My Substitute CEO Bride (Nash Calicraft) novel Chapter 2209

Ruin did not try to take over Zirconia's body. He was merely curious to see how far this woman could go. Now that her mortal enemy had arrived, Ruin was eager to find out who would emerge victorious when this millennia-old conflict reignited.

Ruin slowly approached the weakened woman, who asked in a faint voice, "What’s the matter? Aren’t you going to try your luck? You might be able to stop me now. You once called me a madwoman, didn’t you? I think you were right. I’ve never regretted any of the mistakes I made, and I still don’t."

Ruin replied, "Provoking me won’t work. I’m merely a witness to your fate."

Zirconia chuckled at this, amused. "Haha, you’re still the same after all these centuries."

Ruin stood silently as Zirconia pulled out a black, heart-like, pulsating orb from within her body.

"This divine orb has been beating within me for so many years. Aren't you tempted to take it back?" she asked.

Ruin shook his head. "You said you wouldn’t regret any of your mistakes. How could I be any different? Even resurrecting you... From the moment you came back to life, I already knew your fate. That’s why I must witness all of this with my own eyes."

Zirconia then returned the divine orb to her body. She threw her head back and laughed. "Haha, I’m starting to like you more and more. You’re just as much of a lunatic as I am."

…

Two of her clones flew toward the battlefield at Central District at incredible speeds. Not surprisingly, they saw three individuals trapped inside a small orb. A deep-seated fear began to emerge within them. They knew it came from Zirconia's memories that were buried deep within them.

"Hmph! So what if we are?!" Bastion Doom retorted as he charged toward Clint. "We're the cult leader's strongest clones! Don't get cocky!"

Clint took a quick step back and tried to pull him into a temporal vortex. However, the two clones were indeed the strongest and managed to react swiftly, leaping out of the vortex's range just in time.

This piqued Clint's interest slightly. "Looks like you two do have some skill, but it's not enough." Then, he executed a spatial leap and appeared directly behind them.

Siete and Bastion immediately activated their protective barriers, evading his strike once more.

Clint realized that these two would not be easy to take down. He also knew he could not afford to waste too much of his divine energy on them as there was a limit to how long he could maintain his powers.