Lordi’s brain was in full panic mode, scrambling for any excuse—any half-believable lie—to dodge the incoming fury of his squad. He could already picture their disgusted glares, the lecture about "disgraceful behavior," and the inevitable mountain of $tones fine as punishment.
Ruru Rosa and Cade Barret burst in, not with righteous condemnation, but with accusations—against the Thirst Bull Squad.
Lordi’s mental gears ground to a halt. His prepared excuses shriveled up and died in his throat.
Ohhh... OH?! Wait a damn second—
"So... I’m the victim here?!"
His thoughts spun wildly.
Senior Sister Dawson was the one who came onto ME? This whole thing was a setup? A honey trap?! A badger game scam?!
A slow, dawning realization crept in.
"Ohhhh yeahhh..." He mentally snapped his fingers. "That uh... that makes PERFECT sense! Obviously, this Senior Sister Emma Dawson... she uh... she targeted me—poor, innocent, devilishly handsome me—with her wicked feminine wiles! Then she shows strong interests in me and offers sex to seduce me... And now her crew was gonna shake me down for cash or cry ’harassment’! Classic con job!"
He almost wanted to pat himself on the back.
I didn’t even know I was being victimized. I’m basically a hero for surviving this.
Then, with the smoothness of a seasoned opportunist, Lordi adjusted his expression—shifting from "busted filthy degenerate rapist" to "wronged integrity unyielding gentleman."
Ruru’s "brilliant deduction" had flipped the script—now Lordi was the victim, and Emma was the scheming seductress.
"Senior Sister Ruru’s eyes are as sharp as torches!" Lordi marveled inwardly, barely suppressing a grin. "Truly, justice shines upon the righteous!"
But Emma? Emma was seeing red.
"LIES!" she shrieked, her voice cracking with fury. Her robes were disheveled, her cheeks flushed with humiliation, but her rage burned hotter than her shame. "This filthy cur groped me in front of everyone! You think I’d ever stoop to seducing this—this degenerate motherfucker?! My heart belongs to Senior Brother Luther! Everyone knows that!"
She jabbed an accusing finger at Lordi, her whole body trembling. "EVERYONE here saw it! And now you dare twist this into my fault?!"
Ruru didn’t even blink. If anything, her smirk grew sharper.
"Oh, please," she drawled, rolling her eyes. "Open your dumb eyes and think for once! Junior Brother Payne is only at the Seventh Layer of Qi Refinement, while you—oh, mighty Eighth Layer cultivator—are backed by peak Ninth layer Senior Brother Jorge Blue, Senior Brother Rodney Luther. And your whole squad of Eighth layer elite companions!"
She crossed her arms, tilting her head mockingly. "So you’re telling me this weakling just charged into your Thirst Bull, ignored all those powerhouse bodyguards, and decided—’Ah yes, today’s a good day to grope the most protected girl here!’—like some suicidal pervert?!"
Emma’s face twisted in outrage, but Ruru wasn’t done.
"If you really didn’t want it, why didn’t you resist? With your strength and your precious Senior Brother Luther standing right there, Payne shouldn’t have been able to touch a single strand of your hair!" Ruru scoffed. "Unless, of course... you let him. Maybe even encouraged him."
Emma’s jaw dropped. "Y-YOU—!"
"Face it," Ruru said, waving a hand dismissively. "This reeks of a setup. Strip your clothes, cry wolf, and extort some poor fool? Classic badger game."
And thus, the verbal battle escalated into... well, probably an actual battle.
Lordi was loving every second of this.
Emma Dawson swayed, her delicate face twisted in fury, her knuckles white as she clenched her fists. The world spun around her—never in her life had she been humiliated ! Mocked, accused of being some cheap seductress, her dignity shredded in front of her entire battle squad!
"I’LL KILL YOU BOTH!!!" she shrieked, her voice raw with venom.
Emma was no common flower. In terms of beauty, shape or background, she rivaled even the famed "Eastern Jewel", Kim Simona—her curves alluring, her features delicate as a painted doll. But where Kim Simona blazed like the sun—her genius alchemy skills making her a legend—Emma was merely... admired.
She was still a popular sweetheart of a group of Outer Sect elites, a jewel fawned over by countless male disciples. Even Rodney Luther, the formidable heir of the Luther Clan, had bent his pride for her. Though this Ninth Layer male cultivator had once openly rejected her initiative love pursuit, he still respected and adored her like a noble knight, even risking his life in joining the deadly Hanz Clan Estate task just to secure her an extra Foundation Establishment Pill.
Emma basked in that attention, that power—
Until Ruru Rosa tore into her with words sharper than any blade. The venomous words depreciating her, mocking her so ruthless, stripped her bare, deeming her worthless!
Rodney Luther had been silent, his chiseled face darkening like a stormcloud. But when Ruru sneered—"Strip your clothes like a whore!"—his restraint shattered.
"VILE WENCH!" His roar shook the air, his eyes burned with murderous insanity, his killing intent so thick it choked the bystanders. The black Bone Serpent Chain, still slick with Lordi’s blood, uncoiled like a living beast.
With a whip-crack that split the wind with overwhelming Ninth Layer strength wrath, it lashed toward Ruru’s face—a strike meant to erase her head from her shoulders.
In that heartbeat of death—
Freed from the chain’s bite, his body dissolved into a crimson mist, his figure blurring like a phantom. Before the chain could land, he rematerialized beside Ruru, his arm snaking around her waist.
The chain obliterated the ground where Ruru had stood, sending stone shards flying. But Lordi and Ruru were already gone, reforming in a burst of blood mist behind Shirley Quinn.