Esper Harem in the Apocalypse

Chapter 697 A Challenge For Love

It had been a while since Rias and Jane left the island. They were leisurely flying over the sea, enjoying the view and the cold breeze.

Since the vampire world had no sun, it was always cold, but the human world couldnʼt match that even at night unless there was a mild storm or it was a seaside.

Flying over the sea at night reminded them of the vampire world. Although they didnʼt miss the people of the vampire world, they longed for the feeling of it.

Sure they missed Virgil and their friends, but that wasnʼt a big deal for them. They both were forty years old and had spent their entire life around them, so missing them at such an age was ridiculous.

Still, they were dying to meet their favorite great-grandmother Nyxia.

Rias was flying near the clouds so she could soar above them with a few flaps of her wings. But Jane was flying right above the sea, dipping her hands and legs in the ocean once in a while.

She looked up at Rias and flew close to her.

”The sun will rise if we keep flying so slow. You may be immune to the sun, but I am not. If we donʼt hurry and the sun rises, I will turn into ash.”

”No one is stopping you from flying fast. I didnʼt ask you to fly along with me,” Rias responded without looking at Jane.

ʼWhy do I feel like Rias has been giving me the cold shoulder lately? Did she see Rudy and me together? Or perhaps suspecting us? To be honest, I wasnʼt sure I would be able to keep our relationship a secret from Rias for such a long time.

I thought she would find out the next day. Either I am too good at hiding, or I am just lucky. However, neither of those cases would help me if Rias learned the truth. I have to tell her before she finds out. But how?ʼ

Jane suddenly had a great idea and decided to try it.

”Hey Rias, how about we race to the pool house? The winner can ask anything from the loser, and the loser has to honor the winnerʼs request,” she suggested.

”Hmm~” Rias hummed in wonder.

Of course, Rias was well aware of what Jane was trying to do, and she wasnʼt going to fall for her trick.

”Why should I?” Rias asked calmly while keeping her sight ahead of her.

”We always used to have such challenges in the vampire world. But it has been a while. We havenʼt had a challenge since…” Jane stopped as she couldnʼt speak further.

”Since you came to the human world to take me back to the vampire world so I could be punished for falling in love with a human.” Rias finished Janeʼs sentence and finally looked at her.

”Are you still angry about that?” Jane asked, averting her gaze to the side.

”Why should I? You were simply following grandpa Virgilʼs order, who was following a rule made by the previous Lords. I was aware of the risk and the punishment when I fell in love with Rudy.

Thatʼs what I call love.

But I still chose to because my love for him was far greater than my fear of punishment. At that time, I didnʼt even know Rudy was the Lord. I thought of him as a human, yet I still loved him.

Thatʼs what I call love.

Rudy tried to stop you when you came to take me back to the vampire world. He was only a human, yet he was ready to fight you— a vampire. He knew he could die in a single blow, yet he never stepped back.

Thatʼs what I call love.

Even if my punishment was death, I would have gladly died without having a single regret for loving Rudy. We had that type of relationship. We were ready to do anything for each other. We were prepared to die for each other.

Thatʼs what I call love.

However… I am not sure about that anymore. He has changed, I have changed, people around me have changed, the world has changed, and the time… has changed. But that change is inevitable.

I am not against the change, whether it be in my favor or not, but I am against the people who try to change that change, who canʼt accept it. Well, you probably wonʼt understand what I am talking about.”

”...”

ʼShe is at least trying to tell me the truth. I will give her this one chance, even if itʼs in her favor,ʼ Rias thought to herself.

”Okay. Letʼs race to the pool house. I donʼt have any terms.”

Jane gulped down and asked, ”No attacking each other during the race, either?”

”When have I done that?”

”You use everything to your advantage, which can be a disadvantage for me.”

”You are a prime vampire, the third strongest vampire in the vampire world— and that is a major disadvantage for me. You can enhance your body and wings using your powers and fly faster than anyone. I am on par with a low-rank vampire who canʼt fly as fast as you. If thatʼs not an advantage, then I donʼt know what is.”

Rias shook her head in disbelief, seemingly trying to play a weak victim card.

”Donʼt make it sound like I have won all the races. We have had 11689 official challenges so far, out of which 7586 were air races. You have won 3790, while I have won 3796. A difference of 6 wins, which isnʼt a big gap.

You always try to play that card to make me feel guilty, that breaks my will to beat you, but it wonʼt work in this challenge. I have placed something important on the line, and I canʼt risk losing it, no matter what happens.”

”...” Rias raised a brow with an impressed look on her face.

They both stood beside each other while slowly flapping their wings to keep themselves hovering in one place.

”No hard feelings, my dear sister~” Jane said to Rias.