Chapter 71

I overdid it with the adopted daughter role 071

"You should die here."

With a steady tread, Xenon appeared, a dagger in his right hand.

Jermi drew his sword.

"Mountain after mountain. I didn't think the butler would fall for an illusion."

"Yeah, me neither."

Viola swallowed hard.

She knew Xenon was strong, but she didn't expect him to exude such a presence.

It felt as if he filled the entire space.

'It's like the space has turned into sharp blades.'

Front, back, left, right.

She couldn't move in any direction.

It felt as if she would be cut by a sharp blade if she moved.

"My butler is quite capable, you know."

"I can tell without you saying it."

Jermi sprang out like a spring.

He swung his sword.

There was no mercy in his movement.

It seemed he was truly determined to kill Xenon.

"You haven't matured enough yet."

Swish.

Xenon deflected Jermi's sword to the side with a calm expression.

He used minimal force to change the trajectory.

It was a soft and calm movement, but Jermi almost lost his balance and fell.

'He's a few steps ahead of me.'

Even in this single exchange, Jermi realized the significant gap in skill between him and Xenon.

Then, Viola's voice rang out.

"Why did such a capable butler fall for an illusion?"

A strong warrior like him usually has a firm will and isn't easily swayed by external forces.

Unless there were special circumstances like mental weakness or alcoholism.

Viola continued.

"The only explanation is that he deliberately fell for it."

Viola's insides were burning, but she didn't show it.

To Jermi, Viola seemed very composed even in this situation.

"Did you deliberately fall for it to test me?"

Xenon wasn't looking at Viola.

He seemed to be looking at something beyond her, as if he was still in the illusion.

Xenon was smiling in a way that was completely different from his usual warm smile.

"I told you I would kill you."

"It seems you can't hear anything from the outside."

Viola bit her lip.

"A dog that bites its master must be disciplined with a whip."

Of course, Viola doesn't think that way.

She likes dogs.

How could she hit a dog?

But this is a fantasy world, and she is Bellato.

The appropriate speech and attitude were important.

"Pong Pong."

Viola's body turned blue.

Her body became a spirit gate, summoning a spirit from the spirit realm.

Whoosh!

A water spray rose.

As the water spray cleared, a blue-haired boy named Pong Pong appeared.

"What is that, that monster-like thing?"

"Water spout."

"Huh?"

"Snap out of it."

In an instant, Xenon's body disappeared.

He lowered his stance and lunged at Viola.

Viola saw it but couldn't react in time.

'You're too fast.'

She couldn't react to Xenon's movements.

But Pong Pong, Viola's guardian spirit, reacted.

Pong Pong's hand turned into water, enveloping Xenon's hand like a glove.

Xenon was startled and tried to retrieve his dagger, but his body wouldn't move.

"You're showing off your tricks."

Xenon summoned mana to break the water surrounding his hand.

The mana swirled.

It was like a blender. The water surrounding his hand shattered and scattered.

Meanwhile, Jermi unleashed a storm sword.

"Snap out of it!"

Jermi had already summoned Storm.

With the help of the spirit Storm, Jermi felt lighter and faster.

'Much lighter.'

Light and fast.

'I shouldn't rely too much on the spirit's help.'

It didn't feel like her own strength.

The sword felt lighter than usual, and her movements were much lighter.

The storm sword is a powerful and destructive technique, but it is heavy and slow, and consumes a lot of stamina.

"Haah!"

But the wind spirit negated all the drawbacks of the storm sword.

Thud!

Jermi's sword pierced Xenon's shoulder.

Xenon reacted quickly to minimize the injury, but it was still a significant wound.

"Interesting. I will remember you. You were quite a capable warrior."

Xenon's eyes turned red.

Viola gasped.

'That's...?'

Viola knew it well.

'Killing intent?'

Viola was also born with killing intent.

But it seemed Xenon was also born with it.

'This content wasn't described in the story?'

The killing intent grew stronger.

Xenon's aura completely changed.

"I will treat you as a true warrior."

*****

Viola had light wounds all over her body.

Xenon's dagger was sharp and precise.

Viola couldn't read his movements even once.

'I can't do anything.'

Viola just stood there, watching.

This was the best she could do.

She couldn't tell which direction or how to move.

'This... is Xenon's true strength.'

She realized again that this was a fantasy world.

His movements couldn't be considered human.

He was like a ghost.

'If it weren't for Jermi and Pong Pong... I would have really died.'

Jermi was also showing signs of exhaustion.

He had a significant wound on his abdomen.

Even with the help of the spirit, he still couldn't match Xenon.

"Huff... huff...!"

Jermi gripped his sword in reverse and forced himself to stand.

He was the successor of the storm sword.

Even if he fell, he couldn't give up.

'I won't give up.'

The word 'give up' didn't fit the successor of the storm sword.

He felt like he was about to collapse, and the world was turning yellow.

But he could hold onto hope because of Viola's composed attitude.

'Viola is the white Bellato.'

Viola was always Bellato, no matter what.

She maintained her Bellato-like demeanor and proceeded in a Bellato-like manner.

Viola seemed to be performing the role of the white Bellato.

'She never backed down even once.'

To Jermi, Viola was steadfast.

She had light wounds but still stood composed.

It seemed like the white Bellato Viola had other methods.

That's why she could stand so composed and observe the situation.

'Viola will show her abilities as the white Bellato, and I will show my abilities as the successor of the storm sword.'

That way, they would be on equal footing.

Because of Viola's presence, Jermi could not give up.

There was at least a glimmer of hope and light.

And 'Storm' was moved by this.

[Impressive.]

Storm was also a spirit of the 'Kel' lineage.

Actually, Storm didn't like Jermi much.

His spirit affinity wasn't that high, and Storm judged that there was a clear limit to using his own power.

[You have indomitable will.]

But with this level of mental strength, he thought he could overcome the penalty of low spirit affinity.

He didn't realize human mental strength could be so firm and powerful.

[Sorry. I'll open my heart a bit more.]

Actually, Storm had a little hope that Jermi would die here.

Then he could contract with a new contractor.

Now his mind had changed.

A human with such determination and strong will would be good to work with.

Whoosh!

The air currents around Jermi became even more intense.

Meanwhile, Viola was sweating cold sweat.

'What should I do?'

She needed to bring Xenon out of the illusion.

But she couldn't think of a way.

What she needed now wasn't the intelligence and wisdom of the white Bellato, but the power of the black Bellato.

'That's impossible.'

Fighting with power was not an option.

At this point, Viola's head was spinning.

'This test is too extreme.'

In the story, Xenon never revealed his killing intent.

It was probably his secret.

There was no reason to reveal it now, in the early part of the story.

'If he didn't deliberately fall for it... '

Her hair stood on end.

She thought Xenon might have deliberately fallen for the illusion, but maybe that wasn't the case.

'Maybe a really powerful spirit captured Xenon's consciousness?'

That would make sense.

Goosebumps ran down her arms.

'Right.'

This space was a special place that allowed even Jermi, with low spirit affinity, to contract with a spirit.

In such a place, she, with extremely high spirit affinity, was present.

Storm might not have passed through the spirit gate.

'For example...'

A thought flashed through her mind.

'The mad spirit king Blood...'

The blood-thirsty spirit king.

There was a spirit king whose attributes and contractor were unknown.

A cruel spirit king obsessed with slaughtering humans and driving them mad.

In a sense, Blood was the first-generation blood spirit king, and the spirit (Pong Pong) who contracted with Heidi was the second-generation blood spirit king.

'Unbelievable!'

It was an absurd assumption.

But it kept making sense.

'Xenon probably had his heart open from the start.'

Very lightly.

He was probably being careless.

If a powerful spirit king like Blood appeared and captured Xenon's consciousness in that situation?

'Otherwise, there's no way Xenon could be dominated like this.'

The situation started to become clear.

Xenon wasn't influenced by an ordinary spirit.

He was under the influence of an extremely powerful spirit.

'Right. Spirit power.'

She felt that the 'killing intent' was different from her own.

Now it was clear.

'A spirit born