For Mary, this was a scene she had never witnessed before.
Flaming hellhounds lunged at Lorena from all directions, like a pack of starving wolves. Just watching it made one's heart tighten with anxiety. However, in the face of these flaming hellhounds, Lorena showed no concern at all. She gripped that tome—comparable in thickness to the Oxford English Dictionary—with both hands, calmly and steadily facing their assault. Whenever a flaming hellhound pounced, she would unhesitatingly smash the book down, directly cracking its skull open and blowing it apart completely.
Although a few flaming hellhounds attempted to flank her from multiple sides, Lorena clearly had no fear of their offensive.
"Woooo!!"
Very quickly, two flaming hellhounds attacked Lorena from the left and right. Then, as if they had coordinated, they leapt simultaneously—one biting toward Lorena's neck, the other toward her arm. But in the face of their joint attack, Lorena once again grasped the holy tome in her hands and swung it forward with force. The heavy tome carried overwhelming momentum as it slammed forward, directly knocking both flaming hellhounds away from top to bottom.
But it wasn't over yet!
"Woof!"
At that moment, another flaming hellhound seized the opportunity and pounced forward, clamping its jaws tightly onto the holy tome in Lorena's hands. Clearly, these monsters weren't stupid—they could tell this was her greatest weapon. Even Lorena was unable to shake it off for the moment. At the same time, several other flaming hellhounds also spotted the chance and viciously leapt at Lorena again from another side!
"Miss Lorena!"
Seeing this, Mary's heart leapt into her throat. She had seen just how powerful that holy tome was—now that it was restrained, did Lorena still have any way to respond?
At that moment, Mary witnessed something she could hardly believe.
Faced with the pack of flaming hellhounds charging toward her, Lorena released her right hand from the tome, clenched it tightly into a fist, and then swung it forward!
"BOOM———————!!!!"
In the next instant, a roaring, explosive sound like a jet engine tearing through the air rang out. The hard ground of the City of Darkness shattered as if crushed by something invisible, cracking and collapsing inward. The flaming hellhounds were swept up by the force of the punch, instantly torn into pieces on the spot.
"...…."
Even Mary, as a refined lady, could not help but widen her eyes and gape, completely dumbfounded.
Duanmu Huai, however, remained very calm. What a joke—Lorena's Iron Fist was a standalone Soul Card. Did you think that power was for show?
One had to know that the effect of Lorena's Iron Fist matched the highest attack power on the field. In other words, Lorena's punch was no different from Duanmu Huai throwing one himself.
"Graaah…!"
Seeing all the flaming hellhounds it had split off completely wiped out by Lorena, the massive flaming monster finally seemed to feel fear. It hurriedly turned to flee, but at that moment, a pitch-black cane extended from the darkness. The sharp hook at its tip mercilessly latched onto the flaming monster's throat, dragging it straight back!
"GRAAAAAH—!!"
At that instant, the once-arrogant flaming monster became like a stray dog caught by city patrol on the street, instantly losing all its momentum. It let out a wail and struggled desperately, but the iron hook pulled back coldly and firmly. The flaming monster was now on its back, all four limbs flailing, completely devoid of its previous brutality and terror. Even the flames on its body began to dim, and the countless red eyes covering it twisted with fear!
Then, Duanmu Huai held the cane and slowly walked step by step to the flaming monster. He looked down coldly at the struggling creature, approached it, raised his right foot, and stomped down hard on its head!
"Bang!"
At that moment, even Mary could not bear to watch and turned her head away. Although she knew in her heart that this flaming monster was no good, and that it had killed many people… seeing it so helpless, like a mangy dog being tormented by Duanmu Huai, still made her feel somewhat unable to endure it.
"GRAAAAAAH—!!!"
This flaming monster was only a low-level creature and naturally no match for Duanmu Huai. With a miserable scream, it dissipated into smoke under his foot.
Immediately after that...
"AHHHHH—!!!"
A piercing scream and wail suddenly rang out, startling Mary. She quickly turned her head and looked toward the source of the sound, only to see a figure stumbling as it tried to turn and flee. Of course, Duanmu Huai would not let him escape. He gestured to Lorena, who immediately moved to block the person's path. At the same time, Duanmu Huai and Mary walked over, completely surrounding the man.
It was a middle-aged man, dressed in a wrinkled suit, clutching a leather bag to his chest as if it were a treasure. In fact, this person was all too familiar to Mary.
"Professor Čapek?"
That's right—standing before them was none other than Professor Čapek. However, at this moment, his face was twisted in agony. His skin was pitch black, and blood was flowing from his eyes, nostrils, and mouth.
"Professor Čapek! It really is you!"
Upon seeing him, Mary could no longer hold back.
"What exactly is going on? Tell me—why did you do this together with Shari?!"
"Haa… haa…"
However, Čapek seemed completely unable to hear Mary's questioning. He suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, then raised his head and looked up at the sky.
"Charlotte… at least… at least… stay conscious… broad and merciful as you are… please… you must… escape from this endless suffering… I… firmly… believe…"
"Professor Čapek! What are you talking about? What happened to Shari?!"
Mary hurriedly reached out, trying to grab his collar. Although such a rude action did not suit a noble lady like her, her concern for her friend made her no longer care about such trivialities.
However, before her fingers could even touch Čapek, a horrifying scene occurred.
Under everyone's gaze, Čapek's body suddenly began to melt. His clothes, skin, bones, and muscles fused together with his blood like melting plastic, then dripped onto the ground as if absorbed by it, disappearing completely.
Seeing this, Mary stood there dumbfounded, not knowing what to say. Duanmu Huai and Lorena also frowned, staring at the rotten, foul-smelling traces before them.
"...…"
Just like that.
A man completely disappeared from this world.
(End of Chapter)