Chapter 381: Bloodlust (1)
Chapter 381: Bloodlust (1)
The freezing night of planet Kraken stretched on, thick and suffocating, draping the basalt cavern in a heavy, violet darkness. Neither Kyle nor Elara showed the slightest intention of sleeping. They sat on completely opposite sides of the cramped space, their frames tense, eyes alert, and their bodies resting on a hair-trigger. Despite the shared meal of Lunar Mist Snails and the temporary truce against the Nabuyak beasts, the baseline distrust between a demon successor and a dark arts witch wasn’t something that could be washed away easily.Kyle leaned his head back against the jagged stone, his crimson eyes cutting through the dimness to lock onto her silhouette. He decided to break the heavy silence.
"You said you traveled with Yua for two weeks," Kyle began, his voice a low, echoing rumble in the quiet cave. "What exactly was the nature of your relationship with her? Why would a high-tier witch risk her life accompanying someone on a suicidal trek through Kraken?"
Elara didn’t even blink. She kept her arms tightly crossed over her chest, her jaw setting into a stubborn line. "That is none of your business, demon," she shot back coldly, her eyes narrowing. "I told you what she was looking for. Anything beyond that belongs to her and me alone."
Kyle let out a soft, dangerous hum, the runic tattoo on his left hand catching a glint of the faint silver light from the discarded snail shells. "You know... there are other, much better ways to extract that kind of information from a stubborn witch. Ways that don’t require your willing cooperation."
Elara let out a sharp, mocking scoff, tilting her chin up defiantly. "Try it. My mana core might be dry, but my mental wards will turn your telepathic probing into a localized stroke. I’d love to see you try, Demon Lord."
[Ooh, fierce. I like her, Host,] Snow’s voice suddenly chimed inside Kyle’s mind, dripping with her signature playful malice. [Her psychological resistance parameters are remarkably high for a baseline human. If you ask me, she’d make a spectacular addition to the permanent harem tab. Just think of the class synergy between an Abyssal Shadow Weaver and a Dark Arts Witch!]
Kyle mentally rolled his eyes at Snow’s words, completely ignoring the teasing prompt. ’Focus on the radar, Snow. I don’t need a matchmaking commentary right now.’
Perhaps sensing the subtle shift in Kyle’s posture or realizing that absolute defiance might provoke another bone-crushing display of his 306 Strength stat, Elara eventually exhaled a long, defeated breath. She stared down at the dirt between them, her hostility softening into a weary, reminiscent gaze.
"I met her exactly a month ago," Elara spoke quietly, her voice losing its sharp edge. "Coincidentally, that is the exact amount of time I’ve been stranded on this wretched rock. When you’re dropping into an apocalyptic anomaly with no baseline gear, survival forces strange alliances. But with Yua... it was different. Our bond developed incredibly fast. Faster than I ever thought possible."
She paused, a small, self-deprecating chuckle escaping her lips. "A high-tier vampire and a dark arts witch navigating a corrupted wasteland together. A classic fantasy tale, isn’t it?"
Kyle didn’t interrupt. He listened intently, mapping every detail.
"We fought back-to-back across the outer plains," Elara continued, her eyes reflecting the phantom glow of past battles. "We ran into hordes of low-tier mutated insectoids and rogue blood thralls. But the real reason I managed to survive out here for a whole month wasn’t just my witchcraft. It was her. Yua used her advanced biological knowledge to help me brew highly specialized, high-tier survival potions. They were designed to temporarily immunize a human core against Kraken’s toxic dark energy density. But... those potions had a strict expiration date. The last vial dried up right before the Nabuyak pack ambushed us, leaving me completely vulnerable, weak, and at the mercy of the atmosphere."
A soft, genuine chuckle escaped Kyle’s throat. "Wow... I never knew she could be this kind."
His mind drifted back across space and time, returning to the distant memories of Earth. "When I first met Yua back on Earth, we had the most incredibly awkward, borderline hostile first encounter you could imagine. She was sharp, guarded, and entirely unyielding. But somehow, fate kept pulling us back into each other’s orbits until our paths locked permanently. Hearing that she risked her own resources to keep a stranger alive... that’s exactly who she is."
Elara looked up, her sharp eyes studying the soft, reminiscent expression on the demon’s face. The contrast between his terrifying, explosive aura and this sudden display of vulnerability caught her completely off guard.
"So... you’re also searching for her," Kyle stated, returning his gaze to her. "Not just because she knows the terrain, but because you actually care about her safety."