Chapter 174: Little~Jester~
I’m so hungry right now.
Since just earlier…
Since battling the heretic outside the town, every blow was my all-out effort, thrashing those lunatics who had no means of fighting back, but at the same time, I was exhausting myself rapidly… Then came the encounter with the jester, transformed into a monster, and by that point, I was already feeling tired, my stomach growling, with no breathing room. Right after that, it was the dancer again.
And now, I still have no time to catch my breath…
Nothing to eat.
“I’ll count to three.”
In front of me, the man enveloped in infernal fire raised his bead, which started glowing again. He began to count: “One…”
The already vanished scarlet glow, twinkling dots began to materialize in the air from all directions.
I turned my head back again.
People all around were screaming. Some just got up from the ground when they were shrouded by that bloody light, desperately clawing at their faces and throats, countless pairs of wide, horrified eyes, spilling bl**d, stared here from afar, veins bulging, mouths agape, seemingly shouting something to me, or perhaps to the jester.
Such images, such cries, reached my ears as nothing but a “buzzing,” the sharp ringing fading into obscurity. Their terrified faces slowly blurred in my view, overlapping, and in a daze, became those starved, suffering victims, became the women dying in the silent fortress after enduring torment.
Time, at this moment, abruptly slowed down.
I heard the jester continue to count: “Two…” A multitude of images flashed through my head.
bl**d, scorched earth, floating corpses, withered old trees, the girl who fell in a downpour, a small body lying in a filthy puddle, hands covering her with white cloth. Within the heavy rain, there was nothing but silent stillness; no one cried.
On a moonlit night, the knights marched through the lofty pine forest, braving the rain. In the thin fog, half-hidden mountains and lakes appeared. In the distance, on a wall, blue and white flags danced in the wind, and a beautiful lady stood beside them, smiling softly, asking me:
[Isn’t it beautiful here?]
And then, there was song.
On the grand inner fortress, among flower-filled terraces, a girl in a red dress danced gracefully in the wind. She resembled a withered petal, delicately floating down in the rain, splashing red ripples on the ground. The girl looked up, her face adorned with a charming smile; her voice rang like birds singing:
[I caught the moon…]
[Turn! Around! —]
Beyond the broken city walls, fierce flames roared, and countless warrior corpses burned. The monstrous heretic shoved a long sword into the Knights Commander’s body and twisted it violently; the man hanging from the flagpole had bl**d-red eyes, expressing heartbreak, on the verge of issuing his last command amidst cries and shouts.
[Let’s charge… one last time…]
The flowing canal was the color of bl**d, the fire had raged outside the city for a day and a night, black smoke and burnt smells engulfed a large part of Alectine City. In the city’s alleys, a madwoman rushed in, clinging to the Captain of Knights’ leg, her eyes glimmering with hope: [Have you seen my man? He went to the wall… why hasn’t he returned yet…]
Firelight dyed the night crimson, and countless heroes, their bones, their spirits, remained forever in that fire, etched in that land.
I turned back, slowly closing my eyes.
Those jumbled, unforgettable memories flashed by in an instant within the sea of consciousness, resonating with the sporadic, helpless cries for help behind me.
“Hero…”
“Mother, Mother—”
“God… please save… us…”
Yes.
So much has happened, unbridgeable…
And now, the jester was right in front of me.
The jester.
He was so close.
Close enough that if I reached out my finger just a bit, I could crush him.
Haha.
Who needs to make a choice?
I had no reason to endure anymore.
Really none, I thought.
[You don’t have to hold back anymore~]
A voice spoke to me.
In the next instant, the whispers in my ear, the images in my mind receded like a tide, and I opened my eyes. Wisps of dark mist surged forth from within me, enveloping my body.
“Jester.”
Crack, crack…
That was the sound of my fingers cracking.
“Let them go…”
I exhaled deeply, as smoke and scarlet sparks flowed from my lips, the silver-white hair on my forehead rapidly spreading. My pitch-black pupils instantly turned bl**d-red.
“Come at me.”
Boom—
The nearby church suddenly collapsed under the burning inferno.
The tremendous noise drowned out countless shrill screams; sparks and ash flew up into the sky, swirling in the spreading wind, intertwining with the rising smoke. The blinding white light in front of me flickered, and I stepped forward.
My white hair danced wildly in the wind.
Before me, the man known as the jester still held the bl**d pearl aloft, his body engulfed in flames. The “three” he was about to utter hadn’t escaped his lips; the scarlet flames obscured his features, rendering it impossible to discern his expression. He seemed dazed, the third finger he was about to raise flexing in a frozen manner.
“Caw—”
A raven’s cry pierced the sky.
The black bird flapped its wings and dove down, its bl**d-red eyes glimmering with light, fixating on the jester. As he instinctively looked up, recalling something, he shut his eyes that seemed to penetrate the inferno—only for an extremely brief moment they locked eyes, but in that moment, oblivion was unleashed.
Instantly, the raven flooded in, painting the sky a bl**d-like dark red. Countless large birds spread their wings, obscuring the moon, racing swiftly toward the figure entwined in flames!
In almost an instant, the jester found himself surrounded by a torrent of ravens. Though he probably already understood that these were mere illusions, he still swung an arm to ward them off—it was a reflexive motion.
In the next moment, I seized the opening, activated Moon Step, and with a blink, zipped through the swarm of ravens, appearing right in front of the man, swinging my arm hard—
Smack!
A heavy hit landed on the jester’s wrist that clutched the bl**d pearl.
The bright red orb sailed away, rolling into the scorched grass nearby, engulfed by flames, the bl**d-like glow fading. The man’s realization of the awkward situation struck him, and he quickly retreated, but it was already too late.
As I swiped out my left arm, knocking the pearl from his grip, my right hand shot forward suddenly, like a hunting snake. With a speed almost imperceptible, accompanied by a sharp wind-cutting sound, I lunged forward, fingers spread, gripping his flame-licked cheek, and then exerted force—
Crack!
The man’s jaw shattered instantly, half of his face caved in. The fierce inferno roared even more violently, but the next moment, the pitch-black fire ignited from the palm that was grasping his face.
“Jester…”
I couldn’t help but burst into laughter: “Haha! Jester!”
Disrupt his movements, don’t let him touch that pearl, get him away from here, end the fight as quickly as possible, let the civilians behind me escape, k*ll the jester, and then hurry back to save Olivia and the others…
I was still thinking of these things, still remembering what I needed to do. However, deep down, a stronger, utterly irresistible desire and emotion surged within me, as if I had finally shed the thousand-pound burden resting on my chest. The hunger I felt amplified a hundredfold in an instant, and the situation around me, all that had happened, I remembered so clearly, yet somehow it all suddenly seemed less important.
So nice…
I thought.
The smile at the corner of my mouth spread freely.
Really too good…
The vast, stormy, bottomless chaotic power within me finally broke free at this moment. That exhilarating feeling, that indescribable joy touching body and spirit, surged like a roaring mountain flood, emotions erupted, and something deep down—set up long ago as a defense line—came crashing down in an instant, as the force of chaotic power surged irresistibly throughout my body.
Finally…
No more holding back…
I’m so happy ahh!!!
“Little~Jester~!”
It seemed he was trying to fight back!
The man right before me, the infernal fire blazing on him surged violently, his cheekbones shattered by my grip, unable to speak, and that earlier slap seemingly even breaking his wrist. But the funny jester obviously wouldn’t easily give up; he still wanted to struggle, his other hand grabbing my arm, the scarlet fire bursting from his palm engulfing me in an instant.
In the next moment, everything around, everything in my sight was nothing but fire.
Boom—
The infernal fire burned at an extremely high temperature, wrapping around my entire body, spreading from the ground beneath me, consuming the grass, clay, broken stones, turning them into a boiling red slurry within two seconds.
I felt my body sink slightly; no telling what temperature of lava suddenly submerged my ankles. But this terrifying power felt like a delicious feast already laid on Captain Gray’s table.
Infernal fire, bl**d pearls, jester, monsters…
These were all Captain Gray!
“Ah-ha~”
I chuckled lightly, my laughter enchanting like a siren, the dark mist gushed forth, black flames glimmering and twisting, the chaotic power acted like a greedy demon, devouring every last bit of flame and lava on my feet, around me, and from the jester—gobble, gobble, gobble… devour these, devour him…
“Ahhahaha—”
In a laughter akin to a playful lark, the surging black power sprang forth from within the girl, spread across the jester’s face, covering him, reaching out in all directions, engulfing the scarlet flames, swallowing the night sky, while the flowing abyss mud surged beneath me like a snake, racing toward the ground where the bl**d pearl had fallen.
“Hey, wasn’t this what you wanted to see? Now you’re seeing it, aren’t you~”
The infernal fire was completely extinguished and devoured by the dead smoke, the blazing energy continuously flowed into my body, the strong desire surged even more, my body felt like it had gone numb, my gaze grew hazy, a joyful arc appeared at the corner of my mouth: “Why can’t you just be a good villain? Why do you want to see this? Tell me~”
The man named Jester struggled.
The flames on him were all extinguished, revealing his originally slender, completely n*ked body. In the engulfing black mist, he raised his fists wildly, striking my arm that held him, kicking my calf. I merely flinched slightly, blinking.
This level of hitting power…
So weak.
He looked just like a poor, helpless flower dragged into a dark alley with ill intent, struggling in vain.
It really felt like…
“Haha.”
I chuckled at my own thoughts, tilting my head, sweetly exclaiming: “Hey, I’m asking you a question!”
“……”
“Speak!”
“Hey, heh heh…”
The jester’s suppressed laughter came from the gaps between my fingers pressing on his face.
That laugh sounded horrible…
I furrowed my brows again.
Disgusting man…
Boom—
In the next moment, towering black flames erupted from the black mist, flowing into the night sky like moving waves, instantly forming numerous fireballs overhead. A gale of icy wind burst forth from my hand pressing against the man’s face, erupting into a massive fan-shaped cold current. The jester’s head snapped back, and in that instant, as he took the force, his face was already a mangled mess, and his body “whoosh” flew backward.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh——
The ten or so black flame fireballs followed closely behind, accompanied by a sharp, howling sound, crashing into the jester while he was still airborne, leaving him completely exposed.
