Chapter 26: Something Feels Off!

Chapter 26: Something Feels Off!

Aierjisi rolled to the side to dodge Freya’s attack, but Yake wasn’t so lucky. He got entangled by Freya’s threads, leaving him with several cuts that made him scream in agony. In the next moment, Aierjisi fired a glowing orb that blew the threads away, saving Yake.

“Yake, are you okay? How did you get caught so quickly? Didn’t we reinforce ourselves in the Sacred Domain?”

“How would I know? Honestly, it feels like moving around is no different from before. What exactly did we reinforce?”

Yake was puzzled; he had drawn power from the core, so why was he still such a weakling? It didn’t make sense! Back then, he had felt the power flowing into him—how did it come to this?

“What are you two babbling about? The battle isn’t over yet!”

Freya, annoyed at being ignored, launched another round of attacks at them.

“Hiss…”

This time it wasn’t just Yake who got hit; Aierjisi also received a cut on her thigh due to a delayed dodge, tearing both her skin and stockings.

What’s going on? They had reinforced themselves; how could they be so weak? This shouldn’t be happening!

Wait… no, it’s not that they became weaker; it’s that this crazy woman had become even stronger! In her current state, she was definitely not holding back her power. Plus, she was in a rage, further enhancing her combat abilities.

In this situation, it only made sense that she was effortlessly dominating both Aierjisi and Yake.

Who would’ve thought that even with their enhanced power, they still couldn’t compete with this insane woman? Just how strong are those Adrian People?

Aierjisi reevaluated the gap in strength between herself, Yake, and the Adrian People once again.

“What’s wrong? Weren’t you two bragging a moment ago? Is this all the power you have?”

Freya clearly held a grudge from before, not giving them even a moment to catch their breath. She had them hopping around, avoiding attacks and looking quite pathetic.

“Aierjisi, weren’t you two supposed to get stronger in the Sacred Domain?”

Carl noticed something was off; Aierjisi and Yake’s state was clearly not right. Compared to before, nothing seemed to have changed! Could it be that they hadn’t actually reinforced themselves?

“Yeah, we passed the Trial in the Sacred Domain and got the core’s power, but now we just can’t unleash it.”

“Strange. Did anything unexpected happen when you absorbed the power from the core?”

There had to have been something that went wrong. How could it be that they received the core’s power and yet ended up like this?

“No, it was perfectly normal; I just reached in and absorbed part of the core’s power, nothing else. Oh, speaking of which, I got this.”

Amidst the chaos, Aierjisi pulled out a crystal that she had kept in her pocket.

“What’s that?”

“I want to know too! I got it from the core, but I have no idea what it is.”

Even Carl, the Blood Clan king, didn’t know what it was, let alone Aierjisi, the Blood Clan Little Princess!

“Throw me that crystal so I can take a look.”

“If I could, I would have done it already!”

Aierjisi was too busy dodging Freya’s attacks to toss the crystal to Carl.

“Just toss it a little; I can catch it myself.”

“Alright. Catch!”

While dodging, Aierjisi tossed the crystal, and it hit the wall, falling to the side. Carl dashed over to pick it up and examined it closely.

But even he couldn’t determine what it was. There was never any mention of such a thing in the literature concerning the core.

“Aier, we should retreat for now. If this keeps up, we’re going to get beaten to death by this crazy woman.”

Yake could no longer hold on—despite having healing powers from the Contract, if this continued, he would eventually pass out from pain. There was no hope for victory; retreating was the smartest choice.

“Aierjisi, I’ve never agreed with you more. Let’s pull back. Father! You should get ready to retreat too!”

“I understand; you two go ahead. I’ll hold them off.”

Carl stuffed the crystal into his pocket and stood in front of Freya. He could at least buy some time for the two to escape.

“I got it. Yake, we’ll retreat to the cave and regroup with Mia and the others.”

“Roger that. The rest is up to you, old man.”

Yake and Aierjisi retreated along the pathway they came, but Freya attempted to pursue but was blocked by Carl.

“Don’t be in such a hurry. We still have our unfinished business, don’t we? You still want to kill me, right? Let’s have ourselves a proper fight!”

“If that’s how you want it, I’ll gladly oblige!”

Freya shouted as she prepared her threads. Carl, disregarding his injuries, dashed straight at her in a direct path. If he could just knock her back or stop her attacks for a brief three seconds, they could escape successfully.

“You should feel honored since I rarely swing with such seriousness. Consider this a privilege.”

Carl concentrated all his strength into his right hand and struck Freya hard in the abdomen. The pain caused Freya to clutch her midsection and kneel, halting her movements. Even the Ultimate Life Form could feel pain; they were still biological beings, not invincible tanks.

Seizing this brief moment, Carl left the cave and threw a Fireball towards the entrance, shattering the rocks above to create a collapse, temporarily blocking the exit.

…

Meanwhile, Aierjisi and Yake returned to the initial cave entrance they had entered. They had hoped to regroup with Mia, but what lay before them was a brutal reality.

“How could this happen? Mia and the others…”

Looking at the corpses of the children before them, Aierjisi felt her heartache. What kind of monster would do such a thing, not even sparing these innocent kids?

“Aier, it looks like Mia and the others were cut down by a sword. Look at these wounds—they’re so clean.”

Compared to Aierjisi, who was still reeling from shock, Yake, used to violence, remained relatively calm. Though he felt disgusted and angry at the scene, he advanced to inspect the bodies, noting that the injuries could only be caused by a blade, and to be so cleanly cut suggested that the perpetrator was a master swordsman.