“So, Zhu Yue, put your mind at ease. I’ll give it everything I’ve got and make sure this so-called curse ends here, once and for all.”

“Mr. Rean…”

A hint of surprise entered Zhu Yue’s gaze as she looked at Rean.

Just moments ago, he’d been acting like an immature brat while arguing with someone. Now, his expression had suddenly grown impossibly grave. His night-dark eyes watched her as though she were a younger sister who hadn’t yet grown up—but there was also something different about it, something unlike the look one gave a sister they hadn’t seen in years.

She’d only known this man for a few hours, so naturally, she knew nothing about him. Even so, she could clearly sense a faint sorrow in his expression.

He’d said he didn’t want “them” to experience the pain of losing someone important, too.

That could only mean…

“Could it be that, Mr. Rean…”

“Oh, right. Zhu Yue, you should think about how you’ll celebrate when you’re reunited with your sister. If you’re not familiar with the area, I can recommend plenty of good places.”

Rean abruptly changed the subject. To Zhu Yue, it was obvious that he knew exactly what she wanted to ask and was deliberately avoiding it.

But she wasn’t ignorant of human nature. Like Olga, she gave up on pressing him.

“Then I’ll have to trouble you when the time comes, Mr. Rean.”

Zhu Yue nodded and smiled at him.

Unlike Cang Lin, who was like a clear breeze and pure snow, Zhu Yue’s smile resembled a flower blooming beneath the moonlight. It was pure and radiant, carrying the passionate warmth unique to a girl her age.

But who knew whether she was truly smiling—or only trying to put his mind at ease?

Rean gave a bitter laugh inwardly. Still, he had no intention of probing any deeper. Playing the role of everyone’s understanding big brother really wasn’t suited to him.

The subject had been quietly dropped, but the atmosphere was far more relaxed than before. Zhu Yue was no longer as restrained, either.

The two walked side by side toward the meeting place outside the South City Gate, maintaining a comfortable silence.

They had chosen the South City Gate because it had once been a small outpost belonging to Mammon’s soldiers, destroyed by Olga. Tyler had already sent people to inspect the area, and no one would be going there again.

Unlike the area outside the East City Gate, no one was still clearing the battlefield there. If someone suddenly drew a sword and started fighting, soldiers would immediately surround them.

After all, only two days had passed since that meteor shower from the heavens. Cleaning everything up was no easy task.

Rean didn’t want to admit it, but he’d gone a little too far that time. He’d practically turned the entire area outside the East Gate into scorched earth.

He supposed he really did have to take some responsibility.

Well… the merits and faults probably canceled each other out.

“Grr…”

Zhu Yue suddenly shuddered beside him.

Her right hand began to tremble as if it were no longer under her control. She gripped its wrist with her left hand, yet she still couldn’t stop it from reaching toward Bloodmist, which was shaking just as violently.

“Is it already affecting you?”

Rean faintly heard the crimson greatsword humming. His heart confirmed the result of the detection magic he’d used the previous night.

“Yes… Bloodmist is trying to control me… And I can feel Azure Sky calling to me from my sister’s side…”

Zhu Yue clutched her chest and kept exhaling scorching breaths. She seemed to have nearly lost all her strength as she toppled to one side.

Fortunately, Rean reacted in time and caught her by the shoulder. She avoided collapsing onto the grass-and-stone-strewn ground outside the city gate.

As expected, this was pushing her a little too hard…

Rean rubbed his forehead with his free hand. Just as he’d predicted, last night’s sword fight had drained Zhu Yue’s stamina far too severely. One night of rest definitely wouldn’t be enough for her to recover completely.

But that was exactly the effect Rean wanted.

Stamina and physical toughness were two different things. No matter how much the swords could control and strengthen their bodies, the girls still possessed human limits.

As long as they couldn’t fight at their absolute peak, things would be easier later.

Still, judging from the current situation, it was questionable whether she’d even be able to trade blows with him.

“Does this feel a little better?”

Rean let Zhu Yue lean against his shoulder, then placed his hand in her palm. Mana flowed from his fingertips into her body, slowly spreading through her from head to toe.

In the end, it was continually absorbed by Bloodmist behind her.

As Rean kept feeding her mana, Zhu Yue’s breathing gradually steadied. At the same time, the vermilion blade began to glow brighter.

Soon, the entire sword shimmered with flowing crimson light, as though blood were moving beneath its surface.

In the end, that damned thing was constantly absorbing Zhu Yue’s mana to keep the magic active. With her stamina already severely depleted, it was no wonder she’d become so weak that Rean had to replenish her mana himself.

(If mana exhaustion hadn’t carried the risk of death, Rean had planned to drain all their mana before making his move.)

“You’re the first human this king has ever replenished with mana. You don’t have to repay me, but at least don’t become my enemy in the future.”

Rean gave a bitter laugh and muttered to himself. He knew Zhu Yue couldn’t hear him at all right now.

Zhu Yue straightened herself from where she’d been leaning against him. She no longer looked like the limp doll she’d been moments ago.

However, her expression now truly resembled that of an emotionless puppet.

Rean folded his arms and tilted his head as he looked at her.

Zhu Yue’s eyes had already lost their focus. Her crimson irises were nothing but an empty void, reflecting only the scenery before her.

She looked exactly like a soulless doll.

It’s coming.

Zhu Yue completely ignored Rean standing beside her and suddenly sprinted forward.

As expected…

Most of the mana Rean had replenished had been absorbed by the sword. The remainder had been converted into stamina.

With its power enhanced, the sword could now control her body from a distance where it normally wouldn’t have taken full effect. Zhu Yue once again possessed enough strength to fight at full force.

By consuming mana, one could recover stamina. When mana was lacking, the body could accelerate its stamina consumption to increase the rate of mana recovery.

That was the relationship between the two.

Of course, Rean was an abnormal existence who could directly draw mana from the air. He couldn’t be included in this equation.

“Seriously? Now I can’t slack off anymore…” Rean muttered.

Then he realized Zhu Yue had already run far ahead.

“Hey! You’re way too fast! Meteor Sprint!”

Rean hurriedly activated a movement spell and chased after her.

………………

This is so humiliating!

Olga ran across the grass, her black cloak lifting slightly with every stride. It was almost exposing the wings she was concealing.

Ahead of her, Cang Lin was about to leave her far behind.

Olga hated herself for not taking a potion from Rean to conceal her wings. She could’ve endured the side effects. Even if it had been painful, it would still have been better than this humiliating situation.

She had to worry about her wings and still couldn’t catch up to someone!

The captain of the mighty Heavenly Guardians was being outrun by a human girl because she couldn’t let her cloak flutter freely.

If one of her former subordinates happened to look down and see this scene, she might as well kill herself!

But why had Cang Lin suddenly gone out of control?

Had Rean tampered with something again?

Just then, a dazzling flash of crimson appeared in Olga’s vision.

She focused her eyes and saw Zhu Yue, just like the night before. Her eyes were vacant, and she charged straight toward Cang Lin like a battle machine.

Rean was chasing after her, wearing the same awkward expression as someone who’d played things far beyond control.

It really was him causing trouble again!

“Did you do something awful again?! We haven’t even reached the estimated distance! Why did Cang Lin suddenly go out of control?!”

Olga drew Hyperion from her waist and shouted furiously at Rean as he ran toward her. She looked fully prepared to cut him down just to vent her anger.

“Blame it on my mana being too strong! I’ll take full responsibility for this one!”

As Rean shouted back, Cang Lin and Zhu Yue collided between them.

Red and blue sword light flashed.

The ringing of their blades thundered across the empty grassland like a hailstorm crashing from the sky. It was clearly less fierce than the battle the previous night, but it was still breathtakingly powerful.

Well, it was time for him to step in.

Rean leapt from behind the small slope where he and Cang Lin had waited for Olga earlier that day. In midair, he conjured a black greatsword and brought it crashing down between the two combatants.

The dust scattered.

Rean rose from his one-knee landing and pulled the greatsword from the earth. He flicked away the mud clinging to it.

Black light shimmered along the blade, while dark lightning raced across his entire body.

“Interfering in a duel is rather unromantic,” Rean said with a pleased chuckle. “But since neither of you can feel displeased right now, I suppose it doesn’t matter.”

He glanced at the two girls on either side of him.

To ensure the conditions were met perfectly, Rean had added a third-tier lightning spell, Black Lightning Curse, to his weapon.

The sword itself had been forged from Nightglow Stone, a material whose strength fell between Dragonmarked Crystal and Rigel Steel.

Even if it hadn’t been made specifically to deal with this problem, it was still a perfect…

Practice weapon.

“Stop wasting time posing and talking nonsense!”

Olga’s furious shout came from Cang Lin’s side.

She’s the one who truly doesn’t understand romance, Rean thought.

By then, Cang Lin and Zhu Yue—or rather, Azure Sky and Bloodmist—had recovered from the interruption.

However, their designated attack target had changed from one person to two, leaving them confused.

Naturally, that confusion lasted less than three seconds.

The two swords fell simultaneously from Rean’s left and right. The pair that had been attacking each other moments ago now attacked the intruder together.

“Facing two swords at once… It’s not like I’ve never done that before~”

Rean calmly knocked aside Cang Lin’s slash with his left hand. With his right, he suddenly drew another identical black sword and effortlessly caught Zhu Yue’s full-strength downward strike.

He’d known this would happen. That was why he’d forged a second sword in the workshop after Olga left.

It was meant to let him face both of them at once.

The two swords attacked again in perfect unison.

Black, blue, and red carved dazzling trails of light through the air. Their full-powered sword techniques generated waves of pressure strong enough for even Olga to feel.

Yet Rean, wielding two swords with both hands, deflected every attack with ease. His expression remained relaxed, as though he didn’t feel the slightest tension.

With each clash, the light along the blades in Cang Lin and Zhu Yue’s hands weakened a little more.

After several exchanges, the swords’ once-dazzling radiance had dimmed. Cang Lin and Zhu Yue’s movements grew slower and slower.

At that moment, Rean struck upward with both hands, sending the two swords flying. He tossed away his own blades and seized the descending weapons instead.

“It’s over.”

Rean clenched both fists.

The red and blue swords shattered at the same time, their fragments scattering across the ground while reflecting his indifferent face.