Chapter 28: A Duel of Performances

As it turned out, Alice’s affection for Elise ran deep enough that she would agree to even the most excessive requests. As Mo Yu pierced through Alice, he was simultaneously run through the throat by her dagger.

Both parties suffered heavy, bleeding wounds.

Forced rewind.

Back to the moment Elise was first abducted, Mo Yu continued his questioning: "The zombie dog that attacked me at the villa earlier—you were the one who released it, weren't you?"

"Your arrival was too suspicious, so I had to kill you." Alice admitted it quite generously, her eyes fixed on Mo Yu as she observed him, clearly waiting for an opportunity to strike.

Mo Yu paid no mind, pressing on with his interrogation.

"What method are you using to monitor Elise?"

"The bloodthirsty bat was something I modified."

"Don’t you deeply love your creations? Why ambush us? Can’t we talk about this?"

"You wouldn't understand. The joy of secretly spying on an ignorant little rabbit from the shadows—I will make her forget everything that happened during this time, and then we shall start over."

"What is your ability? And your weaknesses?"

"Human, are you ever going to stop?" Alice warned with a dark face. "Even if you cut off her head, I have ways to reattach it."

"Oh, so you aren't afraid of her dying? Then come and try to cut me."

Mo Yu responded arrogantly. He knew Alice’s bottom line well; she was a mad artist, the kind of lunatic who would rather die than allow her work to be anything less than perfect. To him, such a threat sounded like coquetry.

Alice gritted her teeth in frustration.

Mo Yu said, "Cut the chatter. Your abilities and weaknesses."

Alice replied, "I can create living beings using organic matter, and I possess some psychic abilities. My weakness is... my close-combat ability is very poor, and I am afraid of being engaged in melee."

Mo Yu let go of Elise and lunged at Alice.

"Eek! Stay away from me!"

Alice cried out and retreated, trying to stand up and flee, but she was slow and was caught by Mo Yu in an instant.

The rabbit-girl struggled desperately, extending her little fists to fight back, hitting and kicking, but the strength she displayed was less than that of an average little girl.

"Let go of me! You jerk! That hurts!"

After leaving several rows of teeth marks on Mo Yu's arm, she was pinned to the ground. Her slender, fair wrists were crossed and held above her head. Her large eyes were red and watery, and she turned her head away with a look of grievance.

Mo Yu remarked, "It seems you are truly weak."

Alice whimpered, "Wuwuwu, you’re bullying me, let go..."

Mo Yu said, "Punishment time."

"Really? Why don't you look behind you?" Alice asked suddenly. The aggrieved, pitiful expression vanished, replaced by a wicked grin of a scheme fulfilled, and she mischievously stuck out her small pink tongue.

Mo Yu turned his head.

Elise was gone.

On the ceiling, a transparent spider the size of a small car hung upside down. It was rapidly wrapping Elise up, and under the cocoon of transparent silk, Elise quickly faded into invisibility.

Alice suddenly erupted with power far exceeding that of an ordinary human. She grabbed Mo Yu’s wrists, flipped him onto the ground, pinned his spine with her knee, and forcefully twisted his arm back, jeering:

"Idiot! Even if my physical strength is low, it’s not something a mere human like you can challenge! Hehe, human, it's punishment time~"

"Oh, then don't you find it strange? Knowing I have the ability to foresee the future, why would I choose to rush in and grab you? Was it because of your ridiculous acting?"

Mo Yu countered.

Alice froze instantly.

Mo Yu lunged, pinning her to the ground using her own grappling technique.

His physical stats of 9.3 were unleashed to their full potential.

The ground vibrated slightly.

Alice groaned in pain. Stung, she became instantly enraged, her eyes glowing with red light, but the next moment, Mo Yu grabbed her rabbit ears and yanked them upward hard.

The rabbit-girl let out a sharp, piercing shriek.

"Ahhhhh! It hurts, it hurts! Stop! Don't pull! You're killing me!"

Alice’s eyes were filled with tears—this time she was truly crying.

Mo Yu revealed the smile of a victor.

He had rewound at least ten times before successfully capturing this rabbit.

Alice’s raw strength was no match for an elite-level vampire; she was quite weak. However, her close-quarters evasion skills were nearly maxed out, and she possessed a highly sensitive sixth sense, allowing her to dodge melee attacks in advance, making her as flexible as a loach.

In his first attempt, Mo Yu had charged in with full force, only for Alice to float away, dodging his lunge with precise elegance before glowing with red light and freezing him in place with her psychic abilities.

After a few repetitions, he realized one thing: head-on attacks were useless.

Her reaction time was far faster than his.

If he couldn't control her, she would paralyze him with psychic control skills.

When he chose to feign the speed and strength of an ordinary person, it had a surprising effect. Alice actually played along with the act, clearly wanting to deceive Mo Yu’s 'prophetic' ability.

The two of them engaged in a battle of acting skills.

Since close combat wasn't enough, he also had to break her psychic abilities. After testing it a few times, Mo Yu discovered that the intense pain caused by pulling her ears could forcibly interrupt her psychic control skills.

Thus, the scene that just unfolded occurred.

Alice cried out in protest, "Are you really human? How are you so strong?! It hurts! It hurts! Stop pulling! I surrender!"

"Punishment time~"

Mo Yu replied softly, landing a heavy slap on Alice’s backside, which elicited another sharp shriek from her.

He struck left and right.

After a series of slapping sounds, Alice covered her backside and collapsed on the ground, completely wilted.

Mo Yu did not deal the killing blow.

It wasn't that he didn't want to, but that he couldn't.

The moment he attempted a kill, he would be killed himself, and he was unable to inflict fatal damage on Alice.

He looked up and surveyed his surroundings.

Unknown to him, countless monsters had appeared all around. There were bizarre chimeras, scarecrows equipped with scythes, stone-like spheres, spiders the size of trucks, and terrifying mummies.

A chaotic mass of them surrounded him from all directions, and his vision was filled with dense, red alert prompts.

The metal monster form was unremarkable among these creatures; there were at least seven or eight entities present with strength comparable to Elise.

This was the true power of one of the Eight Sages, the 'Lover of Obsession.'

She was a fragile summoner who excelled in psychic control.

Alice’s melee capability was truly pathetic; if one could grab her, one could do whatever they pleased, but catching her was the greatest challenge.

Protected by these things, the chance of a frontal breakthrough was zero. The moment he showed any intent to kill, he would be torn to shreds in the next second.

"No escaping this time, it seems."

Mo Yu sighed, flipped the bottom-clutching Alice over, tugged on her cheek, and said, "I'll let you off for now."

Alice snapped her teeth at Mo Yu’s finger, but he dodged it, causing her teeth to click together in the empty air. She hissed viciously, "Do you think you can escape?! Catch him alive!"

The surrounding monsters began to move.

Mo Yu smiled. "Until next time."

Rewind.

Mo Yu was greedy.

Having grasped the weaknesses of the two beautiful girls, he wanted everything! Killing them only yielded ability points; he wanted to capture them alive to see what the 'Legendary' page was and what extra rewards it might offer.

Back to the eve of the operation.

As he, Elise, and the maid had just sat in the sedan, Mo Yu reached out, pressed his hand over the maid’s hand on the steering wheel, and turned back to say: "My Lady, I suggest we call off tonight’s operation."

Elise crossed her legs and remained silent for a few seconds before asking, "Reason?"

Mo Yu didn't answer, instead stepping out of the car. He observed the surroundings and, sure enough, found a bloodthirsty bat hanging from the roof, its dark eyes fixed on him.

He opened the back door, sat down beside Elise, and leaned in closer, attempting to whisper. Elise instinctively flinched, then went still, allowing Mo Yu to lean in and listen to his words.