Chapter 177: The Tyranny Of The Hunting Hounds
After sliding down the slope, Fannie did not ask a single question about the Arts Karon had just used, nor did she thank him. She simply raised her rifle back up with a crisp decisiveness. She quickly reloaded, and then aimed at the target fighting the captain.
Karon got to his feet. The Sea God's Armor and Darkmoon Blade on his body had not faded, but he did not know how to join the battle. His relative lack of combat experience was only a small part of it. The main reason was the captain's style of fighting, which left him unable to find a point where he could join in and help.
The feeling was like a group of friends skipping rope on the other side. You stood at the edge, wanting to join, but unable to find the rhythm. Again and again you tried to jump in, and again and again you held yourself back.
Fannie, however, was able to find the opening every time. Each time Nio deliberately pulled away just enough, her bullets struck the man's body. The bullets could not pierce him, but the added effects could break his rhythm and wear him down effectively.
"Grr!" The man's roar grew more and more agitated. In truth, the moment his brother's head had been cut off by Karon, his emotions had already entered a kind of hysteria. His control over his power also lost all restraint, and he had begun using emotion to drive his fighting, but his current opponent gave him no chance at all to engage in that kind of close slaughter.
He very much wanted to go after the one who had killed his brother and the woman who kept firing her gun at him, but his opponent kept locking down his steps, constantly adjusting the direction and distance of the fight so that he could not break free of that constraint.
Fannie took out a purple bullet, chambered it, and took aim again, though this time, she did not fire immediately. Karon stood diagonally in front of her, able to shield her while not interfering with her aim. Since he could not enter the captain's battle, then at the very least, he could do what little lay before him.
Sparks kept appearing across the man's body, bringing him great pain and damage. The captain was like an elegant performer, precise down to every detail. Karon noticed that even at this point in the fight, his clothes were barely marred.
If this fierce battle continued... no, even now, the outcome was already perfectly clear. The man was merely putting up a final struggle, like a mad bull bristling with javelins, seemingly still ferocious, but destined to collapse at some moment soon.
Yet the captain still made a hand signal, and Fannie understood at once. Purple light emerged from her body and entered the rifle, and the red weapon suddenly shone with a violet halo.
The meaning of the captain's signal was, speed it up! Speeding it up was meant to bring the already secured victory to a close even faster, though it would certainly come at a price. Yet with the commotion here and the distress signal already sent out, other Whip of Order squads would be closing in, along with other Church units, and possibly even outside forces. In short, if they didn’t end things quickly, they might lose the chance to clean up the battlefield.
The remains left behind by two annihilated Whip of Order squads were no small fortune. The holy relics, credits, and other special items they carried would all be collected. There was nothing to be embarrassed about; This was the price for avenging them, and it was done before the night had even passed.
As for the demonkin and the corrupted, parts of their bodies could also be harvested. That giant silver centipede, once worn down and killed, would most likely be carefully dismembered, every useful material removed, and then the rest smashed apart.
The hunting hounds would never let even a scrap of meat go. The only thing that could make them stop was probably the corpses of fellow Whip of Order members. Those they would not touch.
With the pace accelerated, Nio's piano piece seemed to enter its climactic movement. He began closing in more frequently, and more and more black sparks erupted from the man's body.
But the man finally found an opportunity, or rather, the captain deliberately gave him one. After one swing of his axe missed, his left hand melted and, like his brother earlier, turned into a blade that pierced straight through the captain's right shoulder.
The captain seemed to be hanging from his arm, but just as the man prepared to swing his axe with his right hand and split the captain in two...
Bang! The purple bullet fired, striking the arm that had become a blade. His once hard body, which had transformed into another form, was no longer as sturdy as before and had instead become somewhat brittle.
Crack! The arm snapped. Nio's body slid down, and both of his hands seized the man's head.
In the next moment, Captain Nio's eyes turned black, and his whole body floated into the air, as though some invisible wave was lifting him;
Karon could also feel intense heat coming from ahead, and his vision began to fold and warp, yet he saw not a trace of flame spilling outward. Because the fire was all inside the man's body!
The man still tried to move, but flames began bursting from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. Then, his body started to crack rapidly. Wisps of flame seeped out, followed by larger ruptures, until he looked like a furnace collapsing while burning.
Boom! At last, he dropped to his knees. The flames ignited him from the inside out, and as for his soul, it had been completely annihilated from the very beginning.
Nio landed on the ground, half an arm still stuck in his shoulder. He swept his gaze around and said to Fannie, "Give the order. Clean the battlefield quickly. Move the spoils and apply seals."
Once all the spoils were gathered, they would be buried nearby and that burial site would be sealed and protected, cutting off investigation, because they did not have time to transport everything away now. They could only come back later to move it and funnel it into the black market. Clearly, this was a process they knew very well.
Fannie switched to a yellow bullet and fired it into the sky. A bright amber flare rose, accompanied by a whistling sound. It was a signal to their teammates.
At that moment, Karon also withdrew the Sea God's Armor and Darkmoon Blade.
And just then, Fannie suddenly threw an arm around him and planted two kisses on his face in quick succession. "This is your reward for saving me."
Right in front of her, Karon raised a hand and wiped away whatever saliva might have been left on his face, then asked, "If another teammate saved you, would he get thanked like this too?"
"Oh, of course not."
"So I saved you, and somehow I still end up suffering a loss?"
"Yes. If you have a complaint, you can report it to the captain."
Karon directly ignored that, because the captain would probably just say they could settle it privately in the woods.
"But your armor just now was really cool, and those two red scimitars too. That energy aura, why does it feel kind of familiar?"
"The armor is the Sea God's Armor. The orthodox Sea God Church had already begun to decline at the end of the previous epoch and perished at the start of this one. As for the two scimitars, they are the same Art as Miss Ophelia's sword, the Darkmoon Blade," Nio spoke as he walked over.
"Darkmoon Blade?" Fannie blinked. "Are things progressing that quickly between you two?"
"No... that’s not..."
Nio spoke again, "On the very first day, the moment he met her at the dock, he confessed. On the second morning, he pushed her dining cart right out of her room. On the second night, he used an Arts that the family would absolutely never pass to outsiders. Fannie, I am seriously starting to wonder whether the three of you really slept in the same room last night, or whether he sneaked next door and did something. At this rate, when the Darkmoon Island delegation boards the return cruise ship after the talks with the Church are over and Miss Ophelia discovers she is pregnant, I will not be the least bit surprised."
"Captain..."
"No need to explain. It’s just a joke. After a pursuit ends, one always needs to talk a bit of nonsense to lighten the mood." As he said this, Nio reached up and forcibly pulled the half arm out of his shoulder, then tossed it to the ground.
Then Karon saw the blood and flesh at the captain's shoulder wound writhing rapidly, already showing signs of healing. That’s... a Bloodfiend bloodline!
"You see, this is my secret. When Elisa found me, I was beyond saving, but she gave me the only first embrace she would ever have in her life, and it brought me back. Ever since then, I have possessed the Bloodfiend bloodline, hehe.
“The earl seems to have noticed it, because even though Elisa is dead, he still had people send me Dormancy Serum through the newly established Anavas liaison office in York City."
"So, captain... can you also be deranged?"
Nio shook his head. "Elisa needed it, but I don’t, and I have never drunk it. I rather enjoy chatting with that old fellow who pops up in my head from time to time. His presence solved my problem with sleepless nights."
Fannie tilted her head and looked at Karon. "Now I understand why you kept holding that little revolver earlier. Was that little revolver just decoration?"
"No. I didn’t have time to prepare equipment. It came in the basic equipment pack."
Realization dawned on Fannie. "Oh, no wonder that little revolver looked so familiar."
"Don’t worry. In this team, everyone has secrets, and everyone will, by default, protect those secrets," Nio spoke while reaching out to pat Karon’s shoulder. "What’s more, you used your secret to protect your teammate. That proves you value your teammate's life more than your own secret."
"I am very touched, captain," Fannie said.
"Being touched is useless. He probably likes younger girls, like Miss Ophelia. You and Paige are a little too old."
"Captain, since you have Bloodfiend bloodline anyway, surely you wouldn’t mind if I put another hole in you?"
At that moment, the kneeling man's body had already burned down to nothing but a skeleton, and a faint golden light began to show. When that light appeared, it seemed to possess a strange power that drew the gaze.
“Fannie, contain the area.”
“Yes, Captain.” Fannie closed her eyes and first cast a purification on herself, then turned away.
Nio looked at Karon. “You don’t need it?”
Karon replied, “Captain, I think I already know what’s inside.”
“Oh, right. I almost forgot you were involved in the Zeric case.” Nio walked over to the incinerated corpse and gave it a kick, knocking it over. A copper coin rolled out.
A Lacresis copper coin.
Nio stood before the coin and said, "This is the Wellspring of Sin."
"Captain, it should itself be pure, but precisely because it is excessively pure, it instead easily draws out the darkness within the hearts of those who touch it."
"Is that so? So that is how it is." Nio bent down, preparing to pick up the coin.
"Captain, you can’t touch it directly!"
“It’s nothing. I just want to know what it is I actually want now, and what it means for me to keep living. After Elisa died, I thought about it for a long time, but I still couldn’t find an answer. It feels like I’m just going through the motions.” With that, Nio picked up the copper coin with his own hand and even held it up before himself, turning it over carefully.
Karon silently took two steps back, hesitating over whether he should summon the Sea God's Armor again.
"Sigh." Nio let out a sigh, tossed the copper coin back to the ground, and then began applying seals.
Layer after layer of seals covered the coin. Its light gradually weakened until it disappeared completely.
"Captain?" Karon asked carefully.
Nio revealed a smile and said, "The saddest thing is not that it stirs up the greed in your heart. It‘s that even while holding it, you still can’t sense what it is that you want."
Hm? The Lacresis copper coin had no effect on Nio at all?
"Wrap it in some clothing. We can’t pocket this thing, because two Whip of Order squads were deranged by it. With the Zeric case already past us, the higher-ups will definitely guess what caused this."
"Me?" Karon asked.
"Because I’m worried that if I keep it and turn it in myself, then for a very long time afterward, you’ll wonder whether I’ve already lost control to this copper coin. So, in order to spare myself all those boring suspicions you might otherwise entertain, you’ll be responsible for keeping it and handing it in."
"How could that be? I trust the captain..."
"Heh."
Karon took off his coat and, through the coat, used both hands to pick up the coin that had already been layered with many seals.
"If you want to know what it is you want, if you want to face the greed within yourself, I can undo the seals again and let you experience it."
"No need, captain. Sometimes I think being able to deceive oneself isn’t so bad. Tearing off your own face tends to be very painful."
"That answer was very proper."
At the moment Karon wrapped up the coin, a sudden tremor passed through his heart. Vaguely, he sensed some desire within himself being lured forth, and his mind began to churn, as though scenes capable of deranging him were about to appear.
Even with all the seals the captain had placed on it, the Lacresis copper coin still possessed such terrifying power of temptation!
But right then, Karon suddenly heard a call, like a basin of cold water poured directly over his soul.
...
"Big Brother Karon?"
A crisp call rang out by his ear.
Karon found himself standing in a dark space. Within it were cubic cages, each one sealing away terrifying objects.
Where is this?
"Karon?"
Karon turned around. He saw a blue cubic cage. Inside, on a soft golden carpet, lay a Lacresis copper coin. It was not the one he held in his hands.
"Karon, it really is you."
At that moment, Karon discovered the figure of a girl appearing above the cage. She was sitting there, swinging her legs. "Lenora?"
"Karon, it really is you."
So this is the sealed repository of the Church of Order?
"Karon, did you sense me through another copper coin? Then that coin hasn’t given birth to an artifact spirit. Perhaps even Zeric himself didn’t know this, but I am not only the artifact spirit of the coin he had. I am also the artifact spirit of the other copper coins that never gave birth to one."
"Are you... alright here?" Karon asked.
"No, not really. It is very dull and very boring. There are many things sealed here. Some of them frighten even me, but not many of them have artifact spirits. Even the ones that do, their artifact spirits all have bad tempers. Every day they plot about how to break through the seals here and escape.
“Hehe, they have probably been discussing that topic for over a thousand years. No, perhaps for an entire epoch. Hahaha, and yet they still never tire of it!
“But how did Karon's consciousness get in here? I mean, even if you were holding another copper coin, your consciousness should not have been able to enter. So you really are different, just as expected. No wonder you were the first handsome man I ever took a liking to. You really aren’t like ordinary people."
"I..."
"You’re with the Church of Order too, right? Then hurry up and climb higher. That way you might get the chance to take me out of here. Mm, the last time I asked how many credits it would take to redeem me, I think there were a whole lot of zeros after the number. And credits alone aren’t enough; You also need matching status and merit. But I believe you will definitely come and take me away very soon. Right?
“Eh, the administrator of the sealed space seems to have noticed that an outside consciousness has entered. Karon, hurry and go! Don’t let him discover you!"
...
Buzz!
Karon's consciousness returned to his body, and he saw Nio standing in front of him, studying him. "Captain..."
"You were absent-minded for fifty-nine seconds."
"I was not deranged..."
"Mm, I believe you weren’t deranged, because a deranged person probably wouldn’t remember to count the seconds like timing a phone call, where one minute is charged as two."
"..."
At that moment, Nio suddenly reached out and patted Fannie on the shoulder. She opened her eyes.
"I sense a Whip of Order squad approaching. Fire the signal. They can bury the spoils now."
"Yes, captain." Fannie fired another signal flare into the sky.
Nio then addressed Karon again, "Don’t worry, an inventory of the spoils will be put together first. Any artifacts and materials useful to our own people will be kept for us to use. Anything we can’t use will be sold through the black market, and the income will be distributed within the team."
"Understood, Captain. I have no objections."
"Mm, very good. Now, come with me to intercept the approaching squad and buy the others a bit more time to deal with the spoils. Mainly, we’re going to assess what sort of quality they are. If they are weak and refuse to be warned off..."
"What then?"
"Then we will have no choice but to report them as the third deranged squad."
