After a brief moment of surprise, Haida quickly accepted the situation.
Dr. Fran's appearance was very reasonable. She was present when Sines's other half attacked the museum; how could she be absent today?
Vivian, who had been behind Haida the whole time, witnessed the situation in detail. She felt a bead of nonexistent sweat trickle down her cheek...
Sister Haida's finger had clearly already rested on the trigger; she almost emptied a magazine into the doorway. Probably only Dr. Fran would dare to joke like that at such a moment.
But for some reason, upon seeing Fran, Vivian's sense of security inexplicably rose a notch. This strange doctor was indeed very reliable most of the time, as long as no interesting medical cases appeared...
Vivian suddenly had a certain illusion, as if Dr. Fran was actually an official member of her own action team...
Suddenly, the look Haida gave Fran became somewhat strange. She immediately noticed some changes on the other person.
"Dr. Fran, what's with your ears?"
Currently, two pale, frost-like soft ear feathers were peacefully nestled on either side of Fran's front hair... And these ear feathers twitched occasionally according to her mood and speech, completely unlike decorations.
"What's wrong? Is there something strange on my ears?"
As she spoke, Fran touched her earlobes but didn't find anything unusual. Then, as if realizing something, she touched her hair and indeed found two ear feathers.
"...Hmm, I think I understand."
"This is a product of a recent experiment... I'm not very skilled with it yet. I should be able to retract them at will after some time."
"I see."
Haida gazed at the two quite beautiful and lustrous ear feathers but didn't inquire further. After all... if she was meant to know about this, Dr. Fran would explain it herself; she probably didn't need others to ask extra questions.
"Such pretty feathers. Can... can I touch them?"
Vivian couldn't help but marvel. So Dr. Fran could also have such cute experiments? She thought this doctor was only interested in things like internal organs...
"Hmm..." Fran raised an eyebrow charmingly, seeming somewhat troubled by this request.
"Alright, but only for today?"
Finally, she agreed. After all, it was just touching; the request wasn't excessive.
Upon receiving permission, Vivian stepped forward and reached out to touch her ear feathers. They felt like hair, yet carried a slight downy texture like feathers. Similar to real birds, yet with slight differences.
Haida watched the two of them the entire time, her eyes narrowed, difficult to guess what she was thinking.
"Sister Haida, would you like to try the feel too? Or if you like it, I can arrange one for you as well... But there are no other styles; only these bird-like ear feathers."
Fran looked at Haida, once again trying to recommend new medical services to her.
"Thank you for your kindness, Dr. Fran... I don't need it for now."
If she suddenly developed sub-human features like bird ears, she'd probably have to have daily close contact with Ms. Marian... That being said, she was indeed inexplicably curious about the texture of these ear feathers.
At that moment, Haida caught a whiff of blood. She was just about to locate the source when something soft pounced on her and knocked her down... It was Fran.
Ear feathers brushed against her neck. The sensation was softer than real bird feathers, more like hair. Slightly ticklish against the skin.
The stray thought lasted only a moment. Haida's grey-hazel gaze sharpened; she saw a bone spike entangled with filthy flesh and blood on the spot where she had been standing just now.
Enemy attack, and it was an ambush.
"Even as a High Priestess, a dancer who indulges in desires cannot truly comprehend divine edicts. Her only value to the Master is her own death... How pathetic."
An elderly man in a red leather robe sighed, slowly approaching the three people already inside the Sated Club from outside the secret passage. His footsteps were crisp because there was no flesh on his feet, only withered bone.
"And you are the same, sacrifices."
The ascetic in the red leather robe advanced slowly and heavily. His figure was gaunt and withered, like a straw-stuffed puppet. His movements between each step carried an unpleasant stiffness, as if he wasn't yet skilled at controlling his muscles.
"Young and vibrant Secrets-Hunters are my most beloved offerings and most pleasing to the gods. Do you know the reason for this, everyone?"
The old man advanced step by step with the pale moonlight streaming into the passage, his voice hoarse and somber.
"Please enlighten us."
Fran stood up from where she had pounced on Haida. She straightened her clothes, then gently rubbed her palms together, not hiding her thirst for knowledge in the slightest.
Being diligent and eager to learn was a principle she always upheld. Showing one's ignorance about something was not shameful. In comparison, so-called authorities who pretended to know and put on airs were much more detestable...
"Hah, young lady, you really want to hear? Looking at your white robe attire, are you from the Medical Chamber?... Since you're a doctor, you probably won't vomit."
Upon hearing Fran's question, the old man paused with interest for a moment, focusing his turbid, slurry-like eyes to look her up and down.
"Young Secrets-Hunters still hold hope for life and the future. They are passionate, beautiful, sensitive, fragile. Even after the most rigorous training... their youth and experience are insufficient to forge themselves into emotionless blades."
"Perhaps they can appear fearless in the face of death, but as long as you don't let them die, and spend some time slowly processing them... you can witness the most profound, sweetest despair after their faith collapses."
"Strip their faces, brand them, cut out their tongues, sever their limbs. Sometimes they go mad when the process is only one-third complete, as fragile as flowers..."
The old man slowly described, his eyes half-closed, as if reminiscing, as if intoxicated.
"Then, can older Secrets-Hunters not be used as offerings?"
Fran's expression remained unchanged, her amber eyes clear as a mirror, showing no reaction to the old man's cruel and insane narrative.
"Young lady, you have too many questions. But if you can become a living sacrifice, I will answer you slowly during the ritual... I hope I can still hear your questions then, not just your screams."
"Bang!"
If Fran hadn't pounced on her, Haida probably would have fired before this conversation even started.
In the vast majority of situations, the roar of a gunshot was the only language demonic cultists could understand. That's why many experienced hunters were accustomed to maintaining absolute silence during missions.
The bullets accurately hit the old man's heart, eye socket, and spine.
At such close range, with his body exposed under the moonlight... Haida had no reason to miss.
But Haida didn't let her guard down just because the bullets hit. She holstered her emptied pistols at her waist and picked up her wooden-handled folding knife.
"Sister Haida, there's something off about him..." Vivian sensed something unusual.
This old man's attitude was very different from regular Red Cup believers. He didn't grow extra flesh, didn't transform into an evil spawn, and didn't even dodge the steel-core bullets inscribed with prayer scriptures... Even a Deacon had to show some respect for firearms and basic physics.
So far, she had only seen one cultist survive what could truly be called a fatal wound... a High Priestess, the dancer Sines.
"Hmm, I know."
Haida was perfectly clear about what level a Deacon's strength was at. Therefore, she knew... the person before her was probably truly a High Priest.
"Your marksmanship is excellent, sister. It ranks among the top five Secrets-Hunters I've encountered in the past ten years..."
The old man, riddled with several bullets, calmly praised Haida, then pulled his body, which had been thrown back by the great kinetic force, upright. He reached out and lifted his red leather robe, revealing what lay beneath.
His entire torso was only jagged white bone, with no other flesh or internal organs in sight. Yellow-white nerves were entangled with the bones like roots, swelling and contracting like muscles, giving the entire body the ability to move.
Although he barely maintained a human form, he was nearly completely transformed into an evil spawn. The wounds from the gunshots now continuously gushed out squirming white matter.
"A Red Cup ascetic?"
Haida took this interval to complete magazine reloading. Although she was currently using the folding knife, preparing early made it easier to temporarily switch combat states.
Currently, the first round of probing had been completed... The opponent's strength was beyond imagination. The theoretically best response was to avoid direct combat confrontation, try to stall for time, and attempt to disengage as much as possible.
"Ascetic is a general term. Generally, we call ourselves 'Suffer-Walkers.' Of course, your understanding is not wrong..."
The old man explained, then suddenly charged at Haida in an extremely uncoordinated posture. His movements were light and fast, as if invisible strings were pulling his joints into action.
Although direct confrontation wasn't the optimal solution... sometimes, head-on combat was unavoidable.
"Hmph."
Haida snorted coldly, raised her wooden-handled folding knife, and met him without retreating.
The sharp, cold blade cut open the old man's crimson leather robe, severed countless pale nerve roots, and left an extremely deep mark on the spine.
The ascetic's face twisted in a convulsion, his features seeming to melt together. But he wasn't in pain from the injury; he was enjoying the divinely granted sense of pain.
His nerves had turned into tangled web-like roots, gradually consuming his organs and flesh, then replacing them... After that, the majority of his sensations had transformed into the most extreme and profound "pain."
This was the Red Cup's blessing, the gaze and grace of the colossal figure hanging far beyond the sky upon him.
"Mortal sacrifices, how can you comprehend true supremacy and greatness? And who made you so arrogant? Made you think you are qualified to harm this divinely gifted body?"
The old man's voice seemed knotted together with pain, yet carried an inner comfort.
After delivering two slashes, Haida immediately tried to create distance, but found the ascetic's red robe clinging to her wrist as if alive, momentarily completely unable to break free.
That was no robe; it was several layers of human skin reversed inside out... Up close, one could even faintly see pores and human facial features.
No way to dodge!
From the wound on the ascetic's back, a pale, crimson bone spike suddenly emerged. At this unavoidable distance, it easily pierced through Haida's nun's habit and the close-fitting leather armor beneath, stabbing into her ribs.
Red Cup Second-Category, Upper-Tier secret art [Bone-Wielding].
Due to bone's tough nature, the art's speed was quite slow, making its practical combat effectiveness somewhat unsatisfactory... But the old man, relying on this evil body bestowed by a blessing, could manipulate bones with efficiency surpassing humans.
At that very moment, Vivian pulled the trigger. The bullet struck the old man squarely in the forehead.
The ascetic's pause after landing a successful strike was the perfect opportunity in Vivian's eyes. She didn't possess damage-type secret arts or special relics... Therefore, she could only try to find such openings.
"...The pain you provide is of high quality. Even I feel comfort. Be proud of that..."
From the crack blasted open by the bullet on the old man's forehead, a network of pale nerves continuously overflowed, rapidly repairing the wound while intensely creating pain.
Vivian clicked her tongue quietly, the gravity in her eyes deepening.
The red-robed old man's nerves and bones were actually one entity; he could use mutated nerves to repair bone. Moreover, this guy probably had no other organs left.
No wonder he was unharmed earlier when Haida clearly shot him in the eye socket... His brain inside the skull was probably also reconstructed from these pain-creating nerves.
And Sister Haida was injured. That bone spike pierced the leather armor instantly, showing its considerable power... Probably damaged internal organs.
What about Dr. Fran? Isn't she planning to intervene?
Due to the tension of the recent exchange, Vivian even forgot to pay attention to Fran. Now suddenly remembering, she found her still calmly observing the battle, just occasionally taking out her brass pocket watch to check the time.
And Haida, who had just been pierced by the bone spike, didn't retreat; her aura hadn't weakened in the slightest.
One hand grabbed the red-robed old man's eye socket, her thumb digging in like a hook, while the other hand clenched into a fist and smashed heavily into the crack caused by Vivian's earlier shot!
The old man's entire skull was completely shattered from top to bottom. Yellow-white neural tentacles gushed out from within. He staggered back a few steps, the remaining half of his face filled with confusion.
"How can you still move? [Bone-Wielding] has already spread inside you, tearing all your organs..."
"Heh..."
Fran, holding the brass pocket watch, stepped through shadows and moonlight, arriving before Haida with a faint smile.
"Ascetic sir... I enhanced your perception of 'expectation.' So you thought Sister Haida's severe injury was an established fact, thereby overlooking observation of her actual condition. No need to be surprised, just a little trick."
Fran reached out and lifted Haida's black overcoat, revealing her rib area where the bone spike had struck. The action was natural and continuous, like a medical instructor explaining a key point to a student.
The blood plasma oozing from the wound had already scabbed over and solidified, and the wound wasn't deep, seeming to have only injured the skin and flesh.
The "Bone Reinforcement Organ" from the modification surgery gave Haida's bones a qualitative change in strength and flexibility, and her ribs also tended toward being plate-like, causing the ascetic's bone spike to become stuck after piercing the skin and flesh.
"Affected my thinking? How is that possible? You aren't one of those White Cup academics, ah... Are you a White Cup 'Error-Purger'?"
The red-robed old man seemed to have an epiphany; he felt he was already close to the truth. Indeed, a white coat didn't only represent a doctor... it could also represent those White Cup researchers.
"Since you are a High Priest who has received divine favor, you must have a deeper purpose for coming here, right?"
Fran approached the ascetic with leisurely ease, her tone relaxed as if chatting about everyday matters.
"Do you really think you've already won? Young Error-Purger... Your blades and firearms... haven't even truly harmed me yet, and you think... victory is assured? You truth-seeking scholars will ultimately be destroyed by this arrogance..."
The ascetic asked intermittently.
The fleshy nerves overflowing from his skull continuously repaired him, bringing him wave after wave of pain, making his aura increasingly terrifying and profound.
But Vivian's expression couldn't help but become somewhat strange.
A High Priest unable to move conveniently while repairing his body... This scene seemed familiar. Oh, it was even at the Sated Club; the location hadn't even changed.
"Far Caress."
While the ascetic was still repairing his broken body, the black bracelet on Fran's wrist shot out instantly, wrapping around his body and directly dragging him before Fran.
"What... are you trying to do?" He struggled desperately, on the verge of breaking through the [Far Caress] tendrils.
"I want to give you a little interesting surprise."
Fran's eyes were full of sincerity, so genuine it made one even want to believe her.
Just moments ago, she had received June's Monthly House Call.
[Dear Dr. Fran, this month's Monthly House Call has been triggered. The consultation target is the Red Cup cult's 'Suffer-Walker' 'Hoven Lenes.' Please make him no longer suffer the harassment of endless pain. The target is expected to flee in 5 minutes. Please begin treatment as soon as possible.]
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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