Chapter 18. A Strange Evolution of the Situation

Looking at the very cute catgirl in front of her, who was about 20 centimeters shorter than her and had very white and delicate hands, like those of a princess who had never left the castle she lived in, Rina would have found it hard to believe that this catgirl was responsible for the brutal beating the lionkins lying around her had received. However, she had seen just moments ago how Lucy struck one of the lionkins directly on the top of the head with a karate chop, causing him to lose consciousness instantly and fall to the ground, and how she had given another one a powerful kick in the rear, sending him flying over 7 meters away.

But even though she realized the danger in front of her, Rina, who was used to fighting fierce beasts and sturdy lionkin men, remained for the first time in her life stuck, unable to decide what to do next, because she didn't know how to handle such an opponent, a beauty who seemed very fragile and incapable of enduring the pain caused by her trained fists.

Unfortunately for Rina, Lucy was not an opponent you could afford to be inattentive to even for a moment, so before she realized what the catgirl in front of her had done, she found herself on her back, the catgirl positioned on her stomach, with her legs on either side of her body, and looking at her with a mocking smile.

"I am aware of how beautiful I am, but during a fight, you must not let your emotions influence you. What if I were as wicked as the other villagers think? Don't you think you would find yourself in an inescapable situation?", Lucy told the young lionkin woman she had pinned to the ground, whose sexy posture made Lucy lose some of her desire to fight, and thoughts of a different kind of interaction began to form in her mind, one much more exciting and enjoyable.

Taking a closer look at the young lionkin woman, an action that caused Lucy to lick her lips involuntarily from time to time, she was impressed by both her perfect body, which, although trained, did not seem any less feminine, and her stunning face, whose delicious lips seemed to have the power to draw Lucy's gaze like a magnet.

'What an astonishing girl. If she had lived in my old world, she probably would have gained millions of fans just by posting a single picture of herself. Not only is she incredibly beautiful, but she also has a well-trained body with toned abs and a pair of firm breasts, although they are truly large... Damn! I don't think I could even fit one of them in my hands!", Lucy thought, her eyes, which until then had roamed all over the upper part of the young woman beneath her, now were fixed on the two soft mounds in front of her, which, although mostly covered, managed to raise Lucy's excitement to levels not recommended for the situation at hand.

"Don't you think you've looked long enough? If you don't want to fight me anymore, I think it's time for you to get down!" Rina suddenly said, irritation evident in her hazel-orange eyes, which, along with her long, matching-colored hair, gave the illusion that she could transform into a fierce lion at any moment, capable of devouring anything in her path.

Brought back to reality by these words, Lucy made eye contact with the young lionkin woman beneath her and, without showing a hint of fear, slowly brought her face closer to the other's until their noses were almost touching, her teasing smile indicating that her intentions were far from good.

"Congratulations, woman! You've managed to capture my attention...", Lucy said with all seriousness, trying to mimic the tone of a male lead like those from Chinese novels, whose subject is the love full of ups and downs between a young company president and one of his newly hired female subordinates.

Seeing that the young lionkin woman was looking at her with confusion, not understanding her intentions, Lucy reached one of her hands into the young woman's rich hair and began to massage her lion-like ears, and before the young woman could snap out of her stunned state as a result of the actions of the catgirl who held her down, Lucy gave her a delicate kiss on the nose and immediately teleported five meters away to avoid being affected by the furious flames that began to emanate from Rina's body the next second.

"How dare you do such a thing!", Rina roared, immediately getting to her feet after Lucy released her, the flames around her growing stronger with each step she took towards the position where the catgirl who had dared to take advantage of her stood.

Seeing that the catgirl in front of her said nothing and continued to look at her with a teasing smile, Rina accelerated towards her, ignoring everything, and when she reached next to the catgirl's position, she began to strike her with fists engulfed in flames, as if that catgirl were her greatest enemy.

'She's truly ferocious...', Lucy thought as she watched Rina beat the substitute of earth that she had left in her place, which had started to turn into a statue due to the heat generated by the punches it received.

Lucy decided to wait a few minutes for the young lionkin woman to calm down, but things did not go as she had hoped, because, with each passing minute, Rina became increasingly angry, seeing that the catgirl in front of her seemed unaffected by her blows and continued to look at her with the same teasing smile.

'Maybe creating a substitute of earth with the sole purpose of being a punching bag and having extraordinary regenerative powers wasn't the best choice, as this lioness won't stop until she sees blood... Hmm, what should I do now? Well, if she really wants to destroy me, let's see if she'll be satisfied when she does...' Lucy thought, and after about 10 seconds, when she saw the young lionkin woman sending another punch to the substitute's head, she reduced the substitute's defense to zero, allowing the blow it received to decapitate it and send its head into the bushes.

"Eeekk! I, I didn't mean to do that..." exclaimed Rina, who was so horrified by what she had done that she didn't even notice that no blood was flowing from the decapitated substitute.

Seeing the expression full of regret on the young lionkin woman, who had fallen to her knees in front of her substitute's body and was on the verge of tears, Lucy realized that her prank had been too exaggerated, so she decided not to hide any longer and instantly appeared behind Rina, whom she took into her arms and began to comfort.

"Calm down... I'm okay... It was just a silly prank..." Lucy told the young lionkin woman in her arms, who, upon hearing her voice, couldn't contain her happiness and turned suddenly to embrace Lucy. Unfortunately, Lucy, who wasn't expecting this, feared that Rina intended to strike her again, so she activated her Phantom Body skill, which allowed her to become intangible. Consequently, Rina passed right through her as if her body were a mere apparition.

"Eeekk! A ghost... Nooo! ...I'm so sorry... I didn't mean to kill you..." Rina began to shout, this time unable to stop her tears.

"...I'm not a ghost. I just used a skill to protect myself because I thought you were going to attack me again...", Lucy told her, visibly full of remorse at how the situation had evolved.

"Rina, it's okay. She's not dead. She's just using some weird skills...", one of the lionkins, who had managed to stand up and were now watching from the sidelines like it was a theater play, told Rina.

After hearing the words of one of her acquaintances, Rina managed to overcome her fear and look more closely at the catgirl in front of her. After analyzing her for almost a minute and realizing that she didn't exhibit any ghostly characteristics, Rina understood that nothing had happened to her, and it was probably all a big prank orchestrated by the catgirl to embarrass her in front of everyone.

"You! Do you enjoy bullying me? You just want to make a fool out of me..." Rina said angrily and then headed towards Lucy, who decided not to disappear this time and to face the consequences of her actions.

However, Rina had no intention of exchanging punches with her or incinerating her using the flames she could summon during a fight.

'For such a naughty cat, there must be an appropriate punishment...', Rina said to herself in her mind, and the moment she reached Lucy, she rushed with her mouth open to one of her ears and then bit it with force, intending to make the catgirl always remember what can happen if she upsets her.

"Ahhhh!" Lucy screamed with tears in her eyes. Although she had guessed Rina's intentions and could have easily avoided her attack, she decided to let her do as she pleased, hoping that in the future, Rina wouldn't hold a grudge for what had happened that day.

"How on earth did they end up in this situation?" one of the lionkins who witnessed these events asked in a hushed voice. "Old Jarek," he continued, looking to the west, "you'd better come back from your hunt faster because, at this rate, your niece might present you with a daughter-in-law when you return..."