Chapter 173: Two Choices
The gale howled fiercely in front of me.
In my line of sight, the outskirts of Stag Town to the north, the blazing red flames gradually spread from the flickering lights.
d*mn it…
Faster, faster, faster, faster…
Above the night sky, a petite girl with a torn skirt streaked through the scorched forest like a meteor, soaring toward the town at breakneck speed.
Behind her, swirling golden light buzzed among the burning trees, the dull thuds echoing like thunder. Dozens of dark red bl**d serpents suddenly shot out from the golden light, only to be torn apart and locked by even more dazzling golden chains, letting out deathly wails that mingled with Olivia’s desperate roar.
“Ughhh—”
That sound traveled from afar, causing the girl’s eyes to glimmer slightly with rage.
Fifteen… no, ten minutes…
In ten minutes, I must k*ll the Jester and come back to save them…
Come on!!!
Whoosh whoosh whoosh—
The wind swept past my ears with a piercing shriek, nearly puncturing my eardrums as I plunged down from a height of nearly a hundred meters toward the town, my speed so great that I could barely keep my eyes open. My body was tense and rigid, my face felt like it was being sliced open, yet my hands still stretched back, continuously spewing ice mist, using the thrust to accelerate even more.
It hurts…
It hurts, hurts, hurts… so uncomfortable… too fast… I can’t breathe…
Huff—
In the next moment, black mist erupted from my body, enveloping me entirely, blocking out the chaotic winds. I took a deep breath, my eyes flashing with a scarlet glow, that light piercing through the thick fog like two bright, eerie lanterns, sweeping towards the direction of the town where the inferno was rising.
I can’t think of that much…
Just for a moment…
Abyssal Power, I’ll just use it for this moment…
It’s fine, right?
In my sight, the outline of the town gradually magnified and became clearer.
On the eastern outskirts of the town, countless tents and makeshift shelters of disaster victims were ablaze, and from afar, no figure could be seen. Even further away, some wooden houses were also on fire, charred black by the inferno, beams and rubble peeling away under the lick of the flames—there, too, not a soul in sight.
My heart dropped slightly.
d*mn it…
Scorching smoke twisted and rose, the night wind carrying the smoke toward the town’s center, where the inferno had yet to erupt, but there seemed to be faint, chaotic shouts and roars. Suddenly, as I approached, a flash of divine light flickered.
…It must be over there!
Boom—
A surge of ice mist erupted from my palms once more. While descending, I accelerated toward the center of the town and spread my arms out to glide.
“Caw—”
From afar, a raven’s call abruptly rang in my ears. I turned to look through the black mist, and in the haze, I saw a black bird soaring toward me.
It’s Goat Cheese…
The silly bird flew in from the left, stretching its neck, the feathers it had shed had already regrown. Its wings flapped rapidly, keeping pace with me, wisps of black smoke touching its body, quickly vanishing, its eyes becoming even bloodier.
It’s returned from the illusion…
Good.
Below my line of sight, the destroyed fence flashed by, followed by a high slope on the town’s edge. Just a moment ago, the Faith Organization had been there, but as I quickly scanned the area, there was no sign of anyone—no knights, no clerics, not even a single corpse.
My gut feeling of unease intensified, my chest pounding wildly as I couldn’t help but accelerate again… I was already at my limit.
“Goat Cheese!”
“Caw—”
“Go find that fruit-loopy lunatic!”
“Pepé—”
The silly bird screeched in response to my command, twisting around and climbing higher into the night sky.
Huff—
I collapsed the black mist, letting my body fall freely and leaping from thirty meters in the air onto a wooden beam of a house consumed by flames, already revealing its charred skeleton, “crash” as the beam splintered beneath my feet, sliding down the fallen wood to the ground. Once I steadied myself, I looked around… not a soul in sight.
“Jester—!”
I roared, jumping onto the opposite beam with Moon Step. The black mist had dissipated, replaced by swirling frost. The Power of Order quietly gathered in my palms as I dashed between the ruins, searching for any signs of life. Soon, from the right, near the church, a sudden hoarse caw from the raven echoed loudly.
I whipped my head around.
Just a hundred meters away, on the slope where the town’s church stood, the winding path was now almost hollowed out, as if a heavy hammer had smashed it. Pockmarked char marks littered the ground, and the once towering church was now engulfed in fierce scarlet flames. Someone screamed as they charged out from the fire, a trace of divine light slicing through the air toward the church’s bell tower. Golden light exploded, and the tower collapsed under the blast and the consuming fire, faint echoes of reckless laughter following.
“Ah ha ha ha—”
That voice…
It’s definitely him!
Boom—
Ice pillars shot up from the ground propelling me high into the sky again. As I turned mid-air, I used the ice platform to rush toward the church!
The scene rushed past me in the wind as the collapsing bell tower crashed into the inferno with a thundering boom, debris flying everywhere, engulfing countless panicked escapees. I saw a squad of Golden Armored Knights charging into the swirling dust, divine light flickering, yet in the next moment, a bright scarlet glow exploded from the smoke, engulfing everything in an instant, consuming the knights’ figures, tragic screams following.
d*mn, d*mn, d*mn…
“Is that you—?”
Bang bang!
As I approached the bell tower, I didn’t wait to land. The frozen power in my palms erupted forth, sending a whirlwind of cold spiraling toward the center of the red light bursting from the dust, exploding and blowing the gray away, the blinding red light dimmed under the icy mist.
With a “thud,” I touched down before the church, lifting my head to gaze at what remained of the bell tower, now a smoldering heap. The flames there raged higher, quickly dissipating the cold mist, black smoke and white fog rising, the eerie red glow vanishing. Among the rubble, a figure engulfed in flames stepped out.
I took a deep breath.
“Jester…”
I gritted my teeth, calling out his name.
The squad of knights who had just charged and been engulfed by the red light was now lying scattered all around me, motionless in the burning flames, their golden armor deforming and melting, revealing their lifeless forms, as if their bl**d had been drained.
Life, consumed by the ravenous flames, turned to bright ashes, scattering in the air, one by one disappearing.
In the distance, a throng of civilians burst out, not knowing where they had fled from or where they were escaping to—a swarm of headless flies, panicking and shouting, the chaotic sounds echoing from all directions into my ears. I dared not turn around, eyes locked on the figure in the flames.
There are still people alive… thank goodness…
How long has passed? A minute… or two… I need to k*ll him fast…
As the thought crossed my mind, the man in the flames spoke, “You’ve come, so just stand there and don’t move.”
He emerged from the collapsed ruins, engulfed in red flames. Each step left behind glowing, burning footprints, his features obscured, but I knew that was the Jester.
In one hand, he held a fist-sized, scarlet orb, semi-transparent, hovering in his palm, looking like a gem with a liquid that flowed inside… no, it was bl**d… the real bl**d Pearl, no doubt about it!
I instinctively stepped forward, crouching low, ready to attack.
Let’s take him up and away from the town…
“Don’t move. If you do, they will all d*e.”
Buzz—
In an instant, the blinding red light on that bl**d pearl erupted once more, almost dazzling enough to blind me. I had already activated Moon Step, but upon hearing the Jester’s words, my heart dropped. I abruptly halted my advance, screeching to a stop several meters away from him, digging in my feet, leaving long scorch marks on the ground.
“Look back at them.” The man appeared to be laughing.
The scarlet glow had dyed the surrounding night a bl**d-red hue. I felt a surge of caution, but I couldn’t help but glance back.
From a distance, I saw those trying to escape. To the east of the flames, down the slope beneath the church, and along the grass sat rows of houses and the torn-up farm, endless running, screaming people, suddenly collapsing under the illumination of the red light.
They seemed to be in pain.
Their screams turned into agonized cries and low moans, innocent civilians writhing on the ground, I saw thin streams of bl**d oozing from their mouths and noses, flowing toward me like they had a mind of their own.
“Demon, demon! This is the demon’s power…”
“Help us, save us…”
“Ughhhh—”
Amidst the cacophony of heart-wrenching cries, I numbly turned my head, fixing my gaze once more on the man before me, fists clenched.
“Ah ha!”
From the flames, he let out a light chuckle. “Did you know? They all thought the church was their safe haven, so they’ve all crowded here… so many people… I deliberately left these miserable lives untouched, waited for you to come… I didn’t think that woman could stop you, otherwise, it would be too boring, right, right? Ah ha ha ha—”
The man known as the Jester threw his head back in wild laughter: “Miss Silvya, don’t be in a rush, don’t get too excited… you still don’t know me. Let me tell you, I’m a very gentle person, always willing to give others a choice… and right now, I have two choices for you.”
He raised his left hand, extending one finger: “First, you can ignore their lives and continue to fight me. In that case, those people will d*e in an instant, and I, I will do my best to avoid a direct confrontation with you, dragging out the battle… Hmm, let’s just circle around Woodward Forest.”
“Haha, don’t make that face. I know you want to k*ll me, that’s great. Come on, k*ll me, abandon those pathetic lives… but just to let you know, I will fight like hell to escape. In that process, I’ll go through every village, killing every living soul I see… don’t doubt me, that’s my specialty.”
“d*mn it…”
“Don’t like that? Then you have a second option.”
The Jester didn’t give me a chance to curse him out. He quickly extended his second finger: “I’ll let them go.”
As soon as the words left his mouth, the glow of the bl**d pearl weakened dramatically. The Jester clasped the floating sphere and tossed it lightly while behind him, the chaotic, pained shouts seemed to suddenly diminish.
“I’ll let them go,” he continued. “But you, Miss Silvya, you must stand here, right now, in front of everyone, and reveal your true form. Your power must be shown to the civilians still alive in this town, to the hypocrites in the church.”
“I know there are still many from the First Knights Order and even the Faith Organization in Woodward Forest. They might be rushing this way or they might not, but… we can go find them, right? What do you think of that proposal? Isn’t it much more interesting?”
The man known as the Jester’s bl**d-red eyes pierced through the flames, a sharp gaze directed at me, and he didn’t give me any time to think: “So, your choice is—”
“Wait, I…”
I opened my mouth.
Gurgle—
At that moment, my stomach let out a sorrowful growl.
…I’m really starving!
