NOVEL WEB Chapter 223 – Cockfighting
The sudden darkness that enveloped the people in the square was unnatural and deeply unnerving for many people. Ariana's eyes had never looked so cold before as right then and there. She watched him as an executioner would watch the prisoner kneeling before a bloody stump on which he had to lay his head.
"I like your eyes!" Elinus licked his lips, stomping on the ground, cracking up the cobblestoned street as he rushed forward, punching out like a boxer. His red robe fluttered in the wind behind him, just like a cape, wearing nothing under it.
Ariana quickly dodged as she was clearly not his match in a physical confrontation. She summoned black tendrils from the ground, now covered with shadows from the sudden eclipse. No matter how hard she tried to restrict him, his legs kept forcing their way forward, tearing them apart.
"Oh baby, if you want to hurt me, you need to do more!" Elinus laughed, moving towards her like someone stuck in a swamp, slowed down by Ariana's spell but uninjured. Elinus's eyes never moved from her face. He always looked at her with a perverted, wild grin, ignoring anything she threw at him.
While Ariana showed calmness on the outside, inside, she was deeply disturbed. Mostly because she could not tap into the real feelings of Elinus. She could not feel any negative emotions from him, pain, dread, fear, anger, or hatred; nothing leaked out. Only a jumbled mix of ecstasy, joy, and lust.
"Freak…" She repeated under her breath the same word that the youngster before her, now fully understanding why people called the Brightseed family's members that. Without the ability to tap into his strong, negative emotions, she could not summon 'demons' to battle him as it seemed he was without any internal struggle. There was no question in his mind he was doing the right thing, no remorse or any kind of inner demons she could use against him, and she could only rely on her spells which left Elinus completely unaffected.
"You look flustered, my little baby girl~ Don't worry. You'll get the hang of it quickly!" He laughed, approaching her with almost a drooling expression. "I'll raise you well! To enjoy it and cry out with happiness! You'll see! The pain is pleasure, and pleasure itself is pain!"
As an answer, Ariana clapped her hands together, letting her aura explode with all the force she could muster. From underneath his right leg, sharp spikes sprung upwards, hitting his skin multiple times in only one second like a jackhammer. At first, they bounced off, but Ariana's eyes remained focused, utilizing what her Master taught her about what she should do if she met someone with a strong defense. Her attacks landed at the same spot, again and again, and by the time Elinus blinked his eyes, realizing that his flawless skin started to turn red, then blue and purple, the final spike finally broke through. His leg gave way, and his skin split open as Ariana's attack finally was able to penetrate deep into his flesh. But it was unable to come out at the other end. Elinus's reaction was a loud, joyful moan as she fell to one knee, shivering with excitement, drawing goosebumps onto Ariana's body. Especially as she was watching his drooling expression. His hot, almost sizzling blood loudly splattered on the ground from the wound while he grabbed onto the black spike, crushing it, then tearing it out while moaning.
"I love you!" He shouted, standing back up, ignoring his nasty injury and even making it worse as chunks of flesh were left hanging from it.
"It is time to stop." came a new voice, and with a thundering echo, Ren appeared between the two, looking at Elinus's almost naked body with unimpressed eyes. She was scanning him from top to bottom. "Put it away, boy; nobody is interested in your deformed little brother!"
"Oh, that look, that voice… another beauty appears! Are you the owner of that maid? What a great, two-in-one deal!" He waved his hand, and now the guards readied their spears, aiming them at Ren and Ariana.
"I don't think you want to do that," Ren said as she shook her head, snapping her fingers as lightning came down from the sky, striking their weapons. It was not just turning them into ash but frying their hands thoroughly, making them crippled with one move. None of them let out a cry for help or any sounds of pain, but they did stop in their steps, looking at Ren and then at Elinus for further orders.
"Oh, a zippity-zappity, fuckable girlie! I know you!" Elinus licked his lips. "It must be you… mmhm!" He took a deep breath. "Yes… it is you because you do not smell like a virgin… oh well! I can make you forget your previous mediocre partners with this!" He shouted as he thrust forward his junk with pride all over his face. "I bet the others had nothing like mine!"
Ren did not even flinch while listening to him with slanted eyes, unable to take him seriously.
"Go home. You should parade around in the little circus you call home, not out in the open!" She waved her hand, dismissing him with a bored look.
"Your name is Ren, is it not?" Elinus asked, ignoring her tone and gaze, just like he did with his injured, bleeding leg.
"If you know, you should know your tone alone deserves your head to be torn off. Lucky for you, I am not bloodthirsty." she nodded, answering him.
"Are you not? What if I tell you I could please you more than Leinor ever did?" Elinus grinned, flashing his white teeth at Ren. "I could even-"
But there were no more words he could say as Ren already stood before him. Her right hand grabbed his monstrous dong with such force that her fingers left dents on it.
"You don't know when to stop, do you?" Ren whispered, then she just twisted and tore it off from the base, finally drawing out a scream that was not just a moan but filled with genuine pain. He was howling towards the sky before her. When she ripped his member off, she next did a backhand swing, slapping him in the face with it, knocking Elinus down to the ground, and making him cough out some teeth. After tossing the deformed, broken thing in her hand to the side, Ren just looked at the guards with only one eye. "Go, clean up this clown and get the fuck out of my sight! If I reencounter any of you, I'll ask no further questions but kill you all on the spot. Make yourself invisible inside this city. Are we clear?" She asked, looking at the guards, tearing off a part of the robe of Elinus, who was screaming and rolling on the ground, writhing in agony… or ecstasy. Nobody could tell for sure. After wiping her hands, she just tossed it at him, walking away leisurely, holding her hand behind his back.
"Master…" Ariana rushed up to her while the weather returned to its normal state. The sun reappeared, drawing the masses present back to reality, unable to tear their eyes away from the freakshow before them.
"You need more training. You became too flustered just because of a pervert." Ren looked into her eyes while Ariana just lowered her head with shame. "We'll talk about it at home."
"Yes…" She whispered, trying to look as small as she could next to her.
"Everyone!" Ren turned around and shouted, after arriving before the door of the Wonder Emporium, drawing their attention to herself, "After everyone recovered from the clown show you all just witnessed-" she spoke up, making some even laugh nervously as everyone could hear her playful voice. Elinus's guards, of course, ignored them as they hurriedly carried him into his carriage and left without a word. "Please, come in and have a look at Rozex's newest wonder!" she chuckled, pushing open the doors behind her. "Everyone can come, everyone can browse, and everyone can purchase! The Wonder Emporium never discriminates against its customers!" She clapped with a warm smile, letting people inside the building. There were multiple kinds of pills, artifacts, and even cultivation techniques put up for sale, originating not just from the Immortal Wonders Sect but from Ren's own mind.
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"This is the full report." Yavik bowed the same man who brought the report forward to Corvux when their crow recorded Keina visiting Ren for a second time.
"So our little rabid dog only produced a half success?" Corvux flipped through the pages, leaning in his chair in the dining room, enjoying his dinner, munching on a bite of steak.
"Yes. Her maid is named Ariana. We collected the necessary information; she is a disciple of hers and stronger than we anticipated. The specimen's reinforced body could withstand her attacks initially, but only until she started focusing on the fight."
"Do we have a recording of the battle?" Corvux asked, putting down the report and returning to eating his steak.
"Yes, I just did not want to disturb your meal, My Lord. You know how that specimen acts."
"Ahaha, true, true! I've gone a bit overboard with him! His running a defective brain inside his thinking box!" He laughed in a joyful mood, remembering the experiments he conducted on him. "Anyway, I'll go through it after dinner. I want to see it for myself! What about the girl… Ren, was it?"
"Yes. I already placed the full report on her in your study. It is ready to be read. We also fed some of that information to the specimen to provoke a response, but…."
"But?"
"She did not showcase sufficient data to draw a correct conclusion, My Lord. We estimate her to be at the same level as Rudrick or slightly above him. But as she did not start a rampage or let her aura slip, we were left empty-handed."
"I see. Send for our doggie; bring him here! I'll repair and upgrade him a little, and we can send him out once again to provoke a proper response from her!"
"My Lord, it may mean we are sacrificing the Brightseed family. If they provoke a-"
"And?" Corvux asked, snapping at him, shutting Yavik up immediately. "Should we care? We can replace them easily. Also, attacking a family under another Lord's protection? Please! If she wishes for the throne, she would absolutely be a madman to do so! Do as I say! I hate repeating myself to you, simpletons!" He groaned, focusing on the meal once again, waving his hand for Yavik to leave him alone. "I hope she does… such action would prompt those war maniacs out from their Spire…" he murmured, stretching forward to a goblet filled with wine so he could wash away his dinner, leaning back with a satisfied expression.
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At the same time as Corvux received his report, Ren was standing before the pond of her courtyard, feeding the golden fishes inside of it. Ariana stood beside her with a lowered head, silently waiting for Ren to speak up.
"I guess Rabout is still at the Wonder Emporium?" Ren opened her mouth after a long silence.
"Yes." her disciple nodded. "In the late afternoon, Keina showed up and purchased a few things. She has been with him since then. Even though it's already dark, people are still coming to take a look inside."
"Well, it is going to be open at all hours." Ren chuckled, clearly in a good mood. "When the first wave of interest dies, we will hold the first auction. That is going to spice some things up, for sure!"
"Even today's earnings are… staggering," Ariana murmured, honestly shocked at the amount of money they had just made in a few hours.
"Money exists to be spent. No matter how much we make, what matters is to open ourselves up to the public and change the look in their eyes. Make them realize that we are not so high above them that they can't even see us. With the money coming in, I can open up even more kinds of shops or finance some fun and leisurely events for the people."
"If we do… the thing that happened today is going to repeat itself, Master."
"Of course!" Ren laughed, dusting off her hand, looking at her, pulling her into a hug, and patting Araina's back. "Don't be such a gloomy sight, girl! I'm not angry at you, and neither am I disappointed!"
"But I… screwed up…" She murmured, with a voice close to crying.
"Everyone does it! I did it, not even just once! You just lost focus because it was the first time you couldn't fight the way you were used to it! You did injure him, no?"
"Y-yes." she nodded, enjoying her hug, pressing her face against Ren's body.
"He was not stronger than you! You could've killed him. Only his behavior threw you completely off! This kind of distraction could be deadly! So I hope you are going to take this memory as an important experience and improve yourself."
"I'll be more focused next time, Master!"
"I hope so! Maybe I should train you a little in some… embarrassing ways?" she stepped back suddenly, crossing her arms, looking at her up and down.
"Master?" Ariana asked with a flustered voice, starting to panic a little.
"I should strip you naked and make you fight him that way? Maybe that would work!"
"No!" She shouted, sounding like a cat with her tail stepped on, covering her body with her hands by reflex.
"Ahahaha! Why not? After you are used to it-"
"Fight him naked if you want to but leave me out of it, Master!" Ariana protested, stomping heavily on the ground, huffing, and puffing while pouting.
"Haaah… too bad, you have a great figure. It would be a treat to show it to others!"
"You are also a pervert, Master! Hmf-hmf! But I'm not!" she turned around while Ren just looked at her back with a warm smile.
"I never said I was not… I only kept it between LeiLei and me…." She sighed with a soft, lonely voice, making Ariana quickly calm down and turn back, looking at her with a worried light in her eyes. "Come!" Ren walked past her, patting her buttocks playfully. "Let's have dinner and a good night's rest! I had to craft a ton of things in time for the opening… I've been running on pure coffee for the past three days!"
"Yes, Master!" She followed her quickly. "I'll make something nice for you, and after a bath, I can massage your body!"
"Mmm!" Ren stretched with a happy smile. "Good thinking! Come, come~ For your mistake in today's fight, you must please your Master, ahaha!"
"Sure!" Ariana nodded with a pure, happy smile. "Anytime, Master!"
