Chapter 331

Chapter 117 Light and Darkness Fourteen

In front of the church hall, raging fires ignited the surrounding stained glass murals, the flames licking out of the windows. I stood at the top of the building, watching the thick smoke rising, the heat and ashes rushing towards my face.

“Cough, cough!”

It was somewhat suffocating…

But fortunately, the fire had just started and wasn’t too large; it was just the smoke that was thick. The civilians covered their mouths and noses, rushing out from the hall towards the nave. Many ran out through the main doors and stood far away on the street, looking over here. Some knelt down, closing their eyes, making devout prayer gestures, muttering to themselves.

Others stared blankly at the dead smoke spreading across the horizon.

None of them noticed the soldiers coming from all directions, but standing high up, I could see everything clearly. The nearest guard was only two streets away from the church.

Just before the dead smoke crashed into the street, the soldiers below began a massive retreat. The already chaotic formation turned into chaos, with the cavalry in the forefront panicking first. They turned around instantly, knocking over the infantry behind them, hooves trampling bodies. Shouts echoed faintly.

Then, as the dead smoke crashed into the street, a wave of screams erupted.

“Iriushu—”

I shouted loudly, my voice breaking slightly from urgency.

“Gra—”

Crows cawed in the sky.

…The goat cheese might know where she is!

Realizing this, I hurriedly looked up again: “Goat…!”

Flap flap…

In my vision, countless black crows flew across the gloomy sky, their wings flapping incessantly. They cawed loudly overhead, feathers drifting slowly down. I was stunned, nearly shouting out loud, covering my mouth and widening my eyes, watching them fly over the church and onto the street, gathering on rooftops and surrounding the soldiers, creating a dark and eerie scene.

Suddenly, a sharp pain hit my head.

In the next moment, the sky darkened, as dark as night.

A dazzling golden light flashed three meters away, and Margaret appeared in the light, shouting, “Sylvia, what did you see?”

I patted my forehead hard, pointing towards the street with my other hand: “Crows! So many! Can’t you see them?”

Margaret looked in the direction I was pointing, her face full of confusion.

“I can’t see…”

Damn…

The civilians below seemed oblivious to the crows. Why can I see them… Could it be because I had looked into her red eyes before?!

I clenched my teeth, watching the dead smoke still wreaking havoc in the distance, devouring the guards. With my right hand, I gathered blue light, and ice mist exploded from my palm, shooting like a geyser towards the burning stained glass windows below.

The frost instantly covered most of the church’s exterior walls, mixing with the flames and rising frost crystals. The high flames were quickly extinguished. There were still civilians inside the church who hadn’t escaped. I didn’t dare use too much force, hoping only to control the spread of the fire. I turned to Margaret and shouted, “Put out the fire and save people! Take care of Victoria!” Then, with a “bang,” an ice pillar shot up from under my feet.

My body soared into the air.

“Hold on, Sylvia—”

Margaret’s voice faintly reached me from below, but I ignored it. I quickly landed on the rooftop surrounded by crows, squinting against the howling wind as I looked down.

Time seemed to slow down.

Countless crows writhed like a sea tide, covering rooftops across several streets, eerie and silent. Countless crimson eyes fixed on the guards in the streets.

Not far away, beyond three narrow alleys, the surging dead smoke gradually dissipated behind rows of houses. Several soldiers caught in the air twisted as their bodies were half-devoured, their dismembered remains wrapped in black smoke, faces withered in terror.

Countless pale lights rose into the air, flickering uncertainly. The soldiers not affected by the dead smoke soon stopped running, standing still, their expressions slightly dazed.

Among the crowd, a few soldiers remained normal. They stared at their motionless companions, seemingly unable to understand what was happening. They opened their mouths wide in anxiety, pulling others to leave quickly, or fleeing alone.

Their eyes widened, saliva dripping down their chins, landing on their chest armor.

“Ah, ahah…”

Some trembled, shouting incomprehensible, bone-chilling sounds.

“Hehe, hehe…”

Others continued to laugh foolishly, saliva dripping more exaggeratedly.

Some seemed to have seen something terrifying, their eyeballs bulging, faces contorted in fear. They let out inhuman roars, drawing their swords from their waists and slashing at the still-stunned soldiers beside them.

Blood splattered and heads flew, causing my heart to twitch.

In the next moment, time resumed its flow.

“Swish,” a pair of black flame wings sprouted from my back. I controlled the black flames to hover in mid-air, hesitating whether to land and where. Below, a gruesome mutual slaughter began.

The soldiers acted like madmen, swinging their swords at each other without regard for their lives. Blood sprayed across sword glints, cavalry charging forward like rolling wheels, flesh and blood flying, agonized screams echoing through the streets. When someone dropped their sword, they used their hands and teeth to tear, acting like ferocious beasts without souls, snatching life from what might have been friends just moments ago.

This…

What terrifying ability…

I was scared, feeling a chill down my spine.

Previously, whether facing the endless abyss or the terrifying Teresa monster, I never felt a sense of being chilled by some power. I thought even the strongest person or monster could at least be seen and touched.

The existences that could be challenged and killed were all within reach.

But now, this ethereal yet extremely lethal fear, this power that left me completely helpless and even difficult to defend against, truly made my scalp tingle and left me at a loss.

I gasped several times.

The soldiers in the alleyways had turned into soulless shells, crazily slaughtering every living thing around them. Some wielded swords and charged towards the church; the civilians standing on the street screamed and fled back to the foyer. The soldiers chased after them like mad dogs, followed by a dazzling golden light soaring from the top of the church.

It seemed the fire was gradually dying down. In the distance, I saw Margaret raise her hand, enveloped in golden light. In the next moment, a golden arc-shaped barrier spread out like waves from the door, covering most of the church. The frenzied soldiers crashed into the barrier, ignoring everything and starting to smash and claw at it.

Then, a second wave of golden light showered down, mixed with specks of fluorescence, covering the soldiers’ figures. Margaret released a healing miracle, but it was utterly ineffective; instead, they intensified their attacks, raising their swords high, roaring, and fiercely striking the barrier.

What should I do? Think of something quickly…

Looking around, seeing the madness of the fighting, I shouted at the top of my lungs, “Yiliush!”

“Stop right now!”

“Sister told you! Stop! Don’t do this anymore!”

“If you don’t stop…”

Suddenly, those already dead bodies slowly rose black mist, quickly disintegrating into ashes. Thin wisps of white smoke rose from various parts of the street, converging into countless floating lights in the sky. The blinding white light illuminated the dim sky, then surged like a tide toward the distant streets.

…There!

Whoosh—

Wings of flame slapped behind me, and my body shot out like a cannon, chasing the direction where the lights drifted away.

It seemed to be on the roof…

Swoosh—swoosh—swoosh—

The lights drifted to the rooftop of a tavern on the street ahead, then converged and twisted again, as if an invisible black hole was pulling them, swallowing them like a vortex.

I clenched my fist in mid-air.

“Yi! Liush—”

My right palm emitted a blue glow, and cold frost-white mist condensed and wrapped around my body.

Biting my silver teeth, just before I was about to hit the roof, the wings of flame flapped backward violently, “Boom,” a gust of icy wind blew away countless tiles and dust, my body paused in mid-air, then slowly descended.

Tap.

Stepping on the broken tiles of the tavern, frost slowly spread from my feet.

Suddenly, a faint, small silhouette appeared three meters in front of me. The silhouette seemed to emerge from another space, emitting wisps of black mist, rapidly transforming from illusory to real.

A silver-haired, red-eyed little girl appeared before me.

She wore a slightly loose nun’s robe, her tiny body trembling, eyes abnormally excited, her face flushed with excitement.

“Sister… I’m so happy… Sister… Haha… So happy~”

My heart sank.

How could I not understand how she felt… Consuming life in large quantities to gain strength, that irresistible pleasure had nearly led me to fall into it several times. That extreme sense of satisfaction, both physical and mental, was something no immature mind could resist.

“Sister… Why does it feel so good… Haha, Sister, I’ve never felt this way before… I want more… My head hurts… Kill me…”

Think of something quickly…

“Yiliush, listen to your sister, okay…”

Slowly, I loosened my fist. The frost surrounding my body gradually disappeared. I raised my hands and took a step forward, quietly approaching the seemingly unguarded Yiliush, who was lost in pleasure, her little brain spinning rapidly.

“Stop, don’t do this anymore…”

Talking while approaching… First, knock her out, deal with the rest later!

Now, I must control her first, or the consequences will be unimaginable…

The little girl’s eyes were slightly dazed, staring blankly at me.

I stepped over the debris and continued, “Yiliush, your sister has many questions to ask you… There are many things your sister doesn’t remember…”

…She didn’t react, so I took another step closer.

“Let’s talk. Okay… Your sister knows you’re suffering. Actually, your sister feels the same… Yiliush, that false comfort is deceiving you. Don’t think about it, let’s get through this together…”

Ah, what am I saying…

“Sister…” The little girl still trembled, lowering her head, her fists clenched tight, “Are you suffering like Yiliush… Does Sister want to eat people too…”

“Yes, Sister feels the same… Sometimes it feels so agonizing, so painful… But…”

I sniffled.

Sadness crept into my heart unexpectedly. For some reason, my voice choked up.

“Sister, no one said that it’s always… just being alone…”

“Yiliush… Sister can’t remember anything, Sister needs you… Don’t do this anymore. Okay… Let’s find out who’s hurting us together…”

Yiliush’s body suddenly stiffened, the trembling stopped, and the dead smoke swirling around her quickly dissipated.

“Sister, I…”

The little girl looked up, her gem-like eyes staring directly at me, pupils shaking violently.

In the next moment, a clear smile blossomed on her delicate face, and a childlike voice, like a dream, made me shiver.

“I am the will of the divine. I am… the abyss of annihilation.”