Our Family Has Fallen

The fat man, however, was unfazed by pain as he swung his fists, a punch that could send a person flying upon impact.

But Reynard was not the reckless type like Lance. Instead, he had survived the war through his skills. When facing an enemy stronger than himself, he wouldn't just stand there and take the hits. He would rely on his weapons and techniques to fight back.

On the other side, Dismas quickly stepped forward and lunged. His agile figure rapidly closed the distance as he plunged the Short Sword into the skinny man's body. There wasn't the satisfying feeling of piercing through. Instead, a resistance pushed back. That's when he realized the skinny man's physical strength was far superior to that of an ordinary person.

The skinny man didn't hesitate to retaliate; the mushrooms on his body began to pulse, releasing dense spores into the air.

Without any hesitation, Dismas pressed the musket against the skinny man's hat-covered head and fired.

BANG!

The flash of gunfire was especially conspicuous in the darkness. The musket unleashed terrifying power at close range, tearing apart the hat and revealing a skull, half-rotten and taken over by mushrooms.

At that moment, Dismas had already pulled back to avoid an assault by the spores.

Balistan's offense was much more composed. Armed with a Shield in one hand and not a hammer but a torch in the other, flames proved to be much more effective against these creatures than a hammer.

Waving the torch, he burned away the spores filling the air, then thrust the torch forward, causing the skinny man to fearfully recoil. At that moment, Dismas charged again, the Short Sword slicing through...

Lance was also "struggling" in battle, diverting the female demon from the main front.

Meanwhile, he was observing and studying the female demon before him, trying to figure out how to kill her, rather than just listening to her roaring.

Do humans really have souls?

It's somewhat funny to think about; ordinary people don't even qualify to become female demons upon death.

After all, I've slain so many people and never seen a single soul. Reynard and Dismas have blood on their hands too. If this whole soul-becoming-demon thing were real, could we even still be alive?

So, in his understanding, a female demon should be a Spiritual Body—simply put, a Spiritual Agglomerate. Their appearance often came with a strong will, anchoring them so they neither dissipated nor completely lost control.

Why did Lance come to understand so much about this entity in such a short time?

Because he had something similar in his possession.

"Forward!" At Lance's mental command, the Wolf Spirit emerged from him and charged at the female demon. Its form might not be as exaggerated as the demon's, but it still outlined the visage of a wolf.

At this time, the female demon seemed to notice something; her attention, once focused on Lance, was now drawn to the Wolf Spirit.

The female demon didn't care what she was facing; she extended a claw towards the Wolf Spirit. However, Lance had no intention of using the Wolf Spirit to take on the soul-tearing attack head-on. Instead, he directed it to dodge and then launched forward, biting into the female demon.

To his surprise, he had actually managed to hurt the previously untouchable female demon. The spot on her body appeared damaged, as if it had truly been bitten off.

Moreover, not only did the female demon get hurt, but the fat man and the skinny man on the other side also exhibited a momentary pause, as if they were connected.

Reynard and his companions couldn't care less about that; they took the opportunity to inflict more damage.

But the gap closed instantly, and the recent attack clearly enraged the female demon. She opened her arms and let out a piercing scream at the Wolf Spirit.

There was no space to dodge such an area attack. The moves that Lance could withstand undamaged caused terrible harm to the Wolf Spirit.

In Lance's eyes, the clash of Spiritual Essence ended with the Wolf Spirit's utter defeat. That scream almost shattered the Wolf Spirit, triggering its limit and making it meekly return to Lance.

As the female demon charged at Lance, unleashing a frenzy of scratches, Lance calmly allowed her to attack, murmuring strange words as he observed her.

Oh~ so that's how it is...

While controlling the Wolf Spirit to fight the female demon, he had discovered the true method of attack of these Spiritual Bodies through his Spiritual Vision.

Very simple: a direct collision of Spiritual Essence, causing spiritual turbulence.

Thus, these attacks, completely unaffected by the physical laws of reality, could directly damage the core—what is called "true damage."

Lance still had the presence of mind to let his thoughts wander, but the others were not so fortunate. The female demon's cry sent both the skinny and fat ones into a frenzy.

The fat one's body was covered in wounds from Reynard's sword, and Wang Cai was focusing on one of its legs, tearing and biting until skin burst and flesh parted. This was nothing to the thick-skinned creature. At that moment, he was inflating his stomach, emitting a sour, decayed stench, and the giant mushrooms behind him started to emit smoke.

Reynard realized it was about to spew poison and quickly called to Wang Cai to run.

But instead of fleeing, Wang Cai seemed to grow excited. Reynard turned to see a greatsword materialize out of thin air.

Lance charged forward with the sword, its massive blade gaining speed from brute strength before colliding directly with the fat one's body.

The greatsword was perhaps not as sharp as Reynard's, but no one would dare question the power behind that strike.

The fat one's bulky body was knocked back by the force of the greatsword, its poisonous breath naturally disrupted.

But Lance's assault was far from over. He swung down with all his might, smashing the creature's head into its swollen body, turning it into a headless being.

Even then, it did not die. Lance swung the greatsword again with all his power, cleaving halfway through its body, only then revealing its innards: a fungally infested, honeycomb-like structure.

The wound acted like a release valve, allowing the miasma stored within to disperse all at once.

Lance had no intention of letting it get back up and immediately raised his hand to Sacrifice, purging the colossal corpse.

Reynard was somewhat surprised by Lance's arrival and couldn't help but look towards the other side, where he discovered the female demon strangely struggling with thin air.

Ordinary people couldn't see the Wolf Spirit, naturally unaware of Lance's methods.

Having dealt with the fat one, Lance then took up the greatsword and charged at the thin one. He had provided the Wolf Spirit with a bit of Spiritual Essence, but it couldn't last long; he had to make this quick.

The thin one, its slender frame a disadvantage and its spores countered by the torch, was already half-crippled. Dismas and the others just didn't know how to finish it off.

Lance went up and, without saying a word, struck the thin one with his sword, breaking it in half at the waist.

Yes, not severed, but broken—truth be told, this creature wasn't even as wide as his sword.

The Spiritual Essence returned from the Sacrifice allowed Lance to immediately Strengthen the Wolf Spirit, which instantly healed from the many wounds inflicted upon it by the female demon.

Whether it was because the fat and thin ones had died or for some other reason, the female demon stopped attacking and returned to covering her face and weeping softly.

This made Lance frown; he had felt a connection between the female demon and the two monsters, and now he was more certain of it.

However, he couldn't pinpoint the exact nature of the situation.

"My Lord, what do we do now?" asked Dismas, looking to Lord Lance.

Even Lance felt at a loss, and Dismas and the others were even more unsure, not knowing whether to approach or to retreat.

But soon, the female demon made the decision for them. Her act of covering her face and mourning was short-lived, not even ten seconds before she lost control again. Her illusionary face contorted into something fierce and twisted, capable of driving an ordinary person to madness at a mere glance.

Fear involuntarily arose in everyone's hearts except for Lance's, but an even more troublesome development occurred: two more figures crawled out from the mushroom forest.

One was dressed in a soldier's garb. Its Chain Mail was torn at the chest, with a large cluster of mushrooms sprouting through. Its head had become a skeleton, with mushrooms growing wildly from its eye sockets and mouth.

The other wore a tattered maid's outfit, with mushrooms growing randomly on its body. What was most peculiar was its upper body: it was completely enveloped in two thick fungal plates, completely concealing what lay inside.

At first glance, it looked like a pair of upright lips, but it more closely resembled a vulva...