The World Is Mine For The Taking-Chapter 1245 - 192 - Leon Vs. Veronica - Climax (2)
Attracted?
"So... you were attracted to me?"
I didn’t press her on how she arrived at that conclusion, or when the thought first took root in that unreadable head of hers, or what exact moment flipped that switch. I didn’t even try. I just stared at her for a second, maybe long enough for the silence to stretch very thin and taut, like a wire ready to snap.
"And how exactly," I asked, keeping my voice steady, "did this attraction of yours lead you to believe that Lilith’s resurrection is inevitable?"
She didn’t hesitate.
"I know for a fact that in order for Lilith to be resurrected, you have to copy all the skills the other fragments possess," she said, her tone calm, almost analytical. "Our abilities were originally Lilith’s. Each of us is nothing more than a divided aspect of her power. That means every skill we wield is fundamentally hers. So once you collect them all... once you complete that process... Lilith will be resurrected."
I blinked at her.
I genuinely didn’t expect that level of depth from her. Not that she was incapable—she clearly wasn’t—but the way she laid it out so cleanly as well as so logically, caught me off guard. When did she even start thinking about this?
"Me being attracted to you under such strange conditions," she continued, "is something I didn’t even know was possible. It wasn’t natural. I didn’t just fall for you in a conventional way. I became interested in you through an abnormal trigger."
Her gaze didn’t waver.
"Do you think that’s a coincidence?" she asked quietly. "No. I don’t."
There was something unsettling about how sure she sounded.
"You could argue that it’s natural because this outcome was inevitable. As if something—fate, perhaps—is guiding us closer together. I don’t believe I need to elaborate further." She paused, then added, "And considering that all the fragments besides you are women, it’s reasonable to assume this was the plan from the beginning. Lilith, our creator, likely intended for us to unite with you. To become whole again. To resurrect her."
For the most part... she wasn’t wrong.
"My attraction to you simply occurred," she said. "It wasn’t gradual. It wasn’t earned in the traditional sense. It manifested."
She wrapped her arms around herself then, fingers pressing lightly against her own shoulders as if trying to hold in something simmering beneath her skin. It was a strange gesture. It was almost intimate and almost protective. A faint flush spread across her cheeks, though her expression remained mostly neutral. If you didn’t look closely, you’d miss it.
"When I was injured," she went on, voice quieter now, "I felt a burning pain powerful enough to send me flying backward. It should have been unbearable. But at the same time... it was pleasurable."
She swallowed.
"I had never experienced injury before. That sensation was new and intense. It was overwhelming, in a sense."
I stared at her.
Was she a masochist?
Because that would explain a lot.
It was hard to tell. Her face, as always, was a mask. She was calm and have a very controlled expression. Almost clinical. Meanwhile, she was casually admitting that getting hurt by me sparked something inside her. I didn’t know whether to feel flattered or concerned.
"I have no doubt," she continued, "that the two of us will eventually reach a stage where we must become one."
There was no embarrassment in her tone. Just certainty.
"As for when... I believe it will happen soon."
Then she raised her sword.
The air shifted.
"But for now," she said, a faint glimmer in her eyes, "shall we take the pleasure of dancing once more?"
I exhaled slowly.
Well. That was one hell of a philosophical detour in the middle of a battlefield.
Guess it was time to get back to what we actually came here for.
I raised my sword.
The atmosphere snapped tight.
She moved first.
Her blade carved through the air with violent precision, releasing a slash so powerful it generated a visible shockwave. The ground beneath us trembled as the compressed air tore forward, ripping toward me like an invisible wall of force. At the same time, she launched herself forward, her body blurring as she closed the distance in a heartbeat.
Two attacks. One ranged. One closed-quarters.
That fighting style was very efficient and sometimes effective.
I stepped into the incoming shockwave and swung.
Steel met compressed force, and with a sharp crack, I split the shockwave clean down the middle. The impact rattled through my arms, but I didn’t let it slow me. The moment the divided force dissipated, I felt her presence shift—
Behind me.
I pivoted instantly, raising my blade just in time to block her descending strike. The clash rang out, metal grinding against metal as sparks burst between us.
We locked swords.
Up close, her eyes were steady and very focused.
Then, without warning, she gathered magic in her free hand.
At point-blank range.
A tight, compressed sphere of fire formed beside us, humming with mana. And before I could comment on how reckless that was, she fired it.
Usually, that kind of move would hurt her more than me. Close-range magic explosions aren’t exactly selective. But she didn’t flinch and didn’t hesitate. It was as if she had fully committed to a more aggressive style, abandoning caution entirely.
Honestly? I respected it.
I activated Guardian.
A protective barrier surged outward, enveloping both of us in a translucent dome just as the fire magic detonated. The explosion roared against the barrier, flames licking across its surface before dispersing harmlessly.
Heat washed over us, but neither of us moved.
I swung my sword in a wide arc, forcing her back. She slid across the ground—
—and immediately dashed forward again.
She didn’t pause. And even reset.
She just went into relentless momentum.
She poured everything into her speed, her movements slicing through the air like a blade in their own right. To anyone else, she would’ve been untouchable. She was a blur. A streak of silver and steel. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺
But she already knew.
She couldn’t outpace me.
Maybe she was keeping up appearances. Maybe she wanted to show she was giving her all, that this fight wasn’t some half-hearted exchange driven by weird attraction and philosophical doom theories.
Or maybe... she was testing me.
This time, though, I sensed something different.
She wasn’t just attacking.
She was being careful with me.
Subtle adjustments in angle. Controlled force in her swings. Enough to threaten, but not to kill.
She came at me mid-slash, her sword cutting down with lethal precision. The blade whistled as it descended, aimed cleanly at my shoulder.
I leaned my upper body back, the edge passing inches from my face. I could feel the wind from it brush against my skin.
Her momentum carried her into a near one-hundred-eighty-degree rotation.
But she didn’t stop there.
Using the spin, she twisted again—another one-eighty—completing a full three-hundred-sixty-degree rotation. The movement was fluid and almost elegant. And then, harnessing that rotational force, she drove her leg upward in a brutal kick aimed straight at my head.
Just like her sword, though, it didn’t connect.
Her foot sliced through empty air where my head had been a fraction of a second earlier.
I caught her leg mid-air.
The impact reverberated through my grip, her momentum still pushing forward. For a split second, we were frozen like that with her balanced on one foot, me holding the other.
Using all the strength I could muster, I pivoted and hurled her across the field.
Her body arced through the air before she flipped, twisting gracefully to absorb the force of the throw. She skidded along the platform but didn’t collapse.
Within moments, she regained her footing.
Of course she did.
She straightened, sword lowering slightly at her side.
