George grimaced in pain and flung the snake-like creature away. But the creature wouldn’t give up. It lunged at him again as soon as it hit the ground.
“You’ve got a death wish?” He snorted and smashed the creature into a scarlet mist with a single punch.
He then turned his gaze to Abigail with a malicious grin. “It’s just a little snake. You don’t actually think it could hurt me, huh?”
“Can’t hurt you? Check out the bite marks,” she replied sarcastically.
“Huh?” George looked down and saw two tiny, needle-like punctures where the creature had bitten him. The wounds were so minor that they didn’t even bleed.
However, the area around the wounds had turned a deep, unnatural black. It was darker than his skin, like ink.
The most disturbing part was that this black mark was rapidly spreading and crept into his bloodstream. Within seconds, it had covered most of his hand.
“What is this?” George’s frown deepened, and his smile faltered.
He had always prided himself on being impervious to harm, so he hadn’t thought much of the attack earlier. But the small snake-like creature had managed to penetrate his defenses with its venomous bite.
The unknown toxin was causing an unsettling throbbing in his chest. He had a sinking feeling that if the poison kept spreading, he might be in grave danger. After all, being invulnerable to weapons didn’t mean he was immune to all poisons.
George quickly transformed his left hand into a sharp, black blade. He roared and swung the weapon down hard on his right wrist.
The blade sliced through skin and muscle as it cut deep into the bone. Blood splattered everywhere and turned the ground red. But his defenses were so strong that even as he struck himself, his wrist didn’t break.
“Argh!” he roared as he raised the blade again. With a mighty swing, he severed his wrist completely.
The brutal, bloody scene made the spectators shudder. They hadn’t expected George to be so ruthless and severed his own hand without a second thought.
As his severed wrist hit the ground, it began to decay rapidly. Within moments, the entire wrist had turned into a puddle of blood.
“Quick thinking. If the poison had spread, it wouldn’t just be your hand you’d be losing.” Abigail raised an eyebrow, genuinely surprised.
The Venom Serpent was a highly poisonous creature cultivated by the Mystic Arts Order. Though it appeared small and harmless, it was dangerous. Anyone bitten by it would dissolve into a puddle of blood within three minutes unless they received an antidote promptly.
She hadn’t expected him to have the resolve to cut off his own hand, which spared her from further trouble.
“You think you can kill me? Not a chance!” George’s expression was a twisted scowl. As he spoke, his severed hand began to twist and reshape. 1
The bleeding stopped almost instantly. A sharp, black blade quickly emerged from where his hand had been severed. Compared to the blade on his left arm, the one on his right was slightly shorter.
“What kind of monster is this? A severed hand turning into a blade?”
“Just like that priest, this gorilla must have undergone genetic modification.”
“Ugh! That’s gross.”
The sight of George’s hand transformation drew murmurs from the spectators. It finally dawned on them why he was willing to sever his own hand.
It turned out that his arms could reshape into weapons. Transforming his fists into blades increased his offensive power and raised his threat level.
“I was planning to make this quick and painless for you. But since you’re so ruthless, I’ll have to finish you off.”
George slowly spread his blades. Their edges gleamed with a dark, ominous glow in the sunlight.
He continued, “Don’t worry, I’ll finish you off with one blow. I won’t let you suffer too much. After all, I still have use for your perfect body.” He laughed sinisterly.
“Such arrogance. I was going to make this quick for you, but now I’ve changed my mind.” Abigail’s eyes turned cold. She raised one hand as she spoke, and a red beam shot out from her sleeve as it headed toward his face.
George was mindful of his earlier mistakes and didn’t let his guard down. He quickly swung his blade to intercept the red beam. But the moment the blade struck, there was a loud thud, and the red beam exploded.
The red beam erupted into a thick cloud of toxic mist and enveloped George. The mist rapidly spread outward but was blocked by Oron’s lightning barrier at the edge of the battle ring.
“Ah!” George’s pained scream tore through the red mist, sounding unnervingly agonized. Moments later, a hulking black figure broke through the mist and fled in a frenzy.
After just staying in the red mist for a second, his body was festering and bleeding. Strangely, a layer of red mist clung to him like leeches as it continuously corroded his flesh with a sizzling noise.
George writhed desperately as he tried to shake off the mist from his skin, but it was futile. The mist only dissipated once his wounds had rotted to the bone.
At that moment, he looked like a
bloody mess and was barely
recognizable as a human. Though the wounds weren’t fatal, the unrelenting agony was a hundred times worse than losing a limb.
“Bitch! I’m going to kill you!” George roared furiously and charged at Abigail like a wild beast. His only thought was to tear her apart.
