Eddie, known for his thick skin and even thicker shamelessness, immediately put on a polite demeanor:
"My apologies, beautiful lady, that was an accidental grab. Actually, I am a gentleman of integrity. Just hearing my name, Tunlun, you'd know how upright I am!"
"Tunlun has silver-white hair..." the female thief immediately pointed out Eddie's impersonation.
"Ah, actually, I am Porking. I was just joking with you earlier!" Eddie, sweating bullets, realized this beauty was not only into books but also paid close attention to handsome men.
"Porking has a lion-dog..." the female thief rolled her eyes, unimpressed with Eddie's poor attempt at impersonation.
"I do have a dog named Lion, but I just happened to not bring it with me today. "
"First of all, thank you for saving my life, beautiful lady. I've decided to pay you one million gold coins as a reward. "
"I just happen to not have such a small amount on me today, but no worries, you can go to our Flame family to claim it. I'll write you an IOU. "
"I, Porking, always keep my word, and I will never forget a life-saving grace... May I ask for your beautiful name?" Eddie, even after being exposed, continued to pretend to be Porking.
After all, he wouldn't foolishly reveal his true identity as the third young master of the Yue family in front of the Purple Gold Marquis.
That wouldn't be heroic; it would be seeking death!
Pretending to be Porking had its advantages. He was the one who committed the impropriety, but Porking would take the blame. Moreover, if the Purple Gold Marquis sought revenge, he wouldn't find Eddie.
The Purple Gold Marquis, lurking in the shadows, remained silent throughout.
The mysterious, book-loving female thief stared coldly at Eddie and scoffed, "Why don't you say you're the fat and wealthy Hessian?"
Eddie was dumbfounded. This beautiful woman knew about Hessian, so she must also know about him.
Who exactly was she, and how did she come to know and follow him?
Could it be she wanted to reverse pursue him?
"I'm not interested in knowing who you are, I just want to know if you have any more tricks up your sleeve. Hurry up and use them to defeat the Purple Gold Marquis," the mysterious beauty steered the conversation back to the main point, dampening Eddie's spirits.
Defeat the Purple Gold Marquis?
It was a joke.
He couldn't be killed even with a shattered head and twisted neck. What could Eddie possibly do to defeat him?
"I'm out of options, how about you?" Eddie shrugged and asked in return.
"I guess in about fifty years, I'll have a way to defeat him," replied the mysterious beauty.
"Now what?" Eddie felt dizzy upon hearing the response.
"My plan now is to kick you out there to attract his attention, then take the chance to escape. What do you think?" the mysterious beauty asked seriously.
"That's not a good idea!" Eddie immediately objected.
"Think about it. I'm a man; the worst that can happen is Purple Gold Marquis kills me, and the pain of decapitation will be over quickly. But you're different, you're a woman and a beautiful one at that. If he catches you, he might do something evil that I dare not even think about. You could end up in a really tragic situation!"
"You might not know, but I've heard that the Purple Gold Marquis likes handsome men, especially ones like you who are said to be 99,999 times more handsome than the three great assassins," the mysterious beauty retorted, making Eddie's scalp tingle. When had she overheard him saying that?
It turns out Eddie had mentioned this in a conversation with the noble swordsman Jean, the princess. Now, this mysterious beauty also knew about it.
Eddie didn't think Jean, the outspoken tiger girl, would gossip about him. His cousin, Yue Yu, was even less likely to boast about her brother being handsome.
If this mysterious beauty hadn't overheard his conversation with Jean, how did she come to know these things? Could she be Jean's close friend? But why had Jean never mentioned her?
What made Eddie even more anxious was that the Purple Gold Marquis across from them actually agreed with the mysterious beauty's words, nodding and saying, "Indeed, I do have a fondness for handsome men."
This statement caused Eddie's heart to beat frantically, filled with fear.
His dignity was at stake!
To protect his sacred dignity, Eddie decided to go all out and fight against the Purple Gold Marquis, no matter how twisted he might be.
Eddie patted his rapidly beating heart to calm himself down and then asked the mysterious beauty, "Can we join forces against him? Do you have a way to counter his instantaneous movement?"
"What instantaneous movement?" the mysterious beauty asked, puzzled.
"Didn't you see just now? Purple Gold Marquis, that big freak, has this terrifying ultra-fast movement ability. He disappears from one place and reappears in another, making him extremely difficult to predict. If we can find a way to counter this move, we might have a chance. Otherwise, we're doomed," Eddie said earnestly.
Fighting an opponent capable of instantaneous movement was suicidal, especially when the opponent was an indestructible freak.
"That's his talent, spatial teleportation..." the mysterious beauty left Eddie speechless with her basic knowledge.
"What the heck, why is his talent so good? It's so unfair! I want to complain to the gods' game company; this is definitely rigged!" Eddie complained enviously. Spatial teleportation talent was just too much for anyone to handle.
"What gods' game company? What's rigged?"
The mysterious beauty was confused by Eddie's novel terminology, and even Purple Gold Marquis looked puzzled.
The mysterious beauty scanned Eddie up and down, then asked incredulously, "Don't you know that all demon lords have the same talent, which is controlling space?"
"Ah... he's a demon lord?" Eddie was shocked. Was Purple Gold Marquis a demon lord from the Demon Abyss?
No wonder he had a Gold Rank 7 Blood Scythe Demon as his beast. So he was a demon lord!
But upon further thought, something didn't quite add up.
Purple Gold Marquis a demon lord? That seemed unlikely. Considering how powerful Demon Lord Hassin was, easily defeating Eddie with just one hand, Purple Gold Marquis, no matter how strong, probably couldn't match even one-tenth of Hassin's strength. Could he really be a demon lord?
If he were a demon lord, then who was responsible for the dragon roars heard by the mercenaries underground?
Confused, Eddie asked, "How is he a demon lord? Isn't he a human transformed from a red or black dragon from underground?"
The mysterious beauty broke out in a sweat. "There are no red or black dragons in Dragon Soaring Continent; those are creatures from the Demon Abyss. "
"Even if they did migrate to Dragon Soaring Continent, they wouldn't hide in such a cave. Besides ants, there's nothing here; what would they eat? "
"As for transforming into humans, not every creature can do that. It requires extremely high intelligence and many other conditions... "
"Right now, Purple Gold Marquis is not a demon lord; he should be a prince of the Demon Abyss, a future demon lord! "
"In the Demon Abyss, there's a rule that all demon lords must learn human knowledge and experience on Dragon Soaring Continent before returning to become a demon lord."
"That's correct," Purple Gold Marquis nodded naturally, confirming her words.
"All demon lords must learn human innate combat skills. If they can't, they won't be recognized. Even if they become demon lords, others can easily usurp their throne."
"Innate combat skills are that powerful? Isn't summoning considered the strongest in Dragon Soaring Continent?" Eddie's jaw dropped, his mouth wide enough to fit three large steamed buns.
The mysterious beauty and Purple Gold Marquis both looked at him as if he were an idiot.
"Summoning is the strongest for ordinary people. Innate is another realm and can't be viewed with worldly perspectives. Don't you think combining innate combat skills with summoning would be even stronger? It's said that at the pinnacle, the two complement each other and are indispensable," the mysterious beauty explained, a rare occurrence for her.
"Write down your combat skill, and I'll let you live. I swear to the Demon God," Purple Gold Marquis said sincerely, without a trace of resentment or vengeance, just restraint and earnestness.
"Okay, watch this!" Eddie held up both his middle fingers.
"You're both dead, struggling is useless," Purple Gold Marquis said nonchalantly, not minding waiting a few more minutes. Once the shield's time limit was up, it would be the end for both of them.
"Who taught you that combat skill?" The mysterious beauty was also curious about Eddie's sword strike that almost killed Purple Gold Marquis.
"Weren't you the one who taught me? Master Dragon Girl, all my martial arts skills are your teachings! Oh, wait, I should call you Dragon!"
Before Eddie could finish, the mysterious beauty smacked him down with a book: "Nonsense! Also, buying time is useless against Purple Gold Marquis. He controls space for at least three hours within a radius of at least one kilometer. "
"We can't wait that long or escape that far... Do you have any other plans? If not, let's start fighting. Every minute we wait, my combat strength weakens. Speak up, do you have any other methods?"
"Actually, I do have a plan..."
Eddie stood up solemnly.
As both the mysterious beauty and Purple Gold Marquis listened intently, Eddie suddenly shot like lightning towards Purple Gold Marquis, his Ashen Magic Blade cleaving through the air with immense force.
His plan was a surprise attack!
Purple Gold Marquis hummed softly, disappearing and reappearing a meter away on the lake surface.
As the blood scythe demon intercepted Eddie before he could return to the protective shield, their weapons clashed violently. Just when the demon's fiery blood scythe was about to cleave Eddie's face, it suddenly froze in place, immobilized by Eddie's binding talent.
Eddie's Ashen Magic Blade ferociously struck the demon's chest at the heart of the demon, while the mysterious beauty appeared in perfect sync, attacking the demon's back with a mysterious cold light emanating from her hand.
The ugly creature diving from the sky, aiming for a sneak attack on Eddie, was kicked squarely in the face by his whirling leg kick, sending it flying.
The blood scythe demon, undeterred by the double attack, swung its flaming scythe in a horizontal arc, first slicing through Eddie's afterimage, then aiming a deadly strike at the mysterious beauty's neck.
Eddie, alarmed, rushed to her aid, but before he could reach her, he was sent flying by her elbow. The scythe passed through the mysterious beauty's neck without hitting anything solid; she vanished like Purple Gold Marquis, then silently reappeared behind Eddie. She instantly summoned a golden grimoire, raising a protective shield to block Purple Gold Marquis' distant whip strike, causing the shield to wobble intensely.
Eddie realized her combat experience far exceeded his; she could easily coordinate with his attacks, whereas he, used to fighting alone, struggled to synchronize with her.
The failed sneak attack left them unscathed, but still in a stalemate.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Eddie wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and quietly asked the mysterious beauty, "Are you also a prospective demon lord? Are you a princess from the Demon Abyss?"
"You've got princesses on the brain, haven't you? This isn't a talent; it's my summon, the 'Breeze Fairy.' Don't get too close to me; I'm afraid your foolishness is contagious!" The mysterious beauty seemed very familiar with Eddie's mannerisms and speech, even though he was certain he had never met her before. Yet she spoke as if she knew him well.
"Who are you, really?" Eddie's curiosity peaked. Who was this girl?