Chapter 3204 Shared Secrets (Part 2)

["It's not your language."] Kamila replied. ["It's English from planet Earth. And I know it just like I know that your name is Derek McCoy. That your brother's name was Carl and that he died in a car accident. I know all this because you told me."]

["Me? Why would I-"] The Void realized he already knew the answer and choked on his question. ["I told you? Can you prove it to me?"]

'Don't listen to her!' The souls felt their grip on Derek's mind slip. 'She's lying!" 'Everybody lies!' 'Someone like you would never open up!' 'It's a trick.'

The Voidfeather Dragon was pus.h.i.+ng back with everything he had while conjuring a thin thread between the merged life forces forming the Void Demon Dragon and the human side.

This time, Derek wasn't resisting the Voidefeather's efforts and the thread was slowly growing in size.

["I can't."] Kamila shook her head, making Derek growl and the voices rejoice. ["But you can."]

She imprinted the metal stem of the Camellia and a red flower made of mystical fire bloomed on its tip. She then proceeded to imprint it with different kinds of elemental mana, turning the flower in different colors.

A sudden pang brought Derek to his knees as he remembered how he had come up with the idea for the cheap magical flower. All the misunderstandings and tender moments a.s.sociated with the Camellia came to his mind, making his knees buckle.

["Are you alright?"] Kamila kneeled as well, keeping herself at his eye level.

She had the Tuner in her hand but she didn't activate it. She could have struck the iron while it was still hot but she preferred to make Lith feel at ease rather than bombard him with more memories.

["Where have you taken that flower and what does it have to do with me?"] Derek pushed all those images away and stood up again with a light groan.

["You gave it to me four years ago for our second date and I gave it back to you as my betrothal gift.] Kamila replied. ["You made it after the camellia, a flower from Earth, because it sounded like my name.

["Also, you made it from sc.r.a.p metal to save money."]

'I don't know what's more absurd. The fact that's something I would do or that she's not angry about a gift made from trash at all.' His enhanced senses told him that there was only tenderness in Kamila's touch as he caressed the Camellia.

["What's a betrothal gift?"] He asked.

["We don't exchange rings on Mogar. We exchange gifts."] Kamila pointed at the Tuner. ["This is what you gave to me. Do you mind if I play some of your music?"]

["Yeah, right."] He scoffed. ["Now I'm sure you are full of it. I've never played an instrument-"]

Kamila took it as a yes and activated the Tuner, conjuring the voice of Dragons singing about Demons.

Derek froze in shock, recognizing the song and the meaning it had for him. It was the one he always played when he found a woman he liked but ended up keeping her at arm's length, afraid of how she would react were she to discover he had killed his own father.

["Stay back!"] He tried to unsheathe Ragnar?k but the blade refused his order. "Protect!" It snarled.

Derek then tried to shapes.h.i.+ft the b.l.o.o.d.y scabbard into a sharp edge but Ragnar?k ignored that command as well.

"Protect!" The blade suddenly became so heavy that Derek needed to hold it with both hands.

Ragnar?k's weight kept increasing until the hilt slipped from his fingers and the angry blade flew away.

"Protect!" It stood in front of Kamila, retracting its hilt to make sure no harm could come to her.

Ragnar?k shapes.h.i.+fted part of the blood into a new handle she could touch and snuffed out the blue flames covering its body before rubbing against her hand with the howling sound of a happy dog.

["Protect?"] Derek was flabbergasted. ["What happened to murder, you

two-faced piece of metal?"]

"Secondary command." Ragnar?k replied. "First command, protect!"

["Whose command?"]

"Yours." Several visions flooded Derek's mind.

The places were different. A rich mansion, some kind of office, a cozy cottage, and several markets. Yet the protagonists were always the same. An unknown man and the woman in front of him.

The man always said the same words: "Protect Kami and the baby."

["The baby?"] Derek echoed as his knees buckled again.

The music changed, the Dragons now singing about Birds.

["This is about our break up."] Kamila ignored the blood hilt, too afraid to touch it, and caressed the cross guard instead. ["Go back to Lith, Ragnar?k. He needs you more than I do."]

The blade returned to Derek's hip yet he didn't feel betrayed by the sword's rebellion. He felt proud and rea.s.sured.

["I guess you are telling the truth."] Derek sighed. ["There's no way you can know all these things unless I told you about them."]

'Murderer!' The souls forced their way to his head and limbs, knowing there was only so much time before everything was lost. 'Monster!' 'You'll never have a wife!' 'You don't deserve one!' 'How do you think you ended like this?" The parasitic souls stoked up the blue flames, burning Derek's mind and body to blind him with pain.

'She betrayed you!' 'She killed you!' 'And now she's going to do it again!"

["It also means I was right."] Derek snarled, the voices overlapping with his own and they fueled his paranoia. ["You are the one who made me like this. You are the only one who could get close enough to hurt me!"]

He tried to unfurl his wings but they remained in the folds of his back. He tried to step away but his feet were glued to the ground.

"What have you done to me, witch?"] Derek took a deep breath and unleashed a tier four War Mage spell, Chasing Lightning.

Bolts of lightning shaped like small dragons erupted from each of his fingers,

moving in a zigzag pattern as they homed on their target. Such was the fury and power of the Abomination that the electricity hit the ground like a whip, opening deep cracks in its wake.

Kamila took a step back, yelping in panic as she raised her arms in an attempt to protect herself.

The spell crackled and rumbled like a storm, just to fan out in front of her. The Chasing Lighting fell apart in a colorful but harmless cascade of golden

sparkles.

["Wait, what?"] Kamila and Derek said in unison.

["This is impossible!"] The Void Demon Dragon threw spears of ice, air blades,

and projectiles of darkness at the woman. He even tried to have the ground open below her feet and crush her.

The runes formed correctly and the spells followed his will until they came one meter from Kamila. At that point, they changed direction and faded away.

["I was right. That's how you killed me. You are immune to magic!"] Derek emitted a tier five Spirit Spell, Primordial Roar, that behaved no different from

the previous elemental spells.

The Trawn woods were ravaged by his magic and blue flames, except for the spot where Kamila stood.