Chapter 194 (2): This Student Can Never Repay You, so I’ll See You Off

Eyes narrowed, Wayne conjured a sword of crimson crystals. The currents stirred behind him, propelling him and accelerating his advance. He swung his sword against the bone greatsword. With an audible crack, his sword shattered, and the greatsword continued to slash toward his neck.

Wayne didn’t panic. In this unkillable state, he would be fine even if he got decapitated. With explosive mana, he swung his fist with all the power he had gathered, punching Gaye’s ribcage. The moment the punch landed, the blade struck true, too.

A wisp of blood spread in the deep sea. Wayne held onto his bleeding neck with shock filling his gaze. He couldn’t believe that his state of immortality was broken.

Meanwhile, Wayne’s powerful punch sent Gaye tumbling through the water. The skeleton enhanced by the Headless Knight was incredibly resilient. Not even Wayne’s full-power attack could leave a fracture.

“Kekeke—”

Gaye continued to cackle. A thread of Death energy swirled around the bone blade, which he had stolen from Wayne. The ruby adorning the sword flickered as it absorbed the Death energy.

Can Death energy be stolen?

Wayne stared at the blade in surprise. The white flesh in his neck wriggled to mend the gash. His eyes lit up with greed immediately. Yes, he remembered now. That sword was obviously the one he had lost. A bone sword combined with a ruby? That was clearly Shadow Nightmare lite, and since he was the owner of Shadow Nightmare, he should be entitled to claim its lesser replica.

Give it to me!

His chest writhed to spit out the Sacred Lance of Heaven in its half-unleashed state. Its white light parted the sea and sent powerful waves rippling in all directions, creating an empty space. No longer slowed down by water, Wayne accelerated into a flash of white light. The blazing tip of the lance cut through the night like a shooting star, reaching Gaye in an instant.

It pierced through Gaye’s ribcage easily. Then sacred flames bloomed and surged.

Boom!

Violent waves disturbed the calm surface of the sea; the resulting undercurrents rumbled and rippled outward. Deep underwater, Death energy and sacred flames clashed as two figures fought.

Mud and stones rose and scattered, casting shadows below. Sacred flames engulfed the four elite skeletons, and then the Death energy reduced them to ashes. They disappeared in the seawater.

Wielding his lance, Wayne was gaining on Gaye with superior speed and strength. For the first time, he experienced the Headless Knight’s swordsmanship.

It was completely different from Valkyrie’s dragonslaying swordsmanship and required a mount to unleash its full power. Without a horse, the swordsmanship was severely diminished, posing little threat.

Wayne didn’t rush to burn Gaye to death, but instead took the opportunity to learn the techniques.

Gaye cackled once more. “Heaven’s power. You accused me of betraying the goddess and serving demons, but what about you? Didn’t you surrender to angels?”

Yep!

One Death Knight had fallen under the demons’ control, while the other had become a reincarnated angel. Neither was truly loyal to the Goddess of Death.

Anyone else would’ve hurriedly denied being a traitor in rage, but not Wayne. He had no faith. Just like the free mages, he treated faith like business or fast food. He accepted the Headless Knight’s mockery with a smile, seeing it as a compliment.

Yes, this lord is flexible like that! Keep going. I’d like to hear more!

Deep underwater, the clangs of metal colliding resounded. Blazing white light pierced through grey energy, unleashing unbridled radiance. The great variety of maritime animals in the area suffered the consequences. Some were burned and cooked, slowly rising to the surface, while others had their flesh peeled away by the Death energy, the bones falling to the bottom of the sea...

Boom!!

White light shot out of the water and radiated for a brief moment before fading. Wayne had taken Gaye apart. He picked up Gaye’s skull and twirled it on the tip of his lance. “I’m not your match in Palis, but you can never defeat me in Windsor. Be smart next time and stop wasting my time.”

He pocketed the fist-sized ruby. He didn’t take the bone greatsword since it had been shattered.

It turned out that the greatsword itself wasn’t capable of stealing Death energy, so the ability had to originate from the Headless Knight’s thoughts. That enlightened Wayne to a new possibility. What the Headless Knight could do, he should be able to do, too.

Thank you, Teacher. This student can never repay you. I’ll see you off!

White light burst out of the tip of the lance, manifesting blazing sacred flames. As Wayne detonated his mana, the heat exceeded two thousand degrees, and the water molecules split into hydrogen and oxygen, meeting burning fire...

Boom!

With ash covering his face, Wayne floated to the surface of the sea and manifested wings to take flight, finding the right direction. One of his tentacles grasped the

Book of Seals

while another fidgeted with the ruby. The process of taking out the enemies wasn’t that difficult, and the result was excellent. It felt like the Headless Knight had sent him free loot on purpose.

Giving him gifts even after losing everything? The Headless Knight was so noble!

Wayne was moved beyond words. He would return Julia to her former master if possible.

Don’t worry, bro. She’s ninety percent new, basically untouched.

***

Back on the cruise ship, the first mate was leading the crew and the maintenance personnel to complete the repair work in the cabin. The captain was sweating just as much as he explained to the passengers why the ship had come to a halt on the deck. The fact that one lifeboat had disappeared showed that it was an inside job.

The problem wasn’t serious, though. They were on a well-traveled route, so the captain could promise everyone that they wouldn’t be adrift for too long. They would be rescued by noon tomorrow at the latest.

The cruise ship was equipped with all necessary facilities and stocked with sufficient food... The captain rambled on and on, but said nothing about the reason the engine was damaged.

It was a can of worms that should not be touched with a ten-foot pole. Otherwise, the smarter passengers would quickly think of pirates, and amid the chaos, the hysterical ones were very likely to toss the captain into the sea.

Wayne sneaked a glance for entertainment. As he walked along the corridor, Veronica found and stopped him.

“Why are you here rather than enjoying the show?” Wayne looked moved. “I got it. You were too worried, so you’ve been waiting, haven’t you?”

Seeing his disheveled state made Veronica feel a pang in her heart, but she was too tsundere to admit that. Never would she ever express her true feelings. And his teasing words did not help. Irritated, she retorted sarcastically, “You were so confident, but look at you now. You even lost your clothes in the fight.”

“It’s one against many,” Wayne lied easily. “Four Gold-ranked mages and one Legendary one. It’s amazing that I even came back alive.”

Unconvinced, Veronica said with a frown, “What happened? Are you seriously hurt?”

“Nothing serious. I’ll be fine after some sleep.” Wayne waved his hand and pointed at his thighs. “My legs hurt, though. Would you mind giving me a massage?”

“I mind.”

“Then I’ll ask my secretary. I’m sure she’ll do it for me.”

Veronica furiously pinned him to the wall with her hands on his shoulders, glancing down at the

Book of Seals

that his tattered clothes had failed to cover fully. “Never any truth from your mouth. What’s that?”

Wayne didn’t respond. Veronica reached for it, but didn’t manage to grab it.

“Bastard, I’m a dragon-blooded mage, not a young lady shielded from the real world. Why won’t you let me have a look?” Veronica was beyond frustrated. Wayne was acting just like Auston. They claimed to be doing things for her good, but kept treating her like a child. Why did they insist on underestimating her?

“Have some patience. You’re still growing. I’ll tell you the truth once you become a Gold-ranked mage.”

Wayne ruffled her hair before heading to his suite. “My legs really hurt. I’ll ask my secretary to relax my muscles. She’s got skilled hands. Would you like to try?”

He suddenly started stumbling in an irritatingly exaggerated manner.

Seething, Veronica raised her foot to kick him off the ship, but stopped herself at the last second. She wanted to say something—tell him to trouble her instead, perhaps. However, she couldn’t speak the words.

Alas, a blonde tsundere rarely ended up with the boy in a romance story.

***

Back in his suite, Wayne sprawled on his bed with a towel around his waist, while Mona knelt beside him to massage his leg muscles with perfect pressure. The scumbag groaned, enjoying the service, while Vera, still drunk, accurately found her way to his side like she was guided by autopilot, sound asleep while hugging his arm.

Wayne wasn’t so much holding a beauty in each arm, but he was sandwiched between them. The sight made Veronica grind her teeth together. She wanted nothing more than to castrate him with a pair of scissors at this moment.

It took two to tangle, and both the scum and the shameless Mona and Vera deserved capital punishment. She didn’t get it. There was no shortage of men with two legs. What was so good about the scum that they couldn’t stop throwing themselves at him? Wouldn’t they act more like Kristen?

Were Senior Kristen here, she wouldn’t have done the same!

Rat-a-tat!

Someone knocked.

Wayne didn’t even move while Mona focused on massaging his legs, and Vera focused on being asleep. Veronica looked around. Why was she the odd one out? She stalked toward the door in rage, yanking it open.

She saw a mature and a youthful beauty. Each of them was only average, but as a packaged deal, the pair was top-tier.

You have other women? Mother and daughter?!

Veronica couldn’t believe it. Glaring daggers at the pair of women, she bit out, “Who are you looking for?”

“Um...”

Denise hid behind her aunt in fear. Sandy managed a polite, graceful smile despite the twitch in her eyes. “I’m looking for Sir Wayne. With the ship halted, we want to discuss tomorrow’s schedule with him.”

“He’s dead,” Veronica scoffed.

Sandy maintained her smile as she scanned the suite. She spotted Wayne lying between two women, her eyes twitching again. “Sir Wayne seems busy, so we won’t bother you. We’ll be back tomorrow.”

Tomorrow? How shameless are you? Do you think you’re lining up for an amusement ride?

Veronia glared at the two women as they left, slamming the door closed. The last time she saw someone so shamelessly eager, it was in Mr. Lando’s office.

She was too exhausted to say anything else. She missed her idol, Kristen.

“If only Senior were here...” she mumbled dejectedly. If there was a next time, she would bring Kristen rather than leaking information to Vera.