Chapter 133 Light and Darkness – Thirty
It was a very young girl, and it was unclear if she had run out of her home in panic. She was completely naked, standing alone in the middle of an empty street, with a silver-armored corpse at her feet and dark brown blood stains all around her.
She appeared lost, standing there motionless, looking down at her clean hands, muttering something that could not be heard from afar. Duke Lexis couldn’t make out what she was saying.
A gentle breeze swept through the street, stirring up dust from the ground.
The girl’s beautiful silver hair was gently lifted, revealing beneath it her crimson eyes, as lustrous as gemstones.
She didn’t notice him.
Whose child was this? What was she doing here alone… Was she not afraid?
Something strange…
A slight doubt surfaced, but then Duke Lexis quickly dismissed it.
He didn’t care about what the little girl had experienced or why she looked like that. He only noticed one thing—the little girl was alone, by herself.
And the young woman didn’t seem to be around here.
Perhaps she went north… If that were the case, it would be for the best.
But just in case, Duke Lexis began to consider whether he should take a risk and run over to grab the little girl as a hostage. If that crazy girl really found him, at least he would have something to bargain with instead of being at her mercy.
If he really needed a hostage, such a young child would be the perfect choice given his current physical condition.
But the problem was… the little girl would likely cry for help, and he only had one hand left, so he might not be able to cover her mouth in time. Once she made a sound, it might be heard… Was this risk worth taking?
After all, threatening that mad girl with a civilian’s life might not work…
Suddenly, as Duke Lexis was hesitating, a figure stumbled out from a narrow alley across the street.
Duke Lexis’s heart raced, and his head buzzed—he thought it was the young woman chasing after him, but upon closer inspection, he saw that the figure was wearing silver armor, a style he knew too well.
It was an Iron Guard.
Damn it…
Just at this moment!
The young Iron Guard was covered in blood, but unlike the others who had gone mad, his expression wasn’t as狰狞, though he seemed quite panicked.
After rushing out of the alley, he first saw the little girl standing in the middle of the street and froze. Without knowing what he was thinking, he hesitated for a moment before walking towards the girl. After a few steps, he cautiously surveyed his surroundings—just as he was about to slip away quietly, his eyes met with Duke Lexis’s.
Both of them froze simultaneously.
Damn it…
Duke Lexis’s heart sank sharply.
He dared not move rashly, pressing his body against the wall, clenching his fist. He wished that the Iron Guard wasn’t someone his son trusted, or that he wasn’t so loyal, and that in these desperate times, they could both pretend not to see each other and escape together.
But things did not go as he hoped. The Iron Guard stared at him, and Duke Lexis saw the man’s face change rapidly. Then, slowly, he drew his sword from his waist.
“Look at this pathetic figure… Haha, Lord Lexis!”
The Iron Guard’s eyes glinted with fierce, wolf-like malice as he called out his name, took a sudden step forward, and charged at him with his sword.
“It’s mine now—”
F*ck.
Duke Lexis was both angry and anxious, wishing he could tear the man apart. But to reduce his weight, he had left his sword in the narrow alley earlier, and now he had almost no ability to resist. He no longer cared about making noise as he fled.
But two steps later, he saw the little girl finally notice the commotion. She raised her head.
In the next instant, thick black mist erupted from her flawless body, twisting like a snake, flying toward the Iron Guard, enveloping him and passing through him.
Everything happened in an instant. Duke Lexis hadn’t even reacted or understood what was happening. All he heard was a “clang” as the Iron Guard’s sword fell to the ground.
The man’s face was filled with confusion, his wide eyes still fixed on him, before he suddenly knelt down. Black, ugly burns spread rapidly across his silver armor, climbing up his face, emitting a sizzling sound as if his flesh was being roasted by fire.
“Ahhh—”
The iron-clad guard let out a heart-wrenching scream as an excruciating expression froze on his face. In an instant, he was completely devoured by the black smoke, turning into ashes just like the monsters before him, dispersing into the air.
At the same time, pale blue smoke rose and intertwined with the black smoke, returning to the body of the little girl.
Duke Lex watched everything in front of him intently.
He looked at the tiny ashes scattered by the wind, at the remaining wisps of black smoke not far ahead, at the black smoke rising and disappearing into the sky along with the ashes.
He gazed at the little girl still standing in the distance, her body as cold as ice, as if frozen, unable to move.
The little girl had already noticed him.
Those eyes, which he had thought were as clear and bright as gems not long ago, suddenly became as venomous as a snake’s, fixedly staring at this side, just like looking at a delectable prey trapped in a cage.
Boom—
A deafening explosion echoed in Duke Lex’s mind.
He thought of the rumors he had heard but never taken seriously.
The “great enemy of humanity” that the Church constantly exaggerated and warned about—a terrifying monster that crawled out from a crack called the Abyss.
According to the rumors, these monsters would release a deadly smoke that could devour all life, using it to absorb the souls of living beings and strengthen their own power. They had insatiable appetites for destruction and chaotic powers that should not exist in the world.
They were pure “destruction”… It sounded very frightening.
But Duke Lex had never believed in these things.
He always thought that the Church had exaggerated the existence of such monsters and the “heroes” who fought them—the Papal Knights personally appointed by the Pope—only to consolidate the Church’s position above the world, making the ignorant believe that they could not survive without the Church.
That was all.
Perhaps such monsters really existed, but they were certainly not as mysterious as the charlatans said— even if Cardinal Nero had once hinted some inside information to him, Duke Lex did not take it seriously.
Because many things simply did not hold up.
For example, monsters eating human souls… What is a soul? Can anyone explain it clearly?
No one can.
Even those charlatans couldn’t clarify it.
Because the concept of a soul does not actually exist; it is a fabricated idea by the Church. Probably even the person who first came up with this concept did not think deeply about it, because the ignorant would always believe it. Just like the so-called “gods,” the Church says they bestow blessings upon humans… But has anyone truly seen them?
No one has.
It was all just a trick to deceive the ignorant.
Duke Lex did not believe the Church’s rhetoric. He only trusted his own judgment— the disaster in the capital was clearly caused by those black-robed heretics and Teresa, yet the news reports claimed it was a monster from the Abyss… Just based on this, Duke Lex dismissed those claims.
What monsters… what heroes…
Just means of control.
Until today, he had always thought this way.
But at this moment, Duke Lex suddenly realized— perhaps the Church was right.
The terrifying black smoke had devoured the soldiers, and the pale blue smoke emerged, entering the little girl’s body… This scene looked like it was devouring souls.
And the previously insane iron-clad guards, the dead monsters, and the Papal Knight girl who had fought them to the death… Didn’t all of this resemble the rumors?
Duke Lex understood everything now.
No wonder…
No wonder the Church hadn’t taken any significant action for so long. No wonder the Holy Maiden and Miss Peylo had left the city, no wonder Cardinal Nero had hinted that the Church was preoccupied with the capital.
It was because… they were dealing with the monsters from the Abyss.
Now, for reasons unknown, the monster had come to the capital, standing right in front of him.
Suddenly, an overwhelming sense of fear surged through him like a tidal wave.
Duke Lex stared at the little girl in front of him, feeling as if he was being watched by a venomous snake. He dared not move or breathe loudly, unsure of what she wanted, feeling his entire body turn icy cold, cold sweat streaming down his cheeks.
Damn it…
Why is it a little girl… Could the previous monster have turned into a human…
What should he do now…
How could he survive this terrible disaster, escape alive from the capital…
