Chapter 158: The Choir of Kneeling Flesh.
Chapter 158: The Choir of Kneeling Flesh.
"Took you long enough.
How was my acting? Simply exemplary, wasn’t it?"
Nolan questioned with a wide grin on his face. Lucian’s face turned colder, his eyes shone dangerously. Nolan, however, only laughed.
He already knew Lucian was not a threat, not anymore.
"I was told you were quite good at reading people. A Blood-Altered Human with enhanced senses, what could he possibly rely on to tell people apart, one may wonder. The answer couldn’t be more obvious."
Orpheus then took out a small disc-like object from his front pocket.
"Fancy little thing."
He spoke, looking at the disc.
"Changes your heartbeat however you desire, makes even the most cautious, sensitive people trust you."
Lucian didn’t say anything, he only glared at him.
Nolan didn’t care. In fact, he was in a full mood to chat.
"You have been especially troubling, Lucian Cross. Ever since our first face-off back in the Velvet House."
He smiled. Those words made Lucian narrow his eyes.
"You are..."
"Hmm? Don’t tell me you don’t know me. I am the world-famous Nolan Faye."
Then, Nolan’s expression changed and—
"Or does...
Orpheus ring any bell?"
Lucian’s face changed at those words.
Orpheus.
The hatred in his eyes grew stronger. It wasn’t just him, Alaric and the others all reacted to those words as well.
Evelyn’s body went still.
Orpheus noticed her reaction and gave her a gentle smile.
"Miss Starling, I am sorry our proper introduction had to happen like this. I had hoped the Velvet House would make things smoother."
Those words made Lucian react. His energy surged, for half a second, violet light flickered across his arms, then the suppression crushed it, the energy twisted inside him even further and—
"Kkhawrrkk!!"
He coughed blood onto the floor.
"LUCIAN!"
Evelyn screamed.
"He’s being suppressed. There’s nothing I can do to help him, they are specifically targeting him!"
Lila explained what she could understand in the little time she had. Right now, she was more focused on trying to heal him, but that didn’t seem like it was working either, or at least, it wasn’t working as fast as it used to.
Orpheus looked at the reaction, especially at Lucian’s state, and he seemed delighted.
"It’s working beautifully.
Gathering them was all worth it."
He smiled.
Lila frowned at those words. She looked around and soon, her eyes fell on the five Hosts who were the first to get here.
Orpheus noticed her gaze and his smile widened even more. It seemed as if he was pleased that someone had noticed his hard work.
"You see that? I’ve put a lot of effort into them.
They are what you people call Seventh Veil Hosts."
"...what?"
Lila’s face turned pale.
Seventh Veil Hosts...?
Then weren’t they no different from Avatars of demons themselves?
What were Seventh Veil Hosts doing here!? That too, five of them!?
"Stop panicking, they are only Lesser Demons."
Alaric spoke in his usual calm tone.
"That is right, Commander Ashcroft."
Orpheus smiled at those words.
"They are indeed Lesser Demons, but they are not ordinary Lesser Demons, they are the Choir of Kneeling Flesh."
He introduced them, and the instant he heard those words, Alaric’s face changed.
The Choir of Kneeling Flesh.
He knew about them.
A group of five Lesser Demons, who may not be strong individually. They were not even battlefield demons. They were weak, they were slow, and they had no way to physically harm the enemy—
That, however, didn’t make them less dangerous.
No.
That was the entire reason they were feared.
Because all their strength, speed, attack power, and whatnot were narrowed into one single authority.
Weight.
When the five of them were together, they could make even a monster kneel. Bones, muscles, flesh, blood, one’s very breathing, they could make everything heavy.
The worst part was one’s energy. Their collective attack could make one’s energy erratic and impossible to control.
If these Hosts truly were the Choir of Kneeling Flesh and they were specifically targeting Lucian...
Then Lucian was out of the picture today.
What Alaric did not understand, however, was...
Why?
Why target Lucian?
If they brought the Choir of Kneeling Flesh, shouldn’t they target him instead?
Why did this attack seem like they had made more preparations to deal with Lucian than him?
Of course, this thought only appeared for a very short second. Alaric knew this was neither the time nor the place to have such thoughts. Right now, he needed to deal with the problem they were facing.
The Choir of Kneeling Flesh was troublesome, but they had one weakness. They themselves were weak. Also, if he managed to take even one of them out, Lucian would be free.
So that’s what Alaric did.
He dashed towards the Choir of Kneeling Flesh and sliced off one of them—
Or at least...
That’s what he planned to do but...
Before he could reach them, two more Hosts appeared right in front of him.
These two were different from the Seventh Veil Hosts standing behind them. These looked... heavier?
They had gray skin, their eyes burned with a red light, their bodies were thick, broad, and dense, as if every bone inside them had been reinforced multiple times.
Alaric didn’t care.
He tried to slice one of them, but he blocked his sword with his hand. Alaric wasn’t surprised. He used the momentum he was carrying to punch the enemy. The Host’s head snapped to the side, Alaric heard a loud crack.
He thought the Host’s neck was broken. The way his head seemed to have bent at an unnatural angle certainly made it seem true.
But right that instant, the Host’s head popped right back in. Alaric raised an eyebrow. Just then, his instincts roared. He moved, but the second Host was already there.
He slammed into Alaric from the side, driving him into the wall hard enough to dent the metal paneling.
"Commander!!"
Sarah shouted.
She wanted to help, but her hands were filled with more enemies who had poured in.
Alaric stared at the enemy in front of him and narrowed his eyes—
"Sixth Veils..."