Chapter 3: The Activation of the Evil Fire

As the evil soul servants died, the Demon Princess was in the Black Iron Square, receiving worship from the Dark Believers. Destruction always begins with internal decay, and the successful surprise attack on Thors this time was closely tied to the covert support from within the Dark Believers.

The Dark Believers of Thors City ranged from high-ranking officials to common merchants, forming a vast network. Yet those gathered in the square were none of the key players—instead, they were mere pawns ready to be sacrificed easily.

Even a wisp of flint has its meaning and value, and the value of these Dark Believers lay in their desecration of the Church of Light. The Lord of Light had shaped humans in His own image and showered them with favor. What could be more ironic than their blasphemy and betrayal? Of course, there was another reason the Demon Princess refused to admit—only humans were the best beings to overthrow the faith of Light. For anything else, whether it was an old church or a small shrine, as long as it had gathered divine power through devout faith, the demons would have to pay an unimaginably high price to destroy it.

“The dogs are quite amusing!” the Demon Princess said, giggling. She enjoyed watching struggles in torment, especially since she was in an excellent mood. The Dark Believers had already defiled the church’s doors and were advancing inward. Before long, the Thors nobles hidden in the church’s cellars would become utterly helpless sheep, forced to stare wide-eyed in terror as they awaited the darkness’ ravages and torments. At the thought of those heavenly screams of pain and desperate cries, every cell in her body trembled with excitement. Pain, fear, hatred, greed, lust… all negative emotions were the source of joy and power for the demons.

She glanced up and saw an obsidian puppet striding by. The Demon Princess smiled slightly, recited a spell in the language of hell, then snapped her fingers. A thumb-sized beam of thick green light shot toward the obsidian puppet and vanished into its forehead in an instant.

The obsidian puppet immediately began convulsing. Its movements made it clear it was in extreme pain, but it had no vocal cords to express its suffering, leaving only silent screams.

Cracks then spread across the puppet’s forehead and rapidly covered its entire body. Evil, poisonous green flames burst from every crack. With a loud explosion, the obsidian puppet shattered, and flying shards of burning stone sprayed several nearby Dark Believers, covering them in blood as they cried out in agony. The Demon Princess, meanwhile, covered her mouth and giggled delicately.

From the shattered body of the “Black Butcher” emerged a human-shaped puppet wrapped in burning green flames. Compared to the “Black Butcher,” this evil fire puppet was much slimmer, standing just over 2 meters tall. Though it appeared robust, it lacked the oppressive presence of the “Black Butcher.”

However, the twisted air around the Evil Fire Puppet and its eerie gaze made it clear to anyone with eyes that this creature was far more troublesome than the “Black Butcher.” The chain axe, coated in Evil Fire and glowing with a sickly green light, silently spoke of madness and ferocity. Even the bravest would be terrified just by seeing such a wicked weapon, their hearts in turmoil. Unlike the hasty escapes of the Evil Soul Servants, as if rushing to be reborn, the Evil Fire Puppet moved steadily yet purposefully, its footsteps pounding like war drums, leaving behind massive footprints glowing with Evil Fire as it headed toward the western district.

Having overly sharp senses—too keen ears and a keen sense of smell—wasn’t always a good thing. At least until Neo learned how to filter out distractions or block them out, these abilities mostly brought suffering. Dying cries and screams came from the cold wind, including those of children. Even from a distance of a kilometer, the smell of blood and the putrid stench of the dark creatures mixed with sulfur could be clearly detected. A tragedy was unfolding, and the entire city was completely shrouded in the shadow of darkness and destruction—a fact beyond dispute.

As far as Neo knew, Thors wasn’t some showy woman. The combination of sharp black iron weapons and the Kingdom’s Wind Fang Infantry was nothing short of a formidable armor set, forcing anyone who tried to mess with Thors to consider whether they were ready to suffer excruciating pain.

After much thought, Neo still couldn’t figure out what tactics the dark forces were using to launch such a perfect ambush at such an opportune time. Of course, he soon realized this wasn’t something he should worry about right now. Not to mention the distant threats, he was currently naked, covered in cuts and stains, cold, hungry, and in pain. He didn’t know when another monster might appear, and in such a desperate situation, he needed to save himself first.

Perhaps because he had attended the public trial earlier and then fled in panic with the crowd, the owner of this room wasn’t around, which saved Neo a lot of trouble. Finding flint and steel, he lit the fireplace and began collecting armor from the two Evil Soul Servants. Although wearing armor wouldn’t save him from being instantly killed by higher-level demons, capturing a city as large as Thors couldn’t rely solely on high-level demons.

It wasn’t easy for demons to reach the surface, and the higher they were, the harder it was for them to break through the divine barrier. Dark puppets, dark worshippers, degenerates, and the undead—these were the most common evil soldiers. Against them, armor was indeed worth having, even if it meant wearing less heavy gear.

Neo didn’t plan to hide completely inside the armor. As a swordsman familiar with various types of armor, he had his own preferences: greaves only up to the kneecaps, no leg armor, no skirt armor, only the front half of the chest plate, only the left shoulder plate, no arm armor on the right, and a certain helmet. This combination reduced the weight by nearly half and minimized the noise from friction and collisions.

After choosing one, Neo casually threw it into the blazing flames of the fireplace and then gestured to select the next. The main purpose of burning them was to prevent the armor from being tainted by evil forces; another reason was that the shiny effect of these ceremonial armors wasn’t what Neo needed—reflecting light even in snow would definitely not serve the purpose of escaping.

After dealing with the armor, Neo rummaged through his belongings to find some dry, fitting clothes. Then he jumped into the kitchen tub. Though not as clean as water from an outside well, it was still stimulating enough. Nervously, he quickly scrubbed himself with soap. He needed to get rid of sweat and body odor, leaving as few traces as possible that could lead to his location.

Jumping out of the tub, Neo shook and combed his wet hair, then casually grabbed a piece of tablecloth to tie it back. This was a side effect of his wolf transformation—after each transformation, even if he had been bald before, he would end up with shoulder-length hair that was hard to distinguish from true fur.

Wearing the slightly loose but dry clothes, and just as he fished the roasted armor out of the tub, Neo heard heavy footsteps like war drums and smelled the scorching scent of sulfur—Dark Puppets! He could even imagine their muscular, towering figures, engulfed in hellfire, exuding an oppressive presence…

Whether they were after him or not, Neo wasn’t willing to take any chances. He quickly packed up his armor, stuffed a few pieces of cured meat and a small bag of flour into his pack, slung it over his shoulder, and rushed out like a fugitive. Before leaving, he kicked the two corpses into the fireplace flames. He also left the richer of the two money bags obtained from the evil soul servants in a conspicuous place.

Boom! Almost immediately after, the Evil Fire Puppet broke through the wall, spewing scorching flames from its mouth and nose. Its eyes, glowing like molten lava, scanned the surroundings. It didn’t chase in Neo’s direction—more precisely, it still didn’t know what target it was supposed to hunt. The Evil Fire Puppet walked over to the fireplace, took a look, reached in to pull out the burning corpses, and began gnawing on them like a barbarian eating roasted meat.

Neo didn’t know that the Evil Fire Puppet could gain strength and important information by devouring the corpses of evil soul servants—such as the appearance and height of their targets, or even the taste of Neo’s blood that the servants had licked. Even if he had known, he would have been helpless. This Evil Fire Puppet was far stronger than the Black Butcher, and the gap in their strength was enormous. In a direct fight, Neo wouldn’t stand a chance, even if he could transform back into his wolf form.

The killing and chasing were still concentrated in the main streets. Panicked people thought in a linear manner, filled only with fear and a tendency to follow the crowd. In contrast, the alleys in residential areas were relatively peaceful. Occasionally, a few figures could be seen, but mostly there were only barking dogs, with sounds of fighting seeming distant.

The clouds grew lower, the wind weakened, and the snow intensified. With his keen hearing, Neo could clearly hear the sound of the snow falling.

In the bitter cold, Neo was both cold and hungry, but such suffering was well within his tolerance. In a way, he was like a wolf—capable of eating several meals at once or going days without food, knowing gratitude yet always free in spirit. Neo didn’t know much about Thors, but with his abilities, he wouldn’t get lost. He headed west, aiming to leave Thors City as quickly as possible. However, when Neo saw the shimmering, wave-like light barrier along the outer edge of the city walls, he realized that he, like all the other residents of Thors City, was now a prisoner. Rather than believing that some fool had tried to keep demons out of Thors City but failed to activate the barrier in time, Neo preferred to think that this energy shell had long been in the hands of the dark forces, becoming a powerful tool for imprisonment and isolation. “An entire day and night—this is interesting…” Neo began to seriously consider his options. “Hiding in one place isn’t necessarily safe, and wandering around is equally dangerous. Three or four hiding spots are necessary, and they need to be chosen carefully based on how time progresses and circumstances change. First, a remote location.” Neo’s gaze fell on a spot slightly west of due south. If he remembered correctly, that was Thors’ slums. From a value perspective, it was less likely that those areas would be searched, even by the dark forces.