Chapter 179: Grayscale (Four)
“Uh…”
I let out a low grunt. That slap didn’t sting, just made my arm feel a tad tingly. But the collision only seemed to worsen my headache, my thoughts swirling in chaos, like countless voices whispering in my ear, “Eat him,” “Eat him,” “Eat him,” as if casting some dreary curse…
The surrounding mountains quickly turned to ash under the influence of Dead Smoke. Suddenly, I spread my wings wide and burst out from the creeping Black Mist, landing firmly and shaking my head vigorously. I spat out the dirt lodged in my mouth and looked up; not far away, that monstrosity, eroded to the point of resembling a mummified corpse, was dragging its ruined body up onto the ice.
Eat him.
Boom—
I made a sharp turn with Moon Step, instantly reappearing on the icy creek, putting one foot squarely on the monster’s head, stomping down hard. The ice cracked with a “ker-chunk,” sending the creature back into the frigid depths, Chaotic Power coursing through my long legs, turning the rushing icy water a deep black.
But then, my foot found nothing but air; a flash of bl**d-red light shimmered in the Dead Smoke; the monster had utterly vanished from the creek’s bottom. The next moment, it suddenly reappeared on the rocky shore a short distance to my left.
The creature seemed truly exhausted, its leap barely covering twenty meters. It lay on the ground, wheezing out Black Mist, its enormous deer head still lifeless, with no signs of recovery.
“Wait, wait a minute…”
It started to speak to me: “Actually, we could negotiate—”
“Running out of patience.”
I cut it off and walked towards it, my bl**d-red eyes glimmering in the rising Dead Smoke. My two-meter-long black fire wings extended, flowing through the air, as brilliant white light streamed into the swirling fragments of ice crystals.
“Oh, so that’s how it is… Ah, ha ha ha ha…”
The monster observed my stance and grasped that there was no way back. It suddenly burst into a manic laugh, flickers of Infernal Fire erupting from its body, only to be swallowed up by the Dead Smoke in an instant. It could barely move, its bloody hands feebly propping itself up, half of its body tilted back, seeming to struggle to fly away, to escape, but failing miserably, forced to inch backwards into the creek.
I rubbed my forehead, taking my sweet time to follow behind it, closing the distance with the monster step by step.
“Hey, Jester.”
My mind was filled with a twisted, splitting headache, odd whispers, that nearly left me with a hollow feeling in my stomach, an uncontrollable urge to feast. Drool trickled down my mouth without me realizing. Amid this torment, I could hardly think straight, yet flashes of fragmented images from the Southern Region occasionally flickered through my tired mind.
“Why… why do people like you even exist in this world…”
“Uh… ah…”
The monster laboriously crawled forward, responding to my question: “Why not… you might as well ask… your esteemed Pope about it…”
I didn’t have the mental bandwidth to ponder the meaning behind that statement.
Having traversed from the Northern Region to the Southern Region and back, my hatred for the Jester had simmered into a raving boil. After slaying so many Heretics, I finally stood before him, ready to deliver the final blow. Yet, strangely… where had all my emotions vanished to…?
Aside from hunger and a headache, there was just a placid stillness, like stagnant water.
The power of the Abyss…
Could it be… affecting me?
I had no clue…
I…
Splish splash…
I could hear the bubbling creek, the night wind rustling through the woods by the water’s edge, leaves whispering here and there, and far in the east, from the direction of Woodward Forest, it sounded like many hooves were approaching.
“Hehe… hehehehe…”
The monstrous creature in front of me let out an eerie laugh. It could crawl no longer and “thud”—it collapsed. The darkness of Dead Smoke spread across its massive body, turning it charred and shriveled. Black ash floated away, while swirls of black mist mixed with bl**d-red light slowly withdrew from its body, pouring their immense power into my chest.
“Uh…”
I couldn’t help but let out a grunt.
An insatiable craving surged deep within my soul, electric-like sensations racing up my spine, quickly enveloping my entire body. My lower abdomen felt hot, my cheeks flushed, the headache intensifying, like someone was stirring a kn*fe inside my skull. I tilted my face back, closed my eyes, and moaned as I released breath, my knees buckling as I collapsed to the ground.
“Ha~hahaha…”
Through the sticky, soft sounds of laughter, the monster’s body was disintegrating before me. It mustered its final ounce of strength to flip over and with a “plop,” it fell into the creek, floating downstream toward the waterfall. The red light smoke continuously poured from the monster’s body in the water, an overwhelming heat flooding my own, a powerful rush that drowned out my hunger. Amidst waves of ecstasy washing over me, my consciousness started to fade.
How blissful…
This power…
It’s all mine…
Scorching red fire erupted from my chest and arms, dyeing everything before me bl**d red. My body trembled as I grit my teeth to stand, flapping my wings with difficulty to catch up to the flowing Jester, diving into the creek once more. I smacked into a rock with a “bang,” feeling no pain, bubbles gurgling from my mouth as my hands clawed at the monster’s tail, releasing Black Flames and Dead Smoke in a frenzy, causing the water’s surface to billow.
The creature had lost the strength to even struggle; under the onslaught of Chaotic Power, it rapidly disintegrated, its remains dissolving into the water, while the power continually surged into my body.
I had killed the Jester…
My limbs trembled in the stream’s current, my feet thrashing wildly in the water. As realization dawned that the Jester was finally dead, I got swept away by the creek for a bit; in a dazed state, a sudden sense of weightlessness struck me.
“Glug glug glug…”
It felt like I was falling off a waterfall…
Water battered against me, my body had completely lost balance, and it suddenly hit me that I might not know how to swim. I flailed around in mid-air, and two seconds later, with a “thud,” I plunged into the shallow lake beneath the waterfall. I sunk underwater, began flailing, my head barely breaking the surface as I gasped for air, trying to spread my wings to take off, but my consciousness was a jumbled mess, my eyelids heavy, and the sound of flowing water felt like someone singing a lullaby, rendering me utterly powerless.
But…
I had killed the Jester…
Lady Alanster…
Did you… see that…
Chh chh chh chh—
The lake water seemed to be evaporating due to my body’s temperature; my hazy vision was completely engulfed by the Dead Smoke. I couldn’t see anything anymore; after a few futile struggles, I sank deeper and deeper, my body increasingly overtaken by unbridled desire, my mind barely able to think.
I can’t sleep…
I can’t sleep…
There is so much left undone… I lost the bl**d Pearl… Olivia… is still waiting for me to save her…
With my remaining consciousness, I could only remember these things. I wanted to struggle out of the water, but my body felt like it was made of lead, sinking deeper with every passing moment. My hands and feet twitched, unresponsive, the overwhelming desire pulling me down; my struggles weakened until I couldn’t even hold my breath any longer. I relaxed, slowly closing my eyes, surrendering to the searing heat of my body as I sank to the lake’s bottom.
And then, my consciousness drifted away.
