Chapter 45: The 'Charcoal' Demon God
If the brigade had initially only intended to rob the auction house, then after losing four members, both sides had entered a state of no quarter.
Driving toward Yorknew City, before even entering Yorknew, Su Xiao saw a checkpoint set up at the edge of town, the work of the Ten Elders.
Several black-clad members holding firearms blocked the car.
"Get out—"
One ordinary black-clad member just roared, when a small-time boss behind him kicked him in the ass.
"Let them through. Now."
Under the fawning farewell of that small-time boss, the car passed by.
The kicked ordinary member felt a bit frustrated but didn't dare say anything.
"Next time you stop a car, check the license plate first. You want to die, but I don't."
...
The car slowly entered Yorknew City. Su Xiao didn't go looking for the Ten Elders. Instead, he found a hotel in a remote part of the city.
He booked two rooms, tossed Black Mary onto the bed in one, and left. In the other room, he took a shower and then sat on the bed.
He took out the Apostle's Eye and set it to automatic alert mode.
Equipment Effect 3: Aerial Guard (Active): The Apostle's Eye floats into the air or high altitude, scanning a half-kilometer radius. Any suspicious creature entering this range will trigger a warning from the Apostle's Eye.
Tip: Aerial Guard (Active) consumes 120 Mana Points per use, lasting 12 hours.
Tip: Aerial Guard (Active) can detect 82 types of concealment abilities, including invisibility, perception shielding, underground burrowing, and magical energy shielding.
Tip: Aerial Guard (Active) has a cooldown of 24 hours.
...
Su Xiao lay on the bed. Although his injuries had fully recovered, his Mana Points were nearly depleted, and his physical stamina was greatly drained. He had previously injected [Adrenaline] to relieve the state of exhaustion, but physical fatigue had to be recovered through sleep.
After a moment, Su Xiao fell asleep, with Dragon-Slaying Flash placed by the bedside, ready to enter combat at any moment.
While Su Xiao was recovering his stamina through sleep, outside Yorknew City, in a hidden cave, the cave was vast with obvious signs of excavation, likely newly dug within the past few days.
"We believe in the sacred flame; we are the people of God..."
A man in a white robe, with only one arm remaining of his four limbs, sat in a wheelchair. As he spoke, a red glow emanated from his body, and a ball of dark red flame burned in his hand.
At that moment, at least a hundred people were kneeling inside the cave. Most of them were commoners, but there were also merchants, craftsmen, and others.
These hundred-plus people had fanatical expressions on their faces, looking at the one-armed man with awe in their eyes. He was the 'Messenger of God.' They had all witnessed miracles firsthand—not Nen abilities, but genuine miracles.
The atmosphere in the cave was both fervent and insane. As the one-armed man gave his impassioned speech, the flames on his body surged, and a massive phantom formed behind him.
The appearance of the phantom caused a gasp among the believers in the cave, and everyone lowered their heads.
That fiery red phantom looked down at the believers below. It wore a crown like bull's horns, its body was made of molten rock, and its blood was magma.
This 'God' was the Ninth Demon Envoy, once a big shot in the Void Black Abyss, named: Alfred Lancelot Wycliffe Byron. Because of this absurdly long name, most people called him the Inferno Count.
At that moment, the Inferno Count yawned, a hint of helplessness in his eyes. He communicated with the one-armed man through thought.
"Clown, I don't need followers."
The Inferno Count snorted. The word 'followers' reminded him of some unpleasant memories, like when his followers rebelled and stole his weapon, eventually leading to him being hung up and beaten by another Black Abyss Lord, who even put him under a grill to use his heat for roasting meat...
"Brother Count, don't mind the details."
The Red Clown chuckled lightly. He had already learned the general life story of this Demon God, which was precisely why he chose to summon him. The guy's brain was clearly not sharp.
"Don't call me 'Brother Count,' you bastard! I'm several ranks higher than you! Having a backer is impressive, huh? I—"
"Alright, Brother Count."
"You—"
The Inferno Count spat out a puff of scorching smoke. Although he was summoned by the Red Clown, he couldn't force an unequal contract on him. The Red Clown possessed a contract of such a high rank that it made the Inferno Count shudder, even though this contract was extremely unstable and could disappear at any moment.
"Brother Count, what do you think about that matter?"
The Red Clown always had a smile on his face, whether it was when Su Xiao cut off his limbs or when he faced a desperate situation.
"Not good. They are the inheritors of a group of madmen. I advise you to stay far away."
"Madmen?"
"Madmen! A group of 'if you're not one of us, you must be wiped out' lunatics. To those guys, aside from their own human race or a few allied races, everything else is an enemy. But those guys look down on mages—any race's mages."
"Oh? Are they strong?"
"Not just strong, they're extremely strong. The glory of the human race in the Void was once built by them. Strangely, they never claimed kingship and never interfered in human internal affairs. Later, they were ambushed by a group of mages allied with foreign races and were eventually wiped out. After that, the human race began to decline and stopped being active in the Void."
The Inferno Count seemed to recall a terrifying enemy: light blue eyes, holding a long blade, stepping on his head and saying, 'Next time you dare come to our territory to cause trouble, I'll chop off your head. No one here believes in gods, only themselves. Get lost!'
"So, you're scared?"
"Scared? Bullshit! Who am I? I just occasionally—"
A wave of heat surged inside the cave, and even a dormant volcano underground began to stir.
"Since you're not scared, let's begin. The teleportation array is almost set up. We've tested it before; it can indeed summon creatures from that place. Although the summoned creatures aren't very obedient, that's because the individuals are too strong. This time, we'll choose creatures that are weaker individually but numerous."
The Red Clown looked at a large magic array inside the cave. Although he only had one hand left, that didn't affect his desire for revenge against a certain person.
...
The next morning, six o'clock, 200 kilometers from Yorknew.
This was an abandoned church. Originally, there was a small town here, but a natural disaster had caused it to be deserted. Over time, all the buildings had collapsed, and the only relatively intact structure was this church.
At that moment, several people were standing or sitting inside the abandoned church. These were all the members of the brigade except for the leader: Feitan, Franklin, Pakunoda, Machi, Shalnark, Kortopi, and Hisoka—seven in total.
Except for Hisoka, everyone's expression was grim. Machi, in particular, looked exhausted, with a faint smell of blood on her.
"So, besides the leader, all the members who didn't show up are dead?"
Feitan spoke. He had high prestige within the brigade. In the original story, after the leader was kidnapped, most decisions were made by him, showing his status in the group.