Chapter 317: Pitch Black Eyes

With the wind whipping through his feathers, Ivan spread his massive wings and soared into the vast, night sky, not waiting for a second to inform the rest of where he was heading to– he barely knew the location himself. The ache of separation fueled his flight as he desperately sought the location of his little lamb’s scent, whilst he looked below the expanse, narrowly avoiding the fireworks shot into the sky. He knew her scent regardless of how faintly he perceived it, and the way his heart responded almost immediately cleared his doubt.

The air carried whisper’s of her presence, a familiar floral scent that tugged at his heartstrings. It seemed likely unbelievable that she was this close to him, but he refused to take it as another one of his hallucinations.

His keen senses guided him, each beat of his wings bringing him closer to the source of his little lamb’s scent. He brought out his compass to have a look, and the expression on his face turned worrisome when the needle danced with anticipation, whilst aligning with the direction his instincts urged him to go, and that made him hover in mid-air.

If the chip of the compass was specifically made to track Marius down... was his little lamb by chance with him?

"Fuck!" He hissed out a cuss, a look of apprehension painting his visage.

With another painful tug in his heart, he sensed trouble, and that urged him to go faster. His heart raced as her scent grew closer, affirming his pursuit, and when he looked below, there was a ship’s port designated close to the shores of a sea.

His heart pounded when her scent became more pungent within that area, but he dared not risk securing a place to land where he would be caught.

Finally, after a few minutes of scouting the area for a lonely passage, Ivan silently dropped close to an alleyway, his wings reverting back until they were out of sight. From what he had seen, the firework feast was held in the center of the bustling market, and the alleyway was the only empty space he could find. He stole a glance at the compass, the needles quivering as they pointed resolutely to a passage in the dark alley.

He followed it without hesitation, his footstep silent on the brick floor as he wanted to catch the Demon off guard. However, the sight he was eventually welcomed with was a sight his heart never anticipated for, whilst the color on his face blanched, his pupils dilating at the state of his...

"Samantha?" He whispered inaudibly.

His little lamb was on her knees before Marius, energy drained and currently bleeding from her lips and nose. His horrific gaze shifted to Marius who clutched her hair firmly, whilst forcing her to look at him while he inflicted pain on her soul. For a split second, Ivan could hardly move or react, but when he realized his little lamb was being tortured, he lost it.

His gaze was on the hand that clutched the hair he adored more than his own life, whilst all his mind could think about was getting it off her. In one swift move, his upgraded chains were in his grip, and he lunged it at Marius’s arm, ruthlessly ripping it off before the Demon could react.

"GET AWAY FROM HER!!" His irises switched as he moved with lightning speed, and all he could see was Marius getting half buried under the numbers of bricks that fell on him. When the Demon remained unmoving, Ivan immediately crouched before Samantha who had passed out when her body could no longer handle it, and he gazed unbelievably at her motionless form, his hands trembling as they reached forward to touch her.

"S... Sam?" He called her name, unable to stop his voice from trembling as he did so. When she gave no response, he immediately lifted her hand to feel her pulse, and it was critically weak. The sound of her heartbeat was faint in his eardrums, and that instilled fear in Ivan as she was slowly drifting away– the very essence that defined her life was gradually distancing itself from him.

"N... no, this... this can’t be happening, you can’t leave me when I’ve only found you, SAMANTHA!" He shook her shoulders desperately, thinking of every possible thing he could do to revive her back before his world collapses. Still no response, and his eyes were starting to get glazed with tears.

Was he too late?

"She will die." Came the voice of Marius behind him, but Ivan was too concentrated on saving his Samantha to worry about Marius’s disdainful remarks.

"You can save her." He added, and the arm Ivan had ripped off with his chains regenerated back. "I can tell you how if you wish to save–"

Marius’s words were interrupted by Ivan’s fist that unexpectedly launched his way, but he narrowly evaded it, whilst Ivan’s punch connected to the wall behind Marius, a wide hole forming due to the violent impact. His eyes blazed, his pupils constricted, and his irises took the darkest shades of red as he growled.

"When you’re dead, I can die in peace."

Retreating his hand from the wall, he turned to look at Marius whose lips tilted up in pure amusement. The vampire actually possessed a few Demon traits to Marius’s knowledge, and he wondered if the little orb piece had granted him such a rare ability. He wasn’t expecting the vampire to act against how he originally planned this, and he had to admit that this would be another surprise he gained from Muzan’s son.

With his fangs bared, Ivan was the first to strike with unrelenting speed, his strength fueled by the anger to avenge his little lamb. Marius summoned all kinds of spares, whilst they hovered in front of him, all ready and poised to strike Ivan. When he released them at the raging Vampire, he was immediately taken by surprise when the spares reverted back at him, and it was obvious his anger had unleashed the Vampire’s full ability.

"You’re dead meat!" and he sent the spares back to Marius. The Demon vanished and materialized behind Ivan, but he had sensed it before it even happened, whilst he turned around and grabbed Marius by his neck, slamming the Demon through a wall and causing the alleyway to tremble from the impact. He was undeniably furious that he hardly knew what he was doing, but his thoughts were centered on one thing, and that was to rip the Demon apart.

Not giving Marius enough time to get back on his feet, he assaulted the Demon, going after him again and again till he had Marius covered in bruises. However, Marius could not bring himself to attack, not until he had gained full power from being the Demon of manipulation. Presently, Ivan’s grip on his neck tightened, and the vampire already had his fist set to ruin the already bloodied face of Marius.

Before he could land a powerful punch, tiny tendrils suddenly slithered his way, and they wrapped his arm before he could lay the final blow. Ivan’s attempt to ruin Marius had been resisted by the tendrils, and when he looked behind him, a bigger vine uprooted from the ground, taking the form of a giant tongue.

However, Ivan was quick to evade the vines’ attempt to crush him, leading him to let go of Marius. When he looked at what had summoned the vines to attack him, his little lamb was up on her feet. She had her vines surrounding him in a lethal manner, but there was something different about her.

Her eyes were pitch black, showcasing not a trace of her emotional self, and green arcane marks suddenly appeared from the corner of her eyes, intricately weaving themselves into her hair.

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read