By now, Monica had fully realized what was happening. She turned to glare righteously at the short-statured man, her voice ice-cold as she said:
"As a human, you dare to harm your own kind? You scum, you disgrace!"
Harry merely sneered, a cold smirk tugging at his lips.
"Curse all you want. Soon enough, you won't even have the chance to open your mouths!"
Although John's immunity to the aphrodisiac had caught him off guard, Harry was far from panicking.
As a Puppeteer, he commanded dozens of puppets — and among Silver Rank Awakeners, he was practically invincible simply through sheer numbers.
The more special his prey was, the more excited he became.
"Just obediently become my puppets.
I'll make sure you experience the highest pleasures, even in your despair!"
As he spoke, the tentacles extending from his back writhed violently.
The next moment, a fierce gust of wind roared through the dilapidated shack.
Over a dozen muscular men, all puppets, surged forward in a tidal wave, charging directly at John and Monica.
Each of these puppets was at least Silver Rank.
Though stripped of consciousness and reduced to mere marionettes, they felt neither pain nor fear —
making them ideal instruments of death.
Against ordinary Silver Rank Awakeners, they were an overwhelming force!
John, however, gripped the Divine Serpent Sword tightly.
With a single swing, the sword blazed forth like a golden rainbow.
Any puppet that clashed with the blade was immediately shattered — bones snapping, tendons severed.
Though John couldn't yet fully unleash the Divine Serpent Sword's true power,
its sheer sharpness alone was more than enough.
These silver-ranked puppets were like paper before it.
Within moments, they had suffered devastating losses,
causing Harry's heart to bleed in anguish.
These puppets were his hard-earned assets, gathered through countless battles over the years!
Now, just like that, they were being torn apart.
Panicking, Harry hastily recalled his wounded puppets, his gaze toward John turning vicious.
"You're dead!
You're dead!
Even a god couldn't save you now!"
His short body began to swell, inflating like a balloon.
Meanwhile, his puppets withered visibly, growing thin and frail, unable even to stand straight.
By absorbing the vitality of his puppets, Harry's strength skyrocketed.
In mere seconds, he reached the level of a quasi-Gold Rank Awakener!
An oppressive aura, as heavy as a mountain, radiated outward from his body.
Just then, Monica, standing beside John and preparing to strike, suddenly sensed something behind her.
She whipped around and unleashed a thunderous punch!
The force of the punch tore through the air, creating a sonic boom.
Bang!
A muffled impact echoed as a hidden figure was blasted backward — the red-furred ape had launched a surprise attack!
Monica's punch hit the beast's burly arm, causing it to vibrate and go numb.
Its charging figure staggered several steps backward.
The triumphant grin that had been forming on the ape's face immediately vanished, replaced by shock and wariness.
Clearly, it had not expected Monica's strength to be so overwhelming!
"I'll deal with the puppeteer.
You handle this beast,"
Monica called out, stepping forward like a bolt of lightning, charging toward the red-furred ape.
Without Monica's presence, John was left facing Harry alone.
Harry, now bloated and towering, looked down at John with disdain.
"You're finished, boy!
Now that I've absorbed the blood and vitality of over a dozen Awakeners,
even a real Gold Rank would hesitate to fight me!
If you beg for mercy now,
maybe I'll grant you a swift death."
But before he could finish his arrogant tirade—
John simply shook his head.
"Your strength is pathetic,
but your trash talk is world-class."
The moment the words fell, John shot forward, sword gleaming.
"You think your boosted physique can withstand me?"
Harry sneered, throwing a fist forward to meet John's slash head-on,
his face brimming with smug confidence.
Screeeech!
At the moment fist and sword clashed, Harry's face twisted in horror.
His supposedly indestructible fist was effortlessly sliced open,
as easily as a hot knife through butter.
His massive, giant-like body was blown backward like a broken kite.
Not only was his body nowhere near as durable as John's golden blade —
even the strength packed into his punch had been utterly crushed!
Boom!
Harry smashed through one side of the shack, sending dust flying everywhere as he crashed to the ground.
Staring up at John in terror, he finally realized the truth.
He had lost. Completely.
Harry was a quasi-Gold Rank Awakener —
his body tougher than most full Gold Ranks.
And yet John,
a mere Silver Rank in appearance,
had defeated him in a single exchange!
"No!
This is impossible!
Impossible!!"
Harry clutched his shattered fist, his mind spiraling into madness.
But before he could rise again,
John moved.
With a few casual swings of his Divine Serpent Sword,
waves of golden sword energy sliced through the air.
Slash! Slash! Slash!
Harry's limbs were severed cleanly,
and the tentacles connecting him to his puppets were sliced apart in an instant.
Puff!
The backlash of his puppeteer bonds snapping, combined with the searing physical agony,
hit him like a tidal wave.
Harry's screams shook the very rafters of the building.
Both the red-furred ape and Monica shuddered at the sound.
Moments ago, Harry's sudden power surge had filled them with dread —
his aura had been truly terrifying.
And yet, in the blink of an eye, he had been dismantled, reduced to a cripple.
"I knew it.
John is a hidden monster!"
Monica's heart trembled violently.
Meanwhile, the red-furred ape fell into a daze.
If I had attacked John earlier...
I'd be the one lying broken on the floor right now!
The realization was chilling.
Run!
It didn't hesitate.
The ape launched itself into the air like a rocket, aiming to escape into the dense forest beyond.
There, it would have the advantage.
But just as it thought victory was within reach —
Thunk!
A stone — a simple, ordinary stone — landed squarely on its back.
Instantly, its body froze midair, paralyzed.
It dropped like a ragdoll, crashing into the ground.
Monica, having witnessed it all, blinked in stunned disbelief.
Turning her head sharply, she saw John still in the posture of throwing a rock,
looking utterly nonchalant.
What... what just happened?
She, a trained Dark Pugilist, couldn't even properly hurt that monster with a full-powered punch.
Yet John — he had casually thrown a rock — and completely incapacitated it.