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Chapter 49

I bowed my head, and Carolina’s hair fell over the face. “Please, my daughter is young. I can satisfy you myself.”

It was a perfect replica of Carolina’s voice. Even if there were rough patches in her pronunciation, a guy who didn’t know her enough would not be able to tell. I had not spoken in a long time, so I was impressed Mimic was able to keep it that close. Of course, her mouth didn’t move. The sound was produced by vibrating the air, not using vocal cords, and so that’s why I thought to put the hair in front of the face before speaking.

A flash of anger appeared on his face. “You dare toy with me? Do you know what kind of situation your husband is in?”

“I-I do…” I answered in Carolina’s voice. “Please… please let me try to satisfy you first. I will give myself to you fully and willingly if you leave her out of it! Isn’t it preferable if I give it my best?”

He glowered at me for a second as if thinking about it. “You should be giving me your best either way.”

“Then, can we bet on it? My daughter is near. If I’m able to leave you completely satisfied, you will leave her alone. However, if I can’t… then… I will give you my daughter!”

If it had been Carolina, she never would have been able to make such a promise. For a liar like me though, I had told worse lies to get someone in bed. When it came to this guy, I planned to kill him, so the words came without concern.

“Give her to me?” His eyes flashed, and I knew I had him.

“We can send her with you. She will be your servant. You can do whatever you want with her.”

An evil grin formed on his lips. “You, as well!”

This greedy fuck! I had already promised him a child bride, and yet he wanted more? Well, it was all a lie from the beginning, but it didn’t mean his words wouldn’t piss me off.

I looked away as if I was contemplating his words. “Fine, but only if I can’t satisfy you by myself.”

“Hehe, you’re confident.” He chuckled. “Maybe you think because you have a paragon husband that you’re capable, but in the capital, we have brothels that specialize in paragon women to satisfy paragon men. You’ll find my appetite is far greater than your country bumpkin of a husband. By the time I’m done with you, you’ll probably never even want his tiny thing again!”

He laughed and began stripping. I’d rather wish I didn’t have to see him nude, but the less armored he was, the more easily I could finish him off. In that respect, this was the best trap for him. He’d leave everything including his underwear on the shore, and then trudge out into my domain. When the last of his armor hit the ground, he began to walk out into the pond. As he walked toward the girl, he let out perverted chuckles.

Thankfully, my hatred for the man had already grown to the extreme. Knight Swallows would die. It was already too late. However, I wasn’t impulsive. Patience was the one thing I had spent this lifetime cultivating, and so I waited until the water was up to his chest. It was at this point that he started to realize something was wrong.

He hadn’t even reached Carolina yet, but she was standing motionlessly with the water barely touching her chest. With him already just as deep, she’d either need to be extremely tall, or standing on a rock. After all, she showed no signs of treading water. Finally growing suspicious, he reached out for her. His hand was just about to touch her face when large tail-like appendages rose from behind him. Each one had a blade on the end.

These were the culmination of my multicellular research. They didn’t have more than a two-foot reach, but within those two feet, they were lethal. They were made of a reinforced carbon chain that approached the strength of steel. Just as his hand touched her cheek, her form dissolved and then collapsed into the water. The tails struck.

I was expecting to chop into his body, but he spun suddenly, and a sword appeared in his hand. A metallic sound rang out as the sword struck my attacking appendages. I was confused as to where he found the sword. It took me a moment to realize he had a ring on his finger which had a lingering feeling of mana. That was the fabled inventory ring! It was the first time I had ever seen something like it. He must have kept his weapons in there. No wonder he was willing to let himself become vulnerable.

“A selkie?” He bellowed. “Here?”

The knight seemed to take me for some kind of mythical water spirit. Well, I supposed I was using shapeshifting to try to drown him, so for the moment, calling me a selkie was accurate. I immediately started wrapping his feed up in fibrous netting, trying to pull him under. The knight was a bit stronger than I expected though, and with a roar he managed to push his way to the point he got his feet on the ground, digging them in. While doing this, his sword managed to knock away every attack from the sword-like appendages.

I had no technique, and he was a trained soldier. The difference between us was clear. With only two of these appendages, he was able to keep them at bay with ease. I wasn’t ready to throw in the towel though. I still had plenty of tricks up my sleeve.

I created a small hole at the bottom of the pond, causing a large quantity of the pond water to flow into it. Then, I pulled the water around him in a spiral. It was a modified version of the water vortex I had once used to defeat the prestiged fish. I was trying to use the force of the current to drag him away from the ground into the deeper parts of the pond. He was bracing himself, trying to escape toward the shore. As he did so, he let out roars, his blade slashing savagely. He managed to damage one of my blades.

I increased the flow of the vortex. Now, he was completely suspended in a circle of swirling water. At the same time, the blades began to spin around him, like the teeth of a chainsaw. He was forced to stop moving forward, and instead block the blades threatening to cut him from every side. As the water began to pull him further into the pond, he finally fell into panic. He had no way to fight back.

“You fucking bitch!” He roared. “I’ll kill you!”

His arms flailed as he tried to block the blades. As his blade clashed with the carbon fiber ones, sparks started to fly. My carbon chain was no match for his weapon, and they were cut through easily. However, the force of the water was pulling him backward. He didn’t have another chance to use his sword as he was dragged back, his feet desperately trying to find a perch to orientate himself. An eruption came from his body, and a talisman on his body suddenly rose and broke into two. The water was pushed back, and he fell to the bottom of the pond via gravity. He let out a shout and jumped up.

He had used some kind of lifesaving measure. It was not one of his skills, but something someone had made for him. If I had known he had two lives, I would have killed him quicker! He jumped with such ferocity that he was going to clear the water. It was a jump no normal human could make. He was effectively leaping from the center of the pond to the edge. I knew that if he got there, it would be impossible to finish him off. I immediately began shooting out Water Jet beams. I held nothing back as I fired them.

He seemed to be able to twist in midair, avoiding the streaks shooting out. It was like he could control the air currents, dancing around and avoiding my shots, even though he was just jumping in a singular direction. He used his sword to deflect several strikes, but one finally hit near his hilt and he lost it. The sword went flying off.

Finally, one beam struck him in the leg. It shot through, nearly severing his leg. He let out a shout as he finally collapsed. Although it seemed like a lot of time had passed, it had only been a few moments. He struck the ground with a thud. Only his legs were still on my shoreline. The water he had pushed back finally collapsed in on itself.

Although it seemed like a lot had happened, it had only been seconds from when I almost had him until he was on the side of the pond. If I had hoped I defeated him, I was rudely awakened when he let out a curse, reaching out and grabbing the ground. I wrapped stuff around his ankles, but I didn’t have the strength to keep him there. He pulled himself a little farther out. We were in a tugawar, but one of his legs ripped off. He only grunted as he reached out and grabbed more ground. He was about to escape my clutches, and all I received was a leg. I had failed to defeat the knight. I had overestimated myself.

He reached out again, but then a sword slammed into his hand. He let out a scream, looking up to see a man standing over him.

“Y-you… Tanner!” He growled. “So, it was you, after all.”

“You think I would let you live, knowing what you know?” Tanner asked. “You think I’d give you my wife? My daughter?”

Knight Swallow spit out some blood. “You have no clue who you’re dealing with. If you kill me, you’ll regret it forever. You… and that family of yours.”

“I’d regret it if I didn’t kill you,” Tanner responded.

“You’ll pay for this!”

“You first!”

Tanner pulled back his sword and then sliced off both of Knight Swallow’s hands. He let out a should, but he could no longer cling to the ground. I pulled him the rest of the way into the water. He slid under its depths, and that was the last he’d ever be seen again.