138 Who is the Monster? (1/2)

While Charles was still stunned, the currents flew out under the guidance of magnet. Without any deliberate control, they thrashed onto the nearest metal items like long whips. The screws suspended around Charles!

With a crisp sound, the screws in Charles’ control immediately went wild and shot out. It was fortunate that Charles had escaped from the range beforehand and was unharmed, but cold sweat seeped from the back of his neck, rolling down.

An electric current thrashed the place where he had stood like a whip.

”Wait! When did you learn so many instantaneous notes?”

”This morning,” Ye Qingxuan said vaguely. ”It doesn’t matter that you can read anyway. I’m faster!”

”There’s no skill in this at all.”

”I don’t need any skills. I just need to win!”

A flame then swept from Charles’s side and dissipated after crashing into the barrier formed by Air. The corners of Charles’s lips twitched, and his body became blurry. Rune Blur.

Next, a frost ray brushed past him. As he stumbled back, Ye Qingxuan approached step by step. In this perilous situation, Charles’s expression finally became slightly serious. Even if he had expected this, Charles still could not help but get cold sweat. Facing such an endless fighting style, he could give Ye Qingxuan the chance to turn the tide if he remained on the defense.

Charles deciphered the youth’s attack and dodged back. He left a string of Shackle runes at his feet to create a trap.

Ye Qingxuan stopped on the edge of the trap. Charles smacked his lips. Fighting with such a fast learner was really annoying, but he could still win with his years of experience!

But the next second, his expression changed. ”The same thing again?”

”It works!” Behind the trap, the youth threw a ball of light. The mirror matrix followed and expanded, and a sharp light flashed, blinding Charles.

He subconsciously closed his eyes. Focused entirely on reading Ye Qingxuan’s aether, he grinned. ”Sure enough,” he thought. ”You can’t keep it up. You’re still just a rookie…”

Amid the fighting, Ye Qingxuan’s movement slowed for an instant, and his aether began to dissipate. Taking advantage of this, Charles charged rather than retreating. He could not see, but he pressed a note directly onto the youth’s chest.

In an instant, Air and Flow collided, setting off a terrifying wave! Boom!

Wait, it did not feel right. He opened his dazed eyes and saw Ye Qingxuan flying upside down. In mid-air, Ye Qingxuan's body cracked onto mirror shards.

It was an illusion created by the rune Mirror. When the illusion was gone, Ye Qingxuan was revealed. He stared at Charles’s startled look and smiled. ”Hey!”

He had fallen into the trap…The corners of Charles’s mouth twitched. His vision swam and the shadow of a fist zoomed…

Boom! Charles fell down, his vision went black.

--

When he woke up, it was evening. There was beef stewing in the pot, emanating the scent of meat. He heard the sound of his belly rumbling. He was hungry.

He climbed up from the couch with difficulty and rubbed his sore cheek. ”Wow, I thought we were brothers. Why did you have to be so cruel? You lured me over there so you could punch me? Where’s your dignity as a musician?”

Ye Qingxuan rolled his eyes. ”I knew that your sense and control were all better than mine, and clearly you knew my strategies… Why would I stupidly fight you with runes? Am I a retard?”

”Your ability can only be improved when you are exposed to the fight itself!”

”Well, I would rather not improve in this way.” Ye Qingxuan put a bowl of beef stew in front of him and said with concern, ”Come on! Eat while it’s still hot.”

Charles was suddenly moved. ”Rare to see that you also care about me.”

”No, I just don't want to waste time.” Ye Qingxuan smiled and raised a pink dress. ”After all, you still have a little skirt to wear when you finish this…”

-

Half a day before, it was just an average afternoon. Tick tocks sounded in the clock shop as always. It was peaceful and quiet of course—it was yet another day without much business.

But the boss was not impatient at all. He drank his afternoon tea at ease. Sometimes he would raise his head and say something to the little girl who was reading behind the counter. Most of the content was nothing important, like how the ice cream vendor did not sell today or that the old man deserved to not make any money and so on.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, an old man with one black glove came in and chatted with him for some time. The conversation seemed to be somewhere between pleasant and unpleasant. Soon he left.

Watching him leave, Hermes shook his head and smacked his lips. ”Shaman that old man, seems like he’s really going to do it. I’ve underestimated him. Is he really not afraid that the Royals will be provoked and force him out again? Or is he really certain they’re too caught up on the curse to care about him?