Chapter 71: Chapter 75: Becoming One

As soon as he saw the situation before him, Duncan, who had been ready to boldly step forward and declare “the traitor is none other than myself,” immediately faded back into the shadows without a trace, instead watching the assembly’s situation with the detached attitude of someone watching a play.

It turned out there was more than one traitor in the crowd—that girl in the black dress had given him a sense of dissonance from the beginning. Originally, Duncan thought it was merely because her youthful and quiet demeanor didn’t fit in with the heretical assembly, which had led to his impression, but it turned out to be something else entirely.

He noticed that the meeting’s leader mentioned two terms: Abyssal Hound, Obliteration Sect.

The Abyssal Hound obviously referred to the black skeletal giant hound summoned by the girl. The Obliteration Sect sounded like no ordinary community organization that could be officially registered at city hall—could it be the girl really wasn’t a follower of the Sun God but from another heretical cult?!

How many bizarre and dark sects were there in this world, lurking in the shadows?

As Duncan’s thoughts raced, the girl who had summoned the Abyssal Hound slightly raised the black chain on her arm; while assuming a defensive posture, she scanned the gathering with a corner of her mouth curled in a mocking smile, “Obliteration Sect… Unfortunately, I don’t have much to do with them—unlike you mutts, who need to serve an Evil God just to sleep soundly, I act only for myself!”

“Your excuses won’t fool anyone; only the Obliteration Sect knows how to summon the anomalies from the Mysterious Deep Sea. I urge you to surrender, heretic. You stand on the Sun God’s territory, and even the dark magic of the Abyssal Hound won’t protect you!” The leader in the center of the meeting fixed his eyes on Sherry, his voice deep and threatening, “Speak, what is your purpose? Obliteration and the Sun may not be allies, but they’ve never been enemies either. Why would you disguise yourself to infiltrate our sacred gathering?”

“I just wanted to dig out some information from your not-so-bright heads,” Sherry said, lifting the corners of her mouth. A series of clanking sounds rang out from the chains connected to her body, and the mysterious metal links began to move like living things, “And as I’ve said, I am not from the Obliteration Sect…!”

Before the girl could finish her sentence, a series of crackling noises suddenly rang out from all around. The oil lamps set around the room, as if stimulated by some unknown force, flared up all at once!

The bright flames of the oil lamps illuminated the entire basement like daylight; above each lamp a small fireball formed, and those fireballs, like miniature suns, began to emit tremendous energy. The leader in the center of the gathering, unaware, had at some point tightly gripped his Sun Amulet. The sharp flame spikes on the edge of the amulet pierced his palm, and as blood seeped into the amulet, it burned like fat, setting the leader’s entire hand aflame, in a strange echo of the oil lamps’ sudden change.

Clearly, this seasoned Cult Priest had only been using a few words to stall for time—without Sherry noticing, he had activated some kind of transcendental ability.

“Surrender now, heretic,” a threatening voice came from beneath the golden mask. “The power of the Sun God has sealed off the entire assembly area. I am aware of you Heretics’ abilities; you can borrow spells from the demons you summon and use these curses to harm others. The shadowy breath of the Abyssal Hound is indeed terrifying—but this place is sealed, neither you nor your dog can borrow any power from the Mysterious Deep Sea!”

Duncan’s fingers twitched slightly in his pocket as he pondered whether to intervene. Even though it seemed like two heretical factions fighting like dogs, that girl named Sherry might also know something, and now it seemed she was clearly outnumbered.

Just then, the leader in the golden mask extended his hand, gripping the blazing Sun emblem, towards Sherry. The voice from beneath the mask was deep and seductive, as if an invisible force was mixed into his tone: “Give up your resistance, convert in the realm of the Sun God, then tell me all you know, and the merciful Sun will forgive your sins… Kneel down, young sister… you can’t use your spells…”

However, faced with the threat from the Sun Priest, Sherry seemed utterly indifferent; she just turned to look at the burning oil lamps, and then at the Sun Cultists around her, who were already drawing short swords, daggers, and even revolvers, and asked calmly, “Maintaining this constraining force field must be quite exhausting, right?”

The Sun Priest let out a cold snort, “Humph, the power granted by my Lord…”

He hadn’t finished speaking when the girl in black suddenly made her move!

Sherry suddenly lunged forward; her arm burning with dark flames sharply raised, and the black chains whistled through the air. The Abyssal Hound, several times the size of a normal hound, swung full circle with her momentum, and with a terrifying bang, it “smashed” right into the Sun Priest’s chest!

The crisp sound of breaking bones was clear. The Sun Priest, who had been focusing all his energy on maintaining the barrier, didn’t have time to react and was sent flying by the impact like a rag doll, smashing into the wall opposite, motionless.

Duncan: “…”

This he truly hadn’t expected.

By the time it was said, it had already happened. This sudden turn of events left all the heretics at the scene unresponsive. The Sun God’s followers were still waiting for their leader’s command, when, the next second, they saw their boss flying out. And then, the whooshing sound of chains cutting through the air once again split the silence!

Sherry once again raised her arms, the dark iron chains rattled sharply, and with a surge of strange power, she swung the Abyssal Hound like a meteor hammer. The massive hound traced a terrifying arc in the air, and after several loud thuds, several heretics were sent flying out, spitting blood!

This time, the heretics finally reacted. Ignoring the shock in their hearts, they all roared and charged towards the girl who was raising the iron chains again. A dozen daggers and swords flew through the air, but what greeted them was the whirling Abyssal Hound and the girl’s cursing, “Go to hell with your master, you bastards!”

The colossal hound flew through the air, and the heretics were sent flying with broken bones and torn muscles. Sherry’s handling of the meteor hound was nothing short of transcendent; the battlefield was a whirl of iron chains and baying hounds, with the girl darting and weaving, raising the dog and felling foes repeatedly…

Just then, a series of gunshots suddenly rang out!

The Sun Cultists wielding revolvers finally found an opening. After realizing that close combat was utterly futile against the girl of strange strength, they didn’t hesitate to pull their triggers.

Brass bullets sliced through the air, two striking the chains and creating bright, fleeting sparks, while several others burrowed into Sherry’s body.

“Uh…” The girl’s body suddenly staggered as the impact and pain of the bullets entering her flesh made her nearly lose her footing. However, the next second, just when the heretics thought the tide had turned, the whooshing sound of chains filled the air once more.

“Abyssal Hound! Block the pain for me!”

The hound, spun high into the air, let out a chaotic roar, and the next second, blasted a gun-wielding heretic away. The heretic’s head slammed into a distant pillar, ending up as a junior version of Alice…

And the Meteor Dog at the center of the gathering was now more ferocious than before!

Duncan quietly took two steps back, lowering his presence while waiting for it all to end.

He was mainly concerned about getting blood on himself—his clothes were new today, and it would be hard to explain to Nina if he returned home stained.

As for that warrior woman who was a master at handling the Meteor Dog… she likely didn’t need his help.

She seemed to be in fine form.

The battle had actually not lasted very long. The black-dressed girl’s Meteor Hound was exceptionally powerful and fast. This inescapable underground room was essentially a private hunting stage for her, while Duncan stood silently counting multiplication tables in a corner. Before he completed the list again, the fight was over.

And after all the heretics were beaten into a mass, the underground room finally fell silent.

Sherry eventually stopped, clenching the iron chains that bound the Abyssal Hound, panting heavily in the center of the room. Suddenly, her gaze locked onto a figure standing in the corner.

She finally noticed Duncan, the last “heretic” in this gathering space.

Despite being astonished and confused by the calm demeanor of this odd “heretic,” Sherry did not hesitate and walked towards that last target, dragging the dog behind.

Her hostility was undisguised.