484 Evolution ? (1/2)

A sonorous boom echoed through the woods as William and the Cat Sage hit the ground in a heap. Noodle let out a bark of laughter as he rushed forward and vaulted onto the dragon's back, eager to resume his attack.

Nekomata could not help the sigh of relief that escaped his lips as he watched the man and dog bashing the dragon mercilessly. He looked adoringly at the meteorite fragment cradled in his paws. He was not sure exactly what the fragment was, but he knew that it was good for supercats.

The dragon lay on the grass, immobile. It was bleeding heavily from large, open wounds that were covered all over its back. William stood triumphantly on the defeated creature as he checked out his mission panel. His eyes lit up when he saw that he had been awarded the permanent superpowers. He could barely contain his excitement.

As the saying goes, 'You don't know what you have until it's gone'. Having experienced the despair of losing his mighty powers, he now cherished them with all his heart. He treasured it so much that he headed straight for the dragon instead of sneaking up on Nekomata to steal the fragment.

That intention, however, was still very much on his mind. He was feeling confident and he wanted to take action. He turned to face the husky and Nekomata.

”Since this guy's been defeated,” he spoke in heavily-accented Mandarin, ”We should split the fragment between us.”

Immediately, Nekomata hid the fragment behind him and turned his body away from William. Noodle raised two clenched fists in front of him, ready to fight the man.

William narrowed his eyebrows. If looks could kill, the cat and dog before him would have dropped dead.

Noodle began to bark, ”Hmph, did you think you can just waltz in here and take what is ours? You'll first have to get permission from my two cats!”

The husky had been undefeatable since he got his paws on Fish Ball and Rice Cake. This success had bolstered his confidence levels tremendously. He was getting cocky. He would have attacked even if this was Zhao Yao, much less some random apostle.

He was not afraid.

Once Noodle punctuated his statement, he bent his knees and propelled himself towards William, leaving a whirl of dust and grass in his trail.

William remained rooted to the spot. There was a sharp glint in his eye as he raised his fists, ready to strike back.

Before the two could collide, Noodle found himself losing strength and speed rapidly. His new-found power had inexplicably disappeared. He found himself losing balance and tumbling forwards clumsily, stopping right before William's feet. Even the robustness of his paws was gone. He failed to grip the two supercats tightly enough and they flew out of his grasp.

Noodle lifted his head and his eyes met William's cold gaze. In that instant, the husky knew that there was no way he could fight back, so he stuck out his tongue and started whining, ”I'm sorry, boss. I've made a mistake.”

William did not understand what his sounds meant, so he grabbed the dog by the neck and lifted him off the grass. Noodle did not fight back or demonstrate any of its previous superpower abilities. It seemed like he had reverted to being a normal dog. This made William laugh in relief, ”Thank God.”

He then turned his attention to Nekomata, whom was still holding onto the fragment.

”Your partner is in my hands now. If you want him to live, you'll hand that fragment to me.”

A pained expression made its way to Nekomata's face. The meteorite fragment in his paw was magical. He could feel himself growing stronger by the second just from holding it. That felt a million times better than the high that the best catmint could give him.

However, he did not want to let Ho Hao Cang die either.

William let out a derisive snort as the cat weighed his options. He tightened his vice grip around the husky's neck. Noodle's tongue rolled out of his open mouth. His face was beginning to turn purple.