Chapter 168
Chapter 168: Azure Flames Consume the Moon, Blood Stains the Royal City (Part 2)
***
Crack.
A soft sound came from the ice spike piercing through Theresa's body.
My head went blank with a "buzz."
The next moment, the ice spike shattered with a loud snap. Flying shards sliced across my cheek, drawing a thin line of blood, but I felt nothing.
All my attention was fixed on Theresa's headless "corpse."
After the ice spike broke apart, her body dropped from the air and crashed onto the jagged ice below, and then... I watched her right foot twitch slightly, her entire body beginning to struggle and writhe.
Staring at the horrifying scene before me, waves of shock crashed through my mind. I quickly scooped up Captain Grey from where it had been thrown on the ground, gripped it tightly, and kept my eyes locked on that skin-crawling body without letting my guard down for even a second.
Theresa's body twisted and squirmed ceaselessly, slowly rising back to its feet.
Blood-colored flames ignited across her body.
The fire was faint, but it rapidly enveloped her severed arms. Accompanied by what sounded like a mass of oozing, pulsating flesh still wriggling on its own in a nauseating way, Theresa's arms grew back.
She's come back to life... no, she never died at all... The Gate of Truth... damn heretics!
"Oh my... oh my god..." Charles couldn't stop himself from letting out terrified murmurs.
"Don't worry. Those remaining children..." Theresa spoke.
The voice didn't come from her body, but from her head, still lying on the ground.
"I only had them drink rum mixed with datura. They probably won't be able to move until dawn, but they'll be fine. And the blood... there's already enough."
She stretched her body, then bent down and picked up her own head from the ground, brushed the hair away from her face with one hand, and cradled it against her chest — facing me.
In my field of vision, the head curled its lips into a smile. On that bloody, mangled face, a bone-chilling grin spread across it: "I never expected that in the end, it would be the guguo grass that exposed me... Abel really doesn't listen, he clearly agreed to take his little sister's place... How infuriating."
Whoosh—
Flames ignited from inside her mouth, instantly crawling up her cheeks and licking through her silver hair.
Theresa's voice began to grow distorted and grating: "But all things considered... bloodletting is something that frightens people. They want to run away, and that's not wrong... That's why I would have someone deliver guguo grass every so often, to ease their physical and mental pain... Now that the guguo grass has been intercepted by you, I had no choice but to substitute it with alcohol and datura... The effect isn't great, and I feel a little bad for the children."
...Feel bad?
You feel bad?!
"Lunatic..." I forced the words out through gritted teeth.
I can't reason with a demon. I can't understand it.
I just want to kill her. Fast.
Crack crack crack—
Captain Grey, gripped tight in my hand, split apart piece by piece from the handle end, and the chain fell to the ground with a clatter. I jerked my waist with force, swung my arm in a wide arc, and hurled the gleaming cold blade of the scythe straight at that burning head.
The pitch-black blade drove down with pinpoint accuracy from the top of her skull, piercing straight through and out of her mouth. I immediately yanked the chain again, wrenching the head out of her hands, and flung it into the nearby wall.
Thud.
The head smashed into several pieces. Burning shards of bone and flesh fell to the ground, gradually turning to charred ash.
Yet watching this already terrifying scene, my heart grew heavier and heavier.
I knew it was useless.
Squelch squelch... writhe writhe...
A new head slowly emerged from her neck stump. Hair, eyebrows and all, the exact same face as before, without a single change.
Setting aside the blood soaking her nun's habit, Theresa was already restored to perfect condition.
She rolled her head around, moved her eyes, opened and closed her mouth, then looked at me and smiled beautifully.
That smile made my blood run cold.
"Damn it..."
Crack crack crack.
Captain Grey reformed back into the shape of a scythe in my hand. I crouched low, blue light blooming from my left hand, condensing over a dozen razor-sharp ice spikes that floated above my head.
"...Miss Sylvia, there's actually no need for us to fight to the death here, is there?" Theresa looked at me with sincere eyes. "I have no desire to kill you. There is no deep grudge between us..."
I cut her off immediately: "But I want to kill you!"
"Why do you want to kill me?"
"Because you're a demon."
Theresa shook her head at that.
"I'm not a demon. Those children... I actually quite like them. Whether you believe that or not, I'm not lying to you. I never wanted to kill anyone, but this is... something that can't be helped."
"Can't be helped?" I stared at her face and said each word deliberately: "Theresa. You. Deserve. To. Die."
I gave my right arm a light swing.
The next moment, the ice spikes hovering above my head let out a piercing shriek and shot toward her all at once at a speed too fast for the eye to follow.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh—
I took a deep breath, stepped forward, and launched into a diving charge toward her.
Theresa didn't dodge or evade at all, letting the ice spikes drive into her body all over. She kicked the giant axe up from the ground with her foot, caught it in her hand, crouched and gathered her strength — then swung it down at me head-on.
"Hah!"
"Ah—"
Clang!
Captain Grey collided with the pitch-black axe, producing a crash that felt like it would shatter eardrums, sparks flying brilliantly from where the blades met.
The fierce impact sent a numbing shock through my arms. My stance staggered, my feet sliding back 2 steps. Once I steadied myself I exploded forward again, the massive scythe in my hand flashing its edge, hacking down at her side waist.
Slash!
The strike cut nothing but air.
Theresa reacted incredibly fast, twisting her body just barely enough to dodge the blade. With a crash, the scythe slammed into the ground, carving a gash into the hard rock, and instantly shards of stone flew through the air, whistling past my ears.
Whoosh.
Flames burst into view in the corner of my eye.
Then a flash of red, and a scorching, massive force slammed into my abdomen. I felt my whole body go weightless, followed by a wave of dizziness, as my feet left the ground and I was launched like a cannonball into the wall beside me.
Bang!
My body crashed through the brick wall and dropped to the floor.
In that moment, I felt like every bone in my body had fallen apart.
Kicked in the stomach...
"Ugh."
A burning, twisting pain erupted in my gut. I coughed up a mouthful of bile, then immediately forced myself back to my feet, pushing through the pain, gaze snapping back toward Theresa's direction.
The expected follow-up attack never came. Theresa had already moved to stand at the edge of the blood pool.
She extended her delicate arm and plucked the trembling blood droplet, the size of a fist, from the air. An expression of wild, delirious joy spread across her face.
"I did it... hahaha."
In my field of vision, the blood-soaked nun tilted her head back, slowly closing her eyes.
"Come. The remaining blood... this is the final revelry before the curtain falls."
As her words faded, the blood in the pool boiled once more. The crimson liquid gradually defied gravity, rising into the air, writhing like snakes without end, thick with the heavy stench of iron. It wrapped around every inch of Theresa's body.
Her body became a terrifying black hole, and in just half a second it absorbed and swallowed all of that blood... not a single drop left.
Hiss—
Strange sounds emanated from her body, the ice spikes embedded in her rapidly dissolving and evaporating. Horrifying penetration wounds healed at blinding speed. Tongues of flame surged from within her body and went out again, blazing light coursing through her veins, shining through her skin to form countless twisted, cryptic patterns.
I suddenly recalled something Carlos had once said.
[The third stage of the Gate of Truth, Blood Sacrifice... enemies at this stage are terrifying, truly terrifying... I've faced it once before... It was extremely grueling.]
A demon that burns on the blood of others.
Whoosh—
My feet launched into Moon Step, and I charged toward her one more time.
Theresa, whatever you're trying to accomplish, something this utterly devoid of humanity... I will not let you succeed!