Women are trouble. Especially powerful women.
As Rey's rigid body started to tip over, before he could hit the ground, the woman in the red cloak appeared in a blur of transparent red shadow.
In the blink of an eye, Rey felt a hand around his waist. He was caught.
"Mika, you bitch! You dare steal my prey?!"
The black-cloaked Reppel roared in fury and charged. She had just cast a spell on Rey, only for the woman named Mika to swoop in and grab him first. She was not happy.
"Who told you to be so impulsive? If you hadn't attacked first, I would have. The one stealing people should be you," the red-cloaked Mika giggled.
She tightened her grip on Rey, and her form became blurry and transparent. Even Rey, pressed against her, began to turn transparent.
The world instantly looked different.
It wasn't that the world had changed, but in this transparent state, his vision had shifted. The environment was the same, but now everything appeared in monochrome, filled with a thin, pervasive mist.
It felt like becoming a spirit, seeing the world through a ghost's eyes.
In this state, his body felt weightless. Movement speed naturally multiplied.
Rey was pressed tightly against the red-cloaked woman's body. This sudden, intimate contact was torture. Not because of the danger, but because the woman smelled incredible.
It was like a perfume bottle had shattered. The scent filled his nose, making his head spin and momentarily disrupting the flow of his own magic.
Seeing the transparent red shadow of Mika speeding away with Rey, Reppel yanked on her black cloak and hurled a piece of it at the fleeing figure.
The fabric instantly transformed into black mist, solidifying into thorny vines that seemed alive as they chased down the red shadow.
Rey felt a sudden jolt. Black vines wrapped around Mika's wrists and ankles. Her spectral form was forced to solidify.
Forced to stop, Mika frowned, clearly annoyed by the black vines. She couldn't hold onto Rey anymore, so she hurled him forward with all her might.
Rey, still stiff as a board, was launched dozens of meters through the air.
Maybe she aimed, maybe she got lucky. Rey landed in a patch of soft sand. Although the impact hurt like hell, at least he was still alive.
---
"Look at you, practically naked. You've sunk so low you don't even care about your image anymore," Mika sneered, the corner of her mouth curling up. As she spoke, her own appearance began to change.
The red color of her clothes receded like flowing blood, absorbing entirely into her body. When the red vanished, her clothes disappeared, and she transformed into a living creature made of blood.
Skinless, dripping with gore, white teeth exposed without lips to cover them. Two fresh eyeballs rolled wetly in bleeding sockets. Gone was the noble elegance; she now looked like a blood demon straight out of hell.
The blood seemed to possess a special power. As it touched the black vines binding her, the vines snapped and dissolved, reforming into an even more tattered cloak that draped itself back over the now-naked Reppel.
"Hmph. Even naked, I look better than you in your true form. Skinless monstrosity, pretending to be noble," Reppel retorted sharply.
She didn't relax her guard. Holding her vine staff with both hands, she stared grimly at the blood demon Mika.
"Hehe. Keep targeting me like that, and you won't have any cloak left to cover yourself," Mika warned.
The part of the black cloak she had just tainted with blood quickly liquified into bloody water and was absorbed back into her body.
"If I kill you, I don't care if I have to walk around naked," Reppel sneered, looking ready to risk it all.
"Death wish! You cursed witch!"
A piercing shriek erupted from the blood demon's mouth. Following the scream, the blood on her body levitated, forming countless blood needles that shot toward Reppel.
Reppel swept her staff upward, instantly creating a curved protective shield in front of her, blocking all the blood needles.
But to her surprise, Mika followed the needles, charging right behind them. With a close-range punch, the blood demon shattered Reppel's shield.
Reppel backflipped and landed on her feet. The parts of her body stained by Mika's blood were immediately covered by her black cloak. The cloak seemed to absorb the blood stains like a sponge.
However, the parts of the cloak that absorbed the blood quickly fell off, leaving Reppel with even less covering than before.
The battle between the woman and the demon was intense. Rey, lying face down in the sand far away, watched the fight with a mouthful of grit.
Whether it was Mika's blood transformation or Reppel's living cloak, both made Rey marvel. Combat in the wizarding world wasn't just waving wands and shouting spells.
Strange and unpredictable fighting styles emerged endlessly, catching opponents off guard.
However, as Rey circulated his magic to break the paralysis, he saw something else besides the fight. The chubby dragon was waddling toward him with great effort.
The little guy had zero interest in the battle; it was only interested in Rey.
After expending considerable effort, it finally reached Rey. Without a word of greeting, it opened its toothless mouth wide and bit down on the back of Rey's head.
No matter how wide it opened, its mouth couldn't fit Rey's head—the dragon was too small.
Feeling the pressure on the back of his head, Rey reached back and plucked the little guy off.
Then, Rey froze. He was stunned.
The Petrifying Curse was gone. After a moment of shock, Rey looked at the chubby dragon with new eyes. He certainly didn't believe his own magic had suddenly surged to break the spell instantly.
The only explanation was the chubby dragon's bite. It had nullified the magic on him.
The chubby dragon must be a ghost, as it looked somewhat transparent like the ghosts at Hogwarts.
But other people couldn't see it.
Invisible to others and capable of dispelling magic? Rey was bewildered. But confused or not, he realized he had stumbled upon a treasure.
Regaining his mobility, Rey remained prone on the ground, slowly spitting out the sand in his mouth. He didn't plan to stand up yet. If he moved now, the two women might stop fighting and turn on him together.
Let them fight. Ideally, until they both severely injured each other. Escaping would be easiest then.
---
Battles in the magical world usually don't last long. Even between evenly matched opponents.
One mistake can turn the tide. Long, drawn-out duels usually only happen in movies.
Right now, the blood demon Mika was turning into blood shadows, appearing and disappearing around Reppel. At the same time, blood that had seeped into the ground suddenly erupted upwards, catching Reppel off guard.
Reppel's tattered cloak was now pitifully small. Seeing her genuinely struggling and panting, it was clear she was at a disadvantage.
Mika's blood seemed to naturally suppress Reppel. Whenever Mika got close, Reppel retreated immediately. Even when she blocked the blood needles, it cost her.
Both were exhausting themselves, but although Mika had the upper hand, her blood supply wasn't infinite. Her muscles looked like wrung-out rags; there wasn't much blood left to squeeze out.
The battle seemed to be slowly shifting toward Rey. This might have been intentional on Reppel's part—she was losing and probably planning to grab her prey and flee.
"Am I really more important than her life?"
Rey couldn't understand it. He was praying internally. Please, let the sexy, barely-clothed lady run away so I can get up and take out the winner.
Watching the fight, Rey calculated his odds. Wait for them to exhaust each other, then strike unexpectedly. He figured he could handle one of them.
He chose Mika as his target. Her attacks were mostly physical or blood-based projectiles; she used very few tricky spells. Rey's chances of success were highest against her.
Against Reppel, who used strange, unpredictable magic, the risk of an accident was too high.
Just as Rey was praying, the tide of battle turned.
Reppel swept her staff wildly, conjuring a sharp wall of wind blades that forced Mika to retreat.
Having forced Mika back, Reppel immediately turned and dashed toward the prone Rey. However, she missed the chilling smirk on Mika's face.
Reppel was almost upon Rey when she suddenly tripped. Her feet had sunk into a pool of blood that had been buried beneath the sand.
"Ah! ..."
With a heavy thud, Reppel cried out in pain as she slammed face-first into the ground.
Rey knew exactly how that felt. The impact kicked up a cloud of dust.
"Hehe. Stupid bitch. I knew you wanted to grab the prey and run... That blood pool has been waiting there for a long time."
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