Chapter Sixty-Eight: Wildfire Raging (Part Six)
Suddenly, a wave of heat rushed in, painting half my body red. My instincts screamed as I waved an arm.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
An ice wall shot up from the ground, halting the incoming flames.
Sizzle—
Steam erupted violently as the ice began to melt. The grotesque-faced guy casually flung flames hotter than Valar’s at me, then dashed out from the side of the ice wall, his fire flickering like a tail as he dove straight at me.
In an instant, a deep blue light enveloped me, radiating a brightness even more blinding than flames. I thrust my hands forward and pushed against the grotesque figure.
Channeling the Power of Order without holding back.
Boom—!!!
Massive ice spikes shot up towards the sky, soaring over ten meters high, freezing everything around the grotesque guy solid, frost bursting forth like a storm of ice rain.
The next moment, the bottom of the ice spikes suddenly glowed a fierce red, ominous rumbling emanating from within.
Boom… Boom… Boom—!!
After three colossal booms, the ice exploded, dark brown flames roared out like a tidal wave, radiating a searing heat that surged forward in a blink.
My hair curled slightly as a burnt smell wafted through the air, and I squinted my eyes.
No escaping this—time to take it head-on.
I braced my short scythe across my chest, thick ice mist wrapping around me like a snug blanket.
Crack—!
The deafening explosion rang in my ears followed by a ‘whoom’ sound as a massive shockwave roared beneath me, sending dirt and snow flying five meters up. Before I knew it, I was stumbling back several steps, almost plopping down on my backside.
My arms and scalp tingled, ringing echoed in my ears, ice shards and dancing tongues of fire filled my entire vision, the whistling of wind rushing became a constant hum, black and white smoke intertwined as it rose into the sky.
That grotesque guy’s attack felt uncomfortably close to an endless abyss of dark blades.
What the heck? How did he get so powerful all of a sudden…?
I frowned, eyeing the crashing ice spikes, watching the grotesque figure emerge from the crumbling ice, the flames on him flickering as he shouted loudly.
“I am the faithful servant of the God of Truth—!”
“I am—”
Suddenly, his voice cut off. Just as I thought he was about to unleash another devastating attack, the flames extinguished.
The grotesque figure swayed and then collapsed straight down. This caught me off guard as I braced myself for another volley.
…Huh? What’s going on?
What new trick is this?
I eyed him warily as he lay there, worried he was pulling a fast one. After a moment, I noticed his body deflate like a punctured balloon.
“Don’t look,” Valar, frozen in the ice spikes, weakly interjected.
I looked over at him, and he seemed pale, his earlier ferocity completely gone, staring blankly at the grotesque figure on the ground.
Before long, a mocking smile crept across his face.
“You forced that Infernal Fire into the third phase, ‘bl**d Sacrifice’… and couldn’t even last a minute before your body gave out…”
“…What does that mean?”
I was somewhat lost by his words.
bl**d Sacrifice? Third phase?
I vaguely remembered him mentioning revival… Is that the ranking system of the Gate of Truth concerning Sin Fire?
Valar didn’t answer me.
Flames still flickered on him, but they were barely hanging on, frost covering his body, freezing his robes, armor, skin, and even bl**d, his body shaking uncontrollably.
The grotesque figure really seemed to be dead, lying there like a withered skeleton. No matter how weird that Sin Fire was, it couldn’t bring him back to life.
I thought a grand battle was about to erupt… Turns out, the Gate of Truth burns itself to gain power, but the price is steep!
“Hey, Little Girl.”
I tilted my head.
“Ahem. Honestly, did you use all your strength?”
“……”
Use all my strength?
Not really… It was just that… at the last moment, worried about Lafael’s situation, I couldn’t resist the urge to finish off the enemy quickly, using this broad, overwhelming attack instead, bulldozing them with the Power of Order.
If the Duke found out, he’d probably lecture me.
“Is that so…” My silence seemed to give him a hint; he tilted his head back, suddenly feeling sentimental, “It’s honestly… unexpected.”
As his words fell, a thunderous beat of hooves came rushing from the woods.
Boom, boom, boom…
I turned to look, and there were countless hunters riding Horned Horses, thundering in like a storm, a sea of black, with at least a thousand or more.
That’s…
The ground was shaking, and in the blink of an eye, they closed the hundred-meter distance, their iron hooves crashing into the already crumbling City Guard.
In an instant, bl**d splattered, limbs flew about, and frantic screams filled the air. The City Guard had no room to struggle; they were instantly overwhelmed.
“It’s the hunters—”
“Run! We can’t take them on, there are too many of them… just run like hell!!”
“The reinforcements from Winter City have arrived! We can’t escape; it’s over—”
People fell in droves, soldiers began to flee, only to be trampled by the pounding hooves behind them, bl**d and guts spraying from their mouths, and then likely receiving a finishing blow from the hunters on Horned Horses.
Lafael’s guards raised their swords in cheers.
“You’re too late, haha!”
“This is what’s left for you to k*ll—”
“Hey hey! Our Grand Prince, where do you think you’re going? Your legs are already useless, just save your breath!”
In my line of sight, Lafael waved to the lead hunter.
“Bella! Go over there to support Pepé; she’s fighting the Heretics of the Gate of Truth—uh, it seems the battle’s already over?”
The lead hunter, seemingly a woman, glanced over at me from the crowd, exchanging a few words with Lafael, then mounted her restless Horned Horse and charged towards me with a team.
The dusk deepened, stars twinkling at the edge of the sky.
The crescent moon hung overhead, casting a pale light.
“Caw—”
A raven cawed from the sky.
Snow had quietly stopped falling without anyone noticing.
“You’ve won,” came Valar’s faint words again. I nodded slightly, stepping forward to stand over him, raising my short scythe to his neck.
“Like this, swinging down. Will you d*e?”
Valar chuckled lightly.
“I will.”
“Why’s that?”
“The power of fire is already weak; I doubt it can recover again… what a pity—there’s still so much to do…”
Maybe realizing he was about to kick the bucket, he suddenly seemed like a different person, speaking warmly… If you ignored his disheveled appearance, you might call it that.
Not at all like the Valar I remembered; could it be… that a man speaks kindly when d*ath is imminent?
“Little Girl, is this your first time… encountering the Gate of Truth?”
“Second.” Then I suddenly recalled something, “Those merchants, were they your people?”
“Merchants…?” Valar paused as if coming to a realization, “Oh, you’re talking about those… Lotus Seed Grass vendors, right? The ones you caught, ahem!”
I nodded.
“Sort of.”
“They were just… Lotus Seed Grass vendors, working for coins. Most of them… probably never even heard of the Gate of Truth… they’ve likely all been burned alive by the Church, haha, cough—”
A violent cough burst forth, and Valar spat out a chunk of frozen bl**d.
“They sold you the Lotus Seed Grass… to make the black balls?”
“Ah, yes, that’s right.”
He immediately confessed, but I sensed there was something off about that frail smile on his face.
So I pondered for a moment.
“The Gate of Truth, what is it?”
“Haha, what do you think… it is?”
“…A bunch of complete lunatics.”
