Seeing Axel suddenly shed tears, Diao Chan was stunned at first.
Then, noticing her own White Gardevoir's furious expression, she couldn't help laughing.
"You... hahahaha! you idiot."
"You made Gardevoir so mad you ended up crying yourself. You cry way too easily!"
Axel: "..."
'What could I do?'
Everyone had different tolerance levels for emotions. Axel had basically never gotten angry before, so of course his tolerance was low.
If it were Shasha from Emberpine City, even if White Gardevoir exploded with rage, Shasha would probably look completely unaffected.
That was the difference in tolerance.
Luckily, Axel's Gardevoir had extremely high intelligence, surpassing most humans.
Even if Axel cried, it didn't affect her ability to unleash Moonblast.
Endless moonlight surged as one and took the final sliver of stamina from White Gardevoir.
The battle ended. Axel immediately checked his keyword bag.
Unfortunately, not a single keyword dropped.
"Too bad," Axel wiped his tears and looked at the still-smirking Diao Chan.
"Heal your Gardevoir. Let's continue?"
"What?", Diao Chan's smile froze. She stared at Axel in disbelief.
'This guy is a slave master!'
'Did he not see my Gardevoir has fainted?'
Not even giving her one second of rest, and already wanted another fight.
Diao Chan refused immediately, "No. My Gardevoir and I haven't eaten. We rest first."
"Okay then," Axel blinked, pulled out two cream-filled cakes and a potion.
"Eat quickly. Once you're done, we continue."
Diao Chan: "..."
'Damn slave master. Really won't give even a moment of mercy!'
But... considering the cake, she accepted.
Soon Diao Chan sprayed recovery potion on Gardevoir and handed her a cake.
Turns out that no matter the era, women had zero resistance to small cakes.
"Ahh!", Diao Chan and Gardevoir opened their mouths together and bit into the cake.
"Wait," Axel raised a hand to stop them, but it was too late.
"Ah!", The cream inside burst out instantly, splashing all over Gardevoir and Diao Chan.
Their mouths, cheeks, clothes, all splattered.
Axel grimaced, clenching a fist.
'Damn it. Now they'll have to waste time changing clothes!'
His plan had been one fight every five minutes. At twelve hours a day, that meant 144 battles daily.
But in practice, too many accidents happened.
If this continued, he might not even get that keyword before leaving.
'Should I switch to Rayquaza?', Axel couldn't help thinking.
As he pondered, and Diao Chan and Gardevoir finished eating and went to wash up, a sudden urgent knock came.
"Report! The Cao army is pressing in!"
"What?", Axel and Diao Chan looked at each other and instantly grew serious.
Axel opened the door with psychic power and looked at the soldier.
"What happened? According to the wager, the Cao army should be retreating now."
The soldier saw Axel and Diao Chan and dropped to his knees like he'd found his saviors.
"Reporting, my lord!"
"After your victorious return today, we stood guard on the walls waiting for the Cao army to withdraw."
"But unexpectedly, after packing their tents, the Cao army didn't retreat. Instead they released all their Pokémon and launched an attack on Xiapi."
Axel frowned. No wonder later generations called Cao Cao a thief.
The man was a ruthless iron-willed tyrant, unpredictable and cold.
He attacked now either because he was unwilling to let Diao Chan go, or because he wanted Axel's Pokémon.
But... Even if Axel dared give them, would Cao Cao dare take them?
Beside him, Gardevoir grabbed Axel's hand.
["Master... kill!"]
"Okay!"
Seeing the two walk out hand in hand, Diao Chan panicked.
"He most likely wants your Ho-Oh. Going now is dangerous."
"He was still afraid of you earlier, but now he must be fully prepared."
"Please listen to me, you should run!"
Axel paused slightly, "I ate that little girl's bun. I must protect her home."
"And I still need to spar with your Gardevoir."
Then Axel stopped talking, released Gyarados, and flew straight to the city walls.
Before using Rayquaza, this was his last chance to let Cao Cao retreat on his own.
———
[Xiapi City Gate]
Cao Cao sat atop a massive Arcanine, surrounded by a host of Fire-type Pokémon.
In the sky, countless Flying types circled.
The moment Pheromosa appeared, they would engulf her in fire and storm.
Staring at the closed gates, Cao Cao was unhurried.
He believed he had Axel cornered.
So what if he was strong one-on-one? Could he beat an army of hundreds of thousands?
Against an overwhelming force like this, personal power only had one answer: run.
But based on Axel's behavior that day, Cao Cao was almost certain Axel didn't have the heart to abandon civilians.
"Tell that trainer to come out. Hand over Ho-Oh and I guarantee this city lives."
"Get lost!", A roar split the sky. A Decidueye's arrow shadow shot across a thousand meters, aiming straight at Cao Cao's face.
Cao Cao didn't even move. Several soldiers beside him used Protect, blocking the arrow midair.
Seeing his attack blocked, the scout captain cursed loudly.
"You dog slaves serving a villain. Aren't you ashamed to stand with such a rat!"
In ancient war protocol, insults before battle were as filthy as could be.
But remembering today's purpose, none of Cao Cao's generals dared respond.
Justified robbery didn't exist.
No matter how things turned out today, whoever traded insults now would be written into history as a disgrace.
If not for the thought that their positions would rise once Cao Cao achieved dominance, the generals wouldn't have come at all...
Warriors like Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei, who weren't deeply tied to Cao Cao, had already left the Cao army.
They refused to suffer this humiliation.
Seeing no one respond, the scout captain grinned and spewed even filthier insults.
Cao Cao clenched Arcanine's mane so hard he nearly attacked on the spot.
Suddenly, a massive dragon roar echoed.
"Enough."
"Lord Axel?", The captain froze, not understanding why Axel stopped him.
Cao Cao froze too, then a smug smile started to rise.
In his eyes, Axel was scared.
But the next moment, Axel's words shattered the hope Cao Cao hadn't even fully formed.
"You can't insult right. Let me do it!"
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