America: The Cremator

Sulong's gaze lingered for a moment on the red fishing float that bobbed gently on the lake's surface with the ripples, before slowly moving to Elena's waist.

The old-fashioned brass lantern still hung to her left. Under her spiritual vision, the lantern was no longer the one that had been drained two days ago, but instead emitted a very dim, milky-white halo.

On her right side, there was a completely new object.

It was a flat flask made of hammered silver, with intricate Celtic-style thorn and rose patterns engraved on its surface. A short, fine silver chain connected the lid to the body of the flask. The overall design had a rugged and free feel to it, like something a cowboy would carry in a Western movie.

In the spiritual vision, the flat wine jug was emitting a faint green fluorescent light, not dazzling, but still eye-catching.

Su Long spoke, breaking the tranquility of the lakeside: "Your lantern, I absorbed some of its energy last time, has it recovered now?"

"It's gradually recovering."

Elena's voice was calm, as if the experience of having her strength drained was just a harmless accident to her.

Sulong's gaze shifted to the wine jug on the other side.

"So, this is the second sacred relic, 'Raphael'?"

"Yes." Elena nodded.

Su Long couldn't help but sigh softly, remarking, "A wine flask in one hand, a revolver in the other, traveling everywhere... his life must have been very carefree."

"No, his life was not carefree at all."

Elena shook her head, denying his guess.

"He was a very tragic person."

She looked at the snow-capped mountains shrouded in mist in the distance: "Old John was originally the son of a rancher in Montana, living the most ordinary life."

"Until thirty years ago, a sudden and bizarre disaster destroyed his home."

"The entire farm, along with his family, vanished overnight, leaving him all alone."

"So he used all his savings to buy 'Sirius' and 'Raphael' and became a free-spirited monster hunter, driving a beat-up pickup truck and hunting monsters all over the American wilderness."

Su Long then asked, "So how did you meet him?"

A hint of reminiscence flickered in Elena's eyes as she said with a self-deprecating smile, "Back then, I was just a little girl. I overestimated myself and, carrying my lantern, went alone to hunt down a ghoul that was lurking in the sewers. I almost died under its claws."

"He saved me and taught me various techniques for dealing with the supernatural."

"You obtained your sacred object a long time ago?" Surong caught the information in her words.

Elena nodded and explained, "This is something my family has passed down to me."

"Your family... Come to think of it, I've never heard you mention your family before."

Elena suddenly turned her head, her tone instantly turning icy: "Don't mention them, I have no contact with them anymore."

Finally, she emphasized, "Surron, I'm only responsible for introducing you to Old John. My own privacy is not within the scope of this discussion."

Su Long nodded and didn't ask any further questions.

Just then, the red fishing float on the lake surface suddenly sank downwards, and then was pulled by a huge force, moving wildly left and right on the water.

"The fish has taken the bait," he said, alerting the fish.

Elena immediately snapped out of her reverie, gripped the fishing rod tightly with both hands, and deftly swung it backward.

With a loud splash, she forcibly pulled a rainbow trout, more than half a meter long, from the turquoise lake water and slammed it heavily onto the wooden platform.

Just as Elena bent down to remove the barbed hook from the fish's mouth, the dying fish suddenly unleashed its last bit of strength, twisting its body violently and breaking free of the fishing line.

It crashed onto the ground by the lake, slapped its tail twice, and then leaped straight toward the water, seemingly about to escape back into the deep lake.

"Grab it!" Elena shouted.

Without hesitation, Su Long stepped forward, stretched out his right hand, and pressed it down on the fish that was bouncing on the ground.

However, just as his palm was about to touch the slippery fish scales, a sharp pain, as if splashed with strong acid, suddenly came.

"Sizzle—"

A small wisp of bluish-gray smoke rose from his palm.

He instinctively withdrew his hand, and the rainbow trout took the opportunity to complete its final leap, splashing back into the lake and disappearing without a trace.

"What happened? Did it scratch you?"

Elena immediately stepped forward, grabbed Sulong's hand, and checked the situation.

Su Long's entire palm had turned bright red, and there were even slight signs of ulceration on the skin surface, as if it had come into contact with some kind of highly corrosive chemical agent.

Su Long looked at his palm, his tone somewhat helpless: "I forgot, this fish was covered in lake water."

Elena frowned and asked, "You can't touch the lake water?"

Su Long no longer hid his intentions and nodded: "This is a curse left to me by the 'Rain Lady'. I cannot touch any pure water, rainwater, or natural water sources like this."

"Why haven't I heard you mention this before?"

Su Long looked up at her inquisitive eyes and chuckled, "Captain Elena, we've only really gotten to know each other for a few days, haven't we?"

Elena was silent for a moment, then nodded: "Okay. I'll keep an eye on this strange creature's movements, and if conditions allow, I'll help you kill it."

Upon hearing this suggestion, Su Long pondered it seriously for a few seconds.

Perhaps we could get Elena, the elite captain of the unpredictable support team, to join us?

With a B-rank exorcist like this, the plan to fight the "Rain Lady" will undoubtedly become more secure.

But he quickly dismissed the idea.

Since Dania dared to boast that the two of them alone would be enough, she must have her own judgment. Adding a new person now might disrupt her original plan.

More importantly, rashly pairing a woman with an official background with a woman with a triad background could likely cause a lot of trouble for oneself.

Surong said in a relaxed tone, "Thank you for your kindness, Captain, but relax, this curse is not enough to kill me."

"Besides, maybe in a few days, a kind person will help me get rid of it?"

Upon hearing this, Elena did not insist any further. She released Sulong's hand, took "Raphael" from her waist, and prepared to demonstrate its function to Sulong.

But when she reached out again to take Su Long's injured hand, she saw that the palm, which had been red, swollen and ulcerated, had now returned to normal, without even a trace of injury.

She asked, somewhat surprised, "You recovered so quickly?"

Su Long knew that this was probably the recovery effect that came with the [Rapid Regeneration] attribute: "It's probably a damage effect caused by the curse, which can't last very long anyway."

"All right."

As Elena spoke, she drew a sharp tactical dagger from the scabbard at her waist, pressed it against Su Long's palm, and swiftly made a cut.

"hiss--"

Su Long gasped and asked, "What are you going to do?"

"Let me show you the function of this sacred object."

As Elena spoke, she unscrewed the lid of the flask, but her movements suddenly stopped, and she stared incredulously at Su Long's palm.

The wound, which had been oozing blood just moments before, had now stopped bleeding. The flesh on either side of the wound was visibly writhing, attempting to reconnect.

Elena looked up, her eyes filled with surprise and disbelief: "This isn't right, is it?"

Su Long looked at his rapidly healing hand and smirked, "Perhaps it's some kind of special talent of mine that makes my wounds heal faster than most people's?"

As he spoke, he clenched his fist again and then opened it.

The deep, bone-revealing wound is now just a faint red mark.

Seeing this, Elena let out a heartfelt sigh: "The more I understand you, the more I'm surprised, Surong."

She then sighed and said, "In that case, we'll have to find another way to demonstrate it."

After saying that, she pointed the blade of the dagger at her fair palm and slashed down without hesitation.