Apart from Gray's "performance art" at the entrance of the dungeon, similar scenes were happening all over the City Lord's Guard compound.
Although many of the guards were initially surprised to suddenly find a naked beauty appearing by their side, most of them quickly assumed these women were new "gifts" sent by Harry.
Their initial confusion vanished, replaced by frenzied excitement as they eagerly indulged themselves.
What they didn't know—
was that these "strange" women were, in fact, none other than their own comrades—
the same gruff, bearded men they fought alongside every day.
In a corner of the City Lord's Guard, Barton and Stanley stared at John in utter terror.
They simply couldn't comprehend how John, right under their noses, had transformed those burly, rugged men into delicate, fair-skinned women!
This nightmarish method was something they could never have imagined.
It completely overturned their understanding of reality.
When they had heard that John was going to "deal" with the City Lord's Guard members, they had simply thought he would kill them.
Who could have guessed—
John had such terrifying and bizarre techniques?
Gender reversal—
it was something neither of them had ever heard of, something that defied all common sense!
This must be John's ultimate revenge.
The two of them shivered involuntarily, cold sweat dripping down their backs.
Their eyes toward John were now filled with reverence and awe—
as if gazing upon a living deity.
They both made a silent vow deep within their hearts:
From now on, they would stand firmly by John's side.
Whatever John asked them to do, they would do it—no questions asked.
What shocked them even more was that, as they followed John out of the shadows into the open, none of the other City Lord's Guard members seemed to notice John's presence at all.
Barton and Stanley exchanged bewildered glances, then rubbed their eyes.
John was right there beside them, clear as day—
and yet everyone else acted as though he was invisible!
Normally, any intruder found in the City Lord's Guard's territory would be ruthlessly attacked on sight.
But now, John was walking among them, and those once high-and-mighty guards were oblivious, behaving like fools.
This eerie, surreal situation shook Barton and Stanley to their core once again.
A while later, John, feeling that the preparations were almost complete, approached the residential quarters of the City Lord's Guard members.
With a powerful kick, he smashed open a door and strode inside.
The members resting within barely had time to react—
before a small flying stone struck them, instantly freezing them in place.
Before they could recover, a golden sword arc flashed—
and their consciousness was immediately snuffed out.
The shadow at John's feet writhed and transformed into a demonic black figure,
which opened its mouth and devoured the corpses in a single gulp,
then licked its lips and slithered back beneath John's feet.
Using these seamless methods, John systematically moved through the quarters—
turning every City Lord's Guard member he encountered into nourishment to further strengthen his already terrifying physique.
After a while, he arrived outside the room of the City Lord's Guard captain.
He knew this captain had a particular fondness for women,
so earlier, John had specially thrown three freshly gender-reversed "women" into his room.
Now, as John approached the door, the captain inside—Tulls—roared in anger:
"Get lost!
Don't disturb me at a time like this!"
However, the figure outside the door didn't retreat.
Instead, they steadily drew closer.
Sensing something was wrong, Tulls' expression changed.
Normally, his men were so thoroughly trained that they wouldn't dare disobey his commands.
If anyone dared approach at such a time, it could only be due to something urgent—
and even then, they would stand outside and report, trembling in fear.
No one would dare barge in.
Realizing this, Tulls immediately grabbed a large battle axe by his side, hastily pulled up his pants, and charged toward the door.
BANG!
At that moment, John kicked the door open, sending it crashing against the wall with a thunderous boom.
A golden sword light streaked through the air—
meeting the incoming battle axe in a fierce collision.
Clang!
Sparks exploded everywhere.
The terrifying forces clashed like two tidal waves crashing together.
The shockwaves visibly rippled outward from between them,
slamming into the walls and blasting chunks of stone and debris everywhere.
The ground beneath their feet cracked and caved in, forming a large crater.
In an instant, both John and Tulls were forced several steps backward by the intense impact.
Clearly, Tulls was a strength-based battle class fighter—
and at least of platinum tier strength.
Otherwise, he couldn't have matched John's sword blow so evenly.
Tulls glared at John suspiciously.
"Who the hell are you?"
This young stranger before him, whom he had never seen before, carried the aura of a swordman—
but the raw, oppressive force he wielded was no less than that of Tulls' own executioner-class might.
Since when did swordmen possess such overwhelming power?
They were supposed to be agile fighters—
easily crushed by brute force classes like his.
Besides, John's aura was clearly only at the silver tier.
There should have been an insurmountable gap between them!
And yet—
he could only fight John to a standstill?
Where had things gone so wrong?
Meanwhile, John smiled lazily at Tulls and asked:
"How were the three girls earlier?
Did you enjoy yourself?"
Tulls frowned deeply, staring warily at John.
"You arranged for them?"
"Of course," John said, still smiling.
Realization struck Tulls like lightning.
His heart trembled violently as he immediately began circulating his blood and mana, roaring:
"You poisoned me?!"
John shook his head dismissively.
"Poison?
Someone like you doesn't deserve such effort."
Tulls' face darkened.
"Then what the hell did you do?"
John chuckled darkly and pointed toward the bed.
"Don't you find those three women... strangely familiar?"
Familiar?
Tulls frowned again.
Now that John mentioned it, there was something oddly familiar about the women's faces—
a resemblance to some of his trusted subordinates.
"Did you kidnap their family members?"
Tulls sneered.
"Trying to sow discord among us?
Clever trick—
but useless against me!"
"My subordinates are terrified of me down to their bones.
They wouldn't dare lift a hand against me for a few women."
John shook his head again.
"I can't say your guess was completely unreasonable,"
he said casually.
"But congratulations—you guessed completely wrong."
"And dragging this out won't save you,"
John added, stepping forward.
"Your little Guard friends?
They're all... otherwise occupied now."
Tulls' expression finally turned grave.
"You... what exactly do you want?"