Chapter 70: STOP!
Just at that moment,
A figure suddenly appeared between Aldric and Lathel, moving so fast that the stream of mana that had just left Aldric’s fingertip had not even reached its target before a foot slammed heavily into the stone pavement.
BOOM!
Black mana erupted and instantly shattered the force aimed at the back of Lathel’s knee.
Aldric’s eyes widened. Before he could even clearly see who had appeared, a fist rapidly enlarged in front of his face.
THUD!
The punch slammed directly into his stomach, causing the mana barrier around Aldric’s body to flash once before shattering. All the air in his lungs was forced out, a choking "Urgh!" escaping his throat along with a mouthful of blood before his entire body was blasted more than five meters backward. His back struck the ground, and he slid another distance before finally stopping.
His wand also flew from his hand.
Lathel stood frozen behind her. In front of him was the familiar black hair swaying slightly, the silver mask, and the dark clothes he had grown far too familiar with over the past few days.
Catrina slowly withdrew her fist, the eyes behind her mask frighteningly cold.
Aldric braced one hand against the ground. The moment he raised his head, he coughed out another mouthful of blood.
"Catrina..."
"I was wondering why you called him over here." Catrina’s voice was very calm, but that very calmness sent a chill down Aldric’s spine. She shifted slightly to the side, completely placing herself in front of Lathel, then continued, "Looks like I don’t need to guess anymore."
Lathel immediately understood.
She had been nearby the entire time.
She simply had not appeared.
Pandora also laughed inside his head. "I told you. Did you really think this woman would let Aldric take you away without doing anything?"
Lathel frowned. ’You knew?’
"I sensed her a long time ago."
’Then why didn’t you say anything?’
"I wanted to see what she planned to do."
Lathel: "..."
Outside, Catrina continued staring at Aldric without explaining when she had started following them.
In fact, ever since Aldric approached Lathel in the plaza, Black Rose had already reported it to her, but Catrina had not appeared immediately. Lathel was no longer the person she had chained to a bed. If he wanted to face Aldric himself, she would not rush out and drag him away simply because she was worried.
However, respecting Lathel’s choice did not mean she would stupidly leave him alone in front of someone who had nearly killed him before. So Catrina had only followed from the shadows, keeping enough distance that Lathel would not feel watched, but staying close enough to appear immediately if Aldric truly made a move.
And sure enough, this man had not disappointed her.
Aldric wiped the blood from his lips and said coldly, "It was only a little mana."
Catrina looked at the thread behind Lathel that had been severed by the force.
"Is that so?"
"It wasn’t enough to hurt him."
"Then I also only punched you once."
Aldric: "..."
Catrina tilted her head slightly.
"You’re still alive."
He could not refute that, but there was absolutely no way that punch could be called "only one punch" in any normal sense. His stomach was still in severe pain, and even the ribs that had just been treated by the Healers were beginning to ache again.
Aldric looked at Catrina and slowly stood up, anger quickly overwhelming the pain.
"You think you can protect him forever?"
Catrina did not answer.
Aldric sneered. "All it takes is one day when you aren’t by his side..."
Another figure suddenly charged over.
Aldric had only just turned his head when,
THUD!
The stomach again.
The exact same spot Catrina had just punched.
His body immediately doubled over, another choking "Urgh!" escaping his throat. This time, not as much blood came out, but another sensation even more terrifying immediately appeared.
Aldric’s stomach had already been extremely uncomfortable ever since he fell into the waste pit on the way here. He had been purified three times, his clothes were clean, his hair was clean, and the outside of his body was clean, but what he had accidentally swallowed when he opened his mouth to breathe inside the waste pit could not be directly removed from his stomach with purification magic.
He had been holding it in this entire time.
Catrina’s punch had turned his stomach upside down, while the next punch completely broke the limit.
Aldric’s face immediately turned deathly pale.
’Wait.’
His lower abdomen cramped violently.
’No.’
Pfft.
His entire body went rigid.
The space around him also fell silent.
Elias stood in front of Aldric, his fist still suspended in midair. He blinked, slowly looked down at his hand, then back at Aldric.
"Oh."
Aldric trembled.
Elias tried clenching his fist twice, his expression extremely serious.
"I didn’t know my punches could do this."
Lathel immediately turned his face away, while Pandora was laughing so hard she could barely speak.
"Hahaha... Lathel... I can’t take this..."
Even Catrina fell silent for a moment. Her gaze slowly lowered, then immediately returned to Aldric’s face.
Elias, however, had no idea how dangerous the situation had become and sincerely explained, "I’ve hit a few people before."
Aldric gritted his teeth.
"Shut..."
"But they only fell over." Elias looked Aldric up and down before seriously adding, "You’re the first person I’ve ever punched hard enough to make shit his pants."
"I DIDN’T...!"
His stomach cramped again.
Aldric immediately shut his mouth, his face turning green.
At that moment, a faint rustling sound came from not far away.
Aldric froze and slowly turned his head, immediately seeing Kiyome’s female subordinate standing beside a tree with her small notebook in hand.
She had seen everything.
And she was writing it down right now.
Aldric’s eyes widened.
"What are you doing?"
The woman did not hide it at all.
"Taking notes."
"STOP!"
Her pen continued moving.
"Around noon, Aldric voluntarily used mana to attack Lathel." She wrote several more lines and continued reading aloud. "Duchess Catrina appeared and punched Aldric, causing the target to cough up blood."
Aldric: "..."
"After that, Elias Halden struck the same area."
The pen paused for a moment.
The woman looked at Aldric, then continued writing.
"The target experienced involuntary defecation."
"ERASE THAT!"
She raised her head.
"I can’t."
"I SAID ERASE IT!"
"My Lady Kiyome ordered me to record everything."
Aldric immediately pointed toward Catrina and Elias.
"They’re attacking me!"
"I saw."
"THEN WHY AREN’T YOU DOING ANYTHING?!"
The female subordinate remained silent for a few seconds before calmly answering,
"My Lady Kiyome ordered me not to interfere."
Aldric thought he had misheard.
"...What?"
"Unless you are genuinely about to die, I only need to observe."
"I just got punched until I coughed up blood!"
"But you can still stand."
"I got hit until..."
Aldric suddenly stopped.
There was absolutely no way he was going to say the rest himself.
The woman kindly completed it for him.
"Involuntary defecation?"
Aldric looked at her, killing intent almost becoming tangible, but the female subordinate remained calm.
"That is not life-threatening either."
Elias, standing nearby, nodded after hearing that.
"Right."
Aldric immediately turned toward him.
"You shut up."
"All right."
This time, Elias truly stayed quiet.
Catrina, however, did not find it funny.
She only looked at Aldric because that single punch still was not enough for her. If this had been her former self, Catrina would have stepped forward and continued beating him. At the very least, she would have broken both his legs, destroyed his mana pathways, and left him bedridden for several months.
But memories from her previous life made her stop.
She had driven Aldric to the brink of death before, and not only once.
There had been a time when Catrina and Black Rose ambushed him in the mountains, beating him until half his body was nearly destroyed. Yet three months later, Aldric returned with a new bloodline.
Another time, she cut off his escape route and forced him to jump into an abyss that even an ordinary Transcendent would have struggled to survive. Not only did he live, he even obtained an ancient inheritance.
On another occasion, four of them joined forces and beat Aldric until only a single breath remained, only for an unknown existence to appear and save him.
After every incident, Aldric became stronger.
The more a Son of Fate was pushed into a desperate situation, the more likely Fate was to throw a Fortuitous Encounter into his hands.
Catrina had paid enough of a price to understand that.
So she had no intention of repeating the same mistake.
At least, now was not the time to kill Aldric.
Catrina looked at his trembling arm and said coldly,
"That’s enough."
Elias turned toward her.
"Hm?"
"No need to hit him anymore."
Elias looked at Aldric, then at Lathel.
"But he just tried to hit my friend."
"I know."
"So we’re letting him go?"
Catrina nodded.
"Yes."
Elias clearly did not understand, but Catrina had no intention of explaining anything about Reincarnation in front of Lathel.
She only said calmly,
"Hitting him more will be troublesome."
Then Catrina’s gaze slowly traveled from Aldric’s head to his feet.
"This is enough for now."
Aldric gritted his teeth.
"You think I lost?"
𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂
Catrina looked at the blood at the corner of his mouth.
Then her gaze slowly lowered toward his pants.
Aldric froze.
"I didn’t say anything."
"..."