Chapter 96: eting with The Crow [2]
Noah stood silently, the atmosphere thick with tension. Behind him, Leona trembled subtly, unable to maintain her usual composure under the pressure of the mysterious woman before them.
Yet Noah remained unfazed.
In fact, he found it amusing.
Tilting his head slightly, he spoke with a playful lilt, "What do you take for? A child?"
He chuckled softly. "Well, to be fair, I am one. Still just fifteen."
The Crow stared at him, unimpressed.
But Noah didn’t care.
"You said it yourself," he continued, "I ca here fully aware that you wanted to et . You, soone rumored to be dangerous. Yet here I am."
He smirked lightly.
"And you must know at least a little about to understand that I wouldn’t risk my life without taking precautions."
The Crow sneered. "And you think the precautions of an A-rank being are enough against ?"
Noah smiled lazily. "Would you like to test that theory?"
There was an arrogance to his voice, one he wore as naturally as breathing.
He pressed on without giving her a chance to answer.
"You’re the one who asked for this eting. You’re the one who needs . And didn’t you just ntion sothing about eting your master?"
His grin widened.
"Which ans... your goddess ordered you to bring . Right?"
He tilted his head, his silver eyes gleaming.
"So tell —what happens if you fail? If you let a re A-rank slip through your fingers, right here, in your own territory?"
Silence.
The Crow said nothing, but Noah could see the flicker of thought in her eyes.
Got you, he thought.
She hadn’t expected this. Usually, her overwhelming aura clouded weaker minds in fear, just like it was doing to Leona. Doubt, terror, confusion—her specialty.
But Noah stood firm. Unbothered.
It’s like my aura doesn’t even touch him, she thought silently, a sliver of admiration creeping into her otherwise cold heart.
It made sense. If her goddess herself had shown interest in Noah, he couldn’t be ordinary. After all, even the most talented demons like Dominique ant little to her goddess. But Noah... Noah was different.
She spoke at last, her voice asured. "That’s true. My goddess wishes to et you. For that, you must co to the Shattered Temple."
She paused.
"We won’t harm you. You are only to speak with her. Nothing more."
Noah raised an eyebrow. "And if the discussion goes poorly?"
His tone was light, almost playful, but the question was anything but.
"Will you let leave peacefully? No fights, no tricks?"
The Crow hesitated, if only for a mont.
"There will be no reason for that to happen," she said finally.
Noah tilted his head again. "And why is that? I’m a firm believer that if sothing can go wrong, it will go wrong."
She shook her head. "We’ve observed you, Noah Weaverheart. We know how fiercely you oppose the Chosen One. We know how desperately you want to defeat him."
Her voice lowered, serious.
"But let tell you sothing. You can win small battles here and there. But a true victory? That will never be possible."
"Not when he has a goddess backing him... and you have no one."
Noah listened quietly. None of this was new. Elira had warned him. Laeh too.
Still, he asked, "Why do you assu I can’t win without divine backing?"
The Crow looked at him as if he were naive.
"Because," she said bluntly, "a goddess grants blessings. Skills. Artifacts. Sotis even talents. How can you hope to match that, alone?"
"You can’t."
Noah nodded thoughtfully. Logical.
But they were all making one mistake:
He wasn’t alone.
He had never been alone, not since he reincarnated into this world.
’Right, dear system?’ he asked inwardly.
[Indeed, Host.]
[I was there. I am here. I will always be here.]
[You are not alone.]
Noah smiled faintly.
’If you keep talking like that, I might actually cry,’ he teased, though half-serious.
A warmth filled him. A small, steady comfort.
Because beneath all his bravado—beneath the ambitions, the ruthless drive, the clever sches—he was still human.
Still just a boy shouldering the weight of impossible dreams.
The burden would have been easier if he’d accepted Elira’s offer to beco the Dragon’s Champion. It would have been easier.
But easier wasn’t what he wanted.
’I don’t want the easy road.’
’Laugh if you want. Call arrogant, foolish. I don’t care.’
’Because I believe in myself.’
Because who would? No one is gonna believe in you first.
You will have to make them believe in you. And for that the first step is to believe in yourself.
So,
I won’t cower.
’And I will walk this path, no matter how heavy it gets.’
All of this flashed through his mind in the space of a few heartbeats.
He looked at the Crow, smiling coolly.
"True, I’m alone," he said. "And I can’t win alone."
"But tell —what would you gain by helping ?"
He already had a good idea, but it was better to keep playing dumb for now.
"I’m afraid I’m not authorized to tell you," she replied. "But our goddess will explain everything."
Noah nodded. "Fair enough. So how do you guarantee my safety?"
He smiled crookedly. "Words are nice, but actions are better."
The Crow nodded in agreent. "We have no reason to harm you. We need you. We can even seal it with a soul contract if that’s what you want."
Without hesitation, Noah pulled out a soul contract scroll—crafted personally by his Soul Dragon, an almost unbreakable bond.
"Here," he said, handing it over casually. "You can read it. It’s straightforward. No tricks. I’m actually a pretty honest guy."
He smiled innocently.
Behind him, Leona twitched. Honest? The man who had blackmailed, sched, and manipulated so many... was calling himself honest?
The Crow examined the contract carefully.
Her voice was neutral as she read aloud, "We will not attack you even if the eting goes wrong?"
"Yup," Noah nodded. "Basic courtesy, right? You don’t invite soone over just to kill them. Besides, it’s not forever. There’s a three-minute buffer after the eting ends."
He smirked. "Plenty of ti to run away if I piss you off."
"Or if you are capable enough, three minutes will be nothing to you. Catching will be easy."
The Crow stared at him, then without a word, signed the contract.
Noah clapped his hands together. "Perfect!"
He turned, his silver eyes gleaming.
"Now then..."
"Let’s go et that infamous sneaky demoness."
—End of Chapter 96—
A/N:
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