Witch, Fireball and Steam Evil God

Chapter 390 Hehe, I must survive!
Weak and boring.

Normally, Xiao An would have crushed anyone who dared to offend her, but now she was studying cat behavior in preparation for the competition in three days, and she had just learned about the attack methods of the thugs in the capital.

It opened its mouth and exhaled, then swung its claws, leaving afterimages.

She was increasingly able to feel the magic of cat claws. To people who were close to the cat, they would become pink and soft paw pads, but in a fight, they would extend their sharp claws and leave a bloody scratch on the human body with a forceful scratch. Most of these stray cats were abandoned after attacking their owners.

Thus, a peculiar scene unfolded in the capital tonight.

No fewer than ten residents walking at night witnessed a black stray cat leap out from a hidden corner and viciously attack a dark-skinned man. They didn't know what the dark-skinned man had done to anger the black cat, but seeing his arm scratched and his face bruised by the cat made the residents of the capital city deeply worried about the recent problem of stray cats.

This series of reports from the public immediately attracted the attention of the Imperial Knights.

Besides the fact that the current members of the Knights are dedicated and responsible, another important reason is that since the establishment of the new cabinet, the security situation in the capital has been excellent, so they have enough manpower to manage cases of stray cats injuring people.

Just as she snuggled into bed, Bi'an received a barrage of urgent phone calls from her subordinates, forcing her to don her knight's armor once more and head to the barracks in search of a stray cat.

These are extraordinary times.

The joint summit held by the Astrology Guild is still underway, bringing together top talents from both within and outside the empire. The Imperial Knights also bear the important mission of maintaining the city's image. The evening after the meeting will be their time to visit the capital. If they were to be scratched by a stray cat that appears out of nowhere, it would undoubtedly be devastating to the city's image.

Based on the descriptions of the crowd as having "dark skin" and "faces that were not clearly visible at night," the members of the Imperial Knights judged that the attackers were most likely outsiders, which undoubtedly increased the urgency of the situation.

The other side set up a special task force for the management of stray cats overnight. The only good news is that the victims of these dozen or so reports seem to be the same unlucky guy. After all, "dark skin" is rare in the Empire, and it is even rarer to have skin so dark that residents cannot see the face at night.

"Knight Commander..."

A young knight, a representative of the new generation of knights in the Empire and with a background in the Society of Truth, shared his thoughts. After seeing the inspiring recruitment advertisement for Imperial knights, he resolutely threw himself into this glorious profession, just to prevent the dragon attack depicted in the advertisement from happening again.

However, some discerning individuals have pointed out that the Imperial Knights recruitment advertisement is suspected of fraud, since the last incident of a dragon attacking a person dates back more than thirty years—when Henry VI was still in his prime. They question the description that "such things are happening all over the empire."

"Perhaps the situation isn't as bad as they think; it looks more like a personal feud."

More than a dozen people witnessed the attack in different parts of the city, and they saw the same black cat and the same victim.

It might be hard to believe, but that black stray cat seemed to possess considerable intelligence. It could not only remember the faces of its enemies, but also master skills such as tracking and ambushing.

No matter how hard the knights racked their brains, they couldn't figure out how that unlucky guy with "dark skin" had offended the black cat and was chased across half of the capital.

They all expressed deep sympathy for the victims.

"You continue the investigation, I'll think of ways to prevent it."

Bi'an immediately thought of Ethan, who had extensive experience raising cats. Every cat she had ever seen was very affectionate towards Ethan, and he had two big cats living in his house. Perhaps Winter and Dark could mediate between them since they knew cat language. At the very least, it was important to ensure that no foreign guest was scratched by a stray cat during the summit.

With that thought in mind, Bi'an strode towards Ethan's house.

Meanwhile, in a dark alley in the capital.

Only when the surrounding noise subsided did the dark figure peek out from the half-open trash can. It endured the pungent smell of the trash can, panting heavily, its whole body burning with pain. Perhaps because it was too weak at the moment, the scratches from that wretched black cat hurt much more than in any previous battle.

It was in so much pain that tears came to its eyes.

but……

As a natural-born fighting master, it eventually saw through the black cat's weakness and won the chase in one fell swoop!
"Ha, ha—let's see who has the last laugh!"

The shadowy figure, panting, unilaterally declared its victory.

The black cat's biggest weakness was her obsession with cleanliness. Although this quirk was very rare for a stray cat, when it frantically hid in an alley full of trash cans, the black cat ran away in disgust.

It seems its injuries were so severe that even a stray cat couldn't defeat it.

What if it were a stray cat other than Elvis Presley?
No, I still can't do it!
After being attacked more than a dozen times, the shadowy creature had developed a severe psychological trauma towards cats. Even when it was hunting prey before, it would never have launched more than a dozen attacks so cruelly. It could tell that the black cat was not attacking it for food, but simply for amusement.

After scratching it until it collapses, the black cat will walk away and wait for it to get up before launching another attack.

Cats are truly an extremely cruel species.

The dark figure struggled to emerge from the trash can and stumbled back to the deserted street, an unprecedented desolation enveloping him at that moment.

As the "Demon King," its reputation is known to all. Wherever it goes, despair destroys everyone. However, now, there are not many opponents left for it.

After its humiliating defeat against stray cats, it may now only be able to deal with rats and insects.

However, it loathed the former's soul. Even it didn't want to devour the rat's soul, as this was the last pride of a strong being. Insect souls were extremely weak, and it could hardly imagine how many insect souls it would have to devour to return to a state where it could hunt humans.

Is this the end?

No, this will never be its end.

As the saying goes, there's always a way out. During its escape, it overheard a conversation among some residents of the capital. They talked about stray cats, monsters, and a kind person in the capital who had taken in a monster.

Ethan.

It will keep this name in its heart.

The humans said that the monsters in the capital city seemed to be very friendly to this kind person, from stray cats to wyverns in the monster park. Even those unremarkable monsters could get food if they asked Ethan for help. The kind person would even arrange accommodation for the monsters, ending their life as strays.

It came up with a new idea.

It must never wander in the sewers like rats and insects.

It wanted to ask Ethan for help, to parasitize this kind person's home before it recovered, and to lie dormant until the day it regained its strength.

As a way of repaying...

After it destroys this kingdom, and even the entire human world, spare that kind person's life!

Ethan is a celebrity in the capital, and it's not difficult to find out where he lives; almost everyone knows where he lives.

The shadowy figure immediately put its idea into action and embarked on a new journey.

Hehe, I must survive!

..............................

At the same time, Xiao An, who had won 11 consecutive games and turned her record into an 11-0-0 victory, returned to her loyal home.

With a "pop," she transformed back into a human, poured herself a glass of milk, added sugar and oatmeal, and hummed a little tune in a good mood. If the dark figure hadn't panicked and run into the trash can, her achievements would have been even more impressive.

The training of "cat hissing" and "cat scratching" is showing initial results. However...

Xiao An looked down at the ripples in the milk, and her mood suddenly plummeted again.

The more she understood the habits of cats, the more she realized how powerful Winter was. That guy was just like a real cat, and even made Xiao An wonder if Winter was a human transformed from a cat. He was indifferent to strangers, but he would do anything to be cute and charming to Ethan. The habits of a cat were perfectly embodied in Winter.

She had spent some time with the two of them, but she had never seen Winter breathe on Ethan. On the other hand, Rowena had not only been breathed on several times, but Winter had also scratched the back of her hand with his claws.

Xiao An could imagine that from Ethan's perspective, Winter was definitely an exceptionally good cat.

Can she really defeat such an opponent?

The sudden knocking startled her. With a "thump," Xiao An transformed back into her black cat form and landed steadily on the table. In fact, she didn't know why she did it; perhaps it was because she had been in cat form for too long recently, creating a conditioned reflex.

For some reason, Ethan looked very weak when he came out of the bedroom.

This is one of the strange phenomena that Xiao An cannot understand in her daily life.

She observed that sometimes Winter would drag Ethan, who looked troubled, into the house, and the next day Ethan would look very weak, as if...

He looked like he had practiced elemental magic all night and had used up a lot of magic power.

Considering that Ethan always refers to Winter as "teacher," Xiao An suspects that the two of them are probably using sleeping as an excuse to study elemental magic all night.

Ah, humans are such hypocritical and pathetic creatures.

Just like those students in the college, who kept saying "I didn't study at all," "I didn't master it at all," and "I'm doomed this time" as the exam approached, but their exam scores were all higher than the last.

The visitor who arrives at midnight is from the other side.

Little Dark, with its tail held high, licked the sweet cereal from the milk while sizing up the female knight who had suddenly arrived.

A big eater, and an honest and reliable person.

This is her basic impression of the Imperial Knight Commander. In life, the other side's personality has its unique charm, which is probably what people often call a natural leader. However, this kind of person of light and justice is incompatible with her by nature.

If she had to say, her interest was in watching these kinds of people fall into evil and utter classic lines like "Grumble, kill me!" Unfortunately, the other side was Ethan's friend, so she had to restrain her interests, just like Ethan, who would always save what he was really interested in into a "hidden" folder.

Xiao An glanced at the two people talking and quickly realized that the atmosphere in the living room seemed a little strange.

The two men were frequently casting suspicious glances at her. After a few minutes, Ethan and the other woman put their suspicions into action. They went to the dining table and stared intently at the black cat as it ate its milk and cereal.

"Xiao An."

Ethan took a deep breath. Just now, the other side mentioned that residents of the capital city witnessed a black cat attacking a dark-skinned outsider more than ten times.

Did you scratch someone when you went out just now?

That's wrong, absolutely wrong.

Even if the powerful figures in the capital bully outsiders, it's mostly through verbal and psychological suppression. But for someone like Xiao An to openly scratch someone is already considered disorderly conduct.

"……what do you mean?"

Ethan watched as the black cat on the table straightened up, showing the two of them its soft, pink paw pads, its heterochromatic eyes filled with innocence.

"It has no claws."

Xiao An followed suit, raising her voice and imitating the mannerisms and tone of Winter's previous speech.

It's shameful, but effective.

Moreover, she was telling the truth, because what she attacked was clearly not a "person," but some strange, unseen thing that had the outline of a human but was more like some kind of energy entity.

"I was just observing stray cats, I didn't hurt any 'people'!"

Xiao An wasn't a scientist, and she had no interest in figuring out what kind of creature the dark figure was. Her attitude towards the matter was simple and clear—I don't care what you say, whether you're from the capital or some other out-of-towner, I'll just scratch it.

She felt that this was in line with the habits of cats.

“It shouldn’t be her.” Ethan chose to believe. “Little Dark wouldn’t be so lenient.”

"Thump thump thump, thump thump thump—!"

The conversation was interrupted by a sudden knock on the door.

This was perhaps the liveliest night in their family's life. Ethan pushed open the door and saw a tattered cardboard box with a few large characters scrawled crookedly on it.

Please adopt me!

A dark figure sat obediently cross-legged in the cardboard box. It was easy to see that it was trying its best to appear cute and harmless, but it could only be said that this did not seem to be its strong suit.

Ethan and the other side were stunned. Xiao An, who had quietly followed them out, immediately hid behind the door when he saw this.

Omg!

The unlucky guy she scratched came knocking on her door!
Are you suggesting we ask them to pay us compensation?

This standoff lasted for nearly a minute before Ethan incredulously revealed the identity of the figure in the shadows.
"—The Demon King!?"

This was clearly the shadowy figure they had seen in Rowena's magic, which had disappeared after being bombarded by the magic cannon. They speculated that the Demon King was probably dead, but the laws of RPGs came into play once again.

Characters who typically disappear by falling off a cliff or vanishing in an explosion have a return rate as high as 80%.

The familiar address made the dark figure in the box freeze in place.

It never expected to hear that familiar name in such a situation, and what's worse, it has a strong conditioned reflex to that name.

"Yes! I am!"

The shadowy figure admitted that it regretted its actions the moment it responded.

It looked up as the stern imperial female knight approached it.

"You have been arrested on charges of crimes against humanity, intentional assault, and disorderly conduct. Please come with me!"

(End of this chapter)