Anime Crossover: The Small Workshop System's Aggressive Feeding

Page 155

The night was as dark as ink, swallowing up the last rays of light in Kooh Town.

Kara stopped in front of the abandoned church, hesitant to go any further. The building, eroded by vines and the passage of time, resembled a silent behemoth in the moonlight, its open, dark door its gaping maw ready to devour anyone. A strange stench of rotting wood and dust hung in the air, mingled with a faint, almost imperceptible scent of sulfur.

"Master, this is the place."

Kara's voice trembled, both from the pain in her shoulder and from the fear of the person she was about to face.

Elsa clutched the crucifix to her chest; its cold silver was her only solace. She gazed at the shattered stained-glass windows, the saints and angels depicted blurred in the darkness, seemingly silently condemning the corruption of this place. This was once a temple of God, now a den of wickedness.

Zhou Ye pushed open the two creaking, heavy wooden doors.

The interior of the church was even darker than the exterior, with only a few pale rays of moonlight streaming through the holes in the dome, illuminating the dust motes dancing in the air. Pews lay askew, and broken icons and torn scriptures were scattered on the floor. On the cobweb-covered altar of Saint 190, a figure sat quietly, as if he had been waiting for a long time.

It was a woman with long purple hair, dressed in a revealing black leather outfit that accentuated her voluptuous figure. She crossed her legs, propped her chin on one hand, and her dark purple eyes, in the dim light, accurately locked onto the three people in the doorway.

Her gaze first swept over Zhou Ye, then fell on the trembling Aisha, and finally settled on Kara, who had her head down.

"Caravagna, you've disappointed me greatly." Her voice rang out, carrying a condescending languor yet containing a chilling killing intent. "Not only did the mission fail, but you also led the enemy back to their lair. Donasik and Mitteto? Were they betrayed by you, or were they killed by him?"

Kara's body trembled violently, and she collapsed to her knees with a thud. "Lady Linali, I..."

"Shut up, you piece of trash have no right to explain." Lina interrupted her, her gaze returning to Zhou Ye, scrutinizing him with interest. "A human? No, he smells of a demonic contract. A lackey sent by the red-haired princess of the Gremory family?"

Zhou Ye ignored her question and stepped into the church, his leather shoes echoing clearly on the dusty stone slabs.

“Lina.” He uttered the name, his tone as flat as if he were stating the weather. “Your plan ends here.”

Lina laughed as if she had heard the funniest joke in the world. Her laughter echoed in the empty church, sounding particularly jarring.

"Oh? You've got quite the nerve. You think you have the right to boss me around just because you killed two of my good-for-nothing henchmen?"

She stood up, and a pair of jet-black wings slowly unfurled behind her. The aura of a fallen angel instantly filled the entire space, making it almost impossible for Aisha to breathe.

"Since you brought me this little nun, I can give you a chance."

Lina-Li stuck out her tongue and licked her bright red lips, her eyes filled with cruelty and greed. "Kneel down, become my slave, and I can let you die a quick death."

"You've talked too much nonsense." Zhou Ye's patience seemed to have run out. "To strip a magical artifact from a girl, you disguise yourself as an ordinary high school girl, get close to an idiot named Hyoudou Issei, deceive his feelings, and stab him in the back at his happiest moment. Don't you think your so-called plan is both childish and pathetic?"

The moment the words were spoken, the air in the entire church seemed to freeze.

Lina's charming smile froze.

Her dark purple pupils contracted sharply as she stared at Zhou Ye in disbelief. Her composure and arrogance were shattered in that instant, replaced by a deep-seated horror and incomprehensible rage.

Hyoudou Issei!

This name, this plan—these are her most crucial secrets! No one but herself could possibly know them! And who exactly is this man before her?!

"You... how could you..." Her voice trembled for the first time.

“How would I know?” Zhou Ye took another step forward, his expression unchanged. “I not only know him, I also know you. Lina, you went to great lengths to put on this clumsy drama, all to prove your worth. Unfortunately, you chose the wrong path from the very beginning.”

Zhou Ye's words were like a heavy hammer, striking Lina Li's defenses again and again.

"Do you really think that with your underhanded tricks, you can catch Azazel's eye? He doesn't care about your life or death at all, because you're too weak, so weak that he doesn't even know you exist."

"Shut up!" Lina let out a sharp roar, and a surge of dark energy erupted from her body, sending all the surrounding tables and chairs flying.

"Who are you?! Where did you get all this information from?!"

An unprecedented fear gripped her. This was no longer a matter of information leaks; it was as if the other party was standing in an omniscient perspective, looking down on everything about her, stripping away her ambitions, plans, and even the most secret motives deep within her heart.

Just then, a burst of maniacal laughter came from the shadows of the church.

"Hahahaha! What a lively scene! What a wonderful show!"

A man dressed in a white priest's robe, with a full head of silver hair, leaped out from behind a row of overturned benches, wielding a strangely shaped lightsaber and a large-caliber pistol. He wore a neurotic smile, his eyes fanatical and chaotic.

"Father Friedselzan!"

Elsa cried out.

"Oh, isn't this our traitorous little nun Elsa Argento?"

Fried's gaze swept over the group, finally settling on Zhou Ye, whereupon he grinned with a twisted smile.

"Another damned devil's lackey! Great! Tonight's prey is plentiful; I'll have plenty to play with for a while!"

He completely ignored the eerie atmosphere and was simply immersed in the excitement of his upcoming "hunting game".

Lina didn't even glance at him. Her entire being, all her killing intent, was fixed on Zhou Ye. This man had to die! No matter the method, she had to silence him forever!

"I will tear you to pieces!" she roared, a spear formed from fallen light materializing in her hand.

Chapter 121 Subduing Lina

The spear that Linali wielded was pure, corrupted light, radiating energy powerful enough to purify lower-level demons. However, this attack, which would put any demon on its guard, was nothing more than a child's toy in Zhou Ye's eyes.

"It's so noisy."

He didn't look at Linali, but instead turned his gaze to the erratic, mad priest, Friedselzan. These uncontrollable pawns were the most annoying.

"You devil's lackey, how dare you ignore me!" Fried's fanaticism was ignited by Zhou Ye's disdain. He yelled and raised his lightsaber and pistol at the same time. "Let me purify you, you vermin, first, and then I'll enjoy my traitor and nun feast!"

The lightsaber sliced ​​through the air with a sharp whistling sound, aiming straight for Zhou Ye's throat. Fried's movements were incredibly fast, his face contorted with bloodlust and madness, as if he could already see the enemy's head flying off.

Elsa, standing behind Zhou Ye, let out a suppressed gasp and instinctively closed her eyes. Kara, kneeling on the ground, was even more ashen-faced; she could feel that Fried's attack was completely unreserved.

However, the expected puncture sound did not occur.

【clang】

A crisp, almost melodious metallic clang echoed through the deathly silent church.

Elsa opened her eyes with a tremor, and then her emerald green pupils contracted to their limit at the sight before her.

Zhou Ye simply extended two fingers, his index and middle fingers, and effortlessly caught the light-based sword. The light sword, powerful enough to cut through steel and purify evil, was now as docile as a glow stick, fixed in mid-air, unable to advance an inch.

"What……"

Fried's maniacal laughter froze, replaced by utter astonishment. He strained with all his might, veins bulging on his arms, but the lightsaber remained completely still.

"Too weak." Zhou Ye's assessment was devoid of any emotion, as if stating an objective fact. His fingers, which were holding the lightsaber, twisted slightly.

[Crack! 】

The lightsaber shattered instantly, turning into countless specks of light that dissipated into the air.

Fried stared blankly at his empty right hand, his mind a complete blank.

"How can it be……"

Before he could react, Zhou Ye's figure had already vanished from the spot. The next instant, a palm pressed down on Fried's head. There was no earth-shattering energy burst, nor any dazzling light and shadow effects; it was just an ordinary press.

"A noisy fly deserves to suffer the fate of a fly."

Fried didn't even have time to scream before he was crushed as if by an invisible mountain, his knees buckling as he crashed heavily to the ground. The church's hard stone slabs cracked like a spiderweb around him. His limbs were twisted unnaturally, his bones shattered, and blood mixed with fragments of internal organs gushed from his mouth. His fanatical eyes were finally filled with endless terror.

He didn't die, but his suffering was worse than death. He became a mere lump of flesh that could only breathe.

The whole process took less than three seconds.

Inside the church, you could hear a pin drop.

Lina Li's hand, holding the spear of light high, froze in mid-air. Her heart, beneath her voluptuous figure, felt as if it were being gripped by an icy hand, and even her breath stopped.

Her pride and the means by which she survived were as fragile as a thin sheet of paper in front of this man. Had that mad priest, Fried, whose strength was inferior to hers and who was even more troublesome in some ways, been rendered useless just like that? Like stepping on an ant?

Fear, an unprecedented fear, climbed up her spine and froze her mind.

After Zhou Ye finished doing all this, he clapped his hands as if dusting off some dirt, and turned his gaze back to Lina Li.

"Now it's your turn. Are you going to continue your ridiculous attacks?"

Lina's body trembled violently, the spear of light in her hand flickered for a moment, and then completely vanished. She opened her mouth, but found her throat too dry to utter a sound. All her plans, all her ambitions, seemed utterly pale and absurd at this moment.

"Who...who are you...?" she finally managed to squeeze out a few words, her voice hoarse and trembling.

Instead of answering her question, Zhou Ye asked her a question she couldn't understand at all.

"Lenalie, what do you think was the key to Rias Gremory's victory over Riseel Phoenix?"

Lina was somewhat confused. According to the information from the Fallen Angels, the underage Rias could not defeat the adult Phoenix Riseel Phoenix.

Who exactly is this man, and why does he know all this?

"you……"

"Did she rely on her brother's prestige? On the power of the Gremory family? Or on her few incompetent relatives?"

Zhou Ye walked down from the altar on his own, each step feeling like he was stepping on Lina Li's heart.

"None of that is correct. She won, but in a very dishonorable way. Those old guys in the underworld won't be so easy to shut up."

Zhou Ye walked up to her, looking down at the fallen angel who had completely lost her composure.

"Rias Gremory needs a record, a record that will make her more secure in her position as the next head of the family. A record that belongs to her alone, without relying on any external forces."

Lina's mind was no longer able to think; she could only listen blankly, feeling the suffocating amount of information in the other person's words.

Zhou Ye extended a finger and gently touched Lina Li's forehead. The cold touch sent a shiver down her spine.

"And you, and your superior who is eager to achieve quick results and wants to start a war in Kooh Town, the disgrace of the Fallen Angel executives—Kokbor. You are the best proof of your loyalty."

Kirkbor!

The name struck Lina like a bolt from the blue, exploding in her mind. Her last line of defense crumbled completely in that instant.

It’s over.

It's all over.

This man knew everything. He wasn't there to stop him, nor to steal the artifact. From the very beginning, he was after Kirkbor. And he and his entire team were merely bait in Kirkbor's plan to lure out the big fish.

No, it wasn't even bait; it was just trash that was conveniently disposed of.

"You...you want me to betray Lord Kirkbor?"

Lina's voice carried a hint of desperate sobs.

"Betrayal?" Zhou Ye laughed, a hint of mockery in his smile.

"You overestimate yourself. You have no right to betray, only to obey. Become my servant, or, like that piece of rotten flesh on the ground."