Chapter 126: Equilibrium

The conversation outside the carriage continued:

"You go up now and finish off the detective, then we'll take this woman away together. Since the Church has already tracked down where we took Lawrence, we're likely in big trouble next. That hermaphrodite is truly damned; they didn't even manage to trick the people that cult wanted before dying. Lawrence is a rare, suitable vessel for the descent of the 【Lord of the Blood Banquet】... Hurry up and do it. Don't use a Ring Ringed Ringed Shushi's methods to kill, or it'll be easy for the Church to track us."

Xia De adjusted the direction of his coat hem, revealing a portion of the revolver at his waist.

"I know that, of course."

The man with the local accent said, then cursed with something so foul that even Xia De couldn't translate it into Chinese:

"You always make me do this dirty work of killing."

"Stop the nonsense and go. Do you want to wait for a Ring Ringed Ringed Shushi squad from the Orthodox Church to arrive?"

Then came the sound of shoving.

The man with the local accent was somewhat short. After being pushed by his companion, he climbed onto the carriage while cursing. The tall man, wearing a black headscarf, had a scar on his face. In this early summer season, he wore a short-sleeved sailor shirt, and his black trousers were adorned with silver rings.

He reached out to grab Miss Beiya, who they had thrown on the ground, but the female sorceress, who had been lying face-up, suddenly opened her eyes:

"Equilibrium!"

"What?"

A golden shimmer spread out like ripples from Miss Beiya's eyes, passing through the body of the man in the headscarf. He shivered instinctively but found he hadn't suffered any harm at all.

Shock and shame surged into his heart, and he swung his fist toward Miss Beiya's head. The young girl with long brown hair raised her hand to block, but unexpectedly, the moment they made contact, the fist exploded.

This was the guy Xia De had seen besieged by the Orthodox Church at the silver shop; he hadn't expected him to have escaped capture.

Even though Miss Beiya was prepared, she was still blown away, hitting the wall heavily before stopping. She quickly flipped to her feet, while the man in the headscarf didn't pursue, instead looking at his hand in surprise:

"Why have I become weaker? This level is only two rings? No, what did you do?"

He remembered the word "Equilibrium" the young girl had spoken when she opened her eyes, and he had a guess. He reached up to take off his headscarf and gave it a light flick; the soft cloth strip actually became rigid, until the man swung it, creating a whistling sound as it broke through the air:

"Even if you can use a strange method to weaken my miracle, can you affect an artifact?"

As he spoke, he raised his hand and lashed the "cloth sword" at Miss Beiya. The ridiculous sword left a black trail in the air.

But Miss Beiya wasn't panicked. She lifted her right foot and lightly stuck it to the wall behind her, then stuck her left foot to the wall as well. She stood on the wall just like that, and before the man could follow up with his weapon, she reached the second floor of the building.

This narrow, claustrophobic alley was a tight space between two three-story buildings. It was usually cold and damp even during the day, and very few people entered, so even though Miss Beiya stood vertically on the wall, pressed against the pipes, no one would notice:

"Let the detective go. He is just an ordinary person and has nothing to do with this."

The girl high above said, her small black leather shoes firmly stuck to the wall. Only because of gravity, her long brown hair hung downward, slightly obstructing her view.

The man holding the "cloth sword" sneered:

"What ability do you have to negotiate with me..."

Bang~

The man had only spoken half a sentence when a gunshot rang out from the carriage behind him. The sound was somewhat muffled and didn't travel far. It was only because of the alley's enclosed structure that the echo kept reverberating:

Miss Beiya's face turned pale:

"You actually killed him."

Although she had known the detective for less than a day, he was a decent person, and he had been dragged into this because of her. Beiya didn't know how to react for a moment, but soon, that regret and sadness turned into anger:

"You people are truly the scum of the world. At the Lake View Manor, with Mrs. Lawrence, and here—how many more innocent people do you intend to kill?"

Bell chimes rang out, steam whistles blew, and white steam mist surged behind the girl standing vertically on the wall. A massive metal life ring emerged. The high-speed rotating ring rubbed against the wall, scattering sparks. Ring Mages only revealed their life rings when fighting with all their might; at this moment, Miss Beiya was clearly enraged.

The man holding the cloth sword saw this and hurriedly summoned his own life ring. The quadrilateral cross-section indicated he was a four-ring mage, and the floating elemental spirit runes highlighted the Ring Ringed Ringed Shushi's power.

The black iron rune 【Decay】 flickered with spiritual luster, and black light attached itself to the cloth sword. The man swung the sword upward, and blade-shaped light flew from the surface of the 【Artifact】, approaching the female sorceress high above.

Most of Miss Beiya's life ring was obscured by the steam that hadn't fully dissipated behind her. She waved her arm, forcefully blocking the black light. The man below cursed again:

"Why are you so weak again? Damn it, what method did you use? This isn't a Ring Ringed Ringed Shushi's normal power!"

He looked at the life ring behind him, confirmed there was no problem, and just as he was about to make his next move, he felt a muzzle pressed against his head from the side:

"I'm very curious, if a bullet hits your head, will you still be able to survive?"

Xia De, with blood splattered on his lapels, asked in a low voice. He looked up at the girl standing on the wall:

"Although I don't know what this is... magic or sorcery, I think a person without a head shouldn't be able to survive. Now, please put down the weapon in your hand. Did you wrap an iron rod inside the cloth strip?"

He asked, nudging the man's head with the muzzle of his revolver:

"Put it down, or I really will pull the trigger."

The man stood there with a frown. A few seconds later, he let go, and the "sword" in his hand immediately fell to the ground, even bouncing a few times.

"Good. Do you have any other weapons on you? Miss Beiya, I think you can come down now."

Xia De said.

He knew his own strength. Even with the state of divine radiance, he was only a one-ring mage after all. He had no confidence facing the four-ring mage in front of him, and he absolutely couldn't pull the trigger of the gun in his hand, so he hoped Miss Beiya would get closer as soon as possible.

"I have no weapons."

The man said, looking up at the girl on the wall. The latter was naturally happy to see Xia De was still alive.

With a light jump, she landed on the ground, but just as Miss Beiya crouched to absorb the impact, the man suddenly pushed Xia De and turned to run toward the other side of the alley.