Constance nodded with a smile.
Then everyone sprang into action, Jason began directing the servants to take down some valuable paintings and objects. The team would first return to the Church, leaving the servants and objects behind, and then everyone would head to the eastern district of the city.
Watching the servants remove the gold items from the furniture as if moving house, Malin began to ponder a question.
What should he say when he sees Faye?
It was the truth... but, would he get hit for it?
In the end, Malin decided to act as if nothing had happened. Illness comes from the mouth, misfortune from the tongue; sometimes, it’s better to care for one’s own life a little more.
At that moment, the butler Jason came over with a tube in his hand and handed it to Malin, "This object would be most fitting for you to keep safe, Master Malin."
"What?" Malin caught the tube, opened it, and then pulled out a painting.
"It’s a portrait of Miss Faye when she was six years old." Butler Jason said as Malin had already unrolled the painting.
In the painting, Faye was small, with long hair, and her face bore a tranquil smile.
Malin slung the tube over his back, "I will take good care of it."
"I believe you will," the butler said with a smile and turned away.
Malin adjusted the strap of the tube and started to think about what to say when he encountered Faye.
Sorry, they’ve dismantled your room, but I’ve brought back your portrait.
...Hmm, the responsibility was not his, and he had both made an effort and contributed; this should settle the matter.
The firefight on the streets had just ended, and Colin couldn’t wait to follow a team of Punishers into the alley’s room; according to the information, this was the entrance to the underground passage leading to the Array.
Upon opening the door, Colin saw an elderly man lying on the sofa, gasping for air, with two Chaos-transformed bodies lying in front of him.
"Are you Ter?" Colin checked his face and found it almost identical to the one in the portrait.
"I am," the old man gasped, clutching his abdomen, but blood was seeping through his fingers.
Colin glanced at his wound and knew there was no saving him — his liver had been pierced. By the time emergency services arrived, the old man would probably have died from excessive blood loss.
"What should we do now?" he asked the old man.
"Don’t— don’t trust every Sinking Fish, some fish..." the old man stopped breathing.
A Punisher glanced at his companions, "What was he trying to say?"
Colin reached out, closed the old man’s eyelids, "He probably meant to say, some fish are dead."
Colin finished speaking and lifted the two corpses, noting the Chaos structure on their faces and the gun muzzles. He looked up at the Revolver beside Ter’s hand, "These must be the other two fish, they have been corrupted. They are probably the ones who killed Mr. Ter."
This meant they had lost their guide. Thinking of this, Colin turned to look at the Mentor and Bishop Karna of the Church of the War God who had just entered the room, "Mentor, Your Excellency, Mr. Ter has died in battle, and the other two fish have been corrupted, it was most likely them who killed Mr. Ter."
"So now, who can guide us in the right direction?" Bishop Karna of the Church of the War God crossed his arms.
Hoffman pointed smilingly to the east, "Just head this way; wherever there’s a heated battle, that’s where we go. The presence of Chaos marks our way forward."
Colin nodded, "Mentor, I’ll lead the team underground."
"O’Neil, accompany our brethren down there," Karna turned and instructed his disciple.
The young human nodded with a smile, "Yes, Mentor."
The two young men led the team into the underground passage. Colin shook his head, pulling the filter mask hanging around his neck, "It really stinks here, O’Neil, are you okay?"
"I was born in the slums where the poor live, and it stinks worse than here." O’Neil finished speaking and secured the helmet to his head, "Shall I take point?"
"No, I’ll take point." Colin shook his head.
The two young men looked at each other until they both extended their hands simultaneous.
Colin had his hand open while O’Neil held a hammer, and so the former proudly walked to the front, indicating for his squad of Punishers to stay to his left, and O’Neil with his subordinates on the right.
Colin walked a distance forward and stopped, noticing that the lighting system had been turned off.
O’Neil came up beside him and shone a flashlight down the passage, "There’s nothing, why stop?"
"My younger brother told me, anything unusual is a problem," Colin said while he turned on the ultraviolet light beneath the muzzle of his gun. He raised the barrel and illuminated a Wraith.
In an instant, O’Neil drew the Revolver from his waist and pulled the trigger at the ghostly figure.
Colin reached out, grabbed O’Neil, and dragged him back, while pulling out a violet light grenade from his waist and tossing it down the passage.
As the grenade activated, O’Neil looked on, pale-faced, at the multitude of Wraiths in the corridor — if they had followed his command just now, all of them would probably be dead.
The Punishers had already commenced their attack. The argent bullets could cause multiple casualties, and the sacred Spell Formations could wipe out swathes of Wraiths. Once the element of surprise was lost, the Wraiths stood no chance against the Church’s cohort of Punishers, and in just a few seconds, there were no more signs of Wraiths in the corridor.
"Thank you," O’Neil said to Colin.
Colin laughed and patted his shoulder, "We are comrades now, facing adversity together."
"Yeah." O’Neil nodded, and then caught the constant violet glow light and Magic Lamp thrown by Colin. They began repairing the lighting in that section of the passage to avoid further Wraith attacks on the personnel following them.