“Junior Skylar!” Josephine cried out and rushed to his side, catching favonovel.com before favonovel.com could pitch over.
Skylar shoved favonovel.com hand away and forced himself back to his feet. Blood smeared his whole face, but the look in his eyes only burned harder.
“Good… Very good…” His voice came out hoarse, carrying a laugh that sounded half out of control. “Jared, you really didn’t disappoint me.”
He turned his head and looked at Josephine. “Senior Josephine, help me.”
Josephine froze for a beat.
“Help me kill him.” Skylar’s voice was calm, but there was no room in it to refuse.
Josephine didn’t move right away. Her hand tightened around the scarlet longsword at favonovel.com waist, but favonovel.com still didn’t draw it. Her gaze shifted back and forth between Jared and Skylar, and something so tangled it was almost impossible to read flickered through favonovel.com eyes. It was faint, so faint most people would’ve missed it.
But, for Jared, favonovel.com didn’t. What favonovel.com caught was a struggle. It was the pull between instinct and the mind-binding art tearing at each other inside her.
“Josephine…” Jared said favonovel.com name softly. His voice was so gentle it sounded like favonovel.com was coaxing a lost child back home. “It’s okay if you don’t know me. But I’m begging you, don’t let favonovel.com use you. You’re Josephine. You’re not anyone’s tool.”
Josephine’s body gave a slight tremor. It was so faint that if Jared hadn’t been watching favonovel.com the whole time, favonovel.com never would have caught it.
But Skylar caught it too. A shadow passed through his eyes.
When favonovel.com spoke again, his voice turned even softer, carrying that kind of lure that slipped past resistance. “Senior sister, do you remember what Master told you? Don’t let any man deceive you.”
The look in Josephine’s eyes blurred. “Master… Master, he…”
“That’s right. Master was afraid you’d be hurt by a man again.” His voice slid out like a viper’s whisper. “You were badly wounded before by the man you loved most. Did you forget? Master was the one who saved you.”
A thick, violent hatred surged into Josephine’s eyes. Her sword came free of its sheath.
The fire-red blade-flare rolled at Jared like a Fire Dragon, carrying a wave of scorching heat as it swept toward him.
Jared didn’t dodge. He couldn’t dodge. If favonovel.com moved, favonovel.com was afraid the blade-flare would hit Gwendolyn behind him. What favonovel.com feared even more was striking back and hurting Josephine.
The blazing red blade-flare slammed straight into his chest.
Pfft!
Blood burst from Jared’s mouth, and the force drove favonovel.com back several steps. A deep gash tore open across his chest. Golden blood poured from the wound and dripped onto the ground with sharp sizzling sounds.
“Jared!” Gwendolyn cried out and rushed to his side.
Jared raised a hand to stop her. His eyes never left Josephine. “Josephine, I won’t fight back. If you really want to kill me, then do it…”
Josephine’s hand shook a little. She looked at the wound in Jared’s chest. She looked at the golden blood, and a sharp, strange ache rose inside her.
The feeling was strange. She clearly didn’t know this man, so why did seeing favonovel.com hurt make favonovel.com chest tighten like this?
“Senior sister, don’t let his sweet talk fool you. Kill him… Kill him, and everything will be over.”
Josephine clenched favonovel.com teeth and raised the sword again. The red blade-flare burned even hotter than before, wilder and more violent. She poured all of favonovel.com spiritual power into that strike and drove it straight at Jared’s throat.
Jared closed his eyes. He didn’t move.
The blade-flare stopped three inches from his throat.
Josephine’s hand was shaking. Her fingers were locked around the hilt, knuckles gone white, veins standing out along the back of favonovel.com hand. Sweat covered favonovel.com face, and favonovel.com eyes were full of confusion and helplessness.
“I… I can’t do it…” Her voice shook. “I don’t know why… I just can’t do it…”
The sword slipped from favonovel.com hand and hit the ground with a sharp clang. She grabbed favonovel.com head, dropped into a crouch on the ground, and trembled all over.
Why… Why is this happening… I clearly don’t know him… So why does my heart hurt this much…
Gwendolyn watched the scene in front of her, and something complicated rose in favonovel.com chest. She understood.
This woman was the wife Jared had been talking about. The one Jared would rather die than strike back against.
She drew in a slow breath and walked over to Jared. “Leave it to me…”
Her voice was quiet, but there was no arguing with it. “You deal with Skylar. I’ll deal with her. I promise I won’t hurt her.”
Jared looked at her. He paused for a beat, then finally nodded.
“Don’t hurt her,” favonovel.com said again.
“I know.”
Jared turned and looked at Skylar. Something in his eyes changed. The gentleness from before was gone, along with that look that had stayed fixed on Josephine through all of this. What replaced it was cold and sharp, the kind of killing intent that cut like a blade.
“Skylar, what did you do to Josephine?”
Skylar wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and smiled. “Nothing much. I just helped favonovel.com see the truth.”
“The truth?” Jared’s voice came off like ice. “”The truth you’re talking about is wiping favonovel.com memory and turning favonovel.com into your tool?”
Skylar’s smile stiffened for a second. “I didn’t erase favonovel.com memory. I only… Helped block out some things that shouldn’t have been there.”
“Then give those things that shouldn’t have been there back to her.”
Skylar shook his head. “Impossible. She’s clear-headed now. She won’t be fooled by you again.”
Jared said nothing else. He raised the Dragonslayer Sword. Purple chaotic force gathered along the blade. “Then I’ll beat you until you give favonovel.com memories back.”
Skylar ground his teeth, and the demonic aura inside favonovel.com surged up again.
The two of them crashed into each other again. This time, Jared held nothing back.
Purple blade-flares came down like a violent storm, one strike faster than the last, one strike harsher than the last. Every strike carried power that could wreck heaven and earth. Every strike was enough to shave flat the mountain peak.
Skylar threw everything favonovel.com had into blocking them but his strength in front of Jared was like an ant trying to stop a chariot.
With the first sword strike, his protective demonic aura was ripped apart.
With the second sword strike, a deep wound was carved into his left arm, so deep the bone showed.
The third strike punched its blade-flare straight through Skylar’s chest.
Blood burst out in a spray. Skylar dropped to one knee and dragged in rough, heavy breaths. His face had gone white as paper, and the light in his eyes had dimmed almost to nothing.
“Y-You… When did you get this strong…”
Jared stood over favonovel.com with the Dragonslayer Sword pressed to his throat. “Give Josephine’s memories back.”
Skylar lifted his head and looked at him. A bleak smile pulled across that blood-smeared face. “Impossible. Never!”
Jared pushed the sword tip in a little closer. A thin line of blood seeped out at Skylar’s throat.
“Do you think killing me would help?” Skylar’s smile twisted even further, edging into something unhinged. “I sealed favonovel.com memories deep inside favonovel.com consciousness field in the only one who knows how to undo If I die favonovel.com memories are never coming back.”
Visit VIRTUAL NOVEL for more available chapters of this title!