"Stop! That's enough, don't hit her anymore!"
Mature had not expected that even after revealing herself, Qin Ming would still continue his assault. Seeing Vice's eyes roll back from being choked, she hurriedly jumped down from the wall and rushed to stop him.
But she had clearly underestimated Qin Ming's vengeful nature. Even as she pulled him up, Qin Ming still refused to let go.
Vice, dragged upright by the neck, looked like a ragdoll, being flung back and forth by him.
Mature pulled at him desperately, but when she realized she couldn't make Qin Ming release his grip, she shouted anxiously.
"If she dies, there'll be big trouble! Goenitz will come!"
At those words, Qin Ming, still in a violent rage and seemingly determined to give his opponent a death massage, froze for a moment. The name "Goenitz" instantly brought up relevant information in his mind.
The strongest among the Hakkesshu, one of the Four Heavenly Kings, a man who confronted the heirs of the Three Sacred Treasures head-on and nearly won.
His strength was undeniably top-tier, completely on another level compared to the rest of the Hakkesshu.
Sure, Qin Ming could kill Vice with a surprise attack using his own unique traits.
But if it came to facing Goenitz...
He suddenly turned to look at Mature, frowning deeply.
"Goenitz is coming?"
Seeing that Qin Ming finally responded with something other than choking, Mature nodded firmly.
"To be precise, he's nearby."
Qin Ming's gaze flicked around before he slowly released his grip, finally easing up.
He did want to kill Goenitz, no doubt. But he wasn't stupid enough to challenge him alone.
Until I gather enough top-tier allies, facing him head-on would be suicide.
That said, letting Vice go was one thing, but after she had injured him this badly, she had to pay a price.
With a firm squeeze of his arm, Qin Ming activated his blood extraction skill and began rapidly absorbing blood from Vice to heal himself.
With the influx of fresh blood, his destroyed eye and torn ear slowly started to regenerate.
While his wounds healed, Vice—already covered in injuries—began convulsing uncontrollably from the added trauma.
Seeing this, Mature's face darkened. She quickly raised her hand and grabbed Qin Ming's wrist.
"Enough! Stop sucking her blood or she's going to die!"
She frowned as she looked at the man in front of her.
How did I not see it before? This guy's the type to hold a serious grudge.
She had always thought Vice's twisted personality and violent temper were already intense.
But this guy's temper was even worse than Vice's. Once he started fighting, he wouldn't stop until the other side was dead.
Even though he had verbally agreed to let her go, his body was still attacking on instinct, trying to kill her.
Seeing Mature intervene, Qin Ming didn't say a word. He just raised a hand and knocked on the edge of his still-damaged eye socket.
Looking at the eye that hadn't recovered, Mature sighed. She understood. If they didn't fix that eye today, he definitely wouldn't let it go.
She suddenly raised her hand and pulled down her collar.
"I'll pay for her."
Her action stunned Qin Ming. He looked down at Vice, whose face had turned completely dark and hollowed from blood loss. His brows twitched and he finally let go of her...
A few minutes later, a staggering Mature, weakened from blood loss, dragged Vice away.
Yes, dragged—like pulling a sack, yanking Vice along the ground by the collar, with not the slightest hint of pity.
Qin Ming, fully healed, stood in place with no expression, silently watching the two disappear.
His main goal was to participate in the King of Fighters tournament and earn the champion's rewards.
Killing Vice outright wasn't impossible. But if he did that, he could forget about continuing in the tournament.
He might compete in the morning and end up dead by Goenitz's hand by the afternoon.
Goenitz, who saw himself as an executor of the divine, would never tolerate someone killing the Hakkesshu—servants of the gods.
If someone's going to kill them, it'll be me, the executor.
He looked around the area quietly before turning to the unconscious Kasumi Todoh, who had already been bandaged up by Inori Hatsumoto. Without hesitation, he lifted her up and left.
All around them, a large number of adventurers who had come to investigate were now shrinking into corners, not daring to make a sound.
Qin Ming's overwhelming combat power had genuinely scared them. Especially that absurd endurance and recovery—it was just insane.
Some of them had come thinking they could snatch some rewards from the aftermath.
But now, none dared to step forward.
Sure, with enough speed, some of them might have been able to steal something and run.
But with Qin Ming's strength and his vengeful personality, unless they fled and never came back in this lifetime—
If he ever saw them again, he might really tear them apart on the spot.
Qin Ming wanted to participate in the King of Fighters tournament to reap the rewards, and that's why he spared Vice.
And they too were counting on the tournament to bring them profits.
The rewards from that tournament were worth far more than some lowly boss loot.
However, while no one dared provoke Qin Ming, things were different when it came to Mature.
Because Vice had lost the advantage of the first strike and ended up being forcefully grabbed by Qin Ming, her performance during the fight had been less than stellar.
Of course, Qin Ming, who had fought her directly, knew full well just how terrifying her strength was. That power definitely surpassed most bosses.
But the surrounding adventurers didn't know that! All they saw was this woman failing to land a single effective hit on Qin Ming—getting hammered the entire time!
So if she couldn't even hurt Qin Ming, who was also an adventurer, and now she was already crippled, then... did that mean the strength of the Hakkesshu wasn't as terrifying as they had imagined?
Vice had performed so poorly—could it be that Mature, who was also a member of the Hakkesshu, was just as mediocre?
Adventurers were gamblers by nature. Now that they saw a potential opportunity to claim a reward, some of them who believed they'd gathered enough intel finally made their move.
Mature, who had been catwalking forward while dragging Vice along with one hand, suddenly stopped in her tracks, her brow furrowing sharply.
All around her, dark shadows flickered, and several figures leapt down from nearby buildings, forming a triangle formation to trap her in the center.
Faced with the sudden appearance of three enemies, Mature's expression remained blank, her eyes cold and indifferent.
The three attackers exchanged glances. With black cloth wrapped around their faces, hiding their features, they suddenly nodded in unison.
"Don't get tangled with her! Kill Vice!"
The leader let out a low growl, and the three of them pounced toward Vice and Mature in the center. Their target was clear—they wanted to kill the already-crippled Vice and seize the spoils of victory.
Seeing this, Mature's brow furrowed, and her body suddenly began to glow red.
Heaven's bloodline—activated!
Buzz!
In a flash of blood-red light, Mature activated her bloodline without hesitation, and her entire body vanished from view in a strange blur.
Before the three adventurers even had a chance to cry out in surprise, she had already reappeared in front of one of them, gripping his face in her hand.
Drag. Charge. Heaven Glide!
Unlike Qin Ming's Heaven Glide, which was a half-baked version without the blood of Orochi, his skill was more focused on rushing in rather than damage.
In contrast, Mature's original version of Heaven Glide was all about destruction.
The divine blood of Orochi—how could a mortal body possibly endure it?
Mature furiously injected blood into her enemy's body, and after charging forward a short distance, she flung the person away with a casual motion.
The man had only just been launched into the air when, despite his own speed specialization, he let out a blood-curdling scream and exploded midair into countless pieces.
Orochi's blood—ignited! Defense ignored! Internal detonation!
After instantly taking one of them down, Mature's eyes glowed red as she turned sharply to the remaining two.
The unexpected turn of events sent a chill through them—both men instantly turned pale.
Realizing their intel had been wrong, they didn't hesitate to flee.
But when it came to speed—Mature was even faster than Vice! She was second only to Goenitz among the Hakkesshu!
Trying to escape in front of her? Not a chance!
With blood trailing behind her, she chased from behind at lightning speed. The moment she closed in, Mature waved her hand and unleashed a massive icy slash.
Skill—Death Light!
With a loud crash, one of the fleeing adventurers spun around and raised his shield, hoping to block the attack with his equipment.
But in the next instant, the cold blade flashed past, and to his horror, the shield did absolutely nothing. He was instantly split in two—shield and all.
Heaven Clan! Power of the Beast!
Effect: Ignores defense!
Equipment? Mature was the absolute counter to equipment!
Against other members of the Heaven Clan, even if your stats were lower, you could still hold your ground for a while using gear and items.
But facing Mature meant certain death. This cold-blooded woman didn't just target weak points—she had the power to ignore all forms of defense. She was a pure predator of the weak.
Vice might toy with her prey like a cat before killing it.
But Mature? She'd rip out your heart or throat in an instant, killing you on the spot.
These three adventurers were a perfect example. Hoping to take a risk and reap the rewards, they'd tried to gang up on Vice—and within moments, two were dead.
Only the third one managed to escape Mature's pursuit. Just as she was about to strike him, his body flickered strangely and appeared a hundred meters away.
[Talent Skill: Once-in-a-Lifetime Blink][Effect: Instantly teleport up to 100 meters away. Usable once per day.][Description: Why is it that everyone else uses their once-in-a-lifetime blink to save others, but you use it to run away?]
Seeing the enemy teleport away in a flash, Mature's brow twitched slightly. She didn't chase, in case it was a trap meant to lure her away.
She turned back to Vice, grabbed her by the collar again, and continued dragging her forward with a cold expression.
But she had only walked a few steps when she stopped again.
Before she could even widen her eyes and look around, a dull thud echoed beside her.
Hearing the sound, Mature's pupils shrank. Turning her head, she saw a corpse had suddenly appeared at her feet.
It was the very same adventurer who had fled moments ago.
Now, the body was twisted grotesquely, like a pretzel, covered in wounds and with every bone snapped.
The horrific state of the corpse sent a chill down Mature's spine. She already knew who had arrived.
"Lord Goenitz!"
(End of Chapter)