Mephistopheles

"Unbreakable..."

A black-robed figure emerged from the shadows above the hall, followed by three strange hounds, each with eight single eyes. It was Xia Xiu, who had followed the shared location here.

"BIO-202 Model?" Dorn, ugly-faced but powerfully built, stepped forward. His body began to swell, his muscles and veins writhed wildly, and his teeth grew as densely packed as a shark's.

Dorn and Harry had already detected his presence. After all, they were the only two believers present connected to the flesh supremacy lineage.

Xia Xiu turned toward Dorn and spoke again. "Man-Eater-Soldier."

"You know quite a bit, kid."

With a single stride, Dorn appeared before Xia Xiu. He swung his massive palm at Xia Xiu's forehead.

Roar-hiss-

Hiss-hiss-

Under Xia Xiu's mental control, the three BIO-202 Models intercepted Dorn. Two sank their sharp teeth into his hand and foot, then sprayed supernatural venom from their teeth.

The remaining BIO-202 clamped desperately onto Dorn's neck.

"Annoying little bastards!"

Dorn shook off the two on his limbs, then grabbed the BIO-202 at his neck and opened his cavernous maw, intending to bite it to death.

Just as his mouth touched the BIO-202's fur, a string of indigo crystals suddenly appeared and shot straight into his mouth.

Bang-

The crystals blasted Dorn back into a pillar behind him.

Dust billowed everywhere.

"Ptooey, ptooey-" Dorn spat out the crushed crystal fragments in his mouth, then shook his head and stood up, looking ahead.

Green saliva dripped from the mouths of the three BIO-202s as they bared their teeth at him. Meanwhile, indigo crystals covered the right half of the black-robed figure's body. Three spikes protruded from the right side of his back, and another jutted from his right chest.

Partial siliconization.

Xia Xiu's current EVE Particles reserves were insufficient for high-intensity combat, so he had to use them sparingly. Besides, he had not come here to fight today.

"Petroshapian? Species transformation... Third Return, then..." Harry immediately identified Xia Xiu's Class upon seeing his partial siliconization.

"Hahaha! Now things are getting a little interesting. Kid, that stuff you shoot tastes pretty good. Give me some more. Let me-"

Dorn opened his bloody maw and laughed with abandon, taunting Xia Xiu. But halfway through his sentence, a cluster of enormous indigo crystal spikes erupted from the floor, pierced his abdomen, and left him hanging from the crystals.

Siliconization: Ground Spikes!

"You fucking bastard!" Dorn bit through the crystal in front of him, cracking it apart, then jumped down. He pulled the crystal lodged in his abdomen straight out and flung it to the floor.

The wound in Dorn's abdomen healed rapidly. His eyes were red as he stared at Xia Xiu.

Dorn planted his right foot and accelerated violently, leaving a crater in the floor as he shot toward Xia Xiu like an arrow loosed from a bow.

Xia Xiu immediately entered full siliconization, transformed both hands into blades, and moved to meet Dorn.

"Enough!"

A thunderous rebuke rang out. Several crimson vipers suddenly sprang up beneath Dorn and coiled around him.

Meanwhile, the unexpected sonic attack disrupted Xia Xiu. Petroshapians were vulnerable to sonic attacks.

"We are all believers in He Who Covers the Boundless, followers of Yarn.

"We are brothers who should help one another. How can you turn against your own kin?" Harry rebuked them both.

Seeing that the good cop had appeared, Xia Xiu released his siliconization.

Good cop, bad cop when a newcomer joined-an old tradition.

"Tch." Dorn resentfully reversed his swelling as well, glaring viciously at Xia Xiu.

Behind his mask, Xia Xiu narrowed his eyes. He quietly suppressed his urge to kill Dorn. It was not yet time to act, and he could not beat him at present anyway.

Man-Eater was one of the eight flesh vocations, patron of soldiers, especially defenders of the faith, self-sacrifice, and contempt for gods and their earthly representatives.

It was also one of the more inhuman Classes of flesh. As its name suggested, it had to do with eating.

Those on the Soldier path, in particular, often ate people-raw.

Judging by the combat prowess Dorn had just displayed, Xia Xiu was certain the man had eaten plenty of people.

"My brother, where do you come from, and what brings you here?" Harry approached Xia Xiu.

Xia Xiu regarded the old man warily. This old fellow was the truly troublesome one. He was an Unbreakable.

Unbreakable—patron of craftsmen and victory through enduring toil and suffering.

Unbreakables were the most balanced of the eight flesh Classes, and their success rate in performing the divine feast was twice that of the other Classes.

Rather than answer, Xia Xiu raised his right hand and summoned the spiral-shaped Mark of Ya'en.

"I was merely passing through when I happened to receive a calling, so I came to inquire."

At the sight of the Mark of Ya'en, Harry's expression immediately grew solemn. He said to Xia Xiu:

"So you are a 'Chain Breaker.' My dear brother, your arrival is Yarn's will. Forgive our earlier discourtesy. As you know, even brothers of the same faith cannot always avoid discord."

"Mm."

Harry invited Xia Xiu into the hall and introduced him to the crowd. He said that Xia Xiu was one watched over by Yarn, a "Chain Breaker" and "Constraint Breaker" just like Yarn himself, and explained their duty-to walk this earth, spreading the radiance of sin-eating (flesh) to the world.

"My dear brother, may I know your name?" Harry asked Xia Xiu beside him.

"Mephistopheles," Xia Xiu replied with a smile.

"Is that so..." Harry regarded the black-robed man with his dim old eyes.

"I have a question as well. Do any of you know of the creation of Adaposs that escaped into Fog City?" Xia Xiu asked.

"Of course. That is precisely why we have gathered here." Harry was not surprised that Xia Xiu knew about 4-331.

"Have you found it?" Xia Xiu asked curiously.

"No. It has been deliberately avoiding us," Harry replied, shaking his head.

"Why would a creation of Adaposs avoid us?" Xia Xiu frowned. He had assumed the flesh believers in Fog City had taken 4-331 into their custody, yet Harry claimed they had no information on it either.

"I suspect it has something to do with the person who brought it out of prison," Harry guessed.

09, then...

Xia Xiu fell into thought. It seemed he would have to postpone his double-agent plan.

"Come with me. I'll show you something." Harry led Xia Xiu toward the rear courtyard. Dorn followed behind Harry, drawing a finger across his throat in a provocative gesture at Xia Xiu, who ignored him.

When Xia Xiu saw the object Harry had mentioned, his pupils involuntarily contracted.

"This is...!?"

(End of chapter)