Chapter 90: Metamorphosis (Part Twelve)
He seemed to…
Hear something.
It was like the crack of a hard eggshell breaking, or the shatter of a mirror, the sound echoing from the depths of a black mist surrounding the ball. Due to the howling wind, Carlos couldn’t quite make it out and wondered if it was just his imagination.
But as he tried to perk up his ears or lean in closer for a better listen, suddenly, a deafening roar exploded from above.
Boom, boom, boom, boom—!
The earth-shattering explosion rang in his ears for just a split second, followed by a seemingly endless buzzing. A hurricane came crashing down from above, like a mountain pressing down on him. Carlos didn’t even see what happened; he just felt his body sink sharply, and the dirt wall beneath his feet collapsed. He and Apheir plummeted into the debris with a “thud,” landing in the shattered wall’s remains with no time to escape.
A terrifying gust of wind swept down from the sky with all the fury of a rampaging beast, spreading like wildfire.
In an instant, countless burning walls and ruins completely crumbled. The Infernal Fire was extinguished with a blink, and clouds of dust soared up to dozens of meters. The sea of flames caused by the female heretic swayed wildly in the monstrous wind, with the licking tongues of fire being pressed down, nearly extinguished. The powerful surge of energy covered almost the entire center of the town and continued to sweep outward.
Only the ball suspended in mid-air remained unaffected, standing firm against the tempest, with a continuous scarlet beam shooting straight into the rolling clouds.
In the gloomy sky above, Old Sword Saint Ryan retracted his sword, eyes narrowing, decisively placing his blade before him. In his slightly murky gaze reflected the sight of a gigantic beast, nearly half its body severed, rushing toward him, its gaping maw twisted in a malice that could only be described as terrifying.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—
Fiery embers began to gather in the beast’s mouth, coalescing into a fiery mass that seemed ready to scorch the heavens and boil the seas. A thick scarlet fire burst forth in an instant, painting the entire world in bl**d-red!
The jaw-dropping heat bore down on the aged Sword Saint, who was only twenty meters away from the creature. The blazing inferno shot toward him faster than he could blink, but the old man remained unfazed. As he positioned his black blade in front of himself, the wind began to swirl around him.
That torrent of flames barreled toward him, only to be cleaved apart by an invisible edge, splitting into two rushing streams of fire that surged past the old man, shooting up toward the clouds, blasting through the ominous black clouds and creating gaping holes.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—
Though the old man blocked the attack, the beast did not relent. It continued to roar with its jagged mouth wide-open; scarlet eyes glinting with fury, its fiery breath raging even more violently, storming toward the sky like a torrent of flames.
Its left side had been slashed clean off, and even its left wing was nearly severed. Gouts of burning bl**d and entrails splattered down on the town below, while the remains of the severed side, complete with a tail, plummeted amidst the cascade of bl**d.
Yet the beast’s momentum seemed even fiercer.
Amid the blazing inferno, although the floating elder had blocked the flames rushing toward him, his frail body was being pushed upward toward the clouds with an ever-increasing speed, gradually moving outside the town’s reach. The fierce beast pursued relentlessly, fiery blasts shooting out from the clouds, almost dispersing the massive swirling black mist.
Meanwhile, in the ruins of the collapsed dirt wall in the town center, Carlos lifted the heavy debris off himself, brushed the slightly misshaped breastplate, and quickly got to his feet.
He looked up toward the direction where the beast and his teacher had gone, and after a brief moment, he heard a dull “boom.” Followed by a nearby scatter of debris as the old woman spat out dirt from her mouth, leaning on her giant hammer to stand up.
“d*mn it…”
She cursed under her breath and then glanced up at the sky.
Boom—
In the distance, half of the gigantic beast’s body had just crashed down a bit to the south of the town, at least three to five hundred meters away from them, creating a commotion that was still clearly audible, even causing the ground beneath them to tremble slightly.
The raging flames engulfed that section of destroyed buildings, setting them ablaze, with flames shooting up into the sky. The scarlet glow, under the backdrop of the roaring flames, appeared as insignificant as fireflies in the more distant sky.
The shattered black clouds began to gather again, the monstrous beast’s ferocious body seeming to fly higher and farther. The old man’s hunching figure was swallowed by the sea of flames, and he was no longer visible from their position.
The two Pope Knights, covered in dust, looked up at the scene, hearing the noise, and wordlessly furrowed their brows.
It wasn’t because they were worried about the old man.
Despite the female heretic proving to be far stronger than they had anticipated, both of them understood that going toe-to-toe with her alone would likely lead to disaster. The intensity of that Infernal Fire was like nothing they had encountered before; it was virtually unheard of. If they engaged in combat, they might not even survive a near approach, let alone win.
But if it was Mr. Ryan facing that monster, the scenario was completely different.
They held an almost blind admiration and trust for Old Sword Saint Ryan.
After all, for decades, regardless of how fearsome the heretics were or how terrifying the Abyss became, the old man had never shown a single sign of struggle. He would always resolve battles within three sword strikes without breaking a sweat.
He had only swung his sword once.
And that female heretic… had now transformed into a monstrous beast. To take that sword strike head-on and still retain such ferocity was troublesome, given her previous stalking tactics; she was indeed a pain. But in their minds, to old Sword Saint Ryan, she would only be a minor nuisance.
For him, it was only a matter of making a couple more cuts.
They never entertained the thought of Mr. Ryan losing.
Not even for a second.
At this very moment, what truly troubled the two of them was…
What to do next.
“Hey, Carlos, kid.”
The old woman shifted her weight onto her left foot, hoisting her hammer up onto her shoulder, her face appearing nonchalant as she slowly said to him, “That weird abyssal sphere looks like an egg that hasn’t hatched yet… But why does it have Infernal Fire? Whatever, whatever, even if I don’t understand what’s going on, it’s clear that that thing is going to be a real headache. If we keep letting it be, nothing good is going to come out of it. There’s definitely something inside it, and I plan to destroy it… Are you going to try and stop me?”
Carlos shrugged at her words.
“…Maybe, who knows.”
He wore a similarly indifferent expression.
“Why?”
The old woman tilted her head toward him, her gaze sparkling with curiosity.
“That thing…”
He pondered for a moment, “Probably isn’t what you think. Well… to be precise, it’s not just a part of the Abyss; it might be… heh, you might not believe this, but the person trapped inside is someone I know, and you know them too, elder… but it’s probably better if you don’t know who she is right now? Ah… it does feel a bit tricky, but anyway—”
Carlos’s speech abruptly halted.
Because in the corner of his eye, he noticed the gigantic hammer soaring through the air, barreling straight toward his head with a howl.
