A Leopard Can't Change Its Spots

With those words from Olen, the atmosphere instantly froze.

Shane frowned, looking up to meet Olen's gaze. His lips pressed thin, his voice dripping with sheer annoyance. “How could it not affect me?”

“Without the restraint of this band, the undead I could summon would be at least triple what they are now, the mana reserves I could mobilize would be far greater, and the coverage area of the oasis would be at least double its current size.”

He raised his wrist and shook the dull metal band, showing it off like a troublesome nuisance. “Did you think I plant so little every day because I'm lazy? I want to plant more, but I can't manage it.”

As Shane spoke, his eyes remained fixed on Olen, his face written with utter dissatisfaction—as if Olen hadn't just questioned him for violating regulations, but had instead criticized his low efficiency in planting trees.

For a moment, everyone present was stunned.

No one had expected that a necromancer, when confronted face-to-face by a representative of the Imperial Magical Council, would first complain about how it affected his tree-planting progress.

“Pfft...”

Alicia suddenly burst into laughter. She raised a hand to cover her mouth, but the amusement in her eyes was impossible to hide, and her voice carried a hint of helplessness. “Classic Leynas. Only he could say something like that.”

Standing beside Alicia, Elon patted his forehead and shook his head with a wry smile. “This guy... always focuses on the strangest things.”

On the other side, Ksaz did not quite understand what was happening, but seeing that Shane had not come out worse for wear, he also cracked a smile.

Most of those present let out low chuckles, except for Olen, who stood right in front of Shane.

He stared at Shane expressionlessly, his eyes locked onto him, trying to catch any trace of falsehood or performance on that pale, thin face.

But the result disappointed him. Shane's reaction was entirely natural.

Yet this result did not put his mind at ease; instead, it left him even more bewildered. Just as he was about to press further, a figure interrupted him.

Sern blocked his path. Even though she was tightly wrapped from head to toe in bands of emerald-green light, her momentum was not dampened in the least.

Unable to form complete syllables, she could only squeeze out rapid, muffled whimpers from her throat. Her bulging eyes darted back and forth between Shane's band and Olen's face, and her tail lashed like a whip. Her meaning was clear without words: Who cares if he plants trees? Get to the point!

Olen shifted his body to try and bypass Sern, but she blocked him at every turn, refusing to yield an inch. Left with no choice, he looked at Elon. “What is she trying to say?”

Elon coughed dryly and gave a concise translation. “She wants you to fix the band's punishment mechanism first. She doesn't want to get shocked again.”

Olen's expression turned odd. He glanced at Sern's anxious face and finally nodded.

He pulled out the grayish-white orb and brought it close to the metal band on Shane's wrist.

The orb instantly lit up with a faint glow, displaying countless tiny runes within. At the same time, a matching pattern of light appeared on the surface of Shane's band. The two patterns resonated, their frequencies gradually aligning, until the runes finally faded away.

Olen withdrew the orb and glanced at Sern. “The band has returned to its initial state. As long as it doesn't suffer another powerful external impact, the punishment mechanism won't trigger again.”

Sern's cat ears instantly perked up. Before Olen could say another word, her heterochromatic eyes suddenly narrowed. With a soft snap, the green bands of light wrapping her body shattered instantly, dissolving into stardust in the air.

“Hahaha!”

Sern burst into a hearty laugh, releasing the frustration that had been bottled up inside her for so long.

Then she moved. Planting her right foot firmly, she used the momentum to drive her left leg out in a side kick, her sole slamming solidly into Shane's ribs.

Bang!

Shane was sent flying sideways, rolling twice on the ground before barely coming to a stop. Before he could even push himself up, Sern's shadow loomed over him once more.

Sern pinned Shane into the sand, mounting him and looking down from above. Her lips curled into an arrogant grin. “Finally! Finally... I finally caught you!”

It all happened too fast, so fast that no one had time to react.

Ksaz was the first to react. The scales on his body glowed with a faint golden light as he let out a low growl and charged straight at Sern. “Let go of Mister!”

Elon also snapped out of it. He raised his hands, and two clumps of emerald-green light rapidly coalesced in his palms. “You lunatic! I knew you wouldn't stay quiet for long!”

Two green beams shot from his hands, heading straight for Sern's face.

Without even turning her head, Sern raised her left hand and clenched it. A pillar of light cascaded down in front of her. “White Fang!”

The white light solidified as a chubby white tiger cub leapt out. Opening its tiny mouth, it snapped twice at the two green beams.

Crunch!

The two green beams were instantly bitten to pieces, scattering into a shower of light.

Then, White Fang kicked off with its four little legs, its round body leaping through the air to crash directly into Ksaz.

Ksaz was forced to change his move mid-charge, crossing his arms in front of him to block White Fang's head-on collision.

Thud!

He was knocked back two steps. White Fang used the rebound to flip in midair, landing steadily on the ground and baring its teeth menacingly.

Ksaz shook his numbed arms. Seeing that White Fang wasn't pursuing him, he immediately spun around and charged at Sern once more.

“Get lost!”

He swung a fist at Sern, the wind of his punch whistling through the air.

Sern's cat ears twitched. Instead of dodging, she turned and threw a punch of her own at Ksaz. The two fists collided in midair with a dull, explosive boom.

Boom!

The shockwave from the impact kicked up the surrounding sand, forcing both of them back several steps.

Sern flexed her slightly numbed fingers, looking at Ksaz with some surprise.

This guy's strength was actually quite impressive.

However, she quickly brushed it off. Locking her gaze back onto Shane on the ground, she immediately lunged forward again.

Seeing this, Ksaz was about to give chase when White Fang pounced again, blocking his path.

A smile bloomed on Sern's face as her fingers were about to touch Shane again, but her vision blurred, and Shane's figure vanished from sight.

Buzz... clack clack...

Sern stood there, her eyes sweeping over the figure that had taken Shane away. It was a giant metal lizard.

She narrowed her eyes. The excited expression on her face faded, replaced by an unmasked wave of dissatisfaction and irritation.

Frowning deeply, she lashed her tail impatiently before turning her gaze to Olen nearby.

“This is a prisoner of the Magical Council.”

Olen's voice was cold, his face solemn, and his eyes carried a hint of displeasure. “If a Judgment Knight of the Church of Life resorts to extrajudicial punishment again, the Council will file a formal complaint with the Church.”

“You should be well aware of the price the Church paid to protect you the time you destroyed half a city. I hope you will think this through carefully.”

Sern tilted her head, her cat ears flattening backward. She listened quietly until he finished, then curled her lip to reveal a sharp canine. “Go ahead and file it then.”

“Let's see if your report goes through first, or if I grind him to dust first.”

Nearby, the princess took the opportunity to interject, trying to persuade Sern with earnest concern. “I thought you had already come to understand what kind of person he is over these past few days.”

Disappointment filled the princess's gaze, but Sern refused to meet her eyes. “You saw everything he did. Why do you still want to kill him?”

“A tree-planting necromancer is still a necromancer.”

Sern's voice was ice-cold, her heterochromatic eyes unwavering. “Even if he plants ten thousand trees, it doesn't change that...”

“So...”

Sern raised her hand and clenched her fist, golden light dancing between her knuckles. She swept her gaze across everyone in front of her before finally locking onto Olen. “Come at me together. I'm in a hurry.”