Deep Sea Embers

The girl actually didn’t know much about these Ender Missionaries and only had vague idea that they’re cultists. However, what she did know told her they’re crazier and more extreme than the Suntists by worshipping subspace itself. As to why they’re here for her, Shirley honestly didn’t have a clue. But it didn’t matter. If they want to fight then so be it!

The huge dark hound whizzed through the air like a cannonball and instantly smashed into the nearest “Ender”. After the muffled sound of flesh and blood colliding with bones spilled into the air, the attacker flew out and crashed into the nearest wall, making an audible splat at impact.

Not missing this chance, Shirley promptly pulled the chain back and dragged Dog back to her side and swung at another. Sadly, a sneak only works if it’s done without the foe knowing.

In the ensuing fight, the black robes scattered and avoided further damage – they obviously had more combat experience than those grunts from the Suntitsts.

“Thou shall perish!” One of the black hood’s point and shout at Shirley after narrowly scraping past Dog’s skeletal head.

“How about you eat my XXX meteor hammer!” Shirley was extremely irritable at the moment and wanted nothing less than smashing the foe into mush.

The girl did just that by taking another swing with a more focused attempt. However, it’s through these new swings of her weapon that she noticed something terribly wrong with her body.

Shirley felt tired, not in a severe manner, but the exhaustion did start to get noticeable. Not only that, there’s also a strange buzzing sound plaguing her head, causing the girl to grow irate and a urge to charge at the enemy regardless of the cost to her own safety.

“My brothers and sisters, the curse of flesh and blood will not take us!” The first Ender that had taken a direct hit suddenly cried out with a chant. His body had started to make a hair-raising crunching sound from the ground as if the bones were being bent and snapped while he crawled up.

Then, as if blessed by the divine prayer, the surrounding Enders all stopped their evasive maneuvers and raised their arms in worship. The way they’re behaving was no different from someone gaining infinite courage and strength.

This shocked Shirley because she was witnessing the changes of these freaks in real time – their skinny figures had begun to expand, twist, and crunch from being bent and extended. First it was the arms that grew longer with the nails turning into wolverine like claws. Then secondly, those legs had bent into an animalistic shape, similar to Dog’s back hind legs to give it more jumping power. Lastly, that face had turned feral with vampiric fangs that extended past the lips. They’re truly more beast than man at this point.

“What kind of thing is this XXXX!” Of course, Shirley did not sit around to let them finish their transformation. Almost simultaneous to their change, the girl had flung her chain in a wide arcing whip at the nearest foe. It made a perfect hit, fracturing bone and snapping tendon at the impact. Although the Ender in question wasn’t killed on the spot, it did interrupt this one’s mutation, meaning one less foe to deal with afterward. Unfortunately, the drain on her strength had also increased, as well as the urge to violently charge and die with the enemy.

“These Enders are crazy XXXX who voluntarily embraced subspace! Both their words and presence are carriers of pollution!” Dog’s unprecedented impatience suddenly sounded in Shirley’s mind, “Don’t let them continue their prayer! Smash whichever bastard that speaks! And don’t look them in the eye!”

Between the electrifying moment of life and death, a cold glint suddenly shot out from the edge of Shirley’s peripheral vision. She instinctively wanted to dodge, but the bone spear came way too fast and stabbed her right in the arm. This directly hindered the girl’s ability to swing the chain and counterattack, which only got worse by the ever-increasing drain on her stamina.

Taking advantage of this opening, another Ender spread open his arms again and chanted a vicious prayer: “Thou shall not heal…”

“Bang!”

“Get lost you XXXX!” Shirley rounded the crazed bastard’s head with Dog’s own skull, causing a huge splat of brain and blood to smear across the nearest wall. But then in the succeeding exchange, a sharp stinging pain speared into the girl’s back and made her hiss.

A spike made of pure bone had stabbed straight in from Shirley’s back and out through her chest. If the girl’s body hadn’t been toughened up by Dog’s demonic symbiosis, she would’ve surely died right on the spot.

Still, Shirley’s body didn’t fall and involuntarily stumbled forward instead. Alarmed and horrified, Dog promptly got in front of his partner to block the attackers who wanted to pursue, opening his mouth to spew a blast of corrosive black acid. This forced the Enders to back off, leaving Shirley to lean in against the nearest wall for support.

But that didn’t matter for the enemy. The contamination was done on their part. Although a shadow demon’s ability to resist corruption was high, Shirley was still mortal at her core. First, the muscle tissues would convulse and lose control, then it would be her mind’s awareness until everything turns to darkness.

“…… XXXX With so much effort, I only killed three of them…” Shirley spat the excess blood and groaned at her pitiful state.

“It’s not bad already,” came Dog’s equally pained and sluggish grunt. As the first line of defense for Shirley, the dark hound’s condition was far more severe and effected, “These Enders are priest-level bastards, not the rabbles we mowed down in the basement of those Suntist gatherings. Us fighting them is equivalent to sieging the Storm Cathedral… It’s not a loss at all.”

“What XXX not a loss? They’re a bunch of adults beating a harmless little girl and her dog. They’re shameless bastards that only knows how to fight with numbers.” Shirley still wanted to beat the enemies to a pulp if she could.

There were three Enders still standing in the room, all of them had turned into bloodied deformed monsters that’s more beast than man. And like a hunter to a prey, they most certainly wouldn’t respond to Shirley’s taunt.

Knowing her words were useless, Shirley looked around the wrecked-up home with a sad face: the table got flipped, the cabinet smashed, her few pieces of clothes now ruined. Even the oil lamp, which was the only valuable piece of item in the home, was now destroyed!

“I only had this much and you’ve destroyed it all!” Shirley deflated at seeing her only possessions ruined. Sliding down painfully against the wall, the girl started to tear up and sob: “Bastards, I’ll make sure to pummel you all bloody later…”

No answer came though, only a volley of bone spikes.

Then, everyone slowed to a crawl as the projectiles flickered with phantom images in mid-air. A ball of green flame had suddenly materialized in the middle of the room, putting up a wall between the girl and her assailants.

“Our fighters are at war with the enemy… Teleportation successful!” From the intrusion came a hideous undead bird and a shrill voice that sounded oddly familiar.