"I'll stay in the Church for now..."
He let out a long breath and turned to leave.
Suddenly, he spotted a large black rat on the ground, looking up at him.
"A rat...?"
Stuarton froze.
The large black rat squeaked, then darted away in the blink of an eye.
Watching it flee, the fat monk felt his unease grow stronger.
"Why would a rat suddenly appear...?"
He had heard of strange supernatural abilities in the mystical world. Just to be safe, he hurried after the rat.
But when he stepped out of the Prayer Room into the courtyard, he suddenly saw guards' corpses strewn across the ground.
Every one of their necks had been twisted a hundred and eighty degrees, and their bodies bore numerous tiny bite marks.
Their flesh was mangled, the sight utterly gruesome.
"!!"
Stuarton recoiled in fright, stumbling backward as his whole body trembled.
"He... he's here! That bastard really came to kill us!"
Why hadn't I heard anything? He's already killing people inside the Church!
Stuarton immediately ran back into the Prayer Room and grabbed the Golden Goblet, along with a Hand Crossbow hidden beneath the Prayer Stand.
Then he returned to the courtyard and ran toward the Church's back gate.
As he pushed open the courtyard's iron gate, he suddenly heard a dog's piercing howl.
A Rotting Hound's mangled body was flung at his feet.
It panted heavily, clearly on the verge of death.
He looked up to see a man concealed beneath a cloak snatch a shortsword from a church guard's hand and drive it through the guard's body.
The guard screamed, spraying vivid blood.
Thud!
His body fell, and his brimmed hat rolled aside.
Then Stuarton saw several large black rats gather around the cloaked man. One familiar rat leaped into his palm and squeaked.
It looked as though it were whispering secrets to him.
The scene was deeply eerie, sending chills all over Stuarton's body.
Was this man the sinner who killed the priest and stole the [Mysterious Object]...?
After hearing the little rat's report, Chen Lun couldn't help chuckling.
Apparently, Will had reported the nonsense he had casually made up back then to the Red Apple Church.
No wonder they had jumped to the wrong conclusion. The supernatural beings of the History and Ritual Society who followed the [Earth Faction] pathway did love stealing things-especially things from other people's graves.
What Chen Lun didn't know, however, was that the History and Ritual Society had recently dug up the grave of a senior member of the Red Apple Church. That was precisely why they believed this deduction so firmly.
Chen Lun bent down to release the rat, then turned to look at Stuarton.
A chill instantly ran down Stuarton's spine, as though he had plunged into an ice cellar.
"Heretic! Die!"
A muffled roar exploded beside him.
Two heavy armored guards strode up behind Chen Lun and swung their spears down at his head.
Smack!
Chen Lun turned and raised both hands, seizing the shafts just below the spearheads.
The powerful blows stopped dead.
The two heavy armored guards froze briefly. They noticed that the cloaked man's exposed palms were covered in dark golden scales.
Their gazes shifted slightly, revealing a pair of viper-like slit pupils beneath his hood.
"Die."
All they heard was that single, calmly spoken word.
The next second-
Bam!! Bam!!
An overwhelming force struck with excruciating pain, sending both heavy armored guards flying backward.
Crash!
Their heavy bodies slammed into the ground, covering the stone paving in cracks.
Numerous paving stones shattered, sending fragments flying everywhere.
The guards' breastplates were deeply caved in, as though struck by a sledgehammer. The bodies beneath could hardly have escaped unscathed.
Bright red blood slowly seeped from beneath their fully enclosed helmets.
Chapter 23: Nowhere to Run
Chen Lun pulled off one heavy armored guard's helmet, revealing the face beneath.
It was a deformed face covered in fleshy growths, hideous and grotesque.
He was still breathing faintly. Despite such severe injuries, he hadn't died.
Just as I thought. They're all freaks the Red Apple Church created using diluted mystical substances...
Chen Lun thought to himself.
Just as they created abominations like the Rotting Hounds, the Red Apple Church also experimented on living people.
The freaks they produced possessed immense strength and tenacious vitality.
They could no longer really be considered human, but rather a type of supernatural creature.
They had no independent thought or personality, just like beasts.
Chen Lun raised his foot and stomped down, crushing both freaks' heads.
[Killed Red Apple Church Heavy Armored Guard. Gained 100 EXP] ×2
When he turned back toward where the fat monk had been standing, the spot was already empty.
Chen Lun chuckled.
"Think you can escape?"
"Run! As long as I reach the Containment Bureau, I won't die!"
Beneath the purple moonlit sky, Stuarton sprinted down the deserted street, panting heavily.
He had fled through the back gate of the Church's courtyard and headed straight for the Containment Bureau in the center of town.
All along the way, he kept praying to the Golden Goblet held against his chest.
But even after nearly all the blood in the goblet had spilled out, there was still no response.
Just then, a stray cat crossed the street, nearly tripping Stuarton.
"Damn it!"
He cursed in frustration and kept running.
But he suddenly noticed more stray cats in the middle of the road ahead.
Pairs of green eyes stared at him, nearly making his heart stop.
Tap... tap... tap...
The sound of boots striking the stone pavement slowly approached from behind, clear and distinct.
Stuarton spun around.
The cloaked man had appeared without him noticing and was slowly closing in.
He shouted, whether to bolster his own courage or attract someone else's attention.
Then his pudgy hand drew the Hand Crossbow, aimed it at Chen Lun, and pulled the trigger.
There was clearly no bolt loaded, nor had he drawn the string, yet a scarlet bolt shot out, tracing a straight red line toward Chen Lun.
Whoosh-!!
Chen Lun had grown wary the moment Stuarton drew the Hand Crossbow, but when the bolt came flying toward him, he still couldn't react in time.
The bolt was too fast!
All Chen Lun could do was twist sharply aside to protect his vital spots, letting the bolt graze his arm.
The red streak scraped against his scales, throwing off a spark before vanishing into the air behind him.
A small cut remained on his arm. Strangely, not a single drop of blood flowed out.
[You were attacked by [Grade C Mysterious Object: Tongue of Gluttony]. HP -12] [You have entered a state of extreme hunger. Maximum HP temporarily reduced by 23]
An intense hunger immediately surged through him.
Chen Lun felt weak, as though he had to eat a huge meal right this instant.
Even if a live cow were placed before him, he could have torn it apart and devoured it raw.
The wound on his arm began to worsen. The surrounding flesh seemed to be gnawed away by an invisible maw, disappearing without a trace.
Fortunately, there wasn't much mystical power clinging to the wound, and the loss of flesh soon stopped.
It was as though that invisible maw had silently departed.
Before you continue