The attack of the tentacles was so covert, and the speed was astonishing. Both the dazed Dugrabi and the caught-off-guard Abella had no idea what was happening.

By the time they regained their bearings, Dugrabi noticed that the corrupted witch who had been beating him vanished without a trace. Abella, on the other hand, felt as if she had been hit by a hundred-ton weight; she spun uncontrollably, crashing into two walls before being buried under the resulting debris.

“Who?!” Shoving aside the rubble, Abella burst forth from the ruins.

Then she saw a silver-haired girl in a position where she had just stood, casting a vibrant green magic aura to heal the black dragon.

“It’s you.” Abella paused, a cold smile creeping onto her face.

Given her estimation of the silver-haired girl’s strength, she didn’t think much of the earlier sneak attack; it was merely a result of her being distracted and unprepared. With a proper warning, she believed she could quickly suppress the silver-haired girl, deciding then whether to kill her outright or hand her over to the Purple Commander according to her mood.

A sharp, cold wind blew like an ice knife, causing Abella’s dark hair to ripple, revealing her slender, pale neck. Her crimson eyes fixated on the silver-haired figure, waiting for a response.

To her surprise, Yvette didn’t look at her at all, continuing to focus on healing the black dragon. Her serene profile resembled that of a meticulously crafted porcelain doll, pure and exquisite, prompting an urge to smash it.

Ignored…?

A surge of inexplicable anger flared within Abella.

Before her promotion, she had been capable of suppressing the silver-haired girl. Now, having attained an upgrade to become a true lord, why should this girl look down on her?

With this thought, she could no longer contain herself and transformed into a black shadow, racing toward the silver-haired girl, while Dugrabi nervously murmured, “Teacher…”

Yvette shook her head, standing her ground while continuing the healing process. Suddenly, a portion of her hair elongated like a silver serpent, sweeping toward Abella.

It was the first time Abella had witnessed the silver-haired sorceress employ such an odd method. Though it made her appear more god-like, it heightened her wariness.

She immediately halted, surrounding herself with a faint black shield while extending a hand to unleash a wave of black energy.

She wasn’t entirely sure what element this black magic belonged to; she knew, however, that this power had been unlocked naturally after her third promotion, marked by a strong corrosive nature. This black energy could erode even the robust alloys left by the Origin Civilization and had similar effects against magical shields. In her mind, it was virtually indestructible.

Yet, to her astonishment, the silver strands surged through the black waves as though untouched, barreling directly toward her!

How could this be?

Abella was stunned.

In her estimation, this should have played out just like their countless previous encounters—wave against wave, spell against spell, an exchange of attacks—resulting in a vivid display of elemental particles blooming across the battlefield.

But why did these silver strands seem to follow their own logic, completely unaffected?

No, there was damage… As she quickly pulled away, Abella noticed the wisps of steam rising from those silvery strands.

This proved the corrosive effect of her black magic was still present, just far less pronounced.

What exactly were these strands?

Not one to back down, Abella attempted to stab at them with her spider-legged spear, but in an instant, the black shield shattered, yielding her weapon to splinters. She couldn’t help but let out a painful, panicked scream.

How could this be so terrifying?

Is this truly her real power?

I need to escape. I must return to report to Lord Purple and ask him to deal with this being… Abella realized she was completely outmatched, her instincts pushing her to retreat. Yet no matter how she fled, those strands followed her shadows relentlessly.

What frightened her even more was that once she had finished healing Dugrabi, the silver-haired girl finally turned her gaze toward her!

With that, the chase began, rapidly closing the distance between them. Countless silver strands cascaded like meteors, transcending Abella from behind and weaving together a massive web before her, reflecting a kaleidoscope of colors from the light.

The next instant, the web tightened around her; despite her desperate struggles, Abella found herself ensnared like a dumpling, dragged in front of the silver-haired girl.

“Who are you?!” Abella trembled as she spoke, her beautiful face marred with humiliation and terror.

She suspected she was up against a sixth-stage lord, but if that were true, why would such a prominent figure waste time playing with a minor character like her for years?

Was it truly just to toy with her, to give her the illusion of victory before shattering it completely?

That would be too cruel!

Yvette remained silent, staring at her like a beautiful, cold judge about to hand down the death sentence.

Yet in truth, she was experimenting with a technique she had mastered while consuming aberrant beings. If successful, she could drain the aberrant factors from Abella’s body without causing lethal harm, allowing her to remain alive in a weakened state.

This way, she wouldn’t have to keep expending aberrant mana to maintain her bindings and could interrogate her for necessary information.

Time ticked by, and with each moment, Abella felt the strands piercing into her, pulling away her evolution factors. Her complexion turned increasingly pale as she writhed, resembling a caterpillar desperately attempting to break free from its cocoon.

But this was futile; within mere minutes, the transformation factors in her body were nearly completely drained—over 6000 points, almost as if she had wiped out an Agashe’s worth; no wonder she was regarded as a lord.

Adding to what she had gathered over the past years, Yvette’s accumulated aberrant factors now exceeded 50,000 points. Newest update provided by n0velfire.net

A chilling wind howled as Yvette descended atop a dilapidated building, loosening her grip on Abella.

“What… what have you done to me?” Abella suddenly collapsed to the ground, trembling as she asked.

After the aberrant factors were extracted, her appearance hadn’t changed; even her core of magical energy remained intact.

However, for a Godkin, the role of aberrant factors highlighted three main functions—first being the requirements for promotion, which was self-explanatory; second, enhancing physical prowess and recovery; third, unlocking capabilities. All the peculiar and bizarre abilities emerged only when the stages and concentrations of aberrant factors met certain standards.

Thus, with the aberrant factors drained, even though Abella retained her fifth-stage human form, her physical capacities and skillset had essentially been reset.

She was no longer powerful; even the slightest bump would become unbearable, and she could not summon the spider legs behind her any longer. Abella found herself incapable of utilizing her corrosive, flight, speed, shield abilities, and more.

Unless she hastily meditates to replenish her core’s magical energy and seeks a master to learn magic, she would remain an ordinary human, powerless despite holding magical energy with no channel through which to use it.

Yvette calmly articulated, “I’ve taken most of the aberrant factors from your body.”

She retained a small portion for the sake of survival, as this was necessary—besides, that amount would barely suffice to equal the strength of most first-stage aberrant beings; Yvette wasn’t concerned about it.

Abella stared at her with vacant eyes, like a speculator who had lost a lifetime of savings overnight, her heart shattered into pieces. Then she heard Yvette say, “If you cooperate and answer my questions, I may spare your life.”

Abella thought, without evolution factors, how could she survive in this dangerous world? Wouldn’t that be tantamount to death? Even were she to seek the Purple Commander, he would likely view her merely as nourishment for the Mother Nest.

No, she probably wouldn’t even make it to the Purple Commander; her former subordinates would devour her on the way…

But hatred aside, her instinct to survive prompted a flicker of clarity. With tear-filled eyes, she said, “Ask whatever you want; as long as you let me go, I’ll tell you everything…”

Observing her pitiful state and the tear streaks on her cheeks, Yvette suddenly felt more like an evil villain, constantly harassing others while robbing them of years of hard work, causing them to plummet back to square one overnight.

But for some reason, she found herself enjoying this villainous role.