This was the first time she had witnessed such a disgusting thing.
Even with Cipher's composure, she couldn't help but feel extremely nauseous.
She almost gagged on the spot.
As for Meng Xingyao, she could no longer hold it in and began to retch directly.
She felt relieved in her heart that Sister Cipher had rescued her in time just now; otherwise, she probably would have been sent flying by this thing.
"..."
In the next second, this mass of flesh emitted a series of strange sounds.
Cipher frowned—the thing's cry sounded like it had been polished with sandpaper, resembling neither language nor clear sound.
Was it a language barrier? Or was the sound too low?
In any case, she couldn't understand what it was barking about at all.
But amidst the blurred noise, she clearly captured one thing: all of the opponent's pupils suddenly turned toward her simultaneously, like cold needlepoints piercing through the mist.
Cipher: (*ﾟﾛﾟ)!!
Being stared at so intensely by this thing, the hairs all over Cipher's body stood on end instantly, and goosebumps crawled across her skin.
Her two cat ears, even more uncontrollably, stood straight up.
"..."
Another series of incoherent murmurs came through, like noise polished by sandpaper.
But Cipher had no time to listen closely—she grabbed Meng Xingyao, her figure like lightning tearing through the air, and vanished from the spot instantly.
When she stopped, a loud "boom" echoed behind her; that mass of tumors had crashed heavily onto the position where she had just been, making the ground tremble slightly.
Just as Cipher leaned down to observe the thing's movements, its crimson pupils suddenly turned like venomous snakes, locking onto her firmly.
In an instant, two asymmetrical wings behind it flapped frantically, carrying a foul wind as it lunged forward at a low altitude!
"Those broken wings are so crooked... how on earth are you even flying?!"
Cipher complained subconsciously, her figure already retreating like an arrow from a bow.
"Cat Sister! That thing is chasing us again!"
Seeing the disgusting creature chasing after her once more.
Cipher's pupils constricted; she scooped up the Little Princess, her figure turning into an afterimage as she retreated rapidly.
During this time, she keenly discovered that the aura emitted by this monster when it moved was very similar to the dark red mist on the other side.
Although she didn't know its background, it certainly wasn't anything good.
To avoid affecting the surrounding crowd, Cipher prepared to slow down and lead it toward the other side of the venue, ensuring those innocent people wouldn't be caught in this bloody pursuit.
"Little Princess, hide quickly!"
Cipher threw Meng Xingyao to a safe place and then intentionally stayed put to wait for the opponent.
"Come on, you ugly thing, let me teach you—the cats of Dolos aren't that easy to catch up to!!"
After dropping the provocative words, Cipher had already disappeared, leaving only a few golden afterimages in her place.
And as expected, the monster chased after Cipher.
Cipher Σ(ﾟ∀ﾟﾉ)ﾉ: No way, are you really just picking on me, this one cat, to pluck bald, meow?!!
The ensuing pursuit turned into an absurd game of cat and mouse.
If Cipher ran east, the thing chased east; if Cipher darted west, it crawled west, as if pulled by an invisible thread.
Only, its footsteps were always half a beat slow—Cipher would already be thirty meters away before it crashed into the ground with a "thud."
During this process, although Cipher had tried her best to avoid the crowd, many people were eventually caught in it, bleeding and dying violently on the spot.
Meng Xingyao clearly noticed this as well and shouted urgently.
"Cat Sister, don't just focus on running! Counterattack!"
Hearing this, Cipher was immediately displeased and snapped back directly.
"It's easy for you to say, do you think I don't want to counterattack? The problem is, with such a disgusting mass of tumors, where am I supposed to even land a kick? If you're so capable, you do it! This Cat would rather circle the Blue Star with this thing than touch it even once."
She looked at the monster's disgusting form again, and her stomach began to churn once more.
Meng Xingyao (๑˙ー˙๑): That reason is truly impossible to refuse...
With that thought, Meng Xingyao took a deep breath, intending to take action herself.
On the other side.
Golden lightning continued to gallop within the massive venue.
Cipher always maintained a distance between them, not pulling too far away but not getting too close either.
She also began to ponder a solution in her mind.
Because while running, she discovered one thing—this thing didn't just emit harmful substances.
The tumor itself seemed to carry some kind of mental pollution; if one stared at it for a long time, a situation similar to losing sanity points would occur.
Although the impact on Cipher was currently negligible.
The retreating crowd around them was gradually developing mental disorders.
The groups that had finally been organized for an orderly evacuation actually began to fight amongst themselves.
Regarding this, Cipher really didn't have any good solution.
After all, she couldn't fly.
And she couldn't exactly lead this sanity-draining thing out onto the streets outside the Anime Convention.
Just as Cipher was multitasking, walking the "dog" while thinking.
"..."
"Ha, is this incompetent and ugly fellow barking uselessly because it can't catch up to a nimble cat?"
Listening to the opponent's murmurs, a smile curled at the corner of Cipher's mouth; she deliberately scratched her ear, her tone full of mockery.
However, when Cipher's gaze swept across the nearby crowd who were bleeding from their orifices and twisting in pain.
The original relaxation and flippancy on her face melted away like ice and snow, replaced in an instant by seriousness and alertness.
Cipher (ᗜ`˰´ᗜ): Not good, I underestimated this ugly thing.
I can't slack off anymore; I must take the initiative to attack, otherwise the number of casualties will be immeasurable.
Electric light flashed as Cipher suddenly skidded to a halt.
She lowered her body like a leopard, limbs close to the ground, eyes sharp, clearly poised and ready to launch a fierce counter-offensive.
Seeing the cat in front of it suddenly stop, the blood-red pupils atop the Extraterritorial Creature's head squirmed with excitement.
In the next moment, its irregular body suddenly tore open at the waist, the opening gaping like a bloody maw, as its entire body lunged toward Cipher amidst a foul wind.
The latter's azure pupils constricted. She exerted force with her feet, her figure like an arrow leaving the string, just about to pierce through the enemy in a "straight to the stomach" fashion, when she suddenly heard a massive "boom"—
A thick, rainbow-colored beam of light, as wide as a heavy truck, suddenly exploded.
It burst forth with blinding light, instantly enveloping the twisted flesh monster completely, as if it were swallowed by a flowing rainbow tidal wave.
Cipher (=ↀ⩊ↀ=)?: "Meow?!!"
Rumble!!!
The originally enclosed Anime Convention venue tore open from the inside out, the ground shook violently, and the entire space rocked intensely.
Almost everyone present witnessed that rainbow that broke through the sky.
Only Cipher, her hair disheveled like grass swept by a gale, stared with burning eyes at the perpetrator of it all.
At this moment, Meng Xingyao held her magic wand tightly with both hands; the blue gemstone at the tip of the staff was still vibrating slightly, emitting wisps of heat.
Cipher (๑•̌.•̑๑)ˀ̣ˀ̣: "The legendary Rainbow Cannon? Did this Little Princess hide her strength so deeply?"
(Fumina: These things sounds like a combination of Flesh That Hates from SCP, Collapsals from Arknights and The Propagation Swarm.)