### Chapter 106: The Traitor of the Holy Song (Part Six)
“What’s happening—”
“Back off quickly!”
In a flurry of shouting, Rect yanked the woman back, making a hasty retreat.
But before they could move too far, a swirl of golden light erupted in the sky, followed by a raggedly hoarse roar filled with raging fury. The sound waves rippled forward, visible enough to make the road ahead seem to expand and instantly come crashing toward them.
“Ughhhhhh!”
Boom—
The sound hit their ears like thunder, shaking the very foundations of the world. The two were swept away as if an unseen hand had delivered a mighty slap, sending them tumbling through the air toward the ground.
“What…”
On the wall outside the ruined street, the young woman raised her hand in shock to shield her face, as a fierce gust bore down upon her, sending her hair flying in all directions.
With one eye barely open, she squinted through her fingers, struggling to peer ahead.
Just seconds before, a man named Chris had been pretending to be gravely injured and exhausted. He’d sensed that his opponent had no intention of finishing him off directly and, seizing the opportunity, used a divine miracle to restore a sliver of his life. While the girl was momentarily careless, he dug deep into his left arm, extracting a shard of bone no bigger than a fingernail, carefully hidden inside.
He had gone through a great deal of trouble to smuggle that Divine Reliquary out of the academy. They called it the “Words of the Ancient Deity,” but in truth, it was a fragment of Gidales’ nasal bone.
Chris knew this piece was a part of the ancient deity—albeit extremely small, it nonetheless carried a fragment of immense and unfathomable divine power.
And he had intended to use that power to save his own life.
As Chris extracted the hidden shard, it burst into a brilliant golden light, causing the sky to shimmer with its holy radiance. Bathed in the glow, he clenched the bone tightly in his fist, took a deep breath, his trembling fist dripping with bl**d, revealing an intensity of hatred as he locked eyes with the young woman.
“Ughhhhhh—”
The hoarse roar, echoing with the wildest rage, erupted from Chris’s mouth, resonating with the bone in his palm. The high-pitched sound waves radiated outward from him, crashing down and obliterating the surrounding buildings!
The massive shockwave raced towards them; just moments before it hit, the young woman had sensed that familiar, nostalgic aura.
But this aura felt different from the one Chris had been emanating since the beginning.
Initially, sensing that aura had led her to guess the Divine Reliquary was probably in his possession. While she was right, the difference in that aura had briefly confused her and made her hesitate.
That hesitation allowed the man to successfully unleash the relic’s power.
As the terrifying sound wave approached, the young woman’s head buzzed suddenly, accompanied by a violent ringing in her ears and a flurry of stars dancing before her eyes.
“Ugh…”
Meanwhile, Rect, having fallen into the ruins of an old house, hurriedly got up, covering his ears. The woman nearby moaned in pain, holding her head and shouting, “What is this thing? Why is it so fierce?!”
“It’s a stolen relic,” Rect stated calmly. “Quick, let’s get out of here and send someone to tell Parsi not to search the river anymore. The relic is indeed in this guy’s hands…”
Buzz buzzing…
On the crumbling street, the sound waves continued to expand. The young woman struggled to maintain her stance on the wall, nearly blown off by the force.
She pressed her throbbing temples, pushing herself to the edge before abruptly waving her hand—an overwhelming frost surged forth from the front—
Boom boom boom boom boom!
With a ground-shaking roar, giant, kn*fe-like ice spikes burst from the earth, instantly encasing everything within a radius of at least two to three hundred meters—including Chris—in ice.
The shouting, the sound waves, all disappeared in that moment.
Furrowing her delicate brow, the young woman shook her head vigorously.
She quickly regained her senses; while the sound wave was terrifying, it merely annoyed her rather than inflicting any real harm.
She realized Chris must have pulled out the Divine Reliquary at this moment, preparing to unleash everything he had in a last-ditch effort.
Seeing her grand attack miss completely, Chris had already leaped away like a cannonball just before her Frost Power struck.
He was about to launch another fierce attack—taking advantage of the relic in his hand to spring forth with a wave of offense.
But as she pondered this, her eyes scanned the distant surroundings for Chris, ready for his sudden move…
Then, out of nowhere, she spotted his disheveled figure at least five hundred meters away, limping awkwardly, back turned toward her, desperately fleeing farther away.
“…”
The girl froze: “Hey…”
…This guy…
Just a moment ago, he was all fiery and reckless, ready for a life-or-d*ath showdown, and now he was slipping away so decisively and swiftly…
She stood there for a good two seconds, rubbing her forehead and letting out a sigh.
Annoying…
She didn’t really want to play anymore. Whatever.
Since it was confirmed that the relic was in his hands, she might as well wrap things up quickly.
With that thought, she looked around, ensuring no one else was in sight, then jumped down from the high wall.
As she landed, a cloud of pitch-black mist erupted from her left ankle, swirling into a tangible form that twisted and quickly formed into a small black snake with beady eyes, hissing as it perched obediently at her feet. With a signal from her gaze, it shot off toward the direction where Chris had fled, darting away like a b*llet.
“…Heh.”
The girl paused for a moment in thought and, without knowing why, chuckled to herself.
Then she took leisurely steps toward that direction. Just a few steps in, she vanished in a flash, reappearing at the far end of the shattered bluestone road, still appearing to stroll slowly until she once again slipped out of sight.
With the wind whistling past, the girl quickly reappeared right in front of Chris.
By now, Chris stood frozen in place, confronted by a black snake hissing at him with bl**d-red eyes, already covered in wounds, his clothes tattered, staring vacantly ahead, unable to move.
He had succumbed to the dreamscape of Oblivion.
If the girl wanted to k*ll him right then, all she had to do was pull out the Dragon Claw from her waist and lightly slice his already battered neck—Chris wouldn’t even feel the pain as his consciousness faded into the dream.
She tapped her chin thoughtfully, tilting her head slightly as if considering this.
Though at first, she wanted to have a “nice chat” with Chris, she didn’t really want him to d*e so easily. But more importantly, she didn’t want Rect to catch him because this man knew too much.
Purely selfish reasons.
Five seconds, ten seconds…
Time passed slowly.
The young woman didn’t worry that Chris could start any more chaos; once blinded by Oblivion’s power, it was practically game over for him—she thought this, but suddenly, she heard a soft “pop,” like something was being bitten.
Huh?
With confusion, she looked up to see Chris, frozen, suddenly sporting bulging veins on his face and neck!
Gray smoke wafted from his mouth, curling toward her. She took a gentle sniff and realized, with a hint of familiarity… Lotus Seed Grass.
With a swift retreat, she stepped back.
The next moment, Chris sprang into action.
With terrifying speed, he pulled out a short dagger from his pocket and, without hesitation, plunged it into the eye visible through his mask!
“Ugh…”
“Ughhhhhhhh—!!!”
In a fit of agony, the man collapsed to the ground, the dagger clattering beside him as bl**d gushed from his eye, seeming to regain some sense as he gasped deeply.
“Why…”
bl**d oozed from his eye socket, nose, mouth, and all over his body, pooling on the ground, creating a dark crimson mess.
With his head bowed, it looked like he had given up the fight.
In a low voice, tinged with madness and despair, he murmured, “Angel or Romani, you too… why won’t you give me a way out…”
As he uttered those words and slowly raised his head, the distorted mask he wore fell with a clatter.
The girl finally saw the other half of his face.
It was an ugly, terrifying visage, severely eroded by the Abyss.
