Chapter 366: 366

Tenether munched on the meat, and when he was done, he stared at Michelle with wide eyes, clearly wanting more.

So she took out another piece and held it in front of his mouth.

Without wasting a single second, Tenether bit down on the food and tore off a piece of it, swallowing it without even properly munching.

After just a while, he ate the whole piece followed by three more.

Only when he was biting on the fourth one did he slow down.

Remembering what she had been told about eating cooked meat when in the Starving Cub state, Michelle guessed Tenether was regaining his consciousness.

And that made her really curious about what he was like fully conscious.

Because she had only ever interacted with the childish version, and that probably couldn’t be further from the truth.

As Tenether’s eating slowed down, Michelle observed his eyes change.

The childish excitement that was always there dissipated, replaced by calmness and stillness so deep even Michelle felt a bit like it was pressing her down seeing it.

And Alexander beside her noticed that her back went stiff, her muscles tightening without her command.

Those were instincts of a monster sensing approaching danger.

Michelle and Alexander went silent until Tenether’s gaze cleared and he stopped moving.

For a moment, the eyes widened in surprise before narrowing to observe the situation.

The first thing Tenether saw was the hand holding a piece of meat in front of his mouth.

His gaze moved up to see a young woman staring down at him.

She didn’t look all that special.

Gray‑green eyes and light‑brown hair, along with a face that couldn’t be called ugly, but neither was it all that beautiful.

An ordinary young woman.

But that wasn’t what Tenether was concerned about.

There was curiosity in her eyes, but behind it was something that unsettled him.

And she seemed to know him.

The fur on his back stood up and he arched his back, jumping back a bit with a hiss from his mouth.

Michelle lifted her hands up as if in surrender, to show she meant no harm.

“I’m not trying to hurt you.”

Tenether clearly didn’t believe Michelle.

There were many things off about her.

Her presence was minimal.

Something about her appearance was off, like that wasn’t who she really was.

There was something in her scent that made him want to come closer, but at the same time, he was being repulsed by it.

And he couldn’t sense her cultivation rank.

Nor what Mastery she was cultivating.

A strange woman indeed.

Ones like that couldn’t be trusted.

They always had a few things up their sleeve and were plotting something.

Tenether was about to lunge at Michelle when he suddenly felt an oppressive presence from his side.

Originally, he was only planning to jump at Michelle to see how she would act, but under the pressure, he instead turned his head to look at the source.

When his gaze met Alexander’s, he felt his blood freeze within his veins.

That man was not to be messed with.

Alexander’s gaze was cold as he stared down at Tenether.

The meaning behind his stare couldn’t have been more obvious: if Tenether dared to even as much as graze Michelle, he wouldn’t get to see the light of the next day.

Initially, Alexander didn’t plan to intervene so early.

If Michelle wanted Tenether to listen to her, she had to subdue him herself.

But when Alexander saw the calculation in that kitten’s eyes, he knew the monster wouldn’t be subdued even if Michelle dominated it in a fight.

It was a stubborn creature and would wait for a moment to strike; to break the contract once it discovered it.

So Alexander really felt like weeding out the problem by spilling blood.

Michelle knew Alexander long enough to know what he was planning even if he wasn’t exuding killing intent.

And she didn’t like that plan of his.

Even if Tenether wasn’t who she knew in the past, he was her contracted monster.

She wouldn’t let Alexander kill him.

Naturally, Michelle knew the dangers of letting Tenether live, but she wasn’t choosing not to kill him out of sentiment.

The moment Tenether left the Starving Cub state, Michelle knew the childish creature she knew was gone, replaced by a stranger.

Towards this stranger, she held no emotions.

But since there was already a contract between them, why not keep it like that?

Even with Nyxaroth, she ended up in a contract by accident and he didn’t like it, but over time, he came to accept it and eventually even took her as his real master.

Of course, Tenether was a different creature, more powerful and much older, which probably meant he was prouder, and that would make things different.

But it wouldn’t hurt to try.

If worst came to worst, Michelle would find some way to sever the contract and let Tenether free.

Since she had already slipped out of the influence of the Heavenly Law, there was nothing that would prevent her from breaking contracts if she put her mind to it.

She was one hell of a stubborn person, so she would find a way.

She would just need some undisturbed time.

So, to prevent Alexander from hurting Tenether, Michelle stretched her hand out and lifted Tenether up, taking him off guard.

Having been paying attention to Alexander, since he was clearly dangerous, Tenether didn’t expect to be suddenly touched by Michelle.

It was quite logical to assume since the pressure Alexander was giving off was great.

Most people wouldn’t dare move under such pressure.

But Michelle knew the pressure wasn’t against her, so she just ignored it and did as she liked.

Holding Tenether as an ordinary kitten under his chest, Michelle pulled him to her as she locked gaze with Alexander.

She didn’t need to say anything for him to know what she meant.

He wasn’t to touch Tenether until she decided it was necessary.

Even though Michelle was clearly weaker than Tenether, being between her and Alexander, in the middle of their silent argument, Tenether felt even more suppressed than when just Alexander was staring him down.

That moment made Tenether realize that even though the woman holding him was clearly weak or at least wasn’t giving off the energy of a powerful figure, she was dangerous.

To hold her own against a man like Alexander meant she had either already confronted him a few times and was used to him, or she was in reality hiding her power and her power was around the same as Alexander’s.

So, though initially, Tenether was extremely wary of Michelle, he understood that at the moment, she was standing up against Alexander to make sure he lived.

And he knew that against Alexander, he wouldn’t really stand a chance.

Tenether could tell Alexander was a Shadow Master, and though he had never really cared about the ranks in Shadow Mastery, he could tell Alexander was high up there.

The only person he had ever met that was more powerful was probably Mavreth, who sealed him in the lower realm.

But there was one big difference between Alexander and Mavreth.

Alexander was a human.

Mavreth was the black god, a creature no one knew the origin of.

How could a human have power comparable to the black god?

Holding Tenether, Michelle could feel how his body stiffened.

It seemed that just a bit more and he would start trembling.

He was instinctively and consciously scared of Alexander, and Michelle wasn’t all that surprised by it.

Seeing the state Tenether was in, Michelle couldn’t really connect him with the creature that was about to jump at her just a while ago.

Alexander’s pressure really could change a person drastically.

That made her wonder what would happen if she threw Tenether into her space.

There, her contracted beasts, except Nyxaroth, were residing, along with the beasts that had hatched from the eggs Michelle had bought in the auction back in the Land of Exile.

And those still‑young beasts were being taken care of by the foxes Michelle found in the snowy mountains where the Sloan family had residence in the lower realm.

But she didn’t do that.

In the lower realm, she had experienced a part of Tenether’s power, and knew that if she suddenly sent him into a new space, he could very easily annihilate everyone in there.

So she withheld the thought and instead focused on the situation at hand.

While Michelle let her thoughts wander, Alexander narrowed his eyes.

He knew that before she let herself sink into thought, she had decided she wouldn’t let him kill Tenether.

So his pressure was useless.

There was no way to go against her stubbornness.

In Michelle’s arms, Tenether was surprised to feel the pressure from Alexander slowly subsiding.

Not a single word was said, so why did that happen?

Could the two people communicate without talking?

As the pressure dissipated, Tenether fully realized he was curled up in Michelle’s arms, and instantly jumped away, landing next to her on the bed.

He was no cat to be carried around and petted.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep