Black blood dripped from Linda's knuckles, the shade of the dark blood signifying it belonged to her opponent.   Watching over the crater while standing in the air, she was in no hurry to approach her fallen adversary. 

Although it might look like she had dominated the demonic woman since the start, only Linda knew she was fighting right now at almost ninety percent of her capacity. If her opponent had any more hidden trump cards, she might be in trouble and might need to rely on unconventional means. 

That's the reason Linda was not throwing everything into the fight just yet. She must gauge the complete strength of her opponent before going berserk. Her contention against Lyod did give her good foresight, however, the abrupt surrender of the old man meant he could not push the lady over the edge. 

As expected, Paula was back on her feet in no time. Her face had caved in from the violent blow delivered when she had been caught off-guard by the dysfunctioning of her spell. "Phuck.." Spitting out the blood clots in her mouth, she revealed a bloodthirsty look. 

"Interesting.. it must be that pet of yours." Thanks to the extreme healing factor of her Demon lineage, Paula's damaged face began regenerating at a visible pace. Then again, this regeneration did not come inherently. Rather, she had to burn a lot of mana to heal herself back. 

Paula's red pupils had death imprinted upon them. In her heart, she had already pronounced death upon Linda. Not even waiting for her wounds to recover, she bashed the ground under her feet causing a massive quake that shook the earth for miles and miles around. 

Nonetheless, her efforts were only scoffed at by Linda who had caught her breath and resumed her reckless attacks once again. Even as the rocky landscape under their feet slowly transformed into a swirling desert, she remained unconcerned. 

Her worm beast Pebble lacked any offensive capabilities. But what the beast lacked in offense it more than made it up in its defense. With iron-like armor plates covering its body, she knew Pebble can soak in a lot of damage. What's more, it wasn't going to be so easy to locate her beast even with Paula's sand manipulation powers. 

*Bang* *Bang* *Daawhh* Both women were once again entangled in a battle of attrition with Linda slowly overwhelming Paula's defenses once every few seconds. Thousands of blows were exchanged in the blink of an eye. 

Unfortunately, Paula was a lot more cautious now after the last fiasco. This meant Linda was not able to deliver a devastating blow. Every time Pebble will forcibly disperses her sand barriers, Paula will be ready for it. 

Underneath her, the earth was churning. No matter how deep the worm drilled into the ground, she was confident in fishing it out. Not only that but since it still had its master relying on it, the worm must not dig in too deep where its powers start deteriorating. 

Both women were at the epitome of their performance, neither willing to cede any ground at all. Yet, signs of exhaustion were starting to show up on Linda's face. Fighting at your peak was never going to be sustainable. However, that was not the same with Paula whose mana reserves were much deeper thanks to the Demon lineage. 

"Once I get my hands on you.. this mother shall tear you apart from limb to limb." The more Paula was pushed to her limit, the more she resorted more to her Demon nature. All kinds of human empathy wiped out from her mind, all that was left was a hunger for carnage. 

Linda didn't actually doubt her claim. If she is not able to wrap up this battle in a couple of minutes, she might be at a disadvantage. Thanks to Pebble who was currently being crushed under the heavy pressure, she was able to deliver several blows, alas... none proved to be decisive. 

"Tiger God Rampage!!" Linda had hoped not to rely on this, but there was no other way around. The tattoos on her body glowed red, burning off her tank top completely. A burly figure that can envy any man was exposed. Her pupils had dilated as she entered a trance state. 

For the first time, Paula felt her skin crawl at the sight of the furious Wilder woman. She was like a godly beast baring her fangs. "Bring it on..!!" Despite the strength oozing out of every muscle of the woman, Paula calmed her racing heart. All she had to do was to withstand this upcoming blitzkrieg and wait for Linda to exhaust herself. She wasn't a fool who can't realize her opponent has entered her end game. 

*Woosh* *Whoosh* Static electricity discharged from Linda's body simply because she was charging extremely fast through the atmosphere. Her every step was leaving a crater beneath her feet as she approached Paula within the tenth of a second, covering almost half a mile distance between them. 

It was an all-out battle. Land was overturned and hot air blasted into the vacuum. While Linda was intent on reaching Paula's actual body through the thousands of sand barriers, her opponent was keen on staying away from her. It's obvious a cunning Paula was not willing to face Linda head-on, instead choosing to burn off her energy. 

Nevertheless, Linda had taken this into account. True that Tiger God's Rampage could not be sustained for long enough, but its offensive output was off the charts. Each of her blows carried the might of a person on the cusp of a grand mage level. 

Needless to say, Paula's defenses were crushed. Thanks to Pebble surviving so long in the battle, it gave Linda an upper hand. *Bang* *Bang* *Bang* Bones shattered and organs were churned. Paula was losing critical Demon blood like anything. 

"Sand Castle Defence!!" Linda was moving so fast that even if Paula was able to track her down, there was no way she could react in time to save herself from the unending blows, each creating grievous wounds all across her massively enhanced body. 

This is the reason instead of predicting the next attack, Paula instead enclosed herself in a sand structure. Sand Castle Defence was a large area defense, hence when its expanse was restricted to only ten meters in all directions, Paula was utterly confident in its survivability even against Linda's mad charge. 

"DIEEEEEEE...!!" However, it seemed like Linda could not see the sand defense, all she could see was Paula's hideous face in front of her. What happened next was completely unpredictable for the demonic woman. 

The sand shell created around Paula was over four meters thick. At such strength, she was certainly not even the bloody worm of Linda could break it apart. Yet, just when Paula assumed she had won, her body jerked on its own. 

Outside the sand shell cracks were generated and curiously enough, they were created from inside. Paula's body came rushing outside only to meet Linda's feet that met her chest in no time at all. It was game over for her. 

Paula blacked out. Was she alive.. or dead? In the fleeting moment, she saw death more closely than ever. Her body had been damaged to such an extent that there was no pain.. no agony.. no ache.. nothing.. she could feel nothing at all. It was the end. 

Linda had finally achieved it. The battle was hard fought, regardless it was a well-deserved victory. Though it didn't mean she was going to celebrate. Drained out as her berserk spell ran out of steam, Linda's first concern was Yalda. In her madness, she had forgotten all about her maid and the boy they were supposed to be saving. 

Thankfully, three miles away, Linda could see Yalda grabbing hold of the green-haired lad... 'What is that..?' Even at such a distance, Linda could see something was wrong with the boy. His eyes were a deep red with a maniacal expression. Something that her trusted maid who might have been too focused on their fight completely missed. 

Those eyes.. it reminded her of... Paula. "Get away from him... Yalda...!!" The boy was possessed.. just like Paula. Linda panicked, calling out to her maid. But was it too late? At the same time, she screamed in Yalda's direction, the desperate Wilder lady was already rushing to save her maid. 

"MADAM...!!!" What Linda failed to realize was it wasn't her maid that needed to be saved from Ryu, rather it was herself. "Behind you..!!" 

It was total chaos all around. Both Linda and Yalda had screamed at each other sequentially, warning the other person of acute danger. This is when Linda Wilder realized she had made a crucial mistake. 

The strange eyes of the green-haired boy had given her such a dreadful sense of danger that she lost track of Paula. Her spiritual sense warned her of great danger, now from her back as well as her front. 

From Yalda's perspective, Paula's crooked body had strangely gotten back to its feet. Her motions are much like a mannequin. She conjured a black saber, thrusting it into Linda's back.  

It was Linda's turn to face death. Her spiritual sense only had the time to inform that her opponent has lost all consciousness with her body moving only on instinct. 

Linda was not a coward. She had given her all, it was time to accept her fate for what it was. Somehow at this point, Linda felt a strange inertia in her mind and body. When Lyod had chosen to surrender in the face of death, she failed to contemplate a reason for his self detrimental act. 

Yet, when faced with the same choice now she understood. Did the old man too had lost his family members, just like her? Was this why his willpower to live and prosper had gone down significantly, just like her?

Linda didn't want to resist. She loved both her husband and only child with all her devotion. Without them, what was life, and did it have any meaning? The saber of darkness was on its course to pierce her heart from behind when fate seems to have been overturned. 

A detonation akin to a thunderclap generated a consciousness that rendered every living being immobile. The sentience was vast like an ocean, pressing down upon the world like a god of heaven descending into the mortal realm.

Be it Linda, Paula, or Yalda none were immune to this effect. Their arteries dried up and blood flow came to a halt along with their heartbeats. Something ancient has awakened within the boy whose body was exuding a seamless might at this point in time. 

From Linda's view, a pair of eyes manifested, hanging over the boy in the ether. Two bloody pupils overwhelmed them, casting terror beyond anything and everything. Though they weren't real eyes and just an image hanging above the head of the boy, its might was unchallenged. 

All this happened and got over within less than a blink. Just as soon as the eyes had emerged, they had been retracted as if someone forcibly closed them shut. The pressure receded like it was never there in the first place. 

Before Linda could collect her scattered wits from the frightening encounter, she felt a surge of pain in her chest. The black saber of Paula had pierced her, yet because of the abrupt intervention of otherworldly origin the weapon had missed its mark. 

Now woken up from her stupor, Linda shot away, freeing herself from the weapon. Though severely injured, she was alive and breathing. 

"Miss...?!" Yalda, who had her complexion turn pale from the spooky occurrence felt her heart start beating again. Forced down to the ground by Ryu's sudden changes, she can only forgo her experience own experience and catch hold of her mistress. 

Surviving, Linda suspiciously turned to watch out for Ryu, thankfully, the boy seems to have gone into a complete lull. However strange their encounter had been, it was exceedingly brief. Right now both women were better off countering Paula who seems to have come to a stop.