A sonorous boom echoed through the woods as William and the Cat Sage hit the ground in a heap. Noodle let out a bark of laughter as he rushed forward and vaulted onto the dragon"s back, eager to resume his attack.
Nekomata could not help the sigh of relief that escaped his lips as he watched the man and dog bas.h.i.+ng the dragon mercilessly. He looked adoringly at the meteorite fragment cradled in his paws. He was not sure exactly what the fragment was, but he knew that it was good for supercats.
The dragon lay on the gra.s.s, immobile. It was bleeding heavily from large, open wounds that were covered all over its back. William stood triumphantly on the defeated creature as he checked out his mission panel. His eyes lit up when he saw that he had been awarded the permanent superpowers. He could barely contain his excitement.
As the saying goes, "You don"t know what you have until it"s gone". Having experienced the despair of losing his mighty powers, he now cherished them with all his heart. He treasured it so much that he headed straight for the dragon instead of sneaking up on Nekomata to steal the fragment.
That intention, however, was still very much on his mind. He was feeling confident and he wanted to take action. He turned to face the husky and Nekomata.
"Since this guy"s been defeated," he spoke in heavily-accented Mandarin, "We should split the fragment between us."
Immediately, Nekomata hid the fragment behind him and turned his body away from William. Noodle raised two clenched fists in front of him, ready to fight the man.
William narrowed his eyebrows. If looks could kill, the cat and dog before him would have dropped dead.
Noodle began to bark, "Hmph, did you think you can just waltz in here and take what is ours? You"ll first have to get permission from my two cats!"
The husky had been undefeatable since he got his paws on Fish Ball and Rice Cake. This success had bolstered his confidence levels tremendously. He was getting c.o.c.ky. He would have attacked even if this was Zhao Yao, much less some random apostle.
He was not afraid.
Once Noodle punctuated his statement, he bent his knees and propelled himself towards William, leaving a whirl of dust and gra.s.s in his trail.
William remained rooted to the spot. There was a sharp glint in his eye as he raised his fists, ready to strike back.
Before the two could collide, Noodle found himself losing strength and speed rapidly. His new-found power had inexplicably disappeared. He found himself losing balance and tumbling forwards clumsily, stopping right before William"s feet. Even the robustness of his paws was gone. He failed to grip the two supercats tightly enough and they flew out of his grasp.
Noodle lifted his head and his eyes met William"s cold gaze. In that instant, the husky knew that there was no way he could fight back, so he stuck out his tongue and started whining, "I"m sorry, boss. I"ve made a mistake."
William did not understand what his sounds meant, so he grabbed the dog by the neck and lifted him off the gra.s.s. Noodle did not fight back or demonstrate any of its previous superpower abilities. It seemed like he had reverted to being a normal dog. This made William laugh in relief, "Thank G.o.d."
He then turned his attention to Nekomata, whom was still holding onto the fragment.
"Your partner is in my hands now. If you want him to live, you"ll hand that fragment to me."
A pained expression made its way to Nekomata"s face. The meteorite fragment in his paw was magical. He could feel himself growing stronger by the second just from holding it. That felt a million times better than the high that the best catmint could give him.
However, he did not want to let Ho Hao Cang die either.
William let out a derisive snort as the cat weighed his options. He tightened his vice grip around the husky"s neck. Noodle"s tongue rolled out of his open mouth. His face was beginning to turn purple.
"I"m serious. Give me the fragment or I"ll wring this idiotic dog"s neck," he threatened.
Nekomata let out a sigh. He was left with no choice. He had to give up the fragment. However, he wanted to make sure that the man released Noodle before he handed it to him. As long as Noodle"s safety was no longer compromised like it was now, he could slip into spirit mode and steal the fragment back eventually.
Xiao Yu, who had been carefully watching everything, turned to Zhao Yao.
"Hey, shouldn"t we step in now?" she asked.
Zhao Yao shook his head no, "Don"t worry, no serious harm will come their way. This is the perfect opportunity to teach them a lesson. Those two aren"t well-disciplined enough, which is why they"re stirring trouble all the way here. Let them suffer a little more. They"ll be extra thankful when we rescue them and they"ll listen to every word you say in the future."
With that, he snapped his fingers. In a matter of seconds, Matcha"s head had popped out from the extradimensional belly. A serving tray was balanced on top of his head. A steaming mug of coffee sat in the middle.
Zhao Yao lifted the mug to his lips and took a sip.
"See how well-behaved my cats are?" he asked, grinning.
Xiao Yu nodded thoughtfully, "I"ll train Fish Ball and Noodle to cook and wait on me once we"re home. It"ll look so cool."
Back in the center of the battle, Nekomata had finally decided to toss the fragment towards William. The man caught it easily. His eyes shone with excitement as his fingers brushed the fragment.
"I"ve finally got you."
His excitement had transformed into some kind of fanatic zeal. It was like all the stars had aligned. He had indestructible superpowers, permanently this time round. He also had the meteorite fragment. Best of all, he was on an island populated entirely by supercats. He could set up his own superpower faction right here, right now.
He was so absorbed by his thoughts that he did not notice that the dragon beneath his feet had begun to stir. There was movement behind his eyelids before they started to open.
Cat Sage had lost because the fragment had been taken from him. Now that it was in William"s hand, the dragon was close enough to once again receive the power it radiated.
By keeping the fragment on him all the time, Cat Sage had never stopped growing stronger. He had always known that one day, this would reach a tipping point. When that happened, his steady improvements would c.u.mulate into an evolution for the ages.
He never expected that it would take place right now.
His heart was beating rapidly, pumping bursts of blood through his veins to every part of his body. He started to shed his scales like how a snake would moult its skin. They were giving way so that the bones, joints, and muscles that made up his large frame could grow even bigger and stronger.
When William finally noticed that this was happening, he cast Noodle aside and pelted punch after punch at the dragon. Unfortunately, the damage he incurred was minimal. It was mainly Noodle and Rice Cake who had destroyed Cat Sage"s defences previously after all. Without them, he did not stand a chance.
William battered the wounds on the dragon"s back ceaselessly, but he could not stop the evolution. Strips of solid muscle were blooming on top of the injuries and were intertwined to form a stronger, st.u.r.dier body. A faint golden glow was radiating from it.
At the same time, two mounds of flesh had sprouted on either side of the dragon"s head. They mushroomed at an alarming rate and while William did not know for sure what they were, he could already sense the menace within.