SCREEEEEE!
A horde of lesser Tumors scrambled over the debris. Their jaws snapped and their limbs flailed with a singular, ravenous purpose. They rushed toward a group of huddled civilians who were trapped against a collapsed wall. The people screamed and covered their heads as the monsters prepared to feast.
WHOOSH!
A blur cut through the air. It moved faster than the eye could follow.
SHING! SHING! SPLAT!
The lead Tumor's head slid off its shoulders. Then the second one fell apart in three distinct pieces. Within seconds, the entire pack was reduced to a pile of twitching meat.
The blur came to a halt and materialized into a man. Vornak stood amidst the gore. He spun a pair of serrated daggers in his hands and wiped a speck of black blood from his cheek.
"Too easy." Vornak kicked a severed head away. "The Boss should have assigned me to destroy the Sarx Effigy. Cutting up this trash is barely a warm-up."
The rescued civilians lowered their hands. They stared at their saviour with wide, tear-filled eyes.
"Thank you! Oh, thank you!"
From a nearby, Yohan Creed watched the spectacle. His jaw hung slightly open.
"Did you see that?" Yohan asked. "That speed… that efficiency. He wiped out a dozen Tumors in a heartbeat."
Fennalin leaned against a wall and nodded. She clutched her side where a bruise was forming. "This much is to be expected from a top-tier Church in the single-digit ranking. They are on a different level."
Apostle Runiar joined them. He pointed to the battlefield ahead.
"It isn't just individual strength," Runiar noted. "Look at their coordination. The enemy numbers have dropped drastically in minutes. And look there."
He gestured to the town square. "The barrier is already up. They secured the perimeter while they slaughtered the enemy."
Yohan tightened his grip around the hilt of his sword. The leather creaked under the pressure. A fire burned in his chest that overshadowed his exhaustion.
'I want that strength,' Yohan thought.
He turned his gaze upward to the sky where the many birds of scripture flew.
'I want to be as strong as those Apostles. No… I want to be as strong as a Provost.'
Fennalin sensed the shift in his mood. She walked over and slapped him hard on the back.
"Easy there, tiger," she smiled sadly. "One day, our Church will be just as strong. We just have to survive this."
Her words hung in the air. The mention of strength brought the image of Provost Lamar to their minds. He had been strong, yet he was now the monster destroying their city.
"Do not be so idle!"
A voice cut through their melancholic reflection. Provost Joseph limped toward them. His white robes were stained with blood, but his hands glowed with green healing energy.
"Just because Church Number Nine showed up doesn't mean we get to nap," Joseph scolded gently. "There is still work to be done. More civilians are trapped in the outer districts. We cannot leave all the heavy lifting to the newcomers."
He placed a glowing hand on Yohan's shoulder.
"Let me patch you up. I will rejuvenate your spirits so you can get back out there."
The warmth of the healing magic flooded Yohan's body. The pain in his arm faded.
"Yes, sir!" Yohan shouted. He felt the adrenaline return. "Patch me up quickly! I want to get back into the fight!"
"Me too!" Fennalin cracked her knuckles. "I'm not done yet."
Runiar sighed heavily. He looked at the chaos all around and then at his eager companions.
"I suppose I can't avoid active duty. Not with so many elite eyes watching. It would be embarrassing to hide."
…
High above Nesbeth, the sky quaked.
BOOM!
Kirill launched himself off the back of a scripture bird. He used the glowing avian constructs as stepping stones to dance through the air.
The Beast Tumor swiped at him with a massive claw, but Kirill was already gone.
SLASH!
His kusarigama lashed out with blinding force. The sickle dug deep into the monster's shoulder and carved out a chunk of meat the size of a carriage.
THUD!
The meat hit the ground and created a crater in the street below.
Kirill landed on another bird and narrowed his eyes.
'Troublesome,' he thought.
The wound on the Beast Tumor's shoulder bubbled. Pink flesh knit together rapidly and covered the bone in seconds. The monster roared and became more agitated.
'This is indeed the advanced regenerative properties of a Tumor with a Possession Magnitude of 8.0. It heals faster than I can cut. I'll have to blast those slabs away to locate the core.'
The Beast Tumor fired another beam of energy from its mouth.
VZZZT!
Kirill dove. The beam singed the tails of his coat.
"Open," Kirill commanded.
He unhinged his jaw. A swarm of glowing doves poured from his mouth and swirled into the sky.
"Gigantic Poulion Bomber!"
The small birds flocked together. They merged, fused, and expanded until a titanic bird of white light hovered above the Beast Tumor. It cast a blinding shadow over the entire city.
Everyone froze. Eyes were drawn to the sun-like brilliance.
"Strike."
The giant bird dove. It crashed into the Beast Tumor with apocalyptic force.
KABOOOOOOOM!
The explosion devastated the area. The shockwave flattened the few remaining structures in the district. A mushroom cloud of white fire and black smoke rose into the stratosphere.
Chunks of Tumor flesh disintegrated into ash. Blood rained down on Nesbeth like a monsoon.
Below, near the base of the Sarx Effigy, Meldov yanked his axe from the skull of a crawler. He wiped the gore from his face and whistled.
"Damn! Our Provost really knows how to shine gloriously," Meldov grinned. "He wasted no time showing that Beast Tumor who is boss."
"At this rate, we don't even have to lift a finger."
Targellan, a giant of a man with broad shoulders and a long, braided beard, tossed his white cloak aside. He revealed a massive cross weapon strapped to his back. The upper part of the cross curved into a sharp, deadly arc.
Beside him, Hindar spun a glowing kunai on her finger. "He certainly likes to make an entrance."
Inside the barrier, Yohan shielded his eyes from the glare.
"It's over already?" Yohan gasped. "Just like that? That monster… we couldn't even scratch it."
Even Provost Joseph stared in astonishment. "The power of a single digit… it is terrifying."
But Joseph frowned. He sensed a lingering malice in the air.
…
Up in the sky, Kirill stared down through the smoke. His grey eyes pierced the veil.
There, amidst the charred remains of the beast's chest, a crystalline orb was visible. The flesh was already beginning to form a sack around it, but it was exposed.
'Found you.'
Kirill didn't hesitate. He dove.
"Too late!"
SWISH!
He swung his kusarigama. The chain wrapped around the core. With a sharp tug, the sickle sliced through the red orb.
CRACK!
The core shattered. It exploded in an omnidirectional spray of crystal and blood.
Kirill landed gracefully near Hindar, Meldov, and Targellan. He straightened his coat.
"Provost!" Hindar stepped forward. "Congratulations on the kill."
Kirill shook his head. "Focus. The task isn't finished. There are still Lesser Tumors scattered about. Our exorcism isn't over until every trace of Sarx is purged."
Hindar nodded. She turned to the others with a smile. "You heard the Boss. Meldov, Targellan, let's destroy the Sarx Effigy and put an end to this chaos."
"Right behind you," Targellan grunted, reaching for his cross.
Kirill reached up to fasten his mask back onto his face.
Thump.
A heartbeat. Loud. Heavy. It didn't come from his chest. It came from the crater.
Kirill froze. His eyes widened.
"Get back!" he shouted. "Careful!"
BOOM!
A shockwave blasted them backward. Kirill dug his heels into the ground to hold his position, but the Apostles were sent skidding across the pavement.
They looked up in horror.
From the pile of disintegrated meat and ash, the Beast Tumor began to rise. The flesh boiled and bubbled. It pulled itself together from the air itself.
"How is this possible?" Hindar clutched her kunai. "Its reforming… without a core?"
"That's impossible," Meldov yelled. "You shattered the core! I saw it!"
Kirill stared at the impossible sight.
This had never been documented. In the history of the Convent, the rules were absolute. When a Tumor possessed a human, it took time for a core to develop. During that window, an expert Priest could extract the parasite and save the host. But once the core formed, the host was dead, and the vessel became a full Tumor. To kill it, one had to destroy the core. No core meant no life.
Yet, here it was. The Beast Tumor stood tall. It roared, fully regenerated, and there was not a single core in its body.
"This… This defies the laws of the Gospel."
For the first time, Kirill's voice held a trace of uncertainty.