Chapter 162: Long Night’s Dark Fire (Part Nine)
— Oblivion.
The Abyssal Power, through the crimson eyes of the Raven, burst forth in an instant.
Days earlier, during the night, before the Goat Cheese had returned to me and the siege of Alectine City in the southern territories began, I had taken out a bunch of lurking Heretics in the wildfire-ridden woods.
During that time, the Raven, flying in the sky on lookout duty, did a stellar job. Its eagle-like sharp gaze could always spot the lurking Heretics amidst the flames and smoke, quickly signaling me with its cries—after a few times, the enemy naturally got wise, launching Fireballs at the Goat Cheese, hitting it dead on more than once.
Then I uncovered the Raven’s “secret.”
It couldn’t d*e.
No matter how fierce the Infernal Fire, no matter how explosive the blasts, even as the Raven screeched in the night sky, its body would plummet, and before hitting the ground, it would adjust its posture, flap its wings, and soar back into the sky—like an immortal godbird.
Though, to be frank, this divine bird wasn’t exactly golden.
When things had settled down a bit, and the silly bird returned, perching on my shoulder, I was amazed to find that it didn’t have many visible burn marks, and the feathers it had lost were regenerating, with wisps of faint black smoke—stuff I knew all too well, unmistakably Dead Smoke.
I didn’t quite understand how this worked; it had definitely been wounded before, healed promptly, but hadn’t shown such power… I guessed it might relate to the severity of the injuries. Under the Heretics’ relentless assaults of Infernal Fire, if the Goat Cheese wanted to survive, it naturally had to draw on the Abyssal power—this silly bird might just belong to the “creations of the Abyss.”
At that moment, the realization hit me.
At the very least, it possessed Abyssal Power…
To confirm this, I attempted to unleash Oblivion on it—result as expected, the “dream” of Oblivion could be stored in its consciousness and manifested through its bird-like gaze—I made it look at me, activated Oblivion, and to my delight, I found myself trapped in the dream I’d created.
… Surprise.
Or was it fear?
It was hard to say what I felt at that moment, but with the situation urgent, there was no time to ponder deeply, so I stuffed my complex emotions down and dashed out of the woods with Safiros and the gang, meeting up with the bald heads outside the city—what followed was a fierce, all-out siege.
Fire and bl**d filled every nook and cranny. The dead and the Heretics clashed violently, entering a frenzied state until everything settled down. The Jester had more news; I’d been whisked back here by Angel using the Divine Reliquary “World”…
There was hardly a moment to catch my breath. I hadn’t had the chance to familiarize myself with or validate the “Oblivion Power” wielded through the silly bird until now, and I had no idea how many variables there could be in that approach, whether new problems could arise, or if it would even work against the monster-like Heretics.
The only reason I dared to try was that…
I couldn’t think of another way.
But in that moment, as a crimson glow erupted in the Goat Cheese’s eyes, the monster called the Jester, looking down from above with its strange, spiky deer face and six pairs of equally bl**d-red eyes fixed on us, locked gazes with the Raven, witnessing the flickering scarlet light.
And then, the fiery night fell dark in an instant.
The sky roared, resembling the cries of countless women lamenting, the wind howled past my ears, then abruptly halted, the sparks floating in the wind vanished, replaced by numerous black Ravens unfurling their wings, pouring in from all directions like a thick swarm of locusts, covering the sky. At that moment, my heart leaped, followed by sheer joy—
I did it!
“Oblivion” worked!
Even against such a monster, it would fall into the illusion in an instant!
Whoosh—
Countless black birds blotted out the night sky, shrouding the frosty chill, returning the darkness to the land. Visibility dimmed, with only a faint, thin red light spilling from the gaps in the wings, vaguely illuminating the outline of the monster in the sky—he seemed to raise his head, while his massive right arm lifted too, like he intended to launch some kind of attack against the overwhelming flock of Ravens above…
But the attack didn’t deploy in time.
A cacophony of clustered, hoarse cries echoed through the night sky, as the Ravens descended in a dense cloud, surrounding the monster in an instant, launching an all-out assault. The monster swatted with its bloody giant hand, creating gusts and flames, sending countless Ravens flying, yet more surged in, quickly burying the enormous figure in the sky.
This all happened in the blink of an eye, too fast for even me to react.
Golly…
I stood there, staring at the scene, stunned… I had initially just imagined a lot of Goat Cheese as a “preset” in the dream that existed within the “true” silly bird’s consciousness… and then this many appeared… My goodness…
I blanked out for a second, then my brain pinged.
… Meteor fire!
The sprawling mass of black birds obscured my view of the higher sky, I couldn’t see the situation at the town, only knowing the swirling flames were dimming, but still…
“Dumb bird, keep an eye on it!”
I lifted the silly bird off my shoulder and hastily placed it on a nearby stone, the frost atop the stone melted under the heat of Infernal Fire. The silly bird stood there dumbly, frozen in its pose—trapped in the illusion and unable to move, certainly couldn’t hear me, but there was no time to worry about that now.
In the next moment, I activated Moon Step, leaping off the rising Ice Pillars, bursting through the flock of birds and shooting toward the higher sky.
Thirty… fifty…
The gales howled, countless black birds circled and soared in my field of vision, inevitably crashing against me, ghosting through as if they were incorporeal—I couldn’t touch them because they were merely illusions. Though I could see them, I wasn’t truly trapped in the dream.
After a hundred meters up, passing through the dense flock of Ravens, my view finally cleared.
Crack crack crack…
Thick, irregular ice blocks formed beneath my feet, and I steadied myself in midair, glancing in the direction of the town…
The light in the sky had indeed darkened.
The Infernal Fire that had been swirling above and gradually forming into a sphere was still there, but it was dissipating at an alarming rate—probably because the Jester was trapped in the illusion, causing its strength to relax in reality… that must be it, or maybe he just hadn’t figured it out yet.
And moreover…
Boom boom boom boom…
The muffled thunderous noise continued above the night sky. I glanced at the town while also eyeing the flock of Ravens swirling below, from the center of the black cloud, faint firelight flickered… my brows knitted slightly.
The threat of meteor fire seemed temporarily lifted…
I breathed a sigh of relief internally.
As for using an unknown, untested method of power, I was a bit skeptical, so the fact that I managed to halt the meteor fire was truly great…
With the civilian threat neutralized, I could now focus on dealing with the monster.
My mind raced; I looked down at the dense cluster of Ravens below, my brain working overdrive.
Dream, reality…
In this situation, it seemed I could see both…
But logically, if the monster embodied by the Jester truly fell into the “Oblivion” I cast through the Goat Cheese’s eyes, then he should be unable to act in reality just like the Goat Cheese…
Yet just earlier, after triggering Oblivion, I did indeed see him move; I couldn’t be mistaken.
What’s going on…
Why could that monster move…
I casually shot several Ice Spikes downward; sharp ice projectiles tore through the flock of birds effortlessly, heading straight for the direction of the red glow, my eyes locked on… not long after, the monster-turned-Jester let out a roar.
“Roar—”
The bizarre beastly roar was overwhelming, and crimson flames suddenly erupted between the flock of Ravens, a scorching wind howled, almost knocking me off my icy perch, my hair swirling wildly, the hem of my dress billowing up, exposing my pristine thighs, the fabric almost covering my face… yikes, my undies!
Thoughts derailed for a moment, panic surged; I nearly lost my balance as my body wobbled again, falling from the icy podium. In that moment of weightlessness, I flailed, and after two seconds of chaos, I remembered to press down my dress with one hand while shooting out several wisps of Ice Mist with the other, slowing my descent, plunging into the flock of Ravens brought some sense of safety, a swift roll, and I jumped off the solidified ice platform like a cannonball toward the glowing red direction!
Boom!
A massive shockwave erupted among the flock, the powers of ice and fire intertwining for an instant, then began to twist and wildly leak out, the rampant force having no effect on the Ravens, who continued crazily swirling at the explosion’s center, landing on the monster’s body, scratching with their claws and pecking with their sharp beaks, showing no fear of the burning inferno. The line between reality and illusion blurred, and I couldn’t think too deeply anymore; at that moment, I was already on the monster’s back, gripping one of its bl**d-red arms, giving it a fierce yank, “crack!”—I broke it!
“Roar—”
The monster let out another screech.
Then it started cackling: “Hehe, haha… so that’s it… I was wondering what was going on… turns out it’s… like this… hahahahaha…”
“Laugh it off, Dad.”
Boom!
I released its arm, swinging my tiny fist down onto its back, the tremendous thud echoed as the shockwave radiated out, the monster’s body plummeted rapidly. I gripped its fur tightly, keeping close behind it, landing punch after punch on its protruding spine.
Bang! Bang! Pfft—
The final, ferocious punch snapped the monster’s back, and then the massive body crashed to the ground, clouds of dust and frost exploding, obscuring my view. The tremor beneath my feet sent a jolt through my legs; I quickly rolled aside to dissipate the force, tumbling a good four to five meters away, and scrambled back to my feet.
“Jester…”
I limped toward it.
“No matter what you try to do… it won’t work…”
“Ahhahahaha—”
The huge beast also rose, its broken arm instantly healing after a few cracks. It hunched forward like a beast, its gigantic head turning toward me, mouth opening wide in a crazed laugh, revealing its grotesque fangs.
“So that’s it… this annoying, repugnant power… Silvya, this is… your secret…”
