On the street in front of the Hokuten family mansion, Mithra and Nie Hong encountered several corpses dressed in distinctly Planet Blue attire.
Their eyes had been gouged out. Mithra walked over and crushed their heads with her hammer, preventing the activation of any cursed miracles that might turn them into cursed creatures.
Planet Blue citizens had many unique characteristics, but death was death. They were just rotting pieces of meat.
The mansion was clearly different from the other buildings they had seen in Gross Town. Its size and craftsmanship were top-notch. It even had a courtyard, making it a landmark building in this town.
Perhaps only the large church in town could compare.
"Wow, this is like a dream," Nie Hong seemed quite excited by the architecture.
What was so dreamy about it?
Although she didn't fully understand, Mithra also appreciated the style, which was similar yet distinctly different from the architecture she knew from Earth. However, she wasn't as excited as Nie Hong and showed no expression. After a few glances, she turned towards the mansion's dilapidated gate.
Before entering, Mithra's left hand moved rapidly, replenishing Stabilize and Reinforce Body, regardless of their remaining duration, as a precaution.
Nie Hong imitated her, but his two-handed efficiency was significantly faster.
Seeing this, Mithra couldn't help but feel that expanding her miracle releasing organs wasn't a simple task.
She had become very familiar with several commonly used miracles, but her miracle releasing organ hadn't expanded much, still limited to her left arm.
Nie Hong, on the other hand, could use both hands, which was much more convenient in combat. At least he didn't have to worry about his left hand being severed.
Anyway, achieving "Unified Sense," the first major hurdle for believers, wasn't easy. While Mithra wasn't particularly concerned about it for now, it was a completely different matter from simply practicing miracles.
She would learn it eventually.
Lost in thought, they moved the now broken and twisted gate and entered the mansion's courtyard.
As soon as they entered, they felt the familiar sensation of being watched.
Mithra charged forward while Nie Hong retreated, throwing knives towards the source of the gaze.
Successfully avoiding the sense-blocking gaze, Mithra followed Nie Hong's knives into the small garden. They immediately heard shrieks, the sounds of flesh being impacted, of blood splattering.
Soon, Mithra emerged from the bushes, covered in gore, holding Nie Hong's knives, which she casually tossed back to him.
Mithra hefted the stone hammer in her hand.
Compared to the creepy straight swords, the familiar hammer was much more reliable.
The feedback from each strike was truly satisfying. This was the romance of blunt weapons.
Of course, bladed weapons had their uses...
Mithra snapped back to reality. Damn it, she really was getting carried away. After becoming a walking armory, she was becoming increasingly fond of weapons. The description of the price from "Valiant Fight Against a Wild Beast"— "A master weaponsmith"—wasn't a joke.
The more she used them, the more she liked them. The more she liked them, the more she wanted to possess them, and possessing them meant storing them inside her body.
Phaselos, is this the true purity of human intelligence and skill mentioned in your signature?
…How wonderful.
It was difficult for someone as apathetic as her to find motivation. It was even harder to find something she truly enjoyed.
She hoped she could become a walking armory filled with all kinds of strange weapons.
Lost in thought, she suddenly heard a loud roar coming from within the mansion, as if a large monster was lurking inside, venting its hatred.
Nie Hong jumped, gripping his knives.
Mithra glanced over calmly, then turned her attention to her surroundings. "The curse in this mansion seems stronger than elsewhere in town."
The roar seemed to have stirred something.
Amidst a faint rustling sound, a large number of cursed creatures crawled out from the surroundings.
"Why are there so many?" Nie Hong was slightly surprised.
Fortunately, these were mostly ordinary, easily dealt with cursed creatures. There weren't many of the more dangerous eyed spider monsters.
As they spoke, Mithra had already started manipulating the hammer with Control Object. Nie Hong's fingers twitched, his knives dancing.
The two worked together, the hammer and throwing knives reaping a swift harvest. To increase efficiency, Mithra took out the Night Worship Swords and, manipulating them with her own Ki, gave one to Nie Hong.
Mithra could currently only skillfully manipulate one weapon with Control Object. With two weapons, her accuracy decreased, and more importantly, the force of her attacks lessened. Fortunately, the cursed creatures here were weak enough that it served as good practice.
Nie Hong specialized in Control Object. Initially, manipulating a sword much heavier than his knives was difficult, but he adapted quickly.
Their efficiency increased again.
Covered in the black blood of the cursed creatures, they moved towards the mansion.
The cursed creatures couldn't get close to them in the short term, but their sense power was limited. They would eventually be worn down.
They both smashed through the mansion windows and ran through the hallways.
The cursed creatures pursued, but the narrow hallways and Mithra and Nie Hong's agility quickly left them behind.
After the sounds of pursuit faded, they slowed down.
Nie Hong, catching his breath, was about to speak when a blue light flashed in the dark hallway ahead.
"That's it!"
Seeing the blue light meant it was their last chance to react!
Clang!
The blue sword energy was blocked. Mithra's eyes flickered. A deep gash appeared from her left shoulder to her abdomen, like a crack in her skin.
She wasn't completely pierced because she had instantly de-materialized one of the Night Worship Swords inside her body.
Essentially "drawing" the sword internally, she blocked the incoming sword energy the moment it entered her body.
This also saved Nie Hong. Because Mithra wasn't pierced through, Nie Hong, who was right behind her, avoided the Invisible Blade.
The de-materialized Night Worship Sword pierced through Mithra, the hilt emerging from her shoulder, showering Nie Hong with blood and gore.
"Go," Mithra said, her voice still eerily calm, despite the situation.
Her calmness helped Nie Hong snap back to reality. He grabbed the protruding hilt and pulled the sword out.
"Once is enough for multiple times, I guess..." Nie Hong muttered, gripping the sword with both hands.
White Reinforce Body on one hand, red Control Object on the other.
Both powers surged into the sword. He thrust forward.
The sword flew from his hand, imbued with immense piercing power. It went through Mithra's abdomen and continued forward, impaling the approaching knight!
Mithra, despite being pierced, only stumbled. As the knight froze from the impact, she unleashed a flurry of blows with her ignited hammer, the hallway lit by flames as they engulfed the knight.
They could vaguely see the face beneath the shattered helmet. As expected, it was a cursed knight.
The proper Night Hunter knights Mithra had encountered were always courteous, saluting before attacking. This ambusher wasn't a true knight.
Mithra moved her shoulder. The wound was deep and hadn't fully healed yet, but she seemed unfazed.
Her pained smile made Nie Hong uneasy.
"Very creative. Using me as a conduit was a decisive and effective attack," Mithra nodded in approval.
Nie Hong was stunned, then rubbed his head sheepishly. "Actually...I didn't control the force well. I'm not used to using Reinforce Body and Control Object together."
"You can temporarily apply Reinforce Body transformations to external objects?" Mithra asked, ignoring his embarrassment.
Nie Hong nodded. "I can. I'm not very proficient though. It's difficult. I barely managed to learn it before the final exam."
"Teach me," Mithra said after a moment, using her usual concise phrasing.
She had been wondering how to extend Reinforce Body to her hammer. The answer was right in front of her.