The Duke's Passion



874 He fell for it

"Now that I am not flying, I can fight you properly."

SHING!

The demon Zero flung his arm, shielding himself from Tilly's attack. Even though her weapon hit his arm, it still sounded like two metals clashed together.

"lleh..." Zero sneered, but before he could do anything. Tilly already leaped back. "Sloth. You surely are full of energy."

Zero turned his back from Samael to face Tilly. Tilly had her knee bent with the other stretched to the side, her hand on the ground to stop herself before falling back into the hole.

"I preserved my energy for many years." The Lone of her voice didn't match the aura emanating from her back. "And I'm still young"

"Hehe." Zero stretched his neck to the side until a crack was heard from it. "Young?"

"Mhm. Very young"

Samael's face twitched at Tilly's remarks. If Tilly was young, that meant Samael was a toddler! Even though Samael was over two thousand years old, Tilly lived twice longer than him. The nerve to call herself young very young at that!n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Before Samael's thoughts could get astray, his brows rose.

What was he doing?

Samael gazed at Zero's back and assessed it. 'He's full of opening came a thought. 'How dare he turn his back on me?"

His expression turned sour, insulted at Zero's action. Although this Zero wasn't the Zero he knew, the demon using Zero's body, it still didn't sit well with him. Having the demon pay him no mind slightly hurt his pride.

'Let's see. Samael jumped slightly, checking his body's current state. 'Great. There's no more pain."

His eyes shone dangerously, keeping them on the demon's back. Since the demon was full of openings, Samael thought of helping Tilly even a bit. She might not need his help for now, but ending this demon quickly was their priority.

He didn't feel good about the dark field surrounding this land, after all.

Samael only sensed this after resurfacing from the underground. There was something wrong with the dark field covering the land of Spade, and it brought restlessness to his heart. Dealing and ending this demon was their priority.

In a blink of an eye, Samael disappeared from his vantage point.

'I don't have Catharsis anymore... Samael reappeared behind the demon, his claws ready to inflict damage. However, just before he could slash the demon's nape, he caught Zero's lips stretched into a grin.

Samael didn't think twice to retreat the second his heart pounded loudly. He flew away, returning to the area where he had stood carlier.

"Pride, how disappointing. I thought you don't like attacking your opponent on the back?" Zero cocked his head back until his neck was curled, as there was no bone in it, to look at Samael, The latter winced at the demon's action.

'Couldn't he face me properly? Why did he have to stretch his neck that way?' more than creepiness at the demon's action, Samael was deeply concerned. "This demon can stretch, twist, and break his bone without a problem. It only means it'll take more than breaking his bone to hurt him."

'Also... I thought he was wide open! Samael analyzed Zero's stance. Even right now, the latter was still wide open. However... 'if I attacked him earlier, I'm pretty sure he would've killed me! That was right.

Zero might appear wide open for any attacks. However, it wasn't enough to attack him because anyone who entered his vicinity would die... instantly.

"Tilly is surely amazing, Samael mentally admitted. When Tilly attacked the demon, her weapon still hit the latter. Although she had to back away right after. Still, that was amazing, since Samael couldn't even throw his attack.

"Samael" Samael's eyes veered over the demon between him and Tilly. "I said conserve your energy."

"I'm fine, though."

"Still not in your best shape!" Tilly kept her eyes on Zero, who was pulling his head back to face her. "This form is much stronger and faster.

"And whose fault is that!?" Samael blurted out, but Tilly was unfazed.

"In any case, do not attack him. You'll only get in my way," she continued solemnly, assessing every little movement Zero would do. "Do you understand?"

"Ilah!" Zero laughed maniacally. "Sloth, I do not understand. If you know you cannot defeat me in this form, it will be better if you two attack together! Not that it will change the outcome, but it will raise your chances of winning by a percentage."

Tilly blinked. "If I die here, who would call my brother to avenge me?"

The grin on Zero's face faded upon her last remarks. Tilly's brother. That was right. Tilly had other siblings aside from that damn Ameria, Samacl's mother. The demon was imprisoned in the Grimsbanne Mansion's basement. It watched how the family grew bigger and even witnessed those little seeds bloom.

In other words, this demon was aware of how downright demonic the rest of the Grimsbanne were. Tilly was still considered tamed, probably because of her slothful nature. Meanwhile, Samael, whom he also called Pride, still had a lot of room for improvement. If only Samael were raised in the Mainland, the demon was certain he wouldn't stand a chance against Pride. That was the reason the demon was in a rush to end Samael once and for all. Once Samael got a hang of the real power of the Grimsbanne blood in him, he would break through his bottleneck. He would surely be just as monstrous as those devils people called the Original.

"I don't scare you, but my brother does? Well. Even I am scared of him" Tilly pressed her lips into a thin line before casually pointing at Zero. "If you hurt me, my brother will definitely come here within seconds and shred you to countless pieces. So stay there and don't move while I hit

you."

"..." Samael was rendered speechless. Who in the world would fall for such a lame bluff?!"

Tilly huffed as the ground she was standing on cracked. In a snap of a finger, she suddenly disappeared and reappeared at Zero's side. Without showing a bit of hesitation, she swung her nun chuck straight into the demon's head.

Samael gasped as his jaw nearly dropped. His eyes were wide open, witnessing how Zero had received her attack without blocking it.

!!!!

"Ile..." he muttered, speechless. "... fell for it..."

Vole