Time seemed to stretch as Lidien felt his blood and sweat stop their fall.
Badump! Badump!
His beating heart drummed in his ears, slow and steady.
But in reality, it was beating thunderously, like that of a wild steed galloping endlessly.
'I'll never stop unless I hit you at least once…'
As oxygen-rich blood flowed in and out of his head with the help of Incite of Blood, Lidien's brain rapidly processed all the information present to him.
He crouched, holding the quarterstaff with both hands before leaping toward Azer, striking him with an overhead blow.
Azer responded, raising his quarterstaff to block Lidien's strike.
However, as he thought of different outcomes of their quarterstaffs meeting, Lidien chose to divert his and hit the ground beneath Azer instead.
Boom!
Azer smiled and leaped backward, landing lightly.
But his smile vanished when he saw Lidien's eyes rapidly moving, zigzagging… looking at the debris floating from the heavy impact.
Lidien then spun his quarterstaff, sending all the debris flying toward him.
And as dust formed, Lidien used the cover to circle with inhuman speed, his claws already extending...
"You think throwing pebbles would hurt me?!" Azer said, still spinning his quarterstaff, waiting for another projectile.
When he felt a shift in the air to his side, glancing there a fraction of a second too late.
Schlick!
As a soft wet sound erupted from his side, Azer stopped his quarterstaff's frontal spin and slowly turned his head beside him, shivering at the sight of a child smiling at him innocently.
Lidien removed his partially transformed hands still dripping with blood.
His hair was disheveled with dust, eyes dilated; traces of red and purple veins marked his body… Then he smiled as his nose bled, painting his broken body with blood.
"Idiot Azer… be thankful we're brothers. If not--"
Thud!
Lidien passed out, making Azer sigh unexpectedly…
For the first time in his life, he felt death near him.
"So… I'm still human, after all."
Azer crouched and stared at Lidien's still bleeding face.
As he tried to reach for his small frame, he stopped when he noticed that his hands were shaking.
Sighing, he gently smiled and lifted the body of Lidien...
Walking outside of the Training Room, he saw Aria standing there just beside the entrance door.
"So, how was the youngest?" Aria asked, touching the face of Lidien, tracing its purple and red veins.
Azer forced a laugh... a sound that died as his dark eyes turned crimson with excitement.
"If not for the Dark Wolf Clan, I'd request Lidien to be sent to the Western Front..."
Aria watched Azer walk passed by her before sighing.
"No... don't, let the Twins handle the Western Front... damn Lily, every time we need her, she's always gone ahead of us... and Lidien still needs to follow her!"
As an emerald verve exuded from Aria's body, Azer stared at her, hissing with his now transformed sharp fangs.
"Never, ever... question Mother's decision..."
Aria smirked while twirling her hair.
"But Lily can make her own without having Mother's approval?"
Azer's deep laughter reverberated throughout the corridor, he turned back and continued to walk.
"Do you think making Lily the source of your envy is good enough? Oh please Aria... don't live behind her shadow... and find your own way like you used to..."
Aria gripped her hand, her eyes reddening from stopping her tears coming down.
As she stared at Lidien's face still hanging, she smiled softly.
"You're the only one who knows me well, Lidien..." she whispered that only ghosts could hear.
***
A slow trickling sound of water rang in Lidien's ear, moving his still closed eyes gently.
As he woke up from his sleep, what caught his eyes wasn't the gloomy bed he had in the floating castle but the Crimson Shard that continuously dripped a purified verve.
Lidien tried to stand, but even in his ethereal form he could still feel the pain and burning sensation of his Sparkline.
And when his gaze turned below, he saw his reflection full of red and purple vein marks over his body.
"Urgh!"
Lidien's head suddenly felt so painful that it kept stinging and beating like his brain had suddenly become a heart.
As his eyes darted again towards the Crimson Shard, he saw the fragmented Shattered Shards of the old Lidien weren't producing a black miasmic verve, but a clear bright red.
'Damnit! I hope it wasn't purified thoroughly!'
Lidien frantically stood, activated his Demonic Transformation, and stared at his reflection on the starry-like ocean of verve.
However, the blood-like verve snaked through his limbs, crawling up to his head like how he used the Incite of Blood, before completely filling up his whole body, transforming him into a being that he knew wasn't a Demon.
Though his features remained... the Crimson Eyes, the white long hair, sharp teeth and long nails, something distinct was added that only a Blessed should have.
A small, crystallized shard of Essence of their understanding inserted inside their pupils, slowly changing its color, harmonized with his crimson eyes.
However, unlike a normal Blessed that had a single change of hue, Lidien got three... transitioning from blood red, to emerald, to grey every now and then.
Lidien gripped his hands, and giggled... turning into a maniacal laughter.
"In the end, my guess is right... I was a Blessed of three kinds..."
Lidien had overused his Incite of Blood, the absolute focus required to strike Azer had directly purified the last remaining corruption of the old Lidien's Shattered Shards.
However, since the old Lidien's Soul was fractured into pieces that could only be fragmented memories of a tragic past, it couldn't be whole anymore.
This made the new Lidien sigh in relief, as his competition for the ownership of the body became a one-versus-one with the Death God.
It had been Lidien's dilemma when he saw the blood-like verve purifying the shattered shards during his time with Aria, questioning himself if it could revive the old Lidien, occupying two conscious souls in one body.
'One down... and a God to go...'