Chapter 168: Long Night’s Golden Light (Part Four)
“Infernal Fire Power…” Daniel’s face suddenly turned pale. “How… how could it be Infernal Fire…”
“It indeed is Infernal Fire… the power of bl**d sacrifice… no, wait, it’s beyond that…”
Hearing their words made me frown. “What do you mean—”
Boom—!!!
Out of nowhere, a loud explosion rang out beside me. From my peripheral vision, I saw Miss Meiser, with Holy Lances sticking out of her chest, her arms almost severed, swaying as if about to fall. Flames erupted around her like a raging inferno, and a hot wind blasted forth, pushing Karl stumbling back several meters. Daniel and Olivia shielded their faces with their arms as the intense heat rolled over us, and I squinted my eyes.
“k*ll her, find the real relic—”
“Can we even find it if we k*ll her?!”
“d*mn it…”
In their hurried conversation, the woman pulled out the Holy Lance stuck in her chest and jabbed it at the giant bell overhead. Clang! With a deafening sound, the Golden Bell tilted violently from the impact and shattered, golden shards raining down like confetti. As the glow faded, she pulled out another Holy Lance from behind her, sticky bl**d trailing behind, the infernal fire burning around her. In the next moment, she suddenly turned and hurled the Holy Lance toward us!
Whoosh—
I quickly dodged to the side, the lance glittering with faint golden light barely grazing my ear as it sped past, the rush creating a deafening crack that rang in my ears. My head buzzed; ahead, the flames reached for the sky, the ground instantly scorched and cracked. Bloody red serpents slithered around Miss Meiser. She spoke softly, indifferently, “k*ll me? You all think you can…”
Whoosh—
Like an arrow shot from a crossbow, the woman charged out of the flames, swirling winds appearing before Daniel. With her rapidly regenerating arm, her skeletal fingers pointed at his forehead. “You thought…”
Buzz—
A faint miraculous sound resonated lightly. Her fingertip radiated golden light, as if a voice echoed from the depths of a quiet valley, clearly ringing in my ears: “Who you are.”
I turned my head, eyes wide. The moment was too fleeting, too sudden; the woman was so fast it made my head spin. The wind whipped her silver hair as it flitted about, lifting the ordinary man’s golden-and-white cleric robes. Flames danced around, and before she even steadied her feet on the ground, the horrified expression on the man’s face froze in the wind. When he finally reacted, bright and direct light shot from her fingertips.
“Quick, dodge—”
Whoosh.
A slight, nearly inaudible hum, like a strange insect’s chirp.
Daniel could only barely tilt his head, shifting just a smidge away from that spot.
A blazing, one-finger-wide laser shot silently into his left eye, penetrating straight through his head.
You think you know who you are…
No impact, no screams, no bl**d. The woman’s cool, urgent voice, just forming a complete thought in my consciousness, while Olivia next to me still hadn’t raised her hand; the blazing light had already pierced through Daniel’s skull and shot into the distant darkness.
He hadn’t even fallen yet.
The golden light on him flashed, then dimmed.
“Daniel—”
“d*mn heretic!”
Boom!
Blue light flickered in his eyes, and countless irregular ice spikes erupted from his palm, arcing forward in snake-like formations from self-exploding ice crystal fragments. Pfft, pfft, pfft! They pierced through Miss Meiser’s chest and abdomen. She swayed slightly, her cold, crimson eyes tilting towards him; a single glance felt like plunging into an ice cavern.
Buzz!
The sound of the miracle trembled again. The woman, now known as Meiser, had her infernal fire flash briefly, along with the bl**d serpents that disappeared into her body, golden radiance bursting forth.
Ahead, the ordinary man finally let out a horrific scream, clutching his left eye as he crumpled to the ground. Karl, who had been rushing in, attempted a sneak attack from mid-air, but the woman swung her arm, slicing the ice spikes embedded in her with ease, twisting her body to punch wrapped in blinding golden light. Several pristine feathers floated down from her fist winds, hitting Karl square in the chest—
Bang!
The air seemed to tremble momentarily, the shockwave radiating outward, his body curling like a shrimp before he was knocked flying. On the other side, Olivia looked anguished, pointing at Miss Meiser with both hands, her fingertips glowing golden. Two slender beams of blazing white light, identical to those of Miss Meiser, shot out silently.
Whoosh—
The golden light around Miss Meiser scattered instantly, flames reigniting. She didn’t look back, but it was as if she had eyes in the back of her head; the moment the beams were unleashed, she suddenly crouched low, evading the attack. The white light grazed her silver hair, creating two finger-wide holes. In the next instant, she swung her arm back, multiple bl**d serpents shot from her completely healed fingertips, ensnaring the unprepared Olivia, “Whoosh—” lifting her high into the air.
“Ughhhhhhh—!!”
In the blink of an eye, Daniel was writhing on the ground, howling in pain, bl**d spurting from the cracks between his fingers as he clutched his eye. Over there, Karl crashed through a charred tree with a bang, and I heard him shout, “Judgment Miracle! Nefilod’s Light! Who the hell are you?!”
The woman paid no attention to his cries. She stood up, clenched her fist, her red skirt swirling gracefully amid the flames, and I charged at her with all my might, ready for a confrontation.
Bang—
Fire and frost exploded before me, and the tremendous force of her right fist slammed toward me. I couldn’t help but grunt as the wind knocked me back several steps. Stopping, my arm trembled from the impact, my half-obscured vision catching sight of the woman known as Meiser also stumbling back a few steps, her high heels making deep marks on the scorched ground. She straightened up, her icy gaze cutting through the mist like a dagger aimed at me.
The miracle…
That woman just used a miracle.
It was the Judgment Miracle once used by Nero, which had pierced my throat…
Wheeze.
I couldn’t help but touch my neck, coughing lightly as I shook my numb right hand, feeling a dull pain in my knuckles. Glancing at the ordinary man sprawled on the ground, his cries fading, I took a deep breath.
“Why… do you have a miracle…”
The question slipped from my mouth unconsciously, but my thoughts were already a chaotic mess, making it hard to think clearly.
I thought I was just here to stop the Jester, to end it all by killing him, but the situation seemed far more complex and elusive than I imagined… What on earth is happening? This is all so wrong. What the hell is that heretic trying to pull… and what’s the church up to…
What even is that orb they’re after…?
Such muddled thoughts…
Is everyone just deceiving me…?
“Miss Silvya, I need to confirm something with you.”
The woman began to speak, stepping forward, her red dress billowing in the flames. “Back in the Royal City, you faced Sister Teresa. You killed her when she transformed into a half-angel. I heard some rumors about that later; I wanted to ask you.”
Her words flowed into my ears, her figure crept closer through the fire, one step, then another…
What should I do now…
How long has the Jester been gone?
I can’t afford to waste time here…
A flash of golden light, Olivia’s disheveled figure appeared again. She casually tossed a blade of light at the woman and swept Daniel up to retreat swiftly. The woman dodged to the side, not pausing her steps nor chasing them, continuing to walk toward me.
“Nobody witnessed a miracle while she was battling you in the Royal City. Sister Teresa… never used a miracle against you until her d*ath. Right?”
“What do you want to say…”
“Yes or no.”
“What’s it to you?”
“… As expected, you’re still intent on denying it. This isn’t even for you anymore.”
Miss Meiser’s tone turned somewhat reflective: “Even until d*ath, you still cling to that meaningless belief… We’re clearly different, you’re stronger than I am…”
“What on earth are you trying to say…”
After I asked, the woman’s gaze sharpened.
“She really could have killed you. I just wanted you to know that.”
Buzz—
The golden light of the miracle burst forth from Miss Meiser again, intertwining with the crimson flames. Dark red bl**d serpents wound through the light, swirling rapidly around her, the mingling of golden and crimson glows presenting a mysterious, alluring deep brown in the night, flowing slowly.
!
The miracle, Infernal Fire…
What on earth does this all mean? Was she once part of the church too?!
An invisible pressure bore down, making it feel like I could hardly breathe. I instinctively took a step back. In that puzzling glow, the woman’s slender figure suddenly loomed like a mountain, a powerful demon. She stretched her right hand to the side and clenched it—
Wooooo!
An eerie, ghostly sound echoed as several bl**d serpents converged in her grasp, shrieking on the empty scorched earth. Bloodlight burst forth, swiftly condensing into sharp, massive dark red spikes extending from her outstretched arm, their material flowing with red light, vaguely resembling the orb I had shattered earlier.
This is…
“You must be witnessing this kind of power for the first time.”
The woman stopped about four or five meters in front of me.
As her words fell, the spikes vanished in an instant, as if teleporting.
Whoosh—
A shrill sound pierced the air as the wind whooshed against my face, an overwhelming sense of danger raising goosebumps all over me. I instinctively activated Moon Step, shooting back several meters, filled with confusion as I stared at the now distant existence of Miss Meiser. Yet… the fearsome attack I had imagined did not come.
Or rather, it wasn’t aimed at me.
“Olivia!!!”
Karl, who was clutching his chest and coughing bl**d from a distance, roared. On the other side, Olivia, who had already retreated quite a distance, suddenly looked up, appearing bewildered. In the next moment, the already bloodied Daniel, nearly lifeless, suddenly mustered strength and violently shoved her away: “Run—”
Bloodlight burst forth immediately.
Olivia staggered from being pushed, and the next instant, I only saw a massive red line flash by. The wind it dragged up kicked up scorched earth, penetrating through Daniel’s chest, creating a gaping hole the size of a fist in his head.
!!!
I couldn’t catch where that red line came from, but it was definitely a spike released by Miss Meiser, its speed almost matching my Moon Step. The ordinary man widened his remaining eye, then thud, he knelt down.
d*mn it…
“Daniel!!!”
The wind following that red line nearly knocked Olivia off her feet. She quickly flashed in a shimmer of gold, teleporting back and reaching out to help the man.
He’s going to d*e…
With a loud thud, I stepped into Moon Step and appeared in front of the two, shouting, “Use the healing miracle!”
He can’t d*e yet; I still have questions for him…
From the corner of my eye, I saw bl**d gushing from the gaping hole in Daniel’s chest, staining his golden-and-white cleric robes.
The ordinary man’s solitary eye turned bl**d-red, bl**d dripping from his mouth and nose. He knelt on the ground, grabbing Olivia’s hand, his voice hoarse, nearly a whisper: “Pope… hasn’t… come yet…”
“Don’t speak, Daniel, don’t speak…”
Golden light, emerald sparkles, burst forth from Olivia’s grieving eyes, flowing toward the man’s wound, but… it seemed it was all in vain.
Cough—
Daniel coughed out a mouthful of bl**d.
Weakly leaning against Olivia’s legs, the light gradually faded from his eyes: “Why… hasn’t he come yet… why…”
“Are we… just discarded… pieces on a chessboard…?”
