"Haa! Liam, you look like you've been beaten to death by a demon." Judge burst into his big brother's room like a chaotic hurricane of unwelco energy, his grin as wide as a blimp.
"What?" Liam replied in a tone so flat it could iron laundry, his glare screaming, Get out. He was hunched over his desk, surrounded by an imposing fortress of— wait for it— actual books. A rare sight indeed.
"You're… reading? Like... real books? And they have no pictures in them? " Judge gasped dramatically, clutching his heart like he'd been personally betrayed by reality. His eyes darted around. "What kind of books? Principles?" He snatched one off the desk before Liam could stop him and gawked at it like it was a magical relic. "Principles? Oh no, it's worse than I thought."
"What are you doing in here?" Liam growled, his focus finally dragging away from his fortress of knowledge. "Yes, I was beaten by a demon, if you need confirmation. And yes, I'm currently trying to grow stronger. Now get out."
Judge blinked, his grin widening. "Wow, that must have really knocked so sense into you, huh? Principles, Liam. Principles! Next thing I know, you'll be lecturing about posture."
"Judge," Liam sighed, his patience thinning to translucent levels, "I have things to do before we leave. Serious things. Get out."
"But wait!" Judge held up a hand, his expression turning smug. "I wanted to tell you about how I— — defeated a demon. You know, one of those nasty things that put you in a sorry state." He puffed out his chest like a peacock on steroids.
Liam froze mid-eye-roll, then slowly turned his head. His skepticism was so thick you could spread it on toast. "…I didn't know you were trying stand-up cody, Judge."
"I'm serious!" Judge insisted, looking affronted. "It was a demon, a big nasty one! And I defeated it all by myself."
"Oh, I see," Liam deadpanned, waving to summon the butler with an air of royal exasperation. "Your joke does need work, though. Even for a beginner, that's abysmal."
"I'm not joking!"
"..."
"..."
The silence was so loud it could have had its own silent opera.
Liam raised an eyebrow, leaning back in his chair. "Right. And next, you'll tell Mother knits in her free ti. I'm not buying it."
"There were witnesses!" Judge insisted, leaning dramatically over the desk. "Mother's old friend was there when it happened. She's literally in the house right now. Go ask her!"
Liam sighed, motioning toward the tea table. "Fine. Tell about it. Entertain with this elaborate fantasy of yours."
"It is not a fantasy just so you know, it actually happened." Judge plopped down into a chair, practically vibrating with excitent.
"Yeah, I will be the judge of that. Y'know judge as in judge and not Judge."
"You need to really work on your jokes Liam, that was so bad I had a stroke" Judge quipped.
Liam, ignoring Judge, Called the butler and muttered sothing to the guy, who exited the room and appeared monts later bearing a tray with tea and two generous slices of sippleberry cake.
Judge eyed the cake with exaggerated suspicion. "What's this? A bribe to soften up?"
"Consider it paynt," Liam replied smoothly, pouring tea with the precision of soone who was absolutely going to regret this conversation. "Now, spill. How did you defeat a demon, oh mighty warrior?"
Judge grinned like he'd won the lottery. "Oh, it's a tale for the ages…"
———
While the brothers were joking around with Judge's story and Alex was having a pleasant al with his daughter, Flora was having a fight to death with a Vampire who seed to be in a state of nervousness, as if he was forced and had no choice but to fight. Like a hunting dog bound by its chain.
But the guy's skills were real, using everything present on the battlefield to his advantage, he kicked up a table that lay outside and then kicked it towards Flora, who cut the table in half as it was about to hit.
"You fight well," she said as she cut the table, "What is your na, Vampire?"
"A filthy Avian does not need to hear it." His voice was sothing beyond anger, despise? Frustration? or was it anger due to helplessness? She could not quiet put her mind in it.
There was a goblet that floated as the table was flipped, the guy caught it mid-air, pulled back his arm, twisted his whole body on his leg, and threw it toward Flora. But the goblet shattered just as it touched her, which was her doing but it blinded her just for a mont.
The Vampire jumped on a ledge and leaped towards her, punching her with all the force from the leap. Flora barely had ti to react, the punch connected to her chest— a slight sound of bone fracture was heard before she was launched backward, crashing into a wall with a loud thud. Continue your journey on My Virtual Library Empire
But however empathetic Flora was, she was never soone to break down with a fracture. She got up from the rubble slowly, she groaned as she stabbed the glaive's shaft in the ground and used it as a support to get herself up.
"You're skilled I can give you that," Flora said calmly as she spat the blood in her mouth and wiped her lips. "But that is not enough to put down."
"Relentless, just die already."
"Why do you use no blades?" She asked as she steadied herself.
But he did not reply, Flora barely had ti to process the Vampire's next movent. The air felt thick with tension, his eyes darting across the battlefield like a cornered animal, calculating every move. His form shifted slightly as he crouched, the muscles in his legs coiling like a spring before he darted forward with inhuman speed.
Flora imdiately flapped her wings, propelling herself into the air just as his fist slamd into the spot where she had stood. The force of his strike cracked the ground, sending shards of stone flying in all directions. She hovered above him, her breathing steadying as the glow of healing light coursed through her chest, nding the fracture he had inflicted.
The healing was not much, it did not completely heal her, only slightly— But it was enough for her to fight without worrying about her broken bones and ignore the pain.
The Vampire didn't let up. He leapt to a nearby lamppost, gripping it with clawed hands, and used it as a pivot to launch himself at her midair. His movents were fluid and vicious, almost animalistic. Flora twirled her glaive defensively in an arc, its blade slicing through the air with a soft whoosh.
The Vampire's claws scraped against the glaive's shaft, sparks flying as he pushed off it to create space. He landed gracefully on the ground, his feet barely making a sound. Without pause, he hurled a broken piece of stone at her with deadly accuracy. Flora deflected it with a flick of her glaive, the sharp clang echoing through the battlefield.
Flora could see his frustration mounting as he adjusted his stance, his gaze locking onto her with an intensity that was almost painful to endure. The Vampire's movents beca inconsistent yet precise, as though he was being driven by sothing other than instinct—sothing darker, sothing desperate... sothing wild.
He dashed forward again, this ti feinting a strike. Flora braced herself, but it was a trick; he pivoted at the last mont, kicking a broken piece of rubble at her with bone-crushing force. She twisted her body just in ti, the rubble skimming her thin, but durable cloth and grazing her arm. The sharp sting of pain was a reminder of how skilled her opponent was.
The vampire ca from behind, taking advantage of the mont she was occupied by the rubble. She had just enough ti to bring her glaive to block the kick. But she was sent back, again.
But this ti, she had enough ti to react as she had already unfurled her wings, before colliding, she flapped them to gain altitude. The vampire, seeing she was trying to fly up, tried to catch her before she did. But she just avoided his grab.
The vampire landed on the ground while Flora floated in the air, her flapping was silent.
Looking at the vampire who was scanning the whole terrain, and making sure there were no allies, she started to chant under her breath.
O' Heavens that reward the virtuous,
O' Heavens that loathe the sinners
Rain your weapons of the divine,
Punish the sinners who do not belong.
She raised her glaive high, and the sky split as countless round portals appeared, radiating light from inside. Spears made of pure light appeared from within the portals.
"Wrath of the light, Descent!" She shouted.
The vampire tried to move, but he had been trapped the mont she began to chant. "Fight fairly, despicable Avian." He shouted.
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