Presence

Officer Natalie dragged Lynch at high speed, moving so lightly it seemed her feet barely touched the ground as they rapidly closed the distance.

Within a single breath, the two had leaped down from the factory ruins. As Officer Natalie accelerated, the ten-meter gap vanished in an instant.

The thousands of tentacles thrashing about, which had been reaching for the five executives hanging in the air, suddenly stopped their movements. Swish. Thousands of eyeballs embedded in the tentacles rotated simultaneously, and all pupils locked onto the two figures who had suddenly charged out.

Authority, Protection, Ability, Deterrence.

As the ability activated, dozens of tentacles faltered, hesitating in mid-air before they could even turn. Seizing this opportunity, the officer did not slow her pace; instead, she moved faster, carrying the weight of both of them as she sprinted toward the blood pool.

Lynch, dragged along behind her, simply gave up on moving his body, letting himself be pulled through the wind. He focused on keeping his arm steady, pulling a pistol from his coat and disengaging the safety.

As they drew closer, the tentacles made of blood blotted out the sky.

These tentacles only hesitated for a moment before breaking through the suppression of the ability, coiling toward the two. However, Officer Natalie took advantage of this brief window to charge into the three-meter radius around the blood pool, where the girl inside the giant maw was now clearly visible.

Her long legs pushed off the ground, and she leaped upward, dodging several tentacles that were whipping along the floor. As they soared into the air, the officer drew her sword with her teeth. With a flick of the blade, she severed the tentacles blocking their path, clearing the sky ahead and allowing them to burst through the web of limbs and arrive at the edge of the blood pool.

Tap.

Pushing off the edge of the blood pool, she abruptly shifted direction to bypass a dozen more grasping tentacles. They arrived directly above the giant maw, diving down toward the little girl inside like a bird of prey.

The girl opened her eyes again, revealing not a shred of reason, only endless greed and hunger. At the same time, the giant maw stretched wider, emitting a piercing roar as a deluge of foul blood erupted toward them along with the sound.

Officer Natalie frowned, her body diving downward while she held her sword horizontally in front of them.

A curtain of light expanded from the blade, unfolding before them.

Authority, Protection, Ability, Defense.

The light curtain collided head-on with the spray of blood. Instantly, dense ripples spread across the barrier, as if it had been struck by countless bullets. The ripples layered over one another until the entire sky was obscured, leaving nothing visible.

Yet, such an intense impact could not slow the momentum of Natalie and Lynch as they dove. Their speed remained constant, and they punched through the torrent of blood to appear directly above the giant maw, sword raised high.

However, the next moment, dozens more tentacles erupted from the maw.

These tentacles appeared without warning, moving with such speed that they instantly filled the entire space in front of the maw. For a moment, the two felt like small fish swimming into a sea anemone, surrounded by tentacles from all sides, and like moths diving into a spiderweb with no room to maneuver.

Officer Natalie’s expression changed sharply. She swung her sword, striking the tentacles flat with the spine of the blade while stepping on the tips of two others. Pushing off all three points simultaneously, they detached before the tentacles could coil back. They used the force to flip their momentum from downward to upward, retreating backward in an attempt to escape the surrounding trap of new tentacles.

But the moment to push off had been too brief, and their speed was insufficient. They barely managed to avoid the onslaught of the new tentacles, but the older ones still closed in from behind, like a net drawing shut around them.

At that moment, a gunshot rang out.

Lynch had one arm wrapped around the officer’s waist, holding her close, while his other hand fired six consecutive shots at the little girl in the maw.

There was no accuracy to speak of, but the recoil was substantial. It suddenly accelerated their fading momentum, allowing them to shoot upward just before the tentacles closed in, narrowly escaping the trap.

As their feet touched the ground, the officer immediately regained the initiative, clutching Lynch, who was still hanging onto her. Just as she was about to turn and try again, Lynch’s voice reached her ear.

“Three seconds.”

“Hmm?”

“I can make you invisible for three seconds, too,” Lynch added. “The effect will be the same as mine.”

“That’s enough.”

“You have to trust me.”

“Stop talking.”

“Alright.”

Lynch cleared his mind, placed his palm against Officer Natalie’s back, and activated his new ability for the first time.

Divine Authority, Concealment, Ability, Presence.

Simultaneously, Officer Natalie abandoned her plan to change direction and surged forward, charging headlong into the mass of tentacles without a moment's hesitation.

In the first second, the countless tentacles chasing them froze in mid-air. Their target had suddenly vanished, and even the thousands of eerie eyes could not find them. A low growl emanated from the maw as dozens of tentacles thrashed wildly around the blood pool, slapping the ground as if trying to ferret out two small insects.

In the second second, the tentacles seemed to sense an anomaly. All of them swung down at once, smashing into the same area. The immense force shattered the ground into stone fragments, but aside from the broken rubble, they found nothing.

In the third second, a faint sound of footsteps echoed near the blood pool. A ghostly shadow flickered and vanished, and the area around the pool fell silent once more. But the mass of flesh at the core of the blood pool shuddered, and every tentacle moved in unison, coiling toward the spot where the shadow had been, sealing off every inch of space around it.

With no path left to escape, the tentacles finally locked onto their target, causing it to appear out of thin air at the edge of the blood pool.

It was a top hat. Only a top hat.

At the same time, the two figures, still locked in an embrace, reappeared above the giant maw. Officer Natalie held her sword high, and with the speed and force of their descent, she struck down like a bolt of lightning, aiming directly for little Janet, who was embedded in the maw.

The girl’s eyes widened, and the maw let out another roar, but it was too late for anything to change.

The sword swung down, and the fate was sealed.

With a sound like a steel cable snapping, the sharp blade bit into the girl’s front, striking the pulsating tumor at her heart without a deviation. The tumor’s pulsing stopped for a heartbeat, and then it, along with the extending ‘blood vessels,’ exploded into a spray of foul, bloody gore that drenched Lynch and Natalie from head to toe.

Neither of them bothered to dodge. Without a word, Natalie pulled Lynch tighter, while Lynch reached out with both hands to grab the little girl’s shoulders.

Authority, Protection, Ability, Escape.

A clump of people trailed a streak of blood as they shot straight up into the air, with the meatball and the giant maw following close behind.

A few meters above, the five executives hung suspended. As they regained consciousness, they saw the two officers rushing toward them, carrying a little girl.

They finally came to save us.

The joy barely flickered across their faces before it froze. The three of them flew past, revealing the giant maw in hot pursuit behind them.

The expressions of the five turned twisted. They opened their mouths to scream, but before a sound could escape, they were swallowed whole by the giant maw.

Having consumed the five sacrifices, the maw stopped its pursuit, chewing with satisfaction while its tentacles thrashed with renewed vigor.

The next moment, the space shattered, and the world spun into darkness.