Su Weiyu nimbly vaulted through window after window, racing through the chaotic spatial maze.
The needle on the Compass kept pointing in the same direction. The only unknown was the distance!
Suddenly, a powerful bloody stench filled the air, the kind that could effortlessly stir the frenzied desires lurking in a human heart.
This scent was unique to the Blood Demon's surroundings, and it was also a trap the Blood Demon had laid throughout the house.
Though she did not understand why, Su Weiyu knew that catching this scent would reveal her location to the Blood Demon... the monster seemed able to sense those sick desires stirring in human hearts with perfect clarity.
Su Weiyu stopped, instinctively wanting to turn and flee. Clutching the Compass, she stared fixedly at its needle.
It pointed straight ahead, toward the thick scent of blood.
Su Weiyu hesitated for a moment, then gritted her teeth, grabbed the window frame ahead, and vaulted into the next area.
It was a church-an upside-down church with gravity out of alignment. Red mist filled the air, and an intense frenzy permeated the entire sanctuary.
Overhead, the inverted cross and the image of the crucified Jesus took on an eerie, mysterious air in the scarlet mist. Even the expression on Jesus's face carried a hint of inscrutable mockery.
Bang!
With a tremendous crash and an agonized animal howl, a beast-shaped spirit wreathed in Black Flame hurtled through the Rose Window ahead. Shards of colorful glass skittered across the mural on the church's vaulted ceiling, sliding all the way to Su Weiyu's feet.
"Little Black!" a man roared as he leaped through the window and raced toward the injured Black Panther.
Su Weiyu held her breath and raised a hand excitedly, only to be ignored.
"Huh?"
Was he too worried about his injured contracted spirit to pay attention to her?
Su Weiyu wanted to reassure herself with that explanation, but her instincts told her he had not ignored her. He simply could not see her.
"Hey! You can see me, right?" Su Weiyu shouted nervously.
The Tamer paid Su Weiyu no attention. He sliced open his palm and let his blood drip onto the Black Panther. As the blood fell into the pitch-black Spirit Fire, the dwindling flames finally blazed up again.
The Black Panther forced himself to his feet and let out a deafening roar.
Ahead, the telltale threads of blood crept through the church's shattered Rose Window and spread across the floor.
Even the light in the air began to redden. The wound on Su Weiyu's arm itched, and every blood vessel in her body became distinctly perceptible. She could even feel the blood brushing their inner walls as it flowed.
The Blood Demon was coming...
A moment later, a blood-red humanoid outline emerged from the darkness. The red, liquid life-form appeared before Su Weiyu.
"Damn it!"
Su Weiyu cursed and darted behind the Tamer.
The Tamer stroked the Black Panther and sighed. "Little Black, this is the end. Let's go together, one last time."
Even in despair, fighting to their dying breath had always been the principle he and his partner lived by!
The Black Flame Leopard leaped. Flowers of black fire rained down from above, but when they touched the Blood Demon's body, they vanished like sparks falling into water, without provoking the slightest reaction.
Instead, the Blood Demon casually reached out and caught the Black Panther around the waist as easily as catching a kitten.
A moment later, blood-red crystals erupted from inside the leopard's body. Heart-rending animal screams echoed through the church.
Though the Blood Demon's attack was physical, it had pierced straight through the beast's body, despite him being a Grudge Spirit.
While crushing the life out of the Black Panther, the Blood Demon flicked its other hand forward. A great splash of blood broke away from its body and hurtled toward Su Weiyu and the Tamer.
Midflight, the blood solidified into razor-sharp crystals, densely covering the entire space before them like a barrage of machine-gun fire!
Su Weiyu clenched her teeth and drew Boy Cutter from behind her waist.
Just as the crystals were about to strike her, someone suddenly scooped her up.
"Huh?" Su Weiyu stared wide-eyed at the man holding her in his arms. For a moment, her mind stopped working.
He picked me up... so... he can see me?
"Y-you..." Su Weiyu stammered, trying to speak, but Xia Shou interrupted before she could get her question out.
"Yes, I can see you. Now get behind me!" Xia Shou said curtly.
He quickly glanced at the Tamer beside him, whose body had been pierced by Crystal Spikes.
The Tamer was still alive. Coughing up blood, he stared at Xia Shou in surprise.
"You've actually survived this long."
"I've just been lucky," Xia Shou said flatly.
The Tamer nodded and sneered. "But now we're all going to die. This monster's Anomaly Level is at least two levels above mine."
Still cradled in Xia Shou's arms, Su Weiyu moved her legs and scrambled down to the ground.
She wanted to say something, but what finally came out was:
"Let's run! If we find that Investigator, we might still survive!"
Su Weiyu's mind was a tangled mess. It would have been a lie to say she was not happy. The Compass had truly granted her wish and led her to a companion who could see her.
But saying she was happy would have been a lie too, because standing before them now was the utterly despair-inducing Blood Demon.
Having narrowly escaped the Blood Demon once before, she could see no hope of survival.
Su Weiyu grabbed Xia Shou's hand and tried to pull him away, but he did not budge.
"You're not leaving?" Su Weiyu looked at him in surprise and realized that Xia Shou's eyes had been fixed on the Blood Demon the entire time. He seemed to have no intention of running.
"I'm staying here to kill it!" Xia Shou said, his voice calm but leaving no room for doubt.
Su Weiyu's eyes immediately lit up, hope of survival flaring in her heart. In an instant, an intricate chain of reasoning unfolded in her mind:
The Containment Bureau had surrounded the Blood Demon House. Apart from her, who could slip inside unnoticed, anyone entering needed the Bureau's permission. That meant every entrant had to know the basic information about the Blood Demon House.
Before this, the Containment Bureau had already sent six Cleaners into this hellhole. That cloaked man with the animal Grudge Spirit was probably a Cleaner stronger than all six. If the Bureau continued sending people after those seven, they could only be stronger still!
Could it be... that this man was incredibly powerful?
Was he one of those legendary Level Four Cleaners?
The Tamer suddenly spoke beside her. "Stop dreaming. The Blood Demon is a liquid aggregate organism. Physical at-
tacks don't work on it. Even if you completely scatter its body, it can recover in an instant... is your Anomaly really higher than its? You're just a Level One Employee. Stop making such grand claims." Beside him, Su Weiyu frowned at Xia Shou in confusion, hardly able to believe her ears.
Had I misheard? A Level One Employee? Wasn't that just cannon fodder who didn't even qualify as a Cleaner?
The Tamer looked at the Ghost Leopard lying on the ground, barely alive. The black fire on his body was nearly extinguished, its color fading to gray. His body had become translucent and insubstantial, on the verge of dissipating entirely.
"I originally came in here planning to devour you first, but now there's no point. There's no way to win, no matter what," the Tamer told Xia Shou.
Enduring the excruciating pain, he stood, tore an Obsidian Necklace from his neck, and tossed it to Xia Shou. "If you make it out, find the Second Division Director. He'll know what to do.
"I'm not getting out. I'll cover your retreat.
"My partner and I... still have one last fight together."
"I'll pass it on when I get out," Xia Shou said coldly, catching the necklace.
But you have to die here too.
Xia Shou finished the rest of the sentence in his mind, walked past the Tamer, and headed straight toward the Blood Demon.
The monster before him was as eerie and invincible as a demon god.
But this time, the outcome would not be decided yet.
Xia Shou took a deep breath and focused all his attention.
[Peak Perfection in Solitude], activate!
Before you continue