Slap the Bastard

Anna lay prone there, baring her teeth as she confronted the monsters.

The pustules on her face had diminished significantly, vaguely revealing traces of her former beauty. However, she was covered in wounds and in a dreadful state, on the verge of losing consciousness at any moment.

Roland’s gaze fell upon the small shack behind Anna—a temporary shelter constructed of branches and weeds. Its front was obscured by boughs, making it impossible to see the condition inside. Yet judging by its size, this small hut was certainly not built by Anna for herself; there had to be someone inside.

At that moment, a faint cough drifted from within the shack, and Roland immediately let out a breath of relief.

*She's still alive!*

Roland looked back at the monsters.

The two large beasts looked ferocious, but their movements were exceedingly sluggish and their intelligence remarkably low. They were not leaders, but rather directed by the smaller monsters.

The small monsters possessed high intelligence, but judging by the five or six shattered corpses of their kind scattered around Anna, their combat capability was thoroughly mediocre.

Roland muttered inwardly: *The power of the abyss has vanished; there are no more demons in the fern forest... These creatures ought to be nothing more than ordinary monsters tainted by corruption.*

The corruption of the abyss had not made them stronger; instead, it had filled them with ailments. Moreover, their minds were hardly sound; otherwise, they would never have provoked a giant like Anna.

Roland cautiously retreated from his spot and circled the perimeter. Confirming there were no other enemies nearby, he moved to the rear of the shack.

*There is still one creature here that poses a threat to me.*

Roland’s gaze shifted to Anna. Her mental state was clearly abnormal, making her the greatest threat to him.

While Roland had been inspecting the surroundings, two more corpses of small monsters had appeared by Anna’s side. The small creatures no longer dared to probe forward; they swept disgusting gazes over the beautiful elven giantess of meat before them, urging the two massive beasts onward.

The two giant monsters drooled, restless and eager to move.

*These monsters are suffering from severe mental corruption. Normal monsters, after losing so many companions, would follow the law of the forest and abandon their target. Yet now, their eyes hold only the woman and flesh.*

Roland thought to himself: *Furthermore, this pack of monsters is organized; there is a good chance a nest is nearby... Therefore, not a single one can be allowed to escape.*

*It would be best to gather them all together and strike them down with lightning in one go.*

After a moment of contemplation, Roland tossed his wizard’s hat.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...

In the blink of an eye, the wizard’s hat flew above Anna’s head. Anna sensed the danger, but her body failed to keep pace with her thoughts. Without even a chance to struggle, she was swallowed into the hat.

Ordinarily, the wizard’s hat was capable of engulfing Anna in her entirety, but Roland deliberately allowed it to swallow only her upper half. This left Anna thrashing wildly on the spot, drawing the full attention of the monsters.

The swarm of monsters had previously been quite wary of Anna, but seeing her upper body enveloped in a strange "sack," they were instantly overjoyed. Aside from the two sluggish giants still standing in a daze, the rest of the small monsters swarmed forward en masse.

Just then, the hat suddenly yanked Anna’s body upward into the air, causing the dozen or so small monsters to lunge at nothing.

Those that lunged foremost were instantly trampled beneath their companions, and the entire mob collided in chaotic disorder. Right at that moment, two ferocious bolts of lightning struck in succession, detonating right in the center of the monster horde!

Rumble, rumble, rumble...

The chain lightning roared like thunder, illuminating the dark woods as bright as day in a fraction of a second. When the glare faded, the dozen or so small monsters all collapsed as if struck by thunderbolts.

The small monsters in the innermost ring were charred pitch-black, clearly beyond saving. Those slightly further out, while not carbonized, lay upon the ground in violent convulsions. Only the three outermost runts, who had failed to charge in time, escaped unscathed.

The survivors froze in place for a moment before letting out a shriek of terror and fleeing in all directions.

Three streaks of black light whizzed past, and the heads of the three small monsters burst apart one after another.

Only then did the two giant beasts react, but their subsequent action was not to flee; instead, they drooled and charged toward the small shack. Yet no sooner had they taken a single step than a human afterimage flashed from the woods right before their eyes, followed by two streaks of sword light.

Slash, slash...

A cold gleam flashed past the necks of the giant monsters, and two heads went flying into mid-air.

From the headless corpses, corrupt blood hissed and spurted. Roland activated the barrier on his lantern, shielding himself and the shack behind him.

After spraying blood for a brief moment, the two carcasses toppled backward onto the ground, emitting heavy, dull thuds.

*These two behemoths—their bones are like rotting corpses, and their entire bodies are as fragile as butter.*

These two monsters should have required some effort to deal with, but they were far too sick. They looked terrifying, but turned out to be hollow shells making a formidable bluff.

The plan had been a resounding success; the magical artifact and Anna had both been of immense help. Roland had managed a rather neat display of prowess before the two frail lasses.

A slight rustling came from within the shack behind him; it seemed the severely injured occupant inside had been carefully observing the outside world the entire time.

Roland did not approach the hut. He pulled out a shattered stub of a candle and walked over to the two corpses.

As he chanted an incantation, the candle burned with black smoke that coiled outward. Upon touching the black smoke, the two carcasses gradually dissolved into pus and blood.

Roland muttered inwardly: *It seems there are no parasitic demons or anything of the sort within the corpses.*

This candle was also a magical artifact, but its degree of damage was far too severe; the black smoke it emitted couldn't catch up to a living person and could only be used to dispose of corpses.

Reluctant to waste any more of the candle, Roland put it away.

Just then, two severely injured small monsters were quietly crawling away. Roland pointed his wand at them. Two electric arcs struck the creatures consecutively, roasting them inside and out amidst their convulsions until their limbs twisted into bizarre shapes and they perished completely.

*Hah, it seems that if one uses chain lightning first followed by electric arcs, the damage dealt by the arcs increases significantly.*

Among the dozen or so small monsters, many had merely lost consciousness. Thus, after inspecting them, Roland proceeded to finish them off with electric arcs. The injured monsters had already been four-tenths cooked; after taking the secondary electrical damage from the arcs, they were thoroughly done to eight-tenths.

Just as Roland finished dealing with the final carcass, a massive figure lunged suddenly from behind him. Roland sidestepped and evaded her.

The one who had just lunged at Roland was none other than Miss Anna. Taking advantage of the gap while Roland was disposing of the monsters, she had mustered all her strength to break free from the wizard’s hat, then launched a sneak attack on him.

Although Roland had been busy handling the monsters, he had kept his guard up against her all along. Furthermore, Anna retained less than ten percent of her strength and her movements were exceedingly sluggish. Consequently, Roland easily dodged out of the way.

—"Anna! It’s Roland... *cough, cough, cough*... Be reasonable... *cough, cough, cough*..." A weak voice drifted from the shack.

Upon hearing the plea from the hut, Anna still bared her teeth and let out a vicious roar. She glared fiercely at Roland, nursing a fierce desire to attack him.

Roland deliberately took a step closer toward the shack, causing Anna to emit an even more ferocious growl.

*Oh, so she simply doesn't want me to approach the shack, huh? Heh.*

Looking at Anna’s prone posture on the ground, Roland wore a grim smile. He silently recited an incantation to make the wizard’s hat hover above his head, then strode toward the hut.

Furious, Anna lunged savagely at Roland. Yet the wizard’s hat in mid-air flew straight toward her.

At that moment, Anna was still airborne and entirely unable to dodge. She could only watch in despair as she plunged headfirst into the wizard’s hat.

Even when severely wounded, Anna possessed terrifying strength. But no matter how great the raw force of a brainless creature might be, it was useless against the methods of a wizard. In the end, she was easily manipulated by Roland.

With a thud, Anna crashed onto the ground.

Watching Anna writhing on the floor, Roland wore a wicked, sinister grin as he rolled up his sleeves and walked over. He snatched the wizard’s hat and the hem of her skirt from her legs, exposing her smooth backside.

"Heh heh heh, you're hurt this badly and you still dare bare your teeth at me? Call me daddy!"

Slap, slap, slap...

Roland rained heavy swats onto Anna’s behind, turning it bright red in just a few strikes.

Anna struggled desperately, but no matter how she thrashed, she could not shake off the wizard’s hat. It infuriated her so much that she kicked her legs and wept loudly on the spot.

—"Ro—land!! *Cough, cough, cough*..." Another angry and weak voice echoed from the shack.

Slap, slap, slap—Roland kept right on hitting: "That'll teach you not to listen! That'll teach you not to listen! Remember my voice, remember your grandpa's face! If you ever dare bare your teeth at me again, I'll hang you up and whip you!"

Anna burst into loud, bitter tears.