# Chapter One Hundred Fifty-Three: Infernal Meteor
Tap, tap, tap…
The sound of beastly hooves thundered.
Under the moonlight, boulders and tall trees speed past from both sides, the cold wind whooshing toward them, ruffling their clothes. Soon, the distant lights of a little town were already coming into view.
“Stop, stop, stop!”
Charging up a yellow dirt slope, Mr. J suddenly pulled the reins tight. The others behind him followed suit, halting in their tracks. He stared in the direction of the town and after a moment, asked, “Is it too flashy for us to just stroll in like this?”
“Is it?” someone shrugged, not concerned. “Aren’t we always like this?”
“No, no, this time it’s different.”
Mr. J turned around, waving his hand at the others behind him. “The Choir of Saints is nearby, along with the Faith Organization folks. I don’t know if the Pope Knight is around… but if he is, he’ll be tough, just like that little woman who’s been chasing us before—she might come back… Don’t underestimate the Church, or we might end up as toasted marshmallows right here.”
“Oh really…”
Someone shrugged, still unfazed.
“But we have Miss Ailna with us, right?”
“Mr. J, how strong does the Pope Knight have to be to last even a minute in front of you and her… Sword Saint, maybe?”
“Not unless that old man is in the Western Continent.”
Hearing their conversation, Mr. J frowned. “Hey, we just barely escaped with our lives, how do you guys have this much confidence…”
He seemed quite annoyed by his companions’ attitudes, scratching his messy hair. Just as he was about to speak, someone chimed in, “Well, if they died, it’s their fault for being careless; they were the two weakest ones after all…”
“Hey! Don’t say that! The great God of Truth will punish you; they were still our comrades…”
“Tsk, we weren’t really that close to them anyway… But don’t worry, if you d*e, I’ll definitely shed a couple of tears.”
“You feathered idiot…”
Someone suggested, “Why don’t we find a chance to k*ll a few knights, then swap into their armor to sneak in? Look, the town’s bustling like that; there should be plenty of knights guarding it…”
“Ha, what a ridiculous idea! Do you really think the knights are blind? Just because you put on armor, they won’t recognize your Eastern Continent face? You’d be better off pretending to be a refugee, though even that would probably be seen through.”
The heretics’ discussions sounded rather lackadaisical, entirely unconcerned about the looming situation.
“So, do we just leave the Horned Horse here? Walk in on foot…?”
“Who cares! We came here to have fun anyway… as long as we can enjoy ourselves.”
“Before that, we should at least make sure to deliver the stuff to Miss Ailna, right?”
“Huh, we have to deliver it?”
“What, not deliver it?”
“…Do we deliver it?”
“So what exactly are we here for…”
“Of course, we’re here to cause mayhem, why ask such nonsense…”
Mr. K, in front, stopped responding, stroking his chin, his pale face wrinkling in frustration as he muttered, “What was I thinking bringing this bunch of idiots along…” He looked up again, gazing at the direction of the town.
The lights of the town spread out against the night, shimmering across the wilderness, forming a wave of cheer rising from afar.
“…Sounds like they’re having a great time,” Mr. J muttered.
Moments later, a sly grin crept across his lips.
“I really want to turn those cheers into screams, shrieks… make them wake up from their blissful dreams and realize just how incompetent the Church is, allowing crazies like us to come waltzing in here… Ha! That would be fun… I have to make them see this…”
“So then?”
Someone kicked the beast’s belly, stepping up beside Mr. J, head tilted in question, “What should we do, Mr. J? We’re all ears.”
Mr. J rubbed his chin, staring at the distant lights, his eyes flickering.
He seemed to be hesitating, gazing into the distance for a while, then looked down at his trembling hands—his hands shook uncontrollably, the grin crackling wider, manic laughter bubbling up inside him: “But Miss Ailna warned us to keep a low profile… We have to deliver the Tear of the Goddess to her… She’s the only one who knows how to get into the Land of Dragons… to release what’s inside… That’s the real party… No, no, I need to hold myself back…”
Saying that, he hopped off the beast’s back, ignoring his companions, and stepped forward.
“…Mr. J?”
A heretic watched him, speaking softly with a puzzled tone, “Are we… walking in?”
“I need to control myself…” Mr. J said.
“You lot need to rein it in too… Once we act, the Choir of Saints’ flies and the Faith Organization’s hounds will sniff us out and come for us… That’s not good for Miss Ailna’s plan… You understand, we should find a way to blend into the town… like those refugees… quietly… find Sebastian that old guy first…”
He reached the top of the slope, running his hand through his hair, pacing back and forth.
“However…”
“The Choir of Saints might be waiting for us… They’re not stupid, if they didn’t chase us down, they’ve definitely prepared somewhere else… Miss Ailna might get exposed… maybe they already know her identity… that’s possible…”
“Mr. J, you mean… the Church’s hounds are setting a trap in the town, waiting for us to leap into the net?”
“Ha, that’s impossible…”
“If Miss Ailna really got discovered, and the Choir made a move on her, we wouldn’t even be alive…”
“…Speaking of which, what exactly does the Choir of Saints do?”
“Why didn’t I hear about this crew before…”
“Just the Church’s lackeys.”
A few of the heretics chatted idly, all watching Mr. J, who was pacing anxiously just a little ways away, exchanging glances. Before long, one couldn’t help but urge, “Hey, whether it’s the Choir or the Pope Knight, it’s either them killing us or us wiping them out—let’s have fun; why think so much? This isn’t really our style…”
He was promptly shouted down by Mr. J: “Shh, shut up, shut up.”
The pale-faced man stopped in his tracks, turning to face them, his eyes squinted as if he were angry.
The heretics fell silent.
The one who spoke up earlier sat on the beast, his robust frame seeming even more feral than the creature beneath him, now slightly ducking his head, afraid to meet Mr. J’s eyes.
Usually, they took a relaxed attitude around that slightly neurotic man—they knew he wouldn’t get angry over trivial matters, wouldn’t nitpick their words—or actions—many of the everyday concerns that would bother ordinary folks didn’t faze him at all.
Because he didn’t care, he didn’t often get angry. In fact, for them, Mr. J was mostly easy to deal with—after all, they were all cut from the same cloth.
Just a bunch of wolves who get excited at the sight of bl**d.
Mr. J was their alpha wolf.
Fierce wolves fear nothing but the wrath of their alpha.
For when their alpha was angry, no one could predict what might happen next, yet everyone knew the outcome would surely be tragic—the kind of result wherein d*ath might even seem like the better option.
Even for rogue sorts like them, there was a profound fear of Mr. J… a fear that might not even have a clear reason, just the most pure and instinctive feeling of intimidation toward one person.
At this moment, Mr. J stopped moving, squinting his eyes, appearing angry—at this, everyone sealed their lips, afraid to make a sound.
However…
Mr. J wasn’t angry.
He pointed at the one who’d urged him earlier, suddenly bursting into laughter: “You’re right! d*mn it, you’re right… this isn’t suitable for us, it’s not for me… I don’t want this… what I want is… Ha!”
With a slightly maniacal laugh, Mr. J turned to face the town, arms wide open: “Knights Order, Faith Organization, Choir, Pope Knight… to hell with them all!”
Boom—
Raging inferno erupted from him, illuminating the night.
“Curse the Tear of the Goddess… I need to show these people how inept the Church is; I need to greet them… just a simple ‘hello’… Miss Ailna, I’m here, I’m here, I’m here! Let’s make some noise together, the bigger, the better… Hahahaha—”
Amidst maniacal laughter, the flames spread from the slope, burning the grass and scorching the earth. The air twisted and boiled, a massive Horned Horse cried out in horror, galloping away in flames, only to crash down moments later. The wild fire engulfed Mr. J, and in the dark night sky, scarlet light flared up, rolling clouds of red.
“Yo-ho—”
“Ahh hahaha—”
“Long live Mr. J!”
The wildly excited heretics jumped down from their beasts, the inferno was rapidly approaching, the intense heat sending the giant creatures into a frenzy. The fire crept up their hooves, the Horned Horses neighed and soon were met with a punch to the head, exploding brain matter and bl**d splattering everywhere, steam rising—a half of the face of the heretic who struck was dyed red, yet he couldn’t care less, laughing maniacally, trembling with excitement, his eyes glued to the bright fireball ahead—
He was waiting for something.
“Come on, come on… no matter who you are, come at me… I want… to let you know who I am…”
From within the scarlet fireball, rampant voices erupted.
Following that, a grotesque hand, drenched in bl**d and a shade of crimson, suddenly shot out from the inferno, smashing down toward the ground!
…………
Boom, boom, boom, boom…
In the sky, a thunderous explosion reverberated through the town.
The performance on stage hadn’t ended yet, but the people gathered in the town square all looked up. They saw above the town, the once quiet and deep night sky had become devoid of stars, replaced with a blazing, sun-like scarlet light blooming from behind the clouds.
“What’s happening…”
“What’s that light…?”
In the chaos of voices, a woman disguised as Mase stopped dancing, frowning slightly.
That’s…
At the top of the bell tower, I looked up at the red light in the sky, an overwhelming sense of unease bubbling up inside me.
This light…
I feel like I’ve seen it before…
The platform beneath my feet began to tremble slightly… no, the bell tower was shaking…
People below started to stir, some anxiously turning to leave, desperately trying to squeeze out of the crowd; those drinking on the rooftops jumped down as well. I heard someone shout, “Divine punishment! It’s divine punishment—”
No, this is…
In the depths of my shocked mind, my heart raced, failing to process what was happening.
This was Nero’s spell…
Boom!!!
In an instant, a massive fireball, roaring like a meteor, burst out from the clouds with a thunderous roar, the searing red flames crashing down from the crimson night sky!
