“Daughter? So that lump of flesh is Campbell? I never imagined he’d keep a backup plan.”
Mann watched from the side, saying nothing.
The lump of flesh approached Laila and conjured a hand to gently caress her face.
“My… dear daughter, in the end you still can’t escape assimilation with me. As expected, fate is on my side.”
Watching the two slowly fuse, an ominous premonition spread through Mann’s heart despite himself.
If the Blood Demon re-merged with Campbell, no one could predict what would happen next.
‘No way, I absolutely can’t let him succeed!’
Mann made up his mind on the spot. He instantly covered his body with Holy Light, rushed into this space, and charged straight at Campbell, landing a fierce kick.
That sudden blow didn’t push Campbell far back. A charred footprint on his chest still emitted a few wisps of smoke.
Though the fusion was forcibly interrupted, the damage from Holy Light was extremely limited.
Campbell raised his head and looked at Mann, who had barged in, his eyes full of wariness.
“Mann Matthews? Why are you in this space?”
But Mann ignored him completely. He crouched down and grasped Laila’s wrist.
He didn’t know if Holy Light could be used on a person, but in this situation, it was worth a try.
As his thought stirred, Laila’s body began to emit a faint Holy Light.
Then the bizarre cross started to peel away, as if suffering immense pain, curling up and falling still to one side.
‘It worked. Even if this level can’t sever the link between Laila and the Blood Demon, at least it can immobilize her for now, so I won’t have to fight on two fronts.’
Campbell immediately sensed something was wrong and lunged at Mann.
“Don’t even think about it!”
The flesh on his arm began to proliferate rapidly, and in no time it grew to the height of a person.
“Die!”
The giant hammer smashed down toward Mann.
Even so, Mann remained calm. He merely chanted softly in his mind:
‘Retrospection.’
A loud crash followed. The violent force shattered the giant arm, sending flesh flying everywhere.
As for Mann, he had returned with Laila to the entrance he had originally torn open, looking at the panting Campbell with a mocking expression.
“What? Already out of steam?”
Faced with the provocation, Campbell wasn’t angry; instead, he gave Mann a sinister smile.
“Too bad. But my target isn’t you.”
“And it seems you haven’t noticed that you’ve lost something.”
“…”
Looking at the cross of flesh that had almost completely merged with Campbell, Mann’s expression turned serious.
‘So that thing wasn’t just for restraining Laila? I really was outplayed…’
Even without knowing what else it could do, he knew he couldn’t just let it be absorbed.
Just as Campbell was gloating, Mann used Time Leap to instantly appear before him.
He formed a dagger of Holy Light and stabbed fiercely at the eerie cross.
To his surprise, an endless tide of flesh suddenly surged from within the cross.
Mann’s Holy Light held out only for a moment before being completely suppressed by the flesh.
‘What the hell is this thing?’
Gritting his teeth, he tried to break free from the mass of flesh, but it became harder and harder to exert any strength.
‘Should I use it? The last Time Rewind?’
If he used it, that would mean losing his final trump card.
“Don’t forget you’re still inside the Blood Demon’s body. In this space, I am invincible!”
“I don’t care how you got in. Now just die in peace!”
As Campbell kept increasing his power, Mann was soon pushed to his limits.
“Rewind… Rewind…”
Campbell sensed the anomaly. The Mann he had just been crushing had suddenly vanished.
A rapid, ragged breathing reached his ears. He followed the sound and saw Mann kneeling on the ground.
“What? Already had enough? You’re shaking all over, you know?”
Mann didn’t even have the strength to retort.
Due to the massive expenditure, his right shoulder and entire arm had turned faint and flickering.
‘Damn, the erosion has increased… If he absorbs Laila too, then all my efforts so far will be wasted.’
‘But what trump card do I have left to stop him?’
Clearly, Mann himself knew—he had no way out at this moment.
“Mann… big brother… is that you?”
‘What?’
“Are you Laila? Or…”
Mann spoke softly, but his eyes remained fixed on Campbell.
“I know you… don’t trust me. But on the point of not wanting to be absorbed, our interests… align.”
“What do you want to do?”
“Throw me… out of this space!”
“…What?”
While Mann was still shocked, Campbell shot toward them at extreme speed.
“No time to hesitate! Do you want all of Uncle Matthews’s efforts to go to waste?”
Those words awakened Mann. No matter what, he couldn’t let the worst-case scenario happen.
Steeling his resolve, despite the intense pain throughout his body, he picked up Laila and leaped with all his might toward the opening he had made.
“Run? Dream on!”
Campbell raised his arm, and countless proliferating flesh tendrils flew toward the gap, even faster than Mann.
“I win.”
Campbell stared at Mann, laughing coldly.
But in the next instant, Mann once again conjured a Holy Light dagger. With a fierce swing, he tore a new opening beside the first one.
“Bye-bye! Have fun by yourself!”
His voice was heard, but he was nowhere to be seen.
Campbell stared at the new opening, boiling with rage. He felt like he was being toyed with like a dog.
And because his consciousness had merged with the Blood Demon, he couldn’t leave this space.
“Damn it! Damn it!”
He attacked everything around him in fury, but it was only impotent rage.
“Mann big brother, are you okay?”
Laila supported the gasping Mann, involuntarily worrying about his condition.
Maybe it was because she could only rely on him now, or perhaps a pang of guilt deep in her heart.
After all, she had been a participant in his misfortune.
“…Still alive.”
“What do we do now? Do you have a way out?”
Faced with Mann’s question, she seemed hesitant.
“I do… but it’s probably going to be difficult…”
Outside, Dulufu had been tirelessly using a Holy Light Barrier to cover Mann’s body. Because of that, the erosion rate was greatly slowed.
“Sir Dulufu, it’s almost two days now. We can’t keep this up forever!”
The Knight Captain, exhausted, listlessly asked Dulufu.
“But this is the only thing we can do. At least we can buy Mann some time.”
“Young Master Mann… he will definitely be fine!”
“I believe in the Holy Son.”
Viscount Matthews looked at everyone, silently marveling that his youngest son now had such reliable companions.
His heart was filled with emotion.
“Everyone, please give it a little more effort…”
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