For some reason, Noir felt that his opponent wasn’t giving it his all, just like he wasn’t. He didn’t know whether this was an attempt to mock him or simply a test of patience, so he decided to force him to reveal all his cards.
Although it might appear that Noir wasn’t paying much attention, in truth he had subconsciously taken in the faces of everyone present.
Among them, he noticed a few who looked at the ongoing fight with clear concern in their eyes.
It was easy for Noir to put two and two together and realize these people were very close to his opponent.
If he wanted to make this fight even more interesting... then he needed to do something to trigger him.
With a cruel smile on his face, he aimed his fingers at one of those closest to him and then—
An arc of black lightning burst from his fingertips, tearing through the atmosphere.
Nox’s eyes widened as time seemed to slow. He instinctively activated Divine Velocity and bolted toward the direction.
However, even with his ultimate skill, the dark lightning was several times faster.
Under Nox’s helpless gaze, the dark lightning struck its target.
The battlefield went silent—until a voice shattered it.
"Are you okay, dear?"
"No! Why did you do that?!" the voice cracked, tears streaming down their face. "It should have been me! Why did you... why did you—"
"I’m glad you’re okay..."
The one who had been struck was none other than Celine, the town healer.
She had been the closest person to Wendy, and when she saw the dark lightning bolt, her brain had completely shut down. Acting on instinct, she moved on autopilot and did the only thing that came to her mind in that moment.
The battlefield went dead silent. Everyone could only stare at Celine’s body as smoke rose from the wound across her chest.
"MOTHER!!" Wendy’s cry pierced through the chaos, her small frame trembling as she tried to hold the older woman. Blood soaked her hands immediately.
Nox’s eyes darkened, his jaw clenching. His fingers twitched around the hilt of Glacier’s End.
"You bastard," Wendy roared, glaring at Noir.
Noir only chuckled as if he derived pleasure from her misery, the corners of his lips curling unnaturally.
"And that is exactly why I chose her. Tell me, Nox... how long will you keep playing calm when those around you are broken like twigs?"
Ignoring Noir’s words, Wendy shouted desperately while gripping her mother tighter as she noticed her breathing growing shallow. "Help! Someone do something!"
"Healers!" Aina quickly shouted, and several healers who were formerly members of the Vermilion Kingdom rushed over, all activating their respective skills.
However, there was no improvement.
Nox’s mind was spinning as he thought of ways to save Celine. He couldn’t afford to let her die—she was someone who had a very special place in his heart.
Right then, he thought of someone.
Lumi was inside the taming space along with Yuki. They were the only dragons who hadn’t participated in the war because of their age.
From the blue portal, Lumi stepped out, looking around with a confused expression.
"Heal her! Do your thing," Nox quickly ordered.
From behind, Noir laughed. "That is useless. You’re simply wasting your time."
But Nox ignored him, urging Lumi to use her skill.
Lumi nodded and placed a palm on the wound. A radiant light instantly bloomed from her hand. The glow spread across Celin’s chest, pushing against the black lightning that continued to sizzle faintly in the wound.
Her expression was extremely serious, and sweat glistened on her forehead.
Wendy bit her lip so hard that blood trickled down her chin. Her hands gripped her mother’s robes tightly, knuckles turning white. "Please... please don’t leave me!"
The battlefield once again fell silent, every soldier and demon watching as the young dragon’s healing light spread further and further across Celin’s body.
For a moment, nothing happened. Then—
Celine’s body jerked violently as blood spilled from her mouth. The light from Lumi’s hand flickered once, then grew brighter, fighting against the black energy.
"She’s resisting..." one of the healers muttered in shock. "This light... it’s ineffective against the dark lightning!"
Nox exhaled slowly, but his grip on Glacier’s End never loosened. His eyes flickered back toward Noir.
Noir’s grin had not faded. In fact, it looked wider than ever. "Interesting... so you had another trick hidden. That dragon of yours... its light is not ordinary. However, my dark lightning is not ordinary either. She will be dead in the next 60 seconds."
Nox’s eyes narrowed. He didn’t answer, his focus split between Lumi’s efforts and the crimson-haired devil standing across the ruins.
Just as Noir predicted, sixty seconds later Celine stopped breathing, and Lumi stood up with her head held low.
No words needed to be spoken. They could all tell that the kind town healer who loved all the children as if they were her own was no more.
Nathan, Elvin, Gordon, and Han watched the scene, refusing to believe their eyes. Celine was their childhood friend, and they had all grown up together.
Together, they had built the Cromwell Barony from scratch into what it was today.
Aina held her chest, and a single teardrop slid down Nyx’s otherwise emotionless face.
Wendy’s expression was blank. She sat there staring at the corpse with a mad grin spreading across her face.
Nox clenched his fists, his nails digging into his skin as blood dripped to the ground. He looked at Noir with a murderous glare.
"Don’t misunderstand," Noir said with a lazy shrug. "I didn’t kill her because I couldn’t. I killed her because I wanted to."
"Stop talking," Nox said flatly. His eyes glowed faintly.
"Limit Breaker... Activated!"
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