Yiran yelled back, “I’m trying to kill it, obviously.”
“With abaseball bat?”
“That’s all I had in my trunk.”
Their loud voices agitated the Revenant. It snarled, limbs flailing toward them.
“Move!”
Rui shouldered Yiran out of the way and loaded Teshin’s crossbow with metal spikes.
She set her sights.
Now.
Her aim was true. But when the spikes hit the Revenant, their crimson light fizzled. They fell, tinkling uselessly on stone, the dissonant music rattling her. Why wasn’t the magic working?
The Revenant pounced.
Rui leaped out of the way. Cold sweat broke across her forehead as she thought of her next move. No time for barrier spells. If any civilian was foolish enough to wander into the area, they’d have to fend for themselves. Quickly, she pulled out a talisman and cast a binding spell instead.
Spirit ropes wrapped around the Revenant. This time, the crimson light burned into pallid flesh.
Relief was sweet. But that moment of respite was short-lived.
The Revenant screeched, scratching at its throat as if trying to tear its skin apart. Within seconds, it broke free of the binding spell. Clearly, it wasn’t an ordinary Revenant.
Thiswas the Revenant Ada warned her about.
The smell of rot in the air was increasing, and with it, an acrid sulfur stench that burned Rui’s nostrils. Something strange was happening to the Revenant. She watched in horror as its mouth opened in a silent scream, expanding wider and wider. Until it gaped beyond reason. Until it looked like the monster was swallowing itself whole from the inside.
From that chasm of a mouth, something else crawled out.
A newborn creature with distorted limbs and bulging eyes. Its long black hair writhed like snakes and its hungry dark eyes had a reddish tinge. Its gray and bloated face was morphing into awoman’s face.
A Hybrid? But it didn’t look like one. It looked like an evolutionary mistake, trapped between human and monster. The creature arched its spine, flinging its head upward at the night sky. It let out a piercing cry, and violet tentacles burst from its back.
The light from Rui’s blades flickered as she shuddered at that awful, unholy sound. She had never seen a Revenant like this before. Not in real life, not in her textbooks. She could hear Ash’s sardonic voice in her head.This is why Exorcists work in teams.But there was no time to call him or Ada or Zizi or anyone else for backup. She was the only thing standing between this hungry monster and certain death.
She exhaled, and her crimson blades grew stronger and brighter. Spite was a powerful motivator; if she killed this Revenant by herself, she could rub it in Ash’s face.
“What the fuck is that thing?”
Song Yiran was still standing a few paces away, transfixed by the terrible sight of the monster.
“Why didn’t you run when you had the chance?” she yelled. His presence was a distraction. She had to keep an eye on his safety.
“I don’t run,” Yiran said, jaw hard.
Rui glared. Didn’t he understand she had no time for his bravado nonsense? “Then shut up and don’t get in my way.”
She faced the Revenant again, shooting a few energy bolts at the creature’s torso.
The Revenant dodged. But it was moving slowly now. Was it unused to its new form? If it had less control of its new body, she could take advantage of that. She shot another series of bolts at one tentacle as a test.
The Revenant screeched. Scorch marks pitted its flesh.
Rui grinned. From the way they burned, she guessed the tentacles were filled with yinqi. They were her target. But she had to get closer.
