freeallnovels Chapter 182: Three Days
Chapter 182: Three Days
The walk back was completely silent.
Yoru moved ahead of him at the same unhurried pace she always did, her wings folded, her expression unreadable from behind.
She was completely and utterly silent. It was almost as if he or anything around her didn’t exist.
It was far from the comfortable silence that followed them through the journey to Phoenix territory.
This was different.
This was the silence of someone who had decided that speaking would require letting something out that they weren’t ready to let out yet.
Damon could feel the layer of it. The controlled edge underneath everything she wasn’t saying.
He, however, neither cared nor minded the quiet. He already had enough thoughts racing through his mind.
Ivy.
No matter how many times he turned it over during the walk, the image of her standing in that valley in Phoenix territory with a hood over her face didn’t get easier to process.
The initial surprise of seeing her had passed. What replaced it was the slow, careful unpicking of everything the sight implied.
She had died at Central Station. He’d seen it. He’d also seen her rise from the dead.
But up until now, despite hearing from Ayame that what she used resembled the Phoenix’s Clan Resurrection technique, he never thought that she could be connected to the very same divine beast he aimed to kill.
They’d had their claws in Ivy since Central Station. Since before the first quest of his world even began.
While he was crossing a dozen wrong worlds with Yuki, Ivy had been here, acting as the champion of the Phoenix Clan.
He filed that somewhere uncomfortable and kept walking.
The Dragon estate appeared through the heat distortion ahead, its proportions wrong in the way he’d stopped noticing after the first day.
The dragons in the outer court tracked their return without approaching. Whatever signal Yoru’s presence sent, it was sufficient to alert every single one of them.
This time, however, they didn’t seem so keen to keep an eye on Damon. As if they could sense her foul mood from a distance, they each took a quick glance before scrambling away, unwilling to be on the receiving end of whatever had happened earlier.
They ascended the interior stairs without speaking, and the chamber door closed behind them shortly after.
The sound of it hadn’t finished echoing before Yoru turned and grabbed him by the collar.
She pulled him close enough that the distance between them was no longer a comfortable one, her blue eyes carrying the controlled version of something that was considerably less controlled underneath.
"You dare oppose me," she said. Her voice was quiet, though it commanded more attention than any scream would. "Every single time, you dare..."
Damon met her eyes without flinching. "Things have gotten complicated."
"Complicated," she repeated. The word came out like she was testing how much patience it took to say it without breaking something.
"I will have it handled," he said. "The Phoenix leader dies. Just not in the next three days."
"You made me look weak in front of my enemies."
"Weak? We killed two divine beasts in a single battle. There are no enemies left," he said. "Death of the Phoenix Clan Leader is only a matter of time."
Her grip on his collar tightened fractionally. "I should have you killed."
"You could try," he said in an even voice.
Yoru’s expression twitched, as if truly debating the idea.
Damon held her gaze steadily. "This doesn’t change anything. The Phoenix Clan Leader dies, I will see to it. I just need to figure out a way to sever the bond between her and the champion."
"Break the bond," she almost scoffed. "You humans... I have heard of your greed from across the worlds, but to see it in person." She shook her head. "You think you get to save everyone? I gave you a chance to save the Kitsune Clan because I wanted entertainment. Do not push it, human."
"Aren’t you interested? To see if a bond between a Divine Beast and a Champion can really be broken?"
Yoru’s expression changed slightly. If it wasn’t for the fact that Damon’s face was only inches away, it wouldn’t have been impossible to notice because of how subtle that change was.
A faint trace of amusement returned to her face.
"Three days," she finally said.
"Three days," he confirmed.
She shook her head slowly, the motion carrying the weight of someone who had found something genuinely baffling and couldn’t decide whether to be frustrated or intrigued by it.
"This won’t do," she murmured, more to herself than to him. "Won’t do at all."
He was still working out whether that referred to the situation or to him specifically when she leaned forward.
The bite landed on his lower lip, same place as before, same controlled precision, but this time her teeth sank deeper, drawing far more blood.
She pulled back immediately, the same dangerous smile returning to her face.
"You will have your three days," she said. "If you can survive them, that is."
Before he could respond, she released his collar and stepped away with the ease of someone who had just concluded a conversation and found the ending satisfactory.
She moved toward the bed without another word, reaching up to remove the ornamental pins from her hair with slow and graceful motions.
She didn’t look back as she removed the last of the pins and allowed her jet black hair to cascade freely across her slender shoulders.
Damon didn’t move. He wiped the blood trickling down his chin with the back of his hand and frowned slightly. ’If I didn’t know any better, I’d think she’s a damn vampire.’
His thought, however, barely had any time to settle before her voice cut through the room once again, this time significantly softer.
"Human," she called in a voice of a huntress luring in a prey. " Come over here. I need you to tend to my dress."