Liang was still on the ground, his back against the forest floor and his eyes fixed on the golden screen floating to the side.
[Binding completed.]
It had worked.
The woman on top of him was still trembling, her face still buried in his chest. He could feel her frantic breathing against the fabric of his clothes.
But that didn't last long.
Suddenly, she lifted herself up. Not completely, just the upper part of her body, ending up sitting on top of him. Her hair fell back, finally revealing her face.
Her eyes were red, like fresh blood. And in them there was something Liang recognized immediately.
Horror. And hatred.
A pure hatred, without filters, directed completely at him.
But Liang didn't pay attention to that.
His gaze was on the horns. Those two small horns that protruded from her forehead between strands of white hair.
They were small compared to the ones she had in her original form, but they were still there.
'So she keeps some of her previous appearance.'
He shifted his eyes slightly to the side, where the system had appeared again.
[Name: Bai Lihua.]
[Vermella Dragon – Humanoid Form.]
[Statistics reduced to 50% below the Binder.]
[Age: +5000 years
[Qi: 800/2500]
[Element: Primordial Fire – can pierce Qi defenses without difficulty.]
[Bond Level 1 – Mark of Recognition: the beast recognizes you as its master.]
[Bonus: You obtain 10% of the dragoness's base Qi passively.]
'Five thousand years, huh.'
That was quite a long time. And even so, in this form, her statistics were below his. Which meant that—
The first punch hit him in the face.
At that, Liang blinked.
The second punch came from the other side. And then the third. The fourth…
Bai Lihua was hitting him with everything she had. Her fists fell on his face again and again, with a desperate fury that made her entire body tremble.
Her expression was twisted by hatred, teeth clenched and eyes wide open.
But the blows barely hurt him.
Liang Wei watched her as she continued attacking him. His attention drifted downward for a moment.
She was naked.
Completely naked.
Her skin was pale, and every time she threw a punch, her breasts moved with the momentum. She wasn't wearing anything. Apparently, the transformation hadn't included clothes.
'For having half my strength… that's still high.'
Considering what he himself was capable of doing, her having half that power was no small thing. But right now, with her Qi so low and her body clearly unstable, she didn't represent a real threat.
"W-what… what did you do to me!?"
Her voice came out hoarse, almost inaudible. Considering it was the first time she had used those vocal cords. The words stumbled over each other, clumsy and full of rage.
Liang Wei stopped the next punch.
His hand closed around her fist, squeezing tightly. Bai Lihua's knuckles were covered in blood.
Most of it was her own, from hitting him without control.
"Ngh–"
A groan of pain escaped her lips as he increased the pressure.
She tried to pull away. She yanked back with all her strength, but she couldn't move her hand even a centimeter. Her red eyes widened further, and for the first time, something besides hatred appeared in them.
Fear.
Liang Wei began to stand up. Without releasing his grip, his other hand moved forward and grabbed her by the neck.
"Agh–"
The sound that came from her was muffled. Her feet left the ground when he stood completely upright, holding her in the air with a single hand.
Bai Lihua kicked wildly. Her legs swung in every direction, desperately trying to find something solid.
Her hands grabbed his wrist, scratching, pushing, but accomplishing nothing.
Incoherent sounds came from her throat. Probably curses and threats. But no clear words managed to form.
Liang Wei brought her closer to his face.
He observed her carefully. The horns, the white hair, the red eyes that now looked at him with a mixture of terror and powerless fury.
'Incredible.' He thought as he looked at her eyes for more than a second.
Not in a romantic way. Just… aesthetically. They were eyes he had never seen before.
"In that pathetic form you have now," he said in a calm voice, "you're nothing special."
He smiled.
And squeezed harder.
Bai Lihua felt panic take hold of her. For the first time in more than five thousand years of existence, she felt real fear.
Not the kind of fear she felt before a strong opponent. This was different. It was the fear of a cornered animal, with no escape and no options.
So she did the only thing she could.
Her leg moved upward with all the strength she had left.
Straight to the groin.
"…"
Liang Wei's eyes opened wide.
His grip loosened.
Bai fell to the ground, coughing violently as she tried to recover her breath. Her hands went to her throat, massaging it while she gasped again and again.
Liang remained standing, frowning, one hand on the lower part of his body.
'…That hurt.'
He looked down at her. She was still on the ground, breathing with difficulty, her body trembling from the effort.
But she didn't stay there for long.
Bai Lihua tried to stand. Her legs trembled, clearly not used to supporting a human body. She staggered several times.
Leaving her body even more exposed. And before falling, she extended her hand toward him.
Her index finger pointed directly at his face.
Liang Wei saw something begin to form at the tip of that finger. A small sphere, an intense red, emitting smoke of the same color.
The smoke swirled around it as if it had a life of its own.
'Oh.'
That was new. But he smiled.
Bai Lihua was going to launch the attack. He could see it in her eyes. She was going to use everything she had left to try to kill him, even if it meant collapsing immediately afterward.
But she was slow… far too slow.
Liang Wei appeared in front of her in an instant.
Bai Lihua's eyes widened. She hadn't seen him move. One second he had been several meters away, and the next he was right there, in front of her face.
His hand closed around her wrist, and he jerked it violently to the side.
The sphere of fire shot out, passing beside his body. He felt the heat brush against his side, intense and scorching.
And then the explosion came.
The sound was deafening. A wave of heat struck his back as the attack hit the forest behind him.
But Liang Wei didn't look back. Not yet.
First, he slammed her against the trunk of a nearby tree.
"–!"
The impact knocked the air out of her lungs. Her back hit the wood with a dull sound, and her eyes blurred for a second before focusing again.
Her hands grabbed his wrist, trying once more to pull him off. But she had no strength. She had nothing.
She could only look at him with hatred and… fear.
Liang Wei finally turned his head toward where the attack had gone.
What he saw made his eyes open slightly.
Several trees had disappeared. They simply weren't there. Where thick trunks had stood before, now there was only ash floating through the air.
Other trees farther away were on fire, the flames consuming them rapidly.