Deklan doesn't want this.

He doesn't want Victoria defending him like this.

Seeing him lose should be the cue for Victoria to be happy—Happy that she had made the right choice for leaving him. Since he would no longer be around, she should take this chance to leave and let Agnar slay him.

But for some unfathomable reason, she was now protecting him.

Eughh… My God! Can you leave? Like, I don't want your help or anything you have.

Since Agnar has proven to be one formidable opponent, Deklan was planning to backstab him instead of fighting him head-on. He has two lives—so there was no way Agnar would anticipate being attacked by a dead man.

Cowardly? Who cares? As long as he gets through this, then he's going to do it.

Paul never taught him to be kind and honorable to his enemies, so there's no reason for him to be fair.

However, that plan could only be used if Victoria left.

She stayed.

Now that plan was sullied.

So, Deklan was forced to wreck his brain for another way out.

"Harghh…"

Blood forced its way up his throat and spilled from his mouth, carried by it was a burning pain.

Deklan has holes across his body from the spell.

He was losing blood fast.

Even his form returned to normal as the time limit was reached.

As Victoria and Agnar kept arguing, he looked to the other side, seeing that Kaelyn was getting up and preparing to go help him. She was in a lot better shape than he is—the spell only managed to graze her, which was thanks to her flexible body.

But Deklan shook his head, signaling for her to stay away.

'Make this woman leave!' He said without a voice.

'What?' Kaelyn pointed at herself, also answering with lips alone. 'How am I even supposed to do that?'

'Just think of something!'

'I don't know! You do it! Curse her or something!'

"If you insist on killing him, then you'll have to go through me," Victoria said, unsheathing her lance, summoning her seething white aura in preparation to fight. "Just remember, things would only get more complicated if you kill me too."

"Don't worry," Agnar readied his sword. "I'm more than capable of killing him without hurting you."

"Stop!"

Before the two could clash, Deklan's voice echoed, stopping them.

His sudden intervention caught Victoria and Agnar off guard.

She turned to look at him, brows raised, "Shut up if you still want to live!"

"Lady, I don't need your help," Deklan intervened as he painstakingly climbed onto his feet, though he was hissing along the way from the excruciating pain his body was feeling right now. "Go away. Mind your own business!"

"D-Deklan!" Victoria clicked her tongue and stomped her foot. "Stop acting stubborn! Do you think it's healthy to be stubborn with your pride like that? Let me help you! I know you're trying to prove to me that you can be strong, but it's enough! Let me deal with this, and then we'll talk about our relationship after!"

A vein bulged on Deklan's forehead.

Relationship? What relationship? She must've lost her mind!

[Host, that's a red flag, host. You're going to be in a lot of trouble if you're tangled with her.]

I don't need you to tell me to know, damn it!

Deklan wasn't being stubborn or clinging to his pride as she thought.

There were no complicated feelings; he simply didn't want her here, but she took it the wrong way.

Maybe the previous Deklan has always been hung up on her, or perhaps she was simply that delusional.

Either way, he has to get her to leave.

"Leave," Deklan pushed Victoria aside and walked past her. "This is none of your business."

Blood fell to the ground with a soft, steady tap—a quiet metronome marking Deklan's advance.

Victoria was watching him teetering forward with an unwilling expression.

She looked like she hated seeing him like that.

Each step smeared a wet trail behind him, crimson petals blooming from the fresh wounds that squirted down his arms and side. His leg dragged, the limp a ragged hitch in his moment, but he kept going, like stopping would be the death of him.

Shoulders set, breath sawing through gritted teeth, he lifted his eyes and fixed them on Agnar.

"If my brother wishes me dead, then tell him to do it himself," Deklan declared loudly, spreading both his arms wide, like he was offering himself as a sacrifice. "I will accept my end. I'm willing to die. But only by his hand. My blood is worth at least that much, isn't it?"

Agnar's face tightened.

Now that the momentum was gone from arguing with Victoria, his murderous intent was also gone.

His mind was clear.

Agnar came here with the impression that Deklan was still the same as he was back then.

Puny. Innocent. Weak.

But the Deklan in front of him right now was anything but those things.

He was willing to kill Deklan in the name of Young Master Callen without hesitation, had Deklan stayed the weakling he once was. No value to kill if he could even barely keep himself alive. But now, under these circumstances, it was far better to have Callen do the deed himself.

Only those with a strong will can truly climb the ladder of power.

If Callen couldn't kill Deklan with his own two hands, then he's not worthy to climb higher.

However, though the request was plausible, Agnar didn't know if he could trust Deklan.

"Hesitating much?" Deklan smirked. "Don't tell me my little brother is still my little brother? Does he not grow some balls already? Don't have the stomach for it? Is that the reason for your hesitation? That he wouldn't be able to kill me?"

"Of course, not!" Agnar huffed angrily. "Fine, I'll do it! I'll bring you to him!"

"Deklan, are you crazy?!" Victoria screamed. "That's enough! I'll admit that you've changed, now!"

Man… This girl never stops.

Deklan ignored her completely and gave a look to Kaelyn, a signal for something.

Seeing this, Kaelyn rubbed her forehead and looked away.

She also looked sad and broken to see him surrender himself like this.

Agnar approached carefully.

He pointed his sword at Victoria, seeing that she was about to take a step, about to intervene.

"Stay back, Victoria," He said sternly. "This is his decision."

Victoria's fists tightened.

It galled her that Deklan would surrender himself like this after becoming this strong quickly—that he wouldn't even try to survive, to fight, and live another day to challenge Callen for the heirship. 'What a waste… A terrible, pitiful waste. Especially with what we have between us.'

Even though she really wanted to intervene, she didn't.

She could clearly feel that Deklan really doesn't want that.

Agnar took out a set of mana-infused handcuffs from his back pocket, one that was specifically forged to restrain an Exorcist. He'd brought them as a precaution, more out of habit than the potential of using them, but he never truly expected to use them.

And certainly not on Deklan.

For once, tonight was a really surprising night.

He didn't regret volunteering to find Deklan; this has been quite a fun night.

A sharp grunt escaped Deklan's mouth when the cuffs clamped around his wrists—the hostile mana in them seeped into his skin, clogging his Mana Veins. It suppressed his own mana and also prevented him from casting a spell easily.

Something that Deklan never seen before.

But then again, in this world, he was the equivalent of a country-bumpkin.

"Open your mouth," Agnar said as he took out a vial. "Drink this if you don't want to die on the way."

Deklan drank the potion with a bit of help and almost instantly felt warmer.

His gaping wounds were closing.

Even though he was already pale from the excessive amount of blood loss, drinking this vial prevented him from passing out. Before he could savor the warmth to the end, Agnar pulled him by the handcuffs.

"Let's go," Agnar said with a levelled voice.

He dashed away, pulling Deklan along with him, and headed back to Ingver Town.

Kaelyn and Victoria were left behind.

Both watched Deklan and Agnar disappear into the distance in silence.

Once the two were finally gone from few, Victoria exhaled roughly through her mouth and headed back to help her underlings. Most of them were still sprawled on the ground weakly, still hurt from Deklan's sudden ambush.

"Are you really not going to help him, my Lady?" the woman Exorcist asked.

A ring of bruising encircled her neck from Deklan's hand earlier.

She was lucky Deklan had only choked her and punched her gut, as the others suffered much worse than that. "He grew that powerful in a matter of months, my Lady," she pressed, her eyes probing Victoria's troubled expression. "Give him a few years, and even Young Master Callen wouldn't be his match."

"I know," Victoria sighed as she fed a healing potion to another lying on the ground. "But he's so adamant about surrendering. What am I supposed to do?"

"Sigh… If I were him, I would've desperately tried to survive," the woman shook her head, imagining having the kind of talent Deklan has. "Even if I have to sacrifice a limb or two, I'm going to survive. It's rather weird for him to surrender like this anyway."

"Weird? How come? He's always been spineless —ike that. At least, before tonight. Maybe his old self came back, and he realized this is not him."

"I mean, he got powers now. He's an Exorcist. For someone—who was humiliated and exiled, he gave up on retaliating pretty quickly. Especially since he has those hidden powers. Maybe you're right, but I couldn't help but fe—"

"Hold on a minute, what did you say again?"

Victoria's hands stopped as she turned to look at the woman.

Her eyes slightly widened, like she was on the very edge of a realization.

"What? He has hidden powers?"

"No, before that."

"For someone who was humiliated, he gave up retaliating too fast?"

"Yes, that's it!"

"He gave up retaliating too fast," Victoria's eyes snapped open—as a thought came to mind. Then, she looked to the side, searching for Kaelyn, but there was no sign of her. She already left. "He changed so much, and even looked confident with his strength. It's odd for him to give up that quickly."

"Wait," the woman raised a finger as she also came to a realization. "Are you saying…?"

"Yes," Victoria nodded firmly. "For some reason, he really doesn't want me to be here. I can tell. I think he's not surrendering for real… He wanted Agnar to bring him somewhere secluded."

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