Chapter 79: Abyssal Power
“Hah.”
The heretic sneered dismissively and raised his hand to blast a ball of scorching Infernal Fire at me.
“Little girl, you think this will win you the fight… and you’re not even going to dodge!”
The bl**d-red flames rushed toward me, engulfing me in an instant. Flames swirled around me as I stood atop Captain Gray’s blade, squinting my eyes slightly, a faint blue glow emanating from my body.
To me, the Sin Fire felt like a warm bubble bath — cozy and comfortable.
But suddenly being attacked ticked me off, so I lifted my right hand and extended a slender finger, gently tapping the flames ahead. With a shard-like “crack crack crack,” an ice spike shot forth with the precision of a well-aimed dart.
Whoosh—
The ice spike followed the direction of the oncoming flames and pierced right through the heretic’s palm, ice pillar pinning his right arm to the wall. Before he could react, a second ice spike whizzed past and pinned his other hand as well.
The Infernal Fire in front of him suddenly halted, a thick cloud of steam billowing into the air. The heretic, now sporting a couple of new holes in his body, bore a bloodied smile of shock: “You, how are you unscathed! This is impossible… you didn’t perform a divine miracle; this cannot be!”
I brushed my hair, which was tousled by the fire, and asked, “Killing people, what does it feel like for you?”
The heretic stared at me, his face growing more shocked by the second.
I continued, “Is it… enjoyable?”
Above, invisible raindrops froze mid-air and began to fall, pattering around us and tapping against my head with a prickly sting.
Before my eyes, a mountain range of ice blades rose and fell dramatically, the frost-like fog swirling around, creating an ethereal landscape that made the dilapidated village below look like a snow-covered paradise.
From the outskirts of this paradise, a gruff voice called out, “Hey—! Shorty! Silvya—”
That sounded like Isaac.
“Where are you—”
“Did you take him out—”
“Ah?! Respond—”
The intertwining peaks made it impossible for the knights below to see me, so Isaac shouldn’t be able to spot me either.
“Who are you! Who are you really!!!”
The heretic screamed in a frenzy: “Why can’t my Infernal Fire hurt you! Why—”
For Marcus, all of his prior confidence, that cockiness backed by the power of immortality, and the lofty ambitions that had filled his heart a moment ago, all drifted away like smoke in the wind.
Everything fell apart in an instant due to that little girl’s seemingly casual strike.
Marcus thought this little girl was an inexperienced new knight, possibly endowed with some talent in the Power of Order due to her age, but overly self-assured and severely lacking in combat experience. He’d lost count of how many such fools he had killed.
But the moment she raised her hand and he saw the glimmering light on that crescent blade, he sensed something was terribly wrong — but it was too late then.
A frigid wind howled from all directions, a power utterly unmatched. Marcus had never seen a pope knight who could strike with such intensity. This was pure, unembellished chaos! Such devastating force was practically a natural disaster. He was sent flying, wondering if this little girl was the goddess of ice and snow.
Marcus would never forget this day.
If he lived to tell the tale.
Right now, he felt the cold wind invading his body at every moment, making him feel icy, his tongue numb, his limbs stiff, and his body trembling uncontrollably — such an experience he hadn’t felt since he gained the power of Infernal Fire.
But at this moment, his Infernal Fire was dwindling, and the bl**d he had amassed was nearly exhausted. Marcus knew he was done for, defeated by a seemingly harmless little girl who could have been crushed with a single finger. He could hardly hold on any longer before freezing to d*ath right there.
He had no way to deal with this little girl before him.
However…
At least he had completed the task Mr. J entrusted him with before he left.
These people surely never expected this…
They almost ran into Mr. J…
With that thought, Marcus couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Hehehe…”
“I don’t care who you are… you can’t win… hehehe…”
I frowned at the heretic, who had started laughing crazily again, and spoke lightly, “Answer me, the question from earlier.”
“What question…”
“The villagers, did you k*ll them?”
“Ah… yeah, that was me.” The heretic twisted into a smile, frost accumulating more and more on his face, bl**d that still burned began to flow like a dying ember.
He cackled, “What? Did I make you unhappy by killing them? If that’s the case, I’m even happier… hehehehe!”
An ice spike whoosh pierced through his eye, cutting his laughter short and eliciting a muffled groan. I continued to inquire, “Is killing people really that much fun?”
“Yeah…”
The heretic trembled, biting his teeth together and grinning, the ice spike lodged in his right eye socket almost penetrating his skull, bloody tears burst forth from the shattered eyeball, and steam billowed as the Infernal Fire mingled with the harsh ice.
“I’ll tell you, little girl… killing is actually a splendidly enjoyable thing… don’t make that face! You look so disdainful. Do you want to k*ll me now? Hahaha—” The heretic’s tone was manic, his face twisted with madness. “You’ll feel the thrill of m*rder when you see a daughter picking up a kn*fe and painfully stabbing her own father. Trust me, in that moment, your soul will be elevated…”
When I finally understood what he was implying, unbearable rage surged from my chest and into my head.
You b*stard…
“Listen, you can’t k*ll me! You can’t k*ll me! I’ve absorbed so much bl**d; you can’t k*ll me! Let’s see who outlasts whom—”
“Oh really…”
You filthy thing!
I didn’t want to waste more words: “Who is Romani?”
The heretic froze. “Ro… what?”
“Romani, do you know her?”
I reiterated, meeting his gaze.
There was nothing but confusion in his eyes.
“Hahahaha—” The heretic cackled madly, spitting out bl**d mixed with ice shards. “You’re looking for her? Want to know where she is? Want to know?! Listen, I’m not going to tell you—”
I nodded my head: “You don’t know her.”
Since he didn’t know, I’d just find someone better to ask.
“Why are you here?”
“Guess… hehehe…”
“Just you alone?”
“Hehehe…”
“What about your buddies? What happened at the southern battle?”
“Don’t waste your breath. I know you really want to k*ll me. How about we play a game? Let’s see whether you k*ll me first or I melt this ice blade faster… Little girl, I’ll tell you, maybe you don’t understand the third tier of the Sin Fire’s power… it means immortality, get it? You can’t k*ll me… even if you’re strong, you still can’t k*ll me…”
I ignored him, starting to look around.
There was a heavy fog of ice around us.
I felt no presence of Isaac and the others.
So—
“You want to know who I am?”
I locked onto the heretic’s deranged face and slowly closed my eyes.
“Then, let’s find out.”
Moments later, I reopened my eyes.
Those originally black eyes, reminiscent of a starry night sky, turned a fierce crimson.
“‘Abyssal Tongue’ Oblivion.”
