Legends of Runeterra

Chapter 726 Berea gradually returns to normal

"Hehe~! Let's go find Annie to play. I failed to burn Professor Chaos' beard last time, so I must succeed this time!"

"Shua~!"

Berea flew through the corridor at a very fast speed, so fast that she ran on the walls and ceiling.

"Shua~!"

"Bang~!"

Berea's perception was that there was nothing at the corner of the corridor, but when she turned the corner at high speed, her eyes went dark and she felt like she had hit a wall as strong as a mountain.

Under the huge recoil force, the whole person was thrown into the air.

"Crack~!"

Just as Berea was about to turn around and land on the ground, her ankle tightened and she was suddenly hanging upside down in the air.

"Who are you? How dare you treat Lady Berea like this? I think you are..."

Berea twitched her delicate little nose slightly, stopped talking mid-sentence, and quickly turned her head to look.

"Lee...Lee En!?"

"Good afternoon, Berea. Are you surprised to see me?"

Li En greeted with a smile, and gently swung his right hand. The invisible energy wrapped Berea and she landed steadily on the ground.

"Bang~!"

"Woooaaaaah! Li En, you're finally back!"

Throwing herself into Li En's arms, Berea burst into tears.

Li En originally let Berea vent her emotions while gently rubbing her head, until at a certain moment he suddenly stopped, slid his hands down, pinched Berea's cheeks, and lifted her out of his arms.

"Alright, alright, stop biting. What else can you do besides tearing my clothes apart?"

“Pah~!”

"Hehe~! Sorry... I'm sorry, Li En. I haven't seen you for a long time. I couldn't help myself..."

"Didn't I leave enough 'food' for you?"

One of the reasons why LeBlanc was so confident that Li En would stay away from Noxus even after he became powerful was that Li En left enough "food" to feed Berea.

With this amount of blood, even if Leblanc used one and threw away ten, it would be enough to support her in casting dozens or even hundreds of black magics that rely on blood as the medium.

At least, that's what she thought, but the truth was quite the opposite.

This so-called "blood" did not affect Li En at all. Instead, it allowed him to easily obtain the locations of a large number of Black Rose strongholds by sensing the direction of this "blood".

"It's different. How can those things compare to the fresh blood flowing in your body!"

"Then you don't have to hug me and bite me even if we meet."

Seeing Berea's self-righteous explanation, Li En suddenly became annoyed and pinched Berea's cheeks, which had become fuller due to the sufficient high-quality "meals".

"Woo~!"

"I...I've already apologized...I'm sorry, I made a mistake..."

After the fair cheeks were kneaded and a faint blush gradually appeared, Li En let go of his hands with satisfaction.

"If you do this again next time, I won't let you off so easily."

"I understand..."

"Put on this dress, dear."

"Thanks, dear."

Covering her cheeks with her hands, Berea glanced at Catalina who was extremely close to Li En, and secretly curled her lips.

"Li En, do you know how hard I've been going these days?"

"Ah? Your face has become rounder, and you told me that you are tired?"

“What does this have to do with anything? Isn’t it okay for me to have a good appetite?

No, listen to me, since you left, I have been brought to this academy, and I have to undergo various experiments every day...

Woo~! It's really too hard... Thank you for your hard work, Li En, please take me away!"

With her head held down and unable to throw herself into Li En's arms, Berea covered her eyes and began to cry with great grievance and pity.

However, Li En's mouth curled up slightly as he watched her poor performance in which she was unwilling to shed even a tear.

"Oh! You're talking about this. I know. You will be assigned to the 'Castis' Academy only after my consent."

"Woo~! Li En, I knew you were still...Huh? What did you say!?"

"I said, your coming to the 'Castis' Academy also had my consent."

"Plop~!"

Berea felt as if a bolt of lightning had exploded in her mind, and she fell to the ground in a duck sitting position.

She never thought that her extremely comfortable career would end at the hands of the person she trusted the most.

"W-why Lee En?"

Slowly squatting in front of Berea, Li En looked at her with a gentle smile.

"Of course it's for you."

"what?"

"What is 1000 minus 7?"

"993."

Berea tilted her head with a puzzled look on her face.

"Why are you asking me this question suddenly?"

"Think back to your past, Berea. Could you have figured out the answer so quickly? And could you have shown such rich and real emotions from just now until now?"

"I..."

Facing Li En's calm and gentle gaze, Berea gradually fell into deep thought.

"I...can't seem to do it..."

Although she was reluctant to admit it, Berea knew that her past self seemed normal, and even when she was suppressed by the bloodstone shackles, she was able to come up with various reasons to deceive the guards.

But in reality, hidden beneath the somewhat neurotic surface is an out-of-control, insane desire to devour flesh and blood.

And now, it seems that I have gradually gained true "reason" through those annoying and boring "experiments".

"Yes, that's why I agreed to let you come to this academy. But judging from your situation, you will be able to end this experience soon and don't need to come again."

"Really!?"

"of course."

Berea was delighted at first when she received Li En's affirmation, but then she looked conflicted.

"Then...if I don't participate in the research, can I still come to this academy?"

"Aren't you feeling bored? Why are you here again?"

"The experiment was boring, but playing pranks with Annie was fun... so..."

"Well, you reminded me. I'll arrange for you to take classes here with her."

"Ah? Tonic, Li En, please! Real tonic!!!"

"Haha~! Berea has great potential. It would be good for her to study hard."

Catalina, who was standing by, delivered the final blow to Berea in an extremely gentle tone.

"Haha~! As expected, my dear, you feel the same way.

Come on, Berea, let's go pick up Annie and go home together."

"..."

Berea stood there like a statue, without any movement.

Seeing this, Li En gently grabbed her and held her in his arms, then walked towards the teaching area with Catalina.

...

"Da da da~!"

"Hurry up, Tiberius, let's go play with Sister Berea!"

Annie ran out of the classroom with a clattering pace. Behind her, a large brown teddy bear about 1.5 meters tall was clumsily trying to carry a small pink schoolbag on its back.

The mighty fire demon Tiberk has now become a follower of a little girl.

Tibers clenched his round fists so tightly that he couldn't see his hand in front of him, and got angry... for a moment.

"Woo!"

With a muffled response, Tibbers gave up carrying the little pink backpack and instead walked towards Annie holding it in his arms.