The spiritual storm was like an invisible meat grinder, raging wildly within the spacious underground room.
Guardian knelt on one knee upon the cold stone floor.
His eardrums were mercilessly torn by sharp, high-pitched ringing, and thin trails of warm blood began to seep out.
But amidst this maddening spiritual tide, a phantom figure abruptly coalesced in mid-air.
It was the man in black!
This persistent fellow had appeared once again.
He had pulled the brim of his hat low.
His voice sounded ethereal and fleeting within the storm, yet it carried a contempt that made one's teeth itch.
“You should thank me. I've dealt with the Slayers here for you!”
The phantom of the man in black spread his hands.
He acted as if he were rightfully claiming a reward for his services.
“They were the last batch of Slayers in Hope County.”
Guardian stared fixedly at the phantom, the veins at his temples throbbing violently.
The man in black seemed completely indifferent to whether he had an audience or not.
He turned slightly and pointed toward the hair-raising stone sarcophagus in the center of the space.
“It's just that I don't have the ability to take away what's inside...”
“What a pity!”
He let out a mock sigh.
“The Slayers' masterpiece!”
“Consider it a favor to the Seventh Agency!”
The phantom gradually faded.
Before it dissipated completely, his mocking echo still reverberated through the air.
“Remember to thank me!”
...
A hallucination?
Guardian’s lone eye constricted sharply, and he immediately dismissed the thought.
No.
Just like the trick on the table above, this was merely a pre-set projection array!
That goddamn bastard was treating the Seventh Agency's bottom line as if it didn't exist.
There was no time to curse.
Enduring the wave of dizziness, Guardian exerted himself to mobilize the remaining spirituality within his body.
The investigators around him were scattered everywhere, fallen and unconscious.
Fortunately, he had cast 【Divine Favor】 at the upper passage entrance beforehand.
This spell acted like a layer of protection for the investigators at this moment.
When they were hit by a spiritual impact that exceeded their threshold, it forced them into a state of unconsciousness.
With their spiritual bodies sent to the dream bubbles of the spirit world, they wouldn't be turned into lunatics by this violent spiritual impact.
He took a deep breath, and a low chant burst from between his teeth.
【Mental Barrier】.
【Divine Empowerment】.
【Halo】.
【Blessing】.
He threw out four high-level enhancement spells all at once, as if they cost nothing.
Aside from 【Halo】, which could only be applied to himself, the radiance of the other three spells turned into visible ripples of soft light, accurately covering the investigators behind him who were still barely conscious and struggling to resist.
In the next second, a brilliant holy aura erupted from Guardian.
A crown woven from pure light floated above his head.
The Dawn Lady’s sacred and searing radiance adhered to his entire body like liquid gold.
Guardian felt his entire body suddenly lighten.
The mountain that had been weighing down on his spine abruptly collapsed.
His bones let out a series of crisp, crackling sounds.
He had finally regained control over his body.
At the very least, he was able to stand up straight.
Then, he pulled a concentrated spirit restoration potion from his tactical belt.
He bit off the wooden cork and tilted his head back to drain it in one gulp.
The cold liquid slid down his throat, forcibly squeezing his parched spiritual source.
With the bright, daylight-like glow emitted by the 【Halo】, the darkness was completely driven away.
The true scene of the entire room was finally revealed without reservation before everyone’s eyes.
Guardian endured the severe tinnitus and sense of disorientation caused by the spiritual pressure, casting his gaze around.
With just one look, his weathered old face couldn't help but twitch.
It was a grisly sight.
The surroundings were filled with the corpses of Slayers.
Or rather, body parts.
These fragmented human bodies looked as if they had been severed by some absolutely sharp and emotionless machine.
The cuts were so smooth it was chilling.
Even more bizarre was that the scattered limbs, internal organs, and splashed blood had all been “thoughtfully” cleared away into the dark corners of the room by the killer.
It was as if they were being displayed as some sort of twisted contemporary art.
Meanwhile, the area around the stone sarcophagus in the center of the space was clean.
Not a single speck of dirt had touched it.
Even a late-stage OCD patient would call the perpetrator a professional.
Guardian finally realized where the point of discord he had sensed earlier with 【Fair Perception】 was.
It wasn't the stone sarcophagus.
His gaze snapped toward a dark corner on the left.
There, a phantom spirit was quietly floating in mid-air.
Silent and motionless, like a ghost watching a play.
Just then, a rustling sound of friction came from beside his feet.
Blaine gritted his teeth and, like a broken-legged toad, painstakingly crawled to Guardian’s feet.
Spirituality flickered.
Blaine’s hands trembled as he suddenly pushed upward.
【Moonlight Splendor】!
A beam of moonlight transcended the distance of space and fell directly upon him.
At this moment, 【Moonlight Blessing】 began to operate like a steam engine at full power. With the enhancement of Guardian’s spells, it allowed Blaine’s spirituality and soul barrier to withstand the terrifying spiritual impact.
With this brief buffer, Blaine finally managed to stand up from the ground.
“Boss...”
Blaine wiped the corner of his mouth, his face deathly pale.
“Should I try to communicate with it?”
Guardian didn't waste any words and simply pointed to the floating spirit in the corner.
Blaine followed the direction and swallowed hard.
He nodded.
Enduring the discomfort, he with some difficulty cast 【Mental Message】.
Invisible ripples probed toward the corner.
One second. Two seconds.
Soon, Blaine shook his head helplessly.
“It's no use. It seems to have no consciousness left.”
However, in the brief moment Blaine shook his head, the lifeless spirit in the corner suddenly moved.
Like a shark scenting blood, it turned into a blurred afterimage and flew straight toward an investigator lying unconscious on the ground.
It was too fast.
It gave Guardian and Blaine no chance to intervene.
It plunged into the investigator's brow with extreme speed.
Immediately after, the investigator, who had been foaming at the mouth, stood up from the ground.
“Dammit!” the investigator suddenly shouted at the top of his lungs.
His voice was raspy and shrill, carrying a strange tone that didn't belong to him at all.
“Where did the coffin lid fly off to?!”
He roared in fury, spinning around in place.
“Where am I?!”
He suddenly lowered his head, staring fixedly at his own hands.
He turned them over and over, examining them.
Then he reached out to touch his body, which was dressed in the Seventh Agency uniform.
An expression of disgust was written all over his face.
Then, his eyes shifted toward his surroundings.
Finally, his gaze locked onto Guardian and Blaine, who were enveloped in the white light.
“Who are you?”
He looked them up and down with disdain.
“Fools from the Seventh Agency?”
The possessed investigator's brow knotted into deep furrows.
His eyes were filled with arrogance.
“You've come too late.”
He let out a cold laugh and held up three fingers.
“Thirty years too late.”
His tone was mocking, as if he were looking at two clowns who had arrived a whole century late.
But soon, his originally calm face suddenly twisted.
His emotions began to escalate rapidly.
Manic.
He gave off the impression of a completely deranged madman.
“Late to the point that our Lady almost...”
He suddenly clenched his fists, his nails digging deep into his flesh.
“Almost could have woken up!”
He suddenly seemed to think of something incredibly funny, like a neurotic.
His chest heaved violently.
“Hahahahahaha!”
Deafening laughter echoed through the underground room.
“The world is about to fall into chaos!”
“The world is in chaos! Hahahahahaha!”
Mad. This guy was completely mad.
Guardian looked at the possessed investigator before him, his remaining lone eye narrowing into a thin slit.
He frowned deeply.
A rare feeling of regret rose in his heart.
Regardless of what happened to the Lily of the Valley Convent, the “great gift” before him had indeed far exceeded his imagination and ability to handle.
What constitutes a surprise? What the hell constitutes a surprise? What the goddamn hell constitutes a surprise?
The Slayers' Lady.
Who was she?
The Goddess of Slaughter!
But that was exactly where the problem lay.
Guardian didn't doubt for a second that the existence level of the being in the stone sarcophagus was extremely high. That was unquestionable.
But it couldn't possibly be that high.
In all fairness, this pressure was slightly weaker than that of the Lord of Mists in the sewers.
However, seeing the Lady quietly slumbering, Guardian couldn't help but speculate.
Perhaps some special state of the target led to the current situation.
Or maybe this goddamn Slayer lunatic was just hallucinating.
But at this moment, he truly wasn't certain.
“Boss...”
Beside him, Blaine looked at the still-laughing possessed man.
“Given the situation, I think...”
“We really shouldn't have let Ms. Cecil leave...”
“Shut up!”
Rate on N.U.
