Before the words even finished, Leo suddenly exerted force!
"Ah!"
Lucrezia let out a cry of surprise as she was yanked directly off the tree root by Leo, landing with a "thud" on the muddy grass.
"You... you, you, you—!"
Terrified, she tried to pull her foot back, but Leo's hand was like it was welded to her ankle, remaining completely motionless.
Leo unhurriedly removed the mud-stained leather boot from her foot and tossed it aside.
That small foot, having lost its protection, was instantly exposed to the air.
Though wrapped in somewhat torn white silk stockings and stained with a few spots of mud, the graceful curve of the arch was still visible. Her toes curled uneasily in fear, looking like a row of round, cute little silkworms.
"Hmm... ninety-nine percent... a rare find..."
With an extremely exaggerated expression and the gaze of someone inspecting merchandise, Leo sized up her foot. Through the silk, his fingertip lightly brushed against the sensitive part of her sole.
That touch was as cold as a snake's tongue, making Lucrezia shudder, her skin crawling with goosebumps.
"You—you lunatic! Let go of me! Pervert! Wild dog!!"
She scrambled backward using both hands and feet, her red eyes filled with the terror of facing an unknown creature.
"Scared already?"
The smile on Leo's face vanished instantly, replaced by a chilling, sinister coldness.
Swish!
Like a phantom, he closed the distance, his hand clamping directly onto Lucrezia's slender neck, pinning her firmly against the moss-covered tree roots.
"Cough... cough-cough!"
Lucrezia clawed painfully at Leo's iron-like hand, her legs kicking weakly as the sensation of suffocation instantly enveloped her.
In Leo's black eyes, there was not a trace of pity for her beauty, only a frigid coldness.
While Leo had never cared much for things like face and dignity—after all, those two things couldn't put food on the table—that didn't mean they could be stepped on at will, especially not when someone had almost held his head down to eat mud.
This debt had to be settled clearly.
"You think a brat whose hair hasn't even grown in yet can mess with me?"
Leo leaned close to her ear, his voice low and raspy, like a demon's whisper.
"Did you think that just because of the Command Seal, I wouldn't actually dare to touch you? Hmm?"
"Cough... let... let go..."
"I've studied the Contract Link," Leo's other hand lightly traced Lucrezia's cheek, which was flushed from suffocation, his fingertips icy. "Although our lives are bound together and I'll die if you die, however..."
His finger slid down her cheek, past her throat, and stopped at her violently heaving chest.
"The only condition is that you don't die, right?"
Leo grinned, revealing a row of forest-white teeth as he let out a classic villainous laugh.
"Jiejiejie! Then if I turn you into a 'human swine' and keep you in a jar, it wouldn't seem to violate the contract, would it?"
Hearing the words "human swine," Lucrezia's pupils constricted violently.
"Or perhaps..." Leo's gaze became even more unrestrained, carrying a certain madness unique to mages. "I could strip this skin off you, gouge out these eyes to use as spell components, and then sell the rest to the goblins in the swamp as breeding tools?"
"I imagine those green-skinned runts would be very happy to look after a 'noble' princess."
"You... you wouldn't dare!!"
Lucrezia was scared out of her wits by this terrifying threat, tears already welling up in her eyes.
Goblins... those filthy creatures...
Compared to death, such an ending was simply hell!
Instinctively, she tried to lift her left hand to use the Command Seal again.
'Almost there. The timing is right.'
Leo's eyes sharpened, and he applied slight pressure with his fingers, cutting off her breath for a moment. "You can try. We'll see if you can chant the spell faster than I can snap your neck."
Leo was gambling.
He was gambling that this hothouse flower didn't have the resolve to die with him.
"Don't you want your revenge anymore? Think of your parents... your family... do you really want to die worthless like this in a mud puddle, turning into a pile of rotten meat?" Leo whispered like a devil.
Lucrezia's raised hand froze in mid-air, trembling, yet she never dared to strike.
Her pride lay shattered on the ground in the face of absolute fear and the will to survive.
"That's more like it, my princess."
Seeing that the moment was right, Leo let go.
"Cough, cough, cough! Cough!"
Lucrezia clutched her neck, coughing violently and greedily gulping down air. Her eyes were full of dread as she looked at Leo, her body uncontrollably shrinking back.
Leo picked her up like a little chick and tossed her onto a slightly drier grass mat by the fire.
"Why can't we just talk things out? Always shouting about killing and fighting, it really hurts our relationship..."
Leo clapped his hands and sat down opposite her, returning to his lazy demeanor as if the lunatic who had just threatened to turn her into a human swine wasn't him.
"You..." Lucrezia huddled into a ball, clutching her knees, feeling almost schizophrenic from Leo's rapid emotional shifts.
"To be honest, that little stunt you pulled earlier really hurt me."
Leo sighed, picking up a branch to poke at the fire, his tone full of disappointment and heartache.
"I mean, I kindly rescued you from thousands of troops, nearly losing my life in the process."
Leo shook his head with an expression of "trust misplaced."
"And the result? Is this how you treat your savior? Making me lick your boots?"
"Sigh! The world these days... people's hearts aren't what they used to be. It's the story of the farmer and the viper, the savior and the wolf..."
This standard set of PUA tactics, combined with the death threat from moments ago, completely bewildered Lucrezia.
She opened her mouth to argue, but found that she... really was in the wrong?
Though this guy had a poisonous tongue, a bad attitude, and had stolen her button, he really did save her, and she was indeed the one who had tried to humiliate him just now...
"No... I..." Lucrezia's momentum weakened visibly.
"And you called me a wild dog." Leo glanced at her, his eyes full of feigned resentment. "It's too much for my self-esteem. My young, fragile heart has suffered irreversible trauma."
"But you were going to... going to sell me to goblins!" Lucrezia argued aggrievedly, her voice bordering on a sob.
"I was forced into that by you! Even a rabbit bites when cornered," Leo said righteously.
The two stared at each other across the fire.
After this abstract "physical exchange" and "limit testing," both sides had roughly figured out each other's bottom lines.
Leo knew the mandatory power of the Command Seal was truly unavoidable, but he also knew this girl was ultimately just a child, establishing his absolute psychological advantage.
Lucrezia knew this guy was a lunatic who responded to soft tactics but not hard ones, yet she also saw that he didn't actually want to hurt her, as long as she didn't cross his lines.
The atmosphere relaxed in a strange way.
"Tomorrow, we'll find the nearest town, get some clothes, and gather some information," Leo broke the silence. "Do you know where the nearest city is?"
Lucrezia sniffled and said gloomily, "I don't know... but if we follow the water, we should find a settlement. Besides, the Red Mangrove Swamp is quite famous; we should run into some adventuring parties, and then we'll be able to find a town. But do you have money? As long as you have money, you can buy anything, including identification."
"I have plenty of money." Leo instinctively reached for his pocket, then froze.
Shit, the gold coins were all in the game inventory.
"Cough, we'll talk about that later," Leo shifted the topic abruptly. "By the way, that griffin-riding archer from earlier—that arrow was quite powerful. I saw him glowing with white light; what level was that?"
"That was the vice commander of the temple ranger corps. He should be a powerhouse who has just stepped into the 【Palace】 rank."
Lucrezia clutched her knees, staring at the fire. Recalling the battle, a hint of frustration appeared in her tone.
"If I were fully awakened... hmph! A mere palace rank, this princess could crush him with one finger!"
"Oh? And what rank are you?" Leo raised an eyebrow.
"Me?" Lucrezia puffed out her chest. "I am a 【Crowned】 sorcerer who has awakened the Red Dragon bloodline! Although I only awakened recently and haven't fully mastered my power, only knowing some basics..."
As she spoke, she gave Leo a slightly guilty look.
"【Crowned】?"
The knowledge base instilled in Leo's mind due to his transmigration automatically retrieved the relevant information.
In this world, the system of supernatural power was divided into six major tiers:
【Transcendent】 (Having just awakened power, breaking the limits of mortals)
【Heroic】 (A "one-man army" on the battlefield, having polished techniques to mastery)
【Crowned】 (A regional powerhouse with an individual title, where power begins to undergo a qualitative change)
【Glorious】 (The peak of mortal power, a world-renowned expert)
【Palace】 (Truly a master, capable of taking on an entire army alone)
【Legendary】 (A walking humanoid nuclear bomb, a living epic and myth)
Leo silently felt his current state.
Although his mana source was shattered, relying on the little energy he had absorbed from killing the monsters earlier...
'The total amount of mana remaining in my body is roughly at the peak of the transcendent rank. With a little effort, I could touch the threshold of the heroic rank.'
Leo calculated in his mind.
Most of the paladins he killed earlier were at the heroic rank, and that "good brother" who took an arrow for him was likely at the crowned rank.
"Only at the crowned rank and you're already so arrogant?" Leo curled his lip, delivering a merciless blow. "I thought you were something special, yet you were almost slaughtered like a pig."
"What do you know! A sorcerer's combat power depends on the degree of bloodline awakening!" Lucrezia bristled. "Once I fully master my True Dragon form, even a mere legendary won't be an issue!"
"Sure, sure, whatever you say..."
Leo waved his hand, not wanting to argue with a child.
Rate on N.U.
