Chapter 454: Trauma
For years, Nathan had been forced to tolerate his presence and everything that came with having the Demon King constantly watching his affairs.
He was never been able to do anything about it.
But things were different now.
If the Demon King was answering to his daughter-in-law, then Nathan might as well make use of the situation and eliminate one of the problems standing directly in his way.
He spat at the corpse. "Stupid."
—-
Much later that night, about three hours past midnight..
Ethan was in the middle of his regular three-way spar with his summons, Arael and Nina
This was a regular routine, even back in Gritnia.
Back then; given his responsibilities at the company and his activities with the guild, this was usually the only time he could properly focus on testing his strength and pushing his limits. Arael and Nina were the two summons who most often accompanied him in those sessions.
There was one more summon present tonight, though.
Albedo.
She wasn’t participating in the spar. Instead, she sat several hundred meters away, watching the three of them with an look of boredom.
The only reason Ethan had brought her out was because he remembered how much she disliked being confined to the summoning space for extended periods.
Still, judging by the expression on her face, she seemed to have changed her mind about that tonight.
She probably would have preferred being back there.
The spar took place far from the main palace quarters, in an open stretch of land somewhere within Krygon Province.
The area was surrounded by a sparse forest and had long since been left unused. Most of the landscape was barren, much like the vast stretches of land found throughout the Demon Continent.
It made for a suitable place to test their strength. And at this hour, there was hardly anyone around to disturb them.
Ethan was shirtless, wearing only the loose black trousers of the traditional attire as he moved between the attacks of his two summons.
Nina came at him from different angles, her blades cutting through the air in rapid succession.
Ethan either slipped past the strikes or met them directly with his fists, his physical strength alone—without any amplification or any further enhancement—already placing him at the level of a Second-Tier Grand Class.
He could take Nina’s blunt strikes against his palms every few exchanges and barely feel the impact.
Arael, on the other hand, kept her distance, sending ink projectiles toward him from varying angles.
However, Ethan relied on his lightning-fast movements to evade them, using the exchanges to gauge just how quickly he could react and move when pushed.
Nina for strength, and Arael for speed.
That was how Ethan had structured the spar.
After another exchange, the three separated.
Ethan landed several meters away and looked between them with a smirk.
"Come on. There was a time when you two actually gave me some trouble." He glanced toward Nina. "Nina, what happened to you? I can block your attacks without even breaking a sweat."
His gaze moved toward Arael. "And Arael, you’re a lot faster than this."
"But, my liege..." Nina began in her usual hesitant voice. "I’m trying not to harm—"
"Oh, come on, Nina. What the fuck?" Ethan cut her off. "Enough of that already. Both of you, come at me properly!"
Nina lunged forward, igniting her blades with flames as she swung toward him.
Ethan tilted his head aside, narrowly avoiding the first strike.
Then he sensed something approaching from another direction. These were several ink bullets were already shooting toward him.
His figure vanished in an instant flash of light, reappearing several meters away, with a grin spreading across his face.
"Now that’s more like it."
The spar continued for several more moments, the intensity steadily increasing.
Then all three suddenly stopped as they registered the new presence that had entered the area.
It was descending slowly from the sky.
Ethan narrowed his eyes as he looked upward to see the figure gradually coming into view.
It was Abaddon.
Ethan’s expression became puzzled as he wondered what Isabella’s Blessed was doing here.
Arael, however, reacted very differently.
Her eyes widened at the sight of the descending figure of an angel.
Arael’s arms began to tremble as flashes of her childhood resurfaced in her mind. She saw the old man’s dead body lying in a pool of blood beside her own, her younger self surrounded by the same blood, and the figure of the angel who had killed her.
But what stood out most was what she remembered about that angel—black wings.
Although Abaddon had been around them for nearly two weeks, this was the first time he had actually been in Arael’s physical presence.
Seeing him now had brought the buried memory rushing back with startling clarity.
Her hands trembled before curling into fists as the ink surrounding her body began to stir.
Ethan noticed immediately.
Through the bond he shared with his summons, he could feel the emotional trauma resurfacing within her.
Arael took a step forward, but right then Ethan appeared beside her in an instant.
He caught her hand, stopping her before she could take another step.
Arael turned toward him with furious eyes, tears threatening to spill from them. Ethan looked directly into her eyes and slowly shook his head as though saying; No, don’t do it.
Arael stared at him for a moment, her clenched hand gradually loosening.
Ethan then dismissed his summons, causing Arael and Nina to disappear and return to the summoning space.
By then, Abaddon had descended completely and stood firmly on the ground.
"I was quite certain that your summon was looking at me with the intent to kill," he said.
Ethan sighed. "Yeah. Your presence could be troubling for her."
He paused before looking at Abaddon more closely. "But that’s beside the point. Is there a problem?"
Abaddon regarded him for a moment before answering. "No. I simply came to speak with you."
"Hmm?" Ethan looked at him. "About what?"
Abaddon’s expression remained calm. "Morgana."
Ethan’s expression changed slightly at the name.
"Okay, hold on." He raised a hand. "Before we get into that, I need to get one thing straight. You’re not, by any chance, the angel who was sent down to this planet all those years ago to kill the human father and the child angel with the colored wings, are you?"
Abaddon looked at him with a strange expression. "I don’t know what you’re talking about. If you’re referring to your summon, then I had nothing to do with whatever happened to her. This is quite literally the first time I have ever seen her."
"I see. No problem, then." Ethan said
He had asked because he had witnessed the same memories Arael had experienced through their bond, and needed to settle the matter before continuing.
"All right, then. Go on. Why do you want to speak to me about Morgana?"