CHAPTER 222: 221. MAMA....

Meanwhile...

Morning at Veyna’s Estate arrived with horror. The maids and workers woke up to a gruesome sight—bodies, bloodied and broken, scattered all over the yard.

Asher stood at a window, watching their horrified reactions. A smug grin tugged at his lips. He couldn’t lie, he enjoyed it. Seeing the shock on their faces after what he’d done last night gave him a twisted sense of satisfaction.

But he had no time to admire the chaos. He had to move. Not for himself today. But for Tama.

She’d seen someone. Another of her kind. A black cat girl and for her sake, Asher had no choice but to act. To rescue the girl from the clutches of Hades, the slaver and a man spreding STIs like some cursed plague.

Leaving Rin in charge of watching over Valerie, Asher and Tama slipped out of the estate, he, cloaked in invisibility, and she, darting from shadow to shadow like a wraith.

Asher trailed her at high speed, watching her flicker from one tree’s shade to the next, heading west. It wasn’t long before they arrived at the edge of a bush near Hades’ farm.

The moment they reached it, Asher’s breath hitched. Something unnatural stirred—a chilling presence that flared briefly before vanishing like smoke. His skin prickled, hairs rising. It wasn’t just strong.

It felt ancient.

Not even Draegonth’s power had made him sweat like this.

"Tama..." he whispered low. "Stay in the shadows. If something happens—run."

She nodded, but her lips trembled.

He scanned the area. No nearby farms. Odd. Tama had said Hades had neighbors before. Had they vanished? Or worse?

He shook off the thought and masked his presence further—Stealth layered with invisibility. He leapt the iron gate without a sound, floating above the dirt to leave no prints.

Two houses stood before him. One modest, the other slightly larger, though both looked unassuming.

He drifted toward the smaller house—until Tama’s whisper stopped him.

"Master... the big one."

He adjusted course. But something was off—he couldn’t sense a single soul in the building. Not even a trace of presence.

Hovering to the door, he peeked through the keyhole. Nothing. Just ordinary furniture.

Still invisible, he pushed the door open, hands raised and ready to cast the first spell at the slightest movement.

Nothing.

Just silence.

Behind him, Tama stood still, but a single tear slipped from her left eye and slid down her cheek. She quickly wiped it away, chest heaving. Her heart was racing, warning her not to do this.

But she had to.

She had to see her again. The woman who birthed her.

Then she’d rescue her master... somehow.

Tama stepped forward quietly, her voice trembling. Asher was still invisible, but she knew where he was—right in front of her.

Then—

Clink!

A sharp metallic sound snapped around his neck.

Asher gasped. His invisibility dropped instantly. He spun around—

Tama.

She stood there with watery, guilt-ridden eyes. Her body shook. Her lips quivered.

"I... I’m sorry, Master..." she croaked, voice heavy with pain. "I didn’t want to—but I had to!"

She turned and ran, sobbing quietly, her form darting to the smaller house she’d told him to avoid.

"Tama!!" Asher roared in disbelief, chasing her.

But the collar around his neck burned and pulled tight like a noose. He choked, stumbling.

[An Enslavement Collar has been detected!]

[System Analysis in progress...]

Enslavement collar? His eyes narrowed.

Just then, the door Tama had run to creaked open.

Out stepped a bloated man with stubby legs, a head too large for his neck, and skin that looked stretched too tight like a fat frog squeezed into leather.

Asher immediately used Appraisal.

[Name: Hades]

[A-Rank Hunter]

[Skills: Enslavement]

Beside him stood the black cat woman looming elegant, silent, and clad in a red dress, with a collar of her own gleaming at her throat. Her eyes were vacant. Hollow.

Tama collapsed at their feet, crawling.

"Mama..." she whispered, her voice cracking. "Mama... please... sir, release her! You promised!"

Hades chuckled darkly, flashing stained teeth. "You did well, little kitty. Real well."

He turned his bulging eyes to Asher. "So this is the wild dog causing me trouble? Tch. Doesn’t look like much. Come here, boy."

Asher growled, ready to resist—but his legs moved on their own. Step by agonizing step. He clenched his fists, fighting with everything he had—but the collar only tightened, crushing his windpipe.

He could barely breathe.

His body betrayed him.

His trust had betrayed him.

Tama... she’d lied?

She’d sold him out?

Pain twisted in his chest—not from the collar, but from the wave of rage building inside.

Another betrayal.

Another woman had betrayed him once again!

Another knife in the back.

He’d trusted her. Genuinely. And now?

He dropped to his knees—forced to kneel before a man like Hades. He remembered how his system never saw Tama as a MILF, and as a result, he couldn’t tame her.

Shame burned hotter than the rage.

"I wouldn’t resist if I were you," Hades sneered. "That little trinket? It’ll strangle the soul right out of you. And you wouldn’t want to miss the main show, would you?"

Main show?

Asher stayed still, forcing himself to calm the storm within. Anger wouldn’t help now. Focus would.

He glanced at the black cat woman again.

She looked like Tama. The ears. The tail. The face.

But the light was gone. She didnt look... alive to him.

Tama wept on the ground, begging the woman to look at her.

She didn’t even flinch.

Just stood there like a mannequin. Like a corpse wearing skin.

Then Asher felt the agominous, suffocating aura he had felt before. It was clear it wasn’t from Hades. This frog couldn’t produce such pressure.

Someone else was watching. Lurking. Someone far more dangerous.

Asher’s instincts screamed.

SNAP!

Hades snapped his fingers.

CRACK..!

The black cat woman suddenly moved fast and kicked Tama in the gut, launching her across the yard.

Tama hit the dirt hard, coughing up blood.

"Tama!!" Asher shouted.

Hades howled with laughter. "Ahh, yes! Behold the show! Watch as your loyal servant is torn apart by the ghost of her own mother!!"

Asher’s breath caught.

Ghost?

He turned and watched in horror as the woman began to change.

Her bones shifted beneath her skin with sickening cracks. Her dress tore open as fur burst through. Her mouth elongated, jaws twisting. Her body bloated and decomposed before his eyes.

She was becoming a monstrous beast with a form of a tiger with dead flesh. Rotting fur. Glowing eyes that no longer recognized her own daughter.

Tama sobbed on the ground, reaching out.

"Mama..."

But her mother wasn’t there anymore.

Asher looked back at Hades.

This fool... wasn’t the one who made this....

There was someone else in the shadows.

Someone stronger.

And that was who Asher truly wanted.

TBC