Leon's eyes held a faint golden glow. Dazed, he raised the large-caliber revolver and, under the shocked gazes of the others, pulled the trigger, aimed at Ms. Daly's back.
He's been hypnotized!
Silas's body jolted. He lunged forward, reaching out to push.
"Bang!"
The bullet grazed Daly's arm and shot out, blasting into the floor and creating a huge gap.
The bullet carved a bloody furrow in Daly's pale arm, making her body tremble with pain. But she didn't stop summoning spirits, her eyes remaining fixed on Ms. M.
Finally, Ms. Daly's spirit summoning succeeded. Countless pitch-black vines emerged from the void, tightly binding Ms. M's body.
Yellow-black liquid dripped from the vines, carrying strong corrosive properties. Ms. M's body was twisted into a ball by the vines, transforming into a paper figure that shattered into countless pieces and scattered on the ground.
She's disappeared again!
Flames ignited at the center of the group, and the white-robed Ms. M emerged from the fire. She raised her hand like a blade, accumulating tremendous power, thrusting straight toward Ms. Daly's back.
"Watch out!"
Silas shouted. He was about to raise his gun to intercept when a pair of arms from behind locked around his throat.
Looking back, it was the controlled Leon. His consciousness was still unclear, yet the strength in his hands was extraordinarily great. One hand gripped his throat while the other seized his gun arm.
"Get lost!"
Seeing Ms. Daly about to be pierced through the heart, Edward charged forward. The pitch-black staff, accompanied by a sharp whistle as it cut through the air, smashed toward Ms. M.
"Crack!"
Ms. M's arm broke in the middle, but she took advantage of Edward's full commitment to the swing, turning and rushing into his embrace, gently pressing her other hand against his chest.
She's going to create a flesh bomb in Edward's chest!
Edward glared at Ms. M. With his momentum not yet spent, illusory ripples like water spread around his body as he attempted to pull Ms. M into a dream.
But Ms. M merely smiled slightly, as if mocking him. A crisp sound of shattering glass came from the void, and the dreamscape was shattered before it could even take form.
And her hand remained firmly pressed against Edward's chest.
"Boom!"
A violent explosion followed. A massive bloody hole was blasted in Edward's chest, penetrating through his body.
Anger still lingered on his face, but his body could no longer support itself and fell backward. The black "Staff of Chaos" slipped from his grasp and clattered to the ground.
"Edward!"
Ms. Daly cried out in grief and fury. But at that moment, Ms. M had already flashed before her like a ghost, lightly punching her throat.
"Crack!"
Accompanied by a crisp sound, Daly clutched her throat and slowly collapsed, her life or death unknown.
And even by this point, Silas still hadn't managed to break free from Leon's control behind him!
In his shock, he felt the pressure on his neck slowly releasing. Looking back, he saw Leon's face full of terror as he retreated, yet his hands uncontrollably raised that giant revolver and pressed it under his own chin.
"Captain! Ms. Daly! Brother!"
"Silas, save me!"
His finger was already on the trigger as he called out helplessly.
Silas was about to reach out to stop him when a pair of arms wrapped around him from behind, tenderly embracing him.
Those arms were pale and smooth, the slender fingers wearing a blood-red rose ring, the rose upon it blooming vividly.
He was like a mouse entangled by a venomous snake, his body suddenly rigid, watching helplessly as Leon pulled the trigger.
"Bang!"
The gunshot echoed through the room, immediately followed by the sound of a body hitting the floor.
Around Silas and Ms. M, all three had fallen. The Nighthawks of Enmat Port, far from holding out until reinforcements arrived, hadn't even lasted a few minutes before being completely defeated.
Despair. Overwhelming despair washed over Silas.
Is this the true strength of a Shepherd?
Ms. M's soft body pressed against his back, a warm fragrance filling his nostrils, yet he only felt unable to breathe.
"Soul Assurance, spirit summoning, these are all excellent abilities. Silas, which one do you think I should shepherd?"
Gentle words, carrying warm breath, sounded in Silas's ear.
Hearing Ms. M's voice, Silas first shuddered, then opened his eyes wide in disbelief.
*She... she knows me!*
"Very surprised?"
Ms. M released Silas, walking before him and asking with a smile. "You probably don't know, but it was actually I who arranged for Sirius and Hanass in Tingen to find you and take care of you."
Actually, I know.
Silas recalled the matter of that letter, thinking silently.
"Unfortunately, the lambs in Tingen were later completely destroyed by the false god's minions, and you also disappeared.
I originally thought you would vanish forever, but who knew that by the Lord's grace, you would return at this most critical moment. Indeed, this is all the Lord's will..."
She stared at Silas, smiling and shaking her head. "But I didn't expect you'd already become a Nighthawk of the Evernight. This makes me very regretful."
Silas's heart was churning like stormy seas. Sure enough, Ms. M had set her sights on this body of his long ago.
It was just that when he escaped from Sirius's hands back then, the connection was broken. Who would have thought he'd deliver himself to her doorstep today!
"Why are you so fixated on me?"
He couldn't help but ask.
Perhaps Ms. M could answer the long-standing mysteries about himself.
"Because you carry the Lord's aura." Ms. M's golden eyes stared intently at Silas.
"This aura is so pure, so intoxicating... it's almost like the Lord's reflection in the mortal world..."
Her gaze was terrifying. Silas instinctively stepped back.
Ms. M noticed his movement and sighed lightly. "What a pity that your shell is so close to the Lord, yet your soul is so filthy and corrupt. But fortunately, this won't be a problem much longer."
"Snap!"
She crisply snapped her fingers, and Silas's body lost autonomous control. Involuntarily following her movements, he walked toward the door glowing with red light.
The closer they got to the door, the more intense the red glow became. The light was almost tangible, saturating the surrounding air. Sticky wriggling sounds, faint whispers, indescribable screams... came continuously from behind the door.
Finally, Ms. M reached the door and pushed it open.
Blood-red instantly covered his vision. Everywhere he looked, there was only flesh, flesh.
Behind the door was a warehouse-sized space, but what it contained was not cargo, but a bloated, enormous mass of flesh.
The surface of the flesh mass was bright red, like the mucous membrane inside a mouth, wriggling and oozing slime.
The warehouse floor was carved with fallen, twisted ritual arrays, and the flesh had spread, already merging with the walls and ceiling.
And the most horrifying thing was what constituted the flesh mass: it was countless human bodies that had adhered and fused together, of all ages and genders, without discrimination or reason.
As the flesh ball contracted and expanded, every human face upon it showed expressions of agony, singing in unison to praise some evil existence.
Silas's scalp tingled. Involuntarily, he searched through the memories from the potion for this extremely depraved and insane ritual.
"Abyss of Flesh..."
He squeezed out its name through clenched teeth.
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