???
Why did the voice behind him sound so familiar? Where had he heard it before?
Had he hallucinated out of sheer emotional agony?
The sorrow and grief filling his chest suddenly slammed to a halt, his half-formed anguish and tears freezing in midair.
Lynch couldn't care about anything else. He whipped around, his jaw dropping as he fell into a state of complete petrification.
A tall, familiar figure was slumped on the ground right behind him.
Officer Natalie Angel looked as if she had just woken up, glaring at Lynch with a face full of indignation as she snapped crossly, “What are you yelling so loudly for? Can't a person get any sleep?”
The moment she finished shouting, however, a look of utter confusion flitted across her face. Dazed for a second, she abruptly began slapping the exact spot on her chest where she had just been impaled.
What's going on? Wasn't she torn to pieces?
What's going on? Wasn't I torn to pieces?
The two stared blankly at each other, both looking equally dim-witted. Then, bewildered, they turned their gazes back toward where the scene had just unfolded.
Only a split second had passed, and fragments of the corpse were still hanging from the tentacles. The pale, unseeing head swayed in the air alongside the thrashing limbs—it was undeniably Natalie.
In the very next instant, however, all the gory chunks began shrinking and shriveling at a speed visible to the naked eye, turning dry like withered wood. The pale head in particular shriveled continuously until it contracted to the size of a mere apple. The more they looked at it, the more familiar it became.
A human-faced fruit.
Officer Natalie showed a sudden realization. Reaching into her pocket, she found that the doll given to her by Dr. Sven was indeed gone.
【Substitute Puppet: Swaps with the main body upon unnatural death, fully reviving the main body behind allied units.】
At this moment, not only was she completely unharmed, but even her clothes were entirely undamaged. Her whole body was intact. By contrast, the fool beside her—covered in blood from head to toe, with a piece of warm organ hanging off his ear—looked far more disheveled than she did.
Yet that fool quickly snapped back to his senses. He had infinitely many words he wanted to say, but this was no time for that with a formidable enemy in front of them. Thousands of words merged into a single, tight embrace.
Whatever else there was to say could wait until later. His gaze shifted back toward the enemy.
In those few short seconds, the several soldiers had completely fused together into a giant, tentacle-waving ball of flesh—looking just like a physical manifestation of Mordiggian. However, this monster showed no intention of attacking anyone else. Instead, its mass squirmed continuously, and right above the ball of flesh, a lump began bulging outward with every writhing movement, gradually taking on a humanoid shape.
During the lull in the fleshy mass's attacks, the others didn't take the opportunity to strike either. Miss Diana stood in front of Lynch and Natalie, shielding the dazed pair, while Judy had taken over control of the outermost wall of fire to prevent the newly arrived citizens inside from running wild or blending into the queuing crowd outside.
She was overthinking things, however. The atmosphere in front of the fortress gate had turned remarkably bizarre. Although people instinctively distanced themselves from that mass of flesh, every eye—whether citizen or soldier, inside or outside—was fixed on Dr. Sven, their expressions utterly peculiar.
Moments ago, to save Lynch as quickly as possible, Dr. Sven had no choice but to revert to her original form. As a result, everyone had witnessed their beloved doctor suddenly transform into a ghoul—fanged, clawed, tall, and fierce, terrifying to behold.
It was so unexpected that for a moment, the citizens forgot to panic. They simply stared blankly at the ghoul doctor until the terrifying ghoul let out a roar at them:
“What are you staring at, you idiots? Is it scarier, or am I scarier? If you want to live, duck down and hide behind us! Anyone who runs around gets bitten to death!”
Honestly, you're a bit scarier...
Yet that fierce, harsh tone was all too familiar, bringing the citizens back to their senses. Cowering, the citizens looked around, and to everyone's surprise, they obediently shuffled behind the ghoul and huddled together in a tight group, leaving the front wide open for...
Whoosh.
Several tentacles came sweeping over. That was the restored fleshy mass lashing out with its tentacles. Seeing the incoming strike, the last few citizens in the rear desperately regretted hesitating for those extra seconds and running a step too slow, letting out despairing screams.
In the next instant, a petite figure suddenly stepped in front of them, dropping to one knee and pressing her palm to the ground.
【Authority: Protection, Ability: Wall of Faith】
An invisible wall shimmering with white light erupted from the ground in front of the count's daughter. With several dull thuds, seven or eight tentacles slammed into the wall one after another, bouncing back. Miss Diana's body shuddered at the same time, and she stumbled backward.
The last few citizens felt as if granted a divine reprieve and fled immediately. At the same time, however, two tentacles extended silently toward the retreating count's daughter, driving straight through her chest.
Yet no blood flowed—it was as if they had passed through a mere phantom. Unbeknownst to anyone, Lynch had already aimed an hourglass at her. Under the shroud of the mystery relic Sanctuary Beyond Time, no attack could ever harm a phantom drifting outside of time.
In the next instant, a flash of sword light severed them cleanly. The two severed tentacles fell to the ground, wriggled like snakes for a moment, and turned into a puddle of putrid flesh.
Natalie and Lynch had stepped out of their shock, returning to the battlefield at once.
“Roar!”
The flesh mass's transformation was finally complete. A ghoul's upper body sprouted from the mass of flesh. As the ghoul let out a wild roar toward the sky, over a hundred tentacles shooting from the mass exploded outward simultaneously, sweeping toward everyone like a barrage of fire.
Holy crap.
Lynch's scalp tingled at the sight. But Dr. Sven, who hadn't moved until now and had been muttering under her breath, suddenly took a step forward, raising her hand before her.
【Arcana: Nack-Tith Great Prison Spell】
A hemispherical barrier clamped down over the ghoul's surroundings. It was a hazy light with no physical entity, yet every tentacle that struck the barrier bounced back as if hitting a shield without exception.
The miraculous effect made Lynch steal a glance at her. How did this gal know so many strange arcana? Should he really take a look at the Necronomicon once they found it?
Unaware of Lynch's reckless thoughts, Dr. Sven maintained the spell and looked up, meeting the eyes of the ghoul growing from the mass of flesh.
“Father, what on earth did you do?” The ghoul's face was unreadable, but the tremor in Dr. Sven's voice revealed her unquiet heart. “How could you do this to yourself...”
“Didn't expect this, did you, my daughter? I used the Lord's power to awaken it! Conceptually, I am also its father. My flesh and life can replace that fool Jackson just as well—it's only slightly more troublesome, that's all! Now, as long as it absorbs all the souls in this city, the Lord's will can descend upon this world once more!” The ghoul's tone overflowed with madness as he laughed hysterically. “You've caused me endless trouble, but the final slaughter has already begun! You won't stop me this time!”
“I won't let you commit such a mad act.” Dr. Sven turned to Lynch and whispered softly, “You've already helped me so much, but I need you to help us one more time.”
“Name it.”
Dr. Sven's lips moved subtly. The four of them heard no sound, yet in their minds, a piece of information seemed deeply imprinted into their memories.
It was the incantation and usage of the spell she was maintaining—the Nack-Tith Great Prison Spell. It could combine the strength, will, and spirit of multiple people to create a spherical barrier with dual defenses against both physical and mystical effects, suitable for self-defense or imprisoning enemies.
In just an instant, all four of them had mastered the spell.
“I can deal with him, but I need time to prepare the arcana without interference. I need you to maintain this prison to trap him for me. I'm transferring control to you now.”
The four felt a sudden tightening in their minds as the fleshy mass's frantic attacks against the barrier slammed directly into their resolve. Lynch frowned, uniting the spiritual strength of all four to push back against it.
Meanwhile, without a shred of doubt as to whether Lynch and the others were willing to help, Dr. Sven relinquished control. Opening the stone box she carried, she retrieved the Necronomicon within. Holding the book in her left hand and pressing her right hand upon it, she directed her steadfast gaze toward her father on the other side of the barrier and began chanting obscure, eerie incantations at the top of her lungs.
Rate on N.U.
