Josephine''s brows pulled together even tighter, and she shifted half a step back, putting Skr more squarely in front of her.
"Junior Skr, this person is really strange," Josephine said.
Jared''s fists clenched so hard they started cracking. His nails dug into his palms, and blood slipped through his fingers and dripped down.
He didn''t know what Skr had done to Josephine this time, only that she had somehow forgotten him all over again. Clean. Like he''d never existed.
Back in Cloudhaven City, Josephine had seemed to recover a little. At the very least, she hadn''t attacked Jared. She''d only turned and left.
But now, she looked exactly like she had the first time she met Jared-cold, distant, and impossible to reach.
Skr watched Jared''s reaction, and the corner of his mouth curled into a yful smile.
"Jared, you''re still not giving up.''
"
He shook his head. "I already told you. Josephine is awake now. She''s not under your spell anymore. The more you cling to her like this, the more ridiculous you''ll look to her."
Jared drew in a deep breath and forced everything surging inside him back down. "Skr, what are you doing here?"
Skr''s gaze went past Jared andnded on Gwendolyn.
"Celestial Pce Master?"
His eyes narrowed slightly as he looked Gwendolyn up and down. "Looks like the information I got was right. The Celestial Pce really is here."
Gwendolyn looked at him without a trace on her face. "Who are you?"
"Skr."
Skr gave his name, and there was a clear edge of pride in his voice. "You might''ve heard of me. I destroyed the Celestial Pce, and I destroyed the Celestial Basilica too. I came here today to wipe out the Celestial Pce along with them."
He said it lightly, casually, like he was talking about something too small to bother with.
"I''ve been sick of the way you celestials act for a long time. Everyst one of you thinks you''re above everybody else, like your bloodline is noble and nobody can touch you. But what are you really? A bunch of rotten, fallen trash, shut up in your own little world."
He turned to Gwendolyn, his eyes full of contempt. "You got lucky and ran into Jared. Without him, your Celestial Pce would already be rubble." Gwendolyn''s face darkened.
She had lived for more than ten thousand years, and no one had ever humiliated her to her face like this.
"So you''re Skr?"
Her voice came out cold. "I''ve heard of you. A human cultivator who fell onto the demonic path, then used other people''s cultivation to raise your own. Someone like you thinks he has the right to judge the celestials?"
Gwendolyn had heard about Skr from Jared before. After all, the Celestial Pce and the Celestial Basilica had both, more or less, been destroyed by him.
Skr''s smile stiffened for a second.
Then he smiled again.
This time, the smile spread wider than before, and the danger in it rose with it.
"The right? Of course I do. Strength is the right. When your celestials were up there looking down on everyone, did you ever think the day woulde when a human cultivator from the demonic path would grind you under his feet?"
His gaze slid off Gwendolyn andnded on Jared.
"Jared, I''ll give you one chance. Leave now, and I won''t make things hard for you. My target today is the Celestial Pce, not you."
Jared shook his head. "The Celestial Pce is already gone. Gwendolyn is with me now. If you make a move on her, you''re making a move on me."
Skr''s eyes narrowed a little.
"So that''s it. You''re going to protect her?"
"I am."
Skr went quiet for a moment.
Then he let out a sigh, looking so much like a man staring at a child who refused toe to his senses.
"Jared, you''re always like this. You throw yourself in for other people. Last time, it was for those two celestial worms. This time, it''s for this celestial woman. When are you finally going to learn to live for yourself just once?"
"You don''t get it." Jared''s voice stayed level, but nothing in it gave way.
"I do." Skr''s smile turned faintly bitter. "You think you''re doing the right thing. You think you''re protecting something important. But have you ever stopped to think whether the things you''re protecting are worth your life?"
He didn''t wait for Jared to answer.
He gave a short, self-mockingugh.
"Forget it. There''s no point saying any of this to you. You''re that kind of person. You won''t change."
He lifted his right hand.
ck demonic aura gathered in his palm.
"Thene on. Let me see how much you''ve grown these past few days."
Skr moved.
He was fast to the limit.
The dark figure dragged an afterimage through the air, and his fist was already crashing toward Jared''s face.
This punch was even fiercer than thest time they fought.
Demonic aura twisted around the front of his fist into a high-speed vortex. Even the
air around it got dragged in, tearing out a sharp, piercing scream.
Jared didn''t dodge.
He wanted to see for himself how much his strength had risen after absorbing the Heart of the Northern Abyss.
The Dragonyer Sword came free of its sheath.
Golden de-re twisted together with the purple chaotic force and turned into a vicious streak of de-light that met Skr''s punch head-on.
Boom!
Fist and sword mmed together and the st cracked out like thunder.
A horrifying shockwave tore outward in every direction.
The ground looked like a giant plow had ripped it open. Dirt, broken stone, and torn vegetation all flew into the air, then got shredded apart in the raging surge of power.
Jared didn''t move an inch.
Skr got knocked back seven steps.
His face changed.
Thest time they fought, he had been able to keep Jared pinned down with ease.
But this time, Jared''s power had clearly jumped by far more than a single level.
The difference felt like he was facing apletely different man.
"You broke through?" Skr''s voice came out rough.
Jared gave him no answer and drove his sword straight out.
That thrust came in at the absolute limit of speed. The de-light shed like
lightning ripping across the night sky and went straight for Skr''s throat.
Skr grit his teeth and threw both fists out at once. Demonic aura surged together in front of him and hardened into a ck shield.
The de light mmed into the shield and dragged out a harsh, scraping shriek. Dense cracks- spread all over the shield, and the force riding Jared''s sword shoved Skr backward again and again.
"Impossible..."
." Skr stared at him, the words forced out through clenched teeth. "Last time, you clearly weren''t a match for me..."
"People improve." Jared''s voice stayed even, but his hand showed no mercy at all.
His second sword strike came right on the heels of the first.
This one was faster, harder, and more final than the first.
The de-light ripped through the void and left a ck crack hanging in its ake.
At the edges of that crack, shattered pieces of space broke apart under the impact
of the sword aura and vanished piece by piece, giving off a shrill scream. Skr drove the demonic aura inside him with everything he had. ck demonic mes burst out of his body and gathered in front of him into a vicious ck fire- drake.
The fire-drake roared as it charged Jared. Everywhere it passed, the ground was scorched open into a trench 3 yards deep and the dirt melted under the heat into dark red molten fire.
Jared didn''t dodge. He didn''t retreat. He answered with a single sh.
The golden de-re crashed into the ck fire-drake and the impact exploded
with a deafening boom.
The fire-drake struggled under the de-re for less than a breath before it was split clean in two.
ck demonic mes sprayed met
every direction and sted. Countless craters into the
surrounding ground.
The aftershock of the de-re swept into Skr and tore open a gash across his
chest so deep the bone showed. Blood burst out in a spray.
Skr staggered back, dropped to one knee, and dragged in rough breaths.