Chapter 288 Honourable (6)
Whoosh!
With eyes widened in disbelief and slight horror, Lucilla stared at the sword that had managed to graze her neck. Touching her bleeding neck in disbelief, the pink-haired beautiful Demon looked at the ground where she had been standing on before.
There was a meter wide and 10 meters long trench carved on the ground, which had been the work of Caliburn.
Lucilla involuntarily trembled as she imagined what would have happened if she had completely failed to dodge. Cabalen had died with a fight—it was not that humiliating—but she could've been dead without giving a fight.
Gulping dryly as she stared at the unimpressed Basil, she wondered what Basil true identity was. She didn't have any suspicion that Caliburn might have contributed to Basil's overwhelming power.
She had heard about Caliburn, mind you, however she had never seen or been in its presence before, so she didn't have any idea about it.
Lucilla, after all, was a new generation of Demon who was born in the Obelisk after the Age of Chaos had ended. Her knowledge was limited to the things she knew after she was born.
She had never encountered any legendary figures like Solomon or any other outstanding humans. She had little to no knowledge about ancient Artefacts and Relics—it was impossible for her to recognise Caliburn.
It wouldn't have been the case however, if she had been close enough with Jerion, the First Great General, who had been on Goap's side ever since the beginning of the Age of Chaos.
Jerion, after all, liked to tell stories, so there was a huge chance that she would be able to somehow figure out Caliburn's identity ... That was, if she had heard any of his stories like Cabalen.
"What a strange human." Lucilla frowned. "You shouldn't have possessed that power. I don't sense Divinity or the Spirit's Blessing inside you—how can you use True Light Magic?"
"You don't look like someone who likes to think, so you really surprised me with your observation." Basil lightly chuckled in ridicule. "Still, I believe you won't figure anything out of me—you can stop thinking about it."
"You should get down from your horse, human." Lucilla scowled. "Just because you have almost caught me off guard doesn't mean—"
"I have killed one of your fellows—what is up with the denial?"
"... This arrogant human." Lucilla clicked her tongue in annoyance.
Smirking lightly at Lucilla, Basil glanced over his shoulder. Since there were no longer Demons charging at him, all of them were coming towards the army, who had just finished positioning themselves in formation.
It wasn't up to his expectation, but he was still satisfied with how Iliana had organized the Mages. He lightly smiled as he deemed the army ready, then returned his attention to Lucilla.
His thorough observation had taken him only a glance, which didn't take up more than 2 seconds, so Lucilla didn't even think Basil had been observing the army when his gaze returned to her.
"You see, I am actually curious about what makes you so adamant on playing around in Woster County," Basil said with a smile. "You have a quite overwhelming amount of soldiers after all—there is no need for you to play safe."
Basil tilted his head as he looked at Lucilla with a small, curious smile. He wasn't trying to figure Lucilla out, but his gaze was enough to make her face turn rigid.
Like Basil said, she had enough military power to wipe the entire human army in Woster County out. She was also a capable General, so it was bewildering she hadn't been able to take Woster County down even after a week.
There was no other explanation about this than, she and her army had been playing around with the humans. It was quite a pricey game since it had cost them thousands of Demons.
It was still worth it however, since it served its purpose—stalling for time.
It was already apparent for Basil that there was nothing Lucilla could get in Woster County. There was already a Demon army stationed in Randalvine, so Lucilla bringing her army to Woster County was nothing but a distraction for the Kingdom.
It was honestly surprising how no one hadn't realized this fact, but no one could blame the people, who couldn't think right due to the situation they were in. Their mind was full of the thoughts of survival, so it was hard for them to see the bigger picture.
Basil, who had been in countless of big wars, however, could easily detect the underlying motive behind Lucilla's decision to attack Woster County with her army. Still, he couldn't figure out why they needed to stall for time.
"You should mind your own business, human," Lucilla said coldly. "You might be able to kill Cabalen, but there is no guarantee that you can kill me. Unlike him, I don't underestimate you, so you should be concerned of your survival."
Basil chuckled sarcastically. "Thank you for the reminder. I will make sure to keep that in mind." He waved his hand nonchalantly, then smiled mysteriously at Lucilla. "I wonder though, where is Goap now?"
Clank!
Boom!
"Don't call our Prince's name so casually!"
Basil had managed to irk Lucilla merely by playfully saying Goap's name. She had immediately came at him right after he said Goap's name, but he could easily block her attack without breaking a sweat.
"Ah, have I accidentally found the reason why you are stalling for time?" Basil smiled in wonder.
"Shut your hole, human!"
"It seems I have."
Lucilla gritted her teeth as Basil looked at her with his disdainful smirk. She tried to push her sword forward but she couldn't, since Basil's strength still outclassed hers even after she used her Demonic Mana.
Clank!
Even worse, she was thrown away to the back instead. Basil's strength was too much for her to handle, so she couldn't keep her feet remain on the ground.
She skidded on the ground for a few seconds, but the moment she stopped, Basil immediately came at her.
Boom!
As the two different types of Energy clashed against each other the moment Lucilla's and Basil's sword clashed, an explosion that was loud enough to temporarily deafen one's ears could be heard.
Basil, once again, swung Caliburn at Lucilla's neck. Although she managed to block it, Caliburn's golden light still managed to burn her skin.
She couldn't keep her feet on the ground, but instead of being helplessly thrown away, she used the momentum to distance herself from Basil this time.
Touching her neck for the second time that day, she sweated coldly the moment she found it was still scorched.
A few seconds had passed since she received the injury—normally, with her regeneration speed, it was more than enough time to heal it. Finding that it wasn't healed yet means that Basil's power was really dangerous for her.
"How can he use the power of a Light Spirit?"
Lucilla clicked her tongue in dissatisfaction as she wondered if Basil was a Spirit. After all, only Spirit's True Light Magic could harm Demons.
Clank!
Lucilla's thought was interrupted by Basil who had suddenly appeared in front of her. She was genuinely caught off guard since he had eliminated the distance between them even before she managed to blink, but she still managed to block his sword.
"This accursed human!"
"Do you think you are in the position where you can freely think to yourself whenever you want?"
Basil had never overly expressed himself unless he was in a situation that really riled him up. Just like now, he didn't find fighting Lucilla stimulating enough, so he had never clearly shown his smirk at Lucilla.
Despite so, he still managed to provoke her. She could see that he didn't really think she could do him any harm, thus he wasn't taking her seriously—it was humiliating.
That, of course, was just Lucilla's thought. In actuality, while he did think his fight with her would be easier than his fight with Cabalen, Basil never let his guard down even for a second as he faced her.
He wasn't the type to underestimate his opponent no matter how helpless they looked in front of him, and this was the reason why he had always managed to land a hit on her.
"I will wipe that smirk off your face!" Lucilla said spitefully. Processing her Demonic Mana into Miasma, she cast a Curse in the next moment. "Writhe as you call my name: [Skin Crawler]!"
As the Curse was cast, the Miasma Lucilla had gathered around her immediately enveloped her short sword that was still making a direct contact with Caliburn.
A sickeningly dark aura overwhelmed the surroundings air—it was enough to make every hair on one's body stand on end. Basil merely quirked his eyebrow at that, and before he managed to distance himself, the Miasma covering Lucilla's sword exploded.
Whoosh!
It felt nothing like having a dusty wind crashed into one's body. The only difference was, it was not a normal dusty wind—it was Miasma, which was the fuel of a Curse.
Basil's entire existence was enveloped by the Miasma that had covered Lucilla's short sword, and she could immediately feel her Curse take effect. She sneered disdainfully at that, but she still took a distance away from the Cursed Basil just in case.
The moment the Miasma covering Basil gradually melted away, Basil could be seen once again. Lucilla had expected him to writhe in pain on the ground while having all of his skin peeled off, but what she saw didn't amuse her in the slightest.
"What? We're you expecting me to fall for your pathetic Curse?" Basil smirked. "You have to try harder, Demon."
Basil was covered in a golden Barrier that was produced by Caliburn. He was completely unaffected by Lucilla's Curse, since the Barrier had done a good job protecting him.
"It's time to return the favour. I can't do Curse, but I can make you writhe in pain."
She immediately took off to the direction where Basil's pointer finger was not directed to, however the moment she did that, she could also see Basil turning his finger to the exact direction she was heading.
"What the—"
As she turned her head to her front, to the direction Basil was now pointing at, she was greeted by Basil, who was swinging Caliburn at her.
Slash!
She didn't know how it was possible for Basil to instantly appear there, but the moment her blood churned out of her opened abdomen, she finally realized she had been played by him the entire time.