Chapter 167
Chapter 167: Azure Flames Consume the Moon, Blood Stains the Royal City (Part 1)
***
Whoosh—
The wind bore down from above.
I reacted in an instant. Without looking up, I bent my waist to nearly 90 degrees, planted my feet in a firm stance, guided Captain Grey's blade to my taut back, and took the ferocious incoming strike flush against my body.
CLANG—!!
The weapons collided with a thunderous, ear-splitting ring.
"Ugh!"
An overwhelming force slammed from my back through my entire body in an instant. The impact rattled my brain, and my whole back went numb at once. I couldn't hold back a muffled groan. My balance faltered and I nearly got smashed flat to the ground, but I gritted my teeth and barely managed to endure the terrifying force.
CRACK!
The rocky ground beneath my feet split apart. Shards of stone flew and clattered against the surrounding walls.
Thud.
A silhouette dropped to my side.
Because of my current posture, I could only see below her thighs. Even so, I recognized immediately who had attacked me from those voluminous black nun's skirts.
The next moment, the immense pressure on my back suddenly lifted, and my whole body relaxed. Then an unprecedented wave of danger flooded through me. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end. I tried to get away fast, but found my feet couldn't react in time—
BOOM!!
Taking that force again, my knees finally buckled and I went down on one knee.
I can't let myself get knocked down...
"Ahhh—!" A furious cry.
I bit down hard on my lip, and in an instant twisted sideways to deflect the black axe's force to the side. It crashed into the ground with a boom. At the same time, I flipped Captain Grey around, bracing the handle end against the stone floor and angling the blade toward the direction the enemy was standing, then pulled the trigger with my left hand.
ZING—
The blade sprang up and transformed again into a spear, forcing that figure to arch backward and retreat 2 quick steps. I seized the moment and pulled the trigger again, shifting Captain Grey back into its scythe form, then swung it in a backhanded arc toward her feet.
She immediately leapt backward, easily dodging my attack.
But you're out of chances now!
I immediately turned on my heel, my small frame surging forward. Captain Grey rose high in my grip, and I swung it with all my might toward her head.
"How beautiful..." the nun in front of me murmured softly.
CLANG—
She raised her terrifying double-bladed great axe to her side, blocking my strike with the handle, while her other hand instantly balled into a fist and drove straight for my face with a rush of wind. The blow came with such ferocity that just the sound of it alone made clear what would happen if it connected.
My pupils snapped tight. My focus peaked. I tilted my head to the right, dodging the attack by a hair's breadth past my ear, and glared with fierce eyes at that gentle face, biting my lip until blood welled out.
"WHY—!"
Screaming as I did it, I pressed my body in close and drove my fist into her abdomen.
Thud!
Her body curled inward.
The fist-force carried a freezing mist that burst outward from a single point like a raging tide, shredding her nun's habit with a series of popping sounds and rapidly coating it in a thin layer of frost. The black-and-white veil was blown away, and a cascade of silver hair spilled down. She was sent off her feet by my strike and was about to fly backward with the momentum.
Suddenly, a sharp, searing pain exploded from my scalp, so intense I let out an involuntary scream: "Ahhh—!"
She grabbed my hair...
I lurched off balance, stumbling forward several steps. Then a blue light blazed in both my eyes.
Crack crack crack crack—
Countless sharp ice spikes erupted from the ground, freezing everything ahead in an instant.
Blood bloomed in the next moment. Theresa's legs and waist were impaled clean through. She remained frozen mid-air in that falling posture, unable to move.
I drew a deep breath and swung Captain Grey upward from below.
Crack.
The hand gripping my hair was severed at the elbow in a single cut.
But that alone isn't enough...
My arm surged with power again. A second later, Captain Grey was swung high and then abruptly came back down—
Thud!
The pitch-black double-bladed great axe, along with the slender arm gripping it, hit the ground together with a heavy, muffled crash.
"Impressive..." she said.
Her tone was as gentle as ever, her face showing no trace of pain whatsoever.
"Truly worthy of... the hero who slew the Abyss alone."
I stared at her through clenched teeth.
"Did you... do all of this..."
"Yes."
Theresa curved the corner of her mouth and actually let out a soft laugh. Her smile was still as soothing as ever, pleasing to look at.
But in my eyes, she was no longer the gentle and dependable nun she had once been.
She was a demon, through and through.
"Lunatic... lunatic..."
The emotions surging inside me like a raging storm made me want to tear her apart alive, cut her into a thousand pieces.
"You, absolute LUNATIC!!!"
"Ahhhh—!"
With a voice-breaking cry, I clenched my fist and threw punch after punch at her face, like I was taking out all my rage on her.
Bang! Bang!
"WHY—!"
"Why are you— so CRUEL—!"
Bang! Crack!
I shattered the bones of her face, broke her nose, and destroyed her eyes.
Blood splattered across my face. Even so, it could not quench the rage and grief burning inside me.
"Demon wearing human skin— Die, you HERETIC!"
"AHHHH—!!"
I pounded her face until it was a bloody ruin.
But Theresa stayed silent, still smiling. With lips trembling and rotting, she spat out bloody foam and spoke to me: "I am... sorry. That we could not become... friends..."
...Friends?
I raised Captain Grey high above my head.
"I will never be friends— with a MONSTER—!"
SLASH!
I brought it down with full force across her neck.
Blood sprayed like a fountain, washing over my dress.
My hands were trembling slightly.
Thump-thump-thump...
Theresa's head tumbled down and rolled to my feet.
Her once-beautiful silver hair was soaked in blood, tangled across her cheek. I could no longer see her face.
My whole body was trembling, my chest heaving violently. The fierce pain from my back finally came rushing in all at once.
"Cough, cough."
I couldn't hold back a few coughs, then slowly turned around, my gaze landing on Charles, who had gone blank. After a moment of eye contact, he seemed to suddenly snap back to himself.
"Miss, please save them, hurry and save them! There are still children alive!"
Still... children alive?
"Over there!"
Bracing himself with his hand against the ground, he struggled to get up, but his leg appeared to be broken. After a few attempts he couldn't manage it, so he raised his hand and pointed frantically toward the far side of the blood pool, shouting in a ragged voice: "Just on the other side! I beg you, please save them—!"
I finally snapped to it and sprinted to the other side of the blood pool.
1... 2... there were still 5 children. All of their heads were intact, lying quietly on the ground.
They were all still conscious. When they saw me, the terror on their small faces turned into desperate, pleading looks. Among them was 1 very young little girl with a dirty face, and the moment our eyes met, she burst into tears.
That was... Elle... she hadn't died... she was still alive...
I felt a sudden crash of exhaustion, like all the strength had left me at once, and my legs gave way. Captain Grey, gripped in my hand, slipped and hit the ground with a clang.
My legs were shaking.
I walked over unsteadily, crouching down in something close to disbelief, and lifted her small body from the ground.
"You're still alive..."
"Thank goodness... Elle... I thought... you were gone too..."
Elle stared at me with wide eyes. A faint smell of alcohol came with each breath she let out. In her constantly trembling pupils, tears broke loose and came pouring out like a snapped thread. She opened her mouth wide and cried without a sound.
She seemed unable to move...
"What's wrong with you."
Suddenly, I heard a strange sound. Like something cracking open, a snap, coming from the blood pool beside me.
I looked over.
The bead suspended above the spine seemed to have grown somehow more vivid in color, glowing faintly with a blood-red sheen.
A sense of dread rose in my chest. On instinct, I gently set Elle down and stood up.
Whoooosh—
Tiny, dark brown flames ignited over the blood pool.
Before I could even process what they were, the flames shot into the blood bead with a hiss and vanished.
"The Goddess's Tear... is complete."
The faintly delighted words came from the direction of Theresa's head.