At this point, Colin and his group could no longer hide. After all, someone had just called out their names.
"Damn it, things have come to this. Let's fight them to the death!"
Along with Colin's words, more than a dozen people around them abruptly stood up. Amidst the horrified gazes of others, their torsos began to mutate, their hands turning into tentacles and their heads taking on the appearance of lampreys... circles of mouthparts dripping with disgusting mucus.
Seeing these everyday friendly-looking and benevolent monks abruptly transform into such terrifying and ugly forms, the people around them grew cold in their hands and feet, completely paralyzed with fear.
Seeing the enemy's desperate counterattack, Ilena did not hesitate. She swept her longsword in an arc, leaving a bloody gash across the neck of an approaching man, and then kicked the door open.
"If you don't want to die, get out quickly!"
At this time, Ilena also knew it was clearly inappropriate to let these civilians continue staying here; doing so would only make them human shields in the hands of these crazed monsters.
Seeing the door open, these terrified citizens seemed to see the hope of survival and ran outside for their lives, as if they could live just by running out of this door.
Ilena tucked her lantern back onto her waist, holding a slender sword in one hand and a flintlock pistol in the other as she charged at the nearest Abyssal Cultists.
Felt under pressure by her fierce firepower—two cultists had already had their heads blown apart by her firearm—the Abyssal Cultists shifted their breakthrough point to Kal'tsit's side.
Looking at the mutants turning to charge at her, Kal'tsit did not even move the arms she had folded across her chest. Not until the enemy was less than a meter away, close enough to smell the stench originating from the deep sea off their bodies, did a terrifying monster crawl out from the shadow behind her.
Before the two closest cultists could react, Mon3tr slammed in front of them with an excited, roaring shriek.
Those blade-like dual claws whipped up afterimages, tearing the two cultists in front of them into shreds.
After finishing, Mon3tr charged toward the remaining enemies with a satisfied, shrill screech.
Colin's ugly fish eyes involuntarily widened. He utterly failed to understand why they had provoked such a terrifying existence. His side was merely an insignificant laboratory of the Abyssal Church; how had they inexplicably provoked these monsters that he had only ever heard of in legends and storybooks?
Behind him, a dejected-looking man had neither transformed into their appearance nor followed those civilians in running out from the front. Instead, taking advantage of the chaos, he quietly walked into the back hall of the monastery.
"Bang!" Accompanied by the gunshot of a flintlock, the last stubbornly resisting Abyssal Cultist died in Ilena's hands. Not far away, Mon3tr let out a burst of roars toward Ilena, clearly feeling quite dissatisfied with her for stealing its prey.
Noticing a figure flash past the doorway, Kal'tsit looked up and saw Kanna and Dona poking their heads into the room from outside. "Why did it take you so long to come out?"
Discovering that the enemies in the hall had all been cleared out, Kanna brought Dona inside.
"Heeheehee, it's nothing. The monastery doesn't include meals, so I just happened to eat dinner along the way!"
Kanna spread her hands, indicating that this couldn't be blamed on her. Originally she had been staying obediently in her room, but those Abyssal Cultists insisted on inviting her over as a guest. She found it hard to turn down such warm hospitality, and in the end reluctantly ate just a little bit.
"Forget it! As long as you're back. Things are just about settled over here."
"Leave the cleanup work to us!" Ilena pinched the bridge of her nose. With such a huge commotion made today, it would probably take a long time to calm down.
Just as the four of them were about to leave the church, the sound of a piano suddenly came from the back.
"It's Mr. Malfoy!"
As an "old-timer" in the monastery, Dona immediately recognized the source of the sound.
Ilena and Kal'tsit exchanged glances. If the other party hadn't made a sound, their group probably would have just bypassed him; after all, the turmoil within Rock Bay Town was likely quite severe, and they still had to go over there to provide pacification.
Guided by the sound, with Kanna taking the lead, the few of them arrived in front of a room in the back hall of the monastery.
"This is the music hall, where Mr. Malfoy used to rehearse with the choir. I remember he always liked staying inside by himself," Dona introduced to the other three.
Opening the door, they saw Malfoy sitting upright in front of the piano. If not for the cyan-blue, scale-covered head that made it clear to anyone looking that he was no longer human, everyone would have thought a musician was about to hold a performance.
"Mr. Malfoy?" Even though the other party's appearance was so terrifying, Dona still asked softly with tears and a trembling voice.
"When I saw that you were actually taken back by these foolish fellows, I once thought it was the will of heaven. But now this ending isn't bad either. Dona, you are my only student who hasn't been contaminated. I hope you will continue to maintain this purity in the days to come, and then... stay away from the sea!"
Even though his outward appearance looked incomparably ugly and terrifying, the voice coming from his mouthparts remained very gentle.
Only then did Kanna figure out how a Dona devoid of all martial might had managed to escape from the custody of the Abyssal Cultists. It seemed this Malfoy had played a fair share of the role in the middle.
"Right, you'd better pay attention to the seaside. I heard Colin mention before that there was some big movement over here, but because my relationship with them isn't very good, I'm not clear on the specific details! That's all I have to say. Send me off, Your Excellency the Inquisitor!" Malfoy stood up from the stool, spreading his arms wide and staring fixedly into Ilena's eyes.
"No, Mr. Malfoy is a good person, you can't kill him..." Dona stepped forward, trying to block Malfoy's front, but she was tightly reined in by Kanna.
"Dona, if you still cherish that master-student bond, obediently stand here and send this Mr. Malfoy on his way. After all, if he lived, his final ending would still be entering the Heretical Inquisition, and that result would be far more terrifying and cruel than death." As a "teacher" who imparted knowledge and educated people, Kal'tsit maintained sufficient respect for Malfoy's actions.
Everyone understood that when that piano music sounded, Malfoy had never considered the possibility of living on, and his final hope was merely to play one last tune before dying.
Amidst Dona's heartbroken gaze, Ilena drew her flintlock and aimed it at Malfoy.
Accompanied by the sound of a gunshot, Malfoy collapsed inside his most beloved music hall.
After heading outside, Ilena looked at the girl standing unsteadily beside her from crying, her expression extremely cold.
"If you're going to cry, finish crying today! If tomorrow you're still crying for an abyssal monster, trust me, you'll witness what is far more terrifying than death."
With that, she walked toward the exterior of the monastery, while Kal'tsit pulled Kanna over and pointed toward the location of the music hall.
Kanna nodded. After Kal'tsit helped the girl away, she walked back beneath the music hall. Taking less than ten seconds, the music hall collapsed with a roar, and a tomb composed of every single stone of the music hall became Malfoy's final resting place.
When the group walked out of the monastery, it was already completely empty, and the situation inside the city was also terribly bad. At an hour that should have been a time for every household to rest, the city was brightly lit and filled with a noisy, chaotic atmosphere everywhere.
Ilena decided to make a trip to the city's garrison, using her identity as an inquisitor to assemble the garrison and quell the chaotic situation in the city. Meanwhile, Kal'tsit was extremely concerned about the seaside situation Malfoy had mentioned; she took Kanna and hurried in the direction of the lighthouse adjacent to the ocean—after all, if something really happened by the sea, the height and location of the lighthouse would provide a panoramic view of the surrounding conditions, making it convenient for her to make adequate judgments about any situations she might encounter.
After heading out, the four split into two groups. Because Dona said she had acquaintances in the garrison, she and Ilena headed toward the police station to summon the troop, while Kal'tsit led Kanna toward the lighthouse. Before leaving, Kal'tsit handed Ilena a headset.
"Wear the headset. After that, all news from the seaside will be transmitted to you through it. You are the Inquisitor of Iberia; if trouble arises in the sea, whether to resist or retreat is entirely up to you."
Ilena nodded, hung the headset over her ear, and drove a small monastery truck she had temporarily "requisitioned" with Dona into Rock Bay Town.
Kal'tsit led Kanna to the outside of the lighthouse once again. Just like their previous visit, the doors of the lighthouse here were open year-round, so the two quickly walked inside.
"How is Rock Bay Town?" An aged voice drifted down from the upper levels of the lighthouse.
Kal'tsit answered as she walked upward: "Not too good, but my friend, an inquisitor, has already gone to take over. I believe the trouble will be resolved very soon."
Hearing Kal'tsit's words, the lighthouse grew quiet once again.
"Do you know those people from the Abyssal Church?" After walking up to the very top of the lighthouse, Kal'tsit walked to the edge and looked out at the silent, pitch-black ocean.
"How could I not know? These damned rats hide underground, attempting to use the earth to blind the lighthouse's light." The old man walked to Kal'tsit's side and angrily patted the edge of the railing.
He glanced at Kanna following behind: "Ten years ago, a Fidia girl came up to my lighthouse. Her name was Aria; she had a good brain and was very diligent. Because I was getting older, the thought also arose of taking on a student to continue looking after this lighthouse in my place after I died, so I concentrated all my attention on her, teaching her everything I possessed.
"By the time I raised my head and discovered there were many extra rats in Rock Bay Town, it was already too late. Rock Bay Town had been riddled with thousands of holes by these borers. I had her leave Rock Bay Town to study outside, to stay far away from this place. With the abilities of these pieces of trash, they couldn't keep things hidden from the Inquisition; as long as the Inquisition discovered everything here, these dregs would be exposed under the sun and inevitably perish in the inquisitor's wrath and artillery fire."
"Then why didn't you contact the Inquisition? You know, communicators aren't items that are difficult to acquire in Iberia!" Kanna asked with some incomprehension.
"Of course I thought about it, but these fellows used spells to shield this lighthouse; it's impossible to contact the outside world from inside the lighthouse. But I didn't dare leave either, because only with me here can these dregs fail to extinguish the last light of Rock Bay Town." The old man sighed.
Upon hearing this, Kal'tsit immediately fiddled with her headset and found that it was indeed just as he said; the headset was completely silent, without any sound at all.
"Kanna, scout the surroundings! Find the shielding device and destroy it!" Kal'tsit looked toward Kanna on the side.
"You got it!" With that, Kanna leaped forward, directly jumping down from the towering lighthouse.
Amidst the terrified gazes of others, she smashed into the ground like a cannonball, kicking up a huge cloud of dust.
Paying no mind to these people's gazes, electric currents constantly sparked across Kanna's body. Since the effect of this jammer was to block the electromagnetic signals emitted from the lighthouse, as long as she carried enough electromagnetic force on her body, she could easily locate the target's position.
And the result was just as she had anticipated: very soon, she felt an anomalous sensation coming from a certain direction.
Kanna kicked off with both legs, her entire person shooting straight toward the source of the anomaly like a launched rocket. It was a house not far from the lighthouse.
Accompanied by a "rumble," the outer wall of the house was smashed straight through by Kanna, and she also caught sight of the operating jammer.
At this moment, a man sat beside the jammer, staring in shock at Kanna who had smashed right through the wall.
"Who are you? What do you want? This is trespassing on private property..." Before he could say much more, Kanna rushed in front of him in a single stride and had a friendly exchange with his abdomen using her small fists.
The man curled up into a bow like a boiled shrimp, opened his mouth wide, and collapsed to the ground with an utterly incredulous expression.
Walking over to the side of the jammer, Kanna rubbed her small fist, then dropped her center of gravity, planted her stance, and roared, "Ordinary punch!"
Accompanied by that single punch, the entire jammer exploded with a boom. Kanna pulled a headset from her pocket: "Hello hello hello! Can Kal'tsit hear me? Can you hear me?"
"No problem, we can hear you up here." Kal'tsit's voice came through the headset.
Kanna patted her chest; it looked like she hadn't found the wrong place. As she walked out of the room, the people around hurriedly made way in terror.
"What are you still doing on the street this late! Go to sleep already!" Under the distant watching of those people, Kanna walked back to the foot of the lighthouse. Just before stepping inside, she suddenly turned around and loudly scolded the onlookers. While those people were left completely dumbfounded by Kanna's words, Kanna "swooshed" and burrowed straight into the lighthouse.
These people, who had come out to wander the streets after riots broke out due to the disappearance of municipal hall officials, couldn't help but look at each other in dismay. Yet not a single person had the courage to walk inside the lighthouse; after all, whether it was jumping down from the lighthouse or smashing through someone else's house wall like a dump truck, it was obvious that this child-looking creature was completely a monster. Who knew what kind of situation was going on up the lighthouse? They certainly didn't have the guts to play with their own little lives.
Up above, Kal'tsit had already exchanged intelligence with the keeper of the lighthouse. The lighthouse keeper couldn't help feeling a bit emotional. Originally, he had wanted to use the entirety of Rock Bay Town to drag these Abyssal Cultists down with him to the grave, yet he hadn't expected that a mere three people would hack away a large half of the abyssal forces in Rock Bay Town, leaving only insignificant little cats and dogs behind.
The lighthouse keeper was also very concerned about the news provided by Kal'tsit regarding Malfoy's dying words that something would happen at the seaside.
After confirming that communication was unhindered, he first used the message transmission between lighthouses to pass out the situation of Rock Bay Town. In this way, even if their group didn't completely resolve the trouble in Rock Bay Town, the situation here would still be known to the outside world, and even if members of the Abyssal Church escaped from here, what awaited them would only be encircling capture from all directions.
Then he walked in front of the lighthouse's projector, took a deep breath, and channeled his spell. At this moment, the habitually dim lighthouse of Rock Bay Town erupted with a radiance akin to the sun.
In a split second, the entirety of Rock Bay Town seemed to return to daytime. Those people below who were taking advantage of the dark night with ulterior motives to incite chaos, those who didn't know the truth, and those wandering blindly outside all couldn't help looking toward the direction of the lighthouse.
Utilizing the light of the lighthouse, Kal'tsit looked toward the direction of the ocean, where a massive terror seemed to be brewing within the pitch-black and calm sea.
Kanna leaped to Kal'tsit's side, climbed onto the railing, and gazed out following Kal'tsit's line of sight.
Compared to Kal'tsit, she could see much more clearly. Out in the ocean, a colossal creature was slowly approaching Rock Bay Town, and countless Sea Creatures were distributed all around it, protecting its massive body like escort vessels beside an aircraft carrier.
"Ten kilometers out, about five hundred meters under the ocean, a big guy is coming over! But it's swimming very slowly; at this speed, it'll reach the coast around tomorrow morning."
As the lookout, Kanna naturally reported the intelligence she had gathered to Kal'tsit.
"Is there only one Great Beast?" Kal'tsit's eyes narrowed slightly as she asked, gazing toward the direction of the coastline.
"Of course not, there are also Sea Creatures, lots of Sea Creatures," Kanna took over.
"Is there any way to block them?" Hearing the conversation between Kanna and Kal'tsit, the lighthouse keeper nearby hurried over to the edge and asked, gazing at the ocean.
Kanna shook her head. "They're all in the sea. I don't have any good methods for that either."
Just as the lighthouse keeper was growing disappointed, Kal'tsit understood the subtext of Kanna's words.
"At what distance from Rock Bay Town do you estimate that Great Beast will surface?" Kal'tsit asked.
Kanna raised her hand and made a three with her fingers. "I took a look. Although Rock Bay Town is by the sea, this coastline isn't an excellent port location. Three kilometers out, the seabed rapidly rises until it's less than a hundred meters from the sea level. If that big guy doesn't want its belly scraped, it will definitely choose to poke its head out."
Hearing Kanna's words, Kal'tsit asked again, "Is there any certainty of keeping that big guy controlled on the sea?"
Kanna instantly understood Kal'tsit's meaning. "You mean using that move? It's possible, but I'm not very practiced at it; it's easy to drag Rock Bay Town in as well."
Kal'tsit nodded and then shook her head. "Rock Bay Town is a seaside city, and the ocean's absorption capacity is very strong. You don't need to worry about the impact of rainfall. How about this: I'll have Ilena immediately notify everyone along the coastline to evacuate toward the inland direction, and then we'll set up a defense line right here beneath the lighthouse. The terrain here is very high and quite suitable for defense. You block that Great Beast and as many Sea Creatures as possible out at sea, and leave the rest for us to resolve. Is there any problem?"
Kanna thought for a brief moment. "I don't have any problems myself, I'm just afraid too many will leak through and you won't be able to hold them off."
"I'll figure out a way to deal with the ones that leak through. You just need to block as many as you can!" Kal'tsit's tone grew uncharacteristically firm.
"Wait... Ms. Kal'tsit, are you planning to let this little child face that monster in the sea all by herself?"
Hearing more and more, the lighthouse keeper nearby felt something was wrong and spoke up to question it.
Kal'tsit patted Kanna's head and said to the lighthouse keeper with a serious expression:
"Rest assured, Your Excellency the Lighthouse Keeper. Although Kanna looks hot-headed, she is an indispensable part of me and Rhodes Island. I won't let Kanna do things that send her to her death. On the contrary, among us, only Kanna can manage to block the enemy's strongest point out at sea. As for the method, you'll know when the time comes."
She hadn't expected Kal'tsit to give her such high praise. Thinking about how many times she had tripped Kal'tsit up along the way, Kanna felt a tiny pang of guilt.
"I disagree!" Ilena's voice came through the headset.
"Although I don't know what the two of you are actually seeing, I want to tell you that the Great Beast in the sea is far more terrifying than you imagine." As an inquisitor, Ilena knew quite a bit of intelligence regarding the sea; some of these messages came from notes left by Iberia after battling the ocean, while others came from intelligence passed down generation after generation by the Aegir. Yet all these messages revealed one thing: every single Great Beast was a tyrant of the ocean, an existence that the flesh and blood bodies of land creatures were simply unable to contend against.
At this moment, her only thought was a total evacuation of the city, taking advantage of the remaining night to evacuate everyone out of Rock Bay Town.
Even if Sea Creatures occupied this place, once the Inquisition assembled its troops, they would still be able to take it back.
After all, the Great Beast wouldn't leave the ocean for long; with only the Sea Creatures left in the end, they could slowly push the enemy back into the sea bit by bit.
"That's impossible!" Kal'tsit opened her mouth to veto Ilena's proposal, because Rock Bay Town was not a small place, and their manpower was insufficient. Wanting to completely evacuate the entirety of Rock Bay Town in a single night was simply unrealistic. Moreover, under circumstances where nothing had happened yet, the probability of making the people of an entire town evacuate en masse in the dead of night was virtually zero. The only path lying before them was to clear the coastline, and then, relying on the lighthouse as a stronghold, firmly block these guests from the deep sea right at the seaside.
In the end, after a long silence, Ilena agreed, because she also knew her own method was hardly likely to succeed. The only result of doing that would be handing over the lives of a large majority of Rock Bay Town's residents to the monsters of the deep sea.
Since she had made her choice, Ilena was also a person of action and swiftly made arrangements.
The coastal residents had their doors knocked on one by one. Amidst grumbling complaints from these people, they were informed by Ilena through the garrison that a tsunami would impact Rock Bay Town, and all coastal residents were to completely evacuate toward the inland direction of Rock Bay Town.
The residents, who had still been somewhat displeased, packed their luggage unenthusiastically upon hearing this and pulled their dazed family members along as they walked toward the inland direction.
Over there, Dona led people to clean up the monastery anew to receive those displaced citizens forced to leave.
Before you continue