Although Mulan and Evan's coordination wasn't flawless, it was certainly timely. As Evan cast Purification, the two shouted to each other almost in unison.
"Find it, quick!"
Find what? The source point item, of course.
Ignoring both exhaustion and nausea, they crouched down together and searched Sir Bess's corpse. They were still far from safe; only by sealing the source point could they relax a little.
Even Mulan understood that their meager abilities could barely harm a monster like that. They had merely used holy light to cut it off inside the Otherworld. It was undoubtedly still lurking nearby.
Mulan and Evan kept feeling around Bess's body. A moment later, Mulan sensed shadows seeping through an object on Bess, and Evan spotted their target at the same time.
"It's the brooch!"
Evan cried out and reached straight for it. But the instant he grasped the brooch, a patch of shadow appeared on the Crystal Brooch and rapidly expanded, spreading over half his body.
Both Evan's and Mulan's pupils dilated. Then Evan's body jolted, and half of him was abruptly dragged into the shadows. Mulan's pupils instantly contracted. Moving faster than conscious thought, he grabbed the other half of Evan's body.
Whoosh...
Both men were dragged into the swirling shadows.
"ROAR-"
The terrifying roar was a thousand times louder than the faint sound they had heard before, as though it would rip their eardrums apart. On the dark side beyond, an enormous claw seized one of Evan's hands and hauled both men over.
Both were lifted completely off the ground and dragged toward the monster. But in that desperate moment, Evan unleashed holy power through his right hand, allowing them to break free. They were flung far away like two cannonballs.
Boom! Boom!
Mulan and Evan smashed into a stretch of ruins, landing several yards apart.
"Ugh... Good Head, how are you..."
Mulan felt as though his entire body was falling apart. He looked toward Evan first. Evan was also struggling to get up amid the rubble. Apart from his right hand hanging limp, he seemed to be doing reasonably well.
Though ruins surrounded them, they could still vaguely make out the outlines of the Count's Estate. This was no longer the real Count's Estate, but wholly and utterly the Otherworld.
"Mulan... we've been dragged completely into the Otherworld..."
"I know that without you telling me. Think of a way to stay alive!"
Mulan forced himself to his feet. If they hadn't been in the Otherworld, being hurled like a cannonball just now might have reduced him to pulp. As these thoughts flashed through his mind, he reached Evan and grabbed his right arm.
"Don't move. It's only dislocated. I'll put it back."
Crack!
"Hiss..."
After an instant of pain, Evan realized he could move his right arm again.
"ROAR-"
The Ancient Fiend's voice came from afar. The two exchanged a glance, then ran without another word, supporting each other.
This was no joke. They were in the Otherworld now; taking on the Ancient Fiend head-on meant certain death. Although Mulan had no idea what an Ancient Fiend was, the name alone told him it was no ordinary monster.
Mulan and Evan glanced back as they ran, discussing their options while watching behind them and scanning their surroundings.
"Why didn't it kill us outright just now? It wants our bodies, doesn't it?"
"You have me to thank for that!"
Mulan couldn't resist a sarcastic retort.
"We have you to thank for ending up here, too. All right, how do we get out?"
Running beside him, Evan shook his head irritably, looking rather drained.
"I haven't reached the realm of 'reality' yet. I can't break out of the Otherworld and return..."
"What about the brooch?"
Evan raised his right hand, which had been pierced and was bleeding heavily.
"It's either still on that man's corpse or already in the Ancient Fiend's hands. If it's the former, we can slip out behind the Ancient Fiend when it tries to break into reality! If it's the latter, at least Valentine is safe..."
The corner of Mulan's mouth twitched. In other words, if it was the latter, they couldn't get out either.
The Ancient Fiend couldn't touch a source point item itself. But Evan was a human with abundant mental power, and when he grabbed the brooch and was dragged into the Otherworld, he might have brought it in with him.
They ran into a room near the edge of the ruins, hid, and looked toward the direction of the roaring.
There stood a monster with four clawed limbs and a tail. Besides its long, shaggy fur, its entire body was covered in human torsos and exposed organs. Many faces on its body wore agonized expressions, and many torsos writhed over it. Merely looking at the monster gave Mulan a splitting headache, and his mind began to descend into confusion.
A hand pressed directly against Mulan's face, covering his eyes.
"You'd better not look at it as you are now. That's how many of the nobles in the estate turned into monsters."
Mulan moved Evan's hand away and tried not to look directly at the Ancient Fiend, though he still kept track of it from the corner of his eye. Evan's explanation sounded rather Lovecraftian, and Mulan had little trouble understanding it.
If ordinary people stumbled into the Otherworld, perfect control over their minds could grant them considerable concealment. This bore a certain symmetry to how monsters from the Otherworld manifested in reality. People like Mulan and Evan could therefore hide themselves relatively well, but hiding alone clearly wasn't enough.
"Hah, hah, hah... then what do we do? Hah... wait here to die? We might suffocate before it even kills us."
Mulan was already finding it difficult to breathe. Evan wasn't doing much better and had also begun panting. Fresh air seemed something of a luxury here.
"Actually, we still have a few bottles of holy water..."
Evan looked at Mulan's pockets, and Mulan instinctively lowered his gaze as well.
"Outside, holy light can't hurt an Ancient Fiend inside the Otherworld. But in here..."
"Let's do it!"
Mulan agreed immediately. Waiting to die was never an option for him. They quietly exchanged a few words, then split up, circling toward the Ancient Fiend from opposite sides.
Perhaps thanks to the Ancient Fiend, there were no other strange things nearby. Evan and Mulan avoided getting tangled up in minor troubles and managed to approach the Ancient Fiend.
Just then, a strange sound came from the Ancient Fiend's direction. It was painfully shrill. After a spell of agony in his brain, Mulan discovered that he understood what it meant.
"Two little insects. Did you think I couldn't find you? Stop running. Become one with me, and you will have everything humans crave: power, wealth, carnal pleasure... and strength beyond mortal flesh!"
Having circled around to one side, Mulan rallied his focus and looked at the Ancient Fiend. He suddenly noticed a layer of swirling gray mist over its right hand. An idea stirred within him, and he immediately abandoned their original plan to risk everything in an attack.
He couldn't discuss it with Evan now, but Mulan believed Priest Good Head would understand his intentions.
The next moment, Mulan rose directly from his hiding place, his cane in one hand and the Ring of Light in the other. Yet he spread his arms, showing no intention of using either weapon, and walked toward the Ancient Fiend step by step.
"I don't have much desire for power, wealth, or women. But I want strength. Can you really give me that?"
Mulan already knew he possessed an ability-an ability to resonate. As he drew closer to the Ancient Fiend, he instead kept recalling his confrontation with Killer.
"Mulan Jonester, admit it. You and I are the same kind of person... admit it... admit it..."
The expression on Mulan's face gradually turned frenzied, and an eerie smile curled his lips.
"Hehehehe, hahahahahaha... I want strength. To stand above humanity, above Walton, above everything..."
The abrupt change in his mind and emotions seemed like corruption by the Ancient Fiend, as though the deepest darkness and desires within a person's heart had been stirred...
"Mulan!"
On the other side, Evan clenched his fists and nearly charged out immediately, but forced himself to hold back. Going out like this would mean throwing his life away.
Why? Why had Mulan become like this?
Evan truly began to despair. Had God and holy light abandoned me? Had they abandoned Mulan?
"Your body holds immense potential. Whatever strength you desire, I can give it to you."
Mulan had already walked up to the enormous Ancient Fiend. He actually raised his head and stared straight at it, his eyes filled with madness.
"Really? Really? But we left even you in such a sorry state. How am I supposed to believe you? Why not show me?"
This extreme frenzy came partly from Mulan's resonance and partly from the Ancient Fiend's influence. Even the Sword Cane in his hand began trembling violently.
The Ancient Fiend lowered its head to look at Mulan, then abruptly reached a claw toward him. Mulan, who had been standing still, immediately dodged aside. Then, seemingly defying the laws of physics, he accelerated back and slashed his sword straight into the Ancient Fiend's claw.
Shrrrk...
The sound of the blade cutting into flesh was piercing, but it opened a sizable wound.
"You're nothing special. You're nothing special..."
The frenzied words kept spilling from his mouth as Mulan slipped away like a ghost from another swipe of the Ancient Fiend's claw.
Evan watched from a distance, dumbfounded. The Ancient Fiend likewise revealed a remarkably human look in its eyes. It loved Mulan's madness, loved this mind full of distortion. The more he was like this, the more precious his body became.
But after several provocative attacks, Mulan turned and ran straight toward Evan's position. The Ancient Fiend followed as leisurely as though strolling through a courtyard.
Evan was so frightened that he nearly jumped up and fled, but he restrained the impulse. Even though Mulan had become like this, he still chose to trust him. He had already poured out all the holy water, but had yet to activate it.
Mulan felt that his gamble had paid off. In this state, the monster couldn't bear to kill him. It might even want to send him back to reality as a vessel. After all, Mulan considered himself a hundred times better than that wretch Sir Bess.
"Hahahahahaha! Come after me, you filthy, hideous monster! If this is all the strength you have, how am I supposed to believe you?"
Mulan's mind was now intensely excited. Though his reason remained intact, he was utterly frenzied, firing at the Ancient Fiend as he ran.
Bang, bang, bang!
"ROAR-"
Those shots actually caused the Ancient Fiend pain and roused its anger.
"Angry? Does it humiliate you to be hurt by what you call a little insect, you great, tailed reptile?"
The mockery enraged the Ancient Fiend further, and it instantly accelerated. It could crush a little insect like this in a heartbeat. Mulan had already reached a position near Evan when he fired again.
Bang, bang, bang...
The Ring of Light erupted with brilliant muzzle flashes, illuminating the darkness before him.
"Good Head!"
Evan revealed himself, casting a holy art with a shout.
"Purification-"
Inside the Otherworld, the intense holy light surged toward the Ancient Fiend with terrifying force, like blades carried by an explosive shock wave.
"ROAR-I'LL KILL YOU!"
Evan was already close to collapse, but suddenly felt his body being lifted. Carrying Evan on his back, Mulan didn't flee. Instead, he charged toward the Ancient Fiend as it writhed within the holy light.
Hey, hey, hey, Mulan! This is nothing like the plan!
"Trust me!"
Mulan growled, squeezing every last ounce of strength from his body. Every step was like part of a waltz with death. With extreme reflexes and extreme luck, he reached the Ancient Fiend almost entirely unscathed. In its agony, it slammed a claw down at him, but Mulan, carrying Evan, neither dodged nor evaded.
Boom...
The purifying holy light finally faded. The Ancient Fiend's body looked as though it had been doused in sulfuric acid, though it was slowly recovering. Amid the dust of the Otherworld, it lifted its claw. No flattened human corpses lay beneath it, and the gray vortex around its claw had vanished as well.
"ROAR-MULAN JONESTER-"
Intense rage and hatred warped the space of the Otherworld. The ruined Count's Estate was reduced to dust by the shock wave...
"Hah, hah, hah..." "Cough, cough... urgh, ugh..."
Mulan and Evan lay like two dead dogs beside Bess's corpse. The brooch had already been immersed in a bottle of holy water and locked inside the box.
"We... succeeded, didn't we?"
Evan asked between gasps. Mulan had not a shred of strength left.
"If we didn't, then let us die..."