### Chapter 117: Light and Dark (Fourteen)
In the church foyer, a roaring fire ignited the outer stained glass murals, flames licking out the windows like a hungry beast. I stood atop the structure, staring at the billowing black smoke rising, waves of heat and ash hitting my face.
“Cough, cough!”
A bit smoky…
But thankfully, it had just started, and the fire wasn’t too massive—just a lot of smoke. The townsfolk were rushing out of the foyer, clenching their mouths and noses, sprinting towards the nave. Some darted through the front doors to stand at a distance in the street, gazing back, while others dropped to their knees, eyes shut, praying fervently, mumbling to themselves.
Some stared at the distant plumes of dead smoke, wide-eyed and shaken.
They didn’t notice the soldiers approaching from all directions, but from my elevated perch, I saw it clearly—the nearest defenders were only two streets away from the church.
Just before the dead smoke slammed into the street, the soldiers below began a mass panic, their already chaotic ranks erupting into further disarray. The cavalry, who led the charge, were the first to spiral into chaos, spinning around, crashing into the infantry right behind them. Iron hooves trampled over bodies, faint cries echoing in the distance.
Then, with the impact of the dead smoke, a collective scream pierced the air.
“Liulish—”
I howled desperately, my voice cracking from the urgency.
“Caw—”
A raven cawed overhead.
…Goat cheese might know where she is!
Realizing this, I urgently looked up again: “Goat…!”
Crunch, crunch, crunch…
In my line of sight, a wave of pitch-black ravens swept from the ominous sky, their wings flapping like a percussion section gone berserk. They squawked loudly, feathers cascading down like bizarre confetti, stunning me into silence. I nearly shouted, covering my mouth in awe as they fluttered over the church towards the street, engulfing soldiers everywhere, an ominous cloud hovering above.
Suddenly, a sharp pain throbbed in my head.
In that moment, the sky went dark, as if night had fallen.
Out of nowhere, a dazzling golden light flashed three meters away from me, and Margaret’s figure materialized from within it. She yelled, “Silvya, what do you see?!”
I smacked my forehead, pointing towards the street with my other hand: “Crows! So many! Can’t you see them?!”
Margaret looked in the direction I was pointing, completely bewildered.
“I can’t see them…”
d*mn it…
The civilians below seemed utterly oblivious to the crows—why only me?! Was it because I’d locked eyes with her earlier?! Those red eyes…
I gritted my teeth, watching the dead smoke continue rampaging in the distance, engulfing the defenders. My right hand gathered a blue light, shooting forth an icy mist like a fountain, aimed at the burning stained glass below.
The frost enveloped more than half of the church’s exterior, misty ice crystals mingling with flames, dousing the raging fire in swaths. There were still civilians trapped inside the church, so I dared not overdo it; I just wanted to stall the fire’s spread. I turned to Margaret, shouting, “Put out the fire and save people! Take care of Victoria!” With a resounding ‘bang’, an ice pillar shot up from beneath me.
I soared high into the air.
“Wait, Silvya—”
Margaret’s voice called from below, but I ignored her. Skating across the ice platform, I quickly positioned myself directly above the surrounded defenders, squinting against the howling wind, peering down.
Time seemed to slow in that instant.
The crows swarmed like a rising tide across the rooftops, eerie and silent, their countless scarlet eyes fixated on the soldiers below.
Not far away, behind rows of buildings, the surging dead smoke gradually dissolved, revealing a few figures twisted and contorted in the air, half-devoured, their bodies disintegrating into gray ash shrouded in black smoke, their faces withered and horrified.
Countless pale blue wisps ascended into the air, shifting unpredictably. Those soldiers who hadn’t been caught in the dead smoke, scattering in panic, bizarrely stopped moving shortly after the crows appeared, standing frozen in place, their faces slightly dazed.
Among them, a few soldiers still remained sane, staring at their echoing comrades, seemingly confused about what was happening. They anxiously tried to pull their buddies away, or attempted to flee alone.
Those watching gaped wider, drool stringing down their chins, splattering onto their armor.
“Ah, ahhh…”
Someone shook, frantically shouting incomprehensible and creepy noises.
“Hehe, hehe…”
One was grinning stupidly, drool leaking profusely.
Another seemed to see something terrifying, his eyes nearly popping out as his face twisted in sheer fear. He issued an unearthly scream, drawing his sword and hacking down at the soldier beside him who stood there, caught in shock.
bl**d splattered and heads flew, sending a shiver through me.
In an instant, time resumed its relentless flow.
With a whoosh, dark wings erupted from my back. I controlled the black flames to hover in the air, hesitating about whether to descend and where to land when below me, the madness of soldiers began.
The soldiers were acting like crazed beasts, swinging their swords wildly at each other. bl**d surged, the cavalry charged forward like a culling machine, screams filled the street as soldiers dropped their swords to tear at each other with hands and teeth, viciously hunting down lives that mere moments before might have been friends.
What an utterly horrifying power…
I was a little freaked out, feeling chills creep up my spine.
No matter if it was the endless abyss or the terrifying Teresa Monster, I had never felt the abject horror of being overwhelmed by some kind of power before. I thought that no matter how strong a person or monster was, at least they could be seen and touched—there was a chance to fight back and k*ll them.
But now, this elusive yet deeply deadly fear, impossible to manage and hardly even prepare against, sent shivers down my spine and made me feel entirely lost.
I gasped several times for air.
The frenzied soldiers in the streets were like soulless shells, rampaging and slaughtering everything alive around them. Some waved swords towards the church as the civilians screaming fled back to the foyer, while the soldiers, rabid like wild dogs, chased after them. Almost immediately, a brilliant golden light shot up from the church’s roof.
It seemed the fire was gradually dying down. From afar, I spotted Margaret wrapped in golden light raising her hand. A moment later, a shimmering golden barrier bloomed like ripples from the door, encapsulating most of the church. The mad soldiers crashed against it, heedless, beginning to claw and bash.
Then a second golden light descended, intertwined with glowing sparkles, enveloping the soldiers’ figures. Margaret unleashed a healing miracle, but to no effect—they only became more wild, raising their swords and screaming as they slashed at the barrier.
What do I do? Think of something fast…
I scanned the chaotic scene and shouted, “Liulish!”
“Stop now!”
“Your sister commands you! Stop! You can’t keep doing this!”
“If you don’t stop…”
Suddenly, the bodies of the fallen began to rise with black smoke, rapidly disintegrating into ash. Threads of pale light rose from the street, converging with the countless glowing wisps overhead. A brilliant white light illuminated the dim sky, washing over the distant streets like an incoming tide.
…There!
Whoosh—
The fiery wings flapped against my back, my figure rocketing forward like a cannonball, chasing after the stream of light smoke.
It seemed to lead to the rooftops…
Swish, swish, swish—
The light smoke hovered above a tavern’s roof on the nearby street and then coalesced, twisting as if being pulled by an unseen black hole, swallowed up like a whirlpool.
I clenched my fist in the air.
“Liulish!”
My right palm burst with blue light, frost swirling around me, enveloping my body in an icy embrace.
With teeth gritted, just before smashing into the roof, I suddenly reversed the flames’ direction with a powerful flap, the icy wind bursting forth and scattering tiles and dust. My figure momentarily halted mid-air, then slowly descended.
Clink.
I landed on the tavern’s shattered tiles, frost creeping from beneath my feet.
Just three meters ahead, a faint, delicate outline suddenly appeared. It seemed to emerge from another realm, wafting black mist, quickly transforming from illusion to reality.
A silver-haired, crimson-eyed little girl stood before me.
She wore a smile as bright as the moon, dressed in slightly oversized nun’s robes, her petite frame trembling with excitement as her fervent gaze reflected pure elation.
“Sister… I’m so happy… Sis… heehee… I’m so very happy~”
My heart sank.
How could I not understand her feelings at this moment… The ecstasy of devouring life and gaining power, that irresistible thrill, had nearly drowned me before. That ultimate satisfaction was far beyond what an immature little girl could resist.
“Sister… why, why does it feel so good… Haha, Sister, I—I’ve never felt this way before… I want more… My head hurts… k*ll me…”
Think of something…
“Liulish, listen to your sister, okay…”
Slowly, I relaxed my clenched fists. The white frost surrounding me faded, and I raised my hands, stepping forward to quietly approach the seemingly defenseless Liulish, lost in her pleasure, her little brain whirring rapidly.
“Stop… don’t do this anymore…”
Speaking as I inched closer… Just knock her out first, we’ll figure out the rest later!
I had to control her right away; the consequences of failing were unimaginable…
The little girl’s eyes blinked blankly, staring at me.
I brushed some debris off and took another step, saying, “Liulish, I have so many questions I want to ask you… So many things I forget…”
…She didn’t respond, so I took another step closer.
“Let’s just talk. Please… Sister knows you’re hurting. Actually, I feel the same… Liulish, that false comfort is deceiving you. Don’t think about that; let’s get through this together…”
Ahhhhh! What am I even saying…
“Sister…” The little girl continued to tremble, her head hanging low, fists tightly clenched. “You feel just like Liulish, so pained… Do you also want to eat people…?”
“Yes, I do too… When the desire overwhelms me, it’s so agonizing… But…” I sniffled.
A wave of sadness quietly seeped into my heart without warning. I didn’t even know how my voice suddenly choked up.
“Because… nobody ever said… we’ve always been… alone…”
“Liulish… Sister can’t remember. I don’t know anything; I need you… Please don’t do this anymore. Okay? Together, we’ll find those who hurt us…”
Liulish’s body suddenly stiffened, trembling to a halt, the dead smoke that had coiled around her swiftly dissipating.
“Sister, I…”
The little girl looked up, gem-like eyes sparkling directly into mine, her pupils quaking fiercely.
In the next instant, a clear smile like a bubbling spring blossomed on her delicate face, her voice, akin to dreamlike whispers, sent me plunging into an icy abyss.
“I am the will of the Deity. I am… the Abyss of Oblivion.”
