Upon entering the tomb, they saw an old man draped in black fur watching them.
"It seems I'm the only one left... although I am just a retired one." As he spoke, the old man revealed a strange smile, and his body began to change, transforming directly into a battle-ready bear.
"Since you've decided to fight me, I will tear you to pieces! Women from the empire!" the old man, now a bear, roared.
"Hmm, this is something I often hunted when I was a child," Esdeath said.
"Then I'll leave him to you." Kaede didn't want to waste time here, and after saying this, she dashed out.
"You want to pass in front of me?" the bear roared and swiped at Kaede with a paw.
However, Kaede didn't even look at him, nor did she move her body; she kept charging forward.
"Die!!" As if feeling provoked, the bear roared again.
"Bang!"
The result was nothing; the bear's strike hit an icicle that had suddenly grown from the ground. The icicle shattered, but the bear's paw was also stopped. Before the bear could be surprised or try to swipe again, Kaede had already dashed far away.
"Your opponent is me." Although Esdeath was a little dissatisfied, this opponent was actually quite decent; she would settle the score with Kaede later.
"Is that so?" Through the icicle that had suddenly grown, the bear also felt that Esdeath was tricky, but it was very confident in itself.
"I have never been defeated in close combat. Do you want to try challenging me?"
"Hmm?" Esdeath narrowed her eyes, a smile appearing on her lips. A few strands of hair pressed down by her hat hid one of her eyes in the shadows, while the other was exposed.
Her ice-blue eyes held only excitement, and her body tensed up, fully exposing her exaggerated curves.
"Interesting, I accept your challenge." She was the empires strongest; how could she possibly challenge others? It was always others who challenged her!
"Just wait and regret it!" Ignoring this, the bear charged at Esdeath.
"Heh..." Esdeath looked at the charging bear, its foolish movements, and its comical giant bear head, a look of disdain appearing on her lips.
...
Meanwhile, on Kaede's side, her speed was so fast that her figure could barely be seen. Even the activation speed of the traps was a bit slow; by the time the traps activated, she was already outside their range.
Soon, Kaede arrived at a place similar to a prison and saw the three people tied up there. Well, they were all people she knew: Gin, Natala, and... Chikushi.
Natala's body was covered in wounds. Gin's upper body was exposed, revealing her magnificent breasts, with fragments of torn clothing still remaining on them, and only the final line of defense remained on her lower body.
Chikushi, beside her, was doing better. Although her lower body was the same as Gin's, at least her upper body still retained her last piece of undergarment, though it still displayed her extraordinary magnificence vividly.
However, if a man were to come here, he might have already been unable to resist pouncing on them. If other women were to come, they might feel a bit jealous. As for what they would be jealous of? Need that even be said?
However, Kaede didn't feel anything. In her cognition, those two lumps were completely superfluous things; they were just a bit thicker and could block a little more damage, so they were completely useless.
Then, Kaede turned her gaze to a middle-aged man with black hair and obvious wrinkles on his face standing in front of the three people. This middle-aged man gave Kaede a very strange feeling.
Kaede felt like she had been exposed, but how was that possible? At this distance, even Esdeath wouldn't be able to detect her.
But, the next moment, Winneger's voice reached Kaede's ears.
"Then, first, let's finish off these two Guys, one hiding underground, and the one hiding over there." As he spoke, Winneger looked in the direction where Kaede was.
"Exposed after all?" But why? Kaede didn't understand. Since she was already exposed, and even her location was revealed, she had no need to continue hiding.
However, if she remembered correctly, the person underground should be Guy's ability.
Sure enough.
"Startled me, I didn't expect to be discovered."
Following Guy's voice, a patch of ground began to crumble, and finally, a figure broke through the soil; it was Guy, wearing the Thousand-Layer Robe.
Can he even detect things underground? Kaede thought to herself, and finally flashed to Guy's side.
"Kaede!" They didn't know Guy, but Natala and Gin both knew Kaede—the strongest in their eyes! At this moment, hope appeared in their eyes; if it was Kaede, she would definitely win!
However, Kaede looked at Winneger with wariness in her eyes. Her intuition gave her a strange feeling: she felt that the opponent was very weak, yet she also felt that if she attacked just like that, she would die.
"Why on earth? Isn't their secret technique animal transformation? Plant transformation seems to exist too, but it's rarer. Could there be another ability?" Kaede was thinking.
However, Guy didn't think so much and had already attacked. He didn't say anything to Kaede, because they had almost never worked together, and trying to coordinate on the fly might yield even worse results.
"Haha, you young people are quite energetic! Worthy of being torn to pieces by me!" As he spoke, Winneger's body also began to change, eventually transforming into an animal that no one recognized.
Anubis, the divine beast revered in this place; its destructive power and recovery ability were not on the same level as mortals!
"This is the forbidden power that only modern leaders can use!" Winneger roared with laughter as he charged. As long as he possessed this power, he could definitely tear the two brats in front of him to pieces! And the one on the side seemed very suitable to be his host!
In an instant, Guy and Winneger clashed.
"Bang!" Guy was sent flying like a cannonball, slamming hard into the wall.
"Hmm?" Kaede watched from the side, not making a move. She felt that Winneger's weirdness didn't seem to be this transformation. As for worrying about Guy, well, rest assured, Guy, who was fine even when she beat him with full force, would be knocked down by such an attack? Impossible.
Sure enough, just as Winneger let his guard down, Guy grabbed Winneger's arm, his lifted face showing an excited smile.
"As expected, you are different from those small fry!"
After saying this, Guy saw Winneger open his bloody maw.
"Fire." Kaede, standing to the side, said directly, but then frowned. This was not the ability that made her feel danger.
"Hmm?" Winneger was startled. When did Kaede get next to them? Winneger, who had expected Kaede to attack and had secretly gathered power, didn't expect Kaede to just retreat without attacking.
"Bang!" It was his moment of distraction that allowed Guy to punch him flying.
At this moment, when Guy wanted to chase after him, he was stopped by Kaede.
"What are you doing?" Guy was a bit shocked and angry, not understanding why Kaede stopped him.
"Wait a moment." Kaede looked at the side of Guy's face that he couldn't see, where some black curse marks appeared. Finally, when the curse marks fully emerged.
"Ughhh!" Guy immediately covered his face. It hurt!
"Hmph~" Kaede's eyes flickered, then the corners of her mouth curled up, and her lips moved slightly.
"Transferring the received damage to the attacker? What a trick only small fry would have." Kaede turned around to look at the shocked Winneger, her eyes turning cold.
"You... how is that possible?" Winneger almost screamed when he heard Kaede's words. She had discovered it after seeing it just once.
"Nothing can escape my eyes, and besides..." Kaede had a playful smile on her lips, "Your reaction has made me even more certain~"
At this moment, Kaede couldn't help but thank her intuition once again. If she had attacked, judging by the level he showed while fighting Guy just now, she would have been able to cut him in half with a single draw-slash.
The opponent would have died, but once this strange ability was activated, she would also have perished.
"Even if you know it, what can you do? Can you break it?" Winneger widened his eyes.
"This ability of yours relies on your recovery and resistance being superior to ordinary people, right? Then do you want to compare whose body is stronger?" Kaede narrowed her eyes, watching the punch mark on Winneger's face quickly disappear, and said.
"Roar!!" Winneger's heart sank lower and lower because what Kaede said was completely correct. Anyone who knew the secret technique deserved to die! A crazed murderous intent appeared in Winneger's eyes.
"Tsk!" A smile appeared on Kaede's lips. She looked at Guy and said, "Leave the rest to me. You can't deal with his ability; go help them untie themselves."
Saying this, Kaede walked toward Winneger step by step.
"Yeah, okay." Guy was also startled by the ability Kaede mentioned. If Winneger used this ability against him, it would be spine-chilling to think about. He looked at his own hands—could his body withstand his own strongest attack? At the very least, Guy knew that if he attacked, he would definitely aim for the head, and his head absolutely could not withstand his own strongest force!
Since she had already figured out the ability she was wary of, Winneger was just small fry in Kaede's eyes.
And she, it seemed, just happened to be able to counter him~
Small fry!
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