Martial Online.

"S-stop this right this instant!" Coraline let out a blood-curdling scream. "Attacking Inquisitor is a criminal offense!"

Smack—Ambrose smashed his fist through her face and painted the pavement below with her blood.

"You must be new." He scoffed and stood up over her sprawling body. "You were recruited recently and got immediately promoted to Red Inquisitor because of your strength.

"Am I correct?"

"Cough!" Coraline coughed up blood.

"You thought the Inquisitors were invincible, making you arrogant, especially because of your strength." Ambrose wiped his bloodied hands on his shirt.

"That's why you came to investigate my whereabouts by yourself alone. You probably didn't report to anyone else either, wanting to impress your higher-ups by capturing me alone."

"F-fuck you…" Coraline whispered painfully and tried to lift herself up from the pavement. "I-I am the g-great genius, Coraline Bridger!"

"I-I'll become Black Inquisitor and become leader of one of the Inquisitor headquarters. That is my future. How dare you, a filthy criminal, lay a hand on me?!"

"You become the leader of nothing." Ambrose drew his wooden sword and slashed through her throat.

Coraline collapsed against a wall, a lifeless look on her eyes, and she slowly fell to the ground, a pond of blood gathering around her.

Ambrose scoffed, sheathed his sword, and turned around to walk back to the bookstore. However, then he stopped and sighed.

He looked over his shoulder and said, "You should've acted dead. Fool."

Coraline stood back up like a stringless puppet, looking unsettling, as if she wasn't in control of her own body. 

Her face was pale and cold-looking, her eyes were dead-looking, and there was a bloodied smile on her face.

It was as if she wasn't her anymore.

"Kanone." Ambrose appeared in front of her and and smashed his wooden sword in the place where her heart should be.

Coraline's motionless body flew across the alleyway and crashed into a concrete wall. A human-shaped dent appeared in the wall.

It looked like every bone in Coraline's body was broken. Her limbs were twisted, and her head was turned 180 degrees as if she were an owl.

"What the fuck is she?" Ambrose frowned.

As if she didn't care about any of those lethal injuries, Coraline stood right back up, and all her twisted limbs snapped back to their place.

Her pale, cold-looking face started having color, as if the drained blood had returned to her body. In an instant, she looked alive again.

"Haha!" Coraline laughed like a mad witch. "I am one of the most important geniuses among the Inquisitors. They are raising me to become the next leader!

"You think I won't have my ways of survival?!

"Are you stupid?

"I won't die, no matter what you try, insect!"

"Hmm, want to be a guinea pig?" Ambrose asked with a smile.

"Huh?" Coraline scowled with confusion. "What do you mean, trash?"

Ambrose's star-shaped pupil glowed with an otherworldly light, and he reached out his hand towards her, as if he were trying to grab something.

"A genius, you say?" He smirked. "That can be taken away."

Coraline felt her body turn colder as a strange, transparent light oozed out of her body. It was as if warmth was getting sucked out of her body.

"W-what is this?"

"You indeed have a lot of fate. As expected from genius." Ambrose reached out to the transparent light, and it started entering his body.

He felt his body turn warmer, as if someone had turned on the heater just next to him.

'This looks different than when Mars used it.' Ambrose thought. 'Could it be that I can steal fate faster?'

It seemed like that was indeed the case, as all of Coraline's fate left her body and entered his.

She, one of the Inquisitor's greatest geniuses, lost all of her future in a matter of seconds.

"Ahhh…" Ambrose let out a powerful sigh. 'This feeling is intoxicating.'

"W-what is this…" Coraline fell to her knees and looked like she had become depressed all of a sudden.

"I don't feel like doing anything anymore…

"Why did I become an Inquisitor? Ah, it doesn't matter; it's too bothersome."

Ambrose walked over to her and checked her pockets. He then found a strange necklace hanging from her neck.

As he touched it, it suddenly cracked and became a pile of ash.

'Strange…'

"Cough!" Coraline coughed up blood and collapsed on the ground, with blood pouring out of her orifices.

Her limbs all snapped, her neck broke, and all her bones shattered. It was like she suffered all the damage that had accumulated in her entire life!

'That necklace was the reason for her regeneration!' Ambrose concluded. 'However, once she loses the necklace, all her accumulated damage will return to her.

'I guess that is a side effect of cheating death.'

After sheathing his sword, Ambrose returned to the Whispering Pages through the broken walls and went straight upstairs.

The door was barricaded.

"Bella!" Ambrose shouted and knocked on the barricaded door. "It's over now. You both are all right?"

"Y-yes!" Bella's voice came from the other side of the door. "Are you all right?"

"Good…" Ambrose heaved a sigh of relief and said, "Close the store for tonight. I'll bring some help to clean up this mess."

"Will other Inquisitors come?" Bella asked worryingly.

"No, I'll make sure of that." Ambrose said. 'She was alone, and Kiryu will make sure that no one else ventures here.'

Thud—he heard the stuff used to barricade the door get thrown out of the way, and then the door opened slowly.

Bella pushed the door open and smiled after seeing him without any injuries.

"Brother!" Emma came rushing and hugged his waist. "Who was she?"

"A nobody." Ambrose rubbed her head and said, "Can you go close the store for us, please?"

"All right!" Emma nodded urgently and rushed downstairs.

After she was out of sight, Bella entered his embrace and kissed him on the lips.

Once they separated from the kiss, Bella asked. "Will everything be all right??"

"It will be." Ambrose wrapped his arms around her and held her close. "However, I'll have to take a trip soon."

"Trip where?" Bella asked curiously.

"To Yatagarasu. I'll have to visit a place near that." Ambrose sighed. "I'll take a train, but the trip alone will probably take a few days, a week max."

"Oh…" Bella looked saddened but realized that there must be a good reason for it. "When will you leave?"

"Tomorrow morning." He said. "I'll try to be done with it quickly. There are some urgent things I need to learn."

"Okay…" Bella touched his robust chest and smiled shyly. "I'll be missing you, so tonight, I'll need you to fill my loneliness."

"Mm, I don't mind staying awake all night." Ambrose smiled and planted a kiss on her lips. "I can always sleep on the train."

Bella smiled brightly and then asked. "Do I really smell like you right now? Do you think Emma can smell it?"

"Haha, does it matter if she does?" Ambrose asked with a smile. "I don't think she will know what it means."

"But what if my customers can smell it as well…" Bella sniffed her sleeve and shrugged her shoulders. "I can't smell anything different."

"It's good, I think." Ambrose touched her buttocks and gave her a slight squeeze. "At least they'll know you are taken."

"Keep your hands in check." Bella slapped his hands away playfully and glanced downstairs. "I can hear Emma coming, dummy!"

"Mm, I'll suppose I'll go get my students to help repair the shop." Ambrose said and rubbed her hair. "I might have broken the windows and a few walls."