“You’ve misunderstood me, Miss Vivian.”
The thief, Gavin, forced a smile.
But his expression was too strained, looking like he was barely holding himself together.
“Our boss, Miss Feilin, worked too hard tonight and accidentally fell asleep in the forest. I was worried she’d catch a cold, so I was about to take her back to the tavern to rest.”
He quickly set Feilin down and stepped aside to explain.
“Is that so? Thank you so much, kind thief sir.”
“I thought you were planning to sell her to Marco for some shady experiments.”
Vivian walked over with a smile.
“How could that be! She’s the boss of us Scavengers. How could I betray her!”
Gavin said emotionally.
“If it weren’t for Lady Feilin’s care for me, I might still be rotting in the castle dungeon.”
“Now that Miss Vivian is here, I’ll leave the boss to you. After all, I—”
Slap.
A low, cracking sound rang out. He never got to finish his sentence.
Vivian stood on her tiptoes and slapped Gavin’s head to pieces.
‘Just chatting with you for fun. Did you really think I’d let you go?’
Her dark red pupils appeared in the blood mist, glowing red.
White brain matter mixed with streaks of blood splattered in the air.
She deftly summoned a parasol to block the incoming filth.
“Even though this isn’t my clothes, I’d still be annoyed if they got dirty.”
“After all, this kind of thing is too disgusting. Mentally, it’s hard to accept.”
Vivian looked at the broken brain tissue on the ground and suddenly felt nauseous.
‘Alright, from now on, brain-based dishes will also become my most hated food.’
She muttered inwardly.
Then she walked over to Feilin and poked her with a small stick.
Feilin was covered in a mixture of brain matter, blood, and sand, looking like a special-flavored beggar’s chicken.
Vivian was utterly disgusted.
“Are you still alive, big fox?”
In Vivian’s perception, Feilin’s heart had already been crushed and stopped beating.
But her intuition told her that this fox wouldn’t die so easily.
Thump~ thump~ thump.
The sound of a heartbeat echoed from Feilin’s chest again.
The pool of dark red blood on the ground began to boil at that moment.
The blood, which had almost coagulated, suddenly started to flow.
The blood was pulled by an invisible force, forming several red streams in the air.
The streams of blood re-entered Feilin’s pierced chest.
Injecting new vitality into her heart!
Thump thump thump.
The heartbeat grew louder.
The hollow in her chest gradually filled up, finally restoring the skin to its original smoothness.
Feilin’s snow-white hair suddenly changed, starting from the roots, gradually dyeing a layer of bright red.
Then the ears on her head, and even the big tail behind her, turned blood red.
“Wow, a new color scheme!”
Vivian couldn’t help but comment at the sight.
Feilin’s eyelids trembled a few times, then slowly opened.
Her originally azure blue pupils had also turned dark red, looking no different from Vivian’s.
“Don’t… say sarcastic things… save me quickly.”
Feilin opened her mouth with difficulty, her voice hoarse.
“How can I save you?”
“Behind… you.”
Vivian snapped her head around.
The space behind her had somehow split open a crack.
Green energy kept spilling out from the spatial rift.
“What is this?”
Vivian blinked her big eyes curiously.
‘Did Derek’s class not cover this? What should I do?’
“Use your fist… hit it hard!”
Feilin pushed herself up with her hands, sitting up, and said to Vivian.
Just as she finished speaking.
Clank!
A scythe flew out from the rift!
The scythe was covered in rust, with a long iron chain trailing behind it.
Vivian shifted her foot, her body suddenly lunging forward.
She swept her arm out, trying to knock the scythe away.
But the scythe seemed to have predicted Vivian’s move.
It made a sharp turn midair, bending in a way that defied physics, dodging Vivian’s fist.
It flew toward Feilin behind Vivian.
Crack.
Feilin’s right arm was severed cleanly at the shoulder.
“Aaaahhh!”
Feilin clutched the wound on her shoulder, writhing in pain on the ground.
If she hadn’t desperately rolled to the side, that strike would have probably split her in two.
“You cowardly thing that won’t show your face.”
“How dare you be so arrogant!”
Vivian’s eyes turned serious as she stared at the green rift.
Surging power exploded from her cells, channeling all the way to her right arm.
Purple energy covered the entire arm.
Vivian leaned her body far back, shifting her center of gravity behind her.
The air around her exploded in a shockwave.
Then she clenched her fist and threw a punch.
BOOM—!
A violent fist force swept out.
The air was compressed to the extreme, emitting a piercing screech.
Space shook with a huge wave.
Rows of giant trees snapped, fell, and were crushed by the immense force.
“You cowardly thing that won’t show your face.”
“How dare you be so arrogant!”
Vivian’s eyes turned serious as she stared at the green rift.
Surging power exploded from her cells, channeling all the way to her right arm.
Purple energy covered the entire arm.
Vivian leaned her body far back, shifting her center of gravity behind her.
The air around her exploded in a shockwave.
Then she clenched her fist and threw a punch.
BOOM—!
A violent fist force swept out.
The air was compressed to the extreme, emitting a piercing screech.
Space shook with a huge wave.
Rows of giant trees snapped, fell, and were crushed by the immense force.
The topsoil was torn off, revealing the moist, dark soil underneath.
Dirt and rocks flew in the forest, and the wind carried splintered wood and dust, sweeping in all directions.
A wild boar sleeping in a pit seemed to sense danger.
It suddenly opened its eyes and poked its head out of the pit.
Then it was blasted into a mist of blood by the onrushing force, dissipating into the air as if it had never existed.
When the wind and dust settled, all that was left was bare, deep soil.
The once lush forest had been leveled by Vivian’s single punch.
The green spatial rift also disappeared in the process.
Clang.
The rusty scythe fell to the ground.
The other end of the iron chain had been severed, and it lost its source of power.
“Done~”
Vivian clapped her hands, saying it lightly.
She pulled her black robe over to cover her exposed right arm.
She had used too much force and accidentally shattered her sleeve.
‘I’ll buy a new outfit tomorrow.’
She muttered about tomorrow’s plans.
Then she called up her status screen and took a look.
[Satiety: 82/150]
That punch had cost her almost 20 points of satiety.
Recently, Nolan had been feeding her well, keeping her full, drinking blood until she was almost bloated.
And now Vivian felt a hint of hunger for the first time in a long time.
‘Ah, those days of being hungry seem so far away now.’
Thinking of this, Vivian couldn’t help but curl her lips.
‘Indeed, getting married was the right choice!’
‘Huh? Wait, something’s wrong!’
Vivian seemed to notice something strange on her status screen.
Of course, it was definitely not something improper like lewdness value, development degree, pregnancy status, or anything like that.
What was strange was her experience bar.
[Level: 40 (8321/10000)]
Vivian had been fighting all night, but her experience bar hadn’t increased at all.
“Damn it, I’ve been played…”
“Marco… you bastard, you’re still not dead!”
Vivian gritted her teeth; the words were practically squeezed out from between her teeth.
‘Are all these blood mages this hard to kill…?’
She couldn’t help but mutter inwardly.