He won’t be anyone’s pawn. He’ll be a wild horse that stirs up the game. He’ll be the clown in the circus. And you, Livera, your role will begin when Lergen’s ends."

After hearing Livera’s story, Mariel had come to one conclusion about Lergen’s goal. And because of that, the doctor couldn’t be a piece on his board or on the other two game boards. He would kill him once his role was fulfilled. Livera would take Lergen’s place.

Of course, Mariel could have used Livera without waiting for Lergen’s role to end. However, Livera had truly become the doctor’s follower out of admiration. From their conversation earlier, Mariel could tell that Livera had no special attraction to Lerfen. However, that admiration was something naturally ingrained in the woman—it would be difficult to erase.

Mariel had no need for a pawn that could move against his will at any moment.