Chapter 231: I Am The Strongest!!

Sara lightly knocked her knuckles against her forehead, her gaze dropping back to her book: ’What on earth am I even thinking right now? I need to stop acting like such a petulant child ’ She thought, letting out a soft, grounding exhale.

?’Besides, it’s hardly his fault; I deliberately keep my walls up, and I certainly wouldn’t permit him to cross that intimate boundary right now anyway... The aftermath would simply be far too awkward.’ She reasoned quietly to herself, giving a firm, decisive nod before lifting her book and diving back into her reading.

?"....?!"

?The three of them stared across the table at her, momentarily stunned speechless by the sudden shift in atmosphere.

?’It appears I’ve miraculously dodged the executioner’s axe.’ Kelly thought, exhaling a massive, silent sigh of relief.

?’What on earth just transpired? Her thoughts just locked tight—I can’t even skim her surface thoughts anymore.’ Juliana thought, blinking in profound confusion.

?{DING!}

?{Second Wife Sara’s Affection Level: Increased by +5%.}

{Second Wife Sara’s Current Standing: 90% Affection.}

?’My goodness... I will genuinely never fully understand women.’ Asher thought to himself, shaking his head in quiet surrender.

?"Goodness, am I suddenly starving."

?Kelly smoothly pivoted to break the mounting tension, practically leaping back into her assigned seat and eagerly tearing into her freshly prepared plate of breakfast. Without wasting another syllable, she dove right into her meal with unrestrained enthusiasm.

?’Husband... Something feels wrong with the pressure outside.’ Juliana’s voice suddenly cut into Asher’s mind, her tone tightening with urgency.

?Asher snapped his head around to look at Juliana, his expression darkening.

’I can distinctly feel an entity operating on a terrifying scale—something vastly superior to a SSS-Rank threat.’ She reported telepathetically.

?Asher raised a sharp eyebrow.

?’An anomaly surpassing SSS-Rank? That implied a genuine Ex-Rank entity had entered the theater.’

?’Wait... Does this mean an Ex-Rank monster is attacking the city? If so, the frontline Awakened won’t stand a fraction of a second against such an overwhelming strength.’ He calculated swiftly, shifting his gaze over his shoulder toward his wives:

?"We will head out as soon as Kelly finishes her meal; we need eyes on whatever disaster is unfolding out there. Sara, you will remain behind within the tower sanctuary; I do not believe your current state can withstand the sheer pressure of an Ex-Rank." He instructed softly.

?Sara paused mid-page, her eyes lingering on the ink for a few steady beats before she offered a quiet, understanding nod of compliance and turned a fresh page in her book.

?’The cultivation tower possesses an absolute, self-sustaining barrier; even if an external force managed to breach the outer perimeter, I refuse to believe anything in this world could destroy it... This remains the safest place for Sara.’ He reasoned internally, turning his focus back to Juliana and casting a final glance toward Tempest’s glowing cocoon:

’If this adversary truly operates at the Ex-Rank threshold, I can simply feed the remains directly to Tempest—it is an incredible stroke of luck that the System’s spatial storage automatically preserves dead creatures without any loss of spiritual energy.’ Asher exhaled a long breath, pulled his chair closer to the table, and settled in to wait out Kelly’s rapid food devouring.

____

?[North Gate Sector.]

?"Die, you wretched monkey!!"

?Katherine screamed at the top of her lungs, driving the tip of her gleaming blade down toward the heavily bleeding monster:

?"Pendragon Ice Technique: Absolute Ice Rain."

?BOOOOM!!!

?A swirling, unnatural storm materialized in a fraction of a second directly above the battlefield, instantly launching countless razor-sharp icicles that plummeted toward the monkey with blistering, sonic speed.

?"You possess the audacity to wield such a lethal skill against me?!" The Monkey roared, crossing both of its fur-covered arms over its head as a dense, crimson barrier flared into existence around its body.

?BOOOOM!!

?The ferocious barrage of ice spikes slammed relentlessly against the defensive shield, the sheer force weight driving the enraged beast down from the sky.

?’Damn it all!! Why on earth did those idiotic lizard trigger a mass suicide play instead of attacking...? This complete deviation wasn’t in the operational roadmap.’ The monkey panicked internally, darting its eyes toward the cobra’s position—only to find Marianne standing triumphantly atop the serpent’s severed skull.

?’The cobra has already fallen, and the bear is currently buckling under heavy fire! If we don’t coordinate a decisive counter-offensive right this instant, the entire vanguard will be wiped out---’

?"--Pendragon Ice Technique."

?The Monkey’s eyes bulged in absolute horror as it violently snapped its head back toward Katherine, who was hovering effortlessly a short distance away.

?"Impossible!! How many parts of that technique have you managed to master at your age?!! And how in the blazing hell are you seamlessly chaining two parts back-to-back without destroying your own core?!!" It bellowed in disbelief.

?Merely deploying a single foundational phase of the Pendragon Ice Technique placed an astronomical tax on a Awakened’s spirit core; yet the young woman before it had already unspooled three parts over the course of their grueling duel!

?"The Pendragon Ice Technique consists of eight parts... I have successfully mastered five of them," Katherine stated coldly.

?She raised her sword high above her head, the crystalline blade igniting with a blinding, celestial-blue luminescence:

?"Pendragon Ice Technique... Slash."

?With a casual, almost lazy flick of her wrist, she swung her sword downward, dispatching a massive, razor-sharp crescent of compressed blue frost energy that tore across the air directly toward the monkey, which was still pinned beneath the lingering weight of the ice rain.

?"No, wait—!!"

?BOOOOM!!!!

?The biting blue crescent struck its target with catastrophic precision, swallowing the monkey in an explosive wave of energy and sending it rocketing straight down to crash violently against the ruined earth.

?"Phew... That was significantly more exhausting than anticipated." Katherine muttered under her breath, a fine sheen of sweat glistening across her forehead.

?"If your strength is already flagging, eliminating you will be a remarkably trivial affair."

?The black-skinned humanoid female monster materialized out of nowhere directly behind Katherine’s blind spot, her razor-sharp claws cocked back to destroy the young woman’s spine.

?"Damn it... I can’t dodge—"

?BOOOOM!!!!

?A surging wall of roaring flames smashed squarely into the black-skinned monster, picking her up by the force of the impact and hurling her violently across the battlefield.

?"...?!"

?Katherine blinked in genuine astonishment, snapping her head downward toward the smoking crater below to find Elizabeth standing firmly with her heavy staff planted in the dirt:

?"Now listen here, you arrogant overachiever—tell me right now, exactly who holds the undisputed title of the strongest attack mage within the Awakened Academy?!!" Elizabeth hollered up at her, hands planted firmly on her hips.

?Katherine couldn’t suppress the genuine, fond smile that curved across her lips as she gently lowered herself from the sky, landing lightly beside her friend:

?"Thank you, Elizabeth."

?"You don’t need to waste breath on formalities!! Besides, what kind of pathetic excuse for a friend would I be if I stood by and watched some creature sneak-attack you?! Especially when I am universally acknowledged as the absolute strongest mage alive!!!" Elizabeth declared proudly, tossing her hair.

".....?!"

Katherine was speechless.

?"The strongest, how delightfully naive... I suppose this presents a rare, amusing opportunity to personally test the combat limits of this city’s self-proclaimed elite."

?"....?!"

?Every single fighter present froze dead in their tracks, the sudden, bone-chilling voice freezing the blood in their veins.