Fanny slid down the slope. Not only did she refrain from asking Karen about the spells he had just cast, she didn't even say thank you. She simply raised her rifle with cold resolve, reloaded quickly, and took aim at the target battling the captain.
Karen stood up. The Sea God's Armor and Dark Moon Blades on him had not dispersed and remained in place, yet right now he had no idea how to join the fray.
His relative lack of combat experience was only a minor factor; the primary reason was the captain's style of fighting, which left him with no clue where to step in and assist.
It felt as if a group of kids across from him were playing jump rope: standing on the sidelines, he wanted to join in but couldn't catch the rhythm, itching to leap forward again and again only to hold himself back every single time.
Fanny, on the other hand, consistently found the right opening. Every time Neo created some distance, her bullet would strike their opponent's body. Though the rounds couldn't pierce his flesh, the auxiliary effects attached to them disrupted his rhythm and steadily wore him down.
"Roar!"
The man's roars grew increasingly frantic. In truth, ever since Karen severed his brother's head, he had fallen into a state of hysteria, losing measured control over his power and letting raw emotion drive his attacks.
Yet the opponent facing him gave him no opportunity for a close-quarters brawl.
He desperately wanted to strike down his brother's killer and that woman who kept sniping at him, but his opponent pinned down his footwork completely, dictating the angle and distance of their engagement so that he couldn't break free of the restraint at all.
Fanny drew a purple bullet, chambered it, and aimed again, though she didn't rush to shoot.
Karen stood diagonally in front of her, positioned to protect her without obstructing her line of sight.
Since he couldn't join the captain's fight, he might as well do whatever was within his reach.
Sparks flared continuously across the man's body, inflicting immense pain and damage.
The captain was like an elegant maestro, meticulous in his pursuit of every detail—Karen noticed that even after fighting this long, the captain's clothes were hardly torn.
If this grinding battle continued... No, even now, the outcome was already clear. The man was merely putting up a final struggle, like a mad bull bristling with javelins—seemingly fierce, yet bound to collapse with a crash at any moment.
Even so, the captain gave a hand sign.
Understanding immediately, Fanny released a purple glow that sank into her rifle, and a purple luminescence shone from the crimson weapon.
The captain's gesture meant: speed it up!
Speeding things up was to secure an already guaranteed victory that much sooner, though it would inevitably come at some cost.
Yet considering the commotion here and the distress signal that had been sent, other Whip of Order squads were drawing near, other units from the Church were mobilizing, and other factions might intervene.
In short, if they didn't wrap up the battle soon, their side might lose the chance to clean up the battlefield!
The spoils left behind by two wiped-out Whip of Order squads were by no means a trifling fortune. The sacred relics, point coupons, special items, and other gear they carried would all be confiscated. There was no shame in this, for it was fair payment for avenging them—and the vengeance hadn't even had to wait overnight.
As for the remaining aberrant demons and the corrupted, valuable parts of their bodies would be harvested. The giant silver centipede would most likely be meticulously dissected after being worn to death, every useful material extracted before the rest was pulverized.
Hounds would never let a single scrap of meat slip past them.
The only thing that would stay their hands was probably the corpses of the fallen Whip of Order squad members—those they would leave untouched.
With the tempo accelerated, Neo's piano piece seemed to enter its crescendo. He closed in more frequently, and far more violent black sparks erupted across the man's body.
Yet the man also finally found an opening—or rather, an opening the captain had willingly offered him. When his axe cleaved empty air, his left hand melted, transforming into a sharp blade just as his brother's had, and punched straight through the right side of the captain's shoulder.
The captain seemed to hang from his arm, but just as he swung the axe in his right hand to split the captain in two—
*Bang!*
The purple bullet tore through the air and struck the arm transformed into a blade. Once morphed into another state, his originally rock-hard body lost its prior durability, becoming brittle instead.
*Snap!*
The arm shattered. Neo dropped down, grabbing the man's head with both hands.
The next moment, Captain Neo's eyes turned pitch-black. He floated upward as if borne by an invisible surge of air.
Karen felt a scorching heat radiating from up ahead. His vision bent and warped, yet he saw no flames spilling out.
Because at this moment, the fire was entirely inside the man!
The man tried to make another move, but flames began erupting from his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose.
Immediately after, his body rapidly cracked open. Wisps of flame burst forth, followed by wider fissures; he was like a collapsing furnace consumed by its own blaze.
*Boom!*
At last, he dropped to his knees. The flames burst from within, engulfing his entire body. As for his soul, it had already been utterly annihilated from the very start.
Neo landed on the ground, half a severed arm still lodged in his shoulder. Glancing around, he told Fanny, "Order them to clean up the battlefield quickly, move the spoils, and apply seals."
Once all the loot was gathered, it would be buried nearby and sealed with protective barriers to block detection. They had no time to cart everything away right now, so they would have to come back later to transport the haul and filter it into the black market.
Clearly, this was an intimately familiar routine.
Fanny loaded a yellow bullet and fired into the sky. A bright yellow flare soared upward with a whistle-like shriek—a signal to their teammates.
Karen dismissed the Sea God's Armor and Dark Moon Blades as well.
Right then, Fanny suddenly threw her arms around him and planted two kisses on his cheek.
"That's your reward for saving me."
Right in front of her, Karen wiped away any saliva that might have lingered on his cheek and asked, "Would other teammates get thanked like this if they saved you?"
"Oh, of course not."
"So I saved you, and I'm the one who loses out?"
"Yep. If you have an issue, you can file a complaint with the captain."
Karen ignored that remark completely, knowing the captain would probably say they could settle it privately in a grove somewhere.
"Still, that armor of yours earlier was so cool. And those two red scimitars... Why does that energy signature feel familiar?"
"The armor is the Sea God's Armor. Fundamentalist Sea God Religion had already declined by the end of the last era and died out at the dawn of this one. As for those two scimitars, they're the same spell as Miss Ophelia's sword: the Dark Moon Blade."
Neo spoke as he walked over.
"Dark Moon Blade?" Fanny blinked. "You two are moving that fast?"
"No... it's not like that..."
Neo said, "Confessing on the docks the very first day you meet; pushing her dining cart out of her room the second morning; and by the second night, casting a spell her family would never teach an outsider. Fanny, I'm starting to wonder if you were really sharing a room with him last night, or if he slipped next door to do something on the sly. At this pace, when the Dark Moon Island delegation finishes talks with the Church and Miss Ophelia boards the liner for home, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if she finds out she's pregnant."
"Captain..."
"No need to explain, just teasing. After a hunt like this, one always needs some idle banter to lighten the mood."
As he spoke, Neo reached up and yanked the half-severed arm straight out of his shoulder, tossing it to the ground.
Then, Karen saw the flesh in Neo's shoulder wound squirming rapidly, already beginning to mend.
This was... the bloodline of a bloodthirsty aberrant demon!
"See, this is my secret. When Elisa saved me, I was actually beyond saving, but she gave me the only First Embrace she could ever grant in her life, which brought me back. From then on, I carried the bloodline of a bloodthirsty aberrant demon, heh. That fellow the Count seems to have figured it out, because even though Elisa is dead, he still has people deliver rest fluid to me through the newly established Anawas Liaison Office in York City."
"So, Captain... do you also risk losing yourself?"
Neo shook his head. "Elisa needed it, but I don't, and I've never touched a drop. I actually rather enjoy chatting with that old fellow whose voice pops up in my head from time to time. His company cured my insomnia."
Fanny turned her head, looking at Karen. "Now I understand why you were clinging to that snub-nosed revolver before. Was that revolver just an accessory?"
"No, it was because I hadn't gotten around to buying gear yet. It came free in the basic equipment pack."
Realization struck Fanny. "Oh, no wonder that revolver looked so familiar."
"Don't worry. In this squad, everyone has secrets, and everyone tacitly protects them." Neo clapped Karen on the shoulder. "Besides, you revealed your secret to protect your teammate. That proves you value a teammate's life more than your own secrets."
"I'm deeply touched, Captain," Fanny said.
"No point being touched. He probably prefers younger girls, like Miss Ophelia. You and Peige are a bit too old."
"Captain, since you have the bloodline of a bloodthirsty aberrant demon anyway, you wouldn't mind if I put another hole in you, would you?"
By now, the man kneeling on the ground had burned down to a skeletal frame, yet a faint golden light emerged. When this light appeared, it seemed to carry a magical pull that drew the eye.
"Fanny, isolate yourself."
"Yes, Captain."
Fanny closed her eyes, cast purification on herself first, and turned her back.
Neo looked at Karen. "You don't need to?"
Karen answered, "Captain, I think I've guessed what's in there."
"Oh, right. I almost forgot you were involved in the Qihe case."
Neo walked over to the incinerated corpse, kicked it over, and a copper coin rolled out.
Indeed.
A Rax copper coin!
Standing before the coin, Neo said, "This is the Source of Sin."
"Captain, it should be pure by nature, but precisely because of its excessive purity, it readily brings out the dark side in anyone who touches it."
"Is that so? So that's how it works."
Neo bent down, preparing to pick up the coin.
"Captain, you can't touch it directly!"
"It's fine. I just want to know what I want right now and what meaning my life has. After Elisa died, I spent a long time thinking about it without finding an answer. I feel like I'm just living out of sheer inertia."
Saying that, Neo picked up the coin with his bare hand and held it before him, turning it over thoughtfully.
Karen silently stepped back two paces, debating whether to summon Sea God's Armor once more.
"Sigh."
Neo let out a sigh, tossed the coin back onto the ground, and began applying seals.
Layer upon layer of seals blanketed the coin's surface. Its light dimmed gradually until it faded completely away.
"Captain?" Karen asked cautiously.
Neo offered a faint smile and said, "The saddest thing isn't having your inner greed ignited by it; it's holding it and still having no idea what you actually want."
Huh?
The Rax copper coin had no effect on Neo whatsoever?
"Find a piece of clothing to wrap it in. We can't pocket this one. Two Whip of Order squads lost themselves to it, and with the Qihe case fresh in memory, the higher-ups are sure to deduce what triggered it."
"Me?" Karen asked.
"Because if I keep it and turn it in, I'm worried you'll spend a long time suspecting whether I've been corrupted and controlled by this coin. So to spare you any pointless paranoia moving forward, you'll be responsible for keeping and submitting it."
"How could that be? I trust you, Captain..."
"Heh."
Karen took off his coat and, with his hands insulated by the fabric, touched the heavily sealed coin.
"If you want to know what you desire and face your greedy side, I can unseal it for you to give you a taste."
"No need, Captain. Sometimes I think self-delusion is quite nice. Tearing off one's own skin is usually agonizing."
"A very proper answer."
As Karen wrapped the coin, a sudden tremor stirred in his chest. Vaguely, he felt a certain desire within him being coaxed out, his mind churning as if visions capable of leading him astray were about to emerge.
Even with layers of seals applied by the captain, the Rax copper coin still wielded such terrifying allure!
Just then, however, Karen heard a call, like a bucket of cold water splashing straight onto his soul.
...
"Brother Karen?"
A crisp voice sounded by his ear.
Karen found himself standing in a dark expanse filled with cubic enclosures, sealing away countless dreadful artifacts.
Where... was this?
"Brother Karen?"
Karen turned around and saw a blue cubic enclosure. Inside, resting on a soft golden-thread carpet, lay a Rax copper coin.
It wasn't the one he held in his hands.
"Brother Karen, it really is you!"
At that moment, Karen spotted the figure of a young girl atop the enclosure, sitting there and swinging her legs.
"Luoya?"
"Brother Karen, it really is you!"
So, this was the Church of Order's sealing vault?
"Did you sense me through another copper coin, Brother Karen? That coin hasn't birthed an item spirit. Maybe even Qihe didn't know that I'm not just the spirit of the coin he held, but the spirit of all the other coins that haven't developed one yet."
"Are you doing well here?" Karen asked.
"Not well at all—it's so dull and boring. There are so many things sealed here, some that even frighten me, but not many have born item spirits. And those spirits have awful tempers, plotting all day about how to break the seals and escape. Hehe, they've probably been discussing that topic for thousands of years—no, an entire era! Hahaha, yet they never get tired of it. But how did your consciousness get in here, Brother Karen? I mean, even if you were holding another coin, your consciousness shouldn't be able to enter this place. It seems you really are special, Brother Karen—truly worthy of being the first handsome boy I took a liking to! You're nothing like ordinary people."
"I..."
"Brother Karen, you belong to the Church of Order too, right? Then climb up the ranks quickly so you can have a chance to take me out of here! Hmm, last time I asked how many point coupons it would take to redeem me, it had so many zeroes at the end... and point coupons alone aren't enough; you need matching rank and merit too. But I believe you'll come get me very soon, won't you, Brother Karen? Oh, the custodian of the sealing domain seems to have noticed an outside consciousness entering! Hurry and leave, Brother Karen, don't let him find you!"
...
*Buzz!*
Karen's consciousness returned to his body. He saw Neo standing before him, scrutinizing him closely.
"Captain..."
"You zoned out for fifty-nine seconds."
"I didn't lose myself..."
"Mm, I believe you didn't. Someone who lost themselves probably wouldn't remember to count the seconds like a phone call, knowing that exceeding one minute counts as two minutes of phone charges."
"Uh..."
Neo suddenly tapped Fanny's shoulder, and she opened her eyes.
"I sense a Whip of Order squad approaching. Send the signal; they can bury the spoils now."
"Yes, Captain."
Fanny fired another flare into the sky.
Neo said to Karen, "Don't worry. An inventory of the spoils will be drawn up first. Useful items and materials will be kept for our own squad members' use, while what we can't use will be sold on the black market and the proceeds split among the squad."
"Understood, Captain. No objections here."
"Good. Now, come with me to intercept that approaching squad and buy the others a bit more time to handle the loot. We'll mainly assess what they're made of. If they're weak and refuse to listen to reason..."
"What do we do then?"
"Then we'll have no choice but to report them as a third squad that lost themselves."
Chapter 178