LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 365- Contract?
365 Chapter 365- Contract?
Above the vast, empty expanse of the ocean, a faint streak of light in the shape of a cuboid hurtled through the sky.
Upon closer inspection, one could see a woman lying on a translucent bed made of energy within the cuboid, which resembled a transparent room.
Atop the cuboid stood another woman, as if she were the one transporting the sleeping woman rather than the cube itself.
"Umh..." Adanyl's eyes snapped open, revealing her ruby-red pupils as she glanced around. She found herself bound inside a cube-shaped room suspended mid-air.
Her vision caught the ocean and sky blurring past like smoke, and she realized the cube was moving at an enormous speed.
"So, you woke up," Drishti remarked, standing atop the cube as she guided it toward Jade Dominion.
Noticing Adanyl had finally awakened, she teleported directly inside the cube, her hands clasped behind her back as she addressed her.
'!?'
"Y-you!?—" Before Adanyl could react, she leaped from what had appeared to be a solid bed, swinging her fist at Drishti.
The blow was instantly stopped, but the force of the collision disrupted the cube's trajectory, sending it off course.
"You're as brutish as a Titan-ranked Dariant," Drishti remarked, feeling the vibrations from the impact travel down her arm. She reflexively transferred the energy to the artifact, which had begun to fall freely before she stabilized it.
The strength Adanyl had displayed reminded her of the high-ranking Titans of the Dariant race.
Drishti couldn't help but compare Adanyl's raw power to that of the founder of Dariants from whom she had taken the thesis book. The founder, though weakened, had possessed considerable strength.
Yet, this girl, barely 18 years old, exhibited a similar level of brute force. Intrigued, Drishti decided to take Adanyl under her wing, especially after realizing there was a connection between her and that kiddo.
"You Devereaux people are evil!" Adanyl yelled, her eyes blazing as she tried to increase the force of her attack. But her efforts were futile.
The energy she exerted seemed to dissipate around Drishti, evident from the soft whips of energy forming between them.
It was as if Drishti was reflecting all the force, not just the attacks, but even the pressure exerted on her body.
"Evil, you say? I even saved Ryuk's life, and this is how you repay me?" Drishti cut straight to the point, knowing that prolonging the conversation wouldn't yield the results she desired.
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'!?'
'N-no...' Adanyl's heart skipped a beat, her eyes trembling with a mix of fear and defiance. Drishti noticed the reaction and smiled, realizing she had struck a nerve. "Don't lie, you grandma!"
"..." Drishti's mouth twitched at being called "grandma" for the second time, despite her ageless beauty that captivated even the most powerful rulers.
She tightened her grip on Adanyl's fist, infusing it with energy to reinforce her hold.
"Ugh!" Adanyl felt the sudden increase in pressure as Drishti's grip tightened, causing her to lose her footing and slide back.
Without hesitation, her free hand darted to her dress pocket, retrieving a handful of wrapped objects. She shoved them into her mouth, swallowing them whole without unwrapping them.
'What the...?' Drishti, initially curious, raised an eyebrow in surprise. "What are you doin—"
Bam!
"Cough!" Before Drishti could finish, a sharp punch landed on her abdomen, catching her off guard.
The force of the blow sent a shockwave through her, and for a moment, she coughed, having adjusted her power level to avoid harming Adanyl.
The impact cracked the inner walls of the artifact, spiderweb-like fractures spreading across the translucent yellow surface.
"Hoo, what was that?" Drishti asked, more intrigued than angry. The force of the punch was two or three times stronger than she had anticipated.
She wondered what was in those wrappers that could amplify Adanyl's strength so drastically. But more than that, she sensed something extraordinary about the girl herself.
"You...?" Adanyl's eyes trembled as the side effects of her trump card took hold. Nausea overwhelmed her, and her body went limp, collapsing to the floor.
Her vision blurred as she realized even that attack, which should have caused a massive earthquake, had been futile against Drishti.
The artifact shattered, and Adanyl found herself free-falling from a hundred feet above the ocean.
"Haah, what will your reaction be when you see her?" Drishti mused, amused by the depth of Adanyl's hatred for the Devereaux family.
It was clear her anger stemmed from a connection to Ryuk, who had nearly been killed by the Devereaux.
With a swift motion, Drishti vanished and reappeared, catching Adanyl in another cube. Standing atop it, she pondered her next move.
---
"My head..." Adanyl muttered, barely supporting herself with one hand. She found herself back in the same cube, seated and gazing downward through the translucent walls at the vast ocean below.
It was clear she had failed to defeat the woman now seated across from her, lounging in a yellow translucent chair with a smirk on her face.
"What do you want?" Adanyl asked, her voice calm as she accepted her inability to overcome this woman. She reached into her pocket, pulled out a wrapped chocolate, and tore it open to eat.
Noticing the woman's gaze fixed on the chocolate, Adanyl hesitated before reaching into her other pocket and tossing a piece toward her.
"Oh? Poisonous ones too?" Drishti remarked, her curiosity piqued. She had expected the girl to remain defiant, but Adanyl's calm demeanor surprised her. Drishti caught the chocolate, sniffed it, and instantly recognized the scent of poison.
'?'
"You knew?" Adanyl asked, her voice tinged with disappointment.
'Is she a dog?', She had hoped the poisonous chocolate—something she had consumed regularly to build immunity—might have some effect on the woman. But it seemed Drishti was already aware of its nature.
"Umm, it tastes good for a poison," Drishti said, unwrapping the chocolate and popping it into her mouth without hesitation. To her surprise, it was delicious. She raised an eyebrow, glancing at Adanyl with a mix of amusement and intrigue.
'...Not even poison works on her?' Adanyl thought, sighing in defeat. If even poison couldn't affect this woman, there was little else she could do. She resigned herself to her fate, trying to figure out where they were headed. "I eat it to train my immunity. Naturally, it needs to be tasty."
"Hm, hm, as expected," Drishti nodded, impressed by the girl's resourcefulness. Adanyl's shift from rage to calm acceptance, and her attempt to gather information, showed she wasn't just strong—she was smart, too.
"You said you saved His Highness once?" Adanyl inquired, recalling Drishti's earlier claim. Though she didn't fully believe it, a glimmer of hope compelled her to ask.
"Indeed, I took him away from Heindal in an injured state," Drishti replied, her eyes closed and a faint smile playing on her lips. She was clearly enjoying the drama she was orchestrating.
"What?! Is he alright?" Adanyl's voice trembled as she stood, her violent eyes locking onto Drishti's. Despite her skepticism, the possibility that His Highness might still be alive sent her heart racing.
Her mind, which had buried those memories under layers of resolve, now teetered on the edge of hope.
"Um, yes, he was. But you see, he has a twin brother," Drishti added, shrugging nonchalantly. Her acting was far from perfect, but it was enough to keep Adanyl hooked.
'Twin?' Adanyl's mind raced. She had never heard of His Highness having a brother. Her silver hair and crimson eyes reflected her confusion and the faint hope that maybe, just maybe, His Highness was still alive.
"You see, after saving Ryuk, he vanished. I traced his steps and realized it was his twin brother who killed him," Drishti explained, barely suppressing a laugh as she watched the shock spread across Adanyl's face. The girl's mind was clearly swirling with every word, and Drishti couldn't help but wonder what would happen if she pitted Adanyl against Ryuk.
'So she thinks I'm that gullible? Fine, I'll play along.' Adanyl mused, a faint smile forming beneath her hands.
For a moment, it seemed she had seen through Drishti's ruse—this woman was trying to make Adanyl attack the real highness while confusing her with twin story nonsense, causing Adanyl to quickly compose herself, clenching her jaw and wiping away the smile.
She decided to play along and first somehow reach His Highness, and then afterwards deal with this woman, considering there was no way she could reach him on her own.
The path to him was only known by this woman, which caused Adanyl to declare as she stood with a finger pointed towards the sky, "I will kill that twin brother myself! Lady... um, whatever you are, take me to him right now!"
'....'
Her gaze shifted to the contract, her mind racing to decipher its contents.
14:30
'....wasted,' Drishti thought, her curiosity momentarily halted by Adanyl's over-the-top acting.
'This girl is sharp. It's a waste of time to trick her further. I'll just bind her directly.'
It was clear that this girl was trying to fool her into believing she had fallen for the lie so that, without a hassle, she could reach Ryuk.
Drishti realized Adanyl wasn't just smart—she was cunning just like someone she knew. With a sigh, Drishti decided to drop the charade. "Stop this melodrama, girl. If you're that interested in meeting that kid, you'll need to sign this contract."
Without hesitation, Drishti pulled a contract from her dimensional ring.
It glimmered with intricate text, a document she had prepared in advance to bind Adanyl to her will.
Though she had hoped to manipulate the girl into signing it, Adanyl's sharp mind left Drishti with no choice but to resort to force.
'!'
".....What is this?" Adanyl asked, her eyes narrowing as she realized she might have revealed too much in her excitement.
Meeting someone who could see through her acting was a first for her—though, in truth, many had seen through it before; they just hadn't called her out on it.
Her gaze shifted to the contract, her mind racing to decipher its contents.
'!?!'
"N-no, I will never sign this!"
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