Parallel Vol. 4 [LEGACY EDITION]

Chapter 47.2: The Vampire's Prince (2)

Skreee!

Only then did Syèl's ears pick up the tell-tale cry of Shokō's sword. Shit! Had she found a way to muffle the sound her blade made when she charged ki? How long had she been charging that thing.

"First Draw!" Shokō roared and then instantly drew her sword.

The stadium paled as a twenty foot tall ki-blade suddenly shot toward the halben. Syèl quickly drew out a short knife and cut his right palm. He quickly stamped his hand against the earth, and shouted, "[Stone Guardian!]"

Groooo!

The crowd watched with panicked breaths as a giant golem suddenly burst out from the ground. However, the golem barely had time to let out a roar before it was struck by Shokō's ki blade. A massive explosion ensued and the golem was shattered into several pieces.

"Wanna do this for real!?" Syèl roared as he was buffeted by the heavy winds, but he was greeted by Shokō's rapidly charging body. "Fine then!" The mage grasped the air and the flying debris froze in place. "Stay right there!" Syèl flicked his wrists and the debris suddenly accelerated toward Shokō.

The swordswoman stared at the incoming bombardment with an unwavering gaze. "It doesn't matter what you throw at me," Shokō said as she burst into a sprint, rushing right into the heart of the salvo. "I will cut through it all."

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The stadium had her hearts in their throats as they watched the small, petite figure weave through the bombardment, never stopping for even a second. Shokō drew her sword as she ran, slicing apart any boulder she could not dodge in time. She jumped and kicked off the rocks to increase her speed, never faltering in her desire to get even an inch closer to Syèl.

Syèl frowned as he looked at Shokō dust-covered form. Blood dripped from her cheeks from injuries caused by small, stray rocks she failed to track, and the band that tied up her hair had been cut, but her gaze remained on Syèl nonetheless, like there was nothing else in the world except for him.

Syèl's eyes shook. Those blue eyes that seemed to hold the depths of an ocean, and the gold hair that captured the sun's rays in the most beautiful light... "Hen— No! It's not her." Syèl's eyes hardened. Now he knew why he had been avoiding Shokō. She reminded him too much of Henri. He had thought it would be better after telling her about Henri, but that hug, and the way she leaned her head into his back. He had enjoyed it. Far too much.

There was only one thing Syèl was scared of in this world. And that was once again hurting someone close to him. The only way to avoid this was to ensure he kept everyone at arm's length. However, when did it start? When he began to look forward to hanging out with Shokō, whether in-game or the real world. Why did he need to differentiate her from Henri?

Syèl shuddered as he realized the truth. He wanted to separate Henri from Shokō so he could be around Shokō without hurting her. He wanted to spend time with Shokō. Did this mean?

Syèl took a step back, but found he could not take a second. What, did he not want to run away? Syèl once again glanced at Shokō. Did he unconsciously want her to make it to him?

The blood mage gritted his teeth. Fine, if he couldn't run away, he would make it so she never made it to him! Syèl clasped his hands and rapidly rattled off a number of spells.

The mages around the stadium shot to their feet in shock as hundreds of mandalas appeared around Syèl. What kind of casting speed was this!? This was impossible. However, their shock had yet to reach its Zenith as with a loud shout, two giant mandalas formed above Syèl. Even more shocking was the fact that these mandalas had two distinct properties to them. The runes on the left mandala were clearly fire-based mandala, whereas those on the right were wind-based.