Chapter 281: When the Heavens Fall

  The feel of her skin and hair in his hands, the temperature, the scent in his nose, the taste in his mouth—all of it exploded in his mind with a roar. All the suppressed gloom and darkness vanished, replaced in a frenzied manner by vitality and life force.

  For an instant, Talise was surprised, then she tried desperately to break free. But Ethan's grip was powerful, a force that seemed to want to crush her, and she was completely unable to break free.

  The next moment, she was pinned to the ground by him. The hand around her waist had moved to her chest, and even through her leather armor, she could feel the pressure from his palm. A strange, tingling sensation swept through her body. After a moment of powerlessness, shame and anger surged, and she gathered all her strength into a fist, striking toward Ethan's head.

  But this fist was directly caught by Ethan. What came from his throat now was a low, beastly roar. Although his mind was temporarily lost, his combat instincts remained. Especially for his current impulse, these instincts functioned without the slightest hindrance. As a living being, among all actions, the one most full of life, most vibrant, most fascinating, most capable of making one forget death, was the very impulse he felt now. This impulse was the fundamental reason life could continue, the purest release of life itself.

  He pressed down on her. The hand on her chest grabbed her leather armor and tore it away. The armor and all the clothing beneath were ripped apart. Beneath the tattered chest-binding cloth, her breasts were exposed. He grasped them, feeling his blood rushing and burning.

  For Ethan, this was the greatest instinct and impulse to seek life and forget death; he was completely immersed in it. But for Talise, this was an unprecedented terror. She had never imagined she would encounter such a thing. A chill on her chest, followed by a warm yet rough touch. In her extreme terror, her other hand wildly jabbed toward Ethan's eyes. Battle Qi and magical light were both flaring. In this situation, she was completely unable to distinguish whether she should be struggling, fighting, or killing.

  This hand was also caught by Ethan without him even looking. Then both her hands were seized by one of his, pressed together above her head. Ethan tore off his own clothes with one hand. Their naked skin pressed together, and both of them trembled simultaneously.

  Feeling the temperature and heat from the skin against hers, Talise was terrified. But her greatest fear was not of these things themselves; it was the fear of herself. She felt that something deep within her own heart was also stirring, on the verge of being triggered, wanting to intertwine and respond with the sensations on her body. Her entire body had grown soft and hot. Therefore, she was even more terrified.

  Because of this fear, even though she was already soft, tingling, and powerless to struggle, she still struggled desperately. But she immediately felt his legs move between hers, prying them open and pressing against her. Even through their respective clothing, she could feel that alien, scorching heat. Then that hand slid down her back. Everywhere it passed, her muscles went limp and tingling. The feeling paused slightly at her waist due to the obstruction of her clothes, then immediately plunged inside.

  A strange and irresistible shock finally completely broke through Talise's thoughts and will. She opened her mouth and screamed like a madwoman. The sound was so sharp and loud, she had never heard anything like it from herself.

  From the very beginning, she had kept her mouth tightly shut, trying not to make a sound. First, because she was resisting his mouth, and second, because she remembered Aimee was sleeping not far away. But at this moment, she had forgotten everything. She instinctively felt that she was about to break down completely, and she used the last of her will to struggle to let out this scream.

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  The scream echoed in the vast cavern, then traveled far into the distance. And Ethan's ear was right next to her mouth. The sharp pain from the sound, which felt like it could pierce his eardrum, made his actions pause, and his consciousness cleared a little.

  As his actions paused, the sharp pain in his eardrum immediately turned into a real, drilling pain. Talise bit down on Ethan's ear. The scream from moments ago was not the voice of a knight. This action was not the action of a knight. This was the voice and action of a woman.

  Such a pain only cleared Ethan's head partially. The desire that had already filled every part of his body could not be dispelled so easily. But immediately, another feeling did just that. Ethan jumped up abruptly. The only thing that could be stronger than this tangible impulse was an equally tangible sense of imminent danger. Ethan not only jumped up himself, but also grabbed Talise from the ground and leaped away with her.

  The ground, which had been calm and cool just moments before, had suddenly become warm and was even trembling slightly. These were just the surface abnormalities. Ethan and Talise could both feel that a vast elemental magic was gathering beneath the ground where they had just lain. Judging by the force of that magic, it was almost equivalent to the magical power of a Forbidden Spell.

  But it seemed this was all it did. Those terrifying magical elements were only gathering a hundred meters below the ground, causing a reaction. From here, one could only feel some weak vibrations and heat.

  The tension and emotions of the two of them eased slightly. Talise broke free from Ethan and jumped away on her own. She ran over, picked up her torn clothes, and hurriedly put them on haphazardly. Her originally tied-up hair had also come loose. Her face was flushed red, full of rage, killing intent, and shame. And there seemed to be a luster in her eyes that had never been seen before.

  At this time, Ethan had also mostly returned to normal. Recalling everything that had just happened, he also felt a bit awkward and at a loss. He let out a long sigh, not knowing what to say. On his ear, besides the stinging pain, there was also a hot, wet feeling. He reached up to touch it, and his hand came away covered in blood. Only then did he realize that Talise had bitten off a piece of his earlobe, but he didn't seem to have seen her spit it out.

  The two of them fell into a strange stalemate. Neither spoke, nor moved.

  A small, thin figure stumbled and ran out from a passage not far away, finally drawing their attention. "What's wrong? Was that your voice just now, sister? What's this magic under the ground?" Aimee staggered over. She hadn't slept for long and was still very weak.

  Talise walked over and held her in her arms, still saying nothing, continuing to stare coldly and fiercely at Ethan with a look that could kill. Aimee's big eyes looked back and forth between the two of them. From their appearances, she seemed to understand something. She also didn't speak.

  This was really not the time to be in a silent stalemate, but he truly didn't know what to do. Ethan slapped his own forehead hard, half-sighing, half-groaning.

  "You take those scrolls. Go back the way you came, quickly... It's too dangerous here, it seems something has happened." Ethan pointed to the scrolls looted from the Tower of Fangs that had fallen to the ground when he tore off his clothes. Fortunately, the pouch containing the hilt of The Black Star and the pouch containing Jessica's ashes and the gem were still tied to his waist. He went over and picked up his sword, not daring to look at the expressions of the two of them again. He turned and ran in the direction of the path marked on the map in his memory.

  As soon as he turned and ran, the two Dread Knights, who had been motionless there, also moved, following his figure. Very quickly, the three figures completely disappeared into the darkness of the cavern passage. Only Talise and Aimee remained, holding each other tightly.

  The ground was still trembling, and heating up.

  Boulders rolled down from the cavern ceiling, as dense as rain. Most Drow had never seen rain; this was their first time seeing it. But this rain was not water; it was fire and stone.

  The stone layer of the cavern, like a dome sky, was glowing red and trembling. Then those half-melted boulders broke away from above and fell one after another, carrying fiery-red trajectories through a kilometer's height. There were boulders two or three meters in diameter, and also ones the size of rockeries. But regardless of size, each red, giant shadow that struck the ground let out a colossal boom. The half-melted boulders shattered and splattered everywhere, bringing with them waves of screams and wails. The stench of burning and the smell of blood completely filled this vast cavern space in just a few seconds. Half a minute ago, this was still Othello, the largest Drow city. Now, it was just a scene from hell. Everywhere there was fire, explosions, corpses, screams, and death. And also the huge boulders still falling from the cavern ceiling.

  "Stop him, stop him quickly!" Drow Matron Mother Choi Hana screamed like a madwoman. Her upper body was naked, and below her waist, she was only wrapped in a bedsheet she had grabbed. She waved a long whip, directing other Drow warriors. The agile Drow, regardless of gender, regardless of whether they were warriors or priestesses, all who could hear her voice surged in the direction her whip pointed.

  Matron Mother Choi Hana was the master of Othello, the master of this largest Drow city, the master of the greatest clan, the leader of the Council of Elders. She had just been awakened from the quiet service of three handsome human male sex slaves by a huge elemental fluctuation. Rushing out of her room, she had already seen such a hellish scene.

  Her own magical power was not weak, but facing a scene similar to a Forbidden Spell, she was completely powerless. However, she could track this magical fluctuation to find the culprit. She knew that the only way now was to stop him.