Chapter 124: The Differences of the White Night Abyss
“What, what?”
Upon hearing this, Sarah frowned, and it seemed like she was getting a bit angry.
“Hey, cutie? That’s the Pope Knight, you know! Peilo, how could you say that about her… Cutie? What does that even mean?!”
She pouted, her slightly chubby doll-like face pretending to be serious, staring at my stylish appearance with utter seriousness, making me unable to resist the urge to grin. Suddenly, I felt a desire to tease her just a bit.
“Well…” I pretended to ponder for a moment and dramatically sighed, “How should I praise her?”
Hearing my question, Sarah lowered her head, resting her chin on her hand, and began to think seriously.
“Hmm… Let me think… like, strong and burly, built like a bull, for starters!”
…?
I was a bit stunned, my mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. I didn’t quite know what to say until Sarah continued, “She’s clearly a girl, but her body is as tough as a tower. Her arms are stronger than a man’s…”
Uh…
“And there’s more! Because of the powerful Frost Order, she’s cold all over, exuding a chilling aura… Her eyes are sharp like an eagle, as if they can see right through everything…”
I began to feel a chill creep over me, shivering involuntarily.
I couldn’t take it anymore and quickly gestured for Sarah to stop. “Hold on. Sarah, she’s only sixteen…”
I came prepared, hoping to hear her shower me with compliments to cheer myself up, but seriously, what on earth was she saying…? Wasn’t she just insulting her?
“So what if she’s sixteen! Miss Silvya is the Pope Knight, a hero who slays the abyss!”
Sarah’s tone was filled with indignation, as if I were insulting Silvya just because I mentioned her age. Okay, she was genuinely complimenting her, but still…
“Uh… But what you said is just… too much…”
I really didn’t know how to respond.
From Sarah’s glowing eyes, I could tell she genuinely believed that was cool… but why did a girl have such a weird sense of aesthetics…?
Wait.
My brows furrowed as I suddenly realized… that image Sarah was describing, wasn’t it exactly what I had been dreaming of…?
“Beefcake!”
“…What beefcake?” Sarah seemed confused.
“Exactly, she’s a beefcake! In my homeland, powerful warriors are referred to like that…”
“Miss Peilo, what are you two talking about? Let me in on it, please!”
A sudden voice startled me, and I quickly turned my head to find Teacher Teresa with a smile on her face.
Ah… this is bad…
“Nothing, Teacher…”
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the other students peering curiously at us… I promptly sat up straight and put on a flattering smile. “We were discussing—”
Discussing what?
Better make up some excuse about class discussion…
Just then, I saw Teresa’s smile growing even bigger.
“Talking about beefcakes, huh?”
“Hahahahaha!”
The students burst into laughter, and my face turned beet red. I felt embarrassed and wanted nothing more than to find a hole to crawl into.
“Not… ahhh~”
I was feeling frustrated but didn’t know how to explain. Teacher Teresa definitely caught the last part of what I said…
Couldn’t she have at least given me a break and not said it out loud? How embarrassing.
I stole a glance at Sarah and found she was even worse off, already hiding her face in the crook of her arm like a turtle retreating into its shell.
“You two, did you hear what I was just saying?”
“Yes…”
Yeah, right… After Sarah spoke, I didn’t catch a single word of it… but admitting that now was a definite no-no.
Clinging to a tiny flicker of hope, I watched as Teresa nodded.
“Good. Peilo, tell me, what’s the name of the abyss that appeared before the endless one… don’t you dare look it up!”
Uh…
If I remember correctly, wasn’t that me before the endless abyss?!
This was too easy, so I promptly chimed in, “Peilo… Ah, no!”
“Hahahaha—!” Another round of laughter erupted.
“She’s dazzled by the beefcake…”
“But she’s so cute…”
“Turns out she likes that type… I need to step it up…”
The ruckus mixed with laughter turned my face an even deeper shade of red.
“I misspoke… it’s the White Night Abyss…”
Teresa gave me a mildly surprised look, as if she hadn’t expected me to answer correctly.
She gently patted my head. “No daydreaming now.”
“Yes, yes.” I quickly nodded in agreement.
“Teacher, I’m sorry.” Sarah mumbled with a guilty tone.
With the beefcake topic wrapped up, Teacher Teresa turned to continue, “The location of the White Night Abyss is very close to the Endless Abyss; a mere Woodward Forest separates the two. Fortunately, the Church had prior preparations, so the Abyss Mud didn’t spread to the surrounding towns, and the White Night Abyss was swiftly dispatched by the silver-haired Carlos Gonzalez.”
…Huh?
So, is that how the Church is going to spin the story?
“But—”
Teresa’s abrupt shift made my heart drop.
“According to reports from the south, this particular abyss seems very special. It’s different from all previous abysses…”
!!!
The way she slowly and softly stated this made me clench my little fists in nervousness.
Could it be… someone leaked the news? They knew it had actually turned into a person…
My heart raced, and my nerves were on high alert as she continued, “This is the first abyss ever recorded to possess three abilities. Dead Smoke, Frost Order… and supposedly, it can emit white light from the Black Flame. More importantly, the biggest difference with the White Night Abyss is that it seems to possess Reason.”
“This news comes from within the Church and has not been made public. Whether it’s true or not remains to be seen. But if it is, then a rather unpalatable truth will lie before us—those abyss monsters are no longer the mindless, savage beasts that know only slaughter but are becoming increasingly intelligent. I believe… this is a very dangerous signal. If those monsters gain intelligence and learn to strategize, and know when to attack or retreat… once that happens, taking them down will be much more challenging…”
Phew—
I let out a long sigh of relief.
That was genuinely frightening… thankfully, she was talking about something else.
Thank goodness… thank goodness… my secret about turning into a human didn’t get exposed, even if the “possessing Reason” detail gets out.
But I thought, could it be that I have one extra ability compared to the other abysses?
After all, I indeed had three abilities: the black smoke… they call it “Dead Smoke,” and I can compress that smoke into black flames. Although, aside from not having temperature, I haven’t discovered anything special about it yet; it just goes “bang” and explodes… but compared to the Endless Abyss’s “shaping” ability, this flame surely isn’t simple—just that I don’t know how to use it.
And I’m a bit scared to try.
