1558: Pathetic

Pathetic

Lovira's expression darkened as she looked up. She had hoped that this could be dealt with without involving others, but it was quite clear that their movements would be monitored by anyone with a vested interest in winning. And, just as obviously, anyone who dared to so blatantly provoke them like this was yet another power that wouldn't lose out to the Endless Twilight Pavilion by much at all.1

The Star Force Pavilion.

The Star Force Pavilion was famous for only accepting disciples with rare Star affinities. It could be said that outside powers that could be considered subsidiaries of the Great Families like the Sacred Light Pavilion Stophiar had been a part of, the Endless Twilight Pavilion, the Star Force Pavilion, and the Eternal Dream Pavilion were the very strongest.

All three were Fiend Class powers only below that of the Great Families, but truthfully, it was a bit inaccurate to see them like this.

There was only one Chaos Class Bubble in the Human World which was protected jointly by the Four Great Families. This Bubble often received the support of these powerful Fiend Class powers as well and often the greatest geniuses of these Fiend Class powers would play a large role in defending said Bubble.

It could be said that the only reason these highest level Fiend Class powers weren't considered Chaos Class powers was that there wasn't enough opportunity to grow. At least that was what it seemed like on the surface, in reality, things were even more complicated than just this alone.

Regardless, the Eternal Dream Pavilion was one that was quite mysterious and didn't often take part in such affairs. They were the only power not to send a single individual here. That mostly left the Endless Twilight Pavilion and the Star Force Pavilion to butt heads and figure out how to divide these spoils alone, something that quite frankly left everyone else stuck.

The one who had spoken just now was the fourth ranked disciple of the Star Force Pavilion, Tybth. He was the equivalent of Lovira in almost every way, so it wasn't a surprise that he didn't care about offending her with his words.

"Lovira, don't be like that, is there a need to glare? I've already told you that if you keep this up, you'll end up with more wrinkles than you know what to do with soon enough. How about I give you a massage and help you to smoothen them out? I can help you smooth out a lot of things."

Tybth grinned wildly, his eyes scanning Lovira up and down. Despite the fact he was standing on top of a building at least a few hundred meters tall, to him, she might as well have been right in front of him.

Lovira's jaw set, the lightning around her continuing to dance and spark. They almost looked like fine cracks in space, ready to implode at any moment.

Suddenly, and completely without warning, Lovira's arm shot forward, her hand forming into a crackling blade that pierced right for Aina's heart.

Aina, however, didn't seem very surprised by this result at all. The more powerful her Life Force grew, the more sensitive she became to such things.

BANG!

The polearm of Aina's battle ax appeared between herself and Lovira, its blade slamming heavily into the ground. The timing was perfect and Lovira's middle finger slammed heavily into the ax.

A crackle of lightning surged forward, but Aina had already retreated, her expression cold.

Lovira's beautiful countenance twisted, seemingly not expecting her surprise attack to fail, but she had already followed up with another strike, her palms raining down like a torrential rain.

Aina's eyes narrowed, her body seemingly moving on its own. None of her strikes were telegraphed and she moved as freely as a leaf in the wind. The gentleness she had learned from wielding a silk cloth as her main weapon for so long seemed to have long since been ingrained into her very being.

SLAP!

Lovira's face swiveled to the side, hard. It looked for a moment as though her head might twist off her neck just from the force of the blow alone, one of her teeth even flying out from her mouth as her cheek quickly swelled only to just as quickly begin to heal.

Aina took a back, grabbing her ax.

"Your close combat skills are pathetic. If you want to teach me a lesson, I advise you to fight for real, or else I really won't mind killing you right here and now."

Aina's voice didn't seem to carry even the slightest emotion, but the bloodthirstiness wasn't to be underestimated. She had never been like Leonel. She never hesitated to kill and she would never blink an eye toward slaughter. Leonel only seemed capable of flipping on that switch when those he cared about were harmed, but she didn't even need this much. So long as someone stood in her way, she would rip out their intestines and strangle them with it if it was the only way to win.

And all the while, she wouldn't blink a single time.

Tybth clapped and laughed from above. He even took a seat, his two juniors laughing and sitting by his side. It seemed that they were having the time of their lives.

"… You slapped me?"

Lovira touched the cut on her lip that was already almost entirely closed, her expression as dark and murky as a swamp's waters.

Aina didn't respond. In truth, she would have preferred a solid punch to deal some real damage, but the gap in Lovira's defenses was too small and narrow. Since she didn't expect to win this battle in one blow anyway, she chose to humiliate and enrage her enemy instead.

When it came to close combat instincts, Aina didn't feel like there was anyone in this world that was her match.

Her grip on her ax's polearm tightened somewhat and she raised it into the air, pointing it straight at Lovira.

"Come."

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