Late at night, inside the Field Villa, the battle had just begun.
On the third-floor corridor side of the chapel, Dorothy, hidden in a shadow, confirmed that Luer had been shot in the head and fallen. She then controlled five Corpse Puppets prepared beforehand to rush into the chapel simultaneously, using firearms to shoot at the remaining Bill and Feich, forcing them behind cover.
The positions where Dorothy's Corpse Puppets broke in were all in the front part of the chapel. Therefore, the positions where Bill and Feich were forced into cover by the gunfire were in the rear part of the chapel, very close to the ritual array at the very back. To counter the enemies in the front, they were both facing away from the array. This scene was not a coincidence but was deliberately designed by Dorothy.
Now, Dorothy only needed to release control of one Corpse Puppet, then raise the Mentor who had died on the ritual ground. With Bill and Feich's backs turned to the ritual ground, she could easily complete a wave of backstabs, take care of the two of them, end this surprise attack, and finish the job.
However, just as Dorothy attempted to raise the Mentor's corpse, she froze.
The Spirituality connection was unsuccessful. The Mentor's body did not meet the conditions to become a Corpse Puppet, which meant a very bad outcome... he might not be dead yet...
As expected, through the Corpse Puppets' vision, Dorothy saw the Mentor's supposedly dead body slowly stand up. His entire body began to mutate, growing black hair while his physique started to swell. His face turned green, his mouth grew fangs, and his hands grew sharp claws, finally turning into a two-meter-tall half-human, half-beast monster.
Dorothy knew this was a 'Beast Form User,' a Black Rank position on the path of the "Cup," ascended with "Shadow" as Sub-Spirituality. It was an Extraordinary branch path that transforms oneself into a beast, with hunting and devouring as the main theme.
'Holy crap! Why can that guy still stand up after being shot in the head? Aldrich didn't say Beast Form Users had this ability! Could it be some kind of Extraordinary item?' Dorothy thought with a bad feeling, hidden in the dark. Just then, Luer, who had just revived, stood up, completed his beast transformation, and began to act.
With a roar, Luer, transformed into a black-haired half-beastman, charged directly towards the Corpse Puppet guards' firing positions. A black swift shadow almost grazed past the bullets. The beast-transformed Luer reached the guards in an instant, then swung his sharp claws, slashing through a few cold lights. Three Corpse Puppet guards were immediately torn apart, with tears so large they nearly severed their bodies, shattering critical parts like bones, muscles, and spines. This instantly destroyed the Corpse Puppets' ability to move.
The Spirituality of "Shadow" is easily attached to weapons, making them sharper. Luer's claws also became comparable to sharp blades because they were attached with "Shadow." Combined with the super physical strength provided by the "Cup," Luer's attacks could easily tear apart the enemies before him.
"Mentor! Captain is recovered!"
Seeing this scene, Bill and Feich shouted with joy. Before Luer could respond, a gunshot rang out again.
"Bang!!"
Vanya, standing on the upper floor, pulled the trigger again, shooting at the beast-transformed Luer. Although Luer's mental weakness had not yet disappeared, he was no longer a target as he had become vigilant.
Sidestepping at a crucial moment, Luer avoided being shot in the head again at the cost of taking a bullet in the shoulder. Then he looked up, his cold, beast-like eyes fixing on Vanya, who was holding a rifle on the upper floor, startling Vanya.
'Huh!! So scary! How did this guy suddenly stand up again! Didn't I just shoot him in the head?'
"The sniper is upstairs, she's a Church lackey! Go up and kill her!"
"Yes!"
Following Luer's command, Bill and Feich dropped their guns and quickly climbed over the railing to jump upstairs. Just as Luer was also preparing to jump up directly, there was a disturbance around him.
Three new guards rushed into the chapel from outside the door. Together with the two remaining original guards, they reformed a team of five, charging at Luer with knives. Their speed was incredibly fast, beyond that of ordinary people. A faint mark of the "Cup" flickered on each of their foreheads.
Seeing that Luer intended to go up and find Vanya, Dorothy immediately raised three more Corpse Puppets from her reserve outside. Adding the two remaining ones, she applied the Raw Consumption Symbols they were already carrying to all of them. Burning the last bit of Cup within their bodies, they rushed towards the beast-transformed Luer to delay his actions.
Outside the chapel at this time, the entire villa had already been secretly cleared by Dorothy. The bodies of all the henchmen guards were piled up outside the door, over a dozen in total. These were Dorothy's reserve soldiers. If there was consumption at the front line and a manipulation slot became available, she would immediately raise a few more to fill it.
With the Raw Consumption Symbols applied, the Corpse Puppets' physical abilities had greatly leaped forward. They swarmed forward, wielding the blades they originally carried, and entangled with Luer, constantly attacking from all sides. Luer, being held back, looked at the scene before him and directly opened his mouth full of sharp teeth, letting out a piercing roar.
This was not an ordinary roar; this was a Beast Form User's ability, Fear Roar, which could inflict intense fear on the hearts of nearby enemies through roaring, causing them to lose the courage to resist and flee. Fear is one of the expressions of "Shadow" on the spiritual level.
Luer wanted to use fear to intimidate the enemies around him, forcing them into disarray, but it had no effect. The guards still attacked him. This was because the enemies he faced were living corpses that were already mentally dead and could not perceive what fear was at all.
'Are these... puppets? Hiss... I should have thought of it earlier... What else could these things be but puppets... Damn it... my head still hurts so much... I must finish this quickly...'
Luer thought this, the negative state of mental weakness still deeply affecting his performance, causing his judgment to decline slightly.
Roaring, Luer swung his sharp claws and fought with the Corpse Puppet guards.
Under the enhancement of the Raw Consumption Symbol, under the five-on-one siege, under the influence of the opponent's negative mental state, and with continuous reinforcements, Dorothy temporarily managed to hold back Luer with her Corpse Puppet army.
Dorothy herself was currently in a state of high-intensity operation with highly tensed nerves, simultaneously operating five Corpse Puppets. This was already the limit of her current mental strength. In this state of complete immersion, she herself could not move at all, only able to hide behind a curtain on the third floor and concentrate on operating.
Dorothy could currently hold back Luer, but he was not the only one. Bill and Feich had already quickly climbed to the third floor following the previous gunshot to search for the ambusher, and now the only one who could stop them was Vanya.
'They, they've already come up! I'm not ready yet!'
Looking at the two Extraordinary of the "Cup" quickly climbing upstairs, Vanya couldn't help but nervously grip her gun.