Inner Destroyer

　Her high heels left the ground, and she was sent flying by a punch, slamming hard into the stone wall of the ancient castle behind her and being punched directly into the wall. Her lips trembled, but she could no longer recite a complete spell.

　Qi Xing put away his fist and turned back to Elaine: "Okay. Which bookshelf is the next book on?"

　033: Even the dead must fear him

　Qi Xing really didn't take the voodoo hottie seriously.

　After all, he had to kill several bad guys of this caliber every week, and he didn't have Elaine's memory.

　If the opponent didn't have any particularly interesting special powers, spells, or background, or was particularly strong and had fought a shocking battle with Qi Xing, or had done something extremely abominable, Qi Xing would basically forget about it after a few days.

　That being said, Elaine would never forget. That's why she told Qi Xing to "catch" the Voodoo Hottie instead of just punching her to death.

　How did this voodoo sorcerer sneak into Castel Sant'Angelo?

　And why did she come specifically to steal the book "The Gospel of the Serpent"?

　The weirdest thing was, this voodoo chick actually threatened Qi Xing, saying, "If the library gets destroyed, not only you, but even the old president of the 'association' will be held accountable!"

　Ha! That doesn't sound like something anyone would say!

　Qi Xing had caught someone involved in voodoo two days ago. However, upon interrogation, he triggered a curse buried within a gang leader, causing him to suddenly die.

　There is no way these things could be a coincidence.

　At this point, they certainly couldn't continue to leisurely search for books in the library, nor could they immediately interrogate the voodoo chick captives here. Otherwise, they would probably get nothing out of them, and another one would die, which would be a waste of time.

　Lifting a curse? It sounds simple, but the voodoo blood curses and oaths that are deeply rooted in others are not something that Qi Xing, a martial immortal, can easily remove. If you ask Qi Xing to kill a minor god, he would have the confidence to try, but lifting a curse is beyond his professional skills.

　That being the case...

　"Let's go first."

　Elaine put the three books she had chosen into her bag.

　"We have to let the witch hunters outside know that enemies have broken in."

　Qi Xing didn't respond directly. After using a forbidden technique to tie up the hot girl, he looked up at the ceiling—that is, at the ground—and frowned. "They might already know."

　Although he does not have the ability to see and hear from afar, he has achieved immortality through practicing the physical form and staying in the world.

82

　It is because of sharp ears and eyes. As long as you pay attention to seeing and listening, you can quickly detect any abnormalities.

　When they ran out of the basement following the sound and returned to the ground, the outside of "Castle Sant'Angelo" was already in chaos!

　By this moment, the castle gates were already teeming with people. A chaotic clamor rose and fell in the night. Tourists, reporters, curious people, and even some unidentified intruders all crowded the entrance, pushing and shouting, vying to get through.

　Anger, curiosity, and unease intertwined into a cacophony of noise. The security guards desperately tried to block the crowd with a human wall. But the crowd's shoving put their line in jeopardy, and even their voices were drowned out by the clamor: "Please step back! The castle is closed at night—"

　But people didn't listen at all, instead they crowded closer and closer.

　These security guards were all witch hunters from the "Association," though they were only at the bottom of the heap. But even if they were hit by ten bullets, they wouldn't be easily defeated, and they could still fight with the same agility as in "Assassin's Creed." This meant they had honed their physical strength.

　However, in the current situation, even with such intensity, how can a dozen security guards cope with a crowd of hundreds or thousands of people?

　Are we going to shoot at a crowd of civilians? Absolutely not!

　Someone shouted: "We have the right to know what happened!"

　One reporter even held up his microphone and squeezed forward desperately, while the cameraman behind him shook wildly, trying to capture the chaotic scene.

　"Don't push me!" An old woman was caught in the crowd and almost fell down.

　The young tourists shouted loudly and tried to take close-up photos. One young tourist even took advantage of the chaos to climb up the iron railings and tried to cross over, but was immediately held down by a witch hunter security guard.

　But they ultimately didn't dare resort to actual force, relying solely on shouting orders, pushing, and pulling. This was like trying to stop a flood with one's hands, only intensifying the crowd's anger. Some accused the security guards of abusing their power, while others held up their phones to livestream the video and even incited the crowd: "What are they hiding? What secret is the Vatican covering up?!"

　More people took advantage of the chaos and squeezed in. The situation at the castle gate could get completely out of control at any time!

　Elaine was stunned and speechless.

　Qi Xing also shook his head: "Have they watched too much of The Da Vinci Code?"

　How to do?

　"Strike them with lightning! Kill them with thunder!" is, of course, the simplest solution. But honestly, it's something I shouldn't do.

　Elaine immediately turned to the monitoring room and asked the security captain: "Can you guard the gate?"

　But the witch hunter captain was also troubled by this: "Let alone shooting, we don't even dare to hit anyone. How can we possibly stop them?"

　This is not the Middle Ages anymore. These days, if you just beat someone up or throw tear gas, let alone shoot at a crowd, you'll definitely be sued.

　(But why is this happening?)

　Looking at the crowd, Elaine suddenly felt suspicious: Could such a large gathering and protest really be spontaneous? At this point, she began to suspect that the recent events might not be coincidental at all: could so many people protesting the Vatican's problems suddenly appear out of nowhere?

　Who is doing this?

　Her eyes began to scan the boiling crowd outside the door, looking for clues of irrationality in their eyes and expressions.

　She had indeed discovered something.

　——And Qi Xing was very quick.

　Under the cover of night, the square in front of Castel Sant'Angelo has fallen into madness.

　The crowd continued to push, roar, and shout as they attacked the security guards. The air was thick with sweat, anger, and anxiety, like a riot about to get completely out of control.

　However, just when the chaos was about to get completely out of control——

　Boom! !

　A bolt of lightning that tore through the night sky suddenly fell from the sky, and the violent lightning rushed straight to the ground and slammed heavily in the center of the square!

　"boom--"

　The thunder of the explosion shattered the night, flames and shockwaves swept all around, a deep crack appeared on the ground, and air waves rolled, instantly suppressing the shouts of the crowd!

　In an instant, the air was filled with the smell of burning ozone, and the hot aftermath of lightning jumped and rolled on the stone slabs like flickering will-o'-the-wisp.

　There was a loud bang, and the crowd and reporters' phones fell silent. Large cameras burst into flames, blue flames billowing from the machines. Even the streetlights above their heads began to emit orange and green sparks before going out.

　The crowd that was originally pushing and shouting was now all stunned, their eyes wide open in fear in the darkness, as if they were blind.

　Qi Xing rubbed his fingers expressionlessly - thunder magic has many uses in modern environments.

　The darkness, devoid of electrical appliances, brought a brief silence to the entire venue. Under the might of the heavens, everyone was stunned, at least for a moment—the enthusiastic crowd, the reporters, the rioters trying to break through the blockade, and even the shadows hiding in the crowd.

　Most people's eyes would be trapped by the darkness, but Qi Xing's eyes did not let them go.

　They slowly stepped out from the shadows of the night, the bone ornaments on their bodies colliding gently in the wind, making crisp sounds, like ghosts returning from hell.

　They wore skull masks, their skin was gray, and their clothing was shabby and bizarre, a mix of voodoo priest robes and street thugs' graffiti leather. Most terrifying of all, their bodies, flesh, and skin were covered in bone ornaments, iron nails, iron rings, and the black cross of Baron Saturday, the god of death. Some even had the remains of other animals or humans sewn into their bodies.

83

　Horrible and disgusting.

　With every step, their strange decorations made a faint, harsh tinkling sound.

　In an instant, Qi Xing noticed that Elaine had frozen behind him. When she saw these strange people, she was as frightened as when she saw the gang leader being cursed and killed to silence him two days ago.

　interesting.

　"So, you are the Black Spartacus."

　Qi Xing swept his eyes over the skull-masked men, the panicked crowd, the security guard beside him and Elaine behind him, and then nodded.

　"At least the situation is much more understandable now."

　What annoyed him most was the enemy hiding in the dark and refusing to show up.

　The men in black skull masks didn't speak. They faced Qi Xing with a cold, stern expression. But that didn't matter. Qi Xing knew these kinds of people well. He knew how to deal with these cool guys.

　Within five minutes they'll be begging for mercy.

　034: No matter gender, all are welcome!

　The battle at the gate of Castel Sant'Angelo is over.

　In the square, the smoke and dust cleared, and no one remained. Reporters stumbled and ran, their cameras falling to the ground. Tourists screamed and ran in all directions.

　The square, which had been seething with activity just moments before, had been cleared out, leaving only a small group of barely human beings.

　"Les Revenants" - French: The Returned Dead

　The elite fighters of the "Black Spartacus" call themselves this name, implying that they move like ghosts and that they are "dead" to their faith, living only for their organization and mission.

　Combatants who needed to operate during the day would wear skull masks during combat. As for those who didn't need to appear in the surface world at all, they simply had their faces modified with piercings, nails, stitches, cut open mouths, and black crosses tattooed on their foreheads, giving them a particularly terrifying appearance.

　Some combatants also had animal or human remains sewn onto their bodies, symbolizing that they were no longer fragile mortals but a union of the dead and the living.

　Before the battle, they chanted voodoo chants in low Creole, calling on the Loa spirits to possess them, giving them super speed and strength. Then, they used curses and corpse poison to attack like ghosts, circling their prey and swarming them.

　There were twenty-eight elite fighters in a team. Although not particularly powerful individually, when assembled, they could use strange and terrifying combined attacks to torment even the most skilled fighters.

　Good! Awesome!

　It's terrible!

　It took Qi Xing a full minute to knock them all down, and four minutes wasn't enough to torture them all - he had indeed lost!

　He probably won't forget them these days.

　What's even more terrifying is that after Qi Xing killed half of them, he electrocuted the remaining half and tried to torture them. He then took off one of their masks and discovered that they were actually black.

　Black people weren't a big deal. Qi Xing didn't discriminate against his African friends. As usual, he electrocuted them for half a minute before interrogating them about their names, identities, and combat objectives.

　He found out that none of these black people could speak English. How terrible!

　When Qi Xing shocked them, they would scream and yell in a language that Qi Xing couldn't understand... but it didn't seem like a language he had never heard of at all. Qi Xing felt that it sounded a little familiar.

　"It's French."

　He heard Elaine whisper behind him,

　"These people are probably Haitians... refugees from the Caribbean."

　refugee.

　When it comes to Europe's refugee problem, people usually think of the influx of refugees from the Middle East. But in fact, in addition to the Middle East, there are also many refugees from other places who come to Europe in large numbers.

　For example, Central and South America, and even the Caribbean Islands. In recent years, tens of thousands of refugees from Central and South America have entered Europe each year. The actual total number is likely significant.

　"The Caribbean Islands...oh, the black people over there in Haiti speak French?"

　Qi Xing suddenly realized.

　"The present-day Republic of Haiti was once a French colony," Elaine explained somewhat helplessly. "The native language of Haitians today is essentially French. It's not substantially different from my own."

　"Oh...ah?" Qi Xing nodded, then suddenly realized, "You are French? I thought you were Italian like Amos!"

　Elaine was finally completely speechless.

　God have mercy on her, she has been Qi Xing's assistant for almost two years, doing his laundry, feeding him, and writing reports all day long, but this guy doesn't even know where she is from.

　Sometimes Elaine really feels a little depressed - is it possible that Qi Xing not only ignores the enemies, but even doesn't bother to take the weak allies seriously?

　Just as she couldn't help but think this, she heard Qi Xing change the subject: "So, what's your problem with these Haitian voodoo people?"

　"?!" Seeing Elaine so stunned, Qi Xing finally smiled: "Do you really think you're scared of voodoo spells when you see them? I can't see it from my side? I've watched you cook for almost two years."

　He could also see how surprised Elaine was now, and couldn't help feeling a little proud.

　But Qi Xing still thought this matter was too simple.

　"my parents……"

　After a while, Elaine spoke dryly, but

84

　He shook his head halfway through his speech.

　"This matter is not important, Mr. Qi. I did have a grudge against some voodoo practitioners in Haiti. But that should have no causal connection with the current situation."