Chapter 168: Azure Fire Burning the Moon, bl**d Stained Royal City (Part Two)
Creak.
A faint sound echoed from the ice spike embedded in Teresa’s body.
My head went “buzz.”
The next moment, the ice spike went “bang” and exploded. Shards flew past my face, drawing a fine line of bl**d, and I felt absolutely nothing.
All my attention was focused on Teresa’s headless “corpse.”
After the ice shattered, her body plummeted to the ground, landing on a pile of shattered ice, and then… I saw her right foot twitch a few times, and her entire body started to writhe and squirm.
Staring at this horrific scene, my heart surged with chaos as I swiftly snatched up Captain Gray, gripping it tightly, my gaze locked on that spine-chilling body, unwilling to let my guard down for a moment.
Teresa’s body twisted and contorted, slowly rising to her feet.
bl**d-red flames ignited across her.
The flames were weak but quickly enveloped her severed arms. With a sound reminiscent of squishy rotten meat slithering around, Teresa’s arms grew back.
She revived… no, she never died… The Gate of Truth… damned heretics!
“Oh my… oh my…” Charles uncontrollably muttered in horror.
“Don’t worry. The rest of those children…” Teresa spoke.
The voice came not from her body, but from the head still lying on the ground.
“I just had them drink rum mixed with mandrake. Maybe they won’t move until dawn, but they’ll be fine. The bl**d… is already enough.”
She stretched her body, bent down, picked up her head from the ground, brushed aside the hair that was tangled on her face, and cradled it against her chest—facing me.
In my line of sight, the head curled its lips into a wicked grin. The bloodied, mangled face displayed a truly creepy smile: “I didn’t expect to be exposed because of the Lotus Seed Grass… Abe really doesn’t listen, I told him he’d have to take his sister’s place… how infuriating.”
Whoosh—
Flames erupted from her mouth, instantly licking up her cheeks, ruffling her silver hair.
Teresa’s voice became distorted and grating: “But still… with all this bloodletting. They’re going to be scared, wanting to run away; that’s not unreasonable… that’s why I have someone send Lotus Seed Grass every so often, to alleviate their mental and physical pain… Now that you’ve intercepted the Lotus Seed Grass, I have no choice but to use alcohol and mandrake instead… It’s not as effective, and I feel a bit bad for the kids.”
…Feel bad?
You feel bad?!
“Psychopath…” I gritted my teeth to utter those words.
I couldn’t communicate with the demon; I just couldn’t understand her.
I just wanted to k*ll her quickly.
Crack crack crack—
The grip on Captain Gray began to splinter at the hilt, the chain “clanking” to the ground. I suddenly used my waist to exert force, swinging my arm and hurling the shining scythe directly at that burning head.
The pitch-black blade dove down with unparalleled precision, plunging right through the top of her head and out of her mouth. I immediately summoned strength again, yanking the head away from her hands, flinging it at the wall.
Thud.
The head shattered into several pieces. The flaming bits of bone and flesh fell to the ground, gradually turning to charred ashes.
Yet as I stared at this nightmarish scene, my mood grew heavier.
I knew this was pointless.
Click, click… wriggle, wriggle…
A new head slowly emerged from her neck. Sporting the same hair and features, without a single change from before.
Except for the bl**d on her nun’s robe, Teresa was perfectly whole again.
She moved her head around, blinked, opened her mouth, and looked at me with a charming smile.
That smile sent chills down my spine.
“d*mn it…”
Crack crack crack.
In my hands, Captain Gray transformed back into a scythe. I hunched my body, my left hand shimmering with blue light, condensing a dozen sharp ice spikes, which floated above my head.
“Miss Silvya, we really don’t need to fight to the d*ath here, do we?” Teresa gazed at me sincerely, “I don’t want to k*ll you; we have no deep-seated hatred between us…”
I immediately interrupted her: “But I want to k*ll you!”
“Why do you want to k*ll me?”
“Because you’re a demon.”
Teresa shook her head at my words.
“I’m not a demon; I actually really like those children. Whether you believe it or not, I’m not lying. I don’t want to k*ll anyone, but this… is unavoidable.”
“Unavoidable?” I glared at her face, enunciating slowly, “Teresa, you, should, d*e!”
With a gentle wave of my right arm.
In the next moment, the ice spikes hovering above my head emitted a piercing shriek and shot toward her at a speed impossible to discern with the n*ked eye.
Swoosh swoosh swoosh—
I took a deep breath, stepping forward to dive at her.
Teresa didn’t flinch, allowing the ice spikes to pierce her entire body. She kicked up a massive axe from the ground, grabbing it in her hands, crouching down to muster strength—and swung it straight toward me.
“Take that!”
“Ah—”
Clang!
Captain Gray collided with the massive black axe, producing a sound that felt like it could shatter eardrums, sparks flying where the weapons met.
The fierce impact jolted my arm, causing it to go numb. I stumbled back a couple of steps but quickly regained my footing and summoned power again, the gleaming scythe aimed at her side for another swing.
Whoosh!
That strike completely missed.
Teresa reacted exceptionally fast, twisting her body just in time to avoid the blade. With a thunderous crash, the scythe smashed into the ground, chipping away the hard rock and sending shards flying, whizzing past my ears.
Whoosh.
Flames erupted in my peripheral vision.
Then, with a flash of red light, a scorching force slammed into my abdomen. I felt weightless for a moment, followed by a dizzying spin, both feet leaving the ground, and I was launched towards the wall like a cannonball.
Bang!
My body crashed through the brick wall, falling to the ground.
In that moment, it felt like all my bones were about to fall apart.
Kicked in the stomach…
“Ugh.”
A fiery cramp twisted in my stomach, and I spat out a mouthful of bile, hurriedly getting back on my feet, ignoring the pain, my gaze once again focused on Teresa—
The imagined pursuit never came; Teresa had already reached the edge of the bl**d pool.
With her delicate arm, she plucked a pulsating bl**d pearl the size of a fist, a wild look of ecstatic joy on her face.
“I did it… haha.”
In my vision, the bl**d-soaked nun tilted her head back, slowly closing her eyes.
“Come on. The remaining bl**d… is the revelry before the finale.”
As her words fell, the bl**d in the pool began to boil once more. The crimson liquid gradually detached from gravity, rising into the air, twisting like snakes, carrying a strong stench, enveloping Teresa’s entire body.
Her figure morphed into an utterly terrifying black hole, sucking in and swallowing all that bl**d in a mere half second… not a single drop left.
Hiss, hiss, hiss—
Strange sounds emanated from her body as the ice spikes embedded in her were rapidly dissolved and evaporated. Horrific penetrating wounds healed at lightning speed, flames licking from her body, bright light coursing through her veins, forming numerous twisted, eerie patterns beneath her skin.
I suddenly remembered what Carlos had said.
[The third phase of the Gate of Truth, bl**d Sacrifice… this phase’s enemy is terrifying, truly terrifying… I once had a bout with them… it was quite difficult.]
A demon that burns the bl**d of others.
Whoosh—
I took the Moon Step, charging toward her again.
Teresa, no matter what you intend to do, I won’t let you succeed in such inhumane acts!
