Chapter 40
Chapter 40: The Turning Point
That terrible yet awesome giant shadow emerged from fire and chains amid thunderous roars, wielding the long scythe that granted and took life as He moved to protect Funiss.
The black sword bone protrusions flying like rain stopped and froze at the fallen angel’s blazing scythe tip, then shattered and vanished, along with the blade-like sword tail swinging from the side.
The beast had its tail crushed by unknown power, shrieking and roaring in pain. Yellow-green poison uncontrollably leaked from its dark nostrils due to fear, and it tried to turn and flee in panic.
It couldn’t understand what those ashes and chains meant.
But the beast’s survival instincts warned it that everything before its eyes was extremely dangerous!
This sixth-sequence extraordinary creature that would cause riots and disasters if thrown into a city was now running frantically, turning to crash hard into the solid, cold marble wall, only to be blocked by the clay and rock foundation.
It desperately clawed with its bone protrusions, but couldn’t find an exit no matter what.
Of course it couldn’t find an exit—this was underground, and no matter how much it dug, it would only see another layer of clay and rock.
Just a pitiful trapped beast.
Funiss raised the gun in her hand as if guided by divine inspiration. The cylinder automatically rotated and loaded without anyone touching it, and she could feel the unimaginable power contained within that small metal shell beneath the hammer.
Because the fallen angel’s blade was also suspended high in the air at the same time.
It could be called a miracle.
She had never imagined that activating her authority would create such a grand spectacle, actually summoning Samael himself to the scene to help her block attacks. With that, what was the point of limiting authority levels? What attack couldn’t the old master hammer back?
Blood-red text appeared on the tome’s pages.
【Primordial Codex – Chapter of Wrath】
【Authority – Vengeful Absorption】
【Level 1】
【Status: Activating. Stored Charges: 0/1. Charge Preparation Time: 47:59:56】
【Absorbed Damage: 967/1000】
【Damage Source: Black Sword Ground Lizard – Bone Protrusion Counterattack】
【Damage Source: Black Sword Ground Lizard – Blade Tail Slash】
【Notice: Approaching maximum absorption threshold. This counterattack damage is estimated to reach 1934】
The combined two highly destructive attacks from the sixth-sequence extraordinary creature hadn’t even exceeded the limit. The initial power of the Wrath authority was frighteningly high—if she continued leveling it up, the terror would be almost predictable.
“End this.” Funiss aimed at the lizard’s heart and lungs.
She pulled the trigger.
Easy, no resistance—she couldn’t even feel the recoil. That bullet, endowed with tremendous kinetic energy, slipped smoothly out of the chamber and barrel wreathed in flames, heading straight for the ground lizard’s lower chest and abdomen.
Samael immediately swung His blade.
Lurking.
Fury growing.
Vengeance following.
He was the mirror image of Sariel, the symbol of violent rage, and wherever His scythe passed turned to dust.
That bullet skimmed along the ground, as if truly surrounded by an invisible edge. The marble bricks were cut into deep grooves, and the entire underground room shook violently.
The wind was torn apart.
Chaotic buzzing filled the eardrums.
In an instant, ashes and flames traced a glowing arc, piercing through the lizard’s bone protrusions and scales that were harder than steel. Wherever it touched evaporated like mist, until it completely passed through that elongated body.
No collateral damage—it simply ruthlessly destroyed everything in its path.
Through that thin, narrow hole-like wound, one could even see the wall behind, which also had a deep hole pierced through it, extending into darkness beyond sight.
The ground lizard stopped moving. Its heart and poison sacs were completely destroyed, and foul poison mixed with dark red blood slowly flowed into the burning whale oil, sending up yellow-green vapor.
Funiss had deliberately aimed for that spot.
Before extracting the spinal fluid, she couldn’t damage the beast’s spine and brain.
Her body felt incredibly exhausted, as if her soul had been sucked out by something. Funiss couldn’t stand steady and fell to her knees in the deep red flames.
The black and red burning chains were quickly drawn back into the totem, and the fallen angel’s massive form also split apart as part of the chains, flowing in and then disappearing.
The golden and diamond tome slammed shut and burned to ashes in the flames.
Along with the lion and tiger totem beneath her, it faintly scattered away.
Her pristine white cap fell from her head.
It landed among the blood-stained whale oil layers, slowly floating before finally being ignited by the flames. The silk gauze bloomed with brilliant light, its radiance reflecting on the whale oil surface.
Her long hair cascading over her shoulders was illuminated by the firelight, but it was no longer brilliant, translucent silver-white.
Enchantingly beautiful yet somehow shy.
Light pink.
The phenomenon of magical exhaustion inexplicably spread throughout her entire body at this moment. Funiss even felt that the small horns on both sides of her head had shrunk considerably, though that might just be an illusion brought on by extreme fatigue.
After victory came not joy.
So tired.
She had never felt as tired as she did now, as if all the blood and marrow in her body had drained away, leaving her completely powerless.
But Funiss hadn’t forgotten that this was still Blood Wine Society territory, that some unknown person had locked her in here and forced her to fight the Black Sword Ground Lizard. If she fell asleep here, she would definitely fall into enemy hands.
She slowly stood up from the firelight.
In the reflection, the girl had cherry blossom pink hair. She swayed unsteadily, forcing herself to walk toward the black lizard’s corpse.
As if sleepwalking, Funiss hazily completed collecting the sword rust secretions and used special tools to completely extract the spinal fluid. She stuffed all those bottles and jars into her ammunition pouch.
She picked up her stabbing sword and revolver, securing them in the leather sheaths at her stockings.
Her skirt had somehow caught fire, the heat stimulating her nerves. She simply tore it off and threw it into the fire, watching the bright sparks leap up—a strange sense of relaxation.
Dazed and walking like the living dead, each step seeming to use the last of her strength, Funiss was drawn as if by some ghostly force toward the deeper parts of the underground room.
That area had been blocked by the ground lizard before, but she could sense something hidden behind it.
Pushing open the ajar iron door, beyond the darkness lay bright lights.
Distillation flasks, burner stands, reflux tubes, condensation tubes—a fully equipped alchemy table, with stacked wooden crates beside it. The crates were marked with a large X and the Kabbalistic script for “Whispers.”
She looked up.
Huge bookshelves formed the walls around her, with various volumes and texts neatly arranged within—as magnificent as the Sacred Grand Library built by the Humility Academy in the Papal States’ capital, Vatican.
And beside her.
The operating table was stained with blood, small knives lay coldly in trays, poisonous insects crawled after escaping their bottles, and hallucinogenic mushrooms and herbs displayed eerie, vivid colors.
Without doubt, this was a luxurious medical alchemy laboratory.
Perfect for human modification and potion preparation.
Bloody, living evidence.
Right before her eyes.
If she could report this to Mr. Joseph and the other three major gangs, the Blood Wine Society might be permanently expelled from Gray Cloud Fort’s territory. They were parasitic bloodsuckers living in the city-state, consuming the vitality and morality of this free city.
But she also hadn’t noticed that the whale oil slowly flowing in behind her still carried flames, the burning shoots jumping and leaping onto the carpet, onto the volumes.
A predictable man-made disaster.
But Funiss was too tired.
She couldn’t care about it.
Fatigue overwhelmed her, and her legs could no longer support her. She collapsed powerlessly onto the plush carpet, her high-heeled Mary Jane shoes also slipping off and falling into the pursuing flames.
Among the stacked books was actually a mirror. Through it, Funiss could see her current face—a young, tender girl with light pink hair, the horns on her head nowhere to be seen, no longer resembling a succubus at all.
It was just a dream, after all. When she woke up, those detestable horns would surely still be there, the same after waking from countless nightmares.
But if she hadn’t been taken away by Cesia…
If she hadn’t been born as a boy…
Perhaps she would have been a lovely, innocent girl like this.
In her hazy consciousness, Funiss fumbled for the nameplate from her sleeve pocket. The back was engraved with “Sera Fred”—proof of her past service and dedication to the Church’s Temperance Academy, a kind of honor.
Sera Fred.
If she had been born a girl, perhaps her parents would have named her Celia or something similar.
But what were her parents’ names? What did they look like?
She had once been familiar with them.
Funiss had already forgotten.
Among her relatives, there seemed to be only one name she could still remember.
“Charlotte…”
Hoarse.
She collapsed powerlessly, closing her eyes as her vision blurred into darkness, a string of silver bells falling helplessly from her hair with a chime.
Then, the great fire raged