101: Chapter 101: Is the area occupied by a [Domain] directly proportional to its strength?

The Store Manager paused for a second.

——The sandstone shackles melted into a pool of pitch-black liquid on the counter, and the face of Luo Yu, which had been taken away by the Original Owner, gradually emerged!

"Oh? You're actually using 'someone else's bond' to pay off a debt?" The Store Manager's voice suddenly became excited, "...That will do."

The glass door reappeared, and Mia rushed out without looking back.

Behind her came the Store Manager's screech: "But next time—you must pay double!"

The street returned to normal.

Mia clutched the wish card in her hand and leaned against the wall, taking a deep breath. Her phone screen lit up with a message Tuaner had just sent: "You pawned that prison-style bracelet?"

Mia closed her eyes and typed a reply: "Yeah, let's see who is actually stronger; after all, they are both great demons who possess a [Domain]."

"But, Mia..." Tuaner seemed hesitant to speak, "Never mind, I'll tell you when I've figured out how to say it..."

In the distance, the lights of the [Good Fortune] convenience store went out again, as if it had never been open for business.

——But there was an extra set of wet footprints on the ground, stretching toward the university town.

And suddenly, dark clouds gathered above the convenience store, followed by thunder and lightning.

A faint, gothic cathedral within the dark clouds was slowly becoming clear.

Tuaner, Ryan, Loran, Luo Xiaoya, and He Xi all sneaked out from the corners, each with a small stool. They pulled out peanuts, edamame, and beer they had prepared in advance, eating and drinking while watching this rare phenomenon behind Mia...

The set of wet footprints on the ground looked like it was in a hurry, appearing to have run back.

Mia shoved the card to He Xi, "The task handover is done. Take it back to the Coordination Office Technical Bureau yourself, and send your brother a selfie."

Then she stole a peanut from Tuaner and tossed it into her mouth, "Let's see the Original Owner's strength besides tormenting me; it's my first time seeing it too."

Dark clouds loomed over the city, and the hymn of the dead drifting from the cathedral was clearly a dark joke.

The set of wet footprints suddenly stopped in front of the convenience store, and then began to twist frantically—like someone who had stepped on a high-voltage wire, convulsing and twitching, dragging a foul-smelling scorched mark along the ground.

"Guh... Ah——!"

A burst of black mist exploded in the air, and a suited "figure" tumbled out from the mist—it was the Store Manager from before.

His head had been forcibly twisted 180 degrees by some force, the back of his head pressed tightly against his spine. His uniform was already in tatters, and the exposed skin was covered in dense text:

[Counterfeit]

[Inferior Contract]

[Defrauding Customers]

He opened his mouth wide like a fish deprived of oxygen, but a screech like iron nails scraping glass came from his throat: "You, dare, to, use, someone, else's, [Domain], to, pay, off, a, debt—"

"Who cares whose it is? Your underwear is showing, [Counterfeit]!!" Tuaner decisively began her daily routine of dismantling others.

Before she could finish speaking, a rusted iron skewer pierced through the Store Manager's eyeball!

Swoosh!

The iron skewer, dragging a burning chain, hung him upside down in mid-air.

The other end of the chain connected to the suddenly solidified stained-glass window of the cathedral—the scene of the demons' feast in the window came to life, and they scrambled to reach out with their sharp claws, tearing at the Store Manager's limbs.

"I hate counterfeit merchants."

The main door of the cathedral opened with a bang, and the Original Owner stepped out.

Today he was wearing a perfectly tailored black priest's robe, but hanging from the silver chain on his chest was not a cross, but a miniature iron maiden model.

With every step he took, cracked tombstone patterns spread across the ground.

The souls of Eita, Wakasahara Chube (Lay Buddhist Erli), Makino Ittosai, Die, Aoyama Yohei, Kimura, and A-Yun all stood behind him. Mia sighed inwardly, "As expected, the souls of Homer, Amakusa Unzai, and Xu Duo are not here."

Mia, who was worrying about the upcoming [under one person] dungeon, suddenly felt her wrist burning—that was the location of the [Nightmare Cathedral] shackle bracelet from before.

She instinctively wanted to retreat, but Tuaner braced her shoulders from behind: "Don't be a coward, we have plenty of people. It's only fun if we fight~ You're not the weak girl you usually are in the cathedral anymore."

"...You crazy girl." It was only under Tuaner's reminder that Mia realized this, and she quietly clenched her fists.

Hum—

The convenience store suddenly expanded and deformed; the shelves turned into stark white ribs, and the cash register split open into a bloody maw.

The entire building stood up like a living creature, turning into a giant puppet made of wrapped shopping receipts!

Countless customers' faces were embedded in the puppet's abdomen, and they shrieked in unison: "Customer—please pay the remaining balance!!"

A blood-colored wish card shot out from its chest, aiming straight for the center of Mia's eyebrows!

"Stealing my only toy right in front of me, and attempting to kill her? I am indeed dead, but don't act like I don't exist, okay?" The Original Owner's tone was unpleasant.

He raised his hand casually, and twelve iron nails engraved with runes flashed out from the void, pinning the wish card in mid-air.

——Those were the [Soul Screams] from inside the iron maiden that had pierced Mia's spirit body in the last dungeon!

"Although the fact that I share a body and soul with her is very shameful, I have suddenly developed a habit of rarely lying, which I just acquired yesterday..."

He licked his canine tooth, and with a flick of his finger, the iron nails suddenly changed direction, piercing into the convenience store puppet like a rainstorm, "Your 'rules' are... nothing but a joke to me."

"Pfft! Pfft!"

The puppet screamed and retreated, each nail projecting a scene into the air:

A male investigator giggling while holding a wedding invitation

An Adventurer who died in a fish's belly sinking into the deep sea

Countless customers' souls wailing on the shelves

The Original Owner stepped forward, his leather shoes crushing the twisted faces one by one: "You know? You made a fatal mistake."

He suddenly pulled on the chain, dragging the broken Store Manager in front of him: "Using a 'bond' as collateral..."

His gloved hand pinched into the other's throat, "...is equivalent to telling me your coordinates clearly."

Crack!

The Store Manager's head was forcibly twisted off (it didn't seem to be a living thing either), and the Original Owner tossed it toward the cathedral's graveyard like trash.

The head exploded in mid-air, and the black blood formed a line of floating text: [Nightmare Cathedral takes over this Domain]

The entire street suddenly flipped!

The asphalt road collapsed into a grave, and the convenience store puppet was pierced by countless tombstones.

The demons in the stained-glass windows swarmed out and began to dismantle its "body"—the shelves were bent into crosses, the freezers were cast into new torture devices, and even the neon sign was forged into shackles covered in curses!

"It's about time to settle your account." The Original Owner turned to Mia.

He teleported in front of her, and the [Domain] of the [Nightmare Cathedral] covered the ground beneath Mia's feet. Mia's combat power instantly dropped back to the level of an ordinary human girl, and the Original Owner's blood-stained fingers pinched her chin: "Giving my shackles to small fry? Hmm?"

The force of his fingertips was enough to almost crush her bones.

Mia's eyes welled up with tears from the pain, but she scoffed: "What else? Die in that convenience store? Or be possessed by Lilith again?"

Before she could finish, Sister Loran's [Azure Green Vine] silently wrapped around the Original Owner's arm, and then wrapped around his entire body...

The air froze instantly.

Tuaner drew her bow, and Ryan pulled out [grief] from behind his neck...