"What about after that?"
The Silver Mage said with a bitter smile, "How will you extract the flesh? If your life heads down the wrong evolutionary path, it will be very difficult to correct later."
Philomena answered confidently. Now wasn’t the time to consider so much; survival was the first priority, and only by staying alive would they have the luxury of being selective.
She led the team members out of Church headquarters. Having suffered heavy casualties was a grave dereliction of duty. The remaining people had to survive; it was her responsibility and determination as a leader.
The group took a moment to regroup on the spot, surrounding the briefcase in their midst, then followed Philomena into the fifth floor of the hotel.
To be precise, there was no longer a fifth floor; the Death Essence had eroded it, completely erasing the space where the fifth level once had been.
This was still just the periphery. The central combat zone had nothing left; looking down from a superior position, the five-story hotel collapsed, leaving three of its structures fallen, the space below dark as if it were a cliff.
Unable to find allies, Philomena was anxious. She prayed for the opponents to shake hands and call a truce, so everyone could join forces against an unknown enemy.
A loud noise came from the back and to the side, and hotel’s exterior walls and windows were shattered as more than ten figures in Black Robes slowly walked forward.
Philomena fixed her gaze on the group. The four individuals in the lead wore white masks, their true faces concealed.
The masks spoke volumes; they were some kind of Magic Tools, related to barriers that ensured the four individuals could move freely in the mirrored reflection, unaffected by the Inverted World.
The remaining eight robe-clad figures, unmasked, looked as cold and ruthless as professional soldiers, each one armed with a submachine gun.
Well-prepared, they clearly knew about the existence of the Forbidden Magic Domain long before.
Upon seeing these people, Philomena waved her hand for her own people to retreat to a corner and said coldly, "Windsor’s Magic Department, right?"
Chester replied with a sneer, "You can think that, or you can consider us to be Black Sorcerers from Frank. What we are doesn’t matter; you are all going to die today."
"And what if I destroy the traded item?" Philomena retorted defiantly.
"I don’t know what the traded item is. Our mission is to eliminate all of you, to ensure that the Moonlight Church cannot enter Windsor." Chester spoke ambiguously, resolutely not offering Philomena any chance to pry information from him.
Considering that speaking freely could lead to a slip-up, he simply gestured with his hand, directing the eight soldiers to advance, forming a line to initiate a barrage and begin suppressing fire.
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat————
In the narrow corridor, the submachine gun was the absolute ruler; with just one machine spitting fire, it could dominate the scene, proclaiming equality amongst all beings.
Because of the Forbidden Magic Domain, Philomena couldn’t activate the Life Barrier. Faced with overwhelming firepower, she was forced to retreat further into the corner.
The eight soldiers were well-trained, maintaining their formation as they advanced. If one fired, the others would follow, executing suppressive fire without wasting a single bullet.
Seeing this, Philomena had to think of another way. She gestured for the five team members to cover the briefcase and leave—ready to destroy it if necessary.
She would cover the rear.
The five knew that staying would only hinder, praying for the High Priest’s safety as they carried the briefcase towards the staircase to retreat.
As the soldiers reached the end of the corridor with their guns pointing towards where Philomena had hidden, they saw nothing.
At that very moment, the wall beside them exploded and silver-white sword light gracefully sliced through the air.
Philomena overturned the wall, leaving multiple afterimages in her wake, her long sword sweeping past the necks of the eight soldiers, almost instantly passing by them in the blink of an eye.
Her feet never stopping, she ran swiftly towards the end of the corridor.
Behind her, the eight soldiers’ necks split open without blood flowing out. White flecks of flesh squirmed, and the wounds closed in an instant.
Four dark gun barrels aimed at Philomena. A deluge of bullets fell like a heavy rain, enveloping her retreating figure and passing straight through.
Behind the corner, Philomena switched the sword to her other arm; her right hand hung at her side, an even colder expression in her eyes, "Alchemical transformation, magically altered life forms, it’s definitely Windsor’s Magic Department..."
She looked at her arm, bleeding incessantly, and without further thought, she crushed the Sealing Bottle containing the Star Beast’s flesh and used the piece of flesh to block the bullet wound.
Only magic could counter magic. If the opposition altered life forms and interfered with evolution recklessly without regard for consequences, then she would change as well!
"Chase after her. Her body is very important; I need to confirm it myself."
Chester commanded, taking a different path to chase the briefcase on his own, leaving three of his colleagues to command the soldiers.
As a Golden Mage himself, he had heard of Philomena’s reputation—a crazy woman, apparently dignified and elegant, but capable of anything when pushed into a corner.
Just to be safe, it was better to deal with the Silver Mage over there, who seemed easier to bully.
After Chester left, the three men in masks commanded the soldiers to pursue Philomena, their mouths spewing filthy insults non-stop, attempting to provoke her into losing her rationality and choosing to confront them head-on.
The sound of gunfire pointed the way, drawing the attention of a stealthy figure.
Wayne peeked out to see three Black-Robed figures with their backs to him, fifteen meters away—a perfect opportunity for a stealth attack to take out three enemies.
Mona held her breath and followed behind Wayne. When he peeked out, she also saw a butt facing sideways to her.
"Stay here and don’t move. I’ll be back soon. Until I command, don’t reveal your ability to use Magic Power."
Wayne communicated telepathically, and cautiously moved towards the three Black-Robed figures. The situation in the field was clear; even a blind person could tell that those in Black Robes were the villains.
They had established a mirrored Life Barrier, a Forbidden Magic Domain, ignoring the ordinary people in the hotel and carrying out unspeakably inhumane slaughter.