تسجيل الدخولSheriff Leon continued, "The instant you lay eyes on a demon, or respond to them, even a single word... that's as good as opening your mind's door to them yourself. And the contamination follows right after."'So that's how it works.'Jake nodded, several of his lingering questions clicking into place.Beside him, the Junaea trio's expressions had turned even grimmer. They'd considered themselves genuinely strong, figured that even without a vehicle, their Tier 2 Assassin Specialization and special-forces training would be enough to fight their way out of this town by force.But just now, facing two tree-demons that hadn't even fully "demonized" yet, they'd been beaten without landing a single meaningful blow.If that was the case against a partial transformation, what would a true demon be like?And judging by what Leon had just said, the Mist Town at night was packed with these things, everywhere, in staggering numbers.The thought alone drained the color from the short-haired
Sheriff Leon paid no mind to the stares fixed on him. He turned slowly, his deep, indifferent eyes lingering for a moment on the shredded remains of the tree-demon Raymond, blown apart by Jake. Then his gaze shifted to the headless tree-thing the short-haired woman had killed.Finally, he lifted his head, his gaze crossing dozens of meters to settle on Jake.Their eyes met.A moment passed before Sheriff Leon broke the silence, reaching up to straighten the brim of his cap, his tone flat, revealing nothing."My apologies. This was a failure on the police's part. Raymond and his two men were demon-contaminated last night. This morning, they broke out of the holding cell and, over the course of their escape, rapidly progressed to full demonization. If you all hadn't stepped in, more of the town's residents would likely have been hurt."Jake didn't let his guard down just because of Leon's apology. He seized the moment to ask, "Sheriff Leon, are these 'demons' you keep referring to j
But just then, another sharp whistle of air cut through the space from the side, without warning.The fleeing tree-thing seemed to sense something, and the moment it raised its head, it spotted, with pure terror, a tall, imposing figure that had somehow appeared directly in its path, out of thin air.The man wore a vintage double-breasted black police uniform, a gold badge on his chest catching the faint light of the graveyard with an icy gleam. His face was hard as iron, his deep gray eyes utterly still, like a statue carved without a single trace of emotion.It was the Mist Town's highest law enforcer: Sheriff Leon.The tree-thing's face fell in shock, but pure survival instinct made it raise its spear-like branch, taking a desperate last stand, trying to run Sheriff Leon through the chest.But to Leon, the motion looked slow, sluggish, like a rusted wind-up toy.Leon moved. No wasted motion, just a simple sidestep, dodging the tree-thing's strike with almost casual ease, closi
With the tree-demon Raymond's death, the vines that had been thrashing in midair, binding the short-haired woman and the Rullo brothers, seemed to lose all their strength at once. They withered rapidly, turning gray, going from hard as iron to brittle, rotten wood.Three heavy thuds rang out. The short-haired woman and the two Rullo brothers dropped, in a graceless heap, to the ground."Cough, cough..."The woman dropped to one knee, her fitted combat suit now caked with dust and green sap. She didn't bother wiping it off, lifting her head first, her once-sharp eyes now filled with something like awe, fixed unblinking on the man standing at the edge of the settling dust.He was casually dusting off his hands, the gesture easy and unhurried, as if he'd just thrown out a bag of trash rather than a 130mm high-explosive shell capable of leveling half a city block."What kind of monstrous power is that..." The woman felt her throat go dry.She'd considered herself an elite player in h
"Heard you were looking for me?" Jake said.Raymond stared at the man who'd appeared out of nowhere, and instinctively felt a flicker of fear.But hatred quickly overpowered it.It let out a roar. "You're finally here! I'm going to kill you! I'm going to..."But the words caught hard in its throat.Because it had just noticed what Jake was holding in his hand.Something dark, round, made of metal. About the size of a regulation soccer ball, with rings of red markings etched across its surface.It was a 130mm artillery shell.The kind normally loaded into a naval gun or a tank's main cannon, weighing well over a hundred pounds.And yet Jake held it casually in one hand, like it was nothing more than a soccer ball."That's..."Raymond's ghostly flames trembled violently.It wasn't the only one struck dumb. The short-haired woman and the Rullo brothers, still bound in the air, had gone completely rigid too.*What... what is he planning to do? Throw a shell at it?*That was a
Raymond remembered him. That Hemaysian man, the one who'd looked at him with that flat, dismissive stare, like he was staring down an insect.If not for that man, it would never have ended up like this. It wanted revenge. It wanted to tear his limbs off, one by one, and feed on them."Ptooey!"Sam spat out a mouthful of blood, his eyes burning with hatred. "You're some half-breed freak between man and tree, and you think you're worthy of Jake?!""Is that so?" Raymond's ghostly fire flared violently. Countless vines lifted slowly, tips aimed at the short-haired woman and her men suspended in the air, and at Gavin and Sam on the ground."Then I'll just kill you all first... and force him out here."Looking at the dense forest of sharpened vine-tips, despair settled over everyone's faces. The short-haired woman closed her eyes. Larke and Parker wore expressions thick with frustration.Gavin, hands trembling, pulled out the last cigarette he had left and lit it with shaking fingers.







