Lyra flashed her teeth in a smile, her whole face lit up as if in joy of what she was about to do. "A snake? I thought we are all children of the Dragon!"
With her great strength, she leaned on her sword and pushed, her two hands gripping firmly. Faint blue smoke that looked like evaporated sweat covered her.
Vacuse felt her strength; his own sword was forced back slowly towards his face. He was calm, and he also used the force, covering his right hand in faint energy. "But you think you are more of a child of a Dragon than anyone else."
In his past life, Lyra was also responsible for killing the people that their father used as competition.
Her eyes sparked. "On the contrary, all of us, the bastards, are all entitled to sit on the throne of the Dragon! But they are all trash. You, on the other hand, Vacuse, are a clear threat. You need to die."
Sometimes Vacuse, in his past life, wondered where the cruelty of all Vorrakyn came from, and he realized it was bred into them like a tiny snake since birth, growing with them.
And he was no exception.
Vacuse reached into himself and pulled more force from his body. His body was instantly covered in a glow, and with a push, he sent her reeling back. "But you cannot kill me. You are not strong enough."
Her eyes sparked. "You are a fool. You think I will attack you without having the confidence to kill you? I only go after things I can crush!"
"Then why have you not killed your brother?"
"He is useful. He is a nice figurehead. And who do you think will do the breeding for the next generation?"
Vacuse shook his head. Lyra was even more dangerous than he thought. Thinking about it now, in the past life, she did not seem to hold an apparently powerful position, but somehow she was able to move things as she wished.
"Is that so? Fortunately, that practice will end with Drenvar."
She frowned. "What are you talking about? Do you honestly turn your eyes to the position of the Family Head?"
Vacuse shrugged and turned, his sword lowered. "I am just like you in some ways. I only go after what is useful, and you can still stay breathing for now."
The reason he did not want to kill her was because she was a spider in the spy network in the future. It was something he needed if his plans were to take shape.
Him turning was intentional.
But she counted it as a mistake she would not let him regret.
All the force in her body disappeared at once and appeared on her sword. And without hesitation, she swung it.
It was called the force strike, and only the best of the best force users could use it, something that could be called their ultimate technique.
It was not something that a six-year-old should be using.
The fact shocked everyone sitting in the arena, and they were already congratulating Drenvar for having such a child, not minding that someone was about to die.
But Vacuse faced the slash of energy calmly, his own weapon raised, and he swung his sword three times in one second.
Three slashes blasted out.
One met the opponent's attack and canceled it in a blast of shockwave. One continued, and the edge sliced a clean wound on Lyra's cheek, while the last struck her sword so hard her hand went numb, and she dropped it.
What followed was shock and silence.
Lyra doing only one was already impressive, but three force strikes? Was that even possible? In the arena, the people murmured, and Drenvar gripped the edge of his throne, his eyes tight.
"Is he going to kill her?"
Lyra had fallen to her knees, her eyes blank. Her hand went to her stinging cheek. "H... how?"
Vacuse loomed over her, and murderous intent came from him, suffocating her, but for all that, he looked down at her calmly, which sent a chill through her heart.
Lyra thought of herself as a predator that stalked the darkness and killed her prey from behind without them knowing. She thought of herself as a plotter, the string puller. But right then, she realized that it meant little when the one she was facing was much stronger than her. "Plea..."
"You better find a way to be, and then continue to be, useful to me, Lyra Vorrakyn. Once the day comes that you become useless, I will kill you."
The message was delivered with such calm and vastness that it hit her like a cold stone. Lyra believed him instantly, and she nodded. "Understood."
Vacuse did not say anything as he turned and disappeared into the wilderness.
Lyra knelt there for a long time before she picked herself up. "A beast, a monster in the house."
Vacuse walked a little in the wilderness.
He seemed to be deep in thought. "My objective here is the blood fruits. I will use this chance, where all nobles are gathered, to show them that I am the heir of the family. There must be no mistake about this.
"There is no reason to play about my intentions for things."
Vacuse smiled. His left hand throbbed as if in memory of what happened to it in its past life. "I must take care of some trash before I go after the fruits."
He covered his legs with the force, and with a single step, he was dozens of steps forward in the shadowed forest. Before long, he began to run fast, his nose in the air as if he was sniffing something.
What he was sniffing was indeed blood.
He had picked the direction where Zephyr's team had run to and chased after them while he smelled for blood.
He knew that Zephyr wanted to show off to the nobles as well, and he would kill a lot of monsters to show how powerful he was.
Before long, he caught the thick smell of iron in the air. "There you are."