The shell exploded, producing a massive air explosion, its power venting toward Casol like a flood bursting through a dam.
Casol, out of caution, had already erected a magic shield in front of him. But under the sheer force of the explosion, the magic shield shattered in an instant, and all its power hit him squarely.
In that moment, Casol was like struck by lightning, his face color changing drastically.
That was the sound of bones breaking, Casol’s chest visibly caving inward at a rapid pace.
Then, like a stalk of withered grass, Casol was swept up by the blast wave and uncontrollably flew out, "smack" falling to the ground, unable to stand up for a long while.
Pandora was also affected by the power of the shell. Although she was the attacker, the shell had exploded just after it was fired and had not traveled far, so she was within the blast range too, albeit less affected than Casol.
The wind howled as the air surged outwards like waves in all directions, forcing Pandora to step back, retreating a full dozen steps before she could stop, then grasping the hand cannon, she looked over at Casol, who had been on the ground without getting up for quite some time.
One second, two seconds, three seconds...
Casol didn’t move an inch.
"Dead?" Pandora blinked, her vigilance not entirely dissipated, but she had already started moving toward the passageway to relay the news to Richard.
Just then, "swish," a noise came from Casol’s direction, and a wisp of blood mist drifted out from his body.
This blood mist was different from before—the previous was crimson, but this time it was a dark red, so deeply red it bordered on black, black enough to make one’s heart tremble.
"Thud thud! Thud thud!"
"Thud thud thud! Thud thud thud!"
The sound of a heartbeat came from within Casol’s body, like war drums in a thunderstorm, growing more frantic and dense.
With each heartbeat, the dark red blood mist drifted from Casol’s body even faster, eventually enveloping his form like a special suit of armor. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦
With that sound, Casol slowly stood up from the ground, his posture eerie. Only when he steadied himself could it be seen that the upper part of his spine had been broken by the shell, bending at an angle close to forty-five degrees, the bare white bone starkly exposed to the air.
This made Casol, who was already not tall, seem even shorter and quite absurd next to Pandora.
But Casol’s expression was fierce, glaring at Pandora. One hand reached behind to his broken spine and pressed down violently, forcing it back into his body, and he eerily straightened up.
Then Casol used his other hand to delve into his chest, fumbling below the skin as if resetting broken ribs and shifting organs back into place.
After all this, Casol looked at Pandora with a cold voice, "Unknown little girl, I don’t really know what to say to you! I thought you were just a child, but now it seems you’re not that simple! It’s all an act, right?
Hmph, first with a clumsy attempt, you hid your real strength, making me underestimate you. Then you suddenly unleashed your power, showing off your killer move, preventing me from fully resisting and scoring a successful hit on me! Well calculated, very well indeed! Just by that little bit, I could have stopped you, but with just that bit, you grievously injured me by surprise! Deeply scheming, aren’t you!"
"It’s not that I’m deeply scheming, it’s the Dog Bone Law," Pandora wanted to tell Casol this, but the words never left her mouth; she simply watched Casol with caution.
More and more of the dark red blood mist drifted from Casol’s body, like some type of viscous fluid, continuously wrapping around his form. Initially, Casol looked like he was wearing a suit of armor; but now, that armor seemed to sprout protrusions, edges, and strange spikes.
The most terrifying thing was that these were not inanimate objects but living things, appearing to grow from Casol’s body, slightly moving with his breath.
"Enough!" After a while, all the blood mist that drifted out covered Casol’s body surface. Casol looked at Pandora, his voice turning deadly, "Little girl, you indeed severely injured me, but that means nothing to me! Do you know how many lives I have? Haha, to a being like you, I am immortal!
Now, I have recovered my combat power through secret techniques, and next, I’ll let you know the cost of deceiving me! I’m going to cruelly kill you, sucking your blood one mouthful at a time until you’re dry as a mummy!"
As he finished speaking, Casol lowered his body, touching the ground with his limbs, and then with a powerful thrust, he swooped toward Pandora like a giant bat, attempting close combat.
Pandora saw Casol approaching and responded in a very simple and crude way—in fact, she could not find any other good methods as the most powerful method had already been used—just heard a "swoosh" sound, Pandora swung her heavy hand cannon and smashed it towards Casol’s head.
Casol sneered, waved his hand, and with a "clatter," the incredibly heavy hand cannon shattered into pieces.
"This is my true strength, you know! Let’s see how you deal with me now!"
Casol roared, another hand shooting out, aiming for Pandora’s chest.
Pandora couldn’t block it at all and was hit directly. Under the powerful force, her body uncontrollably flew off again.
But Casol had no intention of letting Pandora go that easily. With a flash, he eerily appeared behind Pandora, first ramming into her back to stop the backward flight of her body, then he hooked his hands around Pandora’s shoulders and viciously hurled her to the ground. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺
Pandora hit the ground, bounced up, and then landed, rolling several times before stopping.
Afterward, she propped herself up on her hands, struggling to raise half of her body. Her small face showed neither fear nor dread. She shook her hands as though discarding something, with an expression of slight disgust.
Casol, seeing this, gave a disdainful sneer. Suddenly sensing something, he touched his face and came away with blood—during the recent exchange, although overpowered, Pandora managed to strike and tear off the scab on half of Casol’s face.
This attack did not cause Casol severe damage, but it made Casol extremely angry. Looking at Pandora, Casol grimly said, "Damned little girl, I’ve changed my mind. I won’t kill you easily. I’m going to catch you, crush all the bones in your body, and make you live like a cripple. Then, every day, I’ll torture you, suck your blood, and make you wish for death!"
Pandora said nothing, she didn’t even look straight at Casol. Her gaze went past Casol’s body, looking intently at the passage entrance in the oblique rear, seriously thinking.
After a long moment of thought, Pandora realized something—that she might not be able to complete the task Richard had given her.
Yes, she couldn’t do it.
She couldn’t beat the guy in front of her, couldn’t get through the passage, and naturally couldn’t deliver the message to Richard.
Maybe there were other ways to solve the problem, but she couldn’t think of any, so this was it.
"I’m sorry, Richard, I was wrong."
"Although I don’t know what I did wrong, it must be my fault again."
"Because I’m not smart, I’m mischievous, I always cause trouble for you, the mistakes can only be mine."
"I have really tried to correct it, I listened to you, studied hard, but...I was wrong again."
"I really made a mistake, and this time it was a big mistake, I couldn’t complete the task you gave me, and you are going to be disappointed again. I don’t want it to be , but I really don’t know what to do, I’m sorry... I’m sorry."
"I’m sorry, Richard!" Pandora cried out loud.
Casol, who was at a distance, was startled at first, then coldly said to Pandora, "What now, are you begging for mercy? Unfortunately, you’ve got my name wrong, I’m called Casol! Besides, even if you beg for mercy, it’s no use, I won’t spare you!"
"Sorry!" Suddenly a voice sounded beside Casol, incredibly abrupt, "This might be a misunderstanding! I guess, what this little girl said was addressed to me, not you. Truly sorry."