Lucas Reeve transformed into a flash of lightning, and with a single slash, a dozen heads instantly fell to the ground.
That speed was simply too fast.
The men had no time to react. The Mafia members who had been continuously attacking the large shield protecting the mother and daughter only now noticed that this baffling, ghost-like humanoid monster was the most troublesome foe, even more so...
...than the legendary assassin, Vulpisfoglia.
At the very least, Vulpisfoglia's speed couldn't be this terrifying. Faced with so many of them, Vulpisfoglia wouldn't dare to engage head-on; a direct confrontation would be certain death.
A group of them adjusted their aim and pulled the triggers of their crossbows, targeting Lucas Reeve.
Vulpisfoglia was currently very weak and trapped inside that strange metal contraption. As long as they killed this troublesome opponent, Vulpisfoglia and her daughter would surely die.
Looking at the sky full of crossbow bolts raining down like a curtain of water.
A flicker of light passed through the eyes of Lucas Reeve's materialized body, which was identical to one of flesh and blood.
His mind buzzed.
The Transparent World fully activated.
Lucas Reeve's mind operated at high speed, like a top-tier graphics card rendering a movie, its rotational speed no less than that of a helicopter's propeller.
Under the enhancement of the Transparent World.
Everyone and everything in Lucas Reeve's vision, even time itself, seemed to freeze, attacking him at an incredibly slow pace. All Lucas Reeve needed to do was slightly move his body to effortlessly dodge all the attacks.
However.
An ordinary person would find it difficult to maintain such a state for long.
After all, a mortal's brainpower has its limits.
But Lucas Reeve's Spiritual Power was immensely strong. Operating the Transparent World was as simple as a 3090 running League of Legends; he didn't even need to exert himself.
What seemed like simple movements to Lucas Reeve.
Appeared as a miracle to these Mafia members.
Lucas Reeve's body moved so fast that afterimages were visible, effortlessly dodging crossbow bolts that should have been impossible to avoid.
They all stared, wide-eyed and speechless.
Suddenly!
Inside the steel fortress, Lisa let out a violent cough.
Lucas Reeve's body, poised to attack again, flickered like an old, malfunctioning television, flashing between solid and translucent states.
Tsk...
Lucas Reeve had overestimated Lisa's current Originium energy reserves.
And he himself was a massive consumer of Originium energy.
Coupled with the fact that his previous energy consumption hadn't been fully restored.
Lisa was struggling to support him.
But, after a moment, Lucas Reeve's solid form solidified once more.
Lucas Reeve could already picture the little girl, Lisa, struggling to hold on.
The corners of his mouth turned up slightly.
He decided to end this quickly.
*Snap!*
He snapped his fingers again.
The surface of the drone high in the sky lit up once more, and a mechanized female voice emitted from within.
[Fire support ready~]
The drone's bay doors opened.
A piece of equipment shaped like a metal box was ejected, instantly piercing through the roof and embedding itself in the ground beside Lucas Reeve.
*Pshhh...*
As white mist escaped.
The metal box opened.
Small Funnels flew out from the metal box, linking with Lucas Reeve's mind.
Controlling these Funnels didn't consume Lucas Reeve's power, only his mental energy. Each small funnel had its own independent power supply.
This weapon was custom-made by Lucas Reeve for himself.
An ordinary person simply couldn't use it.
After all.
Although Funnels have fully automated control, this automation is clumsy and easily targeted. To perfectly unleash their potential, they require manual control from Lucas Reeve.
Controlling twelve Funnels at once while also fighting himself.
That was equivalent to thirteen-thread processing.
An ordinary person truly didn't have this capability.
Only someone with Lucas Reeve's immense spiritual strength could possibly achieve this.
Many of Lucas Reeve's inventions over the years had limited practical application, being tailored only for himself, making it difficult for others to truly use them.
Like these Funnels.
Thirteen-thread operation.
Or the Titan's artillery system, which required simultaneous control of multiple targeting reticles.
A normal person would have been flustered long ago, and the excessive mental drain could easily cause them to pass out.
And at this moment.
These Mafia members were already somewhat numb.
What the hell were all these things!!
What was in the sky, and why did things keep flying down!! First that giant shield, and now these little airplane-like things. Why was it all high-tech stuff they had never seen before.
In Siracusa, where machetes clashed.
Lucas Reeve's wave of Funnels was a dimension-crushing blow.
He charged into the crowd.
With every rise and fall of his blade, people fell under his sword.
Under his control, the Funnels continuously fired Originium beams, dodging the enemies' attacks.
To avoid putting any more burden on Lisa.
Lucas Reeve deliberately avoided using abilities with high energy consumption, relying purely on martial prowess to fight these hundred-plus men. With the Transparent World, he could easily dodge the vast majority of attacks, while the Funnels, under his control, constantly evaded the Mafia's assaults, spitting out beams that pierced one person after another. It had been a long time since Lucas Reeve had experienced this feeling of close-quarters combat.
The last time was fighting alongside Patriot against the Ursus independent regiment.
This feeling gradually excited him.
He seemed tireless.
Or rather.
He was fundamentally incapable of fatigue.
Because Lucas Reeve didn't even have a stamina bar. As long as his soul remained strong, he would not tire.
This state of growing stronger with every battle struck a chord of fear in the hearts of the Mafia members, who were used to being high and mighty, treating ordinary people like dirt.
They used to think they weren't afraid of ruthless men.
So-called ruthless men were just useless people who didn't value their own lives and wanted to trade one for one. They weren't afraid of that type at all.
After all, they were ruthless men themselves, even more ruthless than the ruthless.
But now...
For the first time, fear crept into the hearts of these Mafia members, who were used to being arrogant and domineering.
This person...
He was like a tireless machine.
A normal person's hands would have gone numb or even lost all strength after swinging a sword so many times, yet he only fought with increasing vigor. In fact, each swing was fiercer than the last.
This...
This man!! What kind of monster is he!!
The Mafia members were getting scared.
Faced with Lucas Reeve's ferocity, the thought of fleeing even began to surface in the minds of many.
However.
No one could escape, and no one could launch a sneak attack.
The twelve Funnels were like twelve eyes, attacking enemies from all directions.
A full twenty minutes.
When the last man fell, Lucas Reeve stopped.
The surrounding Funnels, long out of energy, had dropped to the ground. Four of them were destroyed because Lucas Reeve couldn't manage to control them in time.
This was the first time the Funnels had been in combat.
Lucas Reeve was quite satisfied.
At least he already had a specific direction for future improvements in mind.
He picked up the remaining eight Funnels scattered on the ground, tossed them into the metal storage box, pressed a button, and flames instantly shot out from the bottom of the box, returning it to the transport drone's cargo bay in the sky.
As for the pile of Mafia corpses on the ground that resembled a small hill, Lucas Reeve acted as if nothing had happened, completely unfazed.
It was as if the fight just now had nothing to do with him, making him look like just an ordinary young man out for a stroll.
With another wave of his hand.
The metal fortress protecting Lisa and her mother retracted, making a satisfying metallic sound as it folded away.
Inside the metal barrier.
Lisa's mother was holding her daughter.
When Lisa's mother first saw the bodies littering the ground.
Her first instinct was to cover her daughter's eyes.
The scene before them was far too bloody.
The bodies were piled up like a small mountain, and the flowing blood seemed to have formed a river in the hall of the small villa's ruins. In some corners, the pooled blood had turned somewhat black and was utterly disgusting. In other places, the blood seemed to have coagulated, sticking clammily to the floor.
For Lisa's mother.
Such a scene was already commonplace.
After all, she had just killed over two hundred people by herself in the afternoon. Although there were even more people this time, including many well-trained Assassin Casters.
What surprised Lisa's mother was the strength of her daughter's Shikigami.
Although she wasn't from Higashi.
Her husband was an Onmyōji from Higashi.
She knew a little bit about Shikigami.
For example, an ordinary girl with little Originium energy, no matter how talented, couldn't possibly summon a powerful life-bound Shikigami right off the bat.
The selection of a Shikigami is a two-way street.
The Onmyōji chooses the Shikigami, and the Shikigami also chooses the Onmyōji. A fully grown, powerful Yōkai would never become the Shikigami of an ordinary Onmyōji.
On one hand.
Such a powerful Yōkai already possesses the ability to manifest in the physical world using its own physical strength. On the other hand, if they chose an ordinary Onmyōji, the Onmyōji's own low strength would be insufficient to provide the power such a great demon requires; instead, their power would be suppressed, which would not be worth it.
But... why was her daughter's life-bound Shikigami so strong?
And...
He didn't look like a Yōkai at all!!
Although Lisa's mother was very confused.
There was one thing she was sure of: although this Shikigami was strange, he was definitely her daughter's Shikigami.
"Let's go. News of what happened here will spread quickly."
Lucas Reeve wiped the blood from his face, revealing a sunny smile.
"Do you have a new hiding place, madam?"
Lisa's mother nodded.
"I have one..."
Lisa's mother, dragging her extremely weak body, tried to pick up her daughter. However, she had barely taken three steps before she nearly collapsed.
"Mom!!"
Lisa immediately struggled free from her mother's arms.
"I'm fine, my sweet daughter..."
Lisa's mother shook her head, but the very sensible Lisa used her own small frame to carry her mother on her back.
After receiving Lucas Reeve's enhancement.
Lisa's strength had increased significantly. By a rough estimate, she was already stronger than many adult men who hadn't undergone special strength training. Carrying her mother was quite easy.
However.
The sight of it.
How should one put it...
Was a bit strange...
Lisa's mother was also surprised at how her daughter's strength had suddenly increased so much.
But after a moment's thought, she didn't say anything, letting her daughter carry her.
She silently sighed in her heart that her daughter had grown up.
Following Lisa's mother's directions, the two people and one spirit wound their way through the streets and arrived at another, slightly older house. After entering a room inside, they used a special method to push aside a dust-covered bookshelf, revealing a secret passage leading to a basement hidden beneath.
"Mom! You have a place like this?!"
Lisa was a little surprised, her eyes shining. In her eyes, her mother was just too cool. At home, she was a loving mother; outside, she was a cool and handsome assassin. Lisa often watched assassin-type movies, and she always thought the image of an assassin was kind of cool. She never expected her own mother to be one!!
An assassin mom and a Priest dad. Lisa had no idea how the two of them met. She had asked many times, but her parents were never willing to say.
The basement wasn't very deep.
Lucas Reeve roughly estimated it was only ten meters below the ground.
The basement had only a living room and one other room, and it was entirely made of large, stacked bricks. There was no electricity; lighting was provided by oil lamps. The chairs were covered in dust, a clear sign that it hadn't been used in a long time.
Lisa carefully carried her mother to the sofa in the secret room and laid her down. Looking at her mother covered in wounds, the sensible Lisa felt an indescribable heartache. At the same time, her determination to protect her mother in her father's place grew even stronger.
Meanwhile, Lucas Reeve was wandering around the secret room.
This special physical form was a novelty to him. It had been a long time since he'd had his own body to walk on solid ground. This made him thoroughly enjoy the process of walking just now, even though it really wasn't as comfortable as flying...
Maintaining this non-combat manifestation state wasn't too draining for Lisa, so she hadn't dismissed it yet.
"Mom... your injuries...."
Lisa was a little worried about her mother's wounds.
Although Lucas Reeve had said they weren't life-threatening, Lisa couldn't help but worry.
These wounds looked severe, but in reality, every cut had avoided vital points. The swordsmanship of these masters of human-body-tracing was more precise than a medical student's. Of course, that was just Lucas Reeve's joke.
It wasn't possible that the enemy had missed; it must have been Lisa's mother who forcibly dodged to protect her vital areas, allowing less critical parts of her body to be hit. Although it was painful, it wasn't life-threatening.
"It's alright, daughter. I just used a messaging service to commission my most trusted courier to deliver a medical kit for me."
Courier?
Lucas Reeve had heard of this term before.
It was equivalent to a deliveryman or a food delivery driver.
However.
The status of couriers on Terra was not low. After all, in many places with no signal, or when sending messages to people in other countries, one could only use a courier.
And within the courier profession, there was another branch.
Ordinary couriers, equivalent to deliverymen, who transport goods.
And another type...
Special couriers.
They walk in the darkness beneath the world, carrying out clandestine secret transports, moving a secret from one place to another.
There were very, very few such special couriers in Siracusa.
Because it was too dangerous.
After all, these couriers knew too many secrets. The information each special courier possessed was enough to shock an ordinary person for a lifetime.
They could also be easily killed to be silenced.
Those who survived were all formidable individuals with both strong reputations and skills.
For Lisa's mother to trust this person, this special courier must be anything but simple.
Lucas Reeve continued to wander.
Then.
The sound of a bell rang. Had the special courier arrived? That was surprisingly efficient.
Lisa was about to get up, but Lucas Reeve went out directly, telling her to stay and take care of her mother. Because he had a special physical body, he had no range limitations and could go wherever he pleased.
Returning from the basement to the first floor.
He opened the door of the slightly dilapidated house.
A sweet-looking fox girl was standing at the door.
"Hello, courier Angelina at your service. This is the item you requested."