Chapter 16: Something Unexpected Happened

Chapter 16: Something Unexpected Happened

*Bang!* A loud boom!

Of course, that was not the sound of the old priest's head exploding!

On the contrary, Minister Bader's robust body suddenly flew backward in a bizarre manner!Updated from novelbIn.(c)om

First, he knocked away several guards, then continued to smash through a row of steam valves by the roadside, and finally crashed forcefully into the wall of a nearby building.

It was only at this moment that people noticed a pitch-black spike, as thick as a finger but over a meter long, impaled right at the location of his heart!

This spike was undoubtedly extremely hard, with a glossy black metallic-like keratinous surface, and it was incredibly fast. By the time Minister Bader had been embedded in the wall, the bricks and stones were already emitting a cracking sound, and the whooshing sound from the spike had just caught up, sounding like a peculiar and distant echo.

Sherlock watched this sudden turn of events and, in an instant, his mind completed extremely complex calculations and deductions. Such speed, compressing immense impact force within the narrow range of a thumb's thicknessjust how terrifying would the resulting injury be...

But even with such a terrifying injury, the spike had not pierced Minister Bader's chest!!

Sherlock turned his head and looked in the direction from which the spike had come. Under the illumination of the Zeppelin's bright lights, a slender figure stood quietly atop the highest tower in the entire street.

Catherine...

Beside her, there was a mass of pitch-black vegetation crawlingno, it would be more accurate to say it was growing.

Similar to some kind of vine, but each branch was as thick as an arm, intertwined and entangled with each other, covering almost the entire top of the tower. The growth of these vines was silent and imperceptible. When not illuminated by the lights, they blended seamlessly into the darkness, even eluding Sherlock's premonition.

At the center of the entwined vines, a dark black spore sac was growing, rapidly expanding...

It seemed that everyone thought the same way. Catherine stood atop the tower, finally exhaling a breath, and the esteemed Lord Priest felt the abyssal beast that had formed a symbiotic bond with Minister Bader quickly weakening in the distance. It whimpered, collapsed, motionless. Finally, the exhausted Lord Priest opened his weary eyes.

The deafening sound of the turbine on the street gradually ceased, and the remaining exoskeletons began to vent steam as they cooled down.

Finally, it was over... The taut nerves could finally relax.

In truth, everyone knew that this was a battle whose outcome had been predetermined from the beginning, for those who violated the Church's laws could only die!

...

However, Sherlock, hidden in the shadows, remained motionless. His eyes seemed even brighter, staring fixedly at the collapsed wreckage.

The gunfire and smoke carried by the bullets, the terrifying force when tearing through armor, the terrifying impact when the spikes sliced through the night... all the information once again spun rapidly in Sherlock's mind at an astonishing speed!

In an instant...

No, it didn't match the deduction's conclusion...

Almost in the same instant, countless possibilities flashed before his eyessome good, some bad.

He grew increasingly silent, increasingly alert, increasingly calm.

Finally, at the moment when the first raindrop fell on the street...

This detective, who had been hiding in the shadows all along, made a move!