Angel did not respond because he noticed that Black Earl’s tone was distinctly bitter.
It’s likely that Black Earl’s reputation at tea parties isn’t stellar.
Thinking about it makes sense, even outside of tea parties, Black Earl’s reputation isn’t very good. If Angel hadn’t preemptively consulted Lord Reine, he’d probably look at Black Earl through a distorted lens.
Although that lens isn’t completely removed now...
...
While they were chatting about these uncharted topics, the situation on the field was rapidly changing.
Because Yuna was mentioned, Dox appeared momentarily distracted.
In that brief moment of distraction, Dox was struck from mid-air by the bandages of the vicious woman, crashing directly to the ground.
However, Dox’s physical resilience was quite formidable. He wasn’t severely injured and quickly flipped over, revealing the phantom of a large worm along his back.
The moment the worm phantom appeared, a large number of sword spikes shot out from its back, directly targeting the vicious woman.
The bandages on the vicious woman acted like numerous arms, blocking the incoming sword spikes.
However, what the vicious woman didn’t expect was that the second wave of sword spikes released by Dox was even more numerous and dense than she had imagined.
They were densely packed like a swarm of black bees.
While dealing with the incoming sword spikes, the vicious woman glanced at the ground from the corner of her eye. She saw that Dox, lying on the ground, had his spine protruding, with sword spikes wrapped in blood emerging from his bones one by one.
Clearly, Dox had activated his bloodline!
Sword-backed Sandworm!
Beyond the inherent bloodline augmentation, the most significant and outstanding feature of the Sword-backed Sandworm bloodline is the unlimited proliferation of sword spikes on its back.
As long as energy and vitality are sufficient, the number of sword spikes can become terrifyingly high.
And a bloodline wizard has been practicing the ability to restore vitality since becoming an apprentice. Coupled with the wizard’s magic vortex that can absorb endless energy, they can control the total number of sword spikes generated each time, achieving permanent generation without any burden on the wizard.
Although the sword spikes are an excellent talent, they require extremely high spiritual power and a certain talent for swordsmanship.
Dox, being known as the "Red Sword," has exceptional skills in swordsmanship, rarely seen in the world. Combined with the Sword-backed Sandworm, the benefit is more than simply additive.
Currently, Dox is probably the only person so well-suited to the Sword-backed Sandworm bloodline.
Facing the unending tide of sword spikes, the vicious woman’s bandages were ultimately limited. A large number of sword spikes broke through the barrier and pierced directly into, even through, the vicious woman.
Accompanied by screams, countless blood flowers sprayed out.
The vicious woman fell from the sky, dragging her long hair.
Seeing this, Kaier appeared excited, and though Vay didn’t speak, his eyes couldn’t hide their excitement.
However, Angel and the Black Earl showed no emotional reaction.
The Black Earl was always like this.
As for Angel, he had sensed something was off. The vicious woman’s miserable condition was indeed horrifying, but the group across from them, including the Gray Merchant, showed no emotional fluctuations.
Something is amiss.
Angel continued watching with caution.
Sure enough, though the vicious woman fell to the ground, after the screams came a sinister laughter, starting off soft and growing louder, increasingly rampant and unrestrained.
The head the vicious woman had previously lowered, slowly lifted amidst the laughter.
As the sharp laughter echoed above the arena, her knee-length hair began to grow wildly, even covering her entire body.
Dox probably noticed something was wrong as well, not stopping the sword spikes, which became even denser.
Some sword spikes were entangled and blocked by the hair; others sliced through the hair but lost momentum deeper in; still, others pierced through everything, hitting the center of the hair, although aside from a bit more blood on the ground, the vicious woman’s laughter did not diminish at all.
Contrarily, the more severe her injuries, the more blood she lost, the more excited she became.
"Are you crazy!" Dox exclaimed, seeing the growing pool of blood on the ground while the vicious woman’s laughter grew wilder, feeling a bit chilled even as an opponent.
Though the vicious woman’s laughter persisted, a peculiar voice suddenly echoed outside of it, in everyone’s ears.
"You...na..."
"Yuna..."
It seemed to be the vicious woman speaking, but also like a mournful moan emerging from an endless abyss.
As Angel and the others listened, they felt something strange. On Dox’s side, however, an unexpected change occurred when the voice appeared.
The dense swarm of sword spikes started to decrease at a visible speed.
Initially as dense as a bee swarm, every wave of sword spikes was decreasing, and as the call of "Yuna" became more frequent, the sword spikes became fewer.
Eventually, Dox could control barely a hundred sword spikes.
And these sword spikes couldn’t even get past the bandages, let alone break through the cocoon-like hair.
"What’s happening?" Kaier exclaimed in shock, "Why, why are the sword spikes decreasing?"
Kaier looked at Vay, who too was dumbfounded: "Could it be Dox still has feelings for Yuna? No, even back then, Dox never liked Yuna. Besides, isn’t the one in front of him the vicious woman, what does this have to do with Yuna?"
As they were talking, the situation on the field kept changing. The vicious woman once again rose into the air, but now her entire body was shrouded by hair as like waterfalls.
Blood dripped drop by drop from the vicious woman’s hair.
The chilling voice of the vicious woman came from behind the hair: "Do you know why I always wrap myself in bandages?"
Before Dox could answer, her sharp laughter interrupted, followed quickly by her voice: "Because..."
As she spoke, an energy blast emanated from within the hair, scattering it in the air, revealing the "miserable" state of the vicious woman inside.
Yes, truly miserable. Her entire body was bloody, especially with countless pieces of shredded meat hanging off it.
Yet, the vicious woman’s face showed indifference, breaking into a perverse smile: "Because, under the bandages are all wounds, the ones he left, the ones she left, the ones it left... the ones you left, and... the ones I left myself!"
"Hahahaha—" The laughter was piercing, making the vicious woman appear even more terrifying.
With the laughter came the collection of blood from all the wounds on the vicious woman’s bandages, transforming into a bloody light spear shooting straight towards Dox.
Dox tried to block it with sword spikes, but the peculiar voice echoed again: "Yuna... You...na..."
Dox was momentarily distracted.
And this distraction proved fatal, because—
The bloody light spear had already reached Dox’s chest!