Chapter 193: That’s All You Worth

"Sophia... How was it?" Rose purred cockily, looking down at her with a venomous smirk. "A good morning... or a bad morning?"

Sophia was now completely sober, the lingering haze of her hangover burned away by raw adrenaline and sheer shock.

Her usual carefree playfulness had vanished without a trace. Her jaw tightened until her molars ground audibly against each other, fighting desperately to swallow down the violent coughs clawing at her throat.

The heavy, blunt impact of Rose’s kick had driven every breath of air straight out of her lungs, bruising muscle and rattling bone beneath the surface.

The physical pain was difficult enough to endure, throbbing across her midsection in sharp, burning waves. But what stung infinitely worse was the sight of Rose towering above her.

The demoness wasn’t panting. She wasn’t bleeding.

She simply stood there with her hip cocked, looking down at Sophia with a dismissive, utterly indifferent gaze—as if swatting Sophia into a concrete wall was no more challenging than flicking away a stubborn fly.

To Rose, Sophia had never posed an ounce of genuine danger. That arrogant certainty radiated from every line of her posture: even if they ran this duel back ten times over, the outcome would always end precisely like this, with Sophia crumpled on the blood-stained carpet.

And as a proud, high-tier Awakener who had effortlessly survived several horrors, Sophia felt that patronizing look slice straight into her core.

Whirrr—

Deep inside her dantian, a torrent of raw, verdant mana began to roar, violently cycling through her meridians like a raging river.

The air immediately surrounding her frame shimmered with emerald heat, causing the fine drywall dust on the floor to dance and scatter.

A few yards away, Carmen openly gawked at Rose. The eight-year-old’s small mouth hung slightly open, her wide azure eyes frozen in unmasked shock.

She had never once seen Sophia ragdolled across an entire hallway in a single exchange. The demon’s casual, overwhelming dominance was a terrifying reality check.

Yet, despite their constant bickering, the biting sarcasm, and the endless sibling mockery, the two sisters shared an unbreakable bond of blood.

They had survived the collapse of modern society together; they had watched their world burn side by side.

Seeing Sophia battered, bleeding, and groveling at an enemy’s feet broke something inside the little girl.

Carmen’s tiny hands curled into trembling, tight fists at her sides. Her azure eyes ignited, flaring with an intense, blinding radiance as ancient, dormant pressure began to bleed through her pink sundress.

"No, Carmen..."

The command cut through the tension like a whip.

Sophia, struggling against the dull ache in her ribs, snapped her head toward the little girl.

Her soft blue eyes held an intense, dead-serious gaze that brooked zero argument. There was no teasing elder sister in that look—only a fierce, desperate warning.

Carmen froze. The blinding azure glow in her pupils wavered, dimming and flickering like a dying candle before finally receding completely into the innocent facade of an ordinary child.

She bit her lower lip until it turned pale, lowering her small fists to her sides.

Sophia didn’t waste breath elaborating on her reasoning.

She didn’t need to explain the catastrophic consequences of unleashing whatever terrifying gifts Carmen possessed in an enclosed, crowded hallway.

Carmen understood without a word: her older sister had drawn the line, and she had to obey.

Releasing a tight breath, Sophia turned her attention back up toward Rose.

The demoness had watched the entire silent interaction between the two sisters with a sharp, curious tilt of her head, clearly noting the strange, unnatural spike of energy that had just vanished from the little girl.

"Bad morning," Sophia finally muttered, letting out a rough, self-deprecating chuckle.

She pressed a trembling palm flat against the cracked plaster behind her back, using the wall for leverage to steadily haul herself up onto her feet.

Her sneakers dug into the carpet, locking her knees as she forced her spine straight.

"I guess it really was a bad morning, Rose."

Rose narrowed her glowing pink eyes slightly, her senses buzzing.

She could feel it. Even now, standing upright on bruised legs, an astonishing, dense reservoir of mana was surging beneath Sophia’s skin.

Tiny, greenish-blue motes of restorative energy were blinking in and out of existence across the green-haired girl’s stomach, knitting muscle tissue and dulling the internal bruising with terrifying speed.

Sophia clearly possessed enough reserves and raw power to escalate this fight into a full-scale war.

From the fierce mana swirling in her palms and the grim set of her jaw, it was obvious she craved retribution for the humiliating blow.

Yet, she was actively reigning it in. She was purposefully choosing to pull her punches and stand down.

Rose’s mind turned the pieces over.

Why? Was Sophia trying to keep her true trump cards concealed? Did the green-haired girl recognize the vast, insurmountable gulf between them and realize that a demoness like Rose simply could not be slain by mortal tricks?

Or... did she simply possess enough tactical awareness to know that escalating this spat into a life-or-death brawl would end in total ruin?

Sophia wasn’t stupid. Even while half-dazed from the impact, she had registered the subtle shift in the hallway.

Fredrinn was standing by the doorway, his broken sword resting casually in his hand, exuding absolute authority. Beside him, Naomi, Rhea, and Vivienne hovered with anxious expressions.

If things turned lethal, Fredrinn’s entire faction would instantly rally behind Rose without a second thought. Humanity meant nothing in a brawl; Fredrinn’s word was law, and these survivors belonged to him.

A lone Awakener dragging her eight-year-old sister into an all-out bloodbath against a coordinated squad led by an incubus monster was pure suicide.

Dropping the fight was the only rational move on the board.

Still, swallowing her pride came with an unavoidable, bitterly irritating price.

Mockery.

Rose’s soft, pink lips curled into a tiny, teasing smirk. She leaned forward slightly, cupping a clawed hand around her ear with a look of manufactured confusion.

"Huh? Your voice was a little faint down there, Sophia. What did you say again?"

Sophia’s eye twitched, clicking her tongue with raw frustration. "I said it was a bad morning. Happy now?"

"No," Rose replied instantly, her mocking expression dropping into a flat, icy mask. "I am not happy."

Her tone carried zero theatrical condescension; it was cold, candid, and brutally honest as she continued...

"Beating you down doesn’t bring me happiness, Sophia. It’s mildly satisfying to slap down an arrogant pest, but that’s all you are worth in my eyes.

My real happiness was lying in that warm bed with my hubby, feeling my bare skin pressed against his, enjoying our peaceful morning together.

And you disturbed that peace. So no... I am not happy at all."

Every word struck with absolute conviction. Rose didn’t say it to deliberately hurt Sophia’s ego or score cheap points in front of the audience.

To a succubus whose entire world rotated around her bound partner, Fredrinn was the only treasure that held value.

"Oh... I see."

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A/N: GUILTY AS CHARGED! I may have been a little partial with Rose and turned her into way too big of a baddieeee XD!