With a bang, the winged body of the Devil Hound crashed to the ground with a heavy thud.
Angel flicked out the cylinder, ejected the spent casings, reloaded swiftly, and warily scanned her surroundings. Moriarty, who had been at the corner of the alley, came to her side as well. Neither spoke. Their nerves were taut as they guarded against any further attacks.
Only several minutes later, when the Devil Dog's various mutations gradually faded and it reverted to its original form—a black dog roughly a meter tall—did the two finally breathe a sigh of relief, confirming that this "Devil" had come alone and had not left behind any backup plan.
"If I'm not mistaken, this should be the Serial Killer who murdered twelve women and was only one step away from completing his Promotion Ritual, right?"
Picking up the discarded shell casings, Angel looked at the black dog's corpse, which was still several times larger than an ordinary dog, and asked.
She had suspected as much during the battle, but even now, she could not fully confirm it.
After all, it was rather unbelievable that a Devil Dog had roamed the capital of the Kingdom of Loen for two months, killed twelve victims, and still avoided capture by the official Beyonders.
Moriarty picked up the Paper Figurine that had fallen to the ground and become tattered beyond recognition. He rubbed up a ball of spiritual flame and burned it to ashes before answering.
"I think it was. This Devil Hound possessed the strength of Sequence 6. It could transform into a massive Devil, curse enemies with abyssal filthy words, and spew high-temperature flames. Its various abilities resembled those of the 'Criminal' pathway. More importantly, why do you think it ambushed us here?"
Why had it ambushed them?
Angel recalled