Chapter 406: The Battle Between Women (3)
The Truce and the Secret
"If I survive today, I swear I'll never come back to work at Cape Villa."
A chef muttered, his face pale, clearly terrified. When he saw everyone looking at him, he snapped in irritation,
"What about you all? Do you dare to stay?"
"That Linda Danvers is a monster!"
The butler gave him a flat look. "Before you started, everyone signed a confidentiality agreement. You want to leave? No problem. But the secret stays behind. Those are the Master's exact words."
"Who the Master is, I don't need to elaborate. His ties to the Hongmen don't need explaining either. If you want to leave, follow the contract. Keep what happened tonight to yourselves. If anyone dares to leak it, you'll face the consequences."
With that statement, everyone fell silent.
Working at Cape Villa for so long, they had all subtly inferred the true identity of Luke Shaw.
Their Master was more than just a rising star in the business world; he had intricate connections to the criminal underworld, politics, law enforcement, and the military. It would be trivially easy for a person like him to deal with them.
"Go now. Leave while you have the chance. Remember what I said: no one is to speak a word about tonight."
The Crone's Trickery
Linda was also suffering after unleashing that massive attack. Her right hand was bloody, and the skin had cracked in places.
The girl shook her hand dismissively, leaped high into the air, and scanned the surroundings.
The black cloud had been blown away by the light wave, but the demon was nowhere to be seen.
"Did she die?"
Linda mumbled to herself. Her ear twitched, and she turned to look behind her.
In the darkness, the Crone appeared, still seductive and wanton, but her eyes were noticeably dimmer.
"She's not dead after all!"
The girl immediately threw a punch. The light of the punch struck the Crone's body, which disintegrated and exploded over the ocean.
A fake!
Linda paused, cautiously surveying the area. She could tell that while her opponent wasn't physically strong, her fighting style was strangely deceptive, definitely a mage type.
"Powerful human, tell me your name?"
A faint voice drifted from the void, seemingly from a great distance.
Coward!
Linda's eyes glowed red, and her heat vision shot out.
"You don't even dare to tell me your name? I overestimated you. Turns out you're just a coward, too."
The girl ignored her, sweeping back and forth to locate the source of the voice.
"Thousands of years have passed, and humans are still the same. You possess great power but lack the dignity of a true powerhouse. Listen closely, little one, my name is Crone, a Demon Lord from Hell."
Linda snorted. Unable to pinpoint her opponent, she finally stopped, yelling angrily,
"Are you going to fight or not? If not, hurry up and get lost!"
"As a Demon Lord, I do not fight with nameless nobodies."
"Pah! Coward! Do you really think you deserve to be called a Demon Lord?"
"Whether I deserve it is not for you to say. At least I'm stronger than someone who doesn't even dare to say their name."
This statement agitated Linda. "Listen well, you fool from Hell! My name is Linda Danvers!"
The air shimmered, and a seductive, curvy body materialized. The Crone looked down, a look of undisguised mockery hanging on her upturned lips.
"The Banshee Queen possesses a special ability: she can kill anyone whose name she knows with a scream."
"Foolish human, you fell for it!"
Linda was momentarily stunned, unsure of the Crone's intent. The next second, as the Crone opened her mouth, an eerie sensation spread around Linda, as if countless eyes were staring at her.
The girl's heart pounded, and she couldn't help but shout,
"What kind of trickery are you trying now?"
The Crone's eyes were full of ridicule. Her mouth cracked open, letting out a piercing shriek.
The strange aura hidden in the void seemed to answer the call, rushing rapidly toward Linda's body, only to be instantly repelled.
The Crone froze, as if a fishbone had lodged in her throat.
"You... you... you wretched ant, you dare to lie to me!"
Linda blinked, completely baffled.
The Crone gritted her teeth, utterly enraged. "Linda Danvers is not your real name! What is your name?"
"Only an idiot would tell you that! Take this!"
Linda leaped up. Before she even closed the distance, her punch-light was already upon the Crone. The Crone spread her wings, and fire condensed in her palms, forming a hundred-meter-long flame whip.
The whip tore through the air, but Linda caught it and yanked hard.
Snap!
The whip shattered. The Crone stumbled. In terms of pure strength, she was no match. Seeing the tide turn against her, she swiftly concealed herself again.
She ran again!
Linda stamped her foot in frustration. She didn't know what magic the opponent was using, but she could avoid her X-ray vision. With all her immense strength, she felt like she was punching cotton wool—it was infuriating.
Little did she know, the Crone was the one suffering more.
This girl was terrifying. Her strength and speed defied belief, and her defense was frightening, nearly comparable to a Lord of Hell. On top of that, she had super-healing, and freakishly acute senses and reaction time.
The Crone thought long and hard but couldn't recall any Old God with such a talent profile.
Physical attacks were useless. Magic could inflict damage, but given her opponent's speed and healing, if one strike didn't kill her, there would likely be no second chance.
After racking her brain, only one method remained.
The Crone gritted her teeth. Her pupils slowly turned black, and a vertical slit opened on her forehead.
Linda felt something was wrong. She raised her hands, warily scanning her surroundings.
A faint breeze blew, carrying a ghostly wail.
A dark shadow materialized in the air, flying quickly toward Linda. Linda instinctively punched, but the light passed right through the shadow, causing no damage.
The girl paused. Seeing the shadow getting closer, she could only turn and flee. After a few steps, more shadows appeared in front of her, countless black shapes blocking all possible escape routes.
"What are those?"
Linda frowned. She was completely ignorant of magic, only instinctively sensing danger.
The Crone, hidden in the void, placed her hand over her brow. Black light flashed from the vertical slit and silently struck Linda.
The blow carried no physical force, yet Linda immediately clutched her head in agony. Endless wails screamed in her ears, and her head felt like it was about to explode.
"As expected. Strong body, weak soul."
The Crone sneered, going for the kill without hesitation. The ghostly shadows roared, drilling into Linda's body one after another. With each one that entered, the pain on Linda's face intensified. The sensation was like having a bomb pressed inside her skull.
"Victory belongs only to the great Banshee Queen!"
The Crone revealed herself and kicked Linda.
Bang!
A figure plummeted from the sky, slamming into the beach and leaving a crater several meters wide.
The Crone flapped her wings and landed in front of her, planting her right foot on the girl's chest, her face etched with undisguised triumph.
"Pathetic thing. I thought you were strong. Turns out you're just a weakling." She paused, then added, "But your body is truly excellent. I can turn you into a corpse puppet."
"With a fighter like you, I could run rampant even in Hell."
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