"Phew, running in that body with such large boobs is a pain in the ass," Liria complained, stretching her slender neck until it popped.
She brushed a stray lock of golden hair out of her face and gave Alex a mocking smile. "You actually made us run quite a bit. I didn't expect you to be so slippery."
Heavy footsteps echoed from the narrow entrance of the alley.
Two large men in black robes stepped out of the shadows, blocking his only way out.
They pulled back their heavy hoods, revealing rough, scarred faces and cruel, yellowed teeth.
Faint trails of black, sickly mist drifted from their skin, the signs of Evil God followers who had fused their flesh with half-evil spirit bodies.
"Don't waste time playing with him, Liria. Do you want to be punished again?" the taller cultist growled.
His bloodshot eyes greedily scanned Alex's body, lingering on the soft curve of his hips and the slight, undeniable swell of his developing chest beneath his shirt.
Thanks to his second Ecdysis phase, Alex's skin had become smooth and sensitive, his waist narrower, and his rear noticeably fuller.
Feeling that filthy gaze, goosebumps broke out all over Alex's skin. It wasn't from any overwhelming pressure or a gap in strength, it was just pure, unadulterated disgust.
"Lady Clara wants him delivered alive and without a single scratch on his pretty skin," he continued, licking his dry lips. "Hold him tight. We need to sedate this little bitch until he's unconscious before the city patrol swings by."
"Relax, he's not even an E Rank. What the hell can he do?" Liria laughed, stepping forward. Her leather boots clicked sharply against the damp asphalt. "Look at him. He's shivering so hard he can barely stand."
Alex, who had been leaning against the brick wall acting breathless and terrified, suddenly stopped.
The moment he heard Lady Clara's name, a cold rage replaced his disgust.
"Fuck…!! That crazy bitch is still after me?" He cursed inwardly.
He dropped the act instantly.
His shivering stopped, his posture straightened, and the fake panic in his eyes vanished, replaced by a sharp, icy calm.
He didn't know if the real Elena was safe or if these bastards had already hurt her, and the only way to find out was to beat the answers out of them.
While keeping his eyes fixed on Liria, Alex secretly activated his Appraisal Eye.
Transparent text boxes popped up beside the three of them.
Just as he suspected, the two men possessed the Half-Evil Spirit Body trait.
Both of them are Evil God followers and its easy to identify them, as they were always on the headlines and wanted lists, causing unnecessary killings here and there.
From what he knew, the Evil spirit body gave them powerful enhancements to their physical strength and made their skin like iron armor, making them almost immune to ordinary physical attacks of the same level or higher.
But he was not scared about it, a slight, dangerous smirk touched Alex's lips.
Without making a sound, Alex toggled his Phase 2 Pheromone Control, secretly releasing his scent.
At the same time, he silently activated his Temptress professional talent, silent whisper to slowly influence their minds.
Under his control, an invisible wave of sweet, musky fragrance rolled through the damp alley.
The taller cultist stopped mid-step, his nostrils flaring.
He blinked hard, a sudden, heavy flush creeping up his thick neck. "What the... what the fuck is that smell?" he muttered, his voice suddenly thick and raspy.
"Holy shit," the second cultist grunted, gripping his crotch as an instant, painful erection strained against his dark robes.
His eyes glazed over, staring hungrily at the soft slope of Alex's thighs and the feminine curve of his waist. "Why does this guy smell so fucking good? I want to rip those clothes off him..."
"Idiots! Focus!" Liria snapped, though she too stumbled for a second, her cheeks reddening as the sweet scent invaded her senses, making her head spin and her skin feel uncomfortably hot. "He's doing something! Grab him!"
The taller cultist roared, shaking his head to clear the horny fog, and lunged at Alex like a rabid bear.
His massive, shadowy hand reached out to grab Alex by the throat.
"Heheheee…!" Alex didn't even flinch as he laughed back.
Even without a sword in his hand, his Level 4 Flowing Spirit Sword Forms had long been carved into his muscle memory.
To him, his own body was a blade.
The taller cultist's huge hand lunged straight for Alex's throat, moving with the terrifying momentum of a rabid bear.
Alex didn't retreat. Instead, the mocking smile on his lips widened.
He tilted his face up slightly, his throat vibrating as he poured his mana into his Silent Whisper talent, blending it seamlessly with the sweet, intoxicating aphrodisiac scent flooding the narrow alley.
"On your knees, ugly face," Alex said.
His voice wasn't loud, but it carried a sultry, velvety weight that seemed to echo directly inside the cultist's brain.
For a split second, the command took absolute control.
The tall cultist's mind short-circuited under the heavy dose of pheromones and the supernatural order.
His heavy legs completely betrayed him. His knees buckled, slamming into the damp asphalt with a loud, sickening crack.
His hand fell short, grasping uselessly at empty air just inches from Alex's chest.
That single heartbeat of control was all Alex needed.
Moving with the smooth, effortless grace of flowing water, Alex stepped into the man's guard.
Thanks to the physical enhancements of his recent upgrade to C rank, his body felt incredibly light, flexible, and responsive.
Alex formed his hand into a knife-palm, concentrating a razor-sharp edge of invisible mana along his fingertips.
With a casual, fluid flick of his wrist, he chopped downward into the back of the kneeling cultist's thick neck.
Even though the man's Half-Evil Spirit Body gave him skin as tough as iron armor, Alex's concentrated sword intent didn't rely on brute force.
The freezing and sharp mana vibrated right through the outer skin, bypassing the hardened flesh and sending a devastating shockwave straight into his brainstem.
The giant cultist's eyes rolled back instantly.
He collapsed face-first into the dirty puddle on the ground, drooling, as his body began to frostbite and completely unconscious before he even knew what hit him.
"What the fuck?! How could you be an Elite rank professional?" the second cultist roared.
The second cultist didn't wait for an answer.
Fear and intense sexual arousal twisted his rough face into an ugly, desperate snarl.
His thick black robes bulged around his waist where his erection strained painfully against the cloth, but his instincts told him that if he didn't fight back right now, he was dead.
"Die, you little freak!" he roared.
Black, sickly mist poured out of his pores as he activated his Half-Evil Spirit Body to its absolute limit.
His skin turned a dull, metallic black, looking like thick plates of cast iron.
He charged forward, swinging a heavy fist straight at Alex's face.
Alex didn't even blink as the cultist's attack looked like it was moving in slow motion.
With a slight twist of his hips, Alex engaged his Level 2 Serpentine Musculature.
His spine bent backward at an impossible, graceful angle, his body folding like a piece of silk in the wind.
The heavy iron fist whistled through the empty air, barely missing the tip of his nose.
As Alex bent backward, his oversized hoodie shifted.
The hem pulled up, revealing a flash of his pale, flawless midriff and the tight white elastic band of Lily's borrowed sports bra firmly hugging his developing chest.
"Too slow," Alex whispered. His voice was soft, high-pitched, and filled with a cold, mocking confidence.
Before the cultist could pull his heavy arm back, Alex planted his left foot and spun.
He channeled the freezing Yin-Serpent mana from his C-Rank Sword Seed straight down into his right leg.
His sneaker shot up in a smooth, lightning-fast arc, catching the heavy-set man squarely under the chin.
CRACK!
The impact was brutal. Even with the iron-skinned defense of his Evil God trait, the cultist's jaw shattered.
A concentrated burst of ice-cold sword intent exploded on impact, sending a thick layer of white frost shooting across his face and down his neck.
The man's body was lifted a full foot off the ground before crashing hard onto his back, his eyes rolling into his head as he joined his partner in a cold, unconscious freeze.
In less than five seconds, two heavily armored D-Rank fighters were taken out without Alex even needing to draw a weapon.