**Chapter 211: Remains of the Deity (Part 8)**
Boom, boom, boom…
Ashes were raining down like confetti at a really bad party, and the ground shook as if a giant was having an argument with a thunderstorm. In my view, the black, rocky mountains were roaring and shaking like they had too much caffeine. Above, the dark sky was filled with a misty haze resembling a million floating gray socks, swirling around countless floating boulders. Sparse beams of light peeked through the swirling fog and scattered ashes, whispering their way into the chaos.
Bang! Bang! Bang—
Moments later, a young woman wrapped in thick, dark smoke hurtled through the air like a black comet, breaking the sound barrier with her dramatic entrance, crashing through the fog and soaring above the highest peak. She paused about a hundred meters from the tumor, her flaming black wings crackling behind her, and Dead Smoke gathered around her, solidifying into her black, abyss-mud armor once again.
“Phew…”
Her eyes flashed with a red gleam as she let out a breath, landing on top of a gigantic rock. She tilted her head and scanned the area between the bl**d web and the tumor with a serious gaze.
No bl**d Pearl in sight…
The dancer said it’s up top, so let’s just fly a bit higher…
With a sudden “boom,” she stepped with the Moon Step, vanishing from my sights and reappearing higher in the sky as if she’d mastered teleportation. She spread her wings, gliding for a moment, then as she approached the tumor again, she twisted in mid-air, her blazing wings sweeping out a black whirlwind, shooting up toward the heavens like a spiral spear. In the blink of an eye, she soared close to a hundred meters, above the tumor’s floating position, before stabilizing once more to survey the scene below.
I can see the top now…
At the peak of the tumor, there was still pulsating red flesh, but without the bl**d web obscuring my view, I could see the surface much clearer.
It looked like an enormous raw meatball floating in the sky, or perhaps a brain from a creature so gigantic it defied imagination. It had a diameter of at least two hundred meters—just colossal! The surface of the writhing red flesh was uneven, riddled with bumps and lumps that resembled tumors. If someone with a severe fear of clusters caught sight of this, they’d probably be haunted for days.
“Yikes…”
I couldn’t help but shiver, taking a sharp breath.
That’s disgusting…
Is this thing…really a deity?
While I panicked over this notion, I squinted my eyes, searching the surface of the tumor for that bl**d-red pearl.
Tears of the Goddess… The dancer said that name was coined by Teresa. If she could come up with a name like that, she must have been aware of everything all along… But when?
Was it when she became a candidate for the saint and got all those votes, then finally laid eyes on the deity…?
Could what she saw be the Goddess of Sin sealed away here…?
No, it can’t be… Huh?
Suddenly, in the quivering crevices of the tumor, I spotted a spot emitting a faint red glow. It wasn’t too striking, the scarlet color almost blending in with the surrounding flesh. If you weren’t paying close attention, you’d likely miss it. But, of course, I caught it.
Is that the pearl…?
I flapped my flaming wings and dove down toward the tumor’s peak, wanting to get a closer look. As I descended, I heightened my vigilance, constantly listening for any changes in the wind around me, worried about any unexpected counterattacks from the tumor.
If I were to face it directly, I’d probably end up regretting it again…
I wondered if this thing had eyes or ears, or any sensory organs. Did it even realize I was approaching from above…?
Thump, thump!
As I got closer to the top of the tumor, the writhing red flesh suddenly contracted, like a soft heartbeat, the movement delicate.
I heard a sound, instincts kicking in.
But due to the tumor’s massive size and my close proximity, I could hardly see its entire form now. That slight quiver, to me, appeared as just a typical twisted motion of all that writhing mass, its deformation slightly more pronounced—nothing alarming.
I continued flying upward.
However, not long after, a bl**d-red long worm snaked around the tumor from both sides and charged at me!
cr*p…
Those are the bl**d vessels below!
My heart skipped a beat. As the wind rushed towards me, I planned to retreat, but those vessels were shockingly fast. In an instant, countless bl**d-red tendrils attacked from all directions, encircling me like a swarm of slippery mud eels, cutting off my escape routes and trapping me in midair.
Oh great…
I panicked, feeling a wave of fear wash over me, not just from its nauseating appearance and gooey texture but also from the distinct stench of bl**d. Those tendril-like bl**d vessels were incredibly strong; once wrapped around you, it would be nearly impossible to escape without breaking a few bones.
What do I do…?
My mind raced, and I flapped my wings, darting through the air like a hummingbird, but those bl**d-red tendrils followed me relentlessly, almost biting my heels. I twisted and turned through the dense mass, narrowly avoiding being captured, sweating bullets. My hands shot out fireballs of black flames, exploding in midair with a thunderous bang, shattering the approaching tendrils and buying me some much-needed breathing room.
The noise was thick and squelchy, like stirring sludge, echoing in my ears. Those tendrils moved swiftly through the air like they were swimming in water, and as time went on, more and more bl**d vessels surrounded me, leaving me almost no room to breathe. The black mist swirled, and from within, blue-green arms suddenly reached out, grabbing the encroaching bl**d vessels and tearing them apart.
“Ahhh—!!”
The swift onslaught of the blue arms created massive explosions of black flames, lighting up the sky and nearly obscuring everything in bloodlight. Disgusting liquid rained down like a monsoon, and even then, it couldn’t stop the relentless assault of more tendrils. Their attack felt like a massive wave, ready to drown me.
Buzz—
In the next moment, a golden light erupted in the sky, shining like a mini sun.
“Ugh…”
I squinted, the harsh light burning my eyes. Instinctively, I shielded my face with one hand, half-closing my other eye.
It’s the dancer…
She’s here! She’s helping me…
The buzz of the miracle echoed in the gray sky, like a holy hymn from a nun, the brilliant light overwhelming the area. Through the dimming view, I vaguely saw countless feathers falling like rain. The feathers sparkled silvery-white, and the tendrils closing in on me recoiled under that radiant glow like snakes touched by fire, “whoosh, whoosh, whoosh,” retreating in full.
In the blink of an eye, a large gap opened before me.
…An opportunity!
Whoosh—
Dead Smoke gathered, and my fiery wings flapped again, creating a whistling cyclone, as I seized upon the opening the dancer had created, my petite form charging out of the bl**d vessel traps. I hurtled through the air, accompanied by a roaring shockwave, slamming into the tumor’s top, near that spot glowing with scarlet light.
Thud!
As I landed, my feet sank into the raw flesh, feeling as if I’d stepped into a slippery mud puddle. Yuck! My ankles and lower legs immediately sank into the mushy meat. Dead Smoke and black flames burst outward, tearing apart the dense tumors as I felt the soft flesh squeezing around my legs like it was trying to claim me.
Is it in pain…?
What a gross feeling…
Channeling the power of Chaos within me, I swung my blue-green arm, gripping the bulging veins on the tumor, yanking hard to pull myself out of the meat swamp.
Ashes drifted down, the wind rushing around me, the fading golden light slowly disappearing. I heard that wriggling sound of bl**d vessels again and, in a panic, looked up.
Not far ahead, in that spot glowing with a bloody light, it seemed a bl**d-red pearl embedded in the raw meat was slowly sinking, like it had just stepped into a deep bog, disappearing into the quivering mound.
