Chapter 107: The Descent of the Deity (Part One)
“Captain of Knights! Captain of Knights! Cough, cough…”
The winds howled, and dust swirled away into the distance, while the rear guard of horned beasts continued to bray, the knights knocked down by shockwaves slowly getting back on their feet. Amid the chaotic shouts, two golden-armored warriors helped the Captain of Knights back on his feet and shouted, “How are you?! You okay—”
“I’m fine… Let go, huff…”
The Captain wheezed out, shoving the two away as he steadied himself. He gave his woozy head a good shake, but the jolt sent sharp pain through his side, forcing him to s*ck in a sharp breath.
“d*mn old man, that brute strength…”
He looked down just in time to see a giant dent in his armor from a blow by Apheir, the contorted metal making it hard for him to breathe. But right now, taking it off wasn’t an option—the Captain’s heart raced, panic rising as the chaotic cries raged around him.
“What the hell is going on…?”
He sensed that something new and catastrophic had unfolded. His mind was still spinning, so he instinctively turned to the knight beside him, then his gaze snapped up to the sky ahead. He stared for a full second before his eyes widened in horror.
“Ah…”
The Captain gaped, suddenly losing his voice.
“Fall back! Fall back—”
“That black sphere just exploded!”
“Looks like something is… coming out of it…”
“Stop pursuing! Heavenly Balance! Everyone, defend—!”
“Captain! Captain—”
The shouts darted from all sides, accompanied by the pounding of hooves, and the Captain dimly heard someone yelling for him, but his thoughts were in a complete meltdown, leaving him no time to respond.
Boom—
A bl**d-red rumble came crashing down from the gray sky, illuminating his trembling pupils, where a bizarre and magnificent ice mountain had risen from the wasteland, reaching a height of a hundred meters.
At the peak of that ice mountain, countless magnificent blue icicles sparkled through the foggy frost, blooming like endless flowers of frost and chill amidst the swirling mist and shattered ice.
The dark red bl**d rain fell like curtains from the sky, drenching the ice mountain and its flowers, creating a vaporous fog that mingled with the frost-white mist, stirring up temperatures that fluctuated between scorching heat and icy chills.
Above the gloomy sky, the rolling black clouds, once dispelled by yesterday’s holy light, began to gather again, roiling and flashing with crimson lightning. The thunderbolts slashed down to the wasteland, echoing with a terrifying rumble.
It was as if…
The Deity was about to descend.
“God bless us…”
The Captain made the sign of the cross on his chest, the prayer slipping from his lips as he noticed many knights and clerics around him mimicking his gesture.
They were shaken, confused, and utterly horrified by the scene before them.
At the same time, the heavily injured Carlos managed to crawl back to Apheir, but not too close, because the old woman’s aura of black energy was now not something anyone should approach within a few meters.
Lying flat on the ground, her battered hammer tossed aside, the old woman’s body, already a mess, was now blackened and unrecognizable after being hit directly by holy light. Her dry skin and withered muscles revealed wounds that exposed her insides and bones.
The old woman could no longer resist the abyss’s corruption.
She was quickly dying.
Yet her one remaining bloodshot eye fixated on the sky nearby, watching the rising mist of the ice mountain while the bl**d-like curtain of rain “whooshed” down, its torrential flow splashing crimson onto the ice mountain.
She gazed at that bizarre, magnificent, incomprehensible scene, and after a moment of struggle, she opened her mouth to speak.
“Carlos… kid…”
Her voice, once bold, now trembled with weakness. “Why…dare you leave before…?”
Carlos breathed heavily, struggling to turn onto his back not far away, then, as if he were a rag doll, lay there motionless, staring up at the sky.
“Puff… puff…”
He didn’t answer right away; he had no idea how to respond. His bl**d-stained chest heaved violently, he coughed up two mouthfuls of bl**d, glanced towards Apheir’s position, breathed for what felt like ages, and then slowly closed his eyes, mumbling, “Sorry… Apheir…”
“Hey…”
But the old woman seemed unable to hear him anymore. “Why… would you stop me… from smashing that thing…”
“……”
“I think… I’m starting to fade… ha… and in the end, I end up like my daughter… d*mn abyss… as long as I have breath… but that doesn’t seem to be… abyss… what is it… Fire Seed… or…”
“Forget it, forget it… I can’t figure it out… I’m feeling kind of tired… It’s funny how much this hurts… but I feel so tired… haven’t had this feeling in a long time…”
Hissssss—
Dead smoke wafted off her, drifting into the air.
“Carlos, are you… still with me… haven’t passed out yet, have you…”
“…I’m here.”
The man’s voice trembled slightly as he reopened his bloodshot eyes.
In his dazed view, the old woman’s left leg and hand were turning to ash under the relentless onslaught of the abyss.
“My daughter, Olivia…”
She continued, her voice barely audible now, “If… you survive… just… put her out of her misery… let her… be freed sooner…”
“……”
Carlos’s expression tightened, his body beginning to shake violently.
The light in the old woman’s eyes had faded.
She wanted to sleep now, but suddenly, that slowly closing eye snapped open again: “I say kid… do you… see anyone over there… on that ice mound…”
The old woman stared at the misty ice mound, focusing on the center where the black sphere had erupted. Her weary, dull eyes reflected a hint of confusion.
“I…”
Carlos moved his cracked lips, his eyes beginning to redden, struggling to articulate this whirlwind of emotions: “I’ve seen her…”
He had spotted the figure drifting down through the ice mist long ago.
Even from a distance, he could recognize her identity with one glance.
“Is… am I already hallucinating…?”
“How can… someone be there… is that person… or a Deity…”
“Senior…”
Carlos looked at her, and suddenly he started to laugh: “That is actually—”
Boom!!!!
The scarlet thunder rumbled across the sky.
The man’s lips moved, but the name he uttered was drowned out by the chilling winds. Moments later, Apheir, lying not far away, showcased a dawning realization on her face: “Oh, it’s her…”
It seemed like she connected the dots in an instant. After a brief moment of confusion, a glimmer of light returned to her once-dim eyes.
“If it’s her…”
The old woman’s words were cut short, as her body crumbled to ashes in the dead smoke, a wisp of bluish-white light swirling out and dancing in the wind, swiftly whisking away into the distance.
Carlos watched the spectacle, a hint of sorrow flickering in his somewhat dazed expression, his sight and thoughts drifting away with the vanishing light.
In the distance, the small figure settled at the peak of the ice mountain amid the sea of blossoming frost-white flowers.
In that instant, both thunder and bl**d rain ceased.
The roiling clouds above, as if on a dime, suddenly quieted.
The sky dimmed once more, and Carlos heard the knights nearby shouting in disarray, their voices becoming a humming buzz in his ears.
He strained to lift his head. Five clerics a hundred meters away also raised their heads, and the knights even farther back did the same. Everyone was looking up, stunned and bewildered at the figure slowly stepping forward on the ice-shrouded peak, taking a step into the air.
Thud.
The empty sound of footsteps echoed under the sky, like steel boots on copper plates.
The figure didn’t miss a step; a magnificent staircase of ice crystals suddenly formed beneath her feet, slanting swiftly down towards the ground. She lifted her hand, her armored fingers lightly grasping the stair rail, taking a second and third leisurely step, as if on a casual stroll. The sound reverberated through every heart.
Thud.
Thud.
Thud…
A wisp of white light drifted forward, silently melding into her chest.
