Infinite wealth In A New World-Chapter 356: He Used It

​Carlton blinked, his breath hitching as he stared at Morgana in sheer horror. He lowered his gaze to the dagger still clutched in his trembling hand, then at his own body. He felt nothing—no weight, no heat, not a single bone in his frame seemed to belong to him anymore. He was a statue of flesh, frozen in place by an invisible, suffocating will.

​"You?! Why! Why can’t I move?!!" he shrieked, his voice cracking.

​"Come and untie us," a voice commanded. It was soft, but it carried the weight of an absolute decree.

​"...?!"

​Like a man under deep hypnosis, Carlton’s back snapped straight. His eyes glazed over, losing their spark of malice and replacing it with a hollow, rhythmic obedience. He walked towards the two women with jerky, mechanical strides and began fumbling with the thick ropes.

​"What are you doing, Son!!" Malcom yelled, his face contorting in shock as he watched his heir turn into a servant for the captives.

​Carlton completely ignored him. He untied Morgana first, his fingers moving with a precision that wasn’t his own, then moved silently to Josephine.

​"That is not your son anymore. He is now a puppet," Melvin interjected, his voice low and dangerous. He cracked his knuckles, his Divine Rank aura beginning to ripple. "This lady still tied seems to be more valuable."

​Without warning, Melvin blurred. He appeared in front of Josephine in a fraction of a second, his hand thrusting forward to seize her as a bargaining chip.

​BAM!!

​"...?!"

​Melvin froze. His hand was caught in a grip that felt like a vice made of cold iron. He slowly turned his head to see Morgana holding him back. As he watched, the illusion around her began to shatter. Her black hair started shifting, the color bleeding into a vibrant, predatory crimson and growing in length until it swirled around her like a living nest of snakes. Her disguise tore away, revealing eyes the color of fresh blood fixed directly on Melvin’s blue ones.

​"Mo... Mo... Lady Morgana!!!!!"

​The scream that left Melvin’s throat was one of pure, unadulterated terror. He began to tremble from head to toe, the realization of who he had just attacked crashing down on him like a tidal wave. Morgana let go of his hand, and without the slightest hesitation, the high-ranking official dropped to his knees, kowtowing with frantic desperation.

​"Lady Morgana!! I am so stupid!!! We are so stupid!! Please forgive us!!" He screamed, the sound of his forehead hitting the concrete floor echoing through the warehouse. "Please!"

​"What is wrong with you?! Who is this lady?!!" Malcom demanded, his brow furrowed in confusion.

​"Shut up!!!!" Melvin snapped, not even daring to look up. "You have been in seclusion for years!! This here is the great Lady Morgana!! She is invincible in the whole Lower World!! How dare you offend her!!!"

​"Is she that strong?" Malcom asked, his gaze drifting to his son, who stood vacantly by the chairs. "Then ask her to let go of my son!!"

​’Ask her?! Is my brother this stupid!?!’ Melvin thought, his heart hammering against his ribs. ’I should save myself first. If he dies, that’s on him!’ He looked up at Morgana, his voice shaking:

"Lady Morgana, you can deal with this father and son as you see fit!! I am so sorry for offending you!! Even if I had ten thousand guts, I wouldn’t dare do it again!!"

​He resumed his frantic kowtowing. The guards around the hall stood paralyzed; their employer, a Divine Rank official, was on the ground pleading for his life like a peasant.

​"Seems this just got boring," Josephine said, standing up and dusting off her dress as the last of the ropes fell away.

​’Who is this woman?!’ Melvin’s mind raced in terror. ’Morgana even stepped forward to defend her... My god, is she more terrifying than Morgana?!’

"I don’t know why you instantly turned into a chicken! You are useless!!" Malcom hissed at Melvin, turning his hateful gaze toward the two women:

"You two!! I don’t care who or what you are!! If you don’t release my son right now! I will kill you!!!"

​"Oh... maybe there is still some excitement," Morgana mused. With a flick of her wrist, her long, crimson hair shot forward like a whip, wrapping tightly around Carlton’s neck. With a snap of her fingers, she undid the hypnosis.

​"You? What...." Carlton gasped, the fog in his mind clearing only to be replaced by the sensation of his throat being crushed. He stared at the red hair around his windpipe, then at his kneeling uncle, and finally at his father.

"What the hell is happening here?!!"

​WHOOSH!

​"Ahh!" Carlton growled in pain, dropping his dagger. He clawed at the hair, but it was like trying to pull apart steel cables.

​Morgana turned to Malcom, a sharp, lethal smirk on her face. "What can you do? Your son will die in ten seconds if you can’t do anything."

​She lowered her gaze to the shivering Melvin. "Hey... don’t think about anything else. You will also die with them. So it’s better if you put up a fight." She smiled innocently, but her eyes remained cold.

​"This..." Melvin froze.

​"You heard that, Melvin!! Join me, let’s fight together! I am sure these women can’t defeat us!!" Malcom yelled.

​’This bastard!!!’ Melvin screamed inwardly. ’Fighting Morgana head-on... that’s suicidal. She is a legendary witch; her strength is beyond this world. Her whole body is made of forbidden spells! How can you fight such a monster?!!!’ Melvin remained pressed to the floor.

"Lady Morgana, you can kill me if you want. I will never fight you," he sobbed.

​"....?!!"

Carlton and Malcom watched in total disbelief as their most powerful ally gave up without a swing.

​"Time’s up."

​With a single thought, Morgana’s hair constricted. Before everyone’s horrified eyes, Carlton’s head was cleanly separated from his shoulders.

​".....?!!!"

​The hair didn’t stop there. It plunged into the stump of the neck, rapidly draining every drop of life force and celestial energy. Within seconds, the body withered, turning into a brittle skeleton that collapsed into a heap of dust and bone.

​"A little, but it’s so refreshing," Morgana whispered, licking her lips. Her skin seemed to brighten, becoming even smoother as she absorbed the stolen vitality.

​"You... You...?" Malcom stood frozen, staring at the empty clothes and bones that used to be his son. His eyes turned blood-red, and a roar of pure, agonizing grief ripped from his lungs.

​"I will kill you two!!!!!"

​BOOOOOOM!!!

​A pillar of black, corrupted energy burst from his body, tearing through the roof of the warehouse and shooting into the darkened sky. Malcom’s body began to distort and grow. His skin hardened into grey stone, his eyes split into four glowing apertures, and a heavy, jagged tail erupted from his spine.

​’He... he actually used it,’ Melvin thought, cowering from the shockwave.

’The forbidden transformation.’

​"AHHHHHH!!"

​The energy leveled the remaining walls of the warehouse. When the dust settled, an eight-meter-tall Stone Gargoyle stood in the center of the ruins, clutching a massive stone sword that hummed with cursed power.

​"You will all die!!!!" the creature roared, the voice of Malcom now a tectonic grind of rock on rock.