Chapter 530

Chapter 153 Fiery Meteor

Trot, trot…

The beasts galloped swiftly.

Under the moonlight, towering trees and rocks flashed by on both sides. The cold wind blew against their faces, rustling their clothes. Soon, the town with its bright lights was approaching.

“Stop, stop, stop!”

Riding up a steep yellow slope, Mr. J suddenly pulled on the reins, and the people behind him stopped as well. He stared at the direction of the town for a moment and then asked, “Isn’t it too conspicuous if we just go in like this?”

“Really?” someone said indifferently, “We’ve always done this before, haven’t we?”

“No, no, this time it’s different.”

Mr. J turned around and waved his hand at the people behind him. “There are the choir members nearby, and the believers as well. I wonder if there are any Church knights… If there are, they might be quite formidable, just like that little woman who kept chasing us. She might come back again… Don’t underestimate the church; we could all end up dead here if we’re not careful.”

“Oh, is that so…”

Someone shrugged, still indifferent.

“What about Miss Eluna?”

“Mr. J, what kind of Church knight could last a minute in front of you and her… A sword saint?”

“That old man isn’t in West Continent.”

Hearing this, Mr. J frowned. “Hey, hey, we just lost someone, and you… where do you get such confidence from…”

He seemed troubled by his companions’ attitude, scratching his messy head. Just as he was about to speak, someone else said, “Well, they only died because they were careless. They were the weakest among us…”

“Hey! Don’t say that, the Great God of Truth will punish you. They are our comrades after all…”

“Tsk, we weren’t really familiar with them anyway… But don’t worry, if you die, I’ll shed two tears for you.”

“You birdbrain…”

Someone suggested, “Why don’t we kill some knights and take their armor? Look, the town is bustling with activity, there must be plenty of knights guarding it…”

“Haha, what a bad idea? Do you think knights are blind? You can’t hide your East Continent face just by wearing their armor. Why don’t you disguise yourself as a refugee? Though you’d still be recognized.”

The heretics discussed carelessly, showing no concern for the situation they were about to face.

“So, should we leave the horned beasts here and walk in?”

“It doesn’t matter either way! We came here for fun… As long as we enjoy ourselves.”

“But first, we need to make sure we deliver the item to Miss Eluna, right?”

“Oh, is that what we need to do?”

“Do we not?”

“…Should we?”

“So, what are we here for?”

“To kill, of course. What nonsense are you asking?”

Mr. K in front did not respond, stroking his chin with a pale face, looking somewhat helpless. He muttered, “How did I bring you idiots here…” Then he looked up again towards the town.

The lights of the small town spread out under the night sky, twinkling like stars on the plain, forming a continuous line. The sound of cheers could be heard far away.

“…They must be having a great time,” Mr. J murmured.

After a moment, a sinister smile appeared on his lips.

“I wish those voices would turn into screams… Let them wake up from their dream of prosperity and realize the reality, and understand how incapable the church is, allowing us madmen to reach here… Haha, that would be interesting… I have to make them realize this…”

“So, what now?”

Someone kicked the beast’s belly and walked over to Mr. J, tilting his head to ask, “What are we going to do, Mr. J? We’ll follow your lead.”

Mr. J stroked his chin, gazing at the distant lights, his eyes flickering.

He seemed to be hesitating about something. Staring at the direction of the town for a while, he lowered his head to look at his hands — his hands were trembling uncontrollably, his lips curling more wildly, the crazed laughter suppressed, “Ah, but Miss Eluna instructed us to keep a low profile… We must give her the Goddess’s Tear… Only she knows how to enter Dragon Country and release what’s inside… That’s the real party… No, no, I have to control myself…”

As he spoke, he stepped down from the beast, ignoring his companions, and walked forward a few steps.

“…Mr. J?”

The heretic watched him, calling softly, with a puzzled tone, “Are we… going to walk in?”

“I have to control myself,” Mr. J said.

“You guys also need to control yourselves… Once we start, the choir’s flies and the believers’ lackeys will smell the scent and rush over to deal with us… It wouldn’t be good for Miss Eluna’s plan… Understand? We should find a way to sneak into the town… mix in with the refugees… quietly… and find old Sebastian first…”

He reached the peak of the steep slope, grabbing his hair and pacing back and forth.

“However…”

“The choir members might have been waiting for us all along… They aren’t stupid. Since they didn’t chase us, they must have prepared somewhere else… Miss Eluna might be exposed… They might know her identity… It’s possible…

“Are we walking right into a trap?”

“Haha, how could that be…”

“If Miss Elina is really discovered and those hymnists lay their hands on her, how could we still be alive at this point…”

“…By the way, what exactly do the hymnists do?”

“Why haven’t I heard of these people before…”

“They’re just the Church’s dogs.”

Several heretics spoke lazily, all looking at Mr. J, who was pacing anxiously not far away. They exchanged glances, and soon someone couldn’t hold back and urged, “Hey, whether they are the hymnists or the Papal knights, either they kill us or we kill them all. Let’s just have fun. Why bother thinking so much? It’s not suitable for us…”

He was immediately silenced by Mr. J, who shouted, “Shut up, shut up.”

The pale-faced man stopped in his tracks and turned around, facing the group with narrowed eyes, as if he was angry.

None of the heretics dared to speak.

The man who had just urged stopped urging, riding atop a beast. His robust body seemed even more savage than the giant beast beneath him, but now he slightly lowered his head, not daring to look Mr. J in the eye.

Even though, in their daily lives, they often acted casually in front of that somewhat neurotic man—they knew he wouldn’t get angry over trivial matters, wouldn’t argue about petty things, or words—there were many things ordinary people would care about that he didn’t.

Because he didn’t care, most of the time he wasn’t angry. In fact, for them, Mr. J was mostly a good person to get along with—because they were all the same kind.

They were wolves that got excited at the sight of blood.

Mr. J was a wolf.

Fierce wolves were fearless of death, but they feared the anger of their leader.

Because their leader, when enraged, no one could predict what would happen, but everyone knew that things would surely go in the most terrifying direction—compared to such an outcome, death might be the easiest choice.

Even such ruffians felt fear deep down for Mr. J… This fear, perhaps, stemmed from an unclear origin, just the purest form of fear towards a person.

At this moment, Mr. J stopped moving, his eyes narrowing as if he was angry—just like that, everyone fell silent, not daring to speak again.

However…

Mr. J wasn’t actually angry.

He pointed at the man who had urged him earlier and suddenly laughed, “You’re right, damn it, you’re right… This isn’t suitable for us, for me… What I want isn’t this… What I want is… Haha.”

With a somewhat neurotic laugh, Mr. J turned toward the town, spreading his arms wide, “Knights, believers, hymnists, Papal knights… To hell with them.”

Boom—

A surging blaze of karma suddenly erupted from his body, illuminating the night.

“To hell with the goddess’s tears… I need to make these people understand the incompetence of the church. I need to greet them first… Say hello… Miss Elina, I’m coming, I’m coming, I’m coming, come with me to cause a commotion, the bigger the better… Hahaha—”

In his deranged laughter, flames spread from the steep slope, burning plants and scorching the earth. The air boiled and twisted. A huge rhinoceros-like creature wailed in agony and fled wildly, crashing to the ground after a few steps. The fierce flames engulfed Mr. J completely. In the dark sky, a crimson light suddenly appeared, swirling red clouds.

“Yohoo—”

“Ahaahahaha—”

“Long live Mr. J!”

The extremely excited heretics leaped off the beasts as the raging fire approached. The intense heat made the giant creatures panic. The flames climbed up their hooves, and the rhinoceroses kept screaming. Then someone punched their heads, splattering blood and brain matter. White smoke rose from the gore, staining half the face of the heretic, but he didn’t care, laughing madly, trembling with excitement, his eyes fixed on the blazing fire ahead—

He was waiting for something.

“Come, come… Regardless of who you are, come all of you… I want… for you to know who I am…”

A voice of unrestrained defiance came from within the crimson flames.

Immediately after, a grotesque, blood-soaked, massive red arm suddenly emerged from the flames, smashing the ground!

…

Rumbling…

In the sky, thunderous explosions echoed through the town.

The performance on stage hadn’t ended, but the crowd gathered in the central square looked up. Above the town, the originally quiet and deep night sky had disappeared, replaced by a blazing crimson light like the sun, seemingly bursting forth from behind the clouds.

“What’s happening…”

“What is that light…”

Amidst the chaotic chatter, the woman named Moses stopped dancing, frowning slightly.

That…

Atop the bell tower, I tilted my head, gazing at the crimson light in the sky, a sense of extreme unease rising in my heart.

This light…

I seem to have seen it somewhere before…

The platform underfoot was shaking slightly… No, it was the bell tower swaying…

People below began to stir, some urgently turning to leave, trying desperately to squeeze out of the crowd. People drinking on the rooftops jumped down. I heard someone shout, “Divine punishment, it’s divine punishment—”

No, this is…

I was in a state of extreme shock, my heart pounding, my mind still processing.

This is Nero’s move…

Boom!!!

In the next moment, a huge fireball, burning fiercely like a meteor, pierced through the clouds with a deafening roar. Fiery red flames, carrying overwhelming force, plunged from the scarlet night sky!