What is up with this bitch?!

Soon, the woman finally let go of me and let me drop to the floor before walking over to Cora, who looked extremely nervous.

She was practically shivering as the Empress grazed her long nail against her cheek and then pressed it against the side of her throat.

Everybody present let out an audible gulp, and the Empress enjoyed the teasing just a bit too much since her sadistic smile looked as if it was about to touch her ears.

"Please… Have mercy," Cora muttered as the woman had grasped her entire hand around her throat.

"Pffft… You guys are too tense. Now, you ten won't have to stay in the barracks, but you will have to train the gladiators. Be grateful I'm allowing you to live in such commodities," She said as her playful tone suddenly shifted to a serious one.

Her cold gaze made us freeze up, and we all wondered how far above she was.

Soon, Cora's legs gave out from the fear as she dropped to her knees once the Empress had walked out of the training room to do whatever she normally did.

I helped her up, and the only thing she could muster up was,

"She's scary… Scarier than I remember. She's also much stronger than I remember. Faster, more elusive, and tentative… She's on a completely different level,"

"Yeah, to be honest, I was a bit scared as well. I just didn't want to be picked on more in the future, so I made sure to show her up," The ranked one guy said as he placed a hand on his chest and breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

"Yeah, you, Lucy, you're probably going to be her favorite plaything cause you showed her the right amount of resistance and obedience. Just don't break before we can get our revenge," The second-ranked dude said, and his booming voice echoed through the room as he slowly got up.

"Tch… I thought you got slept by her. Couldn't you just keep your mouth shut?" I muttered through gritted teeth.

"The fuck did you just say?" The large giant-like man said as he slowly approached me, and each step of his feet dented the ground below him.

Soon, he tried to size me up despite being so much taller than me.

[Gravity Press]

The giant just brushed off my gravity skill before glancing at my finger where the ring sat calmly.

"She really is expecting something from you. She didn't even remove your damn ring… They took away all my armor, and you get to keep your fucking ring?"

He wasn't the sharpest tool in the box, but I guess he had some type of reasoning.

[Crown of Flames]

I used another skill, and as it activated in tandem with [Small Quetzalcoatl's Fire], a burst of green flames exploded around me.

Then, to follow it up, the giant-like man exploded with massively dark red flames that seemed to be closer to bloodlust than actual fire.

"Such weak flames," I muttered before completely devouring his flames with mine and then pressing him onto his knees.

I went to go knee him straight in the bridge of the nose with my fire as an extra explosive touch, but my fire suddenly dissipated into thin air, and my knee had been frozen in place.

It was locked in a windup position, and as soon as it was free, I felt a graceful hand graze against the back of my neck.

"Bad puppy… Don't go killing your friends. Otherwise, you'll have to be punished," A cold voice said, and my body froze up as the Empress walked out from behind me.

What the hell!? I didn't even sense her?! No, I couldn't even tell who it was until she appeared in front of me!

"Alright, I was just testing you all, but it seems I was right. You can't stay in rooms with each other. I was hoping I didn't have to share so many rooms with dirty things like you, but I guess that's impossible," The Empress said as she directed a few servants to come in.

"Can I share a room with Cora? We're pretty good friends?" I asked as I tried to retain a more happy and less nervous look, but the Empress saw right through me.

I was hoping she would just stop bugging me if I came off as unaffected, but I already displayed some terrible expressions before, so I doubt I can change her mind.

"You want to share a room with this fiery bitch, but not me? I'm so sad. Your Master needs somebody to warm her at night," She teased me yet again.

"Go away! I don't even like you!" I shouted, and when I tried to push her away, she just brought me closer in.

"Of course, you can't share a room with her. Don't think I don't know what you've been discussing… Separately, you two are powerless before me, but you might create some problems later on if I give you the time to plan," The Empress whispered into my ear before pushing me away, a bit pissed off.

I gave Cora a little signal with my eyes, and she just nodded, and as the servants led us to our rooms within the massive palace… I was wondering why the Empress kept following me.

"I think you know there's something I want from you… But it isn't something physical… it is more like something that is… well… connected to the soul per se,"

"C-Can't you just leave me alone and stop bullying me? I was just joking when we conversed in the arena. Can't you take a joke?" I complained, but the Empress continued to stare at me.

I already knew she wanted something from me, but what is it that she could want?

Connected to the soul? The only thing that is connected to the soul is skills, so what does she want-

I glanced at my status once more, and everything clicked into place, like the last piece in a puzzle.

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