"I told you, your opponent is me!" Igor felt he must attract the attention of this girl, although he felt calling that figure a girl wasn’t quite fitting, since the words spoken were in a male voice.

"Such pure Craftsman Spirit, it’s been many years since I’ve seen it, such blood! It must be so..." Clearly, Igor had not garnered the girl’s attention. Clearly, the girl hadn’t listened to Igor’s words and was still watching the blacksmith’s shop, speaking to herself.

The old man smoking beside the girl was lying on the ground, moaning and rolling. The life and death of this mercenary squad called Smoke seemed to have no connection whatsoever with the girl. The girl stuck out her tongue to lick her lips, as if facing a gourmet delicacy.

At this moment, Master Lao was concentrating carefully on grinding the blade, and Kadi was also impressed by the Master’s skill...

Igor understood that at this moment he couldn’t interrupt Kadi and the others; he could only block that figure with the appearance of a girl outside the blacksmith’s shop!

So he unfolded his Ghostly Steps, quickly reaching the girl, raised his sword, and slashed.

Devil’s Steps can be said to be silent as a ghost; this sneak attack with the sword could be considered perfect, but with a clang, Igor’s sword struck an axe. This axe seemed familiar to Igor, it was precisely the weapon of that burly Fighter.

Seeing his strike fail, Igor retreated a step, only then did he discover that the axe was completely floating in the air.

"Do not hinder me!" The girl’s voice was like an old man’s, "This is a warning!"

Igor glanced at the girl, said nothing, raised his hand to unleash a slice of Sword Qi; he wanted to see if this Sword Qi would disappear once more at the girl’s side.

The Sword Qi flew toward the girl; the girl lifted her hand, and Grim’s axe blocked the Sword Qi, then the Sword Qi gradually faded away as if devoured.

This time was different from the last; it seemed to disappear a bit slower. Igor noted this detail; he still didn’t understand the girl and must collect information bit by bit.

"I said, do not hinder me!" The girl’s old man-like voice gradually became deeper, the floating axe directly slashed at Igor!

Igor raised his sword to block, with a clang, Igor was shaken back a step, this attack was indeed much stronger than Grim’s earlier.

"I said, your opponent is me!" Igor was naturally unwilling to show weakness; he once again unfolded his Devil’s Steps, swiftly reaching the girl’s side, swinging his sword in two fierce strikes, directly aiming at the girl.

This time, Igor’s first sword was a feint, directly bypassing the blocking axe, the second sword was a solid strike, and it indeed threatened the girl, forcing her to retreat a step and avoid the sword’s attack.

"No one has ever made me retreat!" The girl said.

"And what can you do?" Igor responded indifferently, concentrating fully without any relaxation.

At this moment, Master Lao had already polished Kadi’s short dagger to a bright shine, exactly like the gleam in Kadi’s eyes...

"These dogs didn’t fall to you in vain." The girl’s shoulders started twitching; her shoulders were widening, and something seemed to be about to emerge from them.

"Enough talk, see my sword!" Igor once again slashed out a Sword Qi, probing once more!

"It’s a pity these dogs are too weak, wasting my time, they are slightly useful!" As she spoke, Ruben, who was twitching his hands to the side, suddenly flew into the air, using his body to block Igor’s Sword Qi!

Ah—Ruben shrieked miserably, clearly blocking this Sword Qi wasn’t Ruben’s intention.

Igor was shocked; at this moment, the girl’s shoulders had completely transformed, two sharp horns emerged from both sides, making her shoulders extremely wide, inconsistent with the girl’s petite body. Igor also noticed that his Sword Qi, once blocked, disappeared again, unlike the usual scattering after being blocked; it seemed the Sword Qi was absorbed.

This way seemed familiar! Igor’s mind had a hint of judgment, but he wasn’t fully sure; he needed further probing.

"Reaching such a realm is truly remarkable, much stronger than these useless ones." The girl’s eyes began to redden, her voice turning increasingly gruff, besides the shoulder transformation, other parts of her body also started to change greatly; a mist dispersed from her, as if her body’s changes evaporated all surrounding moisture.

Igor chose not to attack blindly at this moment, sensing the strong Energy Fluctuations around the girl, avoid being rash; he needed to see the situation clearly to make the right judgment.

"Once these useless ones completely lose their purpose, you can become my dog, and that one too; with you two, I can rise another level." The girl’s head started sprouting one by one horns; these horns seemed to emerge from between the crown, not growing but bursting through the skull...

Just like this, Igor watched the girl slowly transform into a creature, body larger than before, horns on head and shoulders, with eyes compressed onto other parts of the face; her face split in two by what seemed like a massive rhino horn, and the creature’s body emitted a foul stench...

"This state is my complete awakening; these dogs are unaware, but now they must serve their final purpose, as Puppets, capturing you." The creature extended thick fingers, hooking lightly, and the four Smoke figures rose like marionettes.

"You always shout your opponent is me; what a pity, your opponent is not!" The creature waved fingers, and the four Smoke members rushed at Igor like mad dogs!

Igor hurriedly unfolded his Devil’s Steps; he could see this attack was different from the previous, the four were entirely controlled by the creature, and their attacking strength was on a different level.

With a loud boom, Sims spewed a powerful flame from his mouth, causing the tiles around Igor to explode.

Igor was alarmed, and on his sides appeared an axe and a dagger, evidently an encirclement from controlled Grim and Ruben...