Chapter 176 - Synthetic Beast
Rebecca quickly realized that it was the Victor's squad and the group squatting at location C who took the advantage from the other end of the alley, while the members of the cult were being blocked by them.
A rapid footsteps chased after them from behind. Rebecca alertly turned her head, only to see another group of her team members running towards them.
"Captain!" the intermediate inquisitor leading the group spoke.
At the same time, from the opposite side of the village road, the figures of the last group of people approaching rapidly appeared. With this, all members of Rebecca's team had arrived at the scene.
"The target is in the alley. Surround the entrance and encircle them! Category two target, magic devouring bullets!" Rebecca issued a brief order and led her team members towards the alley entrance.
With enemies on both sides in such a narrow alley, fifteen in the front and twenty-five in the back, these cult members would find it hard to escape even if they had wings!
The inquisitor skillfully set up a cordon near the alley entrance, and aiming their guns at the alley from various angles. Rebecca personally stood by the alley mouth, using the corner of the house as cover to peer into the alley.
In the dark alley, the gray-robed and white-robed nuns shielded the man dressed as a priest and a black-robed nun in the middle, they resisting the inquisitor that were attempting to pursue them.
Rebecca judged that the situation was settled. Just as she raised her hand to command her team to advance from this direction, a terrifying roar erupted without warning.
In surprise, Rebecca saw the priest's body suddenly expanding, almost bursting through his long robe.
Then, the priest reached out and grabbed a nearby nun, hurling her with unimaginable force towards the pursuing inquisitor.
The nun's body flew like a cannonball, catching several inquisitor off guard, knocking them to the ground.
Rebecca instinctively held her breath. This terrifying strength and the inexplicable expansion of the body, could it be... a werewolf!?
"Assault! Open fire!" Realizing they couldn't let the opportunity slip for the enemy to attack the pursuit team, Rebecca immediately aimed at the priest and fired.
With several gunshots, the remaining few nuns used as human shields also fell, while the priest, struck in the back, staggered but didn't fall. Furthermore, his body inflated like a balloon, rapidly transforming into a terrifying monster nearly four meters tall.
His lower body became goat-like, covered in black fur, with his feet turning into hooves, only his torso maintaining a humanoid form. But Rebecca also noticed bat-like membranous wings growing from his back, and a thick tail with colorful patterns extending along the monster's spine—this monster's tail was actually a snake.
The priest turned his head towards the alley entrance, his head also transforming into goat-like features, with sturdy, sharp horns protruding from the top. Among all his facial features, only his mouth evolved in a different direction, becoming filled with sharp teeth reminiscent of a feline predator.
In that instant of eye contact, Rebecca's blood almost froze. This... monstrous creation, resembling a blasphemous amalgamation, left her with a faint sense of recognition.
Synthetic beasts, A technique created using forbidden life alchemy, forcibly merge different species of animals and even monsters together to create entirely new species.
Many alchemists and witches have attempted such experiments. Rebecca had seen various forms of synthetic beasts in alchemist workshops, but they were mostly corpses— as far as the known, life alchemy technique that forcibly merging different creatures was utterly impractical technique with a low probability of success and survival.
Therefore, even these heretics who dared to defy taboos in pursuit of knowledge would not easily attempt to splice humans with other creatures. Not only was the cost of such crimes high, but the success rate was also unreliable. ȓＡℕô𝐁ʧ
After cases of suspected artificial human corpses were reported to the local police station, the Inquisition Bureau speculated that there might be alchemists proficient in life alchemy within the Bountifull Goddess cult. But now, it seemed their estimate was far too conservative.
The priest who transformed into a synthetic beast reached out and grabbed the black-robed nun who had been following him all along. With his current immense stature, he could easily grasp her waist with just one hand.
Rebecca instinctively thought he was going to hurl the nun as a weapon, so she preparing to respond, but to her surprise, the priest instead held onto the nun and pressed her against his chest and folding one of his wings over her.
"Category 3 target, terminate!" A command came the from the other side of the alley. Senior inquisitor Victor issued the order to abandon capturing and kill the target.
For the Inquisition judges, Category 2 targets were spellcasters, while Category 3 targets were large-scale monsters. They had never anticipated engaging in combat with Category 3 targets on this operation, so the equipment they carried was primarily geared towards humans rather than monsters. Standard bullets and Magic devouring bullet were inadequate against such massive targets. In this unfavorable situation, they had no choice but to resort to lethal force.
Rebecca quickly responded, issuing the same command. The massive body of the synthetic beast formed by the priest nearly occupied the entire alley. With no need for precise aiming, they could fire without worrying about stray bullets hitting their own team on the opposite side.
As the synthetic beast bathed in the rain of bullets, it suddenly spoke, uttering an incomprehensible incantation in a non-human voice: "■▇▇▉▄■■█▃▅"
In an instant, Rebecca felt something forcefully entering her mind. Her head throbbed with pain, and everything in her vision twisted and distorted, the waves of nausea overwhelming her. Check latest chapters at noᴠelfire.net
Mental contamination!!
Relying on her remaining rationality, she understood her current situation first, thanks to the special training she underwent to deal with mental spells when she was appointed to capture Priscilla earlier.
Leaning against the wall of the alley, she struggled to speak, reciting a spell to stabilize her mind. Thanks to that The extreme discomfort eased slightly.
At that moment, the massive body of the synthetic beast suddenly burst out of the alley entrance, nearly brushing past her side, it's using its horns to directly send two inquisitor guarding the alley entrance flying as they were distracted by the mental contamination.
After leaving the narrow alley and gaining more open space, the synthetic beast leaped with incredible momentum, spreading its wings widely while carrying the black-robed nun, and took flight.
Rebecca, still holding her throbbing head with her right hand, fired several shots with her left hand towards the synthetic beast that was flying into the sky until her gun ran out of bullets, and managing to hit it twice.
However, the synthetic beast seemed completely unaffected, and quickly ascending into the distance and disappearing into the night.