It was connected to the spine, resembling expanded and extended ribs, or the sharp limbs of some arachnid creature. But it also carried the cold, mechanical texture of steel.
This was the first time Fran formally used the Chimera Spine "Sphinx," and it was more sensitive than imagined.
"And when did secret cult traps become so clichéd and unoriginal? Does it have to be putting something in the tea?"
As she spoke, Fran shook her head, letting out a sighing laugh of frustration.
She then curled her glistening, vermilion lips and opened her mouth... Through the thin grey gauze, one could see the tendrils of the Cistanche writhing and struggling within her pink throat and tongue with a near-frantic desperation.
Clearly, it was the terrifying parasite, but now it was frantically trying to escape.
---
Fran reached her hand beneath the deep grey veil, pinched her index finger and thumb, and deftly and neatly extracted that clump of tender pink Cistanche from her throat and tongue.
Her movements were fluid and seamless, also drawing out a line of clear, crystalline saliva.
Up close, the Cistanche resembled a sea anemone in form, with fleshy softness. Its chaotic, overlapping tendrils expanded and contracted with a breath-like rhythm, cycling repeatedly. It was like some bizarre and wildly eccentric flower.
"Speaking of which, I've always wanted to raise one, but the timing was never quite right."
Fran casually took out a small case for storing dangerous items, gave the Cistanche a squeeze to calm it down, and then stuffed it inside.
Nikolas frowned and took half a step back, his expression shifting uncertainly.
The Cistanche had clearly entered this woman's body, so why didn't it take effect? As a second-category, upper-tier secret art, even if it couldn't directly rob her of her mobility... it should at least have caused some influence.
And that thing on her back, what exactly is it?
The instant image of the gun muzzle erupting with light flashed repeatedly in Nikolas's mind. He saw the steel-constructed limb instantly extend from behind the Hermit lady, intercepting the bullet with precision and accuracy.
Damn it, how could such a monster appear here, and get involved with Elsa... Isn't she just an ordinary Royce?
Fran's posture remained elegant, but the Chimera Spine "Sphinx" suspended behind her only inspired terror and ferocity. This lady dressed in Lamp-Moth gauze robes... had now transformed into some kind of terrifying demon.
"Fuck me, it's a ghost..."
Gunes beside him, holding the rifle, spat out a curse, also retreating unconsciously.
Others might not know what that shot represented, but he knew all too well. The caliber of this thing in his hands was no joke; even large prey like brown bears or reindeer would be killed with one shot.
Fran tilted her head slightly and leisurely strode forward.
"Why don't you continue? Thinking about how to escape?"
"Mirror-Wiper, do you want to start a conflict between sects? We belong to the Stellar Abyss Society... also a major cult."
Nikolas felt immense pressure gradually approaching, forcing him to say something to alleviate it.
"Oh?"
Hearing this, Fran couldn't help but raise a hand to cover her lips, as if amused by the other's humor.
"The one starting the conflict doesn't seem to be me. Moreover, the Cistanche comes from the Red Cup cult. How will you explain that? Should we wait here for the Secrets-Hunters to arrive and see who they believe?"
At that moment, the doorkeeper Gunes, already growing fearful, suddenly crouched down and slapped his hand on the wooden floor of the tavern's private room.
Third-category, upper-tier secret art, Create Doorway.
The area of the floor touched immediately began to decompose like blocks, transforming into a "doorway" large enough for a person to pass through.
But just as he was about to drop to the lower floor, his figure abruptly halted in mid-air, no longer descending.
Fran had somehow already walked to his side. The Chimera Spine "Sphinx" followed by thrusting out its sharp steel limb, piercing through his chest.
"Cough..."
A massive amount of blood plasma gushed from the hole in Gunes's chest. His body then went limp, like a puppet whose strings had been cut. The rifle in his hand also fell to the ground.
Seeing this bloody scene, Elsa couldn't help but cover her mouth, her fingers beginning to tremble uncontrollably.
This lady with beautiful amber eyes, who always smiled... was probably far more dangerous than she had imagined.
Fran tossed aside Gunes, who had lost mobility, and shook off the blood plasma and marrow fluid staining the Chimera Spine's limb.
"Fun fact, the spinal nerves contain the ganglia that control almost all the body's muscles. After suffering damage that pierces the thoracic spine, relying on 'friendship and dreams' won't get you back on your feet, you know?"
Nikolas felt his heart thumping violently, almost pumping out of his chest.
The forms of Lamp secret arts are generally pure light, while Moths more often manifest as resonance and tremors of the soul. Of course, more often, it's maddening whispers.
And this Lamp-Moth disciple before him hadn't used any secret art from that system at all, relying solely on that horrifying thing attached to her spine to fight, looking more heretical than a heretic...
At least a fourth-ladder Lamp-Moth High Priest... According to their cult's rank designation, it should be "Prophet."
"Lady Hermit, I think we can talk. Though there were offenses earlier, Gunes has also repaid you with his life. I wish to make a deal with you... and we can offer a price that will surely satisfy you."
"All you need to do is promise not to take our lives."
Under the immense, unignorable pressure from the person before him, Nikolas adopted a very humble posture.
Fran didn't reply. She simply picked up Gunes's rifle from the ground, worked the bolt a few times as if for fun, and then threw it back on the ground.
This feline-like attitude of toying with prey made a surge of violent anger rise in Nikolas. But constrained by the situation, he patiently waited for the other's response.
Fran's voice quietly sounded.
"I am always happy to accept invitations for 'deals.' As long as the price is reasonable, I never really mind the identity of the trader."
Before Nikolas could breathe a sigh of relief, her next sentence followed.
"But not today."
"Unfortunately, everyone present here today is 'medicine' to be harvested in the 'final treatment.' I must do my duty and extract your last bit of medicinal efficacy."
Fran spread her hands quite innocently.
"How arrogant... Do you truly think you have the upper hand..."
With no retreat left, they would fight like cornered beasts.
Learning that negotiation couldn't resolve things, Nikolas instead gave birth to a wave of cold calmness. He quickly began reciting an unknown prayer, his gaze subtly flashing.
After the War of Withering, the Order of Dust had long fallen into chaos; even High Priests weren't overwhelmingly powerful. With the right methods, those occupying higher positions on the mystical ladder could also be killed, usurped, by the weak.
Truth be told, Fran didn't really enjoy toying with opponents.
Compared to boring things like demonstrating martial prowess, she preferred efficient trouble-solving.
But today's situation was special; disguising her identity and personality was also part of this treatment.
"Huu..."
As the sound of some liquid flowing quietly began, a large amount of dark blue seawater suddenly gushed out from the four walls of the private room, transforming into swirling waves and torrents.
The Stellar Abyss Society's second-category, mid-tier secret art, Summon Tide.
Nikolas hid behind the water curtain and immediately wanted to escape through the "doorway" Gunes had left on the floor, fleeing with the current.
Just before he could put this thought into action, the black tendrils of Reach for the Moon had already broken through the surging vortex, ensnaring his body and yanking him before Fran.
Fran now stood atop the wooden round table in the center of the room, an island in the midst of the rushing torrent.
Elsa had also been brought onto the table in the process, but her hair and clothes were soaked, clearly having been through a round of water.
"Showing such a resolute stance just to run away? I'm starting to admire you a bit..."
Maintaining her conversational demeanor, the steel limb of the Chimera Spine "Sphinx" behind her stabbed into Nikolas's abdomen.
With the cessation of his spirit, the wildly surging torrents around them ceased.
Fran's strike had merely disrupted the stable output of spirit within his body, not outright taken his life like she did with Gunes.
The intense pain of having his waist and abdomen pierced caused Nikolas to collapse to the ground, the only thing left for him was to stare fixedly at the person before him.
"Not going to make your move? You'll pay for this arrogance..."
Fran calmly glanced at Nikolas, not speaking. She simply wordlessly raised the steel limb behind her, clearly about to stab into Nikolas's neck.
"Stop!"
A sharp shout rang out.
And the one who uttered it... was actually Gunes, whose entire spine had been cleanly severed earlier.
This doorkeeper, who should have been dead, stood shakily, his clothes thoroughly soaked by the seawater that had gushed out earlier. He held his own rifle, but instead of aiming at Fran, he aimed it at Elsa, who was extremely close.
"Stay right there! Any move you make, and I'll kill her."
Feeling the chilling coldness of the gun muzzle against her back, Elsa's heartbeat accelerated, her breathing also becoming short.
She hadn't yet recovered from the shock of Ms. Flamel piercing Gunes's chest when she was caught up in the torrent of Summon Tide, tossed around... And after finally catching her breath, she was actually taken hostage.
Moreover, the hostage-taker was the very victim who had been pierced through the chest earlier... A series of sudden incidents plunged Elsa into confusion. She didn't even manage to say the classic "Don't worry about me."
"You're threatening me with a little girl's life, and expecting me to care. Don't you find that absurd?"
Fran sighed with a laugh, then voiced her sentiment.
"Although the nerves on the spine control almost all movement in the body, if muscles and organs can move on their own without instructions from the brain... it becomes your current situation."
"As a doorkeeper, you've meddled with excessive Cup Phase spirit."
"Enough nonsense!"
Gunes's current form was bizarre.
Although his self-wriggling muscles supported him to stand, his spine being cleanly severed caused severe structural damage. This made his whole body appear loose and wobbly.
"If you didn't care about this girl, you wouldn't have brought her! All that talk about 'medicine' is just nonsense; you just want to use our deaths to alleviate her psychological impact."
"Hmph, I might die, but I won't let you have your way..."
Hearing this, Fran slightly closed her hands, her slender fingers in grey gauze gloves following by interlacing together.
"I can see you have quite some resolve. How about we make a bet?"
"If you pull the trigger and the gun doesn't fire, I'll end your life right here. If the gun fires and Elsa dies... I'll instead let you go. How about that?"
Hearing her casually place both their lives into a child's game of a bet, Gunes's pupils constricted, at a loss for how to respond.
"You..."
He suddenly remembered that this woman had earlier seemingly worked the rifle's bolt, touching it.
He was lying on the ground in a daze at the time and didn't see the exact action. But unloading a bolt-action rifle isn't convenient; could she really have emptied the magazine with just that one motion?
"You're trying to intimidate me."
Gritting his teeth, Gunes chose to trust his experience.
"Then pull the trigger, or I'll come over, okay?"
As she spoke, Fran nonchalantly approached the two.
With every step she took forward, Gunes felt his heart skip a beat. Gradually, he could no longer bear the increasingly heavy pressure; a surge of frantic violence suddenly rose in his heart, and he actually pulled the trigger.
Click.
With the sound of the mechanism dry-firing, Gunes's expression instantly became very grim.
"Unfortunately, it seems you missed the correct answer."
As Fran spoke, she slightly raised her hand. Several steel-core bullets wrapped in brass casings consequently fell to the ground, emitting crisp, clinking sounds.
And in that moment of stunned distraction, she had already arrived right in front of Gunes.
The Chimera Spine "Sphinx" in its deployed state possessed an extremely long tailbone. With a light sweep of this tailbone made of forging and spirit bone, the doorkeeper's upper body was shattered in response.
Slimy organ fragments landed on Elsa's face; she only felt a wave of warmth.
"Next."
As she spoke, Fran picked up that bolt-action rifle, loaded a bullet, and aimed it at Nikolas, who was crawling and struggling on the ground.
Bang!
Unsurprisingly, the bullet hit accurately. This gathering host's head shattered into a spray of blood in response.
"Next."
At this moment, Fran was like the Grim Reaper confirming a list, reaping the lives of those whose names were called, one by one.
+++
T/N: Hey readers~! New Translator here! Before I say anything, I'd first like to thank the original author for creating this wonderful story. Without them, I wouldn't have the chance to share this adventure with you. I hope my translation does justice to their work, and that together, we can enjoy this story.
With that said, I'm happy to let you know I'll be uploading daily chapters. And for those who wish to support my work and gain early access, I've set up a Patreon where advanced chapters will be available.
[email protected]/PeakTL