Jeremy was stunned by the grotesque scene before him.
The gentle and sweet Miss Annabelle had transformed into a monstrous creature with tentacles sprouting from her lower body?!
Fortunately, the rigorous training from the combat club saved his life.
Though his mind had yet to catch up, Jeremy's body instinctively dodged backward.
The first tentacle missed Jeremy's head, grazing his face and leaving a deep cut.
As Jeremy fell backward to the ground, he scrambled back, drawing his pistol from his waistband. Just as he raised the gun, a second tentacle struck his right hand, wrapping around the pistol and flinging it away.
Then, a third tentacle pierced Jeremy's shoulder, penetrating at least four or five centimeters deep.
"Jeremy, your body is so delicious!"
The monstrous Annabelle opened her gaping maw, extending two forked tongues, licking the fresh blood and flesh on the tentacles. Her beautiful face turned red as she moaned and sighed,
"I'm glad that foolish factory owner didn't steam you into mist. I'm going to devour you piece by piece."
"Hmm, let's start with your liver. It must be crispy and tender."
The pain triggered a massive secretion of adrenaline in Jeremy, speeding up his heartbeat and blood flow, putting him in an extremely alert and excited state.
He grabbed the chair he'd been sitting on, hurling it at Annabelle while searching for weapons and possible escape routes.
Dining knives and forks, large pottery jars, coal tongs, half a length of boots...
Annabelle's tentacles easily shredded the chair, swiftly striking towards Jeremy.
He dove forward to the left, a series of forward rolls dodging her second wave of tentacle attacks. Though she had six long tentacles, it seemed she could only manipulate three at a time, and the shorter tentacles couldn't reach him.
Moreover, there was a brief charging period before each tentacle attack, and she couldn't move while attacking.
Jeremy realized he needed to use the time between her attacks to widen the distance.
"My dear, stop running from me. Come embrace me!"
The trembling body of monstrous Annabelle moaned to Jeremy,
"Does it hurt too much? Look, my lovely liquid will plunge us into a dream of ecstasy."
The crimson tentacles bloomed like flowers at their tips, revealing small mouths filled with barbs and sharp teeth, oozing a thick white liquid.
Before Jeremy moved out, the sewing shop bought several mirrors of varying sizes.
The few brass mirrors they usually used were moved to the basement by Jeremy, but one with a beautifully patterned back was moved to the second floor as a decoration.
He grabbed this brass mirror, rolling beside the stove. He thrust the mirror into the stove, scooping up many burning charcoals, and hurled them at the monstrous Annabelle.
"Ah!!!"
Though the tentacles blocked many charcoals, some hit Annabelle, eliciting a harrowing scream from her. It seemed more from heartache than pain,
"My love, why do you treat me this way!?"
As Jeremy almost reached the stairs, something felt off. Turning back, he saw Annabelle's shoulder joints had flipped, her arms and legs moving simultaneously, making her chase after him like a four-clawed spider!
Jeremy gritted his teeth, rolling sideways down the stairs.
The simultaneous strike of six tentacles would have hit him if he hadn't timely rolled down the stairs. Humans tend to attack the upper body, and although Annabelle had become a monster, she retained this habit.
After Jeremy dodged her attacks twice, she failed to adjust promptly.
This suggested that becoming a monster had diminished her intelligence.
Or perhaps it was the effect of extreme excitement.
"Don't go, you are mine! You belong to me!!!"
Annabelle, with her lower body facing Jeremy, wildly waved her tentacles, crawling after him like a four-clawed spider.
When she reached the first floor, Jeremy was already at the shop door, despairing at the sight before him.
The door was blocked by heavy objects, all placed there by him!
However, the shop door was the only exit; the two-story building had very few windows, all on the second floor.
"Ha ha ha ha!"
Monstrous Annabelle approached Jeremy, laughing hysterically, her eyes turning purplish-red from severe congestion.
"My dear, my dear, let's dance!"
Six tentacles wrapped around Jeremy's body. Though not exerting much force, the barbs and sharp teeth still slashed his skin open.
Controlled by the tentacles, Jeremy danced with her like a marionette in a circus.
"Let's have a glass of fine wine, aged for years in the cellar.
Drink it, and you'll think of flowers, vineyards laden with grapes, music and dance.
That's the revelry of the harvest season!"
It was said that the original god of pleasure, worshipped by the old empire, was the god of wine. She bestowed various wines upon her followers, who drank them in frenzied orgies. Then, the female followers tore the most handsome young men into pieces, alive, as sacrifices to Her.
Monstrous Annabelle drank the fine wine, her dozens of short tentacles piercing Jeremy's body, sucking his blood.
"Though from the cellar, this wine carries the warmth of the South~
Pearlescent bubbles at the rim tint the lips crimson.
I'll drink it all, then follow you, disappearing among the trees."
She withdrew several short tentacles from Jeremy's body, spreading her gaping maw, letting the blood sucked by the tentacles drip onto her tongue, then smeared it on her lips like bright red lipstick.
"I'm finally with you!
The night is so gentle.Perhaps the Queen of the Moon has ascended her throne, with stars guarding around.
But there's no light here, only a breeze through the window crack, bringing the scent of musk roses."
Monstrous Annabelle kissed Jeremy's lips, intermingling with his blood, her tongue entwining with his.
...
Blood loss made Jeremy drift in and out of consciousness.
He seemed to see something.
A mountainous azure dragon unfurling wings large enough to obscure the sun and sky, flying towards the distance.
Storm clouds approached from the horizon, the wind uprooting trees.
Lightning struck, reflecting off the dragon's azure scales with a metallic luster.
Thunder sounded as if a million drums were beaten at once.
Yet, the dragon's roar overpowered the thunder, breaking through the clouds, charging towards the "sun."
That was a colossal ancient chariot, pulled by four eternally burning phoenixes.
However, seated upon the chariot was not a tall deity, but a writhing mass of black worms.
Azure electricity surrounded the dragon as it roared, colliding with the sun chariot!
The dragon's cry shook heaven and earth!
...
Jeremy awakened.
His body began shaking violently, fine azure scales growing under his skin, breaking through as if donning exquisite azure mail.
His finger bones twisted and deformed, his fingers and palms thickening, nails transforming into sharp claws.
"A dragon!?"
Monstrous Annabelle screamed in horror, "You... you're a descendant of a dragon? No wonder you possess such immense talent; you... you carry the blood of the Blue Dragon Shurotel!"
Her excitement quickly turned from rational fear to emotional ecstasy, "I'm going to eat you! Just awakened and already a third rank; devouring you would at least elevate me from the fourth rank to the fifth!"
"Die!"
Jeremy roared, electricity flickering around his transformed claws, plunging into the monster's head.
The sharp claws tore through the skin, electricity coursing through the blood vessels, paralyzing the monster's nerves and muscles.
The skull, the hardest bone in the human body, was burned through by the concentrated electricity at the claw tips, allowing the claws to pierce Annabelle's skull and scramble her brain!
"Ah!!!"
Unimaginable agony made Annabelle convulse wildly, her tentacles flailing aimlessly, striking Jeremy's scales, leaving scratches.
Eventually, Miss Annabelle ceased moving, collapsing backward onto the ground.
Jeremy, too, couldn't stand any longer, kneeling on the ground as the fine azure scales gradually retracted into his body.
Blood loss had left him dizzy, and now a feeling of being drained surged within him.
He was so hungry.
As his consciousness faded, he opened his mouth, biting into the corpse of Annabelle.