Chapter 52: Chapter 52: Red Rose Vs. Hephaestus
Back in the carriage, they continued advancing toward Ghost Empire.
Catharina couldn’t stop looking in his direction with questioning eyes.
The truth was that curiosity was killing her!
"Husband... What exactly was that?" She asked for the thousandth time.
"... Sigh." Luan looks at the sky with empty eyes: "Simply an evil item. Just... don’t ask me more than that."
"Oh..."
She didn’t insist anymore.
Although that didn’t kill her curiosity.
’What exactly was that?’ She wondered: ’Why did it start to vibrate, and take the shape of a staff?’
She simply didn’t understand.
However, that shape made her recall something that made her blush.
She looks at Luan shyly, shifting her legs.
"Husband..." Her voice was soft and melodious.
Luan’s heart skipped a beat...
"Y-Yes?" He looks at her.
She didn’t speak with her mouth, but rather, with actions.
One of her hands rested on his chest and the other on his thigh.
Her soft and fragrant lips approached his neck.
"Puahhh!"
With a smack of lips, she left a reddish mark on his neck.
Her movements were swift as she opened the buckle of his belt and took something out.
Smiling seductively, she wrapped around him with her long legs, straddling him from the front.
"This is dangerous..." He says it with his mouth, but makes no effort to push her away, in fact, there was a little smile at that moment as he swallowed a mouthful of saliva.
"But... I want to~" She says in a whining voice, even sweeter than melted chocolate.
Luan held his breath.
The carriage wheels passed through a hole and she practically jumped onto his lap.
Something began to rub against her precious part.
"Mn~" Catharina let out a very sensual and erotic moan.
Luan’s face turned red.
In his mind, a thread snapped!
## --
Crossing the border, officially entering the Ghost Empire, Luan and Catharina didn’t come across new bandits since then.
"We need to find a city soon, or even a village." Luan looked over his shoulder: "The carriage was already very full, even the front part was being occupied."
"Yes."
The items were not limited only to wild animals that they dismantled, it was also full of items they took from the bandits who attacked them on the way there.
The carriage shook a little when they passed through a relatively large hole.
If it were a few days ago, it would have been much worse, but with Luan’s invention using wool, creating something very similar to springs and coating the wooden wheels with wool, it became much more comfortable and stable.
Obviously it didn’t have the same comfort as a modern car, but it was certainly a good improvisation.
He had this idea mainly when one of the wheels split in half in a hole.
Now with the wool protecting it, they no longer had problems with that.
Sitting on Luan’s lap, Catharina said softly: "I... Nnh, I’m not complaining, but... Before it was a little better..."
Luan’s eyes darkened a little.
He understood without her explaining what she was talking about.
He replied: "Well... Everything in life has its advantages and disadvantages..."
Luan changed the subject with a deep voice while Catharina ’adjusted herself’ on his lap: "Hopefully this Empire is neutral regarding demi-humans just like I heard before."
"I would love that. Mhnya, that~" She replied, holding her breath at the end.
...
"That was the third group..."
Passing by them on foot, there was a family of three.
When they saw them, they first showed fear, but upon seeing Catharina, the fear dissipated.
That’s because all of them were actually demi-humans.
"Maybe this really is a neutral place..." Catharina murmured, hopeful.
"Red Rose, I will kill you!!"
A sky-shaking shout resounded.
The carriage shook a lot, almost tipping over.
"Hah!"
Luan forced a stop.
His heart trembled from the thunderous shout.
"What was that?" Catharina was also shaken.
"I have no idea, I-"
"Irritating!"
To the sound of a woman’s indifferent shout, an explosion came.
*BOOOOM!*
"Ahhhhhhhh!"
"Neigh!!!"
"Neigh!!!"
That frightened the horses to the point of moving forward even with the reins pulled.
The carriage rushed forward uncontrollably.
Luan tried to take control, but the horses were so scared that they didn’t obey him.
If this continued, their losses would be enormous.
Luan thought quickly: "Catharina, make them faint!"
"Yes!"
Jumping off the carriage, she appeared in front of the horses and said in a commanding tone while her eyes behind the veil turned red: "Calm down!"
As she controlled their minds, the carriage slowed down.
When it stopped, she commanded: "Sleep!"
*BOOOOOOOOOOM!*
Another loud explosive sound hit them.
The ground vibrated like an earthquake.
Cracks appeared in some parts of the ground.
Luan’s heart was racing.
Stepping out of the carriage, he looked at the sky.
What he saw left him completely stunned.
"Is this humanly possible?"
On one side, there was a woman with long red hair flowing in the wind and on the opposite side a man with white hair who appeared to be a little over 60 years old.
But what surprised him was not something as simple as their appearance, not even the fact that they were flying, but rather, the cracks in the air, looking like dimensional rifts that connected to another space.
That was not all.
Red Rose lived up to her name.
Right below her feet there was a huge red rose.
The old man was also not simple, floating around him, there were hundreds of thousands of hammers.
"How persistent!" Red Rose said coldly: "Give up, Hephaestus. The red flame lotus is mine!"
"Damned girl who doesn’t know when to give up..." Hephaestus’ expression twisted: "Since you insist on being stubborn, don’t blame me for being cruel!"
The hundreds of thousands of axes controlled by Hephaestus began to catch fire.
It was a breathtaking scene!
"Thousand Red Petals!"
From a single petal of the red rose at her feet, several smaller ones were created, forming a sea of petals.
Luan murmured: "Are they made of blood?"
The strong smell of iron hit him.
Catharina stopped beside him, looking at the sky. She confirmed: "Yes, both that large red rose, and even the petals she just created, are made from her own blood."
As crazy as it was, Luan did not doubt Catharina’s words. Just as he could create wool, Red Rose’s talent should be the ability to create and control blood.
