Tivian's western suburbs, by the Moonflow River.
Under the dark night, raging flames were burning. The villa standing by the river was emitting thick smoke, and flames occasionally shot out from the windows. Two entire floors of the large villa were engulfed in flames, and the fire was spreading rapidly.
From within the flames of the building, constant vibrations and roars could be heard. Walls occasionally shattered, and charred corpses were thrown out, the angry bellows of beasts echoing through the flames.
"Tsk... damn it, are the Church's Saint Knights all crazy? This way, all the clues and evidence will be burned away!" Flying in the sky on the wind, Edmund looked down at the flaming building below and couldn't help but rub his forehead, saying that Anrexius's actions would clearly burn away any valuable clues.
The reason they were able to find Davik's stronghold was because they discovered clues about Davik in Alex's stronghold and followed the trail. Now they were originally planning to find more clues about the Wolf Blood Society in this stronghold, but who knew that the reinforcements who came to support them directly charged in and started burning.
"Although they say they are dealing with otherworld issues, for such covert operations, shouldn't the Church have sent Judges? Why did they suddenly send a Saint Knight? I really don't understand!"
Edmund muttered in confusion. Within the Church's system, the Saint Knight Order and the Judge are two extremely important executive forces. The Saint Knight Order is military in nature, while the Judge is police-like. One focuses on direct purification and destruction, while the other focuses on investigation and interrogation.
Generally speaking, when dealing with internal Church matters and otherworld issues, the Church dispatches the Judge. When dealing with heretical cults and evil gods, the Church dispatches the Saint Knight Order. In complex situations, both may be dispatched together, or they may cooperate with the local An Yin Bureau, but this cooperation was clearly not handled well.
Regardless, fighting has now officially begun inside. Although very dissatisfied with Anrexius's reckless actions, Edmund could not just watch him fight alone. Both sides are Chalk, and there are many variables in a one-on-one situation. He had to support him immediately.
Then, Edmund controlled the airflow around him and swooped down, rushing into the burning villa through an open window, officially joining the battle.
...
At this time, inside Smith's villa, in an area not yet affected by the scorching flames, another fierce battle was also continuing.
Within the spacious room, a Sister in white, holding a rapier, was facing two beastmen who were constantly attacking her. Facing beastmen with powerful physique and vitality, like apes, Vanya was originally difficult to deal with, until she applied her Healing Priest ability in combat, and only then did the battle situation begin to change.
Vanya's blade sliced through the black fur and flesh, leaving deep bloody marks. Shortly after, a gentle orange-yellow glow passed over them. The newly created wounds immediately healed, but this healing was merely superficial. Beneath the seemingly normal skin was a structure that violated the very nature of life.
Completely wrong connections, nerves, blood vessels, and muscles were completely tangled into a mess. Blood vessels that supplied blood in one direction were connected facing each other, causing blood to clash within. Muscle connections were twisted like braids, and pain nerves were concentrated inside, receiving all-around stimulation.
Abnormal blood flow, abnormal nerves, abnormal muscles... after incorrect healing, the wounds showed even more severe destructive power to the body... under Vanya's deliberate design, on the bodies of these beastmen, these internal injuries converted from external wounds were constantly worsening within their bodies. Their actions began to gradually slow down amidst painful howls.
"Is this the enlightenment Aka gave me, the effect produced by combining it with the Healing Priest ability? Incorrect treatment is more harmful than direct damage... it's truly terrifying... if the Holy Mother were to guide my abilities, it wouldn't have this effect, right...?"
Waving her rapier, Vanya thought to herself as she looked at the scene before her. The healing of wounds guided by a Healing Priest is guided by their own will. For Church monks and Sisters who almost entirely focus on spiritual practice, they do not master human anatomy knowledge. Therefore, generally, Church Healing Priests need to rely on praying to the Holy Mother for guidance when using their abilities.
But Vanya is different. Under Aka's divine enlightenment, she possesses the anatomical knowledge of a seasoned surgeon. Relying on this knowledge, she can guide her abilities herself. A wound, to her, can be healed well, or it can be healed poorly, or even twisted into a lesion more severe than the original external injury.
Although ordinary Healing Priests who heal wounds randomly without praying to the Holy Mother can achieve similar effects, they won't be as effective as Vanya, who can turn ordinary wounds into major lesions. This is because even with reverse healing, knowing the knowledge allows for precise, efficient reverse healing.
This kind of use of the Healing Priest ability was something the Church had never mentioned to Vanya before. It was something Dorothy brought up when chatting with Vanya about her new ability. At first, Vanya felt that Dorothy's suggestion of using the Holy Mother's power in this way might be somewhat sacrilegious, but now that she encountered this situation, she couldn't worry about that anymore.
"Holy Mother, please forgive my sins, for using your healing power to create this damage and suffering... This is to deal with the crisis... and... the healing power is really too useful against enemies!"
Vanya thought this way in her heart. At this time, in front of her, the two beastmen, under her constant "healing," had internal injuries that had severely affected their actions. Muscles twisted, blood flow blocked, nerves stinging... Under the torment of various internal injuries, they began to wail, and their physical mobility was severely affected.
Seizing an opportunity, Vanya thrust her sword straight, her rapier piercing into the right eye of one beastman before being pulled out. The beastman, wailing, covered its bleeding eye socket and ran wildly, eventually crashing through the window and falling downstairs. After this, Vanya's blade flicked again, the tip sent into the chest of the last beastman, piercing and nailing it to the wall.
"Success..."
Seeing that the last beastman was dealt with, Vanya's expression relaxed, but the next scene made her tense up again.
She saw that the beastman she had pierced and nailed to the wall became weaker and weaker as it struggled. When it reached a certain degree of weakness, the red gem on the hilt of the rapier suddenly emitted a red glow. Then, the entire body of the pierced, weakened beastman began to become thin and withered. Seeing this scene, Vanya couldn't help but release the hilt and step back two steps, while the beastman nailed to the wall by the rapier visibly turned into a mummy. After it completely became a mummy, the light in the red gem on the rapier's hilt gradually dimmed.
"The sword Miss Dorothea gave me is... an Extraordinary item... an Extraordinary item that can absorb blood?"
Looking at the mummified beastman nailed to the wall in front of her, Vanya muttered. At this moment, another voice sounded behind her.
"To be precise, it's an Extraordinary item that absorbs 'Cup.'"
Hearing this voice, Vanya was slightly startled, then turned her head to look. She saw the sickly Davik walking towards her. After the chaos broke out in the villa, Dorothy took the opportunity to have Davik escape surveillance. Now, he finally found a chance to meet up with Vanya.
"Phew... it's Miss Dorothea. What should we do now?"
Seeing the puppet in front of her, Vanya said with a sigh of relief. Dorothy then manipulated Davik to walk forward and pull the heart-devouring staff-sword out of the mummified beastman's chest, then immediately replied.
"We must leave here immediately. On the upper floors, the An Yin Bureau and the Church's Chalk are besieging that Werewolf Smith. That Werewolf and this house probably won't last much longer. You should leave quickly, go directly through that window..."
Feeling the constant loud noises and vibrations coming from upstairs, Davik said this to Vanya, then pointed to a window nearby that had been broken by a beastman earlier, indicating for Vanya to leave through there.
"Okay, we can talk outside..."
"Only you need to go out. The An Yin Bureau and Church people are all outside now. If we are seen talking, it will be disadvantageous to you, so just go out by yourself. Oh, and... take this with you."
Saying this, Davik took out something and threw it to Vanya. After catching it, Vanya picked it up and examined it carefully, discovering that it was a twisted pair of handcuffs. Vanya remembered these handcuffs; they were the ones the An Yin Bureau had put on Davik's hands, which Smith later removed and threw away. On them... there was the An Yin Bureau's Beacon Sigil.
"These handcuffs... could it be that the reason the Hunters were able to find this place is..."
Looking at the deformed handcuffs in her hand, Vanya spoke in astonishment, while Davik said calmly.
"After you meet the An Yin Bureau or the Church people later, when they ask you about the situation, show them these handcuffs. Just say that after the Werewolf threw away the handcuffs, after the Werewolf threw this thing away, you quietly picked it up when they weren't paying attention and hid it on your body, and brought it all the way here. You firmly believe that someone will come to save you, understand?"
Using Davik's mouth, Dorothy instructed Vanya, who was slightly startled after hearing it, then nodded after realizing what was happening.
"I understand, thank you, Miss Dorothea!"
After speaking, Vanya turned around and leaped over the windowsill, jumping out of the villa through the window. Seeing Vanya successfully escape danger, Dorothy breathed a slight sigh of relief.
"I wonder... how much merit can Vanya gain this time?"
After muttering in the carriage, Dorothy manipulated Davik, who was still in the villa, to start moving with the heart-devouring staff-sword, and his goal was not to leave the villa.
"The fire is burning so big, it would be too ungrateful to the arsonist not to loot."
Manipulating Davik to move forward in the smoke-filled villa, Dorothy muttered. Now Smith is clashing with the Chalk of both the An Yin Bureau and the Church, it is a good time to strike.
With the intention of looting while the fire raged, Dorothy had Davik shuttle through the villa where the fire was spreading. Soon after, he reached his destination, Smith's secret room.
At this time, there was no longer any sign of Smith in the secret room, but the ground was covered with either charred or cut Werewolf corpses, and the shattered walls and increasingly fierce fire everywhere showed that there had been a fierce battle here, but now the two sides of the battle had moved elsewhere, and the constant shaking of the entire villa indicated that this battle had not yet stopped.
"It's so badly broken here, so many places are on fire... Can I really find anything of value..."
Looking at the scene in front of her, Dorothy in the carriage muttered, but even so, she still manipulated Davik to start searching in the ruined secret room, trying to find something of value.
And just at this moment, strange changes began to occur around the entire villa.
On one side of the villa, in the wide Moonflow River, a sudden surge of waves rolled up. The Hunters surrounding the villa were attracted by the commotion on the river surface and turned their heads to look in that direction. As a result, they saw a huge water column soaring into the sky. This water column, several meters thick, turned into a thick and long water snake in the sky and rushed towards the villa. In the astonished eyes of everyone, the water snake rushed into the upper floor of the burning villa through a large hole opened in the wall, and then the thick smoke rising from inside the villa immediately decreased significantly.
Soon after, another loud noise came from above the villa, accompanied by the breaking of the wall, and a turbulent water column sprayed out from it, and what was sprayed out with it was a Knight in armor.
Anrexius was sprayed out by the water column and fell heavily to the ground. His armor had countless scratch-like cracks and bloodstains, the flames on his long sword had been extinguished, some parts of his armor were completely broken in large areas, the blade of his long sword was also pitted, and his white robe was covered in blood.
"Are you alright, Anrexius Priest!"
From inside the villa, Edmund's figure also flew out of the villa window and hovered beside Anrexius, asking, while Anrexius slowly stood up, supporting himself with his sword, and replied.
"Huff... huff... That evil wolf still has some skill, but now he's at the end of his rope. This thing must be his trump card."
Standing up straight, Anrexius looked upwards and said. Where his gaze fell, he saw a huge water snake formed by flowing water turning out from the crack in the villa, staring at Anrexius and Edmund below. Seeing this, Edmund spoke silently.
"This looks like something made by an Ebergrass Church Extraordinary item. The three branches of the Fetal Garment Cult often alternate between hostility and cooperation, and Extraordinary items and Sigils are mainly used with the 'Cup'. Did it just flow over here? Hmph... With this kind of thing as a trump card, no wonder this guy set up his base by the water."
Looking at the water snake above the villa, Edmund made his judgment and spoke, while at this moment, Anrexius had already stood firm again. He endured his injuries and once again ignited the fierce fire on his sword.
"No matter what that thing is, it cannot block the Holy purification! Come on! Watch me evaporate it!"
Saying this, Anrexius took his flaming long sword and rushed forward again. Seeing this, Edmund immediately followed.
"That Werewolf is almost finished too, try to capture him alive!"
...
At this moment, inside the villa, on a dilapidated corridor, Smith, covered in cuts, with his hair burned black, and large scars all over his body, was lying on the ground, breathing heavily in pain with two large cuts on his face.
Under the siege of two Chalk, the severely injured Smith was on the verge of death. Burned and cut countless times, he was unable to maintain his Werewolf transformation and had returned to his human form.
With trembling hands, Smith took out two fingers from the burnt rags of his clothes and swallowed the last of his Spirituality reserves. After recovering a little strength, he struggled to stand up and stumbled towards the distance.
'The water snake summoned by the 'Raw Snake Skin' won't last long... While I can, I must immediately report the situation here to Elder Duval...'
Thinking this, Smith moved forward with difficulty. He had just used his trump card, an Extraordinary item obtained from the Ebergrass Church, which is of the same origin as the Wolf Blood Society, to temporarily block Anrexius and Edmund. Now he had to hurry to the altar to notify the upper levels of the Wolf Blood Society, so that they would know what had happened at this base.
Stumbling, covered in charring and cracks, with hardly any clothes left, Smith arrived at his originally ruined secret room, and then he saw an unexpected figure, a familiar figure who was rummaging through his bookshelf.
"Davik..."
Hearing the strange noise, Davik, who was rummaging through a pile of charcoal, stood up and looked into the distance, looking at the disheveled Smith, looking at his "savior" and "superior".
"Ah, it's Mr. Smith..."
"What are you doing, Davik..."
"Ah... As you can see, I saw that it was on fire here, and I'm helping you save books, Mr. Smith..." Looking at Smith, who was gritting his teeth and questioning him sternly, Davik said calmly, and then Smith's roaring question was his response.
"Don't play tricks on me now, Smith! Be honest with me! Were you turned by the Black Dog! Are you a spy!"
With immense anger, Smith roared at Davik. In Smith's opinion, if that Sister had a problem, then Davik, who had been trying so hard to protect the Sister before, must also have a problem!
"Wait, wait a minute, Mr. Smith! Don't be angry, I'm still a little unclear about the situation, there must be some misunderstanding here, how could I be a spy? By the Gluttonous Wolf, I, Davik Jones, have always been loyal to the organization."
Davik explained to Smith, with an innocent and pitiful expression on his face, while at this moment, his hand also reached into his clothes.
Suddenly, Davik's expression condensed, and he pulled out a revolver from inside his clothes and aimed it at the extremely weak Smith in front of him, ready to pull the trigger.
And at this moment, even though Smith was extremely weak, unable to even show his Werewolf form, he was still a Chalk Extraordinary. The moment he saw Davik pull out the gun, he immediately reacted, activating the few 'Cup' left in his body, and disregarding his injuries, he burst out and rushed towards Davik.
Finally, Smith rushed in front of Davik before he could even fire, opened his mouth and bit off his throat, but as Davik fell, a smile appeared on his lips.
At this moment, the Living Puppet Davik Jones began to die, and the Corpse Puppet Davik Jones officially appeared. He stood up straight, took out a rapier from behind him, and stabbed it into Smith's chest at close range.