Amidst the rumbling rain, strange-looking figures appeared from windows, alleyways, and rooftops of seemingly abandoned houses.
At the same time, after Xia De and Professor Katia jumped out of the window, shadowy figures of local residents appeared on the street behind them.
Professor Katia, being elderly, might not have seen clearly, but Xia De saw very clearly that the faces of those residents were distinctly ugly and terrifying, just like in the oil painting.
Perhaps not as pure and terrifying as the captain of the Fishbone Pirate Ship, but definitely not normal humans:
"This old street... Professor, Mr. Jude, you two run first.
Go in the direction Princess pointed out."
As Xia De spoke, a silver arc of light flew from his hand, severing the head of the male servant who had poked his head out of the window from which the two had just jumped.
The head fell onto the rainy street, rolling and stopping at Professor Katia's feet.
Its eyes were not closed, but rolled with a strange, blood-red fish-like gaze, appearing particularly disgusting.
Professor Katia looked at Xia De in surprise, a look of sudden realization on her face:
"So you are... I understand! Let's go first."
How could a folklorist who had cooperated with the Peace Church not know about the existence of Ring術士?
The Professor pulled her student, who was looking around in fear, and ran directly towards the street that was not yet blocked.
Leia and Xia De stood together, the former nodded and took a deep breath, and as the casually thrown paper scroll burned, faint green light spots flew out, and a few seconds later, the illusory figure of a forest archer with a quiver on her back appeared beside her.
"The Scarlet Cult here is transforming humans into those terrifying merfolk."
The Princess summarized the situation in the rain, controlling the archer to draw and shoot an arrow; a green light tore through the rain curtain, precisely piercing the throat of the fish-faced creature closest to them, and the other creatures looked at them with fear.
"Mr. Jude curing the Mermaid curse should not be a lie; transforming into a Mermaid might make the curse disappear.
He uses such words to attract local cursed Ring術士, wanting to transform them into these ugly things to prepare more manpower for the Sea Offering Ritual."
Xia De also said, leaning his back against Princess Leia, and with a gentle push of the silver Moonlight in his hand, a light arc, like a shockwave, cut through the rain curtain, bisecting three fish-faced creatures that rushed out of the abandoned stone house.
Although these things looked terrifying, they had no special powers whatsoever, apart from being difficult to kill and having slightly stronger physical qualities.
Just as Xia De was thinking this, Leia suddenly pulled his arm, making him step back two paces.
Almost in the next second, an arrow made of black liquid flew past his face.
They both looked towards the alley to the side, where Mr. Jude, who claimed to be going upstairs to retrieve antiques, stood holding a long, slender salted fish, looking at them, and a voice like someone clearing their throat reached their ears through the rain:
"I originally thought you were truly reporters and wanted to transform you into my Lord's dependents.
I didn't expect you to be Ring術士 attracted by the rumors I spread; that's even better..."
People with fish-like features on their faces were hidden in various corners of this street, peeking at the two, and Xia De, alerted by the woman's voice in his ear, noticed that among those fish-like creatures, there were at least four Ring術士 hidden.
Since this ancient street was a stronghold of the Scarlet Cult, there would certainly not be only one Ring術士 stationed here.
It was likely that all the residents of this entire street were terrifying creatures transformed by the cult, some residing here, and some having already infiltrated the City.
"Your companions cannot escape; someone will intercept them.
This street has been under our control for hundreds of years, and a large ritual, from the ground to the sky, ensures that no matter what happens, it will not attract the attention of Outsiders."
Mr. Jude looked in the direction where the two scholars had fled.
Leia pursed her lips, while Xia De looked through the rain curtain towards the Peace Church in the old district of Coldwater Port.
The Peace Church was not very far from here, but even without the so-called ritual, in such heavy rain, the sound of a steam bomb would not be able to travel beyond this street.
"Xia De, you..."
The soaking wet Princess looked at Xia De; her red hair was plastered to her face, making her look very disheveled:
"Do you know what you're doing?"
Xia De nodded:
"Yes, but we need to buy some time so we have a chance to escape."
"No problem."
She pulled out a parchment scroll with each hand, and as flames burned in the rain, a nearly solidified Princess holding a spindle appeared on her left, and a similarly solidified little girl wearing slippers and carrying a basket appeared on her right.
Dorothy had said that a significant manifestation of their mutual influence was that both of them could use each other's powers.
Whistles and bells rang out, and the Ring術士 hidden in the buildings rushed out, but they all appeared to be only low-Ring術士.
The Princess holding a spindle and the little match girl met them in the rain, while Mr. Jude, closest to the two, shook the slender salted fish in his hand again.
Leia's right hand hooked a slender red ribbon from her earring and sent it flying towards Mr. Jude.
Mr. Jude did not dodge; the salted fish in his hand emitted a faint silver light.
He quickly swung the fish in the rain, and though it looked ridiculous, the red ribbon was deflected by it.
Xia De dropped the frog leg in his hand, crouched slightly in the rain, then leaped into the air.
He looked up at the falling rain, and when he reached the highest point, his body vanished into thin air, then reappeared 30 feet higher.
"This height is enough."
The tallest building in the nearby district was not taller than him.
Xia De narrowed his eyes, looked in the direction of the Peace Church, then pointed his finger to the sky, and his entire Ling burst forth violently at this moment:
"Silver Moonlight!"
On a gloomy, rainy morning, even a flash could not spread very far.
But being high in the sky with no buildings to obstruct it, this light, which almost blinded everyone on the ground, immediately attracted the attention of the Peace Church.
Xia De landed steadily.
Leia, by timely lowering her head and closing her eyes, was unharmed, but most of her opponents temporarily lost all their vision.
"Hurry!"
The strange light appearing in the City had already attracted the attention of the Peace Church, and the local High-Ring Sorcerer could appear at any moment.
The members of the cult also realized this, and in the chaos after the flash, few people still thought about keeping Xia De and Leia.
"Wait, only he has seen our faces up close."
The blurry figure of the archer reappeared beside the Princess, drawing and nocking an arrow; the arrow pierced through the rain curtain and shot towards Mr. Jude at the alley entrance.
But the blind middle-aged man lightly flicked the salted fish in his hand, surprisingly blocking the arrow.
"That fish has a special resistance to energy-based attacks!"
"The Peace Church is coming!"
Golden light spots had already appeared high in the sky; if they didn't leave now, it would be too late.
"You go first; you absolutely cannot let the Peace Church see you."
Xia De pushed Leia, then charged towards Mr. Jude.
The Princess nodded with concern:
"Run east later; I'll wait for you there."
Saying that, she lifted her skirt and ran in the direction the two scholars had left.
His boots stepped on puddles, and the splashing water could not keep up with his moving feet.
Mr. Jude turned and ran along the alley towards another street, the sounds behind him telling him that someone was chasing him:
"Stop him!"
Although he was temporarily blind, he knew there were helpers ahead.
Two fish-like creatures ambushing in the alley immediately moved past Mr. Jude, firing their guns at Xia De, but the old-fashioned powder guns they used were already prone to problems in the rain, and now they were aiming at a moving target; after two consecutive gunshots, Xia De was completely unharmed.
The sound of wind came from behind, and Mr. Jude remembered the sharp Moonlight he had just seen, and immediately turned back to block with the salted fish in his hand.
But unexpectedly, what cut through the rain curtain and the air was not Moonlight, but rather something more like a playing card:
"What?"
The salted fish, which could resist energy, was actually cut into two by a playing card, which surprised even Xia De.
He had thought it was a relic, but it turned out to be an alchemical item.
Then, the Outsider, still a dozen steps away from catching his opponent, let the flying Moonlight strike towards Mr. Jude's head.
The middle-aged man continued to run while his Destiny Ring appeared behind him.
The Guardian Ling Rune flickered, and a metal full body armor entwined with seaweed appeared out of thin air, blocking the Moonlight attack.
That armor moved slowly, as if trying to block him.
But Xia De, catching up, raised his sword and brought it down; the greatsword carried immense potential energy and directly cleaved down, splitting the metal armor in two, with perfectly smooth cutting surfaces.
"Oh!"
Mr. Jude, running ahead, suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood; the Miracle backlash made him stumble and almost fall.
The second Ling Rune, Drowning, lit up, and blasphemy Ling light surged, making Xia De, who was catching up in the rain, suddenly feel out of breath:
"Underwater Breathing."
The Miracle effect was specifically countered, and Xia De continued to approach with the greatsword.
Mr. Jude also stopped running; he clutched his chest, breathing heavily, and turned to face Xia De:
"Do you think I'm afraid of you just because I'm blind?"
The Four-Ring Warlock's Destiny Ring fully appeared, and the three runes, Guardian, Fish, and Sacrifice, lit up simultaneously.
The flickering silver light made the middle-aged man seem to grow taller on the spot.
His face became even more like the terrifying appearance in the oil painting, and his hands gathered rainwater, solidifying the liquid into a slender rapier and a shield with a Mermaid pattern.
A gunshot rang out; it was Xia De who fired a shot, his revolver's waterproofing was still quite good.
But Mr. Jude endured the shot, and then his ears detected the sound of wind appearing on both sides simultaneously, so the rapier in his right hand pierced the flying playing card, and the shield in his left hand blocked another playing card.
Because he was blind, he did not see Xia De, using the still-active power of his sorcery, had already leaped above him.
"Hmph!"
The sword light fell, and the body and a large pool of blood dropped onto the pitted alley ground.
The silver greatsword disappeared from Xia De's hand, and the blood adhering to the sword left more traces on his pant legs.
Because he knew it was a low Ring, Xia De dared to chase him.
This was not a fair fight; if the opponent could see that the attacks from both sides were just playing cards, he would definitely not choose to abandon his frontal defense.
At this moment, gunshots rang out again from behind, and Xia De instinctively dodged.
Just then, an entire squad of Ring術士 appeared from the back of the alley, so he did not deal with the two fish-like creatures that had shot at him, but instead leaped sharply onto the rooftop beside the alley, and then quickly left in the rain.
Scattered gunshots came from behind, and the golden light unique to divine arts appeared in Kazem Alley.
Xia De vaguely heard the voices of that squad of Peace Church Ring術士 as they charged up:
"Look, I knew there would be merfolk who could shoot guns!"
Heading east, after crossing two streets, he successfully saw Leia and the carriage.
The coachman and the two scholars' eyes were severely injured, only the maid in the carriage was very lucky to be unharmed.
Xia De jumped down from the rooftop, crouching with the momentum of his fall, then sprang up and skillfully slipped into the carriage through the window:
"Hurry... Oh!"
Then he collided with the blind men inside the carriage.
The maid and the Princess couldn't bother with the wails of the people inside the carriage; together, they drove the carriage, carrying everyone, galloping away along the stormy street.
