Chapter 142: Red and Black (Part 4)
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The air was roaring past my ears.
Bang! Bang! Boom!
I was tumbling in midair, crashing through a series of tall walls, tearing across the street and smashing into a low building, sending tables and chairs flying, and creating a gaping hole in the opposite wall. Finally, I came to a screeching halt and landed in an empty alley, rolling quite a distance.
“Uh…”
Hiss, hiss, hiss…
Scorching flames were burning all around me.
Ouch! Ouch!
I scrambled to my feet, frantically patting the raging flames on my armor, feeling a piercing pain in my left shoulder and stiffness radiating through my arm. I knew I must have messed up a bone or two.
But it’s fine!
Cardinal Nero’s hit wasn’t as horrifying as I had imagined. Besides the bump on my shoulder, I only felt a little hot… Wait, what?
Suddenly, I stopped patting.
The scarlet flames were blazing more fiercely on my armor, enveloping me almost entirely in a fiery embrace, thick smoke spreading everywhere and gradually obscuring my view… not far ahead, the low building I had completely smashed through collapsed with a crash, flames licking up the heatwave, rapidly spreading from the dust,
Turning even the tough bluestone into molten lava, flowing brilliantly down the street.
Such heat…
Yet, I didn’t feel a bit uncomfortable.
I was on fire just the same, but I felt no burning pain or suffocating lack of oxygen, nothing at all! Not even the smoke felt choking.
“Ah ha.”
It felt like… I was a fish in water!
Suddenly, the energy inside me, which had long been simmering down, surged upwards again. The cracks on my armor glowed bright like bl**d, and the flames flickered wildly in front of me, as if being drawn by something, morphing into flowing fire and being completely absorbed into my body.
“Mmm…”
I felt the tide churning within me, taking a couple of steps back, stifling a groan.
It was as if something was igniting inside me, and each breath released a stream of hot air laced with smoke, slowly puffing from my mouth.
Boom—
A strong shockwave erupted from beneath my feet, shattering the doors and windows of surrounding buildings, igniting the ground within a ten-meter radius. The bluestone gradually melted in the flames, lava creeping up to my ankles, a warm and cozy sensation.
…Ha!
This power… can’t be…
“Interesting indeed…”
In an instant, I was submerged in this massive wave of heat.
But soon after, a sharp wave of dizziness hit me, the surrounding houses began to warp and tremble, even the flames came to a standstill. That suffocating feeling, like being trapped in a quagmire, closed in on me like a vice.
Not again…
Suddenly, crimson flames shot toward me, carrying an astonishing wave of heat, crashing right at my chest.
Hiss, hiss, hiss—
Creak!
Steam billowed into the air as my armor shattered instantly. Cracks spread across my left chest as the flowing fire surged inside me.
Buzz…
At that moment, my mind went blank.
It felt like an unprecedented force invaded my body, swirling around freely, an indescribable sensation knocked out my senses. When I finally gathered myself again, the still-throbbing fire had pushed me to the edge of the street, my feet carving a long trench in the ground ahead.
So heavy!
It felt like I was carrying a mountain on my chest, and the impact of the flames nearly knocked me to the ground, but I didn’t feel any pain.
Only power kept surging in, bubbling within me, filling the void left by what Teresa Monster had bestowed, a force that could even snatch from Chaotic Power.
“Hahaha!”
The Sin Fire…
This was from those Heretics… No, it was a purer Sin Fire than that!
“Nero—”
I shouted, my voice echoing through the blazing inferno, shaking with excitement.
“What the heck is going on! What’s the Divine Reliquary?! What’s the Church up to??”
“Tell me—!”
“What the hell is happening…” came Nero’s incredulous voice from ahead.
Suddenly, the fiery flow stopped.
The flames before me abruptly dispersed, and the massive force vanished along with it, countless tongues of fire twirling in mid-air before vanishing into my body. Dense smoke enveloped everywhere; my chest armor crumbled, pieces clattering to the ground, revealing a small patch of skin, white with a reddish tinge like cream.
I raised my hand over my chest.
In front of me, through the dissipating smoke, Cardinal Nero’s figure slowly emerged from the collapsed ruins.
“I didn’t even manage to hurt you… tell me, why is that?”
“Um…”
I tilted my head and thought for a bit, then broke into a grin.
“How about you tell me why you can use the power of The Gate of Truth, okay?”
“…What Gate of Truth? Ha ha…”
Ah, he doesn’t want to admit it… huh?
Looking at his hefty figure approaching me, I suddenly noticed the ring on his right hand thumb… wasn’t that a ring? A white one… with embers still flickering on it, glowing faintly red.
…That’s the one!
Buzz—
In an instant, golden radiance erupted from Cardinal Nero, and the next moment, his scorched, grotesque face was right in front of me.
“Ah—!” a furious roar erupted.
He raised his right hand, the golden thread swirling around him, brilliant light exploding from his palm, directly striking my chest where the armor was missing.
Buzz—
The light trembled in the surrounding air, producing subtle sounds.
A beam of white light, as thick as an arm, shot forth from Cardinal Nero’s right hand, penetrating my left palm guarding my chest, piercing through my chest, smashing through the armor on my back, and emerging out into the street behind me.
bl**d surged into my lungs in an instant, bursting forth from my throat.
“Cough—!”
I heaved out huge amounts of bl**d, pouring down my chin to the ground. In Nero’s bloodshot eye, a cruel smile glimmered.
“This time you—”
Before he could finish, I swiftly raised my right arm and grabbed the hand that struck my chest.
“Got… you…!”
Boom!
Scarlet flames burst from within me, swirling black smoke billowing upwards from my feet.
Hiss, hiss, hiss…
In the hollow created by the blow to my chest, flesh began to wriggle as if alive, growing, rebuilding my shattered heart and vessels, repairing muscle and skin, quickly healing alongside my shattered armor.
I stared into his trembling, horrified eyes, a smirk tugging at my lips, revealing a grin.
“Elder perv, where do you think you’re aiming…?”
“You damned monster—!”
“You hurt me…”
Dazzling golden light burst forth, enveloping Nero’s figure.
“Monster! Monster! Monster! d*e—!!”
“Shut your mouth.”
In the next moment, amidst the swirling flames and black smoke, I raised my left arm high, my not-yet-fully-recovered left hand turning into a hand kn*fe. The wind howled in my ears, Dead Smoke instantly gathered into my palm, solidifying into a pitch-black, sharp curved blade, splattering the bl**d gushing from the wound as I swiftly swung down at Nero’s right wrist.
“Decapitate.”
Whoosh—Boom!
The ground beneath us exploded.
Cardinal Nero’s right hand was severed cleanly.
“Ah!”
He let out a wretched scream, as the golden glow on him dimmed instantly. His grotesque face twisted in extreme pain and fury, and he stepped back, trying to put some distance between us.
The next moment, I swung my open palm, slightly leaning forward, pressing my palm against his face.
“Here, take this back.”
Boom—
Scarlet flames rushed out in an instant.
