Beep, beep, beep. The telegraph machine in the captain's office suddenly stirred, as if a new message was about to arrive.
But Klein and Leonard couldn't spare a single ounce of attention. Their eyes were bloodshot as they silently counted the ticks of the second hand:
"Ten." "Nine." "Eight."
……
At this moment, Dunn Smith walked into the reception hall with a solemn expression, holding a square box that looked like it was made of silver or bone in his left hand.
Megose, who had been pulling out handfuls of her blonde hair and clawing bloody furrows deep enough to see bone, seemed to be triggered by something. She abruptly stood up, pointed at Dunn Smith, who was wearing a thin black trench coat, and shrieked:
"You want to kill my child!" "You want to kill my child!"
Bang! As this terrifyingly shrill voice echoed, Klein felt as if a heavy hammer had struck his head. He abruptly lost count, suffering from a splitting headache and dizziness.
His vision was instantly dyed a bloody red, and a liquid seemed to be flowing uncontrollably from his nose.
He subconsciously glanced to the side and saw Leonard Mitchell's eyes, nose, and mouth were covered in blood. His face was deathly pale, and his body was swaying as if he was about to collapse.
"I'm probably the same..." Klein sharply pulled his thoughts back, continued counting from the point he stopped, actively skipping two seconds:
"Five." "Four."
……
Amidst the terrifyingly shrill cries, Dunn Smith's deep grey eyes became bloodshot, every single vein clearly visible.
The blood vessels on his face bulged, each one like a venomous snake, and a stream of crimson liquid flowed from his ears.
But he did not faint. His right hand hesitated for only a second, then, driven by an immense force of will, pressed down on Saint Selena's ash urn and lifted the lid.
Inside was a profound darkness, and within that darkness were sparkling grains of sand. The scene was breathtakingly beautiful, as if the night sky had been placed inside the box.
The surroundings suddenly darkened, a deep gloom enveloping the entire reception hall. Countless black, cold, and slimy threads rippled through the air.
They surged towards Megose, wrapping and entangling her in an instant.
It was not like spider silk, but rather the tentacles of some unknown creature!
Megose's right eye had already been clawed out by herself, hanging below the socket by bloody threads. She glared at Dunn Smith and shouted loudly:
"You must die!"
Bang! Dunn was thrown back by an invisible force, crashing heavily into the wall opposite. The wall cracked and bricks flew everywhere.
He spat out a mouthful of blood, but his hands still clutched Saint Selena's ash urn, holding it in a death grip, preventing it from falling to the ground.
The countless black, cold, slimy threads tightened their grip, firmly binding Megose in place. Neither the suddenly erupting flames covered in "mildew spots," nor the blasphemous liquid secreting from Megose's skin, could cause them any harm.
"Three!" "Two!" "One!"
Klein and Leonard burst out from behind the partition at the same time. One held a warm, thin golden sheet in his hand, while the other had already wrapped the "Vessel Thief" around his left wrist, spreading his five fingers towards Megose.
Megose, who had almost stopped resembling a human, struggled desperately. Lumps of flesh, mixed with blood vessels and veins, bulged on both her shoulders, round like the heads of children.
Cracks spread rapidly on these "heads," as if they were about to turn into eyes.
Megose suddenly sensed the danger and opened her mouth wide, splitting her lips all the way to her ears.
She was about to curse every enemy in front of her who dared to harm her child with the "Blasphemy Words"!
Just then, Leonard's fingers on his left hand suddenly clenched, and his wrist rotated half a turn.
His pale face flushed to the color of liver, and the veins on his face bulged out like tiny venomous worms.
"..." The "Blasphemy Words" of Megose got stuck in her throat, cut off abruptly.
She seemed to have suddenly lost the ability to speak, the ability to curse others.
Klein seized this opportunity and, in a low voice, uttered a word in Ancient Hermes:
"Light!"
Let there be light!
He instantly felt the thin gold piece covered with mysterious patterns in his palm become scorching hot, and saw it emit a blinding light, as if it had transformed into a small sun.
Immediately after, Klein infused most of his spirituality into it and hurled this "Sunfire Charm" at the restrained Megose!
The reception hall was instantly illuminated, the gloom and darkness disappearing at the same time. The black threads entwining Megose suddenly retracted, as if instinctively avoiding something.