"Grrr" Using all his remaining strength, Fenrir managed to let out a low cry when he saw Cale enter the room. On the other hand, all of Cale's attention was glued to Katherine.

'I walked so silently just to avoid running into this woman, and yet right where the passageway should begin I see...this?' Cale's jaw twitched slightly in exasperation.

"A skull?" Katherine's face confronted after seeing a skeleton rush into the room. Silently, she looked around, but when she saw no one in the unyielding darkness, her breathing deepened.

'Isn't that Fenrir?' Cale finally managed to notice the small wolf under Katherine's feet, who was helplessly trying to get away from her gnashes. Fenrir's entire body was drenched in blood, making him almost unrecognizable.

"What the hell are you?" After a few seconds of silence, Katherine spoke, her eyes filled with killing intent. She couldn't understand what this creature was, nor how it had appeared here, but no one in the world could escape so easily after interfering with her torturing time.

"Miss Katherine, would you mind listening---"

Bang!

Before Cale could even finish his sentence, Katherine appeared right in front of him and hurled a punch at his skull. Luckily, Cale was quick enough to react in time, dodging to the side.

The blow went straight through the wall, creating a deep crack.

"How can a skull talk?" asked Katherine as her gaze drifted to the retreating person, "Wait...isn't that the skeleton we brought to the kingdom? How can he move? A spy?"

"Miss Katherine, you are quite the impatient woman," Cale said nonchalantly as he took the handle of the blade in his hand.

"A simple puppet calling me an impatient woman? What do you even know about me?!" Katherine charged forward again, but the next words that came out of Cale's mouth forced her to stop.

"Whether you're a princess or not, it doesn't change the fact that you're weak. A simple early expert dares to challenge me? Don't make me laugh" Cale said casually.

'Is he stronger than me?' Katherine wondered, trying to sense any Qi around the skeleton, but even after a few seconds, she failed to feel anything.

"If you retreat, I won't kill you...But if you attack me, I won't even think of sparing you," Cale muttered again before adding, "Maybe I should take the lives of everyone in the kingdom too before your brothers come back."

'Damn! Is he really that strong?' Katherine couldn't help but wonder. It was common knowledge that if a person seemed to have no Qi around them, it either meant that they were too strong for comprehension, or that they were simply too weak.

'Even if it costs me my own life, I must attack this monster' Katherine's eyes gleamed with killing intent as she prepared to attack. She was already in deep shit after the incident with the gem, but now if she also let a strange creature escape after wandering around the kingdom, she would simply be killed by her brothers.

'Didn't work?' Cale sighed inwardly. Initially, he wasn't that great of a liar, but he thought that this ability would improve since he literally couldn't show any emotions now.

"I see that the princess of the Romulus Kingdom doesn't care about the lives of the residents. Well, that's to be expected," Cale said as he scratched his back lightly. Suddenly, he charged into the dark hallway, passing through the countless cells.

"?!" Katherine stared after the retreating figure for a second, aghast, before her gaze sharpened, "You asshole! Wait!"

"Nnn..nnn" Fenrir barked at the sight of the approaching figure as he rose out of pure determination. Unconsciously, he crawled out of the room, hoping the skeleton hadn't forgotten about him.

Bang!

Katherine caught up in a flash and hurled a kick at Cale's head. She was surprised to see a blade appear right at her feet as she stopped in mid-attack.

"You're physically stronger, but your combat training and Qi control are lacking," Cale propelled a punch towards Katherine, who rolled to the side in response.

"Ahh!" With a loud scream, Katherine jumped towards Cale, extending her knee forward. In rejoinder, Cale calmly turned 180 degrees, but he was startled by the sudden pain in his hand.

Thud!

After hearing a slight thud, Cale looked down, only to see his own hand lying on the ground.

'She's pretty fast,' Cale thought as he indifferently picked up the hand from the ground. Unfortunately, it was impossible to reattach it again, but Cale tried not to panic and focus on the current situation, so he just threw it back onto the ground.

'She managed to splay her other leg out while she was in mid-air.' Cale gripped the hilt of the sword, preparing to engage in combat once again. Running away was no longer an option since the path was blocked, meaning that Cale had to defeat this person somehow.

Bang! Bang!

The fight went on for a few more minutes with it being completely one-sided. Since Cale had lost his arm, it was even harder to resist.

Cale was slowly pushed back until he was finally forced into one of the cells.

"Are you going to talk now? How did you get into my kingdom...No, first of all, what the hell are you? You don't seem to be a puppet," Katherine asked as a wide grin formed on her face.

"Princess Katherine, I know you have a lot of questions, but before that, I want to say something."

An inner smile formed in Cale's soul as he chuckled, "You should pay more attention to your surroundings."

As the words ended, Cale charged forward, and just as he was about to engage in combat with Katherine, he ducked, sliding through the ground and leaving the cell.

"YOU!" Katherine was about to follow Cale from behind, but suddenly a loud clatter rang in her ears, "What the hell do you think you're doing!"

"It was a great fight. Unfortunately, I have to go now" Cale closed the entrance to the cell and locked it with the keys he had taken from the black box earlier. From the beginning of the fight, he had known it was a lost cause, so he devised a plan to overcome the power gap.

"I'm going to kill you! Open the door this instant!" Katherine grabbed the bars of the cell, trying to pry them open. Unfortunately, her strength was insufficient to do so.

"I would be glad to, but it is truly time for me to go" Cale picked up the bone from the floor, and just before disappearing from her sight, he added, "By the way, I left you a present back in the professor's room. I'm sure you will enjoy it,"

"WHAT!" Katherine began to pound on the cell with all her possible power, her eyes filled with eternal killing intent.

"Goodbye, Miss" With those words, Cale moved down the dark hallway until he disappeared altogether.

-

"Humans are cruel, aren't they?" Cale stopped right in front of the little wolf, whose entire body was covered in deep cuts. Most of the injuries weren't really life-threatening, which gave Fenrir at least some hope of staying alive.

"Don't worry about it, wolfie. It'll be alright now," Cale gently took Fenrir in his hands and moved further down the hallway, soon disappearing into the unyielding darkness.