Chapter 8 The Price for Holding Back

Valienne lunged at him with the ice sword glaring sharply in her hand beneath the sunlight. At the same time, the layer of frost beneath her feet was crackling dangerously fast towards Rion.

Rion jumped away to evade the attack instinctively before he remembered Ruby was still behind him and needed protection. He hastily formed a seal with one hand and waved a protective barrier around his apprentice. The surge of ice cracked loudly and dispersed into crystal-like flakes upon colliding with the barrier he put around Ruby.

"You're not going to put a single hand on her hair before you defeat me," Rion said.

Valienne retreated her sword from where she was slashing the barrier down to no avail. She turned to Rion with her impassive face. "Fair enough."

Valienne suddenly disappeared, and in the next second, she showed up in front of Rion. He didn't even have the chance to blink as he reflexively raised his sword to deflect Valienne's attack. He realized Valienne didn't use her teleportation power. It was just pure her speed to move in a battle.

Sharp metal and ice collided in the air as both weapons met mid-air. The force of it sparked two different energy the both of them had. Rion's sword crackled with ice from where it was still holding Valiennes's. He could feel the temperature of the air around him drop drastically to a freezing degree. Valienne might've frozen him to death if he didn't move.

Rion gritted his teeth and pushed his sword against her. Valienne twisted her wrist slightly and turned on her heel, raising one of her feet to flying-kick Rion on his side. He caught her leg with one hand. Rion's sword slid along her blade. The sound of metal scraping along the unyielding, glass-like sword was so sharp it rang into the distance.

Valienne used his hold on her leg as a support and raise his other feet to kick him. Rion quickly released her feet and jumped back before her kick could land on any part of his body. Valienne didn't let him for too long. She landed gracefully on the tip of her toe before she leaped up to chase after him.

A heavy blast of demonic energy came at Rion as Valienne swung her sword with an intent to cut his body neatly in half. Rion hadn't even landed properly on his own feet when her attack came. He didn't have any other choice than to raise his own sword and barely had the time to form a protective barrier around himself using his own spirit energy.

Rion caught her sword with his own in time, but the blast of her demonic energy hit him with the force of a thousand red-horned demon bulls crashed into him at the same time. He was thrown back a hundred meters away, crashing into trees and crushing at least five of them until he came to a stop, slumping against the last tree. The trunk was half destroyed from how hard he was flung at it.

Rion grunted in pain and coughed out a mouthful of blood. He shook his head and tried to blink his dizziness away as he stumbled onto his foot, fully realizing he didn't have the time to let his guard down yet. Even if the most demons he faced so far often ignored him after they thought they had landed a deadly blow at him and were too arrogant to check if he was still alive or not (which usually would be the reason for their death in Rion's hands later on), Rion didn't think Valienne like all those demons he had fought before.

And just as he expected, Rion hadn't even fully stood on his foot when a giant block of ice was thrown his way. Rion threw himself to the side and rolled onto his back. He scrambled to get onto his foot, suppressing his urge to curse, and raising his sword in time to block Valienne's attack, who swung her sword down hard as she fell from the sky.

The impact of it had the earth under him crushed as his foot sunk up to his ankle. Valienne frowned slightly. She seemed dissatisfied as Rion was still able to withstand her attack, although barely. Still suspended in the air, she moved her left hand slightly.

The alarm of danger rang loudly in Rion's mind. He moved on pure reflex as he pushed Valienne away and turned ninety degrees to his left, swinging his sword that was strengthened by the whip of his spirit energy imbued in it. A big spike of ice Valienne created a moment before that almost pierced his skull, crumbled into pieces.

Rion spun on his right heel, his sword and body still humming fiercely with spirit energy. He swung his sword horizontally. Valienne was too far away to get into his attack range. But Rion's spirit energy lashed out like a sharp extent of his sword and swiped the whole area it could reach.

Valienne formed a huge block of ice to stop it, but Rion's spirit energy cut right through as if it was made of butter. The new ruler of the northern demon realm leaped up high in the sky and watched with mild fascination as the trees were all cut down as his energy swiped at them.

Valienne landed a few meters away from Rion, who panted lightly and glared at her. She tilted her head slightly, a frown forming between her pretty brows.

"You are holding yourself back," she said coldly. The accusatory tone was evident in her voice.

Rion had to admit he did. Although, he did so unconsciously. And he had reasons to do so.

Firstly, he wasn't fully certain Valienne was the mastermind behind the attack in this Immortal Apprentice Competition, nor did he was certain she was the one to send all those demons that had been running havoc for the last few months all around the human realm. After all, Valienne only became a ruler in the demon realm not too long ago. She wouldn't have that much power yet to move this many demons, especially considering her not-yet-stable position, Valienne would have to take her step very carefully instead of brazenly and openly stirring something that might've started a war between realms.

Secondly, even if Valienne threatened to take Ruby away, she hadn't touched a single hair on her head yet.

And lastly, even if she was very powerful and each of her attacks was deadly, Rion couldn't brush off the fact that Valienne was a maiden.

From the very start, when Rion was still an apprentice and not yet a master in Liebu Mountain, the first thing he held firmly within his heart was the power he wield in his hands, no matter how strong or how weak, would always be used to protect first and not to arbitrarily attack and fight whoever he pleased.

Sure, Rion would be happy to serve anyone who wanted to challenge him, especially when those who were on a par in power and skill with him. But he would never use the full extent of his own power to truly hurt his opponent.

When he fought against the demons in his demon hunting, they were simply weaker than him and Rion didn't need to use his full power to kill them.

This habit of holding back his power had been so ingrained in himself that Rion unconsciously did it until a few moments ago.

"Are you underestimating me?" Valienne said dangerously. "If so, you'd better think twice."

Valienne looked offended. As if Rion, who didn't use his full power, was an insult to her capabilities. She lunged at Rion with a renewed vigor and the killing intent twice as heavy compared to before when she showed barely a fraction of it.

Rion released a breath and brace himself to meet her attack. He might really need to stop holding himself back. The one he was fighting right now is a celestial demon. And he couldn't afford to lose at her.