The piercing scream that had torn through the blood-red night faded, and a dead silence fell over everything.
The three of them on the ground knew the danger was far from over. On the contrary, the longer the silence stretched, the more it felt like the calm before a storm.
The shriek from the exploding Head Balloon had echoed across half the city, perhaps even further.
JoJo and Frank glanced around nervously, searching every shadow from which a threat might erge.
— Hh... hh...
Suddenly, the silence was broken by a faint sound, like breathing.
Lu Li snapped his head up.
Beneath the crimson clouds, a dark shadow lood larger over the city.
— Do you know where the entrance to the church cellar is? — Lu Li asked, turning to Frank, who was pressing his lips together nervously.
— Yes! It’s right...
— Get over there.
— What about you?! — JoJo exclaid.
— I'll hold them off.
Lifting his gaze, Lu Li silently watched the shadow expand, the sound of wings beating overhead like a great, ragged breath.
He unholstered his third and fourth Spirit Guns and handed them to JoJo. — Don't fire unless you absolutely have to.
An unsettling commotion was already starting up on the street.
JoJo's heart hamred against her ribs. She stared intently at Lu Li. — Be careful!
Taking the pistols, JoJo and Frank turned and sprinted toward the church, a hundred ters away.
The shadow in the sky resolved into a distinct shape: a creature with enormous black wings, spanning nearly ten ters, was rapidly approaching.
The turmoil on the street was escalating. Faint sounds of fighting and snarling carried through the air—a good sign. Drawn by the commotion, the servants of the various gods had turned on one another.
But Lu Li wasn't alone. Anna materialized beside him, her feet barely touching the ground.
— You should have gone with them.
A cold aura swirled around Anna, making her dress and hair billow as if in a phantom wind.
— Then the servants will just follow them to the church. Even if they don't find us in the cellar, they'll block the exit.
They'll be trapped, or forced to take the potential passage into the Shadow Swamp.
Neither option was good.
— I can hold them off.
— The more attention you draw, the more likely the evil god will notice you, — Lu Li replied.
That idea was no better. The powers of evil gods and evil spirits belonged to different systems, and it was difficult to say which was stronger. However, two things were certain: evil gods were far rarer, and a vengeful spirit was no match for an evil god.
JoJo and Frank were now fifty ters away, and the Night Demon was nearing the end of Trio Street.
Unfortunately, it ignored the fighting servants below and fixed its attention on Lu Li, who stood apart from the chaos.
— Think we can handle it? — Lu Li unfastened his holster, his hand resting on the grip of his pistol, ready to draw at a mont's notice.
— We'll have to try and see.
Anna's expression, frad by her wind-whipped hair, grew even colder, and an unsettling malevolence seeped into the icy air around her.
She raised her hands, touching her thumbs to her index fingers, and aid her palms at the Night Demon, which was now altering its flight path, preparing to strike.
The bloody rain scattered in the face of Anna's power. But Lu Li noticed that further out, beyond her imdiate influence, the raindrops struck an invisible barrier and trickled down, outlining the shape of an unseen spear, two or three ters long, poised in the air before her palms.
The shriek of the Night Demon slicing through the air grew almost unbearable as it closed to within a hundred ters of Lu Li.
At that sa instant, poised to attack, Anna’s crimson eyes flashed and she cried out, — Hah!
A powerful gust of wind erupted around them, whipping at Lu Li's and Anna's clothes. The rain in a ten-ter radius was blasted away, only to cascade back down with renewed force, stopped once more by Anna’s invisible shield.
Lu Li squinted, his eyes fixed on the Night Demon in the sky.
A bloody, fist-sized hole had suddenly appeared in the horned Night Demon's head, and thick gore gushed from the wound.
The invisible spear had pierced it.
The Night Demon let out only a faint cry before its life was extinguished, and it plumted toward the ground, landing a dozen ters from Lu Li.
Thump!
The Night Demon's heavy body slamd into the earth like a teorite, carving a deep furrow. A wall of flying earth, stones, and bloody rain surged toward Lu Li.
But a ter away from him, it all stopped, striking an invisible protective barrier.
When Anna lowered the barrier, the earth and stones fell back to the ground.
The Night Demon, lying just a few ters away, was no longer breathing.
Anna looked at Lu Li, the coldness in her crimson eyes softening. She lifted her chin slightly. — Well?
— Not bad.
Lu Li glanced at the Night Demon's body, then his gaze snapped sharply upward.
Anna followed his gaze, and the smile vanished from her face. The chill returned to her eyes.
The Head Balloons had returned, taking advantage of the distraction with the Night Demon.
— Blast them upward, — Lu Li whispered.
Anna understood. She drifted over to Lu Li, extended her right arm, and swept it gently upward.
A powerful current of air surged forward, catching the bloody rain and the balloons and flinging them a hundred ters into the sky, where they beca indistinguishable black dots.
They wouldn't be able to descend for a while.
Having dealt with the balloons, Anna looked down the street several dozen ters away. The fierce battle between the servants was still raging there, but they weren't approaching.
Anna turned back to Lu Li. — They haven’t noticed us. We can head back to the church...
— Aaaah!!!
Frank's terrified scream tore through the night, cutting Anna off.
JoJo and Frank had stopped forty or fifty ters short of the church, staring at the building in despair. Or rather, they were staring at what lay behind it: the dark expanse of the swamp.
Hundreds of six-limbed creatures poured out of the swamp like a tide, the sound of their movent terrifying. They sward over the church and surged toward JoJo and Frank.
Anna began to gather her power again, but Lu Li suddenly grabbed her arm.
— Wait, — Lu Li whispered, his eyes fixed on the wave of six-limbed creatures.
— We're going to die here! — Frank scread, forgetting to run.
Biting her lip, JoJo raised a Spirit Gun with a trembling hand and desperately aid at the approaching mass of six-limbed creatures.
Frank squeezed his eyes shut, convinced he was about to die. The noise grew louder, but no pain ca. After a few seconds, he cautiously cracked open one eye.
The wave of six-limbed creatures was flowing around them like water around a stone, continuing on its way.
Stunned, JoJo and Frank slowly turned around.
Lu Li watched as the creatures stread past him, heading for the battle on Trio Street.
Then sothing new happened. One of the six-limbed creatures split off from the main horde and, moving on four limbs, scuttled up to Lu Li. It held an object in its upturned palms.
In the creature's hands was a statuette that combined the lower body of an insect with the beautiful form of a woman. It radiated a sinister, dark purple light.
This statuette looked even more realistic than the previous wooden one.
Reviews
All reviews (0)