Armipotent

As Karoen and Zara came out of the castle, Ladirma no longer hesitated. He made up his mind and turned around, running toward the opposite side. He did not have the confidence to win against the crystal blue draconian. And another two monstrous beings appeared. There was no more hesitation or negotiation, immediately made an escape. That was what crossed his mind at the sight of them.

The reason he wanted to negotiate was to keep his image clean as a Black Iron Adventurer. Admitting defeat had a more positive image than escaping with no words like a coward.

Ladirma looked back and was relieved that no one chased after him. The beastmen had no interest in hunting him down, 'I have to escape to a place with no The Temple's influence.' That was the only way for him to avoid the fight against those monstrous beasts.

His heart was still tight because he was still inside the city. As soon as he jumped over the city wall, coming out of the city. Ladirma was relieved from the stress. He thought it would be safe for him as long as he was out of the city.

"You are quite slow for someone on your level," Ladirma felt like he almost had a heart attack just hearing the female voice. He recognized the voice as the blue-haired girl who killed The Turan Adventurer's Guild Master. He almost fell from his flying skill before regaining his balance in the air.

Avyn was in front of him, floating in the air, looking bored. She looked like had been waiting for him outside the city for a while.

"He loved to give people like you choices, so listen to me, Worm. First, I will not kill you, but you have to take an oath to be his slave. Don't worry, you will not be a slave forever. You will be his slave for thirty years. After that, you will be free."

Ladirma closed his eyes. Even though he had not listened to the second choice, he could guess what it was.

"Or second, you can refuse the first choice and die in my hand? Not so bad, right?"

'God darn it. I came to this remote area to pick up quick money from joining the church to fight The Orin Kingdom. Not only I can't get the money now, but I will become a slave as well. It seems I have used all my luck.'

"Is there really no third option?" Ladirma smiled as if he was trying to charm the beauty in front of him with his smile.

Instead of a return smile, what he got was a terrifying murderous intensity that left him suffocated. He was too shaken to move. The next moment, he felt a piercing cold from his right foot. He did not know when, but his entire right foot was frozen. A big chunk of ice formed below his right foot, and the ice was extremely heavy.

The ice chunk brought him down from the sky. Even though he tried to hold himself in the air, the ice chunk was too heavy for him.

Boom!

He felt a jolt of pain in his muscles from the impact. The ice chunk was the size of a giant boulder, sunk into the ground. To his surprise, the ice color changed to black. As if the ice had turned into Cold Iron. If not for the piercing cold, he might have mistaken the black thing as steel instead of ice. He was suspended in the air because of the ice, putting him in an awkward situation.

"You better think again if you want to joke around with me," Avyn hated that the man tried to flirt with her. That disgusted her which made her angry. She was no longer in a playful mood after that. If he said another irrelevant thing, she might kill him right away.

Ladirma seemed to notice the seriousness as well. Not that he wanted to joke around, but he did not like those two options. The first one might be worse than the death itself. He did not know what these beasts would do to him if he agreed to be the slave.

"If you are worried that you will be treated inhumanely, then you don't need to worry. You will get the same treatment as the normal citizens of The Tang Empire. The difference is that you can't refuse the order from your Master. If your Master asks you to suicide, then the oath will break, and you will be free. You have thirty seconds to make a decision, Worm. If you don't give the answer in thirty seconds, I will take the answer as a no and will kill you right away!"

There was no more playing around. Avyn made it clear to Ladirma.

Meanwhile, Ladirma had mixed feelings inside him. The respected Black Iron was about to be a slave and be called Worm. It was a funny irony for the others, but not so funny for him. The piercing cold slowly faded, and at the same time, he felt like he could not feel anything from his right foot. The faded cold was the only indication that his right foot was still fine.

The Tempest Swordmaster let out a sigh and closed his eyes, 'Should I try to fight her? Die trying rather than become this evil woman's slave.'

"You have five seconds left," The ice-cold voice interrupted his thoughts.

"What? Isn't that too fast?" Ladirma felt like he was being scammed by this evil woman.

"Four…" Avyn started to count down, and Ladirma panicked.

"Two…"

"Hey! It's three before two, you know? Can you even count?"

"One…"

"I will be your slave! I will be your slave!" Ladirma gave his answer as the murderous intent surrounded him.

Avyn extended her index finger to Ladirma's forehead, "Don't resist or you might die!"

Ladirma did not know what the evil woman wanted to do, but he followed the instructions obediently. As soon as the smooth finger touched his forehead, he felt the cold on his entire body. Then he felt it, his brain froze for a moment. His body convulsed for a few seconds before everything turned back to normal.

"What did you do to me?" His eyes widened in surprise.

"I plant Ice Curse on your organs and brain. If you are going too far from me, you will freeze to death. You will start freezing from your brain, then your organs before your whole body freezes. Then slowly, the piercing that is more painful than the one you feel right now will torture you until your death!"