[ Feminization Progress: Phase 2/9 (Ecdysis) - 58.01% ]
"Wait... why is it still going up?!" Alex thought, his heart skipping a beat as he watched the percentage creep up little by little.
"Damn it," Even without pure lust driving it, the sheer, overwhelming volume of raw energy passing through his Void Yin Constitution was acting like a natural catalyst.
His body was filtering massive amounts of power, and that continuous refinement was slowly, unavoidably pushing his physical vessel further along its evolutionary path.
And to make things worse, the event hadn't even begun yet.
"My, my... what a feast," the Empress's lazy, seductive drawl echoed directly inside his mind, accompanied by a giggle. "Did you really think you could gorge yourself on this much raw energy without your body adapting to hold it?"
"Hahaaa, every drop of power you absorb only makes your body softer, sweeter, and more mature. Just let it happen, darling… But don't just climax in front of all these people like a slut."
"Fuck off!! As long as it doesn't jump by twenty percent all at once, I can handle the slow changes," Alex mentally fired back, forcing his breathing to remain slow and steady as he pushed the Empress's thoughts away.
He straightened his posture, arching his back slightly to relieve the pressure on his sensitive breasts.
Looking down at the empty, stained earth of the fighting pit, his dark eyes turned sharp and calculating.
However, he secretly used his Demon Snake Summoning to summon the small viper he summoned yesterday and ordered it to secretly search for Liria and Lady Clara.
As Alex and Leo walked through the luxurious inner lounge, the atmosphere was thick with tension.
The local nobles and gambling lords whispered to each other, casting worried glances.
Most of these wealthy people had never seen the Windrake family's personal elite guard show that kind of respect to anyone before.
However, the respectful silence didn't last long.
"Wait a damn second!" A loud, demanding shout echoed across the lounge, drowning out the soft jazz music and the quiet clinking of glasses.
The crowd parted as Lord Malakor, the fat noble man who had been groping the slave girl earlier, pushed his way to the front.
He looked even sleazier up close, with sweat dripping down his chin and a cruel, possessed glare in his bloodshot eyes.
He slammed his champagne glass down onto a passing waiter's silver tray, making the crystal shatter loudly.
Ignoring the gasp from the slave, Malakor stared straight at Alex's elegant, delicate figure, his gaze filled with greedy doubt and arrogance.
"What grand duchess? What secret billionaire?" Malakor shouted, gesturing aggressively toward Alex. "It's all bullshit! Every single bit of it! I haven't heard of any duchess staying in the north."
The lounge went instantly silent. Even the people in charge of the event and the few remaining guards near the entrance froze, watching the scene unfold.
"I do business directly with the northern border houses!" Malakor continued, stepping closer, smelling of strong alcohol and expensive cigars. "I know the real Sterling family."
"The true Lady Veronica Sterling isn't some prissy model! She's a battle-hardened, blood-soaked battlemage with scars on her face and eyes that kill!"
Malakor smirked, looking around the room to gather support from the other powerful gamblers.
"Look at this woman! Just look at her!" Malakor sneered, jabbing a thick, sausage-like finger toward Alex's chest. "Her skin is smooth as cream, and her hands are so pale and delicate, I doubt they've ever held anything heavier than a hairbrush, let alone a weapon!"
"This isn't Lady Sterling! This is just some cheap, expensive-looking whore hired by the Windrake family to make an entrance, scare us, and manipulate the betting odds for tonight's fights!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the tension in the room snapped.
Whispers began to intensify across the lounge, but this time they weren't whispered in fear.
"He... he has a point," a slender noblewoman in a backless dress murmured, tapping her manicured nails against her glass. "She looks far too young to be a battlemage."
"The rumors did seem a little too convenient," a man in a luxurious golden white tuxedo agreed, looking suspiciously at the heavy briefcase Leo was holding. "Maybe they are trying to hide something."
Seeing the crowd turning to his side, Malakor crossed his fat arms over his barrel chest, looking down at Alex with a victorious, arrogant smirk.
The few event staff members present interjected slightly, trying to maintain order, but they tacitly kept silent, allowing Malakor to continue his verbal attack.
They also had their own hidden doubts about this mysterious woman who just suddenly appeared out of nowhere with millions of credits.
They wanted to see exactly how this woman would prove her claim to be the legendary Sterling name.
Beside Alex, Leo practically turned a pasty shade of gray.
His knuckles popped loudly as his fingers tightened around the handle of the metal briefcase, turning them white with pressure.
He was terrified.
If their disguise was blown, they would be torn apart by the guards or the angry mob of high-rolling gamblers they just tried to hustle.
He shifted his weight, preparing to drop the heavy briefcase and just fight his way out.
But before Leo could make a move, Alex stopped him.
Without breaking his cold gaze away from Malakor, Alex simply raised her hand, placing it flat against Leo's chest to hold him back.
The gesture was calm, graceful, and utterly dismissive of Malakor's presence.
"Here I thought that things were proceeding too smoothly," Alex thought to himself, his expression remaining perfectly blank and cold like a statue.
He wasn't scared at all.
In fact, deep down, a dark, dangerous thrill was beginning to tingle under his skin. "I guess it was only a matter of time before some low-life asshole with a loud mouth tried to test me."
The lounge remained dead silent as everyone waited to see how the mysterious woman would react to being called a fake and a whore in front of the entire city's elite.
Slowly, Alex lowered his raised right hand from Leo's chest.
He smoothed down the lapel of his tailored ivory blazer, his movements lazy and unhurried.
Then, he tilted his head slightly, fixing Malakor with a cold gaze that made the fat merchant's arrogant smirk falter for just a second.
"How do you want me to prove it?" Alex asked softly.
His voice wasn't loud, but layered with that hypnotic, melodic resonance, it carried effortlessly over the low jazz music and the nervous whispers of the crowd.
Malakor's small, bloodshot eyes lit up with greedy triumph. He thought he had her cornered.
"It's simple enough," Malakor sneered, snapping his thick fingers toward the edge of the VIP balcony. "We do things the underground way right here!"
From the shadows near the balcony entrance, a towering figure stepped forward, making the marble floor literally shake beneath his heavy boots.
It was one of Malakor's personal combat slaves, a hulking, seven-foot-tall gladiator built like a brick wall.
The man was shirtless, his thick muscles bulging under the warm chandelier lights.
In his right hand, he gripped a massive, double-bladed heavy battle-axe, while his left arm was strapped to a thick, reinforced alloy tower shield, radiating a heavy, suffocating Rank B physical pressure, looking like a monster born to crush bones.
"This is 'Abu' ', my top champion for the upcoming fight, a B-Rank armored juggernaut!" Malakor boasted, puffing out his barrel chest as he pointed a chubby finger at the towering warrior. "If you're really the legendary battlemage from the northern border, proving it against one of my pets should be child's play!"
Malakor took a step closer, a sleazy, mocking grin spreading across his greasy face.
"Let's make a little wager, 'Your Grace'," he said loudly, making sure every noble in the room could hear the terms. "You step into the private exhibition ring right now and face my boy here."
"If you lose, or if you're too terrified to draw that pretty little sword of yours, you immediately transfer ten million federal credits directly into my personal account on the spot for wasting our time!"
"Then, in front of everyone, you need to accept the fact that you are indeed a bitch arranged by the Windrake family. How is it?"
"Are you sure you're up to the challenge?"