After Cai descended to the ground, the dark entity began to take shape, its surface color changing and settling into a new form.
The "tangible curse" that emerged from Isabella's body transformed into a muscular pink rabbit; standing tall like an altar, with the thickness of a tree trunk, and fierce eyes.
"Did that woman steal carrots from rabbits before? Is that why she was cursed?"
It's understandable for Caicolour to think like that, especially because the last time she broke a curse, the curse took the form of a rabbit to stop her.
However, there was a slight difference:
The demonic rabbit Caicolour saw last time looked like a general, while this pink rabbit seemed more like a member of the "rabbit royal family."
A square object fell on the head of the pink rabbit, revealing its true form to Caicolour, a beautifully crafted golden crown.
An accessory not to be worn lightly, coupled with its inherent noble aura, made Caicolour suspect the rabbit's identity: "Are you the Rabbit Queen, or perhaps the Rabbit Princess?"
This guess was undoubtedly correct. As a reward for her cleverness, the pink rabbit once again slammed down the silver hammer in its hand.
The earth's surface immediately rose in layers, like stairs ascending to high places, one block higher than the last.
The gardeners were delighted by this sight.
For every battle that erupted in the garden, the soil would be overturned, making their work much easier.
The pink rabbit, of course, did not understand the gardeners' thoughts. It simply opened its mouth and spoke human language clearly, "The birthing and burying, the land obeys my will..."
This was a chant; this rabbit, not even considered a living being in strict terms, could perform a chant that even high-level creatures might struggle with; just this ability alone made it more formidable than most monsters!
During the chant, the chunks of soil gathered into a circle, enveloped by black liquid flowing on the ground, which it absorbed and transformed into metallic material.
This was an advanced transformation of earth magic. Caicolour, with her rich experience, could see through the trick being played.
While the opponent was showing off a new move, she couldn't just stand by and watch.
Seizing this rare battle opportunity, Caicolour planned to conduct an experiment.
After years of training, her own strength was already difficult to improve. Only her eyes could continue to grow stronger.
The power of her forbidden spell lay within Caicolour's eyes. When she made eye contact with her target, the target would be instantly hypnotized.
In general:
Unless the opponent's strength greatly surpassed hers or the creature could not be measured by common sense, they would inevitably fall under the spell;
With this move alone, Caicolour could take down all opponents, including those capable of Nation-Toppling;
However, that alone was not enough. For instance, Charley, who had crossed swords with her in the past, had a strength level similar to hers.
When the forbidden spell was cast, Charley was momentarily affected but quickly reacted, breaking free from the spell's control before it took hold.
For particularly challenging opponents of the same level, the hypnotic forbidden spell might not have a lasting effect.
Taking this into account, Caicolour decided to enhance her eyes.
There was a perfect test subject right before her eyes.
The pink rabbit was a life transformed by the "tangible curse" and was inherently different from the conventional definition of "creature."
If Caicolour could control or influence the actions of the pink rabbit through her forbidden spell, it would signify an enhancement of her forbidden spell power.
To achieve this, she needed to find a way to make eye contact with the rabbit and make it look at her.
At the moment, the pink rabbit's eyes were still fixated on the metallic ball forming in front of it.
The silver hammer was held like a cue stick by the pink rabbit, ready to strike forward in the next moment.
The metallic ball flew out and, after a brief moment in mid-air, rapidly descended to land exactly where Caicolour was standing.
Caicolour now had to be cautious and not use excessive force, or she would lose her training subject, similar to a white mouse.
With this in mind, Caicolour focused on using swordsmanship as her primary method of attack and defense, with magic as a supplementary tool.
As she thrust her cross sword upward, the surface of the ball suddenly trembled; the next moment, dozens of black slender tentacles extended from various parts of the ball; some wrapped around the sword's edge, while others attacked Caicolour.
"Even as a queen, you are still of the 'demonic rabbit' clan," Caicolour arbitrarily categorized the rabbit, rotating her body in place as she deftly exchanged the sword between her hands.
The difficulty of this move lay in:
Watching the direction of the attacking tentacles with her eyes, using her legs to react accordingly, moving her body slightly away from the closest tentacle; all while her hands must continue to move, each hand making opposite movements to the legs.
If the left leg retreated, the right hand had to grip the sword and thrust forward. If the right leg stepped forward, the left hand had to take the sword and strike backward.
If moving diagonally, the “cross-cut” technique couldn't be maintained; at that point, Caicolour had to make the sword blade rotate around her turning body by 180 degrees before making the cut.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Caicolour managed to cut down nearly ten tentacles. Even after they fell to the ground, she remained vigilant of the damaged tentacles, not letting her guard down.
She slid back half a meter, and almost in the next moment, the tentacles, originally at her feet, rooted themselves in the ground and rapidly grew upwards.
"Grant me searing punishment..."
Caicolour moved her left hand in front of her, clenched it in mid-air, and a scorching wall of fire appeared behind the rapidly growing tentacles.
Caicolour hurled the cross sword towards the front, guiding it to pierce through the fire wall, engulfing the sword in flames.
The target of the Fire Cross Sword was the ball located behind the tentacles; no matter how fast they grew, fire attacks had a restraining effect on them.
At the instant the sword tip made contact with the attacking tentacle's end, flames spread out, creating a dish of dark cuisine - "Roasted Tentacles."
The first obstacle was burned, and Caicolour estimated that the troublesome entity would react soon.
As she expected, just before the metal ball was to be pierced, the golden crown flew rapidly from the pink rabbit's head to block it.
The cross sword flipped upwards, and like the crown, it changed direction perfectly; based on previous experience, Caicolour understood that even if the crown's movement lagged slightly, it would easily catch up to the sword with its extraordinary speed.
Given that the crown's actions were synchronized, there was no chance of outpacing it.
In light of this, Caicolour employed a clever tactic, utilizing fire magic for this moment!
As the cross sword turned upward and the blade aimed down at the ball from above, tentacles from the ball surface simultaneously attacked. But the flames surrounding the sword made them ineffective, with any tentacle touching the sword blade instantly burnt to a crisp upon contact.
The situation for the ball was dire, so the crown quickly changed its direction to stop the sword before it struck.
At that moment, to the pink rabbit's surprise, there was an unexpected change.
In an instant, the intangible fire separated from the tangible sword, transforming into a fiery blade just like its physical counterpart, aiming for the crown.
To the unsuspecting eyes of the pink rabbit, it seemed like the dangerous entity at that moment was trying to prevent the crown's approach.
Crack!
Nevertheless, that didn't matter. By the time the crown separated and before it touched the tip of the sword, a line appeared in the middle of the crown, splitting the square object into two equal halves; the sword landed right in the gap between the two halves of the crown.
Snap!
It was all according to Caicolour's plan.
As the burning noise sounded, in the moment before passing through the gap, the shape of the fiery sword suddenly became irregular, turning into a blazing inferno similar to the physical sword.
The flames spread out, blocking the escape routes of the two halves of the crown, forming a high-temperature area that trapped the crown inside.
With a sharp slicing sound, the ball's fate was also sealed, split in half vertically by the cross sword.
The pink rabbit realized it had been played.
From the outset, her opponent's intention wasn't merely to block but to completely destroy the crown, hence splitting the offensive and creating the fiery sword moments before.
"Sorry, your plan was already seen through by me!"
Seizing the brief moment of surprise in the pink rabbit, Caicolour leaped towards it; then the pink rabbit, noticing the sword wasn't pulled back, abandoned the idea of retreat.
Bending down, it raised a powerful fist and raised the hammer with the other hand.
The pink rabbit didn't believe that the opponent could overpower it in strength after losing the weapon. Lowering its head, its gaze fixed on the target on the ground as it moved.
The moment had finally arrived.
In that instant, Caicolour's beautiful eyes widened slightly, the pattern of the Forbidden Spell manifesting in her eyes, spreading a wave of influence over will and spirit.
The pink rabbit's punch still connected, but this time, it struck itself!
As the hypnosis took effect, Caicolour realized:
In today's actual combat, her Forbidden Spell had become even stronger.
The pink rabbit, exerting a bit more force, sent itself flying into the air. While it was still in mid-air, Caicolour issued a new command:
"I'm terribly sorry, but please go down..."
The more humble and apologetic Caicolour appeared during the fight, the more precarious the situation became for her opponent.
Though not losing consciousness, the pink rabbit, with its right hand holding the hammer tightly, continued the uncontrollable motion.
Even as its free left hand reached out to grab the right hand to halt its assault, carrying the hammer with full force, it inexorably drew closer and closer, until
--- splat!
A sound like a bursting water balloon reverberated.
Impacted by the catastrophic wounds it caused, the pink rabbit's body disintegrated on the spot, transforming into thousands of droplets of black liquid falling to the ground.
"With this, the second curse has been lifted."
Cai's fingers brushed against the edge of her eyelids; she looked up and exhaled a sweet breath.
