Chapter 80: “Oblivion” (Part 1)
After kicking Captain Gray off, I stepped across the countless towering ice blades, making my way toward the edge of the frost-covered area where the knights were still retreating. I quickly approached them, landed in front with a flourish of my skirt, and then turned to see Isaac looking a bit dazed.
He stared for a moment, noticing I was the only one who had come down, and instinctively asked, “What about the heretic?”
“Frozen to d*ath.”
Regardless of whether it was a cloak or a skirt, my already soaked clothes were stiff with the cold mist; even my hair was stuck flat against my head, feeling like a pot lid had been plopped on top. Not comfortable at all.
If I hadn’t been standing next to the heretic roasting marshmallows for so long, moving around might’ve been quite the challenge. As it was, my clothes were covered in ice shards, and after a few futile attempts to brush them off with my hands, I decided to just shake myself vigorously while leaning against Captain Gray, flinging the ice bits everywhere like a wet cat getting rid of water.
Two seconds later, I realized that this was a bit silly and stopped, thinking the knights might be secretly laughing at me. I quickly glared around… to find no one was laughing.
The knights were frozen solid. Even though we were fifty meters away from “Blade Mountain,” the icy mist drifted over, coating their hair and brows with a thin layer of frost. They stared wide-eyed, breath visible in the air, and even Isaac looked at me with a changed expression.
In those complex gazes was a mix of admiration, reverence, and a hint of disbelief.
“You… you only used one hit…”
Isaac touched his bald head, his armor already frosted, but he seemed to be the only one who didn’t feel cold—or at least he looked that way.
Still, his expression was blank, his eyes glazed over, as if he was sleepwalking: “One hit… just one hit… and it caused this level of destruction… Little one, you’re making me feel like those so-called geniuses I’ve seen in the past are as cheap as horse manure on the streets of the Holy City… That was a third-stage heretic, you know… HAHAHAHA! Little one, you might be small, but you’re truly amazing!”
???
What kind of nonsense was this?!
The bald knight burst out laughing, excitement and zeal flashing in his eyes: “Once this is over, if you don’t play a game with me, I’ll never let you go! Absolutely not! HAHAHAHA—”
“……”
I was at a loss for words.
What was up with this guy? He’s not acting right…
Even the knights couldn’t take it anymore and awkwardly looked elsewhere.
Isaac got excited for a moment, then suddenly realized, “Wait, if he’s frozen to d*ath, what were you doing up there for so long?”
“Watching him freeze to d*ath.” I said grumpily.
“…Appreciating the macabre?”
“Yup.”
I nodded somewhat dismissively.
“So you just watched and didn’t ask anything?”
“I did ask.”
“What did you ask?”
“Nothing came out.”
“……”
Now it was Isaac’s turn to be speechless.
While rubbing my skirt, I explained, “A little insane, but very determined… I used a method and only learned that he should have a mission. There’s a Mr. J who gave him his orders.”
With a pale face, I rubbed a few times, realizing it didn’t help, so I abandoned that and looked up: “He killed the villagers. Not for food, but for fun. Mr. J is a lolicon.”
“These degraded beasts… But about that Mr. J you mentioned…”
Isaac rubbed his head, contemplating for two seconds before he froze: “Lolicon? What does that mean?”
“It means… a pervert who likes little girls.”
Isaac’s expression turned serious as realization dawned: “That’s the Jester… but he’s fighting the Third Knights Order down south. Why would he send someone here?”
A jester? A lolicon?
That thought flickered across my mind, and I shook my head at Isaac: “I don’t know. He died too quickly.”
I didn’t know anything, didn’t ask anything.
About this, I felt a bit guilty—I hadn’t expected him to d*e so fast.
The heretic had been boasting a lot earlier, and with Infernal Fire at the third stage, I thought he’d be tougher to crack than a walnut. I unconsciously compared him to someone like Teresa, thinking even if there was a gap, it couldn’t be that wide.
But the result told me that even among third-stage beings, the power differences could be staggering… I thought he could last longer, but he quickly withered and died, just like Valar had.
After he died, he didn’t turn into another Teresa Monster.
“This third stage… is way off from what I encountered in the Royal City.”
“You encountered a third stage in the Royal City?!” Isaac exclaimed, bewildered.
Ah…
Most people in the Church probably didn’t know about Teresa.
I quickly changed the subject: “Isaac, do you think… if he was the only one here, would the villagers still have died in such numbers?”
“If it was just him, there would likely be more villagers escaping. It couldn’t cause such a slaughter; he must’ve had help. At least more than just him doing the killing… I’ve already sent for reinforcements to report this to the Pope. As for whether we can find others… it’s up to luck; don’t have too many hopes.”
“And we can’t linger here much longer.” The Captain of Knights behind Isaac added, “Now that the demon is dead, our immediate priority should be to find the way out and check the village and the area around for survivors.”
“Miss Silvya, the demon’s body… it’s not broken into ice shards, is it? Can we move it from the ice mountain?” Isaac asked.
“Sure.”
I nodded; it wasn’t a difficult task.
I stepped back onto the ice platform, moving the heretic’s frozen body and placing it on the ground at the perimeter. Isaac approached to take a look, confirming he was indeed dead, then instructed the knights to scatter and search while he took two others and carried the body toward the village entrance. I was left to handle the extinguishing of the fire.
I returned to the burning rubble of the stone house, using Ice Mist to douse the Infernal Fire. Gathering the black box from the muddy ground, I put Captain Gray back inside and then made my way to a nearby larger puddle to wash away the grime from the box—though of course, it wouldn’t get completely clean. Just like that, I slung it back on, and the huge Horned Horse stood not far away, unperturbed by the commotion. As I approached, it let out a loud snort and nudged me with its massive head.
Almost made me fall on my b*tt!
I patted its neck fur, not bothering to ride it, and sheltered under a nearby broken roof to escape the rain. I found a relatively clean spot to crouch down, pulled up my hood, hugged my knees, and rested my chin on them, curling into a ball.
In my head, I replayed what had just happened.
Before the heretic died, I had used him to experiment with the power of “Oblivion.”
This was a power I had deliberately avoided practicing and using since the battle in the Royal City.
Back when I was in the forest outside the city, I had practiced a bit and tried to get a handle on the chaotic power in my body, even creating a living “deer” with the shaping ability from the endless Abyss… Although I wasn’t quite proficient, I had made significant progress in my exploration, and my feelings toward the chaos power had long since lost their previous resistance.
Nonetheless, I still desperately avoided relying on the power of “Oblivion,” even forcing myself to ignore it.
The reason I didn’t want to use “Oblivion” wasn’t because it once belonged to Irush.
But because this special power had extremely extreme dual natures.
