Chapter 98: Forest Thorns vs. Blood Thorns (1)

Ebony climbed the stairs carrying Lucian and Daniel over her shoulders, dragging her feet and breathing with difficulty. Her legs, for the first time since she arrived in that world, would not stop trembling and threatened to give out at any moment.

When she reached the ground floor of the mansion, she couldn’t take another step and collapsed from exhaustion, dropping both of them almost at the same time. She clenched her teeth, gulped air, and shouted as loudly as she could.

“Veronica!” The name came out with anger, exhaustion, and urgency, echoing through the empty house. By that point she had no pride left, only the simple need to get help before she collapsed completely.

The cat girl heard her friend’s shout and was about to go downstairs, but she saw Kanary defenseless in the bed and forced herself to stop. She looked first at the door, then at the blue-haired girl, and shouted back.

“Ebony, what happened?! Are you guys okay?” Veronica’s voice came down from the upper floor, tense and suspicious at the same time. The urgency was clear in her tone, but so was the fear of making a stupid mistake.

“Of course not, idiot! Now get down here, I need your help, I can’t carry these idiots!” Ebony replied, leaning against a wall to keep from collapsing sideways. She didn’t even bother sounding coherent, she just shouted what she needed.

“I’m sorry, I can’t do that! I don’t even know if you’re the real Ebony! So I’m not leaving Kanary completely alone!” Veronica shouted back at the top of her lungs. The distrust came out clean, harsh, and perfectly reasonable.

“Don’t be a bitch! We need you! Besides, the assassins left already, or at least that’s what their leader said. So come down already!” the blonde answered, angry and exhausted, feeling that even shouting cost more air than she had left.

“I won’t! Figure it out yourself if you really are my friend Ebony! Or stop playing around and come face me, you damn impostor!” The response came from upstairs just as firm, making it clear Veronica wasn’t going to give in easily.

After Veronica’s final words, Ebony had no choice but to lie down and pray to recover some strength. She wanted to curse her again, but her body didn’t even have the energy for that, so she just collapsed beside her companions.

“(That damn girl… she’s right… I’d do the same if I were in her place…

)” the blonde thought while looking around, her breathing still uneven and her entire body begging her to stay still a little longer.

With no other option, the blonde began hitting Daniel in an attempt to wake him, slapping his face and shoulder harder and harder each time. It wasn’t an elegant method, but at that moment she didn’t have any better ideas.

The boy had fractures and his magic was almost exhausted, so no matter how much Ebony shook him or insulted him, Daniel only reacted with a weak groan before going completely still again.

With no other choice, the blonde had to try waking the elf, turning Lucian’s body over as best she could to lay him on his back. At that point she wasn’t even debating with herself whether it was a good idea anymore.

She tried again with a slap and then another, first on the cheek and then on the shoulder, hoping for some clearer sign of life. But the elf remained just as useless, dressed ridiculously and unconscious like a log.

Still no response came, and her own condition kept worsening. Her eyelids grew heavier and heavier, and she slowly began losing strength. Every second without a reaction brought her closer to falling asleep on the floor herself.

With the last of her strength, she staggered into the kitchen and grabbed several fire fruits, nearly dragging her feet along the corridor. She didn’t think much about whether it was cruel or excessive, only that she needed to wake someone up.

When she returned, she shoved them all into Lucian’s mouth and immediately fainted. She didn’t even manage to adjust him or wait for the result, because her own body gave out right after.

A few seconds passed, and suddenly the elf woke up with his mouth aching, spitting out the red fruits. He sat up coughing, furious and half-asleep, wiping his tongue as if it had been set on fire.

“What the hell?! Damn it, ahhh, that hurts! Wait… Ebony?” the elf shouted while cleaning his mouth, but the moment he saw his fallen companions he quickly checked them both and confirmed they weren’t in immediate danger.

“Thank goodness they’re okay… they must be exhausted…” Lucian muttered while beginning to check his own body, discovering that he wasn’t wearing his original clothes but a pink dress and a wide hat that covered his ears.

“Damn it… what the hell did they do to me? Ahh… whatever, I guess it’s my fault for drinking the wine in the kitchen… it was obvious it could be poisoned.” After a few sighs, the elf looked back at his companions, still confused and annoyed.

“At least they’re here… I guess we’ll be fi—”

Before Lucian could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by a projectile of coagulated blood shaped like a reddish crystal. The attack came through the broken window with a sharp whistle.

The projectile was caught before it could reach his face thanks to his reflexes. Lucian closed his hand just in time, feeling the weight and dangerous edge of the red object before it could pierce his skull.

Looking carefully, he noticed the broken window where the red crystal had come from. It faced the backyard, where a man dressed in black stood waiting. The still silhouette on the grass was already watching him.

“Mr. Xavier ordered me to retreat… But he also ordered me to kill whoever caused my injuries… So come out and play already, you little bastard!” the assassin shouted through his plague doctor mask from the lawn.

“(Kid? I guess he means Daniel… That must be one of the assassins the others fought… Well, I suppose it’s my turn to act now.)” Lucian thought.

With a sigh, the elf stood up, no longer intending to stay hidden.

Stepping outside the mansion, he reached the backyard. In front of him, the pool he had seen earlier was now empty, but it was stained red. The contrast between the elegant garden and all that blood made the scene much worse.

When he turned his head, he saw his enemy. On his chest was a huge X-shaped wound, but the visible skin had healed over with a bright crimson tissue, and above his body floated a massive cluster of blood.

“And who are you? Ah… who are you? And why are you dressed like that?” the assassin asked in disbelief when he saw the state of his opponent.

Lucian then, without saying a word, removed his hat, revealing the pointed ears protruding from his greenish hair. The gesture was simple but enough to make it clear he wasn’t the expected target.

“Ah, I see… the elf… I suppose Charlie had some fun with you… But if you’re here, what did you do to Charlie?” the masked man asked curiously, as if he were still putting the pieces together in his mind.

“No idea. I just woke up. I don’t even know who you are,” the elf replied, keeping his eyes fixed on the man and the swirling mass of blood floating above him.

“It doesn’t matter. I won’t tell my name to a filthy half-breed like you… Now, where’s your little friend? He owes me a nice scar.”

“If you want Daniel, you’ll have to kill me first.” Lucian stretched his arms and tore his long skirt above the knees. The dress was still absurd, but at least it wouldn’t stop him from moving properly.

“One more corpse won’t hurt.” The assassin instantly brought his hands together, and a magic circle shone beneath his feet.

“Coagulate!”

{{Blood Magic: Crystal Thorns}}

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep