Xia De's left hand drew a brilliant arc forward, and the enemy, due to his sluggish movements, could not block this attack.
Moonlight accurately struck the head of the black-haired man, almost splitting his head in two:
"I won... hmm?"
But the tugging sensation from the Great Sin Chains in his right hand did not diminish, and that head, from which black blood flowed, was slowly regenerating as if time were reversing.
"Damn it, this thing actually has immortality."
Realizing this, Xia De knew he truly couldn't defeat it.
He was already preparing to flee again, but at this moment, the astonishing force pulling on the chains suddenly weakened. The distant enemy, after his head regenerated, slowly and actively walked towards him. Due to the Great Sin Chains' binding effect, his pace was even slower than before.
"I can only take a detour through the corridor on the other side of the stairs."
Xia De ran forward, pulling the chains with his right hand. When he felt he had created enough distance, he reeled in the chains and then rushed forward.
A sharp whooshing sound came from behind him. It was another combination of Space Stabilization Aura and Raglai's Leap. Xia De narrowly dodged the flying cleaver.
However, continuous high-intensity combat had already made him feel tired. At this moment, he really was...
"No, at a time like this, when I'm running for my life, how can I feel this way? Yes, it's sloth influencing me."
Fortunately, the fatigue was not strong, and Xia De continued to run. After passing the staircase, the twisted corridor ahead had more dense sparks on the blood-red carpet, and the temperature here was also higher. It was clear that the Ring術士 who controlled the flames had gone in this direction.
The long corridor was empty, with no one in sight, while the heavy footsteps behind him followed closely like a reaper of death. The corner of the corridor was just ahead, but the corner was reflecting a reddish glow.
Amidst the faintly audible burning sounds, Xia De also heard the sound of an animal, as if on all fours, rapidly pawing the ground. The appearance of this sound indicated a new enemy ahead.
With pursuers behind him, Xia De had no choice. He put a youthful immortality leaf in his mouth, held his sword, and quickly moved forward. What ran out from the other side of the corridor was a fiery hound... or rather, a hound that was burning, and thus howling in agony.
Its appearance was terrifying. The dog's head was clearly a human face, and the surface of its charcoal-black skin was covered with dense, milky-white bumps, enough to cause the most primal discomfort.
It burst out from the other end of the corridor, howling madly as it pounced on Xia De.
The sensation of the sword guiding his body reappeared. His left foot remained still, and his right foot slid backward and to the left, dodging the pouncing hound. His body rotated with the sliding motion, and when his body straightened again, he gripped the sword with both hands, using the rotational momentum to swing the longsword at the hound in mid-air.
The sword strike was precise and brutal. A complete burning hound had pounced, but two burning corpses landed.
Solving the enemy so easily was not because Xia De and his sword were too powerful, but because this hound had suffered more severe injuries, and the person who gravely wounded it was on the other side of the corner.
What Xia De saw after turning the corner was a burning corridor. The corridor was truly burning—the ceiling, walls, and floor. As the heat wave surged, the crackling sounds of burning almost made Xia De mistakenly believe he had left the confines of the eerie Sin Mansion.
The body of a fly, as large as a human head, impaled on the longsword, slid to the ground. The blind Sister Devlin, dressed in a grey nun's robe, slowly turned in the flames. Her grey-white long hair was unaffected by the flames; instead, it swayed behind her due to the wind.
The silver crown-like eye mask faced Xia De. She held a black scythe in her left hand and a grey, stone-like longsword in her right. Fiery ashes glowed on the hem of her robe and on both weapons; this was the power of Original Fire that the sister wielded.
The firelight blurred everything in front of him. The uneven heat distorted the air, giving the normally serene and steady sister an unusual quality.
She walked towards Xia De, but in reality, it was as if she were gliding above the carpet. She passed by Xia De in the firelight, and sparks from the scythe touched Xia De's hand, yet it wasn't hot at all.
And by the time Xia De turned around, the sister had already confronted the black-haired man, who also wielded two sharp blades, at the corridor's corner.
The longsword in her right hand drew a fiery afterimage in the air. With a horizontal sweep, it severed the opponent's left-hand long saber in one strike. As the man's right-hand cleaver came down, she retreated as if floating backward, dodging the swing, then brought down the scythe in her left hand, leaving a deep wound on his chest.
"Fire."
Xia De heard the sister sigh softly. Then, fine cracks appeared on the surface of the grey stone longsword in her right hand. As firelight emerged from the cracks, the layer of grey stone peeled off, revealing a longsword entirely composed of flames.
The sword itself grew longer and wider until it became a greatsword, as if used by a giant.
The sister thrust the sword with one hand, accurately hitting the wound previously cut by the scythe. The blade did not pierce the enemy's body; instead, with this light touch, it sent the opponent flying backward, his feet leaving the ground.
Wielding the sword with one hand, she still moved as if floating. With every step forward, a fiery red glow left an afterimage in the air. With Xia De's dynamic vision, he couldn't even clearly see how many times Sister Devlin had swung her sword. He could only see the black-haired fellow being struck by countless flashes of fire in the air.
When it finally crashed into the wall at the corridor corner, it was completely lifeless.
Of course, this type of monster possesses immortality, so it would regenerate after a while, but at least for now, it posed no threat.
The sister held the scythe in her left hand, and slowly lowered the greatsword in her right. The flames on the sword body retracted and gradually cooled until the grey stone shell re-enveloped the sword, with only a few sparks still visible on the blade.
She slowly turned around. In the light of the fire, the intricate patterns on the glowing silver crown-like eye mask were clearer than ever before. The symbol of vines wrapping around an eye, ancient runes hidden in the corners of the crown with unfolding leaves—this eye mask was truly a work of art.
Xia De raised his hand, wanting to remove his mask and greet her, but then realized that for Sister Devlin, whether he wore a mask or not made no difference:
"Good morning, Mr. Hamilton."
It was the sister who initiated the greeting, and Xia De also breathed a sigh of relief:
"Good morning, Sister Devlin. I didn't expect to meet you here. Shall we leave together? I already know there's an exit in the underground wine cellar."
"I still have some things to do. I came here for some kindling."
She shook her head slightly, then asked:
"Do you know where the owner of the manor is? They all refuse to tell me."
"On the third floor, but I advise you not to go there. If you're just looking for a trader you can deal with, I suggest you go to the second floor."
He described the location of the room where he encountered the Vampire:
"Well then, I wish you good luck. I'll leave through the underground wine cellar first. Speaking of which, I have something I'd like to discuss with you later."
This referred to the matter of the boundary on the third floor of Saint Delan Square Six.
"I will wait for you outside after I leave the Sin Mansion."
"All right."
The sister nodded slightly, then walked in the direction Xia De had come from. As she walked, the corridor, where the flames had already extinguished, caught fire again, but those flames had no effect on the sister, who bore traces of ashes.
The reason Xia De didn't suggest going with the sister was because this place was truly not suitable for him to wander around. The danger of the Fishbone Pirate Ship lay in the choices made midway and the final cabin, whereas now, the Sin Mansion was dangerous everywhere.
"However, that grey stone longsword in Sister Devlin's hand, I remember Grandma Cassandra said its name was ashes. Like the Night Watchman, it's Angel-level, and that sword seems to be usable with the sister's Original Fire. As expected of the leader of a large organization, Sister Devlin has so many good things on her."
With this thought, Xia De quickly walked along the still-burning corridor where the sister had come from, towards the wine cellar entrance.
