"It's been a while since I tasted your blade, Slaughter. Around fifty years, right? Now is as good a time as any." Selma Shu licked her lips as a saber appeared in her hand.
Jody was stunned when he heard her words. The atmosphere changed slightly as Jody felt Charlotte's body tense.
"You…" Charlotte grimaced.
Was she not clearly holding the third young Lord? Yet this woman was already drawing her weapon and forcing Charlotte into accepting her challenge.
How could Charlotte put down Jody to spar with this woman? That would be a direct breach of command! Furthermore, the shock waves of the battle would reduce him to dust. Suddenly, Charlotte realized that the real target of this 'harassment' may not be herself. She may have made a few enemies in the past, but she was only a seated elder and member of the Five Element Wolf Pack.
No one would risk offending the House Lord just to get revenge on her, for they could not bear the retribution. Which likely meant that Charlotte wasn't her target at all. On top of that, this wasn't merely House Shu she was dealing with. House Shu could never act so boldly alone.
'They want Josiah!' Charlotte thought to herself.
She was upset but not panicked. There were only a few experts in this estate she was afraid of, and Selma Shu was not one of them.
"Hmph. Jody, get on my back and hold on to me tight."
Jody felt himself get covered in a cocoon of protection as he quickly did as he was told. There was less visibility in this energy cocoon, but he could tell he was very secure within. He no longer felt the threat of death. Nonetheless, Jody knew that now was not the time for him to do anything but listen and observe if he wanted to seek survival. He was certain these people were targeting himself.
He opened his mind's eye to cast out his perception. It could only extend four feet from his body, but this was better than nothing.
Charlotte's hand glows with a pure crimson essence, condensing into a razor-sharp blade that she thrusts forward with deadly speed. The blade erupts into a violent crimson-golden wave of force that slams into Selma's chest with the impact of a comet. The impact sends Selma hurtling back through the air, her body convulsing in agony as she coughs up blood relentlessly. A gaping wound three feet long tears down her torso, splattering crimson droplets in every direction.
Selma struggles to her feet in horror.
What was this obscenely sharp force? She felt no blade aura until the very instant before she was pierced. That attack tore her protective force momentum into nothing. This was not part of the plan. Since when was Charlotte Slaughter this powerful?
'House Trillwolf has been hiding their strength!' This thought immediately ran through Selma's mind.
"What's going on down there?" Two guards from the palace quickly ran downstairs when they heard the commotion. They were clad in black armor, and when they arrived, they instantly grew enraged. "How dare you attack our elder! Guards, to us! Get them!"
Charlotte's body trembled with a powerful aura of black energy as the guards rushed closer. With her fear rapidly rising, she shot through the palace wall like a cannonball and landed in an unsuspecting courtyard. She spun around with lightning speed before throwing Josiah into her arms and taking off wildly to the sky, narrowly escaping capture.m
"We can't leave the lord's side, but I'll send our mounts," came Elder Mercer's voice through the serenity mirror device in Jody's hand.
"Okay."
Charlotte had just contacted the Honored Pack on her serene sound mirror during this time. Three howls were heard in the distance as three mighty Spirit Wolves rushed over and circled protectively around Charlotte with snarling teeth. Charlotte looked at the boy in her arms and said, "Don't worry, little Joe. I don't know what's happening, but I'll never let them touch you!"
Jody was thoroughly confused at this point. Wasn't this House Shu also considered his family? What exactly was going on here?
"Charlotte, Charlotte, Charlotte. Things do not have to be this way, you know?" came a sinister, raspy voice from behind the guards in the distance, who parted ways to make room for this stranger.
One could tell from his slightly withered hand and his old voice that this stranger was an elder. He wore white hooded robes with a golden flood dragon design. The inner-hood of these robes shined with golden light, masking his appearance.
However, Charlotte could never mistake this voice.
This was the voice that haunted her nightmares. The evil maniac who stole her innocence and almost destroyed her purity. If not for Osiris…
This man would surely have defiled her if not for her Lord. Somehow, this voice sounded like it was directly next to them instead of hundreds of meters behind. From behind this old man, another expert rushed out to chase Charlotte. He was the polar opposite of the old man, wearing black robes and a hood that shrouded his face in the darkness. Only his mouth and beard could be seen.
"Trevor…"
It was at this instant that Charlotte finally paled. She had held on to hope that she was mistaken. Seeing the Dark Possession in action again, that hope was no more.
Trevor Graves was the Right-Hand of the most terrifying expert in the West Ward. She had gotten used to hearing his voice many years ago after she got kidnapped by the White Demon Temple. That was the most horrendous experience of her life. Her body shuddered involuntarily, which made Jody super nervous.
"Are we going to die, Aunt Charlotte?" Jody asked innocently.
He had never seen her like this, even when battling goblins outside. Things just didn't look optimistic, and his father seemed to be in no mood to help them as of now.
Charlotte Slaughter looked at the boy in her tight embrace before she whispered, "The Winter Spirit Wolf on the left is mine. I'm going to send you to your father's side. If you can't find him, leave far, far away from here."
As she spoke, she had the all-white Winter Spirit Wolf approach in the sky while placing Jody on its back. Charlotte put a protective charm around Jody's neck and kissed his forehead. The Winter Spirit Wolf turned and dashed into the distance. It looked like the wolf was running on a snowflake rainbow, making a breathtaking sight.
"With the speed of my Chucky, no one will be able to chase up to him unless Altis is here as well," Completely relaxed now that Jody wasn't by her side, Charlotte's eyes shone with crimson-golden sagelight.
A mysterious purple magic cube appeared in the void next to her. As soon as this source artifact appeared, a loud howling was heard, and the two Spirit Wolves next to her joined in with this howl, causing waves of pressure to push back the guards who were arriving to surround her.
One hundred meters in front of Charlotte, a middle-aged man in black robes slowly descended from the sky. Charlotte saw the black-purple voodoo essence billowing from his body and immediately let her essence burst out. The pure black essence fused with her innate slaughter force and condensed into a deadly crimson halberd, radiating fearsome light. Charlotte grabbed this halberd, and blade energy whistled in the air as her form morphed.
In less than a breath, she had transformed from a beautiful curvy woman to a three-meter tall wolf-amazon with purple fur. Her long black hair remained floating without wind behind her, and two menacing golden fangs hung below her jawline. The purple magic cube beside her started to rotate at high speed as black rukh poured out of the artifact and into the halberd, forming black wolf hieroglyphs all down the pole and blade.
This was her famous Swordfire Death Halberd, the Heaven's Mantle of the Hell's Daughter. All warriors of the Saint Path could condense a Heaven's Mantle, or skymantle, after reaching a specific realm of power, and Charlotte's was a full offensive type.
The black-robed man didn't stay idle as a voodoo doll that looked like a corrupted tiger cub appeared in the void next to him. His hands blurred as countless hand signs formed seals of curse Power. A purple-black radiance was emitted from the rukh curse seals crawling up his arms. His black-purple essence condensed into two mighty gauntlets, one for each arm. These gauntlets were swiftly covered in eerie black snake glyphs almost as soon as they formed.
Though this took time to explain, everything was completed in only a couple of seconds.
Charlotte let out a powerful sound that could only be interpreted as a bark as the two Spirit Wolves beside her used their respective lifeblood powers while charging toward that black-robed man in the sky. The black-robed man saw the two Spirit Wolves and was inwardly startled. He could identify that these Spirit Wolves were a type of pureblood Origin Beast, which was more intimidating than a trickster.
These were magical beasts that could formulate mana! Unlike Vicious Beasts, which had to evolve by feeding on others, an origin beast simply didn't need to evolve to become stronger. They could formulate their magic cores! Pureblood Origin Beasts were born in pairs directly from world veins. When creatures die and decompose, the world absorbs everything and uses it to reconstruct its own creatures. For an origin beast born from the world vein, their mate was always born with them!
That's why whenever any species of pureblood origin beast was born, that entire species would flourish. The only scarier than powerful pureblood origin beasts were Origin God Beasts, born from chaos nebulas. They were natural twilight creatures. Of the two Origin Beasts approaching, one was a River Spirit Wolf, while the other was a Molten Spirit Wolf. Water and Fire, Neon and Dawn, these beasts would not be easy to deal with.
The River Spirit Wolf surged forward, coalescing into a raging river of water that lashed out at the black-robed man like a whip, forcing him to frantically raise his skymantle in defense over and over. At the same time, the Molten Spirit Wolf unleashed an unstoppable stream of molten lava onto the man's unprotected back. Roaring flames burned across his skin, incinerating the protective force momentum that had sustained him.
"Greater Earth Devil Palm," the black-robed man launched two palms imbued with earth element curse power.
His hands blazed with power, and out of them shot two massive palm-shaped boulders, like missiles fired from a powerful cannon. The River Spirit Wolf, quick as lightning, transformed into a roaring waterfall and managed to dodge most of it, but the Molten Spirit Wolf was thrown back in an explosion of fire and heat. However, its eyes shone with wild determination, and it readied itself for more.
Void Shift!
Charlotte snarled as she activated her rukh, disappearing in a blinding flash of light.
'Slaughter blade force!' Reappearing two hundred meters away, she quickly brought her Swordfire Death Halberd crashing down with an earth-shattering force, conjuring a force storm of razor-sharp blades that collided with the unseen figure in the void.
A fierce tempest of violence erupted from the impact, leaving devastation and destruction in its wake.
Bang!
A sizable explosion followed the collision between the halberd and a short sword in the hand of the white-cloaked Trevor Graves, who was knocked back several steps and actually coughed out a bit of blood before regaining his composure. His hood was knocked away to reveal a gruesome and scarred old face.
Trevor licked his darkened lips, saying, "My, my… you have grown, Slaughter. You can actually contend with this humble one's puppet for a bit? Truly intriguing."
Charlotte herself was knocked back a few feet, and blood trailed from her mouth. Since she had successfully sneak attacked this bastard, it was safe to say that their strength was equal. She felt disgusted that this bastard dared to refer to himself as 'this humble one,' though.