Chapter 122: What Demon? Whose Subordinate Are You?
Mona picked up the handcuffs from the ground and put them on her wrists behind her back. For a detective of her caliber, the silver bracelets were truly nothing more than accessories. Even without using magic, she had several ways to break free in an instant.
They posed no challenge whatsoever!
Wayne didn’t expect the handcuffs to restrict a mage. That would be too foolish. A mage used their thoughts to shape magic and alter reality, not their hands. Only by controlling their thoughts could one truly seal a mage’s ability to act.
“I’ve put on the handcuffs. Release my companion, and I’ll be your hostage,” Mona said calmly.
“Of course. You were my target to begin with,” Wayne said ambiguously. The moment he released Nancy, he struck hard with his gun-wielding hand at the back of her neck, while raising his other hand to conjure crimson crystal daggers.
The three daggers flew toward Mona in a triangular pattern, while he retreated swiftly without looking back, heading straight for the nearest sewer entrance under the cover of the fog. Mona tensed her long legs and leaped into the air. When landing, she had not only dodged the flying daggers but also freed herself from the handcuffs. She rushed to help the unconscious Nancy up, her five fingers glowing with holy light as she pressed them to Nancy’s forehead.
Please let her be okay!
After a quick examination, she breathed out a sigh of relief. Nancy was fine, and there was nothing strange in her body.
Nancy awakened groggily, saying in panic, “Blood magic. He’s a demon worshipper.”
“I know.” Mona stared intently toward the area shrouded with mist that surged like a tide. “Blood Worship of Hell has always existed in Londan, but this is the first time I’ve seen a follower use Blood Magic directly. The demon’s minion is preparing a sacrificial ritual. I’ll give chase and take a look. You need to contact our superiors immediately. We absolutely cannot let him escape.”
“Is that a good idea? His target seems to be you...” Nancy felt uncertain, worried that her friend might not return.
“Isn’t that even better? If his target weren’t me, there would be other victims.”
As she spoke, Mona had already rushed into the mist.
Nancy reached out, but ultimately didn’t follow. The facts had proven her to be a dead weight. Without her, Mona might have already won the fight.
***
In the sewers, Wayne moved swiftly through the passages, and after a few turns, he crouched down and dove into a subway tunnel.
Following it for another five hundred meters would bring him to the nearest station. It was already late at night, past the subway line’s service time. The tunnel and platform were deathly silent, with only a few scattered lights flickering.
When he approached the platform, he was surprised to discover that his path was blocked. Mona stood alone in the center of the platform, as if she had been waiting for him for a long time.
Impossible! He refused to believe that anyone could have outmaneuvered him in the sewers. Suspecting that he had fallen under some mental illusion, he narrowed his eyes and studied her.
Glasses, red lips, stockinged legs, high heels...
Though his focus might seem slightly off, that was how sophisticated detectives operated. The devil was in the details, which was what differentiated the victor from the loser. He soon noticed something amiss. If he remembered correctly, Mona had already kicked off her high heels, yet the woman on the platform was still wearing hers.
“I was going to say this earlier. It shows your lack of awareness in road safety to drive in high heels,” he muttered under his breath, raising his five fingers to conjure crystal throwing knives and shooting them at the woman on the platform.
She moved strangely. Facing the knives flying directly at her face, she didn’t dodge to the side but made a complicated evasive move, raising both arms and leaping into the air with her legs spread at ninety degrees. While she had avoided the attack, her skirt, which barely covered her knees, was pushed up above her thighs, leaving little to the imagination.
How shameless of you!
Wayne didn’t even know what to say. He could tell that the ‘Mona’ before him wasn’t the real person. If he wasn’t mistaken, it should be Mona’s nighttime messenger bird, an owl.
Messenger birds had various uses. A capable mage could pull many tricks with them, including replica magic that allowed an owl to mimic their master’s appearance. But only the appearance!
He didn’t want to waste his time on a stupid bird. He had already achieved tonight’s objective. His next plan was to use the investigation into the missing pet dog to lead Mona—and in turn the Church of Heavenly Father—to the Thousand-Eyed Demon.
He waved his hand to summon a violent wind, overturning ‘Mona’ while she was in the middle of her acrobatic moves. Under the crushing force of the raging wind, the owl collapsed, reverting to its original form before even hitting the ground.
(◉⌄◉)
Hoot, hoot, hoot!
While the owl was still flapping its wings, Wayne had already rushed over a hundred meters away. Suddenly, his enhanced vision caught flickering lights ahead. He halted quickly and threw three crimson flying knives in that direction.
“Found you!”
Mona stood breathlessly on the other side of the tunnel. At her command, the owl flew away from the platform and disappeared into the night.
Wayne stared at her silently, feeling quite a headache brewing. He had only planned to test the water tonight. He never expected her to pursue him so relentlessly, risking everything with righteous fervor.
You righteous types are always throwing your lives away like this. Can’t you learn from the cunning and distrustful demons?
He gave her the middle finger before clenching his fist with red crystal blades wrapping around his knuckles, making a direct strike at the wall of sacred scriptures appearing behind him.
Boom!
Terrifying power surged. His simple punch had reached a magic-level destructive force. With a thunderous crash, the resilient barrier shattered and collapsed.
Seeing the mysterious figure focus solely on escape, with no desire to fight, emboldened Mona. She reached into the space in her bosom and pulled out a silver cross necklace, muttering incantations as her clothes began to glow with holy light.
Wayne was curious about what magic she would use and couldn’t help wanting to stay and see, but the owl had already flown far away, and the Church of Heavenly Father’s main forces could arrive at any time. If he stayed, their righteousness would tear him apart.
Mona didn’t immediately pursue, but instead continued her incantations with a sacred and solemn expression. When the light faded, her casual clothes were replaced by a white robe with golden trim at the sleeves and collars, as well as a cross-shaped magic circle on the back.
The robe was cinched at the waist and fit her perfectly, with no extraneous design. While maintaining its holiness, it ensured the wearer could fight freely. But Mona had curves in all the right places with a slender waist and long legs. In this outfit, she was quite appealing to those with a uniform kink.
It was confirmed. The Church of Heavenly Father’s higher-ups had a mainstream fetish, with only a small portion infected with the virus that started with ‘pedo’.
After the outfit change, Mona opened her eyes. Under the gaze of her cold silver eyes, the pitch-black tunnel gradually became transparent, revealing a rapidly retreating figure. The tip of her foot tapped on the ground. The cross on the back of her robe glowed, and her entire body became weightless, allowing her to travel ten meters with a single step.
In the tunnel, the black shadow raced as the pursuing light drew closer and closer.
Wayne turned into the sewers, returning to his most familiar domain. When he realized that he couldn’t shake off his pursuer, he stopped and prepared for battle.
He got careless this time. He had made too many assumptions when formulating the plan and underestimated Mona’s power. There wouldn’t be a next time!
He waved his hand to summon a violent storm, imbuing it with flames to create a roaring fire vortex in the flood control tunnel.
Mona faced the blazing inferno head-on, her expression turning frosty and indifferent like her silver eyes. Her white robe glowed with holy radiance to shield her from the scorching heat. The moment she burst through the wall of flames, a fist crashed toward her. She raised both hands to block the punch, but unable to withstand the crushing force, she was sent flying backward like an arrow shot from a bow.
At the same time, a blurred afterimage pursued her. Red blades shot out of the five fingers that were thrusting toward her chest, the crystal claws leaving crimson arcs in the air while ripping the white fabric to shreds.
After a blurry flash, the Mona with a torn chest vanished. When she reappeared, she materialized right behind Wayne like she had teleported, raising a blazing white greatsword to make a downward swing at his arm.
Like he had eyes on the back of his head, Wayne anticipated the move and spun around on his toes, gripping a crimson crystal longsword with both hands to meet her attack. With a thunderous clash, the crimson sword shattered against the holy light that countered all hellish evil. Though Mona had destroyed her opponent’s weapon, her lack of power led to her getting violently knocked back, preventing her from pressing her advantage.
In mid-air, her figure dissolved and vanished, only to suddenly reappear by his side with her sword. Unlike Valkyrie’s way of teleporting by turning into light particles, Mona’s magic was like a mirage; the technique bent light to influence her opponent’s vision, allowing her to move without being seen. Many mages of the Church of Heavenly Father knew the trick. Kael had once used the very move to confuse the cultists of blood.
It was simple and effective, highly practical in a fight.
Wayne’s nose twitched. Light and shadow could only interfere with his vision, but not his sense of smell. Mona’s effort was pointless to him.
Boom!
His crimson longsword shattered again. Wayne knocked Mona down and stepped forward aggressively, fully leveraging his greater speed and strength to land a heavy punch on her face. He pinned her against the tunnel wall and delivered a series of punches to her chest and abdomen.
Mages of the Church of Heavenly Father had incredible endurance. With their thoughts channeling holy light, they could regenerate hit points by using their mana points, in a manner of speaking. As long as it wasn’t a fatal blow, they could quickly recover their ability to fight.
As a member of the church’s tactical unit, Mona wore specialized combat gear that maximized the trait of being unkillable like a cockroach. Even facing Wayne’s flurry of assault, she still had the mental capacity to use magic.
Intense light erupted as a holy spear shot toward Wayne’s chest. He was ready for the familiar move. Using a screen of crimson crystals to deflect it, he easily dodged her killing move. Gripping her shoulders, he delivered a merciless headbutt to her face.
Her glasses shattered, cutting bleeding scratches on her face. With a flicker of radiant holy light, all the wounds healed, leaving only blood and no scars.
But that was all she could do. The sewer’s limited space didn’t match her fighting style, and cornered, she could only take the beating one-sidedly, her chest swelling from the punches.
He pressed his fist to Mona’s face. Blood seeped from between his fingers as he ground his knuckles against her cheek. His triumphant smile couldn’t conceal his resignation. Yes, he won, but what should he do? He couldn’t possibly lock her in his basement, but nor could he leave her behind!
They were alone, and she was unconscious. If a pervert showed up, the blame would’ve fallen on him. Then he might as well lock her up himself.
Besides, what kind of villain would just walk away after winning a fight, especially when he was pretending to be a demon’s minion while she was a pure clergywoman of the Church of Heavenly Father?
How troublesome! This was supposed to be for fun. He didn’t intend to kill anyone.
Just as Wayne was agonizing over his options, Mona suddenly reached out with both hands and gripped the fist that was rubbing against her face.
“Got you.”
Her cold voice rang out as a magnificent magic circle spread across the sewer. Limited by the terrain, Wayne could only see part of the magic circle.
Powerful radiance shot toward the sky, crushing the crimson mana in his body and stripping away everything related to Blood Worship. He looked at the Book of Greed in alarm. After meeting its eye to confirm that the blood component was still there, he threw his head back and let out a cry of agony.
“Ahhhhh—”
“Stop! It hurts!”
Encouraged, Mona was even more determined to eliminate the demon’s minion before her at any cost. If possible, she would prefer to keep him alive and bring him back to the church for interrogation, forcing him to reveal the location of the sacrificial ritual and foiling the blood cultists’ conspiracy. Unfortunately, the situation was dire, and all she could do was kill him.
The holy light magic lasted ten seconds. The sacred radiance burrowed into Wayne’s body. The Book of Greed intercepted a small portion, while the rest didn’t linger. The highly targeted holy light found no trace of hell and thus identified him as an innocent bystander, halting its assault.
Mona was unaware of that. While she had fully regenerated her hit points within the holy light, her ultimate attack had drained her mana, leaving her with not enough thoughts to continue an intense fight. When Wayne staggered but refused to fall, she stepped to the side and made a kick at his face.
She wasn’t wearing shoes or anything else under her robe, and the black stockings covering her long legs were torn in many places.
The kick was too tempting.
Wayne flew backward into the wall behind him. He staggered to his feet and seized the opportunity to end this farce, saying with difficulty, “You’re strong. It seems that I can’t take you today. But no matter. My Lord has shown me the way forward. I’ll let you bask in glory for now, but someday, you’ll fall into my hands.”
“In your dreams!” Mona scoffed with disdain. The white robe glowed with a hazy radiance as she gathered her strength and rushed to Wayne, getting into close range to unleash a series of killing moves.
He took several punches, but still didn’t fall. He raised his hands to block a kick.
(一`´≖)
Not bad! It was beautifully lewd and alluringly lewd. He would have Vera and Kristen try on tattered stockings in the future.
He grabbed Mona’s ankle with a backhand reach and swung her around to slam her against the wall. Time to fight and run!
After taking two steps, he stopped. Portal-like passages had opened up at both ends of the tunnel, bringing in newcomers. Mona was overjoyed, thinking the reinforcements from the church had arrived. But once she got a clear look at the figures, her heart sank.
Enemy reinforcements!
“Kekeke—”
Black-robed figures blocked both ends of the tunnel. Their leader cackled loudly. “Who would’ve thought that Blood Worship’s presence remained in Londan? Hey, kid, wanna join us and serve the demon together?”
...What demon? Whose subordinate are you?
The Thousand-Eyed Demon?
Wayne never expected that his underground escapade with Mona would lead them to the lair of the Thousand-Eyed Demon’s followers.
“Brat, Boss just asked you a question. Are you deaf?”
The robed group shouted angrily, using their numbers to their advantage to bully the few. Several perverts shifted their gazes to Mona.
“Nice. A quality stock.”
“A female mage from the Church of Heavenly Father. They made us suffer plenty back in the day. Today, she’ll get a taste of the suffering instead.”
“Hahaha, too bad. I only have sweet treats for her.”
“The woman’s yours. I want the man.”
Bang!
A gunshot interrupted their smug, vulgar chatter. Wayne pointed his gun upward, saying coldly, “Shut your traps. This is my prey, and I have no interest in sharing.”
“Heh, quite the temper!”