Backlund Bridge District, Rustwell Street.
The wreckage of the massive airship lay tilted in the river channel. Kerosene leaked from the fuel tank flowed onto the Tussock River, burning fiercely on the water's surface.
The pitch-black river water reflected a dazzling orange-red glow. The bright firelight also illuminated the streets on the riverbank, and the shadows of fighting figures were cast onto the buildings opposite.
Thus, what had been an intense melee suddenly became a spectacular shadow play.
"Bang, bang, bang!"
"Boom!"
"Praise the Lord!"
Gunfire erupted, and mad, eerie prayers rang out from time to time.
The "Red Gloves" coordinated with each other, entangled with a large group of fanatical cultists.
The fearless believers ignored the damage brought by bullets and surged forward like a tide.
Even when hit by bullets, they often just swayed slightly, with little effect.
What was even more troublesome was that several "Shadow Ascetics" and "Rose Bishops" were mixed in among the ordinary fanatics.
They concealed their forms and launched attacks stealthily, causing considerable trouble for these Nighthawks.
Fortunately, the cultists were facing the elite among the Nighthawks, well-trained and equipped with numerous Beyonder items.
Although they couldn't achieve immediate victory, they could maintain the front line and resist wave after wave of attacks.
"These guys are insane!"
Leonard raised his hand and hit a shadow that was moving rapidly hidden under the cultists' feet, cursing angrily.
Normally, these cultists hid like cockroaches and rats in the city's darkness, but now they had all emerged.
The number of surrounding cultists was simply too many. He felt like half of Backlund's Aurora Order members might have appeared here.
Although it was true that the three major churches and Loen's official forces were Backlund's greatest power, before reinforcements arrived, the other side indeed occupied the numerical advantage.
How much longer must we hold out before reinforcements arrive...
Leonard looked up with some concern toward the other side of the street.
There, two powerful Beyonders were engaged in combat.
The handsome Mr. A had greatly changed in appearance.
His body had grown three to four meters tall, with goat horns on his head and bat wings on his back, surrounded by sulfurous blue flames. The lava greatsword in his hands was incredibly sharp.
Each swing brought spectacular destruction, silently melting the ground and walls, leaving terrible scars.
Opposite Mr. A, the tall "Wings of the Goddess" Isabella held her astonishingly large-caliber revolver, firing from time to time.
Under the wide sleeve of her right arm, something was flapping and opening, directly "erasing" approaching attacks.
It was also because of this ability that Mr. A was unable to get close.
The battle had been going on for some time. The Red Gloves hadn't managed to break through the Aurora Order's obstruction, allowing Lanevus to escape.
"Boom..."
Just then, a dull collapse suddenly came from the distant street. It seemed like the road surface had caved in.
A feeling that was both sacred and filthy, blasphemous, instantly spread from within and quickly reached here.
"It's Lanevus! He's over there!"
Leonard immediately recognized that the familiar evil feeling was emanating from Lanevus.
Although he didn't know why, Lanevus didn't seem to have run far and was still nearby!
On the other side of the street, both Mr. A and "Wings of the Goddess" Isabella simultaneously sensed Lanevus.
The former was surprised and angry, while the latter discovered an opportunity.
"Leonard, chase after him!"
She shouted loudly.
"Yes, my lady!"
Leonard received the order and responded equally loudly.
At the same time, the other Red Gloves took action with practiced speed and coordination.
They launched an active offensive, opening a temporary passage for Leonard. He grabbed his revolver and sprinted through the passage, going to pursue the fleeing Lanevus.
"Hmph!"
Anger flashed in Mr. A's eyes. He swung his lava longsword toward Leonard's departing back.
A stream of ghostly blue flames wrapped in terrible curses and deadly poison flew toward his back.
But the blue flames were "erased" midway. Isabella blocked his path.
"Don't forget about me."
She chuckled and said to him.
During this delay, Leonard's figure had already rushed out of the street and disappeared from view.
---
"Bang! Bang!"
Silas's body was collapsing, constantly exploding and blooming into brilliant, blood-red "roses." But at the same time, his body's flesh-and-blood repair power kept taking effect.
Countless roses quickly closed after opening, as if accumulating strength for the next flowering season.
Destruction, repair, holiness, eeriness... continuously played out in cycles on his body.
Rich, profound darkness wandered across his body's surface.
Under the rose petals, in the depths of the flesh crevices, it made his body flicker bright and dim like a faulty light bulb.
Silas felt like he was about to burst.
The evil god's offspring had been killed.
All the filth and madness had been drowned and destroyed by the seawater. What finally floated up was just a trace of the purest divinity.
But even this trace of pure divinity was an enormous burden for him!
Not only that, the True Creator's ravings, angry to the extreme, still echoed in his mind... No, it could even be said to be roaring.
Silas had killed His offspring and devoured the trace of divinity within the offspring.
This not only destroyed His chance at divine descent but was also mad blasphemy against the deity Himself!
"Whoosh..."
Silas struggled to hold on. The sound of the illusory tide resisted the impact of the ravings.
Inside his body, the curse brought by Lanevus was gradually being dissolved.
Once the curse was eliminated, the True Creator would temporarily stop calling due to the severed connection.
"Cough, cough..."
His body trembled, collapsing and recovering, unable to move for the moment.
Beside him, Lanevus's massive body was gradually disintegrating, turning into pure blood and water, flowing into Backlund's filthy underground sewer.
This despicable and cunning fraudster ultimately became a sacrifice to the deity, completely disappearing from spirit to flesh.
My thing is still in his body...
Silas thought hazily, looking toward that mass of flesh and blood.
In the crimson, deformed flesh, something rich in spirituality seemed to be precipitating out, shining with a peculiar radiance.
My "Agony"... he didn't digest it, did he?
Silas thought chaotically.
"Thud, thud, thud!"
Hurried footsteps suddenly came from the street above.
A man in a black uniform came running quickly, wearing bright red gloves on both hands that were especially conspicuous in the night.
Leonard ran to the opening, stopped at the shattered gap, and warily looked down.
His expression quickly became extremely shocked.
In that scene of devastation, Lanevus's body was rotting, and a strange man was struggling madly and painfully in place, his flesh collapsing and repairing.
Because of this, the man's shattered appearance was also difficult to discern.
"He looks so strange. Did he kill Lanevus, or is he also an enemy?"
Leonard thought, considering how to handle this, when he suddenly heard a sharp "whoosh, whoosh" sound from behind, as if something was cutting through the air, attacking him.
He jumped to the side to dodge and found they were several tarot cards that had stabbed straight into the ground.