Chapter 153 Blood Oath (3)
The trip back to Black Moon City was rather smooth and the two met with no problems at all on their way.
Naturally, the sight of them carrying a frozen fox attracted many gazes and earned quite a few weird looks from others, but Raven didn't care.
On the other hand, what he cared about was something way more important, and that was the way he has just used his Luck Enhancement!
He just found a completely new way to utilize his ability, allowing him to manipulate his enemy's moves through chances!
The sensation of him luring Astra to a specific location with the help of his Void Ring and Luck Enhancement was still so vivid in his mind that Raven could feel a surge of excitement rush through his whole body!
Not only that, with this new revelation of his, he also discovered another new way to utilize his Luck Enhancement and could hardly contain himself from going away and trying it.
'Unfortunately, both my Mystique and Luck Energy are low at the moment, so I should rest for a while before trying it out.'
With a helpless sigh, Raven left the large platform belonging to the Zeusbridge and quickly followed after Luna, reaching the mansion's entrance after walking for less than five minutes.
"L-Lady Luna... Y-Young Master? What happened with the two of you? And what is that thing in your hands?"
The shocked voice of Thomas sounded the very second the two entered the small room where the young butler was just about to serve a cup of tea to Old Dan, who at the moment sat before his desk, reading through numerous papers... perhaps reports from the guild.
"Sorry to bark in like this, but we would like to ask for a favor."
Raven looked at his father grimly despite his face was pale and covered in sweat, frozen dirt, and a tiny amount of dried-up blood.
"A favor?" Old Dan put the papers from his hands down and raised a brow.
Although he was both curious and worried about why both of his children looked so exhausted and beaten, upon seeing his son's face and the mysterious frozen beast in his daughter's hands, he decided not to waste time. Asking questions about what happened could wait!
Raven nodded and began to speak calmly, "The Lost Talisman, I would like to borrow it."
Old Dan showed a frown before he pondered for a second or two and nodded, "I assume it's because of that... thing in Luna's hands."
"Yes. And although she is currently trapped in the ice, it won't last forever. hence why I need your Relic."
"Okay, I understood." Old Dan hummed and without a second thought pulled a small necklace out from below his shirt before taking it off.
It was a weird-looking necklace with the pendant having the shape of a lock with silver chains tightly twisting around it. It gave one an impression of a metal lock being locked by metal chains.
"Thank you. I will explain everything later, but for now..." Raven quickly took Astra's frozen body away from Luna and with wide strides hastily left the room.
Of course, Luna followed him closely.
"I will go with them too," Thomas stated after a few seconds and placed the cup of tea from his hands down before Old Dan.
"It's not necessary. Although they looked serious, the way they were not in that much hurry tells me they will be fine no matter what that thing within that ice was."
"Still, I wish to follow after them. You know, just in case." Thomas expressed his intention firmly.
"Sure, whatever. Do as you wish." Old Dan sighed and surpassing his thoughts he waved his hand, indicating his butler to do as he wants.
Meanwhile, inside a small facility room that was a smaller version of a Practice Ground, Raven place Astra down on the ground and channeled his almost completely replenished Mystique into the Lost Talisman.
Whoosh!
The sound of clattering metal resounded the following second and under Raven's collected golden gaze a silver chain coiled around Astra's neck before a metal lock latched its two ends together.
Crack!
And the very moment the lock clicked to its place, the ice around Astra's body cracked and shattered into ice dust.
"Human!"
A voice filled with blood thirst and hatred rippled through the small room and Astra bared her fangs at Raven threateningly. It was pretty much obvious that at the moment she wished nothing more but to shred Raven into millions of pieces right then and there!
"If I were you I would not try to acti-"
Raven wished to warn Astra not to use her abilities, but it seemed he was a little too late as the very next second Astra's hateful face contorted into a painful grimace.
"Urgh... You... Take this off of me right this instant or else..."
"Or else what?" Raven's cold voice interrupted Astra next, and like a ghost appeared before her with a dagger already pressed to her throat.
Astra's pupils shrunk to the size of a needle upon feeling the coldness before her throat, and her whole body froze almost as if she had been frozen once again.
Just now, she failed to follow Raven's figure. It was almost as if he had become a...
No!
Suddenly, as if realizing something Astra clenched her teeth and growled with hatred which also contained hints of helplessness.
"I see you have figured it out, huh? Good. Now things will be much easier." Raven showed a faint smile and pulled his blade away.
"The Lost Talisman is a Divine Relic that not only seals all of your abilities, it will also lock away a little over 70% of your Avatar Traits. The only downside of it is that during its activation both me and my target have to remain completely still for a while or else it is useless."
"Useless? It is a Divine Relic you are talking about! Do you have any idea just how many of your kind possess such a godly item?" Astra hissed with hatred.
Raven just smiled.
"Yeah, I know. Only a few."
"You..." Astra's anger only grew stronger before she decided to close her eyes and take a deep breath.
And once she was calm once again, she reopened her eyelids, revealing now a completely tranquil pair of crimson eyes.
"Okay, what do you want me to do? After all, if you would have wanted me dead I would have been killed quite a long time ago, haven't I?"
Smiling, Raven nodded and stated, "The Blood Oath. Give the Ancient Scroll regarding the Blood Oath and I will take the Lost Talisman off you."
"Give you the Ancient Scroll? And how exactly do you wish me to give that to you? Do you perhaps see a pocket on me where I can store such a thing?"
Raven rolled his eyes and laughed coldly, "Do you really see me such a fool? I know you have the Ancient Scroll. In fact, unless you have memorized the whole concept of it before giving it to someone else, I am pretty sure one of your abilities allows you to store things in your shadows."
Just like how Raven could store inanimate objects in his Void Ring, Raven was sure Astra also had similar means. After all, although he didn't know her for a long time, he exchanged enough words with her to understand she was quite the greedy one.
Also, just who would believe any of her words? Raven, if he were asked, would even take a bold statement and say she was someone from another world and got trapped in that Domain through some mystery! After all, she was not only intelligent but also possessed powerful abilities and had great knowledge about many things.
Hell, she even knew about Celestial Blood, a thing that only a God possessed. Except for himself, there was not a single soul who knew anything about that!
This, naturally, meant only one thing. In one way or another, she was related to those so-called Gods, beings similar to Etia, just like him, hence why she knew about something that others knew nothing about!
Astra remained silent for several seconds, however, soon she just smiled and sat down.
"Unfortunately for you, human, I really don't have the scroll. I have lost it during a fierce battle in the past, so you can forget about it."
Raven stood still with an indifferent gaze and hummed quietly.
"I see. How unfortunate indeed."
Whoosh!
"Wha-" Astra was shocked the see Raven vanish from his spot, however, just as she was ready to say something, the pain she had never felt assaulted her whole body.
Squelch!
The sound of something sharp piercing flesh resounded in the small room, and under the disbelieving eyes of Astra Raven pushed his dagger deep into her body, drawing blood as the result.
"Y-You... What... Are you doi-, cough!?"
Blood filled Astra's mouth as she wished to speak while Raven pulled his dagger out and firmly grabbed Astra by her throat.
"Last chance. Give me the Ancient Scroll or the next thing you will lose is not another item but your life."
And to show he was not joking around he put his dagger before Astra's chest, right where her heart was located, and softly pierced her skin.