Chapter 174

Chapter 146 Turmoil

Several deep brown flames rose with smoke, trailing long tails of fire, turning into burning fireballs that rushed towards me with a strong wind, reddening half the night sky.

They arrived in an instant.

“Aaaah—!”

The person who lunged at me was screaming loudly, and I could no longer tell if it was even human sound. I wanted to raise my hand to release ice spears to freeze him and the people behind him, but in the moment my mind turned, I suddenly noticed something strange about the figure enveloped in the raging flames.

It’s a fat man… No, his body is swelling… Something is about to burst out!

A strong premonition made me instinctively retract my attack, stepping back rapidly over ten meters with Moon Step. In the next instant, the figure exploded.

Boom—!

He was like a terrifying human bomb, blood and flesh scattering instantly with a loud explosion. As the heat wave surged towards me, the flames shot up more than five meters high, followed by intense shockwaves.

Dust flew everywhere, and dog howls echoed from nearby streets.

What is this… A suicide attack?

I was pushed back two steps by the airflow, staggering to steady myself, and looked with shock and doubt towards the center of the explosion. Through the haze, I saw large chunks and small pieces of burning flesh scattered across the road, indistinguishable from which part of the body they came from… Apart from the self-detonating heretic, there were also the three men just now.

This scene only lasted for a very short time, and then the second and third people broke through the smoke and rushed over. When they were about seven or eight meters away, their bodies started to swell.

“May the God of Truth protect us—”

“Aaaah!!!”

I was startled, ready to use Moon Step again to retreat, but as soon as I moved my foot, my head started to ache intensely.

The pain was so severe I couldn’t breathe.

“Guh…”

I couldn’t stop making a muffled groan, my body immediately softened, and everything went black before my eyes. I knew something was wrong, and blue light burst from my body. A huge ice wall erupted in front of me, and I crouched down holding my head.

In the next moment, two deafening explosions rang out in my ears.

Boom—嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡嗡

The figure within was grotesquely swollen with bloodshot eyes bulging out. He stared at me, laughing maniacally, and shouted through gritted teeth, “I am the loyal servant of the God of Truth!”

“Ah——!!!”

Bam.

After the dull sound of flesh and bone bursting, my body was sent flying.

Swish—swish—

That was the sound of wind against clothes.

The explosion, so close by, was not as loud as I had expected…

Incredibly, the first thing that came to mind was this thought. It took me a moment to realize that I didn’t feel the intense pain I had imagined.

…?

Did I block it?

Or was I too dazed from the headache…

Before I could find an answer, my body crashed into something hard. The sound of “swish swish” filled my ears. Something had broken under the impact… It seemed like wood… I had crashed into someone’s house?

“Thud” — I landed on the ground.

Clatter—clatter—bang—

…So noisy.

Where am I?

…So dark. Did I die in the explosion? No, I don’t think so. My limbs still feel normal… And my head too. That explosion didn’t seem to hurt me; I don’t feel any pain at all. There’s no discomfort… Oh, and I don’t feel cold anymore… My headache has also eased a lot.

My body… feels much better.

Can I stand up… Yes, I can move… Heave-ho, I’m standing up.

“Mmm~”

A sticky moan escaped my lips as I stretched my arms wide.

So comfortable~

My mind is very clear.

Thinking back, the headache just now, I felt something similar before… Where was it… Ah!

It was when I just got out of the abyss’s mire. I absorbed a large amount of power from the Church Knights… That time, that unforgettable headache.

Of course, this couldn’t be just a simple period… How could such a thing defeat me? I am… Shil… Pei… Who am I again?

Forget it, that doesn’t matter.

Let’s go out.

I pushed aside the fallen beam in front of me and walked towards the light seeping through the crack ahead.

Voices came from outside.

“…Is she dead?”

“I think so. Even a Pope Knight couldn’t have withstood such an explosion.”

“Was it too easy? This doesn’t match what the senator said…”

“Something seems off.”

I raised my hand and punched the wall in front of me.

Boom!

Clang—clang—

Amidst the flying bricks and stones, the thick wall of the house in front of me was smashed open, creating a hole nearly two meters in diameter.

Red flames illuminated the scene. I looked down at my hands… They were intact, as beautiful as ever.

Just a bit dirty.

After crawling out of the hole, I tilted my head back and looked up at the night sky lit by the flames.

The crescent moon shone like a shuttle, and the morning stars twinkled.

Unusually beautiful… It’s been a long time since I’ve seen such scenery.

If only there was snow…

“You… How did you…”

The heretics stood not far away. One, two… Only four left.

They stared at me, their expressions a mix of fear and disbelief… It was quite amusing.

Just a bit noisy.

Thinking this, I lightly stepped on the ground, and in an instant, I appeared in front of the person who had spoken, placing a finger over my lips to signal him to be silent.

“Hush! Can you please not speak?”

“Uh—”

I saw him swallow hard… Seriously, they all attacked me recklessly just now, why are they scared now?

As if to comfort him, I gave him a sweet smile, but in the next moment, my arm shot up—

Pfft.

A strange sound.

His head exploded instantly.

Filthy substances splattered onto my body and face.