Chapter 370: 370

Michelle looked on at Alexander’s bleeding face, quite satisfied with how it looked.

That was her work of art, her own creation.

“And how would you make me bleed?” she asked with a smile.

She was really curious after Alexander’s threat.

Alexander’s eyes were already narrowed, staring at the grin on Michelle’s face.

“There are many ways… And I doubt you would be able to hold back your tears if I used any of them,” his voice was lowered, more of a rumble than a sentence.

The rumble resonated not only in Michelle’s ears, but also in her chest and bones.

“You want to see me cry?” her smile widened, but the rumble she felt in her chest was making her heart flutter.

That was something that had most probably never happened before.

Or at least Michelle didn’t remember something like that ever happening to her.

“I don’t know…” Alexander used the same sentence Michelle used against him against her. “How do you look when you cry?”

As he spoke, he reached to Michelle’s face, feeling for the disguise mask.

As an Armament Master, he was able to detect things like disguise masks, and even ruin them.

So, a moment later, he curled his fingers slightly and tugged on the side of Michelle’s face.

And the mask fell onto the bed between the two.

“How beautiful will this pretty face of yours be when you cry? Tell me…” Alexander spoke slowly, his words dragged.

Michelle knew he wasn’t just messing around like he used to.

He was really planning to make her bleed and cry if she didn’t do something.

But did she even want to do something to prevent that?

Crying in itself wasn’t tempting or interesting, but she was curious about what Alexander wanted to do.

With every sentence he said, her curiosity only grew at the same speed as the intensity of her instincts reacting to impending danger.

Even if Alexander decided not to make her cry, something would definitely happen.

He wouldn’t let her off easy.

Once the mask was on the mattress, Alexander touched Michelle’s face directly.

The deep purple eyes staring back at him weren’t trying to conceal what Michelle was thinking, only making him want to mess her up more.

Since he had first met Michelle, she had grown quite a bit, from a sixteen‑year‑old young beautiful girl, to a stunning woman.

Her face alone could attract attention to her.

Attention that could cause quite a few people to move.

That coupled with her gaze was a poisonous mixture.

And her capabilities were another dip into the poison.

The last drop that made that poison so deadly were all the inhuman things about Michelle.

Spirit Soul Blood, being ignored by the Heavenly Law, and so on.

Well, if one also took into consideration that she was also the disciple of Mavreth, the black god, daughter of Philip Grace, though his influence didn’t stretch to the heavenly realm, and lover of the invisible Dark Lord, her inhuman properties weren’t the last drop into the poison.

And to all that, one could also add her contracted beasts.

Looking at her like that, Alexander felt his fingers twitch.

Slowly, almost like he was trying to tease Michelle, he slid his hand from Michelle’s cheek to the bottom of her jaw.

Just a little lower and he would touch Michelle’s neck.

And a bit higher and his fingers would run across her lips.

It was like he was considering what to do next while also keeping Michelle on her toes.

Finally, he decided.

His hand slid lower, to close around Michelle’s neck.

Through the palm of his hand, Alexander could feel the steady rhythm of Michelle’s heartbeat pulsing beneath her skin.

At the same time, he could feel her throat move as she breathed; a bit too slow to consider it normal.

That was probably a sign of her growing curiosity.

“Close your eyes,” it was a command, but Alexander’s voice was calm and lowered.

Michelle was curious about what he was planning and wanted to see it, but she still closed her eyes.

She doubted he would continue if she didn’t.

Or he would somehow force her to close them.

“Don’t open them until I tell you…” Alexander was satisfied with Michelle’s compliance.

She could tell so from the tone of his voice and from the fact that his fingers subtly tightened around her neck.

The pressure was very light and the difference barely noticeable, but Michelle could tell.

She was sensitive and aware of the vital parts of her body, so she could feel even the slightest changes.

With his hand on her neck, Alexander pulled Michelle closer, until she was just a few millimeters away from him and could feel his breath on her.

At the same time, she could feel a pulse of shadow essence leaving Alexander’s palm and spreading over the surface of her neck.

Somehow, it was both comforting and uncomfortable.

It was a constant reminder of Alexander’s closeness, even when he released her neck, but at the same time, the pressure it put on Michelle’s neck wasn’t all that enjoyable.

Michelle herself wasn’t even sure what she thought about the shadow essence on her neck, and that confusion got mirrored into her expression.

And when Alexander saw that, he added just a bit more shadow essence to what was already there.

Then, he moved his hands again.

His left hand went behind Michelle’s head, tangling in her hair, while his right hand went lower to rest on Michelle’s shoulder.

“You know, you were the one who inspired me to do this…” he whispered into Michelle’s ear.

From just that, Michelle couldn’t really understand anything, but a while later, she knew what was going on.

With a sharp tug, Alexander pulled on Michelle’s hair, forcing her to tilt her head far back.

At the same time, he pulled on her shoulder, which made her torso rotate to the side.

Also, while Alexander did that, the shadow essence didn’t remain passive.

It stretched down from her neck to wrap around Michelle’s arms like long sleeves.

So she ended up with two tight black sleeves connected by a ribbon wrapped around her neck.

“Does this remind you of something?” Alexander asked, his tone clearly amused.

Michelle would nod but Alexander was still holding the back of her head by her hair tight.

“The choking bind…?” that was the binding technique she came up with back in the middle realm to restrain Alexander by wrapping a rope around his neck before tying the ends to his ankles behind his back, so the loop around his neck would tighten whenever he moved his legs.

He did something similar, but engaged her hands instead of legs.

Because the shadow essence was wrapped like sleeves around her arms, even the slightest flex of her muscles made the black ribbon on her neck tighten.

Alexander finally released Michelle, leaving her only in the hold of the shadow essence.

But as he retracted his arms, Michelle could feel some remnants of shadow essence where he was holding her.

And with Alexander’s power, was that intentional?

Most probably yes, so Michelle could just guess what he was planning.

Unable to even see Alexander’s expression, Michelle didn’t know what to expect, making her fidget a bit.

In that moment, the slightly choking pressure of the ribbon was somewhat of a reassurance.

Because while it was still there, it meant Alexander was still present.

Seeing Michelle fidgeting, Alexander decided to stop doing anything for a while, so he could see how she would react.

Silence stretched in the room, turning deafening.

Michelle could feel Alexander nearby, but she couldn’t pinpoint his location.

He was partially concealing himself.

Michelle was a bit trained in detection, since she was Marcus’ disciple, but that was far from enough to get through the concealment of someone like Alexander.

If he wanted, he could make her believe that he was gone.

Michelle didn’t like that.

She didn’t like uncertainty.

And there was also the fact to consider that Alexander promised to make her bleed and cry.

Did he mean that literally or metaphorically?

Probably both.

So Michelle was kept on her toes.

Alexander liked that.

And he wanted to escalate things.

So, every now and then, he would retreat a step further from Michelle, letting her feel it.

In just a while he was by the wall furthest from her.

That made him wonder, what would Michelle do if he opened the door and made her think he walked out?

Or if he opened a rift so she thought he left?

To see Michelle’s reaction, he needed to first make sure she wouldn’t open her eyes and see that he was still there.

For that, he used the remnants of shadow essence he had left on Michelle’s shoulder and back of her head.

Under his control, the remnants attracted shadow essence from the surroundings and created a black veil.

Then, Alexander moved the veil to wrap around Michelle’s head, namely her eyes, to work as a blindfold.

“What are you planning now?” Michelle was extremely curious when she felt the shadow essence move around her.

And when it wrapped around her head, she ended up involuntarily flinching in surprise, which made the ribbon tighten around her neck.

That made her want to cough, but she held it back.

If she coughed, she would most probably move her arms, which would tighten the ribbon even further.

And that would make her cough more.

It would turn into a cursed circle of never‑ending coughing and choking.

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