Chapter 182: Grayscale (7)
Carl’s eyes nearly popped out of his head. Using pure inertia, he instinctively took a few steps forward, but his body swayed. With a “thud,” he dropped to his knees.
“…cough.”
He spat out a mouthful of bl**d.
Raising his head, his blurred vision swept past the flowing red dress of the dancer, slowly moving toward Olivia, lying not far away, her pretty face covered in bl**d and dust, lifeless.
“Uh… Ugh—!”
Carl let out a scream as if he were using the last bit of strength he had left to lift his trembling leg, trying to stand up. But nope, gravity had other plans. He staggered and fell, gasping like a broken accordion, with bl**d frothing at his lips, his face pressed tightly against the ground, crawling awkwardly towards Olivia.
The dancer, masquerading as Mase, halted, her surrounding red snakes and infernal fire merging back into her body. She didn’t lift a finger; she merely watched in silence.
She observed the dying man struggle towards her, extending a hand to gently touch the face of the deceased woman, carefully closing her half-opened eyes, brushing away the debris stuck to her cheek.
“Olivia…”
Carl called her name, his weak voice quivering like jelly: “Had I known the ending… would be like this… I should have proposed… last year… during that heavy snow in the Holy City… made you… my woman…”
“Hey, you… liked me, right…?”
“I regret everything…”
The fire crackled around them, charred trees crashing down, black smoke swirling up into the night sky, and Carl’s voice began to fade.
The elegant dancer stood there for a while, then flicked her white hair, turning to leave. A short distance away, she waved her fair hand gently, and the red sleeves fluttered.
Whoosh—
With a whistle of wind, a splatter of bl**d erupted behind her.
The dancer didn’t look back to check if they were dead; she didn’t need to confirm that anymore.
She strolled through the burning woods, her beauty backlit by the crimson flames, her skirt billowing in the scorching heat. Her high-heeled shoes crunched over the soft, charred earth as she emerged from the fiery inferno and paused, casting a glance back at Stag Town, where chaotic and terrified shouts rose faintly.
After a moment, the dancer let out a long sigh.
“Sister Teresa…”
She called out the name of the deceased under the moonlight, whispering self-reflectively: “Was what we did really the right choice…?”
But the empty night sky offered no answer.
…………
In Stag Town.
In the center square, engulfed by high temperatures, the stage built in the middle had already caught fire, the red curtains dancing in the wind, licked by the scarlet flames—lonely and forlorn.
The slaughter began amidst the foul stench that filled the air.
Under a dark red night sky, the fire illuminated the previously lively scene, now filled with desolation: scattered people ran through the streets, desperately stepping over the charred corpses of others, bl**d and screams spreading in every direction. That night, it seemed as if the small town had been forsaken by the gods, with the cruel demons wreaking havoc, one after another, unrestrained.
After the initial divine punishment, the demons, angered by the holy light blocking their fire meteors, sent bl**d-red devils to s*ck the bl**d of the knights and nuns, obliterating any resistance. Their bodies turned to ash in the bloodlight, while those demons burned down churches and slaughtered many helpless souls. The survivors witnessed the arrival of black demons, two powerful ones arguing in the night sky, and just when the poor townsfolk thought they were safe, a third demon, wrapped in blinding lightning, suddenly descended upon them.
At the town’s heart, what was once a healing location set up by the Holy Church’s nuns now spilled with bl**d from the makeshift white tents. Lightning flashed as shadowy figures fell; those who survived fled and cried, only to swiftly be cut down by the rampant blade lights, losing limbs and heads in the chaos.
The flashing light of lightning never paused, skimming over the streets overflowing with flames and flying dismembered body parts. Thunder crashed as the lightning struck the roof of a destroyed farmhouse, its electric arcs spreading out, sending the cattle below crashing down like felled wheat, their fur blackened and smoking, limbs stiff as boards.
In the flickering blue arcs, Anacelis, now a sword demon, held her sword aloft with one hand, her coarse clothing and bandaged hands stained with bl**d, a doll-like face devoid of expression. She stood on the roof of the farmhouse, exhaling lightly, inhaling, closing her eyes, and listening intently. Then she turned her gaze toward the church in flames, which appeared to be where the most survivors were.
With a loud “whoosh,” Anacelis vanished again, transforming into a massive electric arc that shot across the night sky towards the hillside where the church stood.
Before long, chilling screams echoed once more amidst the flames.
Lightning raged, bl**d burned, and in the town, fleeing people fell one after another. They had no idea what was happening, unable to resist. Some had already lost hope, either kneeling in tears, praying, or huddling in dirty corners, clutching their heads, waiting in sheer terror for the demons to come and claim their lives.
In the chaos, a dirty little girl stumbled and fell. Her mother, running ahead, quickly turned back, dragging her daughter off the ground as they continued to flee. The distant lightning continued to flicker, but the screams had lessened. The mother grabbed her daughter’s hand, disregarding her bleeding knee, biting her lip and running for dear life into a thatched hut that hadn’t caught fire yet, a more secluded spot. The hut stank, with a few electric-charged pigs inside; the demon had already visited…
“Hide, hide, shh, don’t… make a sound…”
The mother pushed the little girl into the pigsty and glanced back. Seeing no one behind her, she also ducked in, crouching down and pulling her daughter close, tensed and fearful, her body shaking violently. In her extreme terror, she instinctively clutched the girl’s hand tightly, listening to the distant noises, murmuring, “It’s okay, it’ll be alright… we’re safe here…”
“Mommy, I’m scared…”
“Shh, shh!”
The mother wrapped her arms around the little girl and covered her mouth, then tucked deeper into the corner, as if that would hide them from the terrifying demon. Her hollow, bewildered eyes trembled beneath her disheveled hair, while the little girl curled up in her mother’s embrace, seemingly regaining a bit of security, quieting down and stilling.
If the girl who fell into the lake, now sleeping beneath the water, were here, she might recognize this little girl as the one saved by Miss Mase beside the stage earlier.
Outside, the noise remained chaotic and harrowing. They huddled in the pigsty, occasionally hearing someone shout nearby: “Great Mother Deity, what crime have we committed!? Why punish us so—!” Their desperate cries only thickened the stifling atmosphere, making it hard to breathe.
“Mommy, my knee is bleeding, it hurts…”
“Don’t make a sound, sweetheart… just blow on it and it won’t hurt…”
The mother’s breathing trembled cautiously, sensing the demon drawing near, the surrounding shouts fading away. At times, she heard non-human screams, swallowed by the dark night. She couldn’t imagine the outside situation, afraid to peek out. After an unknown stretch of time, the thunderous sound of lightning seemed to soften.
Had it left…
Silence settled for a while, and she realized it was indeed much quieter. She thought to herself that perhaps everyone outside had died. Fighting back her fear, she slowly poked her head above the stone wall, but before she could see clearly, a shadow suddenly loomed before her.
The mother’s eyes widened in terror.
Zzzt.
Bright arcs of electricity passed before her, revealing the bl**d-soaked figure of the demon standing right in front of her, its icy, emotionless gaze staring into the darkness like a snake watching a helpless mouse.
“Uh… uh…”
Despite her best efforts to hold back her voice, the horror and dread within her had surpassed her limits. Her body shook as if it were made of flour, her throat dry, her mind blank. Unable to suppress it, a choked sound escaped her, surprising even herself.
She didn’t understand how the demon found them or what to do, instinctively shielding the little girl behind her, pleading with a quivering voice: “P-Please don’t… k*ll…”
In the next instant, the demon raised its sword.
Clang—
The mother shielding her daughter saw nothing. She only felt a chill spreading through her chest, followed quickly by the cold and numbness in her hands and feet, her strength evaporating suddenly, collapsing into the filthy mud below with a thud, all while feeling the warm liquid pooling from her chest.
“Mommy…”
The little girl whimpered helplessly, frozen in place, and instead of running, she threw herself beside her mother, shaking her arm with tiny hands and crying out loud, her gaze fixed on the demon’s shadow, devoid of hatred, replaced only by endless fear and confusion.
Run…
Run fast!
The mother wished to shout, telling her daughter to escape, as far away as possible, but she opened her mouth, and bl**d surged from her throat, choking her.
“Cough, cough… uh…”
In a daze, she saw the demon’s hand gripping the sword’s handle, its fingers slender and long.
It was a human hand, just like hers, five fingers strong.
A hand that trembled just like hers.
She watched as the demon, shivering, raised the sword again.
“Mommy!”
In her ears, the little girl cried out in fear, falling against her mother, eyes tightly shut.
But after a long wait, that sword… never came down.
When the girl finally opened her eyes, the terrifying demon had vanished without a trace.
“Xiri…”
“Mommy, Mommy—”
The girl didn’t understand what was happening. She turned to her mother, yelling to wake her up, not wanting to be left alone, yet her mother said, “Run…”
“Don’t… make a sound… just run… listen to your mother…”
“Mommy…”
“Leave this place… don’t let anyone find you… go back… find your uncle…”
“No, I want Mommy. I want Mommy!”
The little girl’s eyes were wide with fear, her face showing desperation.
“Do as I say…”
The mother lifted her dirty hand, gently brushing it against her daughter’s equally grimy face.
“Mommy’s… hurt… can’t run anymore… just gonna rest here for a bit… just a moment… you run, go find your uncle… Mommy… wants to sleep a bit here…”
“I won’t…”
“Be good, listen…”
“Mommy… is going to sleep for a while…”
“Waaah…”
The muffled sobs, the painful groans, gradually faded away in the stench-filled pigsty.
