[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces":3,"chapter-the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-chapter-46":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Dragon of a Thousand Faces",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2269692,4431,"Chapter 46: The Righteous Three-on-One","the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-chapter-46",46,"\u003Cp>No one expected it—no one expected—that this chain of murders would spiral into chaos involving multiple factions, exposing the rotten foundations of this city.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When you smell decay, something has likely been rotting for a long time. When you can smell sewage on the streets, the city’s entire ‘drainage’ system is probably completely rotten.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Alright, maybe that’s a bit gross. Let’s say it more politely: if you smell corpse stench on the road, check if the ground beneath your feet is covered in bodies. If you don’t see any, dig deeper—and avoid the spraying corpse fluid. Uh, that’s even worse.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this moment, Li En had begun to vaguely understand the reason behind Maria’s madness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Tail-Cutting Case had lasted no more than one or two years; before that, for eighteen or nineteen years, she had been a good nun at Fuli Academy. But what had driven her to madness—Li En had no desire to understand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He knew that the unfortunate often carried countless different burdens and justifications, too many to ever fully comprehend.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What’s it to me? The greatest mercy I can offer is to grant her release from this world. She’s guilty—kill her first, then we’ll discuss cause and consequence, then how to correct things afterward.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even though his heart wavered slightly, Li En’s voice remained calm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To understand, to respect, then to send the criminal to death—that was what he intended to do.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Compared to him, Larry was far too “innocent.” She actually considered the criminal’s motives—something dangerously reckless for an enforcer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then let this “senior” offer a bit of guidance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since we are Holy Knights, let us act as Holy Knights do: first judge guilt. If guilty, kill them first.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Judgment and understanding motives—leave that to professionals, and only for those still alive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All I can do is eliminate this criminal deserving death, to prevent the rot from spreading further.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She killed many people, didn’t she? If we let her go, won’t she keep killing? Then why hesitate? Kill her first.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“After we kill her, we’ll investigate who gave her this power.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li En’s meaning was blunt: solve the problem first, then investigate its cause.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li En had sensed something was off—Maria’s back likely concealed a vast, hidden force.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Perhaps they’ve already taken deep root in this city.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Prepare for her reinforcements. These little beasts couldn’t possibly be raised by her alone—we may be facing at least an organization.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That crazy woman clearly still has a soft heart. I told you once—her lies aren’t worth a single bit of trust—and yet I’m the one sent on errands.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Horned Adept “Heike” was deeply agitated, walking alone through the caverns with several small beasts—neither comfortable nor safe.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Especially those mercenaries, like rabid dogs, attacked her without a word. Sometimes Heike wanted to ask: who’s the cultist here—you or me? How can you be this insane?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She had also vaguely sensed that with the mass release and death of the younglings, the “atmosphere” here had become deeply wrong.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Biological instincts were being triggered; the frenzied mercenaries had already sunk into it, their aggression swelling from perceived threats.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Heike’s unease stemmed from her growing inability to control the Beast Factor, which would be further activated here.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That woman… if she’d just harvested these ‘Little Horns’ earlier, I wouldn’t have had to make this trip. Ha, sounded so decisive—yet still soft-hearted. You should’ve harvested them before leaving.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Heike was still muttering to herself, but with each kill and each embrace of the Beast Factor, her form had visibly diverged from the “human shape” she had when first arriving in this area.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her twisted, elongated ankles had become reverse-jointed, deer-like hooves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her body, originally around one meter seventy, had been stretched and thinned to over two meters; her cloak, once covering her entire frame, now hung like tattered rags over her upper body.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her inhuman features could no longer be concealed—her skin, pale as frost, resembled a corpse frozen solid; fangs oozed from beneath her mask; most striking of all were the twisted, branch-like horns atop her head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A slender, ghostly figure, still speaking human words as she moved, struggling to cling to her fading humanity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This relatively enclosed cavern, with the awakening, hunting, and evolution of the little beasts, had gradually become a sanctuary of beasts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The greatest influence wasn’t from outsiders—but from these monsters still wearing human skins.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The surrounding beasts watched him silently, needing no “relic” to guide them, unlike Maria.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In fact, her two horns were the very material of the relic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The herd followed the stronger within the pack.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Crack!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The human-mimicking monster crushed the skull of a dead mercenary underfoot and pressed forward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet she never paused to consider: in this environment, seeing a creature like her—who wouldn’t attack first?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Perhaps, deep in her subconscious, she still saw herself as the ordinary woman she once was.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I say, Boss Diguo should’ve just killed that woman outright and searched for the gems himself. Then I could’ve gotten two pieces of meat.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The monster, trying to cling to humanity through muttering, was losing it more and more.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oh, found it. Here. Right here.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Around the corner, she found the hidden door to the safe room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her slender, bamboo-thin fingers pressed against the wall’s mechanism; the stone door creaked open slowly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She—It gazed at the children still asleep inside, counting them one by one with her fingers, smiling in satisfaction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“One, two… all the Little Horns are here. The woman didn’t lie. So… maybe I’ll eat two first. Who cares if the numbers don’t add up? I’ll say I lost them on the way.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pure children held an irresistible allure for this utterly corrupted human-beast.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The mask covering her ugly face was pulled aside; beneath the single eye, a fanged maw occupied over seventy percent of her face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It leaned close, sniffed, then slowly opened its gaping maw—like a python’s jaws—ready to swallow a sleeping head whole.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Boom!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But a shield hurled suddenly struck her, sending her and her mask flying.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The damage was minor—but the humiliation was extreme. That grotesque, one-eyed ghoul-face was now fully exposed to the world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ha, ugly freak. No wonder you needed a mask.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In mockery, the man who had just leapt out—Li En—was remarkably gifted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ugly? Me? Me? Back then, I was famous for my beauty.” The human-beast still instinctively denied it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ha, you’re a woman? Sorry, I really didn’t notice.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li En’s words delivered the most direct humiliation possible to the Horned Adept, who could no longer exist in the world of beast-men.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It whirled around, azure flames oozing from its single eye, letting out a bestial roar—anger made it forget its human speech.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It tried to curse the man who mocked it, but only emitted a hideous, guttural growl—like a threatened beast baring its fangs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Judgment of the Sin Realm.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And facing its glare, this bastard man further humiliated it—using light to blind its light-sensitive eye, forcing it to blink uncontrollably.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Heike’s full attention was drawn to Li En, the climber’s ambush had reached position.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Snap!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A stone struck the mechanism; the hidden door slammed shut, sealing off the chamber containing the beast and the children.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Die, evil!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With a roar, a “Spider-Man” dropped from the cavern ceiling, trailing silk, executing a textbook Spider-Man kick.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That kick landed squarely on Heike’s face!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But before she could even steady herself, the young female knight launched another barrage—just as the senior had said: don’t overthink, just kill them first.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Sin-Cleaving Slash!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To climb the cavern ceiling, Larry’s four arms were empty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But on her remaining two swords, all her Holy Light had coalesced.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The twin blades carved silver half-arcs, precisely intersecting at the monster’s throat and chest—in a single instant, she struck four times.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This time, the crimson sinner was struck dead center.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The massive wound from the Sin-Cleaving Strike gushed blood; the other wounds were no less severe.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Who says Holy Knights don’t ambush? In Li En’s Holy Knight squad, everyone learned ambush—those who don’t are just naive academy kids.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As long as I shout before (or during) my strike, it’s not an ambush! It doesn’t violate my knightly oath!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Armor Erosion.” The one attempting the ultimate technique was Daimon, charging forward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His massive frame slammed into her, forcing the retaliating Heike to stagger backward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this moment, Daimon had actually saved Larry—LARRY, who had stripped her armor to climb, was extremely vulnerable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The fragile bones of the Spiderfolk were well known; a single impact could cause serious injury.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No race is perfect—at least not at low tiers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Snap!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The next moment, Daimon, acting as the tank, was also flung back by Heike’s monstrous strength.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Most of its wounds had healed, but the wounds from the Sin-Cleaving Strike still bled profusely, causing it to howl in agony.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But worse pain was already at its doorstep.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Evil-Cleaving Slash.” Li En’s Holy Sword, glowing silver, had reached its target.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Holy Knight squad, devoid of knightly decorum under Li En’s leadership, had successfully completed a righteous three-on-one!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1509,"2026-06-19T21:45:41.002Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","37829523b862f0cabace917c2f9b9572d403a6c16a0fb7f2ad56af22f29a07d0","the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-chapter-47","the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-chapter-45",362,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-cover.jpg"]