Treasure was Hawthorne's one true love. And now, to be grateful for the help he had been given, he even dropped the act. He decided that this was the best way to show his gratitude. Kill them.
Liping reminded him that they were even now, and that there was no need for anybody to die. Hawthorne had no interest in fairness. His eyes were filled with the Demon King's Nectar.
Then there was the sound of a gold coin falling. It seemed harmless at first. Then the ground shook like the steps of a giant. From beneath the coins came a massive, terrifying golden dragon.
Liping pointed it out to Elizabeth, as if she had not already noticed. Annie was in full panic mode. The dragon's roar made the situation worse.
Hawthorne felt he could handle everything with one epic strike. He gave the wives the order to stall the dragon and started powering himself up.
Lo came forward and used the clone technique. She tried to confuse the dragon. The dragon did not even care about the clones. Lo changed tactics and started striking from multiple angles. The dragon did not so much as flinch. It was like poking a rock with a toothpick.
Gasha's turn came. She converted her magic into a shield and threw it at the dragon. She was very proud of her newly upgraded attack. The dragon swung a claw, and Gasha flew away.
Lo was fed up and took out the thousand-person clone technique. She knew no damage would come of it, but the dragon would be distracted. The dragon rained gold coins down, and all the clones were gone in seconds. The coins did not spare the trio either.
Elizabeth was safe inside her protective barrier, and she was noticing Liping's shocking complacency. But she did not know that it was not an act. He was completely frozen. The chaos had literally paralysed him.
Annie summoned a giant bear doll to block the coin storm. Lo was still obsessively stuck on protecting Hawthorne, shielding him from the coins but forgetting herself. Predictably, one of the coins hit her directly on the head.
Hawthorne finally finished charging up and unleashed the lightning flash technique, fully convinced that even a demon spirit could not block it.
When the dust settled, the bubble of overconfidence burst. His attempt to cut down the dragon instead broke his sword into a hundred pieces. The dragon kicked him aside as if he were nothing.
Now in front of them was the four-star demon sect dragon, and it was ready for the trio.
Liping saw Hawthorne get slapped by the dragon's tail and decided that the time had come for the secret trick. Elizabeth was more interested in guessing what was going on in his head. Liping told her to move, otherwise she would become dragon food, and by that he meant himself. Elizabeth did not much like this assistant tone from him.
Annie was not focused on the dragon or on their banter. She was trembling, because the real nightmare had just come into her mind, and she was sure she was not going to get out.
Elizabeth turned to Annie. She placed a hand on Annie's head, and felt something. Something strange, something familiar. A Jim Jim bloodline.
As she looked deeper, Annie's memories flooded in. A happy, peaceful church where little Annie played and laughed. But that piece did not last long. The apostles came and broke everything. There was a memory of a nun who had once been kind, though that woman's smile looked more like a sister's in the memories.
Then the violence started. An apostle choked her, and at that same moment Annie's power exploded. With force terrifying enough to wipe out everything around her. Apostles, children, adults, everyone.
Back to the present. Elizabeth realized that this girl had suppressed her power so deeply that she had suppressed even her own memories. In Elizabeth's eyes, pure stupidity. Annie was a disgrace to her bloodline.
Annie was tearfully apologizing to the children. Elizabeth said to her directly, when you are done crying, get up and do something. Or else sit here and let the dragon come.
Elizabeth's words struck a chord in Annie. Something shifted. Guilt was replaced by purpose. Protecting Liping.
She used her magic summons, and different kinds of puppets went towards the dragon. The dragon cried out and kicked the panda puppet. The panda held on to its claw tightly. The rabbit puppet turned the dragon's body into a punching bag. The dragon screamed, but the punches were not stopping.
Liping was amazed, and wondered what Elizabeth had seen in Annie. The truth was that Elizabeth had only given her a gentle reminder to face the present. No ground-breaking magic.
The dragon threw the rabbit puppet to the ground. The rabbit grabbed the dragon's other claw. The snake puppet made its entry and wrapped itself around the dragon's body. The dragon picked up a hurricane with its tail. The next puppet came in to block its eyes.
Liping was stunned to see such puppet mastery. His mind went deep into the mystery of the Jim Jim bloodline. Then he stumbled, and with a struggle he steadied himself.
There was a lightning flash attack. It was Hawthorne, who was somehow still alive, and he had Liping's backpack in his hand.
Liping wanted it back. But Hawthorne was in full crazy mode. He started eating all the fruit inside the pack. Liping's brain could not process it, and before he knew it Hawthorne had taken on a full beast transformation. A monster form of unknown power. And it did not stop there. He just kept bragging about how powerful he had become. It was difficult to work out which was worse, his next new form or his nonstop bragging.
The dragon was also unimpressed, and tried to blow him away with a powerful breath spell. Hawthorne dodged and kicked the dragon so hard that it landed on the ground.
Hawthorne did not stop there. He went straight for the Demon King's Nectar, drank it, and became another, darker version of himself.
Liping was in shock. He looked at Elizabeth. Perhaps she had some idea.
But Annie came forward. She was confident that she would handle it. She tried to use her magic, but Hawthorne stabbed her in the chest. Liping froze. Annie collapsed. Ignoring everything else, he ran to Annie and assured her that Elizabeth would save her.
Hawthorne was high and turned to Elizabeth. He made a ridiculous offer. Either become his queen and help him win it all, or be a pawn in his twisted plans.
Liping's blood boiled. He grabbed hold of Hawthorne. Elizabeth wanted to just finish him off. But Hawthorne was not satisfied. He started jumping towards Liping. And just as he was about to crush him, something slapped him back and he went flying.
Liping, completely fed up with being treated like a punching bag, decided that the time had come to show his true power.