Fiona had never imagined she would end up being swallowed by the monster like this. The narrow passage inside was unmistakably the sa underground chamber she and Nyx had just escaped from!
"Damn it!"
She cursed as she slashed furiously at the creature’s throat, hoping to carve a way out. But sand had already begun pouring in from all directions, and no matter how much strength she used, she had only managed to create a single crack so far. The only thing she could be thankful for was that, at the very least, her sword hadn’t dulled or chipped.
Just then, the sound of hurried footsteps echoed behind her. Yet before the owner of those steps appeared, sand surged from beneath the monster’s body, causing the sand around Fiona to grow even greater.
Frowning, Fiona turned—and a familiar figure ca into view.
"Hers! You’re still alive? What do we do now? This monster swallowed whole—I can’t get out! If you don’t hurry, we’ll both die here..."
Fiona blurted out in a rush, but Hers only frowned and wordlessly tossed Mrs. Andersen toward her.
Fiona caught her quickly, feeling the faint warmth still lingering on Mrs. Andersen’s body—yet there was no sign of breathing.
For so reason, Fiona felt a aningless pang of awkwardness and muttered under her breath, "Oh my god, you carried Mrs. Andersen like that? Poor Nyx, she’ll cry out if she finds out."
Hers gave her a puzzled look, as if he had no idea what she was talking about.
[Nyx wouldn’t cry. Nyx would kill you, Fiona.]
[Admit it already, Fiona—you’re totally into Nyx. I’m starting to suspect it. Otherwise, why would you tease her so much?]
[Because that’s just how she is. Don’t question it, you guys wouldn’t understand.]
Hers placed both hands on the stone wall before him at that mont. Threads suddenly shot out behind him like drawn bowstrings, then pierced straight through the rocky surface!
Tiny cracks began spreading outward in all directions.
Fiona’s eyes widened in awe. "You’re amazing, Hers! From today on, you’ll be the strongest after Captain Drake and Captain Cocona!"
Hers paid no attention to Fiona’s nonsensical chatter.
He suddenly gripped the threads tightly, then leaped backward, crossing both arms as he pulled with all his strength.
Outside, the area beneath the monster’s neck began to change—at first, only faint traces of blood appeared, but in the next instant, everything was ripped apart and shredded violently.
The monster let out a pained roar.
"Bang! Boom!"
The rocky walls around its chest shattered into pieces!
Seizing the chance, Fiona kicked herself free and cheerfully leaped out, covered only in a thin layer of sand but otherwise completely unscathed.
Nyx spotted Hers’s figure and called out, "President!"
But just then, a sudden change occurred—the monster’s head abruptly dropped at an unbelievable speed, lunging straight toward its own wound to block Hers’s escape!
Hers, who had just jumped off the creature’s body, was ambushed midair. Yet his expression remained calm, not the slightest trace of panic.
He raised both hands, and threads instantly shot forth, wrapping tightly around the monster’s head!
But the creature was now in a frenzy. It let out an earth-shaking roar, and for the first ti, a sharp cracking sound echoed. In the next mont, its entire head lunged forward toward Hers!
Hers’s eyes widened—he could only use all his strength to drag the monster’s head off-course!
"Crash!"
"President!"
Nyx swung her sword-fan wildly at the monster, forgetting all her usual composure, even though she knew it was useless.
The monster howled and broke free from the loosened threads, rearing its head again—this ti, part of Hers’s body was torn away with it.
Austin rushed over, dragging what was left of Hers’s body out of harm’s way.
"President! President!"
Nyx stood nearby, watching Hers’s tightly shut eyes, tears welling up.
Then, at that mont, Hers suddenly opened his eyes—Austin frowned, silently raising his fist.
"I’m not a monster," Hers said calmly to Austin, then looked toward Nyx.
Nyx had fallen silent; her face was ice-cold, as if the woman who had almost cried a mont ago wasn’t even her.
The monster continued to roar, and Hers said, "Don’t worry — he loves Angelia. He won’t attack everyone."
Fiona hugged Mrs. Andersen tighter, then asked suspiciously, "Why aren’t you dead yet?"
She glanced at Nyx. "Say sothing. Once he’s gone, he won’t be able to speak."
Nyx: "I’ll kill you after I kill that monster."
Fiona: "..." What did I do wrong?
"The ritual of Mrs. Andersen wasn’t actually for him. He was praying for Angelia — he loves Angelia. There must have been a failure in the previous ritual that left Angelia transford into this ugly monster form. He’s trying to summon sothing that could truly bring Angelia back, to free her soul from the monster’s body. Nyx, my ti’s almost up — handle things well." Hers instructed, then closed his eyes.
At the sa ti his body suddenly ca apart: limbs fell to the side, an arm separated from the torso, his head ca off the neck and rolled across the ground.
Fiona thought for a mont, then widened her eyes. "He’s a puppet?!"
Nyx nodded. "It’s the president’s power. Luckily, this ti what was chosen was his puppet, not him."
"So your confession must’ve been heard by Hers then."
Nyx: "..." She really wanted to kill Fiona!
Just then, the ground trembled slightly, and a trembling, non-human voice rang above them: "Return... return her to ... return her to ... to ..."
The monster seed to be "looking" at them, even though in its current form it had no eyes.
Fiona clutched Mrs. Andersen and kept stepping backward.
Nyx stepped forward and asked calmly, "Before we do anything else, can you tell us what happened between you, the woman holding the black cat, and Angelia?"
Mr. Andersen emitted a fierce, furious growl — but Nyx had already raised her cane; its pointed tip aid straight at Angelia’s face, a gust of wind sweeping past Fiona.
Fiona feigned a little tremble. "Honestly, Nyx — if you kill Angelia, please don’t kill too."
"You should stay quiet if you don’t want that to happen," Nyx replied coldly.
But Mr. Andersen — no, Alex — raged into madness, stamping his feet and causing the ground to quake with each strike.
"Stay back. I don’t know if I’ll accidentally lose my footing and ruin this beautiful face of mine."
Nyx smiled, her tone soft — and her words were rciless.
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