Chapter 158. The Conductor, No. 11 (4)
“Nova!”
Victoria hurriedly caught Nova.
Nova collapsed into her arms, coughing painfully.
“Cough! Cough!”
Her complexion had gone deathly pale.
The symptoms were getting worse by the second.
Then Victoria noticed the broken pieces of the glass flask No. 4 had thrown earlier.
The moment she saw them, she understood what was happening.
“Everyone, hold your breath!”
“Abraxas must have released a lethal bacteria!”
No. 4 did not deny it.
“You catch on quickly.”
Victoria glared at him and snapped,
“Your methods are always obvious!”
No. 4 replied in his usual emotionless tone.
“Massacring people is normally my specialty.”
“But if I did that here, you might get caught in it too.”
“No. 11 anticipated that and gave me a bacterial weapon instead.”
So it really was No. 11’s doing.
Now that she understood the situation, Victoria’s mind began racing.
The bacteria had already spread.
If this continued, Nova and the nuns would be in danger.
She had to do something.
“Cough! Cough!”
Victoria suddenly crouched down and began coughing violently.
Then she looked up at No. 4 with a grimace.
“Oh no... Cough!”
“I think I got infected too.”
“Cough, cough!”
“If I die from this, Alpha is going to be really, really angry!”
Since the Archons obeyed Alpha absolutely, Victoria intended to use her relationship with Alpha as leverage.
But No. 4’s answer was cold.
“Victoria Frankenstein.”
“Even if you are infected, you will recover quickly.”
“The Philosopher’s Stone embedded in your chest constantly maintains your body in a perfect, ideal state.”
“H-How do you know that...?”
Victoria faltered, caught completely off guard.
No. 4 looked at her as though she were ridiculous.
“Did you truly believe Alpha would fail to know something so obvious?”
Apparently, threatening No. 4 with her own safety would not work.
She needed another method.
Victoria tightened her arms around Nova and shouted again.
“B-But Nova might die if this continues!”
“Wasn’t your objective to capture me and Nova?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“All we need is Nova Hanson’s ‘brain.’”
No. 4’s skeleton began twisting with loud cracks.
His bones and muscles expanded.
Animal hide spread over his human skin.
His voice became a mixture of human speech and a beast’s growl.
“The rest of that lump of flesh can end up however it likes.”
Thick black fur sprouted around No. 4’s neck, forming a dark mane.
His eyes narrowed sharply.
Fangs emerged from his mouth.
Soon, he had transformed into the shape of a massive male lion with a black mane.
He growled low.
“Victoria Frankenstein.”
“Every living thing here except you will die.”
“That will not change.”
With those words, he launched himself forward.
He looked like a predator wrapped in darkness, charging out to hunt.
At that exact moment, one of the nuns suddenly stepped in front of him.
“That remains to be seen.”
The nun slowly raised her head.
No. 4’s eyes widened when he saw her face.
“Epsilon?”
“What are you doing here?”
The nun blocking his path was No. 5, a fellow member of the Extermination Team.
Apparently, she had deliberately put on a nun’s habit and hidden among the escaping sisters to avoid being noticed.
“There is something I desperately need to find.”
“To accomplish that, I’m maintaining cooperation with this convent.”
“No. 4.”
“Delta.”
No. 5 spoke flatly.
But that was not what mattered to No. 4.
“Alpha gave the order.”
“Move.”
“And if I refuse?”
Judging from her tone, No. 5 was serious.
No. 4 answered without hesitation.
“I’ll kill you.”
“You’ll kill me?”
No. 5’s eyes gleamed.
Her skeleton began to expand.
Cold, hard scales spread across her skin.
Soon, the form of a massive, starving reptile emerged over her body.
She snapped her whip-like tail through the air.
“Then try it.”
“Do you intend to oppose Alpha?”
“You haven’t forgotten the duty of an Archon, have you?”
No. 4 openly radiated hostility.
Of all things, he seemed unable to accept that a fellow member of the Extermination Team was standing against him.
But No. 5 remained firm.
“I found something more important than the duty of an Archon.”
“What?”
No. 5 dragged her sharp claws deeply across her own arm.
Then she gave a single short answer.
“Family.”
Blood dripped down between No. 5’s dark blue scales.
It quickly transformed into a red mist and filled the surrounding area.
Apparently, she intended to release the nanomachines in her blood from the very beginning and settle this fight immediately.
