A Formidable Foe

A wave of flame surged up. Thick fire swallowed the monster's twisted body in an instant, searing its skin, charring its muscles, and burning through its salt-encrusted bones.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Xia Lun squeezed the trigger and fired three more shots into the burning Evil Spirit.

But in the next instant, a charred human head burst out of the thick flames. It opened its blackened mouth and whispered.

The dancing flames froze as if caught in a photograph. Then, from bottom to top, they turned into a pale sculpture of salt crystals.

Boom!

The monster burst through the flames and took all three large-caliber bullets squarely in the face. But the shots vanished into it without even slowing its charge.

"The flames turned to salt!?"

The Gunner's pupils widened as the twisted monster closed in. He fumbled for the strap at his waist and pulled out a second Holy Fire. Before he could use it, the dozen or so charred faces on the monster's body opened their mouths in unison, their blackened jaws working together.

"Mm—ka—mi—sa—"

The murmuring began. More than a dozen eerie voices, each with a different tone, age, and sex, blended together like furred jelly. The unearthly sound swept through the entire corridor.

The Gunner reeled as if struck. His bloodshot eyes bulged with pain, and saliva, vomit, and blood poured uncontrollably from his throat.

"Urgh!"

[Warning: Your mental state is deteriorating rapidly!]

[Current Mental Health status: Serenity!]

Murmured Whispers could wreak havoc on the mind, but Xia Lun was unaffected.

With the voices ringing around him, he activated Heightened Focus and raised his gun toward one of the monster's faces. Before he could fire, the two human heads serving as its feet spun like turbines and propelled it forward.

For all its bulk, the