Desperate Situation

Shadow!

It was the shadow!

Only then did Colin realize that his shadow was stretching abnormally beneath the Little Girl's feet.

The Servants' shadows were the same.

At some point, the three of their shadows had twisted and been stepped on by the Little Girl, forming a "path" from beyond the lamplight to their actual bodies.

The moment their shadows were stepped on, the control took hold!

At this moment, if Colin's guess was correct, the reason the Little Girl had waited until now to act was that only just then had his shadow extended beyond the light, giving her an opportunity.

When he had crouched to inspect the basement entrance, the lamp had been placed in front of him, and a large portion of his shadow had seeped into the darkness, allowing him to fall into her trap.

The timing was a little too coincidental. Colin even suspected that she had planned it all along, merely waiting for the moment he checked the Underground Passage entrance.

"No, that so-called 'basement' was probably a disguise from the start."

After all, anyone who knew there was a route underground would definitely inspect it.

It would have been fine if he had not checked. The moment he did, something went wrong.

Before this, Colin's shadow had briefly entered the darkness as well, but either the time had been too short or the area too small for the Little Girl to control them immediately.

This meant that her control required a certain amount of time, as well as enough shadow cast by the target's body.

Otherwise, she could not activate her ability!

There was no longer anything they could do about the time requirement. Nearly three minutes had passed since the Little Girl appeared.

They had already been controlled so thoroughly that they could barely put up any resistance.

If, at the beginning, Colin had not turned around but instead decisively rolled forward, he might have bought himself a moment to catch his breath.

But unfortunately, Colin lacked experience in this regard. It had never even occurred to him.

Only now did he realize there was room to maneuver, but it was already too late.

Since he could not gain an advantage with time, he could only seek a breakthrough through the other condition.

"Her control requires not only time, but enough shadow. How do I take my shadow back from her?"

Pain stimulated Colin's mind. His body spasmed and convulsed, yet he was forcibly pinned in place, unable to move and left entirely at her mercy.

Colin could feel that icy little hand reaching inside again, "caressing" his flesh.

"Big brother, do you want to eat with me? You really do taste delicious."

The Little Girl wore a bizarre, chilling expression of delight.

She seemed to be losing control.

She was an inhuman life born from despair, yet during the long years of stillness, she had gained a trace of her former "rationality."

That was why, when she first saw Colin, she still felt timidity, fear, wariness, and other emotions, and had not rashly revealed herself.

Only when Colin unconsciously crouched to inspect the stone slab and exposed his shadow beyond the lamplight did she truly appear.

However, that "rationality" was far too fragile. Stimulated by blood, it could easily collapse and turn her into a completely terrifying evil spirit.

Colin could clearly sense that the Little Girl now did not even seem like the same evil spirit she had been three minutes ago!

The next second, Colin's entire body trembled as another chunk of flesh was torn from his wound.

This was the third time!

But amid that intense agony, Colin knew the time had come!

He stopped resisting the pain and instead relaxed as much as possible.

Like tensing one's body in winter to resist the cold burrowing inside, Colin now directly let go of the pain signals, allowing the intense agony to spread through every part of his body in an instant.

Clang.

The Hurricane Lamp dropped directly to the ground.

Uncontrollable muscle spasms, coupled with Colin's deliberate movements, made the Hurricane Lamp hooked on his fingers slip free.

The now-crazed Little Girl seemed not to care in the slightest and ignored all of Colin's little movements.

But at that moment, scarlet blood spilled from the Hurricane Lamp through the wick opening.

It was like alcohol being spilled across the floor and then set alight.

In an instant, flames spread rapidly outward, forming a roaring blaze around Colin!

The shadows on the ground swayed wildly!

The flames burning from Tainted Dim Blood were far fiercer than ordinary fire. Even the Gray Fog retreated more than thirty feet from the tremendous blaze, let alone the Little Girl.

"Now!"

Colin felt the control over his body loosen!

He shoved hard against the ground and staggered backward, pulling against the shadow beneath his feet as he tried to reclaim control of his body.

The Little Girl's face showed extreme disgust toward the flames, but she did not seem afraid of them. Seeing Colin about to break free, she immediately reached out to grab him!

But at that moment, the two Servants moved as well.

They charged in from both sides. One raised an iron axe and chopped straight at her face, while the other swung a Wheel at her head.

However, neither attack had any substantial effect.

The first man's axe seemed to strike something illusory and passed straight through her.

The second man's Wheel hit like a hurricane, "blowing" the Wailing Girl several yards away.

Although their attacks did not hurt her, they allowed all three of them to completely break free of her control.

While the fire still burned across the floor, Colin swiftly picked up the Hurricane Lamp with only a little lamp oil left in it and held it over his head, keeping his shadow as tightly beneath his feet as possible!

Breaking free of her control was only the first step!

At least their chances had improved!

Colin glanced at the bloody wound on his left shoulder from the corner of his eye. A chill ran through his heart, and he could not help cursing. Fuck, I lost nearly half a pound in three minutes!

Too much blood had poured from his left arm. It had completely lost its strength and could only hang limply at his side.

Colin did not even have time to bandage the wound and stop the bleeding, because that terrifying evil spirit was right before him!

He did not even dare think too much about his injured arm. He could only pretend not to notice it and stare at the Little Girl.

At the same time, the Wailing Girl, once again standing beyond the boundary of the light, had eyes filled with undisguised bloodlust and malice.

She seemed to have lost the ability to speak. Her pale, long hair rose without wind, making her look utterly insane.

Then the Wailing Girl threw back her head and let out a crazed shriek!

As the shriek rang out, Colin and the two Servants immediately felt as though the world before them had been covered by a scarlet, blood-red filter.

Blood suddenly seeped from the gaps in the ceiling, walls, and floor, merging with the Bones scattered throughout the hall.

The next second, every Bone in the hall seemed to come alive!

Click-click-click-click-click-click!

The sound of bones scraping and clashing echoed like an ocean tide.

Every one of those sounds came from the Aberrations Colin had killed not long ago!

They had revived!

"We're finished!"

Servant One and Servant No. 2's pupils suddenly constricted.

They knew exactly what this meant. The moment those Wailers began making their sounds was the moment they died!

This time, there would be no luck to save them.

But at that very moment, Colin suddenly hurled out a chunk of slightly rotten flesh toward the Wailing Girl.

It had come from Father Kadish.

In an instant, the Church fell silent.