Free Web NovelChapter 193: Chapter 193: There’s Been a Small Issue on My Side_1
"Damn it to hell!" Lamia was perched at the mouth of the mine, looking at the chaotic scene of demons dancing inside and couldn’t help but open her mouth, which was almost cracking at the ears, cursing loudly.
In order to wipe out the thirty-some newly ordained nuns gathered in the mine in one fell swoop, Lamia had resorted to using her pride and joy—a petrifying Magic Potion. She threw an explosive containing refined powder into the mine, and in an instant, the dust cloud that spread filled the entire space near the mouth of the tunnel, enveloping the nuns gathered inside.
The highly toxic substance with paralyzing effects quickly took hold, and the nuns soon lost their ability to move. According to Lamia’s expectations, they were supposed to die quickly. However, although they lost their physical capabilities immediately, the process of dying was much slower than she anticipated.
What’s more, before they died, they actually "gave birth."
In the mine, nuns holding weapons stood rigidly in place, as if they had been frozen, but their stiff bodies rapidly split open, and then creatures with goat heads burst forth from their bodies, dripping with fresh blood, identifying Lamia as the enemy amidst the poisoned smoke filling the mine. The creatures, with their superior building and tolerance for poison, were much stronger than humans.
The appearance of these creatures was nearly identical to Father Bales, except they were much smaller, standing less than two meters tall—considered quite sizable to an ordinary person but still dwarfed in the presence of Lamia, who had undergone monstrous transformation.
But the increase to thirty-two creatures put quite a bit of pressure on Lamia.
Lamia guessed the reason—Father Bales had used his blood, capitalizing on the power of "reproduction" to impregnate his "daughters." They carried embryos encoded with the creatures’ genetic information. These fetuses, being entirely parasitic, nested within the mothers, using them as nurturing eggs, and when the mothers were at the brink of death, absorbed them and broke free from their bodies.
"This kind of thrilling game—I didn’t even think of it myself," Lamia said with a sinister laugh.
Seeing these monsters about to swarm out, Lamia employed her body modification technique, inflating her body like a balloon—her body transformation technique was several times more exaggerated than Meiruki’s.
After growing her snake-like body to a full fifteen meters in length, and her tail as thick as a pillar, she spun around violently, swinging her tail, severely wounding several of the creatures that had just emerged, and then pounced to block the mouth of the mine.
"Abigail, can you hear me? Give some response!" She called out to Abigail using a sonorous voice through the talisman.
The black crystal pendant churned with grey mist. This time, Abigail didn’t project a scene, but instead "cast" a voice that only the bearer could hear: "What’s up?"
"I’ve run into a bit of trouble here, the bunch of new nuns in the mine have all been ’impregnated’ by the power, giving birth to the priest’s offspring directly from their bodies. Get Qiqimora and Habanis over here to lend a hand! I still want to conserve the Divine Words."
"So the plan to besiege the priest is on hold?"
"Are you kidding me? All these monsters are the priest’s offspring. Their hive consciousness’s mother is the priest, and by now he must have sensed their birth. If he comes to kill me, then I’m done for!" While Lamia blocked wave after wave of assaulting creatures, she quickly contemplated her strategy, "Better to have Aiden Galahad hold him off first, let Qiqimora lure the priest over!"
"What if they fail..."
"If that guy can’t even save his own life, then he’s of no value for cooperation and it’s just as well if he dies—it’s one less person to share the spoils with," Lamia hissed, "of course, it’s even better if he can weaken the priest. Right now, the priority is to preserve our side’s combat strength!"
Abigail didn’t respond, the grey mist stored in the black crystal quickly drew back in. But based on Lamia’s experience, Abigail was probably already taking her advice. fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm
...
Meanwhile, Aiden, who had ventured deeper into the village, encountered a similar situation.
Veronica, with wolf ears transformed, lifted a foot and kicked the oncoming chimera in the chest, halting its pouncing momentum with the brute strength of a werewolf.
Just as the chimera prepared to counterattack, Presia, who was lying in wait, seized the opportunity to cast "Sensory Disarray," a Mental Spell, causing the creature to feel dizzy and disoriented. Daili then summoned a shadow demon to bind its movements.
Veronica immediately raised her large-caliber handgun and fired three close-range shots at its heart, ending it outright.
"Is this also an effect produced by Alchemy!? How terrifying is this?"
Veronica put away her gun, looking with lingering fear toward the large pool of blood nearby, mixed with flesh, skin layers, and fragments of clothing. Two minutes before, this mess had been a combat nun of the cult, who had encountered Aiden and his party while patrolling the village.
Aiden’s group had dealt with the nun cleanly, but as she was about to die, a large chimera burst out from her body, forcing Aiden and his companions to put in "overtime" for an extra battle.
Aiden quickly recognized the features of the chimera as similar to those Father Bales had transformed into, as described by Rebecca and the others, only significantly smaller in size.
In other words, this was probably one of Father Bales’ offspring, "bred" with the aid of the nuns used as tools.
Aiden grew tense, considering that the combat nuns of the cult were born from Mother Neve and directly controlled by her. But if this chimera was "bred" directly by Father Bales and considered him its mother entity...
The implications were alarming. Father Bales might sense its birth here.
"Abigail," he called to the amulet he wore—his sole means of communication in a place devoid of devices. Their actions could only be coordinated through Abigail, and the initiative was entirely in her hands.
"I’m here, Your Excellency," responded Abigail.
"There’s a situation on my end. From the nun we encountered, a direct offspring of the Father was born..." he briefed Abigail on the situation.
Abigail’s voice was more calm than he had anticipated. "Where are you now, Your Excellency?"
"Close to the target location. With a run, I could arrive within two minutes," Aiden replied, glancing up at the tower and cautiously providing only the necessary details for the cooperation.
"Don’t worry, Qiqimora is monitoring the Father’s movements, and Lamia is already preparing an ambush for the heir. Your Excellency only needs to proceed as planned," Abigail responded with composure.
