Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Four: Light and Dark (Thirty-One)
The wind whipped past my ears, tangling my long hair across my face. In a suit of black armor, a girl streaked through the air, executing an impressive arc as she jumped over a few scattered corpses on the broad street and landed with a thud on the roof of a nearby house.
The rubble beneath her feet crumbled into bits, making a cheerful sound.
I straightened up, poked my cheek with my index finger, and scanned the maze of streets around me.
The houses, arranged in a somewhat orderly fashion, stretched in every direction, their doors and windows tightly shut. Not a light flickered inside. Aside from the occasional Iron Guard lying face down somewhere, the area seemed completely deserted, enveloped in a deathly silence.
Yet my ears picked up the faint sounds of rustling from all around. Inside one of the nearby houses, I could even hear a quiet conversation. It sounded like a woman asking if there was movement on the roof, her tone filled with fear—definitely spooked. A man responded to her, but his voice was too low for me to make out.
Clearly, there were still plenty of people nearby. But like the girl who had been peeking out earlier, they were all hiding inside, too scared to step outside.
On the southern city wall, the flames still blazed brightly, their rich crimson glow resembling starry clusters. Above the flames, thick smoke billowed up, carried away by the wind.
It looked like they had a pretty rough time… besieging the city.
But it had quieted down a lot over there now.
Not too long ago, the cacophony of shouting from the direction of the city wall had been deafening; somehow, it had all faded away, leaving the city surprisingly calm. The Iron Guards may have breached the wall, but it seemed they hadn’t gotten far afterward.
Iliush’s crimson glow had taken a heavy toll on them.
Though there weren’t many corpses in sight, the strong odor of bl**d wafting in from the south was unmistakable… I couldn’t help but wonder just how many of those Iron Guards charging into the Royal City would escape alive.
Not that it had anything to do with me, of course…
Hmm…
Where’s that old guy?
He was hurt pretty bad. Where could he possibly be?
His footsteps had been so clear before—just listening could tell me exactly where he was… but now, the old guy seemed to be trying out some stealth. He’d taken off his armor and was moving quietly, blending in seamlessly with the rustles around him. Now everywhere I turned, there were similar sounds, making it hard for me to tell.
He really had gone into hiding.
Hmph…
Now it’s getting interesting.
I furrowed my brow slightly and jumped down from the rooftop, walking toward a narrow alley on my left, wrinkling my nose to catch a whiff of the air.
…There’s a smell.
There must be something nearby…
Before long, I found a torn piece of cloth discarded at the edge of the alley.
That rag looked like it had been ripped from the old guy’s clothing, stained with dark red bl**d—probably from one of his wounds. There were three paths ahead: two wider alleys leading south and one narrow drainage path heading north, mostly blocked by a tangle of iron meshes. The rag lay just at the entrance of the narrower passage.
Did he snag it on the mesh while trying to escape?
Sniff sniff…
…Nope.
The faint scent was definitely pulling south. He had deliberately left this cloth here.
Trying to trick me…
“Kukuku.”
I couldn’t help but laugh.
How amusing.
I fixed my wind-blown bangs and turned to step into a wider alley, hurrying southward.
This place feels strangely familiar…
Oh, I’ve come full circle again… the old guy is quite clever.
When I find him, I’m going to enjoy this…
But just a few steps later, my smile faded. I slowly stopped, gazing up at the sky, feeling something was off—
Those blue-white wisps of light, I didn’t notice when they had completely vanished.
Huh?
What the…
Suddenly, from behind the jagged buildings ahead, that familiar abyssal aura hit me anew.
Huh…
Huh? Huh?!
What’s going on… could she still be alive? Iliush…
“Hahaha!”
Without the slightest hesitation, dark flames engulfed me, shining like a shooting star as I vaulted into the sky over thirty meters high, coming to a slow hover. In the next moment, with a wave of my hand, I scattered the flames, and while descending, my gaze darted around countless streets.
Where, where…
“…Hahaha, Duke Lex!”
Voices called out from below.
Who’s talking?
“The credit is mine—”
I followed the voice, suddenly spotting a silver figure in a nearby street, brandishing a blade as it charged toward the opposite side.
It’s the Iron Guard… oh? What’s going on over there…
In the next instant, thick dead smoke surged from the side of the street, quickly swallowing the figure.
…It’s Iliush!
She’s okay! Hahaha!
I dropped rapidly. Keeping my left hand out to my side, with a bang, frost erupted from my palm, and I swiftly changed direction in midair, the dark flames swirling back into existence around me as I soared toward the cobweb of dead smoke.
That place… looks like where I previously took her down.
In my sight, a blue-white wisp of light rose slowly from the street, merging with the dead smoke, returning to the little body. As I drew closer, I spotted the old duke hiding against the wall—he looked entirely spooked, barely daring to move.
Whoosh—
The roaring gusts played with the flames, propelling my body forward rapidly.
Faster, faster, faster…
“Hey!”
“Iliush—cough cough!”
Ugh, this smoke is irritating!
But the distant shouts got the little figure’s attention. She raised her little head, her scarlet eyes locking onto me.
Boom!
The next moment, I hit the ground.
Sssss—
The force of my descent made my feet slide along the ground for ten meters, gravel scattering around, before I straightened up in front of the smooth, little figure, took a deep breath… and met the little girl’s hollow gaze.
“Iliush.” I called her gently.
The girl named Iliush looked a bit dazed, her eyes lacking focus, the flicker of scarlet in her gaze nearly vanished, as if she was just an ordinary child lost and helpless.
“Sister…”
Upon seeing me and hearing my voice, she seemed to come back to herself a bit.
I smiled: “Remember who I am?”
“Mm…”
“Do you feel unwell anywhere?”
The little girl shook her head.
“Then… everything’s normal?”
She thought for a moment and shook her head again.
“I don’t know…”
She stared at me, and after a brief moment, her vacant expression suddenly displayed a hint of sorrow.
“Sister…”
“What’s wrong?”
“I just… I attacked you…”
“No.”
I chuckled and patted her head.
“You just had a dream.”
“No, sister… I remember.”
The little girl’s gaze was completely unfocused. Her eyes were blank, her tone flat, the momentary hint of sadness on her porcelain-like face faded, transforming her into a doll devoid of emotion.
“I remember what I did. I remember I was very hungry, very hungry… I killed so many people. They were delicious… I didn’t want to k*ll you, but I still want to k*ll you… I don’t know how to explain it; I couldn’t help it… Sister, I’m not Iliush anymore.”
“You are.”
“Lies…”
“No, it’s true.”
“I will eat people again.”
“You can hold back…”
“I can’t hold back.” The little girl took a step back, her face expressionless, “Sister, I’m not as strong as you. I can’t help it… that feeling comes over me… I can’t help it…”
“You’re tired, Iliush.”
I stepped closer, grabbing her frail shoulders and trying to smile.
“Don’t think about anything. Just rest a bit, okay? Listen to your sister, let’s go home and get a good sleep. When you wake up, I have a lot of questions to ask.”
“I…”
Just then, a soft sound came from behind.
“Hey…”
I abruptly turned around, waving my arm, as the snake-like dead smoke swooped out, engulfing Duke Lex, who was trying to make a run for it.
“Where do you think you’re going…”
