C153: Blessing of The Attendant of Famine
Without giving Victor any chance to use his abilities again, Gregory immediately raised his revolver!
*Bang! Bang!*
The thunderous explosion shattered the silence.
“Grrr.”
Victor let out a growl of annoyance, waving his hand to propel his body high up toward the church ceiling to evade the bullet. His blood-red coat fluttered around him like torn wings.
He uncorked a small violet vial and downed its contents, raising his hand.
From the corners of the church, hidden beneath benches, behind pillars, and within small cracks near the walls, a torrent of dark liquid suddenly flew toward him.
“T-this!” Gregory realized the situation.
Victor had hidden several casks of blood throughout the church, specifically for this moment of crisis!
However, the fact that he used blood to block bullets instead of Blood Substitute meant only one thing.
‘He has exhausted his Substitute!’
This could be a trap to catch the Inspectors off guard, but in this emergency, they didn't have time to think too deeply about it.
“You arrogant insolence, to dare stand upon my domain!” Victor shrieked, his voice dripping with the arrogance of a predator who has regained the upper hand.
Gregory's eyes widened in alarm as the volume of the liquid increased. He raised his revolver again.
*Bang! Bang!*
The silver-tipped projectiles launched toward the vampire's chest at high speed, tearing through the red-tinted air.
But before the bullets could approach him, a wave of dark blood swept over Victor, cycling rapidly around him to form a thick, viscous shield.
As the bullets entered the ball of blood, their velocity dropped significantly, resulting in deflection in another direction. One bullet skimmed past Victor’s cheek, missing his head by a mere millimeter.
Victor raised his hand toward the ceiling. The dark red liquid swelled upward, spreading across the ceiling like a massive, suspended pool of blood.
The whole church filled with a crimson glow as the afternoon sunlight filtered through the blood-red liquid above them. The once-white sanctuary was dyed crimson, its broken benches, cracked tiles, and sacred statue all submerged beneath the glow.
“Wind!”
Hazel waved her weapon, and wind immediately gathered. A miniature tornado appeared at the tip of the arrowhead, spinning violently until the air around it screamed.
She launched the miniature tornado toward Victor, but even that could not penetrate the barrier of blood liquid!
At the same time, Troy appeared. He somersaulted along the church wall, using the uneven stone and broken wood as footholds before swinging his body toward where Victor was floating.
Victor flicked his hand dismissively, and threeblood lances flew down from the pool of blood.
“[Barrier!]”
Two of the blood lances pierced the barrier protecting Troy. Troy used the edge of his own barrier as a foothold, having no choice but to retreat. In midair, he was at a far greater disadvantage than a Vampire.
One blood lance launched directly toward Gregory, but it was quickly stopped by Hazel's two layers of barriers, shattering against the golden light.
‘We need two barriers to stop one of his lances.’ Hazel winced in annoyance, her face still pale.
As a Foundation Stage, her barrier was not strong enough to stop a Silver Sky completely.
The Medic and Inspector Paths in the Harmony Faction were both excellent in support. The Preserver Path could be capable of both offense and defense.
Only Gregory could potentially match Victor in terms of strength and spiritual energy, since he was the only one in the Silver Sky Stage. However, since the Inspector's Path wasn't good at offense, their ability to deal with vampires will inevitably be affected.
Hazel glanced at Gregory. Seeing how focused he was, she turned back and threw another series of wind blades toward Victor.
Meanwhile, Gregory closed his eyes. He stood beneath the pool of blood, holding his revolver in one hand and his pipe in the other.
He inhaled from the pipe, drawing the stored essence into his lungs as his eyes glowed gold.
“Blessing of the Monarch of White,”
He intoned slowly, his voice full of reverence. The revolver in his hand glowed with a soft light, the brightness gradually crawling along the barrel and gathering at the muzzle.
Victor widened his eyes in genuine alarm.
“the Eternal Ruler of Order,”
Victor waved his hand downward, a cold trickle of sweat sliding down his forehead.
“Don't you dare! Blood Downpour!” he shrieked, his voice cracking with panic.
The pool of blood on the ceiling swelled violently, transforming instantly into hundreds, then thousands of small, hardened bullets that rained down like a metallic storm.
“[Barrier!]” Hazel and Troy shouted, their voice cutting through the noise.
“Let there be light!” Naomi cried out, her voice trembling.
Four layers of invisible barriers materialized, stacking atop one another in front of the four inspectors.
“the Inextinguishable Dazzling Light,”
“Blood lance!”
The lances once again emerged from the pool of blood, shooting straight into the barrier. Yet as one barrier was destroyed, another immediately materialized.
The church rumbled under the assault as the rain of blood flew down at tremendous speed. The immense pressure cracked several places in Troy and Hazel's barriers. As one layer shattered, another immediately replaced it to maintain the defense.
Blood reflected off the barriers and destroyed every piece of furniture around them. Benches split apart, the platform cracked, and windows fractured before bursting inward, sending shards of glass scattering across the floor.
Some blood slipped through the tiny cracks of the barriers, flying in thin red lines and slicing into their skin. Blood and sweat mixed together, staining their clothes and dripping onto the broken tiles.
Whenever a wound opened, Naomi’s cane triggered its ability and healed them. However, Naomi’s face gradually grew pale. As an Apprentice Stage, she did not have enough spiritual energy to maintain the cane’s ability for long. The sphere of light flickered, then began to fade.
The immense pressure on the barriers forced both Hazel and Troy to crouch down to the ground on one leg, their muscles straining against the weight of the attack.
Blood oozed from Hazel's wound, her eyes hazy. However, she bit her tongue, forcing herself to stay awake, tasting the metallic flavor in her mouth.
Beside her, Troy was no better. Blood seeped under his mask, dripping onto his coat.
“I pray for your grace,”
Gregory still stood. His eyes shone as he raised the glowing revolver toward Victor, ignoring the blood bullets that injured him.
“In the name of your Bless, I pray for the power to purify evil!”
he shouted, his finger tightening around the trigger.
*BANG!*
The shot rang out, reverberating through the blood-soaked church.
The bullet flew through the invisible barriers. It tore through the rain of blood bullets as if nothing could stop its path.
Victor raised his hand, and blood flew from his arm, forming another large sphere of blood around him. It converged rapidly, creating a solid blood shield to block the incoming projectile.
Yet the bullet flew straight into the blood shield, its spinning speed not slowing in the slightest.
Victor’s eyes widened as he saw the bullet blur toward him.
He did not have enough time to evade it.
His arm rose. His fingers tightened into a fist. Blood condensed around his hand as he swung directly at the bullet.
The bullet approached and drove straight into his bones. It destroyed his fingers first, then his muscles, then his bones, splintering them apart like toothpicks.
It drove upward toward his wrist, cutting it off.
Simultaneously, it continued straight toward his head. In Victor’s vision, the bullet was right before his eyes.
No matter how much he struggled, the bullet flew, exploding his head off entirely in a mist of crimson.
Continuously, the bullet flew straight toward the ceiling, piercing through the stone, and into the bell on the upper floor.
The bell leaned precariously, a loud ringing sound reverberating through the whole church as debris fell from the rafters.
At the same time, the air displacement from the bullet, imbued with the blessing of the Monarch, created a pressure wave that blew Victor’s body away.
“...”
The blood downpour stopped, and the church instantly fell silent.
Gregory swept his gaze around.
The entire church was a scene of devastation. The once-ordered pews had been splintered into useless heaps of jagged timber, no longer resembling furniture at all. Debris, shattered glass, and broken lamps were scattered across the cracked tiles, all coated in a sickening layer of blood-red residue.
A red color still filled the entire church, clinging to the walls and floor like the aftermath of a nightmare.
He closed his eyes and placed his silver pipe to his lips, inhaling deeply to steady his racing heart.
‘[Scan].’
He cast his perception out, scanning the immediate perimeter, while simultaneously opening his revolver’s cylinder and reloading.
‘...’
In the meantime, Hazel and Troy moved through the wreckage, lifting long planks and broken benches to clear the path. Naomi had slumped to the ground, her breathing heavy and shallow, her face pale from exhaustion.
After a minute of searching the room, Hazel raised her eyebrows, her expression turning grim.
“Captain, we didn’t find his corpse.”
Gregory frowned, his eyes snapping open.
His scan did not pick up any signature other than those of the Inspectors themselves.
The most logical conclusion was that the target had been completely disintegrated.
Yet—
“[Appraising].”
As Hazel had indicated, no physical remains were visible.
Gregory’s eyes sharpened, his mind racing through a thousand possibilities.
‘Did we miss something?’
The Restrictions were still active. The man could not have escaped the church, nor could he have transformed into a swarm of bats to slip through the window.
‘...’
Suddenly, a detail from the anonymous letter flashed through his mind like a bolt of lightning.
[There is a hidden study room beneath the church’s sanctuary.]
‘The secret room beneath the church!’
Without a second thought, he sprinted toward the door leading to the small sanctuary, the room that housed the White Monarch statue.
“The statue!” Gregory shouted, his voice echoing through the church.
Upon bursting into the sanctuary, Gregory’s blood began to boil as he stared at the White Monarch statue. The air around the altar seemed to vibrate violently.
His sense of danger tingled. It was tingling violently, screaming into his ears, the sound drilling into his brain like physical needles!
[Evil detection]
His vision trembled. His heart raced, sweat trickled down his forehead.
Something.
Something was coming.
Something immensely dangerous!
“Get down!”
Gregory shouted.
“Look away!”
At that exact moment, the White Monarch statue exploded. The stone shattered into a thousand shards, exploding violently across the sanctuary!
Beneath the ruins of the statue, a hole burst open. A swarm of blackened creatures erupted from the darkness, their violet eyes glowing like dying stars as they surged upward through the dust and smoke.
“SHAAAA!”
A figure emerged from the center of the dark, fluttering mass, rising from the sea of shadows.
Simultaneously, a sharp, snapping sound rang in Gregory's head, followed by a jolt of agonizing pain that lanced through his skull.
He winced, his hands flying to his temples.
Upon closer inspection, he realized the source of the pain.
‘My two Restrictions have been destroyed!’
It was as if an overwhelming force had shattered the chains of restriction binding this field.
‘Impossible!’
Before he could process the loss of his restrictions, a voice laden with arrogance filled his ears.
“Blessing of the Violet Moon,”
The sudden prayer rang, filling the whole chamber with dread.
‘Not good!’ Gregory's heart skipped a beat. Without looking at the spawn of darkness in front of him, he raised his revolver.
“The Third Maiden who commands the Wicked,”
“The Crescent that devours the obscured,”
*bang! bang! bang!*
Gergory shot three rounds of bullets, but all of them missed Victor’s real body.
Without the restriction of transformation, shooting Victor, who had transformed into a swarm of bats, proved to be a difficult challenge.
“Wielder of Dual Blessings, Grand Devourer of Light,”
“Attendant of Famine's Hunger,”
Rising from the swirling smoke, Victor hovered in midair beneath the crumbled remains of the destroyed White Monarch statue. He looked down upon them, his eyes burning with intense violet light.
“I pray for your grace.”
He smirked, sharp fangs reflecting the dim light.
“In the name of your servant,
Grant me the strength to quench the light!”