Thinking this, Karl felt a slight displeasure.
It seemed that today's Yennefer was no different from other sorceresses, and equally arrogant.
He still sat leaning back, not even moving the hand holding his chin.
Karl indifferently raised his other free hand and met the lightning bolts that had flown into the air, weakened enough to knock an ordinary person to the ground.
He easily and casually swatted at them, as if shooing away an annoying fly.
There was no light, no energy fluctuations, and not even a stirring of wind.
Poof... Fsss! The moment these lightning bolts touched his palm, they were blocked by his invisible bio-field, unable to even cause a ripple.
The lightning suddenly scattered like soap bubbles under Karl's casual swat.
It exploded into countless tiny, harmless arcs, emitting a series of faint "fsss" sounds.
In the end, they unwillingly dissipated into the air, leaving no trace except a slight fluctuation of magical power.
Karl didn't even look at the result of dispersing the lightning with his palm.
His gaze remained fixed on Yennefer, and a faint, mocking sneer flickered at the vague curve of his mouth.
A light, scornful chuckle escaped his nose.
The laugh was very soft, but after the lightning explosion in the quiet inn hall, it became particularly clear and sharp.
You know, the Arzu's Thunderbolt technique performed by Hen himself was lightning thicker than a wine barrel.
After being weakened by his bio-field, the strike couldn't cause him any pain.
Moreover, this was lightning that looked fierce but was actually well-controlled, not meant to kill.
Even if Yennefer wasn't using her full strength, given the power of his current bio-field,
even if he just stood there without dodging, letting Yennefer attack at will,
the only result would be Yennefer running out of mana, not even a single hair of his being damaged.
Yennefer, who had been carefully observing Karl's reaction from the corner of her eye, saw him so relaxed, even crude,
using only his body to block her probing lightning. Her previously calm expression finally changed.
She sharply turned her head, and for the first time, her violet eyes fully and formally fell upon Karl.
The vague contempt for another of Geralt's new acquaintances, which she had consciously maintained, instantly vanished, replaced by a sense of seriousness and suspicion.
She felt no Chaos magic fluctuations, no spell shield,
no traces of protective runes, nor even signs of activation of ordinary magical items.
He simply dispersed the lightning with his palm, which was completely unexpected.
"This guy... what the hell is going on?" A huge question arose in Yennefer's heart, accompanied by unprecedented vigilance.
She discovered that the friend Geralt had brought was far more mysterious and dangerous than she had imagined.
At that moment, Geralt, who had just recovered from the lightning strike after the Heliotrop Sign completely collapsed,
also happened to see the scene of Karl dispersing the arc, and Yennefer's suddenly changing expression.
His eyes were also full of shock, but most of all, it was a complex emotion of "I knew it."
Karl raised his brows, looking at Yennefer without joy or anger, his eyes seeming to hold the calm before a storm.
He used a voice that both Geralt and Yennefer could hear, saying in a deep tone: "I have to say, you are quite bold."
"The last sorceress who escaped from my hands, I remember her name was Sabrina."
This sentence was like thunder exploding in Yennefer's ears.
She stared at Karl in disbelief, her violet eyes suddenly widening.
Sabrina!? The sorceress she often disliked, one might say.
There was little difference in their strength, and they both knew each other's capabilities.
And Sabrina had almost been killed by the young man before her? Just because of a disagreement?
An immense horror instantly shattered Yennefer's composure, and the arrogance born from her own strength and status.
She realized she had made a serious mistake and had greatly underestimated this seemingly gentle young man's power and... his temper.
She opened her mouth and almost immediately wanted to bow her head and apologize for her offense.
Because in the face of an absolute disparity in power, maintaining dignity seemed foolish.
But just as she tried to rise from the chair at the counter, an invisible force of immense authority suddenly pressed down on her.
CRACK! The wooden chair beneath her couldn't withstand this sudden force and instantly splintered into countless pieces of wood, scattered on the floor.
Yennefer's face suddenly turned pale; she felt as if the blood in her body had frozen.
This force not only firmly bound her in place, preventing her from moving,
but, even more terrifyingly, it was uniformly applied to every part of her body.
The pain of the tight constriction spread throughout her body, and she could even vaguely hear the faint "creaking" of her bones being compressed.
In terror, she immediately mobilized the magic within her to resist, forming a spell shield or casting a teleportation spell.
However, in an instant, she was overcome by deeper despair, horrified to find that not only could she not move,
but her mouth also seemed sealed by an invisible substance, unable to open, let alone make a sound. Only her eyelids and eyeballs could move.
She had become a prisoner, nailed alive in invisible shackles, unable even to utter a word of plea for mercy.
Geralt immediately noticed Yennefer's anomaly, heard her bones creaking, and his heart raced.
She was frozen in place, her face pale, her eyes full of panic and helplessness he had never seen before.
He leaned forward, waved his hand in front of Yennefer, and called out softly: "Yen? What's wrong with you?!"
Geralt received no verbal answer, only Yennefer's blinking eyes,
and her eyes, desperately turning towards Karl, full of plea and panic.
Geralt immediately understood, sharply turned his head to look at Karl, who was now slowly approaching the counter, and asked urgently: "Karl, did you... do something to her?"
Karl didn't deny it, simply nodded calmly, and, as if no one else were there, reached out
and took one of the three glasses of wine placed on the counter in front of Yennefer, the one that clearly hadn't been touched, and took a delicate sip.
His indifferent gaze swept over Yennefer, who was desperately pleading with her eyes, and he seemed to feel the force field was a bit too tight.
╔══════════════════════╗
📘 Want more?
Join me on Patreon for bonus chapters
and early access!
🔗 https://www.patreon.com/cw/OverlordD
╚══════════════════════╝