Chapter 22: Witch, or Martial Goddess?
When the male form dominated, the Yin-Yang Demon’s power was immense. When the female form took over, it became swift as the wind.
The corners of its two mouths twisted up in a wide grin, revealing a deep, writhing cavity, as if wanting to devour something.
A bone-chilling chill assaulted the bar.
Qin Chu seemed to feel a bit cold, rubbing his arms which had broken out in goosebumps.
What a pitiful hero, completely unaware of the approaching danger.
The Yin-Yang Demon Matrasa inwardly mocked him. This hero was truly laughable – did he still not understand his predicament? Just summoned to this world and he dared ditch his protective knights to drink alone?
Never seen such a foolish one before.
Compared to the first generation hero, he fell far too short.
If not for the Phantom Demon’s mark on his body, Matrasa would doubt if this one was even the real hero.
He failed to notice its approach, failed to sense the chill in the bar.
Assassinating the hero seemed even easier than imagined. Though some doubts lingered in Matrasa’s mind, like why the hero came to Candice’s bar.
With the hero’s status, if he wanted to drink, there were countless higher-class bars in the inner city district.
Plus, where did that Candice girl run off to?
Speaking of which, Candice the mongrel truly lived up to her tainted human bloodline, which was why she failed to detect the Phantom Demon’s mark.
For such a mongrel to aspire to demon beast recognition – don’t joke around. Being allowed to work for demon beasts was already her greatest honor. Demon beasts would never acknowledge these part-human mongrels as true companions.
Except witches, of course. Witches were abnormally powerful, so they had to be acknowledged.
But the doubts flashed only momentarily. At this moment, the only thing filling Matrasa’s mind was the glory of slaying the hero.
If it succeeded in this secret assassination, its standing before the Demon King would soar, surely reaping bountiful rewards.
Perhaps in those rewards, its strength could finally break through the shackles hampering it all these years.
It had to act now, or else other demon beast assassins lurking in the imperial capital might beat it to the hero. After all, it was not the only killer targeting the hero.
The world before Qin Chu’s eyes suddenly dimmed, as if cloaked in a hazy fog.
Riding the night wind, Matrasa’s body drifted soundlessly behind Qin Chu like a falling leaf, that grotesque clown-like grin dripping malice.
It raised its right hand, the fingers thickening, left leg stepping back as it cocked its arm to punch Qin Chu’s back with full force.
Though not using its full strength, it was absolutely certain the fragile flesh of this newly-summoned hero could not withstand its iron fist – capable of punching through steel and shattering stone into dust.
The hero’s back would be instantly penetrated. With just a flick, it could tear out his heart.
Bang!
The air exploded layer by layer.
The bar counter before them shattered in an instant, wooden splinters flying everywhere.
The bottles and glasses behind the counter cracked into pieces, various colored liquors flowing across the floor and releasing a heady aroma.
Matrasa’s fist punched through the hero’s back as intended, but…there was not a shred of excitement on its face. The feel was off, completely lacking the sensation of piercing human flesh.
Next, the hero’s body shattered like a mirror, disappearing fragment by fragment midair.
With a swish, Matrasa suddenly spun around. A few meters away in the corner, Qin Chu’s figure gradually rematerialized, reappearing before Matrasa’s eyes.
An illusion!
Damn it, when did this hero learn magic?
He shouldn’t have had the time for that, right?
A faint sense of foreboding emerged in Matrasa’s mind. This assassination might not proceed as smoothly as imagined. But the glory of slaying the hero made Matrasa unable to hold back.
Its face began rapidly transforming, the female half elongating and spreading over to dominate the other side, until the entire visage became feminine.
It charged towards Qin Chu, but just as its right foot stomped the ground to leap, a slender hand suddenly landed on Matrasa’s shoulder.
Slap!
Bang!
The body that had barely left the ground was instantly smashed back down by that palm strike.
The floor instantly cratered, stone tiles cracking as Matrasa’s back took the powerful impact, a mouthful of fresh blood spraying out.
Candice’s figure appeared behind Matrasa, one black high-heeled foot pressing down on its face.
Beneath her skirt, a glimpse of creamy calf flashed like polished jade – her slender frame seemingly containing boundless strength. No matter how Matrasa struggled, it could not break free from under Candice’s foot.
“Shaye, are you sure this woman has the physique of a witch, and not that of a martial goddess?” Qin Chu couldn’t help inwardly commenting on Candice’s demonstration.
Wait, a witch’s physique?
He had yet to see this woman use any magic at all. Instead, she slapped Matrasa down with a single palm strike.
“Um, she can cultivate both magic and martial arts.”
Matrasa’s eyes bulged as its body writhed on the ground like a worm.
Under the lamplight, it finally saw – it was that bitch Candice!
“Candice, you bitch! How dare you attack me, you’ve betrayed our sovereign lord…” Matrasa roared furiously, its eyes crimson with rage.
As expected of a mongrel, not to be trusted.
Disgusted by Matrasa’s voice, Candice twisted her shoe, directly jabbing the heel into its mouth.
Matrasa’s howls instantly became muffled whimpers.
“Lord Horus, I leave it to you…” Candice respectfully addressed Qin Chu.
Qin Chu approached Matrasa, showing no interest in whatever it was saying. To him, Matrasa was merely an experience packet of potentially lower quality than even the Phantom Demon – its level a bit beneath that fake Earl Donald.
Still, it was a decent supplement.
Under Matrasa’s hateful, enraged gaze, Qin Chu squatted down, placing one hand directly on its forehead.
The Devourer.
Candice’s expression changed slightly, sensing a soul-deep dread. Though Lord Horus’s palm did not touch her skin, the magic and battle qi within her body roiled like boiling water, as if about to separate from her physical form.
More alarmingly, the originally curvaceous, feminine Yin-Yang Demon Matrasa’s flesh was visibly withering at a rapid pace. In just moments, its entire figure became skin and bones.
The bone outlines became disturbingly clear, its screams gradually turning into agonized, hopeless wails.
Was Lord Horus…extracting Matrasa’s power and life force?
And that was not all.
That incomprehensible energy ignored Candice’s high heels, seeping through the soles to draw out the roiling magic and battle qi from within her body in a frenzied torrent, as if finding an opening.
