Chapter 225: The Curtain (Part 1)
My ears gradually regained their hearing, and I could hear the air swirling past my cheeks and hair, making a muffled whistling sound. My body was plummeting swiftly with that wind noise, and just as I was about to hit the rocks, my flame wings suddenly flared out, fluttering to slow me down. I stumbled and flipped, then “splash”—I landed on the icy stone wall.
“Ha, ha—”
I gasped for breath.
In the distance, the giant deity’s body descended from the gray sky like a meteor crashing to the ground. The impact was shocking, creating a cloud of dust and debris, with a scarlet river of bl**d spreading out, quickly staining a large patch of land.
I watched the scene, struggled to get up, held my breath for what felt like ages, and waited for the dust to settle, but the terrifying corpse showed no signs of moving again.
It must really be dead…
“Phew…”
I let out a sigh of relief.
But a twinge of anxiety crept in, an unsteady feeling that whispered to me this thing couldn’t be judged by the usual rules. It could very well spring back to life when I let my guard down and unleash enough havoc to obliterate everything—yet I no longer had the strength to resist such divine might. If that were the case, I’d just have to close my eyes and await my doom.
With that thought, I clenched my fists, my heart, which had just calmed down, started thumping again.
Gotta deal the finishing blow…
I didn’t want to become one of those story fools who, after defeating the boss, immediately let their guard down, only to be ambushed and wiped out in a single backstab, joyfully delivering themselves as a precious head to the enemy, plunging the hard-won victory back into chaos.
Whoosh—
With a flap of my flame wings, my petite body soared up into the sky, darting straight toward where the deity had fallen. Soon, the sharp smell of bl**d hit me.
The enormous corpse smashed into the collapsed rock, lying among the chaotic rubble, dark red bl**d flowing from its wounds, seeping out into the surroundings. The bl**d was still warm, sizzling on the ground as mist began to rise in the air. The hideous head of the corpse was shrouded in steam, leaning against a massive boulder, its once fiery deep-set eyes now dim and empty.
I cautiously flew down, hovering in front of its rotting, stench-filled chest. Stopping about ten meters away, I took a deep breath to calm my racing heart, then swung my Captain Gray forward.
Clang—
A flash of burning light, the sharp blade met no resistance, and the scarlet flame shot toward the deity, with a loud “bang,” slicing through the tip of one rib, accompanied by a shower of sparks as billowing black smoke rose up.
No sign of the Sin Barrier appearing…
Confirming that, I flapped my flame wings to soar higher, shooting up nearly a hundred meters into the air, hovering amidst the ashes, my right hand gripping the sickle, its blade angled downward, while I raised my left arm overhead.
I closed my eyes.
Focusing all my spirit, gathering power…
In the next instant, swirling Dead Smoke slithered from my body, quickly coiling at my head, forming a chaotic sphere that expanded to over twenty meters in diameter within two seconds, then it hurtled down toward the deity’s chest at great speed—
Boom!!!
A blinding white light burst forth as the chaotic flames exploded with a deafening roar, sending dark red flesh and bl**d flying high into the sky.
As the hurricane swept through, I couldn’t help but raise a hand to shield my face, feeling a wave of exhaustion hit me. My mind spun, my limbs felt like jelly, and I shook my head to stay awake. With a flap of my wings, I turned and flew to higher ground, landing on a rock summit. I plopped down, propping myself against the jutting rock, my chest heaving.
“Hoo, hoo, hoo—”
Man, I’m so sleepy…
A fierce wave of fatigue crashed over me; my eyelids felt like they were in a boxing match. The aftershock of the explosion lingered, and in a hazy daze, I didn’t see the corpse make any move—it was really dead…
“Hah.”
I chuckled again, finally able to put my worries to rest. Once I felt settled, my tense body surrendered, completely relaxing as sleepiness overwhelmed me.
I was just so sleepy…
Tingling, aching sensations were radiating from my back, tailbone, and forehead. I touched my forehead; the two pointed bumps seemed to have grown longer.
Is this the beginning of turning into a monster girl…?
I couldn’t help but chuckle inwardly.
But at that moment, I really didn’t have the mind to worry about what I might turn into; all I wanted was to lie down right here and take a nice, long nap…
But I couldn’t sleep yet.
There was still something to confirm…
That dancer…
Miss Ailna from the Gate of Truth.
Earlier, that corpse had unleashed a terrifying beam of light, striking where she had been with unstoppable force. I had no idea how she had managed to survive; she had even counterattacked a few times, but after that, she went completely quiet…
She should still be alive, right?
I didn’t know.
I had to go check…
No matter if she was alive or dead, I had to make sure.
So I rested for a moment, waiting for the explosion nearby to completely dissipate. Seeing that the corpse was indeed lying still, I put forth all my strength to get up, hastily pulling my flying hair back, slapping my face for a good wake-up, and flapping my flame wings to soar into the air again.
As I looked down, I could clearly see the scorched earth, ravaged by the violent energy, laid out before me, nearly a hundred meters wide. Clenching my teeth, I flew over the blackened ground, lowering my altitude, my dark eyes scanned quickly for that flash of red amidst the still steaming, endless black rock ruin.
I found her quickly.
Wings folding, sickle tightly gripped, I landed on a hot, glowing boulder at the edge of the scorched ground, and the dancer was lying not far from me.
“Did… we… win…?”
She must have sensed someone approaching, as her bloodied head lifted slightly, her voice shaky and raspy, calling my name intermittently: “Hil… Vega…”
“……”
Stunned for a moment, I answered softly, “It should be dead.”
Feeling an indescribable mix of emotions.
The dancer wasn’t dead; she was still alive, lying here on the scorching rock, her body mostly gone, with dark bl**d spreading around her. Her insides were oozing out, her skin looked like it had been dipped in lava, and she had lost her hair, eyes, ears, and lips—everything.
She was just hanging on.
Just able to breathe and speak.
“Is that so… how… surprising…”
“Hey.”
The dancer struggled to speak, her voice slow and painful to listen to. I quickly interrupted her: “You can’t d*e from those injuries, right?”
“Can’t… d*e…”
Her broken body trembled, and after saying “can’t d*e,” she gasped for a long time. The muscles in her mouth twitched as though she were smiling: “Is this… disappointing… to you?”
I was kind of disappointed, actually.
But for some reason, I didn’t voice that thought at that moment.
“You can’t d*e, but you can’t move for now. You’ve lost your strength to resist, and if I wanted to k*ll you right now, I could just move a finger, couldn’t I?”
I narrowed my eyes.
“Ha… ha…”
The dancer was indeed smiling.
She slowly laid her head back down, quietly lying on the ground, allowing the burning rock to scorch her: “If you… want to… k*ll me… then… go ahead…”
“Do you want to d*e?” I asked her.
“So many lives lost, and yet you end here as a failure. I don’t care what your purpose is; you’ve caused this evil, and you know it, which is why you’re in this state… I don’t care if it was casual whim or an attempt at redemption or rectifying mistakes. I’m not interested.”
I paused.
My vision started to waver again, the dizziness in my head intensified. I rubbed my temple, forcing myself to stay alert: “You are, without a doubt, a villain. However, right now, I don’t want you dead. I want you to live, at least for now, right here—you won’t be going anywhere.”
I watched the dancer’s trembling body; her chest rose and fell violently, as if she wanted to speak, but I didn’t give her the chance.
I didn’t have time…
“Just stay here quietly. Without me, you can’t leave… right? That branch is with me now. So I plan to keep you here, hanging out with those fairies. Then I’ll find a chance to go to that… village you mentioned. I’ll check out your cellar, and once I see what’s inside, I’ll come back to meet you again. At that point… we’ll decide whether you live or d*e…”
My steps began to waver, and I almost stumbled.
I didn’t have time…
“Hil… Vega…”
The dancer called out my name.
I didn’t want to engage her any further, turning to leave: “Take care of yourself until I return.”
“Be careful of the Church… when you go out…”
As I took two steps, her weak voice reached me from behind.
I paused in my steps.
Then shook my head, not responding to her, as my folded wings suddenly spread out, and with a boom, I shot up into the sky.
Can’t hold on any longer…
I needed to take a nap—immediately. But not here.
I didn’t know how long I would sleep; if I just lay down like this, Ailna would likely recover before I woke up. Who knows what she might do then…
I can’t sleep here; I need to get out first…
But how do I get out?
The wind roared in my ears, and ashes scattered before my eyes. I no longer had the energy to gather Dead Smoke for protection; I let my body flow with the strong winds, feeling them slash against my face like knives, keeping me somewhat alert as I flew higher into the gray sky.
At the same time, my foggy mind was desperately trying to churn.
That so-called branch from the White Tree, the essence of the Dragon, as the dancer had said, was inside me.
It was the power to open this world’s portal at will. But now, I had no idea how to do that—how to use this power. It shouldn’t be too hard to get a grip on it; I just had to focus and feel it out, and I could likely figure it out… but right now, I had neither the energy nor the time.
It seemed like the only choice left was one.
I strained to open my eyes, looking up at the approaching black rift—a massive tear in the sky that had been created by the deity, and now was shrinking to a much smaller size.
Though it was still shrinking, it hadn’t fully closed.
I could make it…
If I wanted to leave here before falling asleep, this was the only option…
Let’s hope nothing goes wrong…
Whoosh—
The sharp wind screamed, painfully against my eardrums, yet it was enough to keep me from passing out mid-air. At this moment, I was really biting down and pushing through, disregarding everything as I exerted my last ounce of strength to speed toward that closing rift in the sky.
One hundred meters, fifty meters… thirty… ten meters!
I finally dove in just before it fully closed.
