r18novel Page 157
Page 157
"Kasumigaoka-kun, what are your thoughts?"
"I wouldn't call it an opinion, it's just a simple logical deduction."
Kasumigaoka Utaha's voice was clear and sharp, completely unlike that of a newcomer who had just become a member of the Mystic Side.
"The House of Time and Spirit can provide time, but it cannot create power out of thin air. The gap between you and Kirkbor is an absolute chasm in terms of rank, experience, and magical power. This cannot be bridged in a short time simply through arduous training."
"That's right!"
Nami immediately jumped in to her defense, hands on her hips, assessing the risks like a shrewd businesswoman, "This deal is too risky! Our opponent is a Fallen Angel executive! If we lose, we'll lose our lives! Boss, this isn't worth it!"
Saeko Busujima didn't speak, but simply ran her hand lightly over the hilt of the sword at her waist. Her eyes showed no fear, but rather a flicker of excitement. But even she knew that behind that excitement lay a perilous challenge, one that seemed destined for certain death.
Himejima Akeno smiled, but did not agree with either side. However, behind that smile, her hatred for the name Kirkbor was almost tangible.
Sona's expression was somewhat unpleasant. Her prized logic had been mercilessly exposed by a human girl, revealing its most fundamental flaw. She was indeed… a little too eager for quick success. She longed to prove herself, to shed the aura of being the "Demon King's sister."
“At least, this is the only way we can go,” Cang Na insisted. “It’s better than sitting and waiting to die.”
“No, you have other options,” Rias retorted, looking at Zhou Ye. “We can ask Zhou Ye for help.”
Silence fell over the living room once again.
Once again, and for what seemed like the umpteenth time tonight, all eyes were on Zhou Ye.
He remained in the same posture, as if this life-or-death council concerning the future of demons and fallen angels was nothing more than a boring tea party.
【clang】.
Zhou Ye placed the teacup back on the table, making a crisp, light sound that, though not loud, clearly resonated in everyone's heart.
"Ask me?"
He finally spoke, a hint of amusement in his voice, "And then, I'll go and kill Kirkbor?"
Rias opened her mouth, and that was exactly what she wanted to say.
"madness."
Zhou Ye uttered two words, without emphasizing them, yet they carried more weight than any roar.
He stood up, walked slowly to the center of the living room, and looked around at the girls with their various expressions.
“You’ve been wrong from the start. Kirkbor’s appearance is not a crisis for you, but an opportunity.”
"Opportunity?" Cang Na couldn't understand.
"Rias Germain".
Zhou Ye's gaze was fixed on the red-haired girl. "Your victory over Riser Phoenix wasn't honorable. Those old guys in the Underworld may not say it, but they all remember it. You need a real achievement to shut everyone up and make your position as the head of the family as secure as Mount Tai."
His words precisely struck at Rias's deepest anxieties.
"And you, Cangnasidi."
He then turned to Cangna.
"You also need a achievement to prove to everyone that your value is not just that of Leviathan's sister."
Zhou Ye stopped in front of Rias, his shadow completely enveloping the girl.
"Killing Kirkbor was just an act of brute force. What value did it have? Did it earn the old fogies of the Underworld a compliment for the Gremory girl's good fortune in finding a powerful ally? Or did it make your brother think you were more likely to cause trouble?"
He leaned down to look Rias in the eye, his deep eyes reflecting the girl's shocked face.
"The real victory is not killing him."
"Instead, trample him underfoot, and in front of everyone, defeat him yourself, Rias Gremory."
Zhou Ye's voice wasn't loud, but it stirred up a storm in the entire living room.
To defeat Kirkbor with my own hands?
This is not arrogance, this is mythology.
“This…this is impossible…” Rias instinctively retorted.
"Nothing is impossible." Zhou Ye straightened up, regaining his superior indifference. "If I say it, I can do it."
He stopped looking at Rias and turned to Lina, who was kneeling on the ground.
"Tell them everything you know about Kokober's plans, personnel configurations, and outpost locations, without missing a single detail."
Chapter 124 Awakens Kiba Yuuto
Zhou Ye's words, like an unquestionable command, were nailed to the living room floor. Kneeling on the floor, Lina's body, once full of allure and arrogance, now possessed only the attributes of a tool. She dared not hesitate for a moment; her purple eyes, stained with fear, reflected the scrutinizing faces of Rias and Sona.
"Okay, master."
Her voice was hoarse, but her enunciation was clear.
"Lord Kokobor... the core of his plan is to recreate a small-scale mythical war in Kuoh Town, the territory of demons, and use it as a model to prove to the entire Fallen Angel organization that peace is a lie of cowards."
Lina's narration was methodical, throwing out one shocking word after another: kidnapping demon nobles, seizing artifacts, summoning hellish monsters, polluting the ley lines... But halfway through, her voice paused noticeably, and she looked up at Zhou Ye, her eyes filled with a mixture of fear and confusion.
“But… Master, the plan might change. You… you let that mad priest, Friedselzan, go. What if he informs Lord Kirkbor…”
Zhou Ye understood what she meant. Fried's escape was a huge variable, enough to make any cautious commander reassess or even abandon the entire plan.
"It doesn't matter."
Zhou Ye's answer was understated; he picked up his teacup, seemingly judging the temperature of the tea.
"Kirkbor's arrogance is beyond your imagination. He won't change his goals just because a mad dog and a few incompetent subordinates have disappeared. He'll only think that your incompetence has tainted his plans."
He put down his teacup and glanced at Rias and Sona.
"Besides, that ugly guy is a coward who bullies the weak. He may change the details, but he won't change his target. In Kooh Town these days, there are no easier targets to bully than the two of you."
Upon hearing this, the temperature in the living room plummeted. Cang Na adjusted his glasses, and for the first time, a sharp, cold light flashed in his blue eyes behind the lenses.
“Mr. Zhou, your assessment is far too arbitrary. As the next heads of the Gremory and Siddi families, we may lack experience, but we are by no means pushovers.”
"Oh?"
Rias went even further, her crimson destructive magic swirling around her like mist, scorching the air with a crackling sound.
"Who are you calling an easy target?"
The two powerful young ladies from prestigious families unleashed their auras simultaneously, and even though they weren't deliberately targeting her, the force still made Aisha and Kara hold their breath. However, Zhou Ye simply watched them quietly, his face expressionless, as if their anger was merely two cats baring their teeth and claws.
He didn't even bother to refute her; his indifference was a contempt more profound than any mockery. Rias and Sona simultaneously felt a tightness in their chests. Their pride in their status and power seemed so pale and laughable before this man. Lina, terrified by the tense atmosphere, quickly interrupted, saying:
"Lord Kokober... he... he's also very interested in the Church's 'Holy Sword Project.' He brought a group of exorcists who defected from the Church, and... and stole three fragments of the modified Holy Sword, the King's Sword, from the Vatican..." The 'Holy Sword Project!' This phrase, like a red-hot iron rod, was branded into another corner of the living room. The blond boy, Kiba Yuuto, who had been silent all along, suddenly stiffened. A complex aura, a mixture of holiness and evil, overflowed from him uncontrollably. His handsome face was contorted with extreme anger and pain, and in his azure eyes, resentment and killing intent almost materialized.
“The Holy Sword…the plan…” He forced out the words through clenched teeth, his knuckles turning white from gripping the metal so tightly. In his vision, the opulent living room had lost its color, transforming into a cold, white laboratory. The screams of his comrades before their deaths echoed in his ears, along with the man's maniacal laughter. Rias immediately noticed the strange behavior of her familiar and called out anxiously:
"Yuto!"
"Kiba-kun, calm down."
Zhou Ye's voice wasn't loud, but it clearly drowned out Kiba Yuuto's disordered breathing.
"You look terrible right now."
Kiba Yuto abruptly turned his head, his bloodshot eyes fixed on Zhou Ye. Zhou Ye ignored his hostility and continued to state a cruel fact in a calm tone.
“That mad priest I let go, the one I didn’t kill, Friedelzan, is exactly like you now. Immersed in your own world, blinded by hatred and powerless rage, capable of nothing but meaningless roars.”
"you!"
Yuto Kiba felt his dignity being trampled on.
"What am I?"
Zhou Ye countered with a question,
"Isn't that so? What good is it for you to put on a show of anger here, except to make your companions worry about you and let your enemies laugh at you? Your enemies are right outside, they are planning to unleash an even greater disaster, and you, the Knight of Rias Gremory, are here putting on a show of facial expressions."
Zhou Ye's words were like a cold scalpel, dissecting Kiba Yuto's heart, which was wrapped in hatred, and revealing his helplessness and self-loathing in a bloody way.
"Is this the ugly form of your so-called revenge?"
Zhou Ye stood up and walked towards him step by step, each step feeling like he was stepping on his nerves.
“That mad priest, Fried, is your best mirror. Look at him, then look at yourself. The same fanaticism, the same powerlessness, the same ugliness.” “Shut up!”
Kiba Yuto roared, conjuring a demonic sword out of thin air and pointing it directly at Zhou Ye. However, Zhou Ye merely extended a finger and lightly touched the tip of the sword. The sword, composed of pure magic, instantly shattered, turning into specks of light and vanishing without a trace.
"Look, even the courage to swing your sword at me is so fragile."
Zhou Ye's voice was devoid of any emotion.
"If you really want to avenge your fallen comrades, then put away that pitiful expression, train hard, and then personally cut off the enemy's head on the battlefield."
Zhou Ye paused for a moment before delivering the final blow.
"Instead of wasting everyone's time here like a complaining woman."
The entire living room was deathly silent. Kiba Yuuto stood frozen in place, the lingering magical energy in his hands completely subsided. Zhou Ye's words, each one like a hammer blow, shattered all his pretense. Yes, what had he done all these years besides wallowing in hatred? He had relied on Captain Rias's gentleness, enjoyed the care of his comrades, yet never truly confronted his inner demons. Ugly… so, in others' eyes, he was such an ugly existence. That soaring resentment, like a punctured balloon, quickly dissipated. In its place came an unprecedented clarity and resolve. He raised his head; the pain and confusion in his azure eyes had receded, leaving only a chilling, condensed killing intent. He bowed deeply to Zhou Ye.
"Thank you for pointing this out, Mr. Zhou."
Chapter 125 Arrangements for the Women
Kiba Yuto's bow brought a temporary pause to this night filled with betrayal, conspiracy, and fear. The oppressive air in the living room finally began to circulate, but no one could truly relax. Everyone's nerves were like taut bowstrings, and that bow was held in Zhou Ye's hand.
"Okay, let's not talk about this for now."
Zhou Ye sat back on the sofa, as if he weren't the one who had just driven a powerful knight to the brink of defeat with his words. He casually picked up a cookie that Kasumigaoka Utaha had brought out sometime during the night and tossed it into his mouth.
"Since you are all prepared to die, then I will open the [House of Time and Spirit]."
He chewed on the biscuit and added, his words muffled:
"Sigh, I originally thought I could quickly achieve an external adjustment time of one day, which translates to an internal adjustment time of one year. But now, what I can do is achieve an external adjustment time of one day, which translates to an internal adjustment time of thirty days. I can conduct various internal energy explosions without causing internal collapse."
These words fell lightly, yet they caused Rias and Sona to catch their breath simultaneously. 1 to 30. This ratio was beyond their comprehension of spatial magic; it was almost a realm only gods could reach.
Rias's emerald eyes were instantly ignited with ecstasy, all the gloom brought on by Kirkbor dispelled by this light. She involuntarily stood up, clenching her fists, her voice filled with barely suppressed excitement.
"That's enough! Ye, I've asked the family for 10 days off, that's 300 days! I have enough time to grow, not only to win the ranking game against Riser, but also to personally defeat Kirkbor!"
Beside her, Sona adjusted her glasses, her calm blue eyes behind the lenses flashing with calculations. Three hundred days was enough for her familiars' strength to undergo a qualitative change, and she herself could delve deeper into the Siddi family's 433 water magic. This was no longer a sliver of hope, but a broad road to victory.