Rescuing Adora

Adora hit the barrier of mana several times trying to break it, but the barrier remained firm. Even after several attacks, it did not dim in the slightest.

At the same time, the chains created by the formation continued attacking her, forcing her to use her knife to defend herself.

"Crow! You tricked me!" Adora snarled and her eyes became ice-cold.

"Of course I did." Crow nodded indifferently. "A seven-star pill is something that even seventh-realm practitioners covet. Even I have not the right to use it, much less give it to you."

"Bastard! I'll kill you!"

"You can't. That formation is strong enough to imprison Core Formation Practitioners, so now that you have been trapped, you won't be able to escape. I paid a high price to set it up, you know? That is how dangerous you are. However, don't worry, I don't plan to kill you. As long as you agree to become my subordinate, I'll let you live."

"Dream on." Adora spat out without looking at the contract in Crow's hands. Without even looking at it, she knew that this contract was much harsher than the previous one. If she signed it, it was the same as becoming a slave.

"It looks like you need to suffer for a while before you understand your position." Crow's eyes became cold.

"Bastard!"

Adora roared and tried to attack Crow, however, she was stopped by the barrier. At the same time, one of the chains caught her right leg.

That was just the start. Soon, the rest of the chains bound her remaining limbs, before finally pressing her against the ground.

"Think about my proposal. I hope to hear a positive answer soon. Otherwise, perhaps I will have to invite your sister for a chat."

"I'll kill you!!!" Adora's eyes became bloodshot, but Crow just chuckled with an amused face and walked towards the door followed by the two Core Accumulation Practitioners behind him.

"Watch her, Kevin. If you think that there is the slightest chance of her escaping, kill her."

"Understood, boss."

Seeing him leave, Adora started to struggle to try to break the chains, however, this formation was made to imprison Core Formation Practitioners. Even if she struggled for several days, the situation would not change.

"You better stop struggling, Adora. We prepared this formation especially for you. Even if you are twice as strong as now, you won't be able to break it."

"You really put a lot of effort into catching me." Adora sneered.

Kevin shrugged.

"It was worth it. With your talent, becoming a Core Formation Practitioner is just a matter of time. By then, we will live in fear of you every day."

"I never took the initiative to attack the South Crow Gang."

"But you never took our side either. In this place, if you are not our friend, you are our enemy."

Adora fell silent.

Since she had memory, she had lived in the slums. In this place, life and death struggles were something of every day.

When she and her sister were younger, an old woman took care of them. However, the old woman did not return home one day, and since then, Adora had been forced to take charge of her little sister.

Adora hated the slums. Her dream was to leave this place with her sister one day. And she was blessed with talent, so as long as she worked hard, she was confident she could find a better place to live.

That was the reason why she did not want to associate herself with the gangs. She knew how dangerous the gangs were and she was aware that once she became part of them, it would be much harder to leave.

But as someone born in the slums, it was impossible to avoid gangs completely. Eventually, life forced her to make use of the gang's services a couple of times.

Nevertheless, Adora had been wary of the gangs the entire time. She knew that she could not trust the gangs. Even today, after she received the news about the Life Replenishing Pill, she did not lower her guard.

Or she thought so.

In the end, seeing the seven start life-replenishing pill made her lax.

Adora bit her lips. She was tempted to bite her tongue and commit suicide. But thinking about the fate of her little sister if she died, she could not bring herself to do that.

If she died, then her little sister would be defenseless in this cruel world.

"Just give up, Adora. Even if you have to sign an unfair contract, living is better than dying." Kevin said.

Adora did not reply and just closed her eyes, telling herself to not despair just yet.

But at that moment, a familiar smell entered her nose.

The piercing smell of rusted iron.

'Blood?'

Adora was startled. Instinctively, she looked towards Kevin, only to see a shadow with two red will-o'-wisps-like eyes appear behind him.

Almost at the same time, Kevin's instincts screamed of danger and the hair on his entire body stood up.

"This–!"

That was everything he managed to say. Before he could react–

*Spurt!*

A dagger pierced his neck from side to side.

"!!!"

Kevin's eyes widened. He tried to shout and struggle as his hands moved towards his neck to pull out the dagger. However, the dagger had broken his vocal cords and cut off the main artery in his neck. He could not speak, and his body was quickly losing strength.

His pupils dilated in fear, and blood spurt out of his lips and nose. Even his mana became unresponsive due to the abrupt loss of blood.

Eventually, his struggle weakened, until he stopped moving.

In just a few seconds, he bled out, dying with his eyes opened in fear.

Adora watched the entire process from the ground with her eyes opened wide.

Her mind became blank of the shock.

Then, she saw the two red will-o'-wisp-like eyes look toward her.

A surge of terror invaded her. The ruby-like eyes seemed like they were staring at prey to be devoured.

But when she thought that she was going to die, the violence in the will-o'-wisp receded and the owner of the red eyes appeared before her.

"Good evening, Miss Adora. It looks like you are in need of help. Should I give you a hand?"

Adora stiffened.

"… Vlad?"

"The one and only." Vlad bowed with a gentlemanly smile. "At your service, beautiful miss."