Chapter 103: Counter-Ambushed

" if you find any mistakes or misspelled names. Let me know—thank you!"

"It will take at least one or two days—tonight, this evil curse ritual won't be activated."

Klein looked at the yellow crystal pendant rotating counterclockwise, then turned to the captain and his two teammates gathered around him.

"Excellent. That gives us plenty of time."

Dunn nodded and addressed Leonard beside him.

"Take Klein and drive to the Northern District's Ahowa County garrison camp. Find the military chaplain there first—reveal your identity and inform him of the situation. He'll know how to get the army's assistance. We need them to deploy five heavy artillery pieces. Their range is extensive—they won't need to reach the Western District. From the northern suburbs, they should be able to provide covering fire on this location."

He pressed the crudely drawn map that Leonard and the others had sketched that afternoon into Klein's hands.

"Have them aim and fire."

Klein felt an inexplicable excitement that flushed his face red as he took the map and carefully tucked it away.

"No problem. We'll head for the Northern District immediately."

Leonard snapped a mock military salute and walked toward the carriage parked by the roadside.

As he passed Angel, he turned his head and silently mouthed: Good method.

She silently responded: Learned from Enmat Port.

Leonard roughly read her lips, the corner of his mouth turning up in a smile as he took two more steps forward.

The instant he walked past Angel's side, Leonard's lower back suddenly received a tremendous force that sent him flying through the air.

Barely managing to twist his body mid-flight, he saw clearly that Angel's raised foot hadn't yet been withdrawn.

And at his original position, a black flame dagger materialized, floating in the air.

"Enemy attack!"

The Midnight Poet's trembling voice rang out. Before hitting the ground, he had already drawn his gun from its shoulder holster, aiming at the dagger's position.

"Bang—"

The gunshot and the sound of his body hitting the ground rang out simultaneously. Where the bullet had flown, only empty air remained—the black flames on the dagger had converged, and the entire weapon vanished.

Invisibility! It's that Witch!

Without wasting bullets blindly, Leonard used his hands and feet to scramble up from the ground, gun held at the ready in alert.

"Witch! She's taken the initiative to attack—form up!"

All four Nighthawks present, Klein included, were experienced in dealing with enemies capable of concealing their forms. Knowing the opponent's first strike had failed and she would certainly seek another opportunity, the four immediately clustered together, standing back-to-back in a defensive circle.

"Bang—Bang—"

Two consecutive gunshots rang out.

Angel lowered her right hand, having fired a live round into the ground behind her, then discharged the "Phantom Phosphorus Burst" loaded in the second chamber.

Glowing powder instantly enveloped the four Nighthawks and the space around them. The phantom phosphorus particles shone with pale yellow radiance, slowly drifting down and transforming the country road under the night sky into something resembling a fairyland.

Yet among all this, there was no fifth figure.

Could the Witch have discovered her prey had become alert and, unable to strike, simply fled?

Leonard held his gun while scanning the area. The dreamlike phantom phosphorus powder caught the breeze rising from the Tussock River bank and gradually drifted laterally. Soon it would disperse from around them, but at present, only the four Nighthawks remained visible, their outlines glowing faintly from the adhering powder.

...Be careful of spider silk—that's a Sequence 6 Pleasure Witch...

"It's a Sequence 6 Pleasure Witch! Watch for spider silk!"

Leonard shouted, his gaze following the hint in his mind. Soon he spotted several threads that had been touched by starlight, moving deceptively slowly but actually approaching quickly, winding toward the group.

Dunn and Klein also noticed the faintly visible spider silk. They aimed and pulled their triggers, bullets whistling past, but the projectiles could do nothing against these slender strands.

"Use fire—spider silk fears flames."

Angel's clear, cold voice carried a trace of urgency. Both she and Leonard had witnessed the power of this kind of spider silk before. If they couldn't quickly locate the invisible Pleasure Witch or burn the webbing, it wouldn't be long before they could only await death.

Klein, closest to the carriage, reacted with quick eyes and nimble hands. Hearing the need for fire, he immediately stepped forward, seized the oil lamp from the carriage, and hurled it to the ground. Oil splattered everywhere, the pungent smell instantly enveloping everyone.

Flames shot skyward, drawing irregular patterns across the dirt road surface.

The airborne spider silk caught fire immediately, like lit fuses carrying flames in all directions before converging toward a single point.

That was the Pleasure Witch's position!

Without waiting for Leonard to voice a warning, Dunn Smith lowered his pistol. His left hand touched his temple, both eyes closing slightly as an invisible wave spread outward from him, most of it surging toward where the spider silk originated.

Even Leonard, standing beside the captain, felt his eyelids growing heavy, his thoughts becoming sluggish, as if he might fall asleep at any moment.

Is the captain really only Sequence 7...

He bit his tongue tip, using pain to stimulate his brain and wake from the drowsy state. Leonard looked at Dunn beside him with some trepidation.

The captain's eyes had completely closed—he seemed to have entered a dream while standing. About thirty meters ahead, illuminated by the faint crimson moonlight, a continuously shifting space appeared, like light refraction caused by heat rising from noon pavement.

It's the Pleasure Witch! Though she wasn't completely hypnotized, she's exposed herself under the captain's interference.

"Over there!" Leonard shouted loudly, raising his gun to fire first.

Angel fired alongside him, discharging a "Phantom Phosphorus Burst." The bullet traced a phosphorescent trail, closely following Leonard's shot to strike the distant space that moved like water ripples.

"Boom—"

The bullet exploded, creating another cluster of phantom phosphorus powder drifting near the Tussock River bank.

Leonard's bullet also found its mark accurately, though what followed was the sound of shattering glass that he had expected.

Mirror fragments marked by light powder scattered across the wheat field—the Pleasure Witch had once again concealed her form.

But there were no mirrors nearby. How had she used "Mirror Substitute"?

...They can carry specially crafted small mirrors as spell-casting materials, but the number of uses is limited...

"It's mirror substitute again—she shouldn't be able to use it many more times. Everyone stay alert!"

Leonard immediately relayed this information to his teammates. His loud shouting also served to intimidate the Pleasure Witch of unknown origin, hopefully making her retreat in the face of difficulty.

The group that had scattered due to the attacking spider silk reformed beside the still-blazing whale oil.

"Captain, can you locate her again like before?"

Angel opened her revolver's cylinder, ejected the remaining cartridges, and replaced them all with "Phantom Phosphorus Burst" rounds before turning to ask Dunn.

"I need to find the general direction first, or you'll be affected before she is."

Dunn squinted, using the Sleepless's dark vision to search for the enemy's figure in the surrounding wheat fields. But the opponent seemed determined not to reveal herself before the flames died out. The surroundings remained completely quiet except for the breeze rustling through the heavy wheat stalks.

"No, she's deliberately stalling for time..."

Leonard felt unease stirring in his heart. He turned to look at the distant two-story house, which still emanated an aura that repelled approach, though the bone-deep chill had already disappeared.

"The divination shows the curse ritual won't activate so quickly. What's the point of delaying this brief time?"

Klein remained confident in his divination's accuracy.

"Unless it's for..."

"She has companions—definitely trying to disrupt the ritual, take the key items, and escape!"

Angel's exclamation cut off Leonard's murmuring. Everyone's faces changed dramatically as they looked toward the house that had already restrained its chill.

The same chill appeared less than ten meters beside them. Frost spears thick as arms formed in the air one after another, flying toward the Nighthawks like scattered celestial petals.

Strange... even separated homophones can be blocked