“This is—!”
“Ti Er Xiu, what were you about to say?” Waermor asked.
“Nothing. I suppose it’s about time I got serious.” The words came out of his mouth, but they weren’t what Ti Er Xiu wanted to say.
‘Bastard! If I keep fighting this blue-haired human, I’ll be the one losing! The only one who can use this kind of mind control magic is—’
Ti Er Xiu crouched low, facing Cass.
‘Hey, hey, Baruma-sama, this isn’t funny!’
He screamed in his mind, but surprisingly, he got a response.
‘As my subordinate, if you surrendered and ran away with your tail between your legs, you’d make me lose face in the village.’
Baruma’s voice echoed in Ti Er Xiu’s mind. His body involuntarily gripped the sword’s hilt. The green gem on the blade began to spread a pattern of bluish-brown light, extending up his arm. A more domineering power surged into Ti Er Xiu’s body, gradually taking control.
‘At most, I can only make you say a few words or turn your head. I’m old and useless; that’s my limit. All I did was awaken the sword in your hand. Inside it dwells a god worshipped by some ancient sect. Let him borrow your body for a while and secure a splendid victory for me.’
‘Stop! I don’t want anyone else controlling my body!’
But Ti Er Xiu felt Baruma’s consciousness fading away. He wanted to turn around, find Baruma in the crowd, and curse him out, but he couldn’t even move his eyes. Ti Er Xiu’s heart was burning with anxiety. He poured all his will into regaining control of his body. The only evidence of his struggle was the torrent of sweat pouring from his body, so much so that he didn’t notice the new problem until “it” was right in front of him.
Cass leaped in front of him. The pink sword was pulled back and raised high—a charging stance. ‘Well, if the enemy doesn’t surrender and just stands still, it’s only natural to probe a bit.’ But Cass’s “probe” exceeded Ti Er Xiu’s imagination. Taking advantage of Ti Er Xiu’s immobility—
?!
The long snout of the azure fox mask was pried open by the pink sword. Cass thrust the Wraithblade into Ti Er Xiu’s mouth. Since the fox head was large, the blade slid in easily.
‘What are you doing?! Are you humiliating me?!’
Unexpectedly, the sword was as soft and dense as stretched dough. It “crawled” from the throat, through the esophagus, all the way to the bottom of the stomach. Ti Er Xiu had thought Cass was trying to stab through his throat with the sword. The whole process was incredibly fast—only the time it took to blink twice.
Cass said expressionlessly, “Cut off… All right, Ti Er Xiu. Please explode.”
The next moment, an extremely powerful impact burst from within—pfft-splash-splash-splash!!
“Ugh…” Ti Er Xiu’s face twisted in agony.
The sensation of something foreign came before the pain. The pink sword effortlessly pierced through Ti Er Xiu’s body from the inside. First, it destroyed his stomach, then stabbed into his spine, broke through his skin, and dozens of “bamboo shoots” over two meters long sprouted from his back. But they were bright red, and the bamboo shoots were countless blades hardened from the Wrablade.
“Ah!” A slight scream came from the crowd—Kersey.
She immediately used healing magic on Ya Qi and Ya Luo. The pale green mana orbs simply circled around their backs. She quickly lifted their clothes to check their backs and found no wounds. Only then did Kersey sigh in relief.
Inside the battle circle.
Cass pulled out his arm, still covered with the other’s saliva, and took a step back after withdrawing his sword. “‘Ti Er Xiu suddenly stopped moving for more than three seconds, which meant a phase transition,’ Siloque said. It was a bit risky, but I thought it was a good opportunity for a surprise attack. And it actually worked.”
As if his soul had been drained, Ti Er Xiu fell heavily backward onto the ground with a thud. The two weapons at his side dropped as well. The blood gushing from his body moistened the sandy soil, not even raising dust.
‘What is he talking about? Siloque?’
Ti Er Xiu, with thirteen large holes in his back, lay in his own pool of blood. The last things he saw were the endless blue sky above the third floor and Cass’s cold eyes beneath his blue hair.
“Losers should exit the stage.” Cass muttered very quietly.
‘Damn it… Am I dying like this? …Impossible… Why… I haven’t had enough fun with those two slaves yet…’
Ti Er Xiu’s eyes bulged as if they would pop out. His body was stiff, with no movement at all. Soon, the light completely faded from his eyes.
The scene was dead silent. All the fox people were dumbfounded. Only Waermor was smiling.
‘Maybe I overdid it.’ Embarrassment appeared on Cass’s face. He had thrust the Wraithblade into the other’s body to cut off the magic connection and prevent Ya Qi and Ya Luo from getting hurt, but what just happened looked more like Cass had intentionally let Ti Er Xiu open his mouth and eat him.
But… here it comes!
Looking at the corpse on the ground, a flush crossed Cass’s face. The corner of his mouth twitched into a slight smile, then he quickly suppressed it. After defeating a strong enemy, a comfortable, tingling sensation of exhilaration flowed through his entire body. For Cass, it was even more intense than the pleasure of leveling up.
But there were many onlookers, so Cass didn’t savor it for long. After observing for a while to confirm the enemy was dead, he cautiously approached Ti Er Xiu. Cass used the Wraithblade to poke the steel sword beside him. With a little effort, it crumbled easily. In a blind spot unseen by anyone, the pink sword’s tip quietly extended several small, tendril-like arms, picked up the steel sword fragments and the gem, and swallowed them.
Just as Cass was taking out a cleaning towel magic tool from the Ring Chart to wipe off the remaining saliva from the dead man, the surrounding fox people erupted in cheers that shook the heavens, startling Cass so much that he dropped his towel.
“Wooooooh!!”
Several priests went up to Ti Er Xiu and tried to heal him with magic, but it was too late. A few subordinates shook Baruma, who sat silently on his high rattan chair, motionless. His red Fierce Beast Mask revealed no expression—whether he was stunned or grief-stricken was unknown.
Kersey covered her mouth, still standing beside Ya Qi and Ya Luo. “…So brutal again. Does Cass always kill his opponent in one-on-one fights?” It wasn’t that she found it gory; she just thought Cass was a bit scary.
“A close call, but a victory. Now your uncle has nothing to say.” Looking at Baruma, surrounded by subordinates shouting noisily yet showing no reaction, Bried said calmly, though her eyes were pleased. She finally let go of her sword hilt.
“Incredible, Cass. There’s not even a trace of blood on you, not a single wound. Mom was right.”
Wa Luolan stood frozen, eyes wide, big tail and beast ears motionless. Even her father had said Ti Er Xiu was a strong warrior. If she had fought him, she might have needed to activate Curse Blood to win. And now he was defeated like this. Usually, he ran rampant in the village, but now he was dead like a hedgehog.
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