Charles gazed down at Celestine with a sense of resignation, baffled by her intense animosity towards him.
She had secretly installed a tracker on him and followed him around. Who knew what else she was capable of?
As his eyes drifted over Celestine, Charles couldn’t help but silently marvel at her. The Stokes sisters were truly cut from the same cloth—both possessed devilish figures. However, Celestine had a charm Aurora lacked; less innocent but more seductive, surpassing any celebrity he had encountered in his previous life.
Unfortunately, her personality was less than ideal…
Celestine struggled fiercely, but after several attempts, she couldn’t break free from Charles’s grasp. Her chest heaved dramatically, and she glared up at him furiously. “You little punk, trying to play tough before your hair’s even grown in? If you dare do anything today, do you believe I’ll chop off your little manhood?”
Charles inhaled sharply at Celestine’s threat, a chill running down his spine.
He wasn’t so depraved to commit atrocious acts. Today, he had caught Celestine simply to teach her a lesson.
Her provocative words irked Charles, and he sneered, “It seems you’re quite eager to find out?”
He gently pinched Celestine’s smooth cheek, contemplating how to ‘punish’ her, when suddenly, a burst of white light enveloped her.
Sensing a sudden increase in strength in Celestine’s hands, Charles cursed internally.
This madwoman had activated [bestial soul merge]!
Was she planning to take them both down?
Breaking free from Charles’s hold, Celestine’s eyes turned icy as she clenched her teeth and flicked her wrist, sending her whip slicing towards him as a phantom shadow.
The whip, powered with surging water energy, moistened the air as it passed.
A fourth-level Beast Master using [bestial soul merge] in a full-force attack could cripple or kill. Feeling its terrifying power, Charles swallowed a [miraculous speed pill], his speed boosting dramatically as he darted to the side…
Charles could feel his hairs stand on end as the whip narrowly missed him, then violently struck a rock beside him.
Lightning demon ape!
The rigid riverbank boulders instantly turned to rubble.
Witnessing the terrifying destructive power, Charles looked at Celestine with a face full of horror. This woman was ruthlessly aggressive!
With that in mind, Charles decided not to hold back any longer. He summoned Mousie and Max, and as Celestine launched another attack, Max activated its skill [Ice and Fire Barrier], while Mousie projected an ethereal lightning demon ape to shield Charles.
Splat!
The muscular projection of the lightning demon ape was instantly bisected, collapsing into a pool of blood foam.
Although Mousie couldn’t withstand the attack, it managed to dissipate much of Celestine’s assault. When the whip struck Charles’s barrier, it made a dull thud, and Charles staggered back several meters before stopping.
“So strong! Is this the combat power of a fourth-level Beast Master…” Charles steadied himself, gasping for air, and glanced at the [nine netherworld armband], which had lost another piece of Gold Scales, still shaken.
This was the first time Charles had truly battled a fourth-level Beast Master, one rank above him, feeling an unprecedented pressure, nearly being completely overwhelmed.
A dozen meters away, Celestine also looked at Charles with some surprise. Logically, her strike should have severely injured or even killed a third or fourth-level Beast Master.
Yet Charles appeared completely unharmed?
“You little rascal, you’ve got some skills…” Celestine eyed Charles, surprise etched on her face, but she had no intention of holding back. Water energy continuously gathered around her.
“Water cannon attack!”
With a shout, the river behind Celestine began to churn, gradually forming a giant wave, and finally a towering water tornado. Moments later, the water tornado swept towards Charles with terrifying force, slicing through rocks and trees into fragments.
Facing the approaching water tornado, Charles gritted his teeth, feeling an unprecedented pressure from Celestine’s move.
Celestine’s move probably wasn’t her full strength, but Charles was already at his wit’s end. Seeing Max and Mousie shielding him, he thought about fleeing.
Losing to a fourth-level Beast Master wasn’t a disgrace, but he couldn’t let Max and Mousie die in vain.
Just as he was about to activate the skill [darkness cloak], several notification lines flashed before his eyes.
[Water Cannon Attack]: A skill mastered by third-tier mystical beasts and fourth-level Beast Masters, turning water energy into a tornado. It devastates everything in its path, slicing like thousands of blades. The only flaw lies in the center of the water tornado, where the water flow is zero.
“My God, how did I not think of that!” After reading the system’s notification, an epiphany struck Charles.
Whether it’s a typhoon, a tornado, or the water cannon attack before him, the closer to the periphery, the stronger the destructive power, but at the ‘eye’ of the storm, there’s no lethality.
With this realization, Charles clenched his fists, a faint golden pattern emerging on his right arm. He planned to rush into the eye of the tornado within the momentary protective effect triggered by the nine netherworld armband.
“Boom!”
The water tornado swept past, ultimately slamming into Charles’s body with a heavy, muffled sound, sending water splashing everywhere.
Watching this scene, Celestine’s lips slightly curled, assuming Charles had been defeated by her move.
However, she was puzzled. Normally, anyone seeing her [Water Cannon Attack] would think to run as far away as possible. Why did Charles not only stay put but also charge towards it as if seeking his demise?
“Who cares about that little rascal, better if he’s dead,” she muttered, though a hint of regret suddenly crept into her heart. If something really happened to Charles, her sister might do something foolish.
Sheathing her whip, Celestine lightly leapt towards the dissipating mist, eager to see if Charles was still alive.
Just as she approached, a mechanical arm covered in golden scales reached out from the mist and firmly grasped her arm.
As the mist faded, a drenched Charles, his gaze icy, stared at her: “Pretty harsh move there. If it weren’t for my purple-grade armor, I’d probably be laid up in a hospital for half a year. I was careless before, but this time, I won’t let you get away.”
Staring at the young man standing amidst the mist, shock filled Celestine’s face. Before she could react, a small pill was already being pushed into her mouth.
“Damn you, what did you give me…”
As soon as Celestine’s words fell, she felt a wave of dizziness and her legs began to weaken. She tried to activate her powers, but was shocked to find that she could no longer summon any elemental energy.
“This pill will make you lose control of your body for an hour, leaving just a bit of consciousness. However, an hour might not be quite enough for me!” Charles said with a sly grin as Celestine slumped to the ground, limp.
He supported her head with one hand and her legs with the other, lifting Celestine from the ground and carrying her to a nearby grassy area.
With her head spinning, Celestine’s pale face blushed slightly as Charles held her. She struggled desperately, but her efforts felt like nothing more than gentle caresses against Charles.
“…Bastard!” Despite her lack of strength, Celestine still glared venomously at Charles, her voice faint.
Charles, whose calm had been restored, felt a surge of anger at Celestine’s insults.
He flipped her over, and suddenly her perfect curves and perky backside were displayed before his eyes.
Recalling her shrewish behavior just moments before, Charles felt a surge of irritation. He raised his hand and swung it down without hesitation: “Calling me a ‘bastard,’ ‘scum,’ today I’ll teach you how to speak properly!”
The sound of ‘smack, smack, smack’ began an exhilarating story… ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com
…
An hour later, Charles shook his now numb arm.
Guessing that the anesthesia was about to wear off, he swiftly fled the ‘scene of the crime’ just before Celestine regained mobility.
Hiding in the bushes a distance away, Charles watched as Celestine slowly regained her ability to move. The first thing she did was smash a nearby rock, then limped towards the town.
Seeing her pitiful state, Charles chuckled to himself: “I hope today’s lesson teaches her a thing or two. I really don’t know what I did to make her hold such a grudge!”
Celestine had insulted him repeatedly. To do nothing seemed unacceptable, yet going too far didn’t sit right with him either.
Striking a balance, Charles chose a method that was dignified yet thoroughly humiliating for Celestine.
Charles calmed his nerves and set up a tent in a secluded spot on the outskirts of town. Knowing that Celestine was aware of his whereabouts, he was concerned about potential retaliation and resigned himself to spending the night by the river.
“It seems my instincts were correct; you do possess the ability to wield dark energy.”
Charles was momentarily startled and glanced around in alarm, but there was no one in sight.
Just then, he noticed some movement in the shadows not far from him, and the voice had come from there: “Heh, have you forgotten your own techniques?”
The shadows began to twist and gradually morphed into a middle-aged man clad in a black robe, who quietly stood before him.