In the dead of night, on the cliffside on the outskirts of Adria, where surging waves crashed, the terrifying half-shark, half-human monster was rapidly transforming at a visible speed. In just a short while, it completely reverted to human form. It was a man with a thick black beard, dark yellow skin, wearing a soaked robe, with a clear knife scar on his face, around forty to fifty years old. When this man fully revealed his figure, the people on the cliffside respectfully bowed.
Facing the bows of the crowd before him, the man did not immediately respond. He turned his head to look at the City in the distance in the dark night, then slowly opened his mouth.
"Has Antonio left already?"
"Yes, Mr. Garib, Antonio left Adria this morning and returned to Peizi. He should have traveled quite a distance by now." Standing in front of the man, the man named Mufeide spoke directly. After listening to his words, Garib also let out a slight sigh of relief and said.
"He finally left, that Old thing... If it weren't for him, all of this would have ended long ago."
"Mr. Garib, the final donation is now in the Net Flow Church. If you want to retrieve it, now is the best time." At this moment, Selimu on the side also said to Garib. Listening to his words, Garib silently nodded, then continued.
"Let's go... We don't have much time left to waste."
Saying this, Garib got up and walked towards the City in the distance, while Selimu, Mufeide, and the others also followed behind him, heading towards the City in the distance.
...
Late at night, Adria Church Square.
The wide square, which was bustling with people during the day, was now empty and deserted. The bleak evening wind swept across the open space. In the entire square, only some hotels on the edges and the Church in the center were still lit with faint Lights. Large areas were plunged into pitch-black darkness.
And somewhere in this darkness, on the edge of the square, Garib and a few companions were hidden. They watched the Church in the distance and the faint Light still shining on top of the Church in the darkness. If it were an ordinary passerby, they might mistake that Light for the gas lamp on top of the Church, but Garib and the others knew that it was the Light of the Net Flow Church's most precious treasure, the crown of emmanuel. Because of that Light, they could not easily approach that Church.
Standing on the edge of the darkness, Garib stared at the faint Light flickering on top of the Church in the distance. Then he took out a small bone fragment carved with various patterns. After a slight shake, a Shadow drilled out from the bone fragment and quickly grew larger. Looking closely, it was clearly a young male Ghost with dull eyes, wearing a trench coat.
After summoning the Ghost, Garib did not stop. He gently waved his hand, and the Ghost he had summoned, after a distortion of expression, drilled into Garib's body. Then, after pausing in place for a moment, Garib slowly raised his hands and began to consume his Spirituality to activate the ability, activating the ability that originally belonged to that soul.
Suddenly, the humidity in the air increased. Water vapor rapidly formed in the vast space. The fog in the entire square gradually thickened at a visible speed, casting a haze over the already dim environment and rapidly reducing the already low visibility.
A large area of fog began to spread across the square and the surrounding City. The place where the fog was densest was the Net Flow Church in the center of the square. On top of the Net Flow Church, the valuable crown, which was securely placed, immediately emitted strong reddish-yellow Light upon contact with this fog.
In the past, the Light emitted by the crown at this intensity would have been enough to directly illuminate the entire square, making it visible from a great distance. However, under the extremely dense fog surrounding it, this illumination was strictly suppressed and did not shine too far.
By summoning dense fog, Garib suppressed the warning illumination of the crown of emmanuel. After seeing the blurred, flashing halo in the fog in the distance, Garib got up and walked forward, walking into the fog, and the others immediately followed.
Garib walked quickly through the fog, heading towards the flashing halo in the fog in the distance. After a while, the architectural outline of the Net Flow Church appeared in the dense fog in front of him. Garib was about to reach his destination, and just then, Garib seemed to sense something and suddenly stopped in place.
"Disperse."
A clear and powerful voice suddenly sounded in the dense fog. Accompanied by this voice, a dazzling golden-yellow strong Light erupted from the fog not far in front of Garib. This strong Light was even more intense than the Light of the crown of emmanuel, so much so that even with the fog obstructing them, Selimu and the others couldn't help but cover their eyes.
"This is..."
In Garib's grave eyes, and in the astonished gazes of Selimu and the others, the surrounding fog actually gradually retreated on its own under this strong Light. The visibility in the surroundings increased significantly at once, and then the golden-yellow Light also gradually dimmed. After dimming to a certain extent, a figure appeared at the origin of the Light's diffusion.
Wearing a luxurious robe and holding a long staff, Archbishop Antonio was standing on the steps in front of the Net Flow Church, silently looking at the uninvited guests before him. Behind him, the local Adria Bishop Oliver and the head of the Deep Concealment Guard, Paul, were standing there, followed by a group of Deep Concealment Guard members holding rifles pointed forward.
"An, Antonio!"
"How is this possible! Didn't you leave this morning?!"
Seeing the figure of the Old man on the steps, Selimu and Mufeide exclaimed in shock. Looking at the panicked expressions on Selimu and their faces, Antonio smiled slightly and slowly said.
"Yes, I was originally supposed to leave this morning, but as soon as I heard that thieves wanted to visit this museum, which holds significant meaning for Adria, I changed my plan and decided to stay here a little longer. However, I didn't expect that the recently famous thieves are not only related to the Hai Sha Society, but their Tier is also so high.
"Surrender, you soul-possessing treasure thieves."
While speaking, Antonio stomped the long staff in his hand, and then an invisible force began to spread out from him, affecting everyone in front. Immediately after, these Hai Sha Society members immediately felt a sharp pain and discomfort all over their bodies. Everyone except Garib cried out in pain and fell to the ground, struggling.
Treasure hunting is a dangerous activity, and during this process, various injuries are often sustained. These injuries will leave marks on the body even after healing. Therefore, these treasure hunters who frequent various dangerous ancient tombs and ruins throughout the year have many old injuries accumulated on their bodies.
As a Crimson Tier Extraordinary of the Holy Mother's Path, Antonio directly used his ability to cause the old and hidden injuries on the bodies of these treasure hunters to flare up simultaneously and rapidly worsen. These Hai Sha Society treasure hunters were instantly overwhelmed by the old injuries they had accumulated over the years, falling to the ground without any room for resistance. Even Selimu and Mufeide, who were Chalk, were the same, and Garib was also momentarily suppressed and bent over by the severe pain in his body.
"Were we... detected?"
Garib said through gritted teeth. Although he was extremely puzzled at the moment as to how their actions were exposed, he absolutely did not intend to surrender just like that.
Enduring the pain on his body, Garib directly drew out two bone fragments engraved with dense text from his clothes. Then, from these bone fragments, two translucent animal spirits drilled out respectively – they were none other than an eagle and a lion.
The spirits of the eagle and the lion drilled into Garib's body. Immediately, his figure began to rapidly swell and undergo drastic changes. In the blink of an eye, Garib's head turned into a lion's head with a mane and fangs, his hands became sharp claws, and the clothes on his back tore open, transforming into a pair of large wings that stretched out. In an instant, Garib turned into a monster with a lion's head and eagle's wings.
"Roar!"
With a roar, Garib, enduring the intense pain all over his body, began to counterattack. He first took out a handful of bone fragments and held them in his claws, then flapped his wings and directly soared into the air, after which he rapidly swooped down towards Antonio from mid-air. Seeing this, Antonio immediately raised the long staff in his hand to block.
"Clang!"
Accompanied by an incredibly crisp loud sound, Garib's claw directly struck Antonio's long staff. Under the powerful force, the ground beneath Antonio's feet began to crack extensively. The impact from the collision caused Oliver and Paul, who were beside Antonio, to retreat several steps. Just as they were about to step forward to help Antonio, Antonio sharply stopped them directly.
"Don't come over!"
Hearing Antonio's words, Oliver and Paul couldn't help but stop in place. Immediately after, an anomaly began to occur on Garib's body. He saw him forcefully crush the handful of bone fragments in his claws, and then a large number of departed souls immediately surged out from the shattered bone fragments.
There were animals and humans, dozens, even hundreds of departed souls were released amidst wails and shrieks, and they began to rotate rapidly around Antonio and Garib. Instantly, the surrounding temperature became cold, and the figures of Antonio and Garib, encircled by countless departed souls, began to blur.
"This is... Send? You're really willing to pay the price. But this can't trap me, you thief..." Looking at the countless ghosts rapidly spinning around him, Antonio murmured. And Garib, with the lion's head, immediately replied.
"It doesn't matter if you can't be trapped. Anyway, I'll be the first one back."
Saying this, Garib continued to restrain Antonio. And after the departed souls rotating around them reached a certain speed, they simultaneously let out piercing shrieks, followed by an explosion of eerie blue light. After this eerie blue light flashed by, all the departed souls disappeared from where they were. At the same time, Garib and Antonio also disappeared.
This is "Send", a ritualistic ability that high-level Silence Extraordinary can use. Its principle is to simultaneously release a large number of departed souls that should have returned to the The Netherworld. The moment these departed souls are released, they are simultaneously pulled by a force to leave the current realm and sink to the The Netherworld. Such a large number of departed souls sinking collectively at the same moment will blur the boundary wall. The Silence Extraordinary then seizes this opportunity to grasp the concentrated pulling force, allowing themselves and the people or objects around them to leave the current realm together with those departed souls and sink into the The Netherworld, one of the reverse side realms.
And it is clear that Silence Extraordinary have a home-field advantage in the The Netherworld. However, because this "Send" consumes hundreds of departed souls in one go, Silence Extraordinary also wouldn't use this move unless it's a critical moment.
After Garib and Antonio were sent away by Send, Oliver and Paul looked somewhat stunned at the empty area before them. It was clear they hadn't expected this thief to be so troublesome. Just then, the commotion below the stairs drew their attention again. Due to Antonio's disappearance, the elite members of the Hai Sha Society who had been suppressed and unable to move by him were finally able to stand up, free from their injuries. Facing these people who had regained their ability to move, Paul directly warned them.
"Don't move! All of you, get down!"
Facing Paul's warning, Selimu and Mufeide, among others, clearly wouldn't listen. After regaining their ability to move, they all took out bone fragments and summoned their possessing spirits to attach to their bodies. Possessing spirits, either human-shaped or animal-shaped, attached themselves to the members of the Hai Sha Society. Seeing that intimidation was useless, Paul directly ordered to open fire. Instantly, his subordinates simultaneously pulled the triggers and fired bullets towards the Hai Sha Society members. However, the possessed individuals who had completed their soul attachment were not afraid of these. Some of them dodged the bullets with their keen senses, while others even drew their weapons and directly blocked the incoming bullets.
"Charge straight in! Whoever gets their hands on the item will be heavily rewarded!"
Holding a curved saber embedded with a bullet, Selimu commanded his subordinates, shouting. Then, everyone roared together and charged towards the hidden police officers in front. Seeing this, Paul and Oliver also immediately organized their subordinates to counterattack. Paul began to summon the flowing water from the distant waterway, while Oliver, holding a holy scripture, issued a commandment to the possessed individual who had charged before him, in a majestic posture.
For a time, the two groups engaged in close-quarters combat. A fierce melee erupted at the entrance of the Net Flow Church, with water splashing everywhere, gunshots ringing out, and beast roars echoing.
The goal of the Hai Sha Society members was very consistent: to break through the current defense line and enter the Net Flow Church. However, this was exceptionally difficult. Most of Adria's official Extraordinary forces were gathered here, including Extraordinary from ordinary people to Chalk, and from the Church to hidden police. Although the Hai Sha Society members here were elites, it was still very difficult for them to charge into the Net Flow Church. After the difficulty, some Hai Sha members began to find ways to bypass and enter the Net Flow Church.
On the edge of the battlefield, a Hai Sha Society man possessed by the soul of an agile animal successfully disengaged from the fight unnoticed through the mist at the edge of the battlefield. He then prepared to bypass the battlefield from afar and enter the Church from the other side. Unfortunately, after only bypassing for a short while, he was spotted by a Deep Concealment Guard member holding a rifle.
Facing the Hai Sha Society man who was preparing to sneak around the battlefield for infiltration, the Deep Concealment Guard member immediately raised his firearm and prepared to shoot. Just then, a large flying eagle suddenly flew out from the thick mist behind him. Without anyone noticing, it landed on him from behind. This member immediately felt a tingling numbness and pain, and the entire person began to twitch and foam at the mouth.
Amidst the inexplicable intense sensation, the member holding the gun directly fainted on the road. And the Hai Sha Society man who had just been pointed at by his gun also broke through the glass and intruded into the Church. This man then quickly weaved among the countless display cabinets in the Net Flow Church, and soon entered the Crown Hall.
The vast Crown Hall, at this moment, was illuminated by the halo shining on the Crown of Emmanuel. After reaching this luxurious exhibition hall, the man began to quickly move through the various display cabinets, constantly muttering a name in his mouth.
"Ebony's donation... Ebony's donation... Where could it be?"
While muttering, the man eagerly checked all the labels on the display cabinets at the scene. And after a short while, his eyes lit up as he saw what he was looking for.
At this moment, another pair of eyes in the Crown Hall also saw that the man had found what he wanted.