Raising A Few Wives in a Beast Apocalypse-Chapter 257: Jade loses it...

"And that’s how it went" Jade finished telling the others about her encounter with the Tactoa members.

Whoosh!

"Hey! What was that for?!" Jade complained as she evaded an ice spear which suddenly flew her way.

"That’s for being careless" Layla who had thrown the ice spear spoke.

She could tell from what Jade said that she had no sense of danger at all throughout the whole ordeal.

Not even after all the weird stuff that happened. From weird guns, weird clothes to weird beast companions.

"What do you mean I was careless? I took care of everything perfectly! I was even about to torture them on their origins and everything!" Jade exclaimed with an angry expression on her face.

Her MR3 aura was even leaking out a little bit. This surprised Chloe and frightened the captives.

"Okay. Then, where did you put the obviously dangerous guns you collected after dealing with them?" Layla asked calmly. She was completely unfazed by Jade’s aura.

She wasn’t even surprised by how strong she had become. Which made one wonder...

"Okay, I’ll admit it. There was a slight oversight. However, that’s no reason to try to stab me. If you want to fight Frosty, go ahead and say it. I have always wanted to wipe that stoic expression off your face anyway" Jade replied. She quickly switched from admitting her mistake to seeking a fight.

It seems red-haired Jade didn’t need much to be pissed off. Old her would have complained a little but wouldn’t seek a fight...

"It’s not a slight oversight. What if there’s some timer on the guns? Maybe there’ll explode after a certain period. And from what you said, you’d die on the spot if the blast catches you off guard. As for asking them about where they come from... We normally don’t bother with such things. However, this is clearly not a normal group. So, that was a good move on your part. As for seeking a fight, no thanks. I was just doing what someone would have done. But, if you want one. I don’t mind giving it to you..." Layla replied as calmly as always.

She was completely unmoved by Jade calling her Frosty for the second time. She probably only reacted before because she was caught off guard.

However, if Jade wanted to fight. She didn’t mind getting into it. Her aura also leaked out a little bit at the end. And everyone was surprised. That’s because it wasn’t any weaker than Jade’s at all.

"Impossible!" Jade exclaimed. Her reaction was worse than the others.

Other than Jade herself, Hope was the only one who knew why. The reason Jade’s reaction was so exaggerated was that Layla just casually proved that her whole approach to getting stronger was pointless.

As everyone knows, Jade cut everyone off because she thought that they held her back. And up to that point she had been certain she had made the right decision. After all, she had always been stronger than the other girls. At least stronger than the ones she met.

So, for Layla who hadn’t abandoned everyone to have strength equal to hers... It was like a slap to her face.

It made her remember what Emily said. It made her wonder if they were true. That she didn’t leave because she wanted strength. She left because she was too weak. She couldn’t bear to be surrounded by Muku’s memories for two years without seeing him.

The more she thought about the words the more true they felt. Before she knew it, she was stuck in her head. Those words repeating over and over in her mind.

On the outside. Jade’s eyes suddenly lost their glow. They turned lifeless. Then...

Boom!

Without a warning, her Beast Aura exploded out of her body and completely enveloped her. A huge claw made out of BA formed and swiped at Layla.

The situation was unexpected. But Layla who had been prepared to engage Jade in battle wasn’t caught off guard. An ice pillar rose in front of her and blocked the huge claw.

Hope and Chloe who had finally caught up were about to intervene and help Layla subdue the out-of-control Jade. They were stopped by Layla who raised her hand.

"Don’t intervene. I can take care of her myself. You two hang back and protect the captives" Layla gave orders to the two girls.

"But..." Chloe spoke before she was interrupted.

"No buts. If I had to guess. Something about my strength made her lose control. So, I will use my strength to bring her back to normal. So, this is what Iris meant by an unstable state? Maybe it’s a good thing that she isn’t around others..." Layla refused Chloe’s help again. She then whispered to herself at the end.

She thought that Iris had been exaggerating before. After all, Jade seemed to be pretty normal other than the colour change.

What no one knew was that Layla had spied on Jade a few times. She did it with her shadow element. She would hide in tree shadows and observe Jade’s battles sometimes. She never actually looked for Jade. She just happened to come across her a few times.

Unlike the constrained Hope and Emily, who couldn’t go far due to their limited physical capabilities. She could actually travel quite far as long as the sky was cloudy. It was also one of the reasons she was as strong as Jade who went everywhere she wanted.

The other reason was that she would sometimes hunt at night. It was something she started doing after she created a night vision spell. It was something she began working on the moment she realised that she could see in the dark as long as she was in the Shadow Realm. So, she figured that she should be able to do it without entering the Shadow Realm as well. And after a while, she could finally do it.

Anyway, the reason why Jade never knew that she was getting spied on despite her keen senses was pretty simple. Layla never directly looked at Jade. At least not for too long. Her eyes would be focused on Jade’s opponents. That way Jade would just be passing by in front of her eyes.

It was something she randomly tried the first time she came across Jade’s fight. And surprisingly, it worked...

Anyway, Chloe didn’t try to intervene anymore. She and Hope dragged the captives a distance away and protected them with their combined mana barrier. It was necessary since the two were a bit weaker than Layla and Jade.

Though Hope could probably do it alone. It was easier to do it with Chloe’s help though.

Seeing that there were no longer any people close by. Layla who had been focusing on defence let out a breath of relief. She could finally get a bit serious.

"Shadow Domain: Shadow World" Layla deployed her slightly mastered domain.

It was the same dome from before. However, it was a lot darker and emitted a much denser energy compared to the first time she used it.

It wasn’t just because of her improved strength, but also a result of her higher level of comprehension. She was on her way to completing one of the requirements needed for one to rank up to R4.

Unlike from Unranked to R3 where one only needed to kill beasts and complete one other requirement at most to rank up. It took a lot more to reach R4.

At least that’s what Iris told the girls. She didn’t tell them what the other requirements were though. She said that they will know when the time comes. Just like they’ve always known until that point. Since they didn’t have a way to make her say more, they could only take her words as they were and suppress their curiosity. They’ll know eventually anyway...

Anyway, the dome only covered Jade and Layla. The two were plunged into pitch black darkness.

However, Layla could clearly see everything. And Jade... Well, it didn’t matter whether she saw anything or not. After all, she wasn’t in control of herself. Her Beast Aura was the one in charge. And it didn’t see in the first place. It tracked Layla from her aura and struck.

Unfortunately for it. Tracking Layla in her domain was impossible. Her aura was everywhere, after all.

It would have confused the BA if it were a person. However, it wasn’t. So, without even the slightest pause. It stuck in every direction. At the very least, it tried to, but the countless claws didn’t manage to go even a metre away from Jade.

Layla’s domain was doing a great job of suppressing her. In fact, going a metre away instead of being completely locked inside Jade’s body was already amazing enough.

"You’ve had your chance to attack. Now it’s my turn" Layla spoke in the darkness. Her voice seemed to come from every direction.

It wasn’t intentional, just an effect of the domain. It would definitely throw any lucid enemy off their game. Though it was pretty useless in the current setting.

Anyway, a big ice boxing glove appeared on her right hand. The ice was soon tainted by the darkness and turned pitch black.

A little smile appeared on Layla’s face as she looked at the glove. In the next moment, she disappeared. Then...

Bang!

One display of "Omnipresence" later. Layla’s fist was buried deep into Jade’s gut.

Normally Jade’s Beast Aura would have protected her from the gut punch. Unfortunately, one can’t block a "Shadow Charged gut punch". Beast Aura could be regarded as defence, and everyone knows what Layla’s Shadow Charged attacks do to defence... They ignore it. Completely!

"That’s for calling me Frosty" Layla said softly.

"Argh! So it did faze you" Surprisingly, Jade responded after a cry of pain. She then fainted immediately after.

It seems the gut punch brought her back...