144 MEETING THE DEMONS
He scanned the cathedral, his eyes narrowing as they fell on the large cracks in the walls. "Did anyone check those walls?"
"There's nothing there but cracks," Bogarth retorted, waving dismissively. "We can see them clearly from here."
"Stop being a lazy idiot and check the holes again, just to be sure!" Kaledon snapped.
Bogarth, chastised, quickly ordered his men to scale the walls and inspect the cracks.
As they began climbing, the Seer suddenly raised his voice, startling everyone. "He's gone now—more than a hundred meters away!"
"What?" Kaledon exclaimed, turning sharply. "He came and left without even trying to save Petunia?"
"He's a demon," Ananda replied with a cold sneer. "Did you really expect him to care about his companions?"
"What do we do now?" Jarvis asked, his voice laced with uncertainty.
"We chase him!" Kaledon barked. "He couldn't have gone far. The Seer will guide us."
"You should release my sister now," Sakema interjected, her tone sharp and demanding.
Kaledon hesitated, glancing at Petunia before shaking his head. "No, not yet. We'll keep her here in the cathedral for now. Bogarth, she's your responsibility. Don't let her out of your sight."
Without further delay, Kaledon began rallying the others, organizing the hunt for the Demon of Gullee.
------
[Before the Seer discovered Leo was gone from the Cathedral]
"What should we do now? Everyone's hunting you here, there's no escape," Yun-Yun asked, anxiety in her voice.
"Just a second," Leo replied, his focus intense as he completed his reprogramming.
Earlier, Leo had instructed Petunia to move closer to the walls where he was hiding.
She managed to convince Bogarth to let her rest near the walls, giving Leo the perfect opportunity to unlock the magic on the tentacle artifact that had ensnared her. Now, as the last pieces of the code clicked into place, the hold on Petunia loosened.
Leo sent a message to her. "Brace yourself. I broke the lock on the tentacles. Wait for Yun-Yun to come save you."
"What?" Petunia replied, but the message was left unanswered.
"Now what should we do?" Yun-Yun asked, glancing around nervously.
"I'll leave the cathedral now and draw the Seer's attention away," Leo said. "You can save Petunia once they leave the cathedral to come after me."
"Where will we meet up again?" Yun-Yun asked.
"We don't meet here in the ruins," Leo said firmly. "You take Petunia back to Sodom City first. I'll try to shake off the pursuers before I get back."
"Alright," Yun-Yun agreed. "That's a good plan."
-----
"Kaledon told me to watch over you, bitch," Bogarth sneered at Petunia.
"Idiot," Petunia shot back, unfazed.
"I won't be an idiot when your mother marries you to me, see how I'll fuck you. And my brother too you won't escape him," Bogarth retorted with a smug grin.
"Perverts."
Petunia's eyes glinted with a sudden shift in expression, her lips curling into a sly smirk. "Come here, idiot. Don't you want to touch me?"
"Me...?" Bogarth stammered, his grin widening with eager delight. Without hesitation, he lunged toward her.
But before he could take another step, his body froze in place, rigid and unmoving.
"What... what have you done to me?" Bogarth's voice trembled with anger and fear, his face contorting as he struggled against an invisible force.
"It's the Spell of Immobility, you fool," Petunia said coldly, her tone dripping with disdain.
With a single, fluid motion, she closed the distance between them. The blade in her hand gleamed briefly before she drove it deep into his neck, silencing him instantly.
Bogarth let out a gurgled cry before collapsing to the ground, dead.
"I told you I'd kill you," Petunia murmured, her voice as sharp and unforgiving as her dagger.
"No! You killed our young master!" one of Bogarth's guards shouted, his face twisted in shock and fury.
The remaining guards roared as they surged toward her, weapons drawn, desperation fueling their charge.
But before they could act, magical hounds appeared, surrounding the guards. The hounds were vicious, tearing into the guards and leaving them badly injured.
Petunia, moving with lethal grace, finished off the remaining guards one by one—none were left alive to tell the tale.
"Here, take this," Yun-Yun said, handing her an invisibility cloak.
"Where's Leo? Should we look for him?" Petunia asked, concern creeping into her voice.
"No, we head back to Sodom City first. Leo will shake off his pursuers, but our presence here would only hinder him," Yun-Yun explained.
Petunia nodded, understanding the plan.
Without wasting any more time, they quickly left the cathedral and to make their way back through the swamp.
-----
Leo slipped out of the cathedral, squeezing through the cracks in the crumbling walls that led to the outside. Once free, he bolted, his feet pounding against the uneven terrain.
Every second counted; he needed as much distance as possible before his pursuers realized he was gone.
The air grew colder as he ventured deeper into the ruin. His eyes flicked to the glowing mini-map in his mind's eye, and his heart sank at the cluster of dots ahead.
He was drawing his enemies away from the Cathedral but instead he was moving towards potentially far stronger enemies.
"Shit. Creatures, Fucking lots of them," he muttered under his breath, slowing his pace.
Cautiously, he approached the gathering ahead, expecting to see spiders or perhaps a horde of undead. But as the figures came into view, a chill ran down his spine.
"What the hell are those things?"
They were humanoid, but their grotesque, animal-like features made Leo's stomach churn. Rams, horses, cows—their heads weren't masks or helmets but part of their grotesque anatomy. The creatures were hybrid creatures of sorts.
The sight triggered a memory.
"Yun-Yun told me about this," Leo whispered to himself, dread thick in his voice. "The malicious spirits in the Ruin of Sodom... they resurrect themselves using the bodies of the undead creatures. These aren't ordinary creatures—they're demons."
Demonic spirits could revive themselves if they found a suitable host. Lusifar was a demonic spirit that tried to take over Leo's body to revive.