A Draw

Countless shadowy tendrils reached out toward the beast with a human head and canine body.

The beast of darkness, however, made a nimble leap. The ground beneath its feet shattered with a roar as it bounced over ten meters high, landing atop a building.

As soon as the shadowy tendrils touched its body, they were immediately incinerated.

Even shadows could burn to ashes!

The beast of darkness, like a tiger king inspecting its territory, perched atop a tall building. The high priest's head spoke with a booming voice: "Lin... You truly have the favor of that being, to the point of being directly granted such a powerful 'ominous artifact'! Have you established a cult? Were the previous believers also killed by your hand?"

"Old geezer, you talk too much."

Blood surged from Lin's hand, transforming into a bow and arrow. A pale arrow emerged directly from her arm, seemingly made of bone.

Whoosh!

The bowstring trembled, and the white bone arrow shot out, carrying an unyielding resolve!

"Bind!"

Olivia manipulated the invisible threads, surrounding the high priest. Those threads were not just the essence of the 'cocoon' spirit but seemed to have a life of their own. They actively sought out the opponent and became more resilient.

This was her combining the ability of the 'ominous artifact' with her own power, achieving an effect greater than the sum of its parts.

Hiss!

The invisible threads sliced through, even smoothly cutting apart metal streetlights and walls.

They continuously converged toward the center, restricting the high priest's escape routes, forcing him to confront that arrow head-on!

Thud!

The white bone arrow collided with the high priest's outstretched front paw, struggling to pierce the skin, embedding itself into the dark flesh.

"Hmph... At best, this is equivalent to a third-stage 'Seeker of Darkness.' Without that ominous artifact, you wouldn't be my match."

The dark flames on the beast of darkness surged ferociously, melting the white bone arrow. The high priest tried to find a way to break out, evidently wary of those animated threads.

He stared at Olivia, his expression slightly changing: "Has the 'Cocoon' already teamed up with the 'Crimson Moon'?"

"Keep restraining it, I'm going in for close combat." Lin didn't answer at all. A crimson glint flashed in her eyes as her hands transformed into daggers, rushing up the building.

"You..."

Olivia could only watch Lin's back, unable to utter any words of dissuasion.

Alan watched this scene too, feeling helpless.

These two girls couldn't possibly fight while praying or maintaining rituals.

"But... Does this high priest really have such poor combat sense?"

He thought for a moment and suddenly felt a chill in his heart: "Something feels off..."

No matter what, the high priest completed the eclipse ritual, an extraordinary strength beyond the ordinary!

Such an existence, even half a step beyond human constraints, couldn't possibly be pushed to this point by lower-tier extraordinaries?

"Old geezer, prepare to die!"

Lin charged onto the rooftop, seeing the high priest confined to a small area.

The high priest looked back, a ferocious smile on his face, like an old, cunning wolf finally waiting for its prey.

He made a sudden leap, disappearing into the shadow...!

-- Shadow Leap! This was the high priest's hidden ability, and in the next moment, he jumped out directly from the shadow behind Olivia, his sharp claws piercing her lower abdomen!

To him, Olivia holding the 'Flesh Staff' was the real threat!

If he could eliminate her, Lin could be easily dealt with next!

Thud!

Olivia coughed up blood, but the wound in her lower abdomen quickly healed, with a mass of flesh regenerating at the wound.

This healing spell from the Flesh Staff clearly exceeded the High Priest's expectations.

Olivia took the opportunity to turn around and fiercely swing the staff!

Bang!

The sound of hitting something echoed as the High Priest let out a miserable scream, falling into the shadows and disappearing.

"Olivia?"

Lin jumped down from a height of over ten meters; as she landed, the sound of breaking bones came from her legs. She didn't care and turned her lower body into blood, then back into intact legs, and ran over.

"I'm… alright!"

Olivia kept a vigilant eye on her surroundings: "Watch out for ambushes from the shadows!"

"I pray to my Lord…" Lin, not spotting any enemies, immediately began another prayer.

Alan shook his head, knowing the High Priest had already left.

After all, Olivia's earlier strike had injured him, especially with the life force from the Mother Tree of Flesh, which was toxic to the Black Sun Cultists!

'Perhaps the High Priest might birth a small 'Beast of Darkness' after all?'

Alan thought with a wry smile, then began to respond.

Olivia's use of flesh magic to instantly heal herself and successfully counterattack was remarkable, but such healing also came with contamination that needed to be purified.

…

By evening, Olivia and Lin had returned to the department store branch.

"Sorry… Today, if I had been a bit more cautious, perhaps we could have kept him…" Olivia started.

She felt there had been some mistakes this time. Even under the Lord's guidance, they held the advantage but couldn't retain the High Priest and exposed their trump card instead.

"It's not your fault; it's that I'm too weak and… the previous battle affected me greatly… I couldn't continue using the 'Flesh Staff'…" Lin analyzed calmly, "If I, an extraordinary wielder of the element of 'Red,' had used the staff, the effects would have been much better!"

She paused: "This time, I made mistakes. I can assure you, before my next promotion, I won't actively seek trouble with those Black Sun heretics."

"I think the opposite."

Olivia suddenly said: "Now might be the perfect opportunity… Even just the healing spell from the 'Flesh Staff' carries such contamination. The High Priest hit directly by it must be severely injured and unable to recover quickly. It's the best chance!"

"You mean?" Lin's eyes lit up.

"Take this opportunity to raid the headquarters of the Black Sun Cult—Black Sun Town!" Olivia said, "It would be best to directly kill the High Priest!"

As for completely wiping out the cult?

Olivia hadn't thought that far.

After all, as long as the Black Sun exists, even if the cult is annihilated, they will inevitably rise again shortly. This is something foreseeable.

…

"This really gives me a headache."

Alan rubbed his forehead, his face full of helplessness.

"Although this plan seems feasible, and Lin wielding the 'Flesh Staff' could easily kill even a 'Seeker of Darkness,' I still feel there might be variables… For instance, those fanatics might desperately summon the Black Sun and get a response… Have they not considered this, or do they think I'll block it for them?"

"Sorry… If the Black Sun indeed descends, I won't be able to do anything…"