"What are you doing?"
As Eve caught the shotgun, she realized how heavy it was, yet in Lorenzo's hands it seemed so light. It was hard to imagine how strong this detective's arm strength was.
"Clues, what Sabo told us is not enough."
The brass mask bore a complex expression. Lorenzo hadn't seemed right ever since Sabo disappeared.
"What about afterwards, how do we get out?"
Eve shouted, still more concerned about leaving. Everything tonight was a huge impact on her mentality.
"That's up to you."
Lorenzo said calmly.
"Me?"
Eve couldn't understand what this had to do with her.
Lorenzo looked back into the hall. The hallucinogen was spreading there, but it hadn't been contaminated here, and Lorenzo's consciousness was gradually becoming clear.
"I still don't know how many guards are outside, the most reliable way is not for us to fight our way out, but to have someone else rescue us."
As he said this, Lorenzo rummaged through boxes and cabinets.
"So a few hours before action, I gave a messenger a silver coin to send a letter for me."
Raising his head to look at Eve's confused face, Lorenzo continued.
"Actually, I know the location. The Lower City District isn't that big, and every gang's territory is fixed, so I wrote the location and your name in the letter and gave it to the Suyalan Hall.
Think about it, an anonymous letter telling you the Phoenix family's princess is in the Lower City District, and that she's a detective for Suyalan Hall... If I were the sheriff, I'd bring all the mounted police to storm the Lower City District, otherwise what awaits him is the Phoenix family's wrath."
Everything was under control. Upon learning Eve's true identity, Lorenzo had been preparing these steps. As long as Eve was by his side, Suyalan Hall would do anything to rescue them.
Lorenzo had been constantly checking his watch, waiting for the right moment. When Suyalan Hall attacked, that was when he would retreat.
"Moreover, it's easy to verify the truth of this. Suyalan Hall just needs to call Phoenix Manor to check if you're there."
Everything was so precise, flawless.
Eve shot a guard's head, sending the body tumbling down the stairs. Hearing all this, the girl felt a bit dazed, then suddenly cursed angrily.
"You used me!"
"This is a win-win!"
"Lorenzo, you're a scumbag!"
"And right now, only this scumbag can get you out alive!"
The Staff Sword viciously slashed at the wall, its blade made of an unidentifiable metal, both slender and incredibly hard at the same time.
A hidden door was forcibly broken open by Lorenzo's slash, revealing a dark corner, barely passable for a person.
"It's all over!"
Eve clambered in with the shotgun, full of resentment. Earlier, she hadn't cried facing that hellish scene, yet now she was on the brink of tears.
"They'll use this to stop me from becoming a detective, all because of you!"
"Calm down, detective! Do you think I hadn't considered you?"
Looking at Eve's stance, as if she'd fire at him the next second, Lorenzo regretted giving her the gun.
"As long as they don't catch you, none of this stands! It's just an anonymous letter, it holds no credibility as long as you're not caught, no one would know you were here, the letter holds no weight!"
"You said earlier, a phone call would confirm it!"
"Yes! But that only confirms you're not at Phoenix Manor. You could be anywhere tonight, just not here!"
Even though there were countless suspicions tonight, with Eve's identity, Suyalan Hall could only swallow their losses in silence.
As Lorenzo spoke, he grabbed Eve's dress, ripping it forcefully. There was no sensual scene; instead, tight-fitting combat gear and weapons appeared underneath, like magic, transforming the delicate princess into an iron-blooded Valkyrie.
"If you want to kill me, wait until we're out, okay? You wouldn't want The Queen's Daily's headline to be about the Phoenix family's princess dying in the Lower City District, right?"
As he spoke, Lorenzo snatched back the shotgun from Eve, pulling the trigger, taking down the guard on the high platform. Yet even so, their bodies still writhed under the influence of the hallucinogen, facing sights unfathomable to Lorenzo.
Unable to feel pain, driven by sheer desire.
It seemed like thunder surged through Lorenzo, a chill from the bottom of his heart, like a primal instinct, his nerves pounded against his brain, warning him of what was to come, and he saw.
Thousands of crows seemed to be flying back and forth in the narrow hall, a mournful cawing merging into a mysterious chant, as if some ancient entity was chanting a wicked curse through the crows.
All light vanished in an instant, darkness engulfing his vision, reminding Lorenzo of his spiritual vision, where light faded and darkness covered everything.
Without hesitation, he pushed Eve into the dark doorway, following closely, as the shotgun's muzzle burst into a blaze, the only light in this night, briefly illuminating the grim corner of the darkness.
With the sound of loathing whispers, countless bloodstained hands reached over the edge of the platform, joints twisting, lifting the bloated body. It's hard to describe that thing; at first glance, it was a giant, misshapen mass of flesh, like hundreds of people thrown into a meat grinder, their broken bodies pieced together.
The fleeting light vanished, the moment the door shut, a powerful impact came from behind it, a chilling sound, sharp whispers slicing his eardrums, like countless fingernails clawing at the door.
"What... was that..."
In the darkness, the girl's voice seemed scared stiff, yet Lorenzo remained calm; rather than calm, describing him as practiced would be more apt. He knew this all too well, even what would happen next.
"Was it a hallucination?"
In Eve's frightened voice, Lorenzo answered with an icy voice.
"Hallucinations act directly on our minds, so essentially we can't see the same illusions."
Can't see the same illusions...
The girl seemed to understand something, her voice started to tremble.
"Are you saying... it's real?"
Illusions and reality overlapped on everything, the nightmares of ancient legends descended this night.
Lorenzo didn't answer Eve's question, instead whispering words Sabo once said.
"They are untouchable, incomprehensible, unseeable."
Pulling the trigger, the shotgun's flash once again illuminated the dark passage, bullets leaving dozens of holes in the iron door, blood pouring out of the hot bullet holes, flesh trying to squeeze through the cracks of the iron door, slender tendrils swaying like hair in the airflow.
"Those involved are either dead... or insane..."
Lorenzo's whispers turned into a roar, grabbing Eve and charging deeper into the passage, the iron door shattered with a sound, while a tide of bloody red surged in with the stench of blood and wailing.