Chapter 17: The Fallen Nun’s Frenzy

“Hehehe, so there are still two stragglers left.”

The nun, her left hand covering her face as she wiped a smear of blood from the corner of her mouth, slowly pushed herself up, her right hand braced against the ground.

Her black and white habit, along with the white stockings on her legs, was stained with crimson blood.

Two fangs seemed to have sprouted in her mouth, and a flicker of excitement gleamed in her scarlet pupils.

“You… what exactly are you…?”

Lucia seemed utterly stunned by the scene unfolding before her.

Despite the attacker being human, a fellow nun even, why was she slaughtering her companions?

Why were they devouring their own kind?

While Lucia remained frozen in bewilderment, the nun lunged forward, closing the distance in an instant.

‘So fast!’

Lucia snapped back to reality, summoning two silver gunblades to her hands, yet it was already too late to parry.

“Bang—”

Just then, an abrupt, thunderous sound erupted beside Lucia’s ear.

A silver streak of light tore through the air, striking the nun directly in the shoulder, instantly repelling her lunging body to the side.

Turning her head, Lucia saw Lovelenica holding two revolvers, one black and one white.

Exquisite patterns were etched onto their slender barrels, and their exposed mechanical structures resembled intricate clockwork.

A cross was inscribed on the white gun’s body, while the black one bore a red rose and runes Lucia couldn’t decipher.

Wisps of black smoke still curled from the barrel of the black gun, and the air was thick with the scent of sulfur.

It was this very weapon Lovelenica had just fired.

“This creature has fallen; she’s become a vampire. Don’t just stand there! Finish her!”

Having repelled the fallen nun, Lovelenica intended for Lucia to retreat temporarily.

Judging by the aura emanating from the fallen nun, she had clearly reached the Impure rank, a foe Lucia might not be able to handle.

To protect Lucia, Lovelenica had even revealed her own weapons.

These two revolvers had been chosen and crafted for Lovelenica by Liliana.

Lovelenica had carried them since arriving in the Kingdom of Arcadia, intending them for self-defense before she had fully mastered her nun abilities.

After Lovelenica had completely learned the abilities of a Decapitation Nun, these revolvers had remained unused.

Now, however, Lovelenica could hardly draw a sword in front of Lucia.

This method served perfectly to differentiate their fighting styles; using guns only required aiming and pulling the trigger, thereby revealing none of her vampiric abilities.

Lovelenica intended to fire a few more shots at the fallen nun, but then a resounding crash echoed.

The fallen nun had, with a single claw, ripped a massive hole in the church wall, through which she then escaped.

“Why… why would a nun turn into a vampire?”

Lucia was clearly still reeling from the shock of the preceding events, utterly unable to comprehend why a nun would transform into a vampire.

“Don’t dwell on it for now. Once we capture her, we’ll understand everything.”

Noticing that Lucia had yet to fully regain her fighting spirit, Lovelenica urged her not to overthink, but to focus on the battle ahead.

“What a rich aroma… This youthful essence on you both truly makes my mouth water…”

The fallen nun’s voice drifted from outside the church.

As her words faded, the doors of the other houses in the village inexplicably swung open, and from within them emerged ghoul after ghoul.

“You fiend… what have you done to the villagers here!?”

Only then did Lucia fully grasp why not a single villager had been seen in the hamlet.

It turned out they had all fallen victim to the fallen nun’s vile touch.

Clutching the hilt of her sword tightly, her anger sharpened her senses.

She vowed to avenge the villagers, and even more so, the nuns who had perished within the church.

“I merely granted these villagers true eternal life. Attack them! Kill them!”

The ghouls shrieked, charging towards the two women.

Lucia knew that while these villagers still moved, they were nothing more than animated corpses.

Confronted by the encircling horde of ghouls, Lucia did not retreat; instead, she advanced.

Shielding Lovelenica behind her, she plunged alone into the midst of the monstrous crowd.

Silver flashes of sword light continuously arced through the mass of ghouls.

Under the relentless swing of her gunblades, the ghouls toppled one after another.

Watching Lucia dance through the horde of ghouls, Lovelenica nodded with a sense of relief.

It seemed the previous training of the original body had indeed been effective.

Once she overcame her psychological hurdles and could perform to her full potential, Lucia was clearly a dependable ally.

“Well, well, to handle these ghouls so easily… it seems you possess a Tier 3 standard.”

The voice drifted down from the top of the clock tower.

Lucia and Lovelenica looked up, seeing the fallen nun perched atop the spire of the clock tower.

Bathed in moonlight, her expression was one of utter madness.

She bared her teeth in a wild cackle, gazing down at the two women below.

“If I drain your blood, I’ll grow even stronger! Die, both of you!”

“Thwack—”

A sound of tearing air preceded the fallen nun’s incredibly swift leap from the clock tower.

Her sharp claws carved a crimson arc through the air, and the fallen nun seemed to envision Lucia severed at the waist, blood gushing forth.

But in the very next second…

“Clang—”

A grating screech of metal filled the air as Lucia brought her two gunblades up, firmly blocking the fallen nun’s assault.

“Wh—”

Before the fallen nun could finish her word, Lucia’s sword slashed across her jaw.

Had the fallen nun not recoiled in time, her head would have been severed.

“H-how is this possible?”

Now it was the fallen nun’s turn to panic.

Logically, a nun’s direct combat prowess was not typically formidable, so why was this nun before her so entirely different?

Just moments ago, she hadn’t even been able to react to the fallen nun’s attack.

Yet now, in both speed and strength, Lucia seemed to be subtly overpowering her.

In truth, Lucia’s failure to block the fallen nun’s earlier attack was entirely due to her being in a daze, bewildered and shocked by the events unfolding in the church.

That confusion had allowed the fallen nun to succeed.

Now, however, Lucia had resolved to fight.

As a Decapitation Nun, how could her direct combat strength be weak?

Immediately after repelling the fallen nun, Lucia began chanting a holy text, preparing to bestow a blessing upon herself.

The fallen nun, having once been a nun herself, naturally understood the effects of Lucia’s blessing.

Though she could no longer utilize similar blessings, she knew that once Lucia’s blessing was complete, she would undoubtedly be no match for her.

‘Perhaps it would be best to flee now,’ she thought.

‘After all, I’ve already consumed the blood of so many nuns; one less won’t make a difference.’

The fallen nun leaped upwards, soaring towards the rooftop.

She cast a dismissive glance at Lovelenica on the ground below, knowing that at this range, Lovelenica’s revolvers wouldn’t inflict significant damage, making her a non-concern.

But just then, the fallen nun caught sight of something: Lucia’s fingertips were laden with no fewer than six gunblades.

“Trying to escape?”

“Boom—!!!”