From the moment the ritual began, Silas had been thinking about how to deal with Lanevus and Hood Eugen.
A direct confrontation was definitely out of the question.
Two Beyonders against him alone, plus a mystical item—even with his cheat ability, his chances of victory weren't great.
That meant he could only resort to a sneak attack.
So Silas began to wait, waiting for the two to lower their guard, waiting for the perfect opportunity to present itself.
The instant the True Creator descended with His divinity, he moved.
"Clang!"
The gas lamp was thrown to the ground by Silas.
At the same moment, he lunged toward the altar, extending his finger to dip it in the blood that formed the ritual array, then quickly modified the array's pattern according to his premeditated design.
Swish, swish.
His finger moved with lightning speed!
He had already examined the array on the altar carefully. His Secrets Suppliant abilities had allowed him to quickly parse the array's principles.
He had practiced in his mind how to alter it over a dozen times.
With just one stroke, he drastically modified the array's contents, swapping the positions of Lanevus and his fiancée, Megose.
In other words, the person who would conceive and carry the divine heir changed from Megose to Lanevus!
Silas's strike was too fast, the ambush too unexpected.
By the time he finished modifying the array, Lanevus still hadn't reacted.
He was laughing wildly with his mouth wide open, waiting for the divine seed to enter Megose's body, only to see that beam of light floating in mid-air suddenly veer without warning and fly straight into his mouth.
"Gulp." Lanevus swallowed reflexively.
Certain corrupted, terrible things instantly invaded his body and gathered in his lower abdomen.
"Ahhhhh!"
Lanevus seemed to hear the wails of infants and evil whispers in his ears.
His belly was in excruciating pain, as if something were devouring his flesh and blood, or as if some mad and twisted existence were forcibly squeezing into his body.
Unable to maintain his standing posture, he collapsed while clutching his stomach, screaming in agony.
"What did you—"
Hood Eugen had just started to shout when Silas raised his hand and delivered a vicious punch, slamming it right into his nose.
"Crack!"
A crisp sound rang out. Hood Eugen cried out and staggered back a step, covering his nose, the bell in his hand dropping to the ground.
Just as he was about to endure the pain and pick it up, Silas, who had already drawn his revolver from its holster, rushed forward and smashed the gun butt into his face.
"Clang!"
The metal gun butt was heavy and forceful, striking Hood Eugen hard enough to make his jaw shake.
"Shut up!"
Just as Hood Eugen opened his mouth to scream, he felt the icy barrel of a gun against his forehead.
Silas's voice was cold. "Make a single sound, and you're dead."
Sensing the seriousness in Silas's words, Hood Eugen immediately covered his mouth. No matter how much pain he was in, he didn't dare make a sound.
Silas calmly glanced at him, then pulled the trigger.
Seeing Silas's action, Hood Eugen's eyes widened in shock, as if questioning him: Didn't I shut up just like you asked?
"Bang!"
The silver demon-hunting bullet spun out from the barrel, split open his skull, and sent his dying confusion splattering along with his brains.
"I lied."
The corpse hit the ground. Looking at Hood Eugen's unblinking dead eyes, Silas answered.
Come on, the man had just wanted to use him as a living sacrifice. Did he really think he'd let him off?
After dealing with Hood Eugen, Silas turned to look at Lanevus, who was still struggling on the ground.
"Ugh! Ahh!"
Lanevus clutched his stomach, continuously letting out agonized wails. Tumors erupted one after another beneath his skin, transforming his originally ordinary face into something grotesque and terrifying.
By the looks of it, he wasn't fortunate enough to enjoy the deity's blessing. In a little while, he would probably lose control completely.
Serves him right.
Faced with Lanevus's miserable state, Silas felt no sympathy whatsoever.
He'd had such a wonderful girl who loved him. Not only did he not appreciate it, but he'd even used her love to turn her into a breeding ground for an evil god.
This wasn't just the behavior of a typical madman; this was an inhuman beast.
If not for the fear that a complete loss of control would make him difficult to deal with, Silas would definitely have let him suffer longer.
Silas readied his revolver and cautiously approached Lanevus, aiming at his head.
Because his marksmanship wasn't good, he could only use this method to improve his accuracy.
Lanevus screamed miserably, rolling around.
He didn't even have the chance to speak, but when he looked at Silas, his eyes were full of malice and madness, like a beast trapped in a cage.
Silas calmly met his gaze, then pulled the trigger.
"Bang!"
The demon-hunting bullet pierced through Lanevus's forehead, leaving a bloody bullet hole.
(/n: always double-tap)
Lanevus stopped struggling and lay motionless on the ground.
Phew, that was really dangerous...
Silas held his revolver, his heart gripped by lingering fear.
Although it had looked like he'd dealt with both men swiftly and decisively just now, in reality, one wrong move and he would have been the one who died.
Especially Lanevus, his movements were extremely agile.
When he'd assassinated the guards earlier, his actions had been swift and vicious, basically killing with a single strike.
Silas would bet that if that knife had been aimed at him, with his current abilities, he definitely wouldn't have been able to dodge it.
And that Hood Eugen seemed to have extraordinary abilities to bewitch people's hearts.
Even though Silas had his cheat ability that could resist hypnosis, a moment's daze would have been enough for Lanevus to kill him.
That's why Silas had seized the opportunity to first distort the ritual, making Lanevus lose his combat ability, then struck Hood Eugen so hard he had no time to react or think, killing him outright, then freed up his hands to shoot Lanevus.
After taking a few breaths to calm himself down, Silas came down somewhat from the excitement of battle.
He suddenly thought of something: the ritual didn't seem to be over yet. The divine heir had descended, but the deity Himself hadn't been sent back yet...
Oh crap...
Silas instinctively turned around, only to see the bizarre black humanoid figure right behind him, using a face without any features to stare at him at close range.
"Shit!"
He was so startled his scalp went numb, and his arm swung reflexively.
"Whoosh—"
The black figure was scattered into a large mass of vapor.
The resentment filled with extreme emotions howled and flew toward Lanevus lying on the ground, enveloping him and rapidly merging into his body.
Then Lanevus's originally lifeless body suddenly began to move again.
The tumors receded, and the bullet hole healed. He actually showed signs of resurrection!
Silas didn't hesitate. He retreated rapidly and fired again.
"Bang! Bang!"
The scattered bullets shattered the spiritual wall.
The spiritual wind howled around them. The bullets that struck Lanevus barely fazed him; each one left a bloody mark that his rapidly healing wounds soon pushed outward.
This was bad.