Chapter 201: Mother of All Beasts
The gentle female voice was so close that Ji Ma could feel the warm breath on her back, causing the hairs to stand up.
Run! Run!
She flapped her wings harder while turning her head to look behind her, but there was nothing there.
Suddenly, a gust of wind howled from below. Ji Ma quickly lowered her head and saw several black octopus tentacles shooting towards her.
To ensure her safety and for reconnaissance, Ji Ma had been flying about thirty meters above the ground, and after noticing the ambush, she instinctively increased her altitude.
But the octopus tentacles could shoot up that high, spreading out in front of her in the blink of an eye and blocking all possible escape routes.
Ji Ma’s golden eyes widened as she desperately poured all her magic into “Transcendent Charm,” attempting to deflect the attack.
Yet, the powerful tentacles merely quivered slightly before forcefully closing in, wrapping around Ji Ma’s limbs and waist with a force so great that the black tentacles dug into her thighs.
All struggles were in vain; the immense strength pulled her downward.
Everything happened so fast that Ji Ma almost couldn’t react.
She felt like a bug struck by a frog’s tongue.
The octopus tentacles yanked her to the ground, slamming her down roughly. If not for the presence of the tentacles, she would have nearly fainted, and her vision briefly darkened.
The surrounding beasts closed in but did not advance further.
The tentacles lifted the bound Ji Ma off the ground.
Ji Ma first saw a mass of white flesh, with centipede-like legs, which reminded her of an ant queen, followed by a small belly as white as fat and plump but not overweight, then the densely curled and thick golden hair tips, slightly damp, covering the mature organs that could produce milk, and finally the neck.
A hand lifted Ji Ma’s chin and raised it upward.
Ji Ma saw a mature beauty with blue eyes gazing down at her, a gentle smile on her face. Ji Ma felt as if she were looking at a figure from a Renaissance painting from Earth, with porcelain white skin, a voluptuous yet mature body, and… nude.
The Mother of All Beasts had hands larger and stronger than Ji Ma’s. Her muscular arms easily pinched Ji Ma’s chin, inspecting her face, her horns, her hair, and with a light, joyful sigh, she said:
“What a beautiful little girl, just needs to grow her body a bit more, and she’ll be ready to have a child.”
Having said that, her hand caressed Ji Ma’s smooth black hair and remarked, “What a beautiful hair color.”
Ji Ma retorted, “It’s better than your common as dirt blonde, old lady.”
The tentacles binding her limbs and waist tightened even more, causing Ji Ma to grit her teeth in pain.
The Mother of All Beasts smiled, “Then I’ll borrow your hair.”
Before Ji Ma could react, she felt a sharp pain in her scalp as the Mother of All Beasts pulled out one of Ji Ma’s black hairs, holding it between her fingers and “planting” it on her own head. The black hair took root, and a miraculous thing happened as her golden hair grew wildly, while the roots sprouting from her scalp were black, with the black replacing the gold.
After growing to waist length, the half-golden, half-black hair suddenly broke apart, and the golden strands fell to the ground, leaving only the black ones.
Ji Ma looked down, staring intently at the falling golden hair, all of it being gold, with not a trace of black. She couldn’t help but be astonished.
Though in this world filled with strange beings, it wasn’t surprising that someone could use extraordinary power to change hair color, but this was different.
Ji Ma realized that the other party was a related profession to blood and flesh and was comparable to the extraordinary professions found in the Slums of Sarin City.
The Mother of All Beasts was using her ability to control her own blood and flesh to change the hair color. The smaller the blood and flesh controlled, the more difficult it became. While transplanting an organ could be done with effort, altering the direction of capillaries was something very few could achieve, requiring both high rank and delicate control.
The Mother of All Beasts first transplanted the black hair, then allowed new hair to grow in black, and finally severed the golden parts of the hair, leaving no trace of gold.
Thinking about it, an adult’s hair could number in the hundreds of thousands; she had to perceive the condition of those countless strands and, at the same time, cut each of them, each one at a different position.
This demanded a very high level of skill, akin to threading a needle with an excavator.
The Mother of All Beasts was incredibly powerful.
Ji Ma came to a terrifying conclusion.
“It seems you know something,” the Mother of All Beasts said again, pinching Ji Ma’s chin and rubbing her thumb against the corner of her eye. “Such a smart and knowledgeable little girl. From my usual habits, one could roughly deduce my strength.”
Still a strong person who uses an excavator to thread a needle… How could there be such a terrifying expert in the Kingdom of Casong?
Ji Ma felt quite unlucky; a strong expert of this level, if there were to be an encirclement, shouldn’t the King of the Knightly Kingdom be involved? Why was it solely the Duke of Casong responsible?
But then she thought, the premise of a king facing another king is that the king tramples down numerous pawns, alarming the other king.
It seemed her side would become the trampled pawns, using blood and failure to alert King Bartol.
Thinking of this made Ji Ma feel quite aggrieved.
The tentacles tightened around her body, and the surrounding beastmen were restless.
The Mother of All Beasts said, “What a provocative little minx; my children are actually interested in you, even though you look more like a human.”
“I refuse to accept this,” Ji Ma replied. “Why? Why are there still so many of you? I saw with my own eyes a hundred thousand beastmen perish under iron hooves.”
“Most of them were just poor farmers,” the Mother of All Beasts said, “For those poor souls, I offered them another path.”
“You turned them into beastmen?” Ji Ma asked in astonishment. “How heartless, turning humans into weak, helpless beasts. The farmers of Bartol have already suffered, and now they must become the stepping stones for heroes.”
“I let them escape from humanity, which is an inferior and barbaric race.” The smile on the Mother of All Beasts’ face vanished as she said, “I once considered taking you as my daughter, but you are quite sharp-tongued and uncultured.”
Ji Ma replied, “It seems you don’t know much about me.”
Before she could finish, Ji Ma’s entire figure dissipated in the Mother of All Beasts’ tentacles, leaving only a dimensional space bag behind.
The tentacles grabbed the dimensional space bag and reached inside, extracting only a few bottles of oil.
The Mother of All Beasts hesitated, then withdrew her tentacles back into her staff, looking down in contemplation, while the beastmen looked around, having lost sight of Ji Ma.
“I understand now; what a clever girl, this isn’t her true body.” The Mother of All Beasts thought for a few seconds and arrived at the correct conclusion. She lifted her head, a smile returning to her face, and with a forceful grip directed toward the small black dot in the distant sky, she declared, “But you still cannot escape my grasp.”
Indeed, Ji Ma had used a false form for reconnaissance. She had to thank the many beastmen who hated Ji Ma; they all believed that the Ji Ma flying in the sky was the real her, and this trusting lie helped Ji Ma deceive the Mother of All Beasts.
Her true body was hiding in the “Dream Palace,” using a pool for divination and sharing the vision of her false form through a strong medium. Just like when she met Owen Green with her false form.
Although this method was time-consuming and labor-intensive, it was safe.
At that moment, she was rushing toward the exit of the dream, plunging into it. As the sensation of awakening surged, Ji Ma opened her eyes to find herself back in the mundane world, standing at the top of a small hill.
In the distance, knights were still battling the beastmen, who were in a clear decline. Meanwhile, the infantry, which had lagged behind due to being criticized by the knight lords for being slow, was hastily stepping into the hillside and plunging into this gigantic pocket.
They were unaware that the Mother of All Beasts was personally leading an army that had set up a trap around them, aiming to annihilate them all here.
No, I must quickly inform George; if I’m quick, there might still be a chance to save them.
Ji Ma took a few running steps and leapt into the air, flapping her wings while pulling out a white cloud-colored potion from her belt and drinking it.
Her wings became lighter, and the wind resistance was less daunting. Ji Ma flapped her wings harder, flying like an arrow toward the knights who were engaged in battle with the beastmen.
At that moment, a demonic scorpion-tailed lion also ascended into the sky. It flapped its powerful wings, dragging a thick scorpion tail that blocked Ji Ma’s path.
Ji Ma simply changed direction agilely and dodged the demonic scorpion-tailed lion, continuing her flight toward the knight army.
Closer, closer, faster, even faster.
Ji Ma couldn’t wait any longer; she pulled out a signal flare from her belt. This was one of the items produced by the Hall that excelled at creating light pollution, with a piece of paper stuck to it that read: “Red, recommended for warning of danger.”
Just as she raised the signal flare, a cold, sharp stab shot from her heart, spreading a wave of intense pain throughout her body, rendering her arms weak. Her hand went limp, and the signal flare fell from her grasp.
“No!”
She watched helplessly as the signal flare fell to the ground. The pain mixed with the sense of weakness spread to her wings, causing them to lose strength as Ji Ma began to plummet.
At that moment, the gentle whispers of the Mother of All Beasts echoed in her ears:
“… you still cannot escape my grasp.”
It’s… a curse!
I was too close with my false form for too long; she used that as a medium to curse me!
This trick isn’t uncommon. Many curse workers who provide cursing services require the target’s likeness.
Ji Ma was aware of the risks, but for more information, she had to take a gamble.
But the cursing power of the Mother of All Beasts was far beyond her expectations.
The ground rushed toward her in a rapid embrace, and this embrace would not be gentle; it would lead to death.
Birds actually die from falling; how absurd.
Moreover, the sensation of weightlessness awakened soul wounds, igniting fear in Ji Ma as memories of a demonic king jumped off buildings intertwined with the current scenario, disturbing her thoughts.
For a moment, she felt like a worthless fool who had been duped out of all her inheritance and emotions, powerless to help her father’s illness.
Then, she suddenly remembered that she was the Demonic King Ji Ma, who had now become a powerful being capable of using violence to satisfy her desires freely.
What! I am not that worthless fool, that demon king.
She suddenly snapped back to reality, gritting her teeth and trying to mobilize her wings.
Let me fly!
Her wings, which had been tightly closed, suddenly spread out, countering her downward fall. Ji Ma’s nose nearly brushed the wild grass on the ground as she pulled herself up with sheer force.
Her heart raced, but before she could feel relieved, a roar resounded from above.
It was that damned demonic scorpion-tailed lion; I hate flying beasts!
If she hadn’t been cursed, Ji Ma could have easily shaken off the demonic scorpion-tailed lion, but now… she couldn’t match its flying speed.
The lion’s claw struck at Ji Ma but missed, causing it to roar in anger as its scorpion tail jabbed and pierced Ji Ma.
Ji Ma’s body transformed into a wisp of smoke, her form tethering to the scorpion tail.
Yet, within half a minute, Ji Ma materialized in the air again.
The curse had greatly weakened her movement and invisibility.
The demonic scorpion-tailed lion pursued her once more. Hearing the roar of the lion behind her, Ji Ma, desperately trying to escape, realized she was just barely hanging on.
The demonic scorpion-tailed lion opened its mouth wide, lunging to bite her.
Ji Ma turned her head, arms raised defensively in front of her chest, and shouted, “Help, help me!”
A flash of white light appeared as she saw George materialize in front of her, bringing down the hilt of his sword forcefully on the mouth of the demonic scorpion-tailed lion, knocking out several teeth.
