She twisted her body in an eerie arc, dodging Steve's punch, then shot toward the bustling street beyond the alley at lightning speed.
Trying to run?
Steve sneered.
"One squad of zombies stays to watch the red-cloaked clone; the rest, follow me."
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!
Hundreds of shadows followed instantly; Steve's wings flapped once and he reached the mouth of the alley in the blink of an eye.
Watching the figure about to vanish into the crowd, Steve clenched his left hand.
"Bind."
Crack!
A sharp icicle burst from the ground, freezing Marry's ankles and locking her in place.
"Ahh—"
A penetrating cry, equal parts pain and ecstasy, rang through the street.
The sound was so suggestive that hurried passers-by—especially the men—instinctively stopped and looked over.
Someone glanced over in puzzlement.
Yet Marry, feet encased in ice, showed no panic; instead she faced the onlookers and curved her lips into a chilling smile.
Thud.
The next second her body collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut, lifeless.
"Hm?"
Steve, just arriving, froze.
Suicide? No…
He landed beside the corpse and rolled it over; his pupils contracted violently.
The delicate face that had belonged to Marry was gone, replaced by a stubbled, terror-stricken man's.
He had seen that face in the crowd moments ago.
"Over there."
Steve jerked his head toward the opposite side of the street.
The bearded man who had been watching the scene now stood rigid.
And on his face was Marry's face.
Her pale eyes stared unblinkingly at Steve.
Bang!
Another Totem of Undying inside Steve shattered.
[Think Tank
"Warning! New rule detected: Visual Possession."
"When the entity meets a target's gaze it can instantly abandon its current body, transferring consciousness and face to the target; the discarded body receives the target's face and enters death or coma."
"Director Steve, if she isn't stopped she can jump indefinitely through the crowd—she only needs someone to look at her."]
So broken?
Steve cursed inwardly; it was a perfect escape skill. As long as one witness existed she could blink endlessly—though thankfully not as freely as an Enderman.
The man wearing Marry's face suddenly opened his mouth and shrieked.
"Help! Murder! Monsters!"
The scream detonated the whole street.
"Run—there's a monster!"
"What? Why does that man have a woman's face?"
The crowd erupted; people fled in terror, yet in their flight countless eyes inevitably turned toward the man.
"Hehehe…"
Marry's smile showed triumph.
Thud.
The body dropped again.
Dozens of metres away, a young woman who had been running suddenly halted, spun around, and now wore Marry's eerie smile.
Still running?
Steve was furious; if she slipped into the depths of the city among millions, catching her would be impossible.
"Since you want to play big, I'll play to the end."
Hovering in mid-air, Steve unleashed his full fifth-rank aura; his eyes turned icy blue.
"Seal this place."
"Spatial Isolation."
"Domain Expansion : Absolute Zero."
Hum!
Crack-crack-crack!
Air froze, earth was sheathed in ice.
Four ice walls a hundred metres high rose like a miracle, imprisoning several kilometres of downtown street.
"Since you want to switch, I'll lock everyone inside."
Steve spread his hands, using spatial power to shield each person below from the frost—ordinary folk could never survive a fifth-rank chill.
The walls loomed, cold pressing in.
Marry, now inside a young woman's body, stared at the hundred-metre walls of absolute-zero ice and finally showed real fear.
"Madman… he's absolutely insane."
To catch her alone, he had frozen an entire downtown street?
Wasn't he afraid of exposure—of drawing out those terrifying old monsters?
Meanwhile, at Haven Paranormal Bureau headquarters.
A piercing alarm filled the command hall.
"Warning! Ultra-high energy signature detected!"
"Coordinates: Kyrt Road shopping district!"
"Energy rank: provisional S-class! Incident level: SSS-class!"
"Target suspected of deploying an ice-attribute paranormal domain, eroding reality on a large scale."
Satellite imagery locked on the big screen.
In the heart of the bustling city a vast ice-blue ring had appeared, zombies weaving within.
"What is that…"
Bureau Director John stared at the winged green figure on the screen, cold sweat soaking his back.
"A demon? Even demons are showing up now?"
"Mobilise every registered paranormal-binder—request backup from neighbouring cities, now!"
John slammed the table.
"We cannot let this SSS-class incident spread or all of Haven is finished."
Inside the frozen domain.
Steve blink-stepped directly in front of Marry, who had just switched bodies for the dozenth time.
She was frantically trying to dive into the crowd.
His frost-shrouded hand shot out, seized her throat, and lifted her into the air.
"Cough…"
Marry struggled, desperate to trigger another visual swap.
He gave her no chance: a black blindfold snapped over her eyes, ice sealing them shut.
"Blink again for me."
"Hmph—kill me if you dare."
Steve's tone was mocking.
"I'd rather not; a pure energy source like you is far too useful."
With a casual wave—
Rumble!
The suffocating ice walls slowly melted, the severed space rejoining reality.
The terrified pedestrians realised they'd survived and fled bawling.
Ignoring the insects, Steve beckoned behind him.
"Bring him over."
A zombie clone dragged the dazed Greg over.
"Lead the way."
Steve was curt.
"To your bureau."
"Ah? O-okay…"
Greg came to his senses and pointed a trembling finger.