Amidst the suffocating stench and echoing gunshots, Elias sprinted along the narrow ledge like a stray dog.
Taking a moment to look back, his Spirit Vision finally allowed him to see the current appearance of his "old friend."
If it could barely be identified as a siren back on the beach, it was now a completely indescribable thing that had crawled out of a nightmare.
The parts that originally belonged to a human face had long since collapsed, eroded and covered by a layer of grayish-white, unknown hard lumps with a dead coral texture.
The sparse hair that used to be on its head had been replaced by several thick, writhing tentacles that moved like a group of autonomous snakes, searching the air for the scent of flesh.
The only part that remained somewhat faithful to its original form was that massive mouth, split all the way to its ears.
Currently, the bundles of tentacles erupting from that mouth were covered in sharp, tiny keratinous barbs, looking much like the inside of a camel's mouth filled with fleshy spikes.
Following its deformed body downward, Elias felt a strong surge of nausea.
Six claws of varying lengths were crouched on its chest, and where the palms should be, several mouths were opening and closing, visibly chewing!
Behind it, the tail with the dagger stuck in it had grown several inches longer; the scales on the front had fallen off, replaced by a dense, grayish-brown barnacle-like structure.
Within countless tiny holes, some pink soft tissue seemed to be moving violently in and out.
To sum it up: it was even uglier than before!
Elias felt his sanity plummeting.
This mutated siren had undergone even more severe mutation!
It had also become stronger.
In the brief moment Elias looked back, the siren had already lunged in front of the three Mist Veil Society members blocking its path.
Without hesitation, it extended a long claw and snatched up a Scale One who hadn't even reacted yet, lifting him like a chick.
Crack!
A crisp sound rang out—the sound of a cervical spine snapping.
The siren's barbed mouth bit off the man's head in one go, blood gushing out like a fountain.
Immediately after, its six arms exerted force simultaneously, pinning the headless corpse down while the mouths in its palms sucked frantically.
In that instant, the man's body shriveled at a speed visible to the naked eye, leaving only a husk of skin hanging from the monster's claws.
With this quick meal finished, the black negative spirituality surrounding the siren surged once more, its oppressive aura causing the surrounding sewage to ripple strangely.
"Damn it! It's strengthening itself by devouring!"
The remaining two Mist Veil Society members were clearly terrified by this scene.
They had originally wanted to turn back and fire a shot at Elias, but they decisively abandoned that thought and turned to fire frantically at the siren.
The wounded Scale Three endured the burning of the radiance flames on his shoulder, condensing a pitch-black corrosive ray with one hand.
The other Scale One threw out several alchemy bombs.
Boom! Boom!
Firelight splashed in the narrow space.
The siren's body was blasted with spells and explosive bullets, sending flesh and blood flying everywhere.
Yet the coral-like hard shell on its body seemed alive, surging and proliferating wildly toward the wounds, sealing them in just a few seconds.
"Roar—!!!"
It let out a deafening roar at the two men, the sound waves shaking dust loose from the sewer ceiling.
However, just as it prepared to strengthen itself further using the same method, it inadvertently glanced at Elias, who was running toward the fork in the distance.
The siren tilted its tentacle-covered head.
A familiar spiritual aura was moving ahead.
How could the enemy it thought of day and night appear here?!
It had worked so hard to track him through the waterways, and he dared to show up voluntarily?!
A surge of hatred welled up in its heart.
With a violent swing of its rear, its massive barnacle-covered tail acted like a battering ram, sweeping out with a whistling wind.
The two Mist Veil Society members who were about to cast spells were like two flies, slammed hard against the side wall and embedded deep into the masonry.
The Scale One fellow followed in Firth's footsteps.
A mass of bloody human jam was now smeared across the wall.
The Scale Three's life or death was unknown.
"Roar—!!!"
Having dealt with the stumbling blocks, the siren roared again and charged after Elias on all fours, carrying a foul wind.
"Fuck!"
"It can actually see me!"
Elias was scared out of his wits when he saw the monster abandon the easy meat to come straight for him.
"For God's sake, is it really worth it over a few teeth?!"
He hurriedly turned and dove into the fork, running for his life to keep up with the fast-moving Aaron ahead.
But when enemies meet, their eyes blaze with hatred; how could the siren easily give up the chance to avenge its teeth?
Its massive body crashed through the narrow pipes, shattering stone and brick wherever it went as it stayed glued to their heels.
Aaron fled frantically in front, feeling the ground beneath him vibrating violently, the roars behind him sounding like they were exploding right against his eardrums.
He reflexively turned his head, his gaze passing over Elias.
When he saw the monster, like a moving mountain of flesh, charging toward them, the child almost lost his soul.
"Why is it chasing us?!"
Aaron screamed frantically in the mental channel, his voice cracking.
"How should I know?!"
Elias retorted righteously while sprinting and gasping for air.
"Maybe there's something on you attracting it?"
"Like your family bloodline or something?"
"Or maybe you're carrying some high-level transcendent item?"
What a joke!
How could Elias admit it was because he had knocked its teeth out earlier?
If he admitted that, it would fall under "extra risk caused by personal grudges."
What if the kid used that as an excuse not to pay?
This blame had to be shifted!
"I don't have anything on me!"
In his panic, Aaron patted himself down and tugged at his dirty cloak, acting dumb with a sobbing tone.
"I really have nothing!"
He was also muttering to himself internally.
Regardless of whether he had something, it shouldn't attract a monster to hunt him like he'd killed its father, right?
Otherwise, why hadn't any other monsters hunted him during this whole escape?
Besides, if it really was his fault, wouldn't this guy take the opportunity to raise the price again?
He had already witnessed this man's money-grubbing face!
Thinking this, Aaron's footsteps faltered slightly.
At a slippery corner of the ledge, he wasn't careful, and his left foot stepped on a patch of slick moss.
"Whoa!"
He lost his balance instantly, sliding like a rolling gourd into the rushing sewage river beside them.
The black sewage immediately reached his waist, and the powerful current swept him toward the depths of the underground tunnels.
"Mr. Batman, save me!"
Aaron waved his hands in terror, shouting that name loudly.
That's right.
Batman.
This was the "pseudonym" Elias had told Aaron along the way.
On one hand, it was for fun.
On the other hand, it was because of a previous lesson.
Back at Hastings Port, when dealing with Aaron's already insane sister, Isha, he had a brain fart and hadn't reacted in time, honestly introducing himself by his real name, "Elias."
The result was that he had been living in fear ever since, terrified that the madwoman would give him up under some kind of interrogation by the Seventh Agency.
To avoid such a tragedy from happening again, he had learned his lesson.
Who doesn't have an alt account when traveling the world?
Back to the present.
Seeing the situation, Elias could only curse under his breath and run faster.
"Got you!"
He reached out to grab Aaron's cloak, but unexpectedly, the ledge ahead suddenly broke off, turning into a downward sloping waterway with both sides of the ledge tilting straight down, covered in slippery algae.
"Holy—"
Elias couldn't brake in time; his feet slipped, and he went down like he was on a slide, following Aaron.
Plop! Plop!
Two splashes sounded.
Fortunately, the height wasn't too great, only about three or four meters.
But even so, 【Moonlight Veil】 was forced to break.
The two of them crashed into the stagnant water area below, splashing up a large amount of sewage.
Elias was so overwhelmed by the thick smell of aged brine that he couldn't even open his eyes; the mask on his face was long soaked, clinging to his skin and making it even more suffocating.
He ripped off the mask, gasping for air as he struggled to stand up in the ankle-deep sewage, reaching out to pull Aaron up.
"Gag—"
The child was also gagging from the disgust, his face covered in that indescribable black liquid.
"See! You ate too much!"
"Let's go first!"
Enduring the nausea, Elias grabbed Aaron and was about to continue running.
Unexpectedly, from another wide passage opening directly ahead, a series of footsteps suddenly echoed.
A group of people dressed in solemn black uniforms walked out.
Leading them was a man who was short and stout, wearing a black leather trench coat and a black eyepatch over his left eye.
The Seventh Agency!
Speak of the devil!
Elias's heart skipped a beat.
They couldn't be here for him, could they?
This was great; a siren in front and the authorities behind.
"Hello, One-Eyed Willy!"
"I'm Batman!"
Not knowing the newcomers' purpose, Elias had no choice but to force a smile that looked worse than crying, trying to play it off while slowly backing away with Aaron.
However, after only two steps, his expression suddenly changed.
At the tunnel opening above, that massive siren had just caught up!
Its huge body, driven by momentum, crashed down from the heights.
The siren clearly hadn't expected so many people below either; the moment it landed, that thick, barnacle-covered tail instinctively whipped out with force.
Smack!
A crisp yet dull thud rang out.
That heavy, forceful tail whip struck the short, stout man who was about to start questioning them, hitting him dead center.
The short, stout, one-eyed man didn't even make a sound; he was sent flying horizontally like a hit baseball, slamming into the distant wall with a thud.
And in mid-air, a dark, unknown object detached from the man's head due to the massive inertia, slowly drifting down into the ankle-deep sewage.
It was a well-made black wig.
The scene was momentarily very quiet.
"Well now, the wig got whipped right off!" Old Ed complained, not missing the chance to enjoy the spectacle.
Elias stared blankly at the short, stout man who now revealed a bald head.
A boiled-egg head, one eye, a black trench coat... except for being a bit short.
And his skin was a bit fair.
Elias's mouth twitched.
"A budget Nick Fury?"
Rate on N.U.
