Chapter 39: You should have stabbed me straight in the heart
Luna’s black steel struck with terrifying speed. Daemon blocked her attacks at the last moment, feeling the impact resonate all the way to his bones, but Luna’s precision was such that he had small cuts here and there.
A gash on his cheek, another on his right forearm... the blood began to soak his tunic, creating scarlet patterns on the blue fabric. The fight became more and more violent as Luna chained thrusts with disconcerting fluidity.
’ He sees my strikes... ’ thought Luna while adjusting her grip on her weapon. ’ His < Blade Perception > is sharper than I thought, but his muscles do not yet follow the rhythm of his gaze. ’
She pivoted on her axis, using centrifugal force to increase the power of her blow. Daemon parried, his legs bending under the pressure. Even though Luna had not used the second or the third sense, she outclassed Daemon on all technical levels.
She moved with perfect economy of motion, whereas Daemon wasted his energy in movements that were too wide. He could not even touch her, his blows meeting only empty air or his master’s impenetrable guard, even though he had a larger reserve of chi coming from the gift she had given him a few months earlier.
" You are too slow, Daemon... " murmured Luna between two assaults, her red eyes shining with a wild gleam. " Is that how you plan to stop me? By being so weak? "
She launched a series of rapid thrusts toward his torso. Daemon deflected the first point, dodged the second by pivoting his torso, but the third tore his left shoulder, opening the flesh several centimeters wide. He did not cry out, clenching his teeth while the cold iron withdrew from his body, leaving an intense burning sensation.
" I will not... back down! " growled Daemon.
He attempted a bold counterattack, a descending slash aimed at breaking Luna’s guard. But she simply slid to the side, her silhouette seeming to melt into the shadows of the courtyard. She struck him with a palm blow to the ribs, sending him rolling on the cold ground. Daemon coughed, the taste of blood invading his mouth.
Seeing chi users gathering in the distance with torches and rallying cries, Luna understood that the window of escape was closing quickly. She no longer had time to play with him. She tried to flee toward the enclosure wall, her feet barely touching the ground. But Daemon, ignoring the pain and exhaustion, blocked her path by leaping back to his feet, throwing his sword in front of her to block the way.
Luna stopped a few centimeters from him, her black blade a hair’s breadth from his neck. Her breathing was calm, contrasting with Daemon’s short and ragged breath.
" Do you really think I cannot kill you? " she asked, her ruby gaze plunging into the gold of her disciple’s.
The silence that followed was disturbed only by the breeze.
" If it is the price for you to remain yourself... then do it. " he replied in a low but assured voice.
Luna tightened her grip on her sword, her knuckles whitening under the pressure. ’ Why is he so stubborn... ’ she wondered inwardly,
" But I am sure you will not do it," he added calmly.
Luna gripped the hilt of her sword so tightly that her knuckles whitened. "Your mother killed my parents. I should stab you in the heart and take revenge..."
He shook his head slowly. "You will not do it."
A silence settled between them. Then, against all expectations, Daemon took a step forward and embraced her. Luna remained frozen, surprised by this gesture she had not anticipated.
"A few days ago," he began in a softer voice, "the only person I believed in had actually betrayed me." He marked a short pause.
" Just as I am sorry for what Persephone did... this disciple still needs his master and will do everything to prevent his master from becoming a criminal again."
She raised her head toward him, her red eyes shining with an uncertain gleam. "You need me?"
Daemon sketched a slight smile. "I would rather say that it would be difficult without your presence..."
"What the— Idiot..." Luna looked away, but her voice had lost some of its hardness. "This kind of feeling... It is because I poisoned you..."
He raised an eyebrow, perplexed. "Poisoned?"
It was at that moment that Luna perceived the hostile presences. Several chi users were approaching their position rapidly. She even recognized several powerful chi among them, probably the family heads arriving as reinforcements. And with them, the Patriarch. If they were found here, Daemon would truly be declared guilty and the consequences would be disastrous, especially if it was discovered that he knew her true identity and had hidden it.
She took a deep breath and planted her gaze in his. "I poisoned you with this feeling so I could make sure you would help me regain my power," she revealed coldly. "And now that I have regained my power, I will not hesitate to kill you."
"So if what I feel is poison, then this is my antidote... Luna."
"You’re just an unconscious idiot!"
Daemon did not have time to answer. Luna suddenly seized his nape, placing him in a position of weakness.
Dorian was just arriving on the scene, ready to launch an attack, when he stopped short. "Do not approach, Patriarch!" she cried out.
Dorian seeing Luna holding Daemon captive.
He signaled his soldiers to deploy, but without advancing. "Release him! Vile criminal!"
In a fluid gesture, Luna drew her sword and placed the blade against Daemon’s throat. A thin line of blood appeared on his white skin. "I am Andromeda of the Yak Tribe," she announced in a loud voice. "I came with the intention of taking revenge on Daemon."
Dorian widened his eyes. Hearing her origin, everything suddenly became clear to him. He turned toward his men and signaled them to retreat. ’ This woman was doing all this to take revenge on Daemon because Persephone had massacred her tribe,’ he murmured to himself, mentally assembling the pieces of the puzzle.
" Persephone... Why do you cause so many problems for your son? "
"Back off or I will kill him!" threatened Luna.
Daemon, despite the blade on his throat, remained calm. "Patriarch, she will not kill me, just—"
But before he could say more, Luna turned him around brutally. She planted her red eyes in his, as if to engrave this moment in her memory, then drove her sword into his abdomen.
...
Daemon felt the blade penetrate his flesh, before the pain exploded throughout his body. He widened his eyes, incredulous.
"I told you that now I have achieved my goals," she repeated, her voice as icy as steel. "I will kill you."
"Kuh... Luna..." Daemon spat a puff of blood, the shock distorting his features. He could not believe she had really stabbed him.
"It is Blood Moon," she replied without blinking. "You should never trust, especially a criminal like me."
He looked at her, studying her red eyes that had become as cold as the harshest winter. Luna was about to withdraw her sword when Daemon seized her hand. He held it firmly against his wound, forcing it to stay where it was.
"You-you should have stabbed me straight in the heart..." he breathed, the pain making his voice choppy. "It would have hurt less."
"The next time, it will be the case," she promised.
They remained frozen for a moment in this macabre position, Daemon’s blood flowing between Luna’s trembling fingers. It was then that an ethereal silhouette appeared in the corner of Daemon’s eye. Before he could understand what was happening, this form seized his shoulder and pulled him backward with supernatural force. In the same movement, a sonic boom was launched toward Luna, sending her flying about twenty meters away.
Daemon only had time to glimpse long golden hair before the world went black and he lost consciousness.
"DAEMON!!"
Kristian rushed toward him, his face distorted by anguish. Behind him, the Patriarch arrived at a run, followed by a dozen armed soldiers.
"Carry him quickly to the infirmary!" ordered the Patriarch in a thundering voice. Then, turning to his men: "And find this whore dead or alive!!!"