Ⅸ
The slap rang out.
Mihailo, known as the "Lady of Pain," was stunned by the blow.
The lady stared blankly at Malinda as she emerged from the smoke and instinctively demanded-
"You dare hit me?"
With her pipe between her teeth, Malinda did not answer. Instead, she swung her hand back for another slap.
Although the sudden first slap had stunned the Lady of Pain, she reacted to the second.
The Lady of Pain stepped back and leaned her upper body away, trying to dodge.
But she failed.
Malinda's backhand slap lacked the surprise of the first, but it was several times faster. Her fingertips trembled slightly, hissing as they cut through the air.
It clearly incorporated exceptionally sophisticated swordsmanship.
Smack!
Crisp!
With a crack even sharper than the first, Mihailo was slapped into a spin, her body tumbling sideways through the air as she flew away.
As everyone knew-
A forehand slap was satisfying.
But a backhand slap?
It was not only satisfying, but humiliating.
Landing a forehand and a backhand slap in succession delivered a critical hit of humiliation.
At that moment, the Lady of Pain felt boundless humiliation.
Ever since she and the other woman had become a deity, honored as the Lady of Pain, she had never suffered such humiliation again.
Never mind being slapped.
Even looking directly at her was considered blasphemy.
A slightly excessive remark was enough to have someone branded a heretic and sentenced to flaying.
Fury and humiliation mingled, making the Lady of Pain roar.
"Aah!"
With that roar, the lady exploded.
That was not a figure of speech. She literally exploded-
Her body burst apart like a sliced watermelon, her eyes and organs hurtling in every direction alongside bones, nerves, and blood vessels as she roared.
Then an invisible force