The Empress and Real One emerged from the forest, looking more serious this time. The Empress's beauty had somehow increased, and she appeared slightly younger. Aeren noticed this and raised an eyebrow as he watched them approach.
The Real One had also changed—he looked more built and bulky, his muscles showing, and his strength had doubled from before. Aeren observed this with his eyes but remained unchanged.
"You should have joined me, and we would have ruled the world together. Then you would see the true meaning of power."
The Real One really wanted to recruit him, but now he looked completely uninterested in Aeren and wanted to kill him as soon as possible.
"Aeren, you could have come to me before, but after hearing what you said about me, you should rather die by my hand."
The Empress felt anger when she remembered his comment about her age and wanted to kill Aeren even more. She had always looked young and never felt aged by her appearance, but after hearing Aeren, she was reminded that she was old. That pissed her off more than his rejection.
Aeren watched them with no expression and stared at them for a few seconds. What happened to them? Did they finally see me as a threat? What idiots. Hehe.
Aeren smiled at them, still wanting to check how long they could last against him. He wanted to see how long they could survive. This made him feel freedom inside.
"How can you be this delusional? Do you really think you have the power to even scratch me?"
Aeren locked his eyes on them, waiting for their attack, but they didn't come for him this time. Seeing this, Aeren ran toward them at the speed of light and reached them instantly. But before he could punch or kick them, the Real One kicked at Aeren. Aeren blocked with his hand, and the Empress reached him, trying to cut his head, but Aeren ducked.
The Real One saw the opportunity and kicked Aeren again. This time Aeren didn't block and was sent flying into the forest like they had been. Aeren struck several trees and stopped against one. As he was about to stand up, the Empress came to him and sliced his left hand off. His left hand fell to the ground, but Aeren collected it instantly. However, the Real One was waiting and kicked him again, though Aeren had already reattached his hand.
"You're quite good, even though you're getting beaten," the Empress said. She almost cut his other hand, but this time Aeren dodged just in time and kicked her face. He got away from both of them and reattached his hand to its position.
"Fuck off, you bitch."
The Real One went directly to Aeren, much faster and stronger than before, and reached him at the right moment to punch. Aeren grabbed his punch, but the Real One kicked him. That was also blocked by Aeren, and they fought in close combat, getting faster and faster. It was hardly visible to the Empress, but she didn't care and felt irritated about his trash talk.
"You arrogant bastard!"
She also went toward them. Aeren noticed and moved backward, taking out his knife and slicing—it cut the Empress's hand. She also went back to regenerate, and meanwhile the Real One closed in on Aeren and was about to blast him. Aeren cut his hand again.
All three of them went backward instantly.
The Empress and Real One turned their heads to each other and were about to speak when Aeren came close and kicked the Empress. The Real One saw this and took a stance to punch Aeren, but he instantly dodged and kicked the Real One too.
This shocked them both.
"Man, he was keeping up with us by taking advantage of our communication time," the Real One said while flying through the air.
The Empress heard him even though they weren't close to each other and said, "Yeah, we need more coordination. And where did you find this monster who can keep up with us?"
The Real One was flying after being kicked by Aeren, but he was watching Aeren with nothing but surprise. Aeren had given them space and was just watching them with cold eyes.
"I didn't find him—he came to me."
The Real One knew that Aeren had enough power to do anything on the human continent, but he still came to him, meaning Aeren had approached him, not the other way around.
"Fuck it, let's kill him."
The Real One turned his head to the Empress and said, "What were we doing before?"
The Empress thought and nodded, then looked at Aeren, who stood silently watching them with cold eyes. She started to feel shivers in her soul and now wanted to run.
The Empress took a step backward with fear and was about to run away from Aeren when he cut her leg. She screamed, "AHHHAHHHHHHHHH! My leg..."
The Empress could no longer heal her leg, and she had never felt pain before—now she experienced that agony.
Aeren came to her, and the Empress tried to get away using her hands. She looked to her side to ask for help from the Real One, but he had already run away before her.
"Please... sob... don't... kill... me... sob..." She started begging and crying, fear visible in her eyes for Aeren to see. "I don't want to die. Please, I will do anything if you let me live this time."
Aeren ignored her and went directly after the Real One, who was running away thinking, Please don't come for me, you monster. Please, someone help me. I don't want to die.
Trees were everywhere, and he was running without looking behind. The next moment, all his limbs were cut and on the ground. "AHAHAHAAHHHHHHHHHHHH... what is happening? How am I in pain?"
The Real One saw Aeren, and the Empress was also on the ground. She crawled back to the Empress and started dragging herself. "Please don't kill... sob... please, I will do anything... please... Real One, please help me... this monster is going to kill me..."
The Empress's legs were bleeding, and that blood was dirtying the forest around them, but everyone ignored it. Aeren threw her close to the Real One. The Empress saw him and screamed, "AHHHHAHHH..."
The Real One was on the verge of death, and the Empress looked better than him. He could now hardly open his eyes.
Aeren looked down at them and asked, "I want to ask a few questions, and I will leave you."
The Empress's fear was relieved a little, but she didn't trust his words. However, she had no choice but to listen to his questions and give him proper answers.
"Sir, you can ask anything. I'm your slave after all. So please don't kill me."
She showed her shamelessness, telling the world that as long as you are strong, she would be your slave, and if you are weak, you are her slave.
"Fine by me, but could you please heal me a little, or I'll die?" Aeren stared at him but said nothing, which was enough to scare him. "It's fine, I will find a way to heal. Just don't kill me either."
The Real One couldn't even speak properly and was barely saying words correctly. He had lost hope of being saved. If he didn't heal or regenerate, he would die from bleeding.
Aeren stood between them and stared at both with cold, emotionless eyes and face.