Chapter 537

Chapter 159 – Dark Fire in the Long Night Part Six

It was as if a giant whale surged out of the water, its waves crashing like thunder.

Ice crystals, sharp spikes, and frost-white snow mist suddenly exploded outward from the frozen shrubbery outside of Deer Town, with a man named Clown as the center point.

Rumble rumble rumble—

The sound was like an endless train approaching, or the deafening roar after a mountain avalanche, echoing from the farthest reaches of the world, growing louder and louder with the impact!

On the high slope of Deer Town, the old priest’s eyes widened. He stared intently at the exploding ice and snow in the distance. A moment later, he was blinded by the blue and white light, unable to hold back his turn away. The next moment, a wind much fiercer than before swept over, causing the old priest to stagger backward two steps. His beard flew about, his round hat flew off, and his sparse, half-long hair was blown to the back of his head, revealing his bald scalp. He quickly raised his hand to shield himself.

“Get down the slope!”

“This place is too easily affected!”

“Have those knights outside withdraw—”

Since the wind came from the impact of the explosion rather than the frosty cold flow, the incoming wind wasn’t as cold as before, not enough to freeze hair and eyebrows again. However, the clergy began to descend from the high slope, fearing that another fierce impact would blow them away.

“There are still heretics who escaped! Two people! Watch their movements! Where did they go!?”

After descending the slope, the old priest shouted to several clergy members. He remembered that Miss Silver had struck one person, who seemed to have flown north but never reappeared. He was sure that person wasn’t dead. Another heretic had been fighting with the church knights, never facing Miss directly. After the wind and snow burst open, the knights withdrew, and that person disappeared.

“Has anyone seen! Is there a heretic sneaking into town!?”

“What’s the situation behind us? Has the Bird God’s miracle captured any traces—”

“Are Lord Carl and his group here yet!?”

Amidst the chaos, the golden-armored knights braved the cold wind, leaping over the fences. The knight captain, whose right cheek was scorched, shouted loudly, “Fall back! Quickly, quickly, quickly—”

“Retreat and defend! Into the orchard! That damned rat slipped in! Don’t let him get into Deer Town! Don’t let the damned heretics come into contact with civilians!”

The knights quickly formed ranks, wounds unattended, braving the cold wind to rush toward the west-side orchard. Outside the town, the earth-shattering noise gradually subsided. Amid the ice fog, two figures, one red and one blue, flashed across the frozen wilderness like lightning. The clash of attacks rapidly spread from the northwest outskirts to the southeast, and soon, a fierce explosion erupted again.

Boom—

Ice and fire merged before my eyes, strong winds and steam blowing against me. My hair scattered, my dress clinging tightly to my chest, flapping wildly. I took two steps back, then abruptly stopped, stepping forward with a moon step, charging into the figure amidst the flames.

“Yaaah!”

In an instant, the four-meter distance closed. I swung my frost-covered fist, striking the figure’s lower abdomen!

Peng!

The man called Clown was sent flying backward, snapping countless frozen shrubs, and crashed into a tree as thick as an arm’s embrace. Amidst the splashing ice shards, the man was hit and bounced away, landing on the ground far away. But he moved his neck, quickly standing up again.

“That’s it… exactly this feeling…”

His suit was torn into strips, hanging on him like tattered rags. His fiery red hair was disheveled like wild grass. His emaciated, pale face looked like someone recovering from a serious illness, now covered with countless crimson lines, rolling flames flowing over them, like flowing blood.

A streak of crimson flowed down the man’s mouth, which he casually wiped away. He looked at me with a sinister smile.

“Beautiful, powerful… pure as jade, like a goddess untouched by worldly affairs… destroying such a thing must feel incredibly wonderful… ah, I can’t wait to tear off your skin and see your true form…”

Damn it…

Peng!

I stepped out again with a moon step. My small figure flickered like a phantom under the night sky, appearing instantly in front of the man. My punches roared like a tiger’s roar, attacking him with a bombardment of blows. He didn’t dodge or block, raising his arms to meet mine. The raging inferno ignited around him once more, the sounds of combat echoing through the night, boom boom boom boom boom, dense as rain!

Small fists carried the force of thunder and wind, pounding the man’s face, his chest, his lower abdomen. The immense impact sent him flying backward, but every punch was blocked solidly. The frost collided with the surging red flames, explosions and turbulence, carrying the swirling steam, spreading out from the ice-covered wilderness.

“Aaah!”

I let out a roar.

“Bang bang,” my feet cracked the ground, sinking into the soil. My upper body leaned slightly backward, my waist twisted sharply, readying myself for the attack—hitting him in the chest again—

Try one more time!!!

Boom—

In a flash, the man with a sinister smile crossed his arms in front of his chest. In the next moment, my tiny fist, wrapped in a gust of cold wind, struck his arm. The violent force was unstoppable, sending the man flying backward, spinning countless times in mid-air, flying farther and farther away. Ice pillars shot up beneath my feet, propelling me to take a moon step, moving so fast my eyes couldn’t follow. In an instant, I caught up with the still-flying Clown, flipping my foot to kick him like a cannonball to the ground—

Peng!

The man landed headfirst, plunged into

In the soil covered by frost, white ashes rose up into the sky.

The cold wind howled as I landed not far from the man. I twisted my ankle and took steps towards him: “Clown.”

I wasn’t sure if he could hear me; his arms were broken, hanging limply on the ground in a grotesque shape. His head was buried in the dirt, and the flames on his body had extinguished, leaving flickering, eerie crimson patterns that emitted sparks. His legs dangled comically, like a bizarre human plant.

“I don’t know what you are.”

I continued to approach him, one step, two steps.

“But I think you can’t be considered human, nor an animal. At least animals wouldn’t harm their own kind for fun.”

Suddenly, the man’s fingers trembled.

I saw this but paid no mind—he certainly wasn’t dead. Such injuries meant nothing to heretics, especially those in the blood sacrifice stage; recovery happened in an instant. With a sharp “crack, crack,” the clown’s flames reignited, and his severed arms began to twist and squirm like giant maggots.

“I don’t know how to describe you.”

I stopped about five or six meters away from him and stood there, watching the man regain his wounds, expressionless and with a cold voice, saying each word clearly, “You, Truth’s Gate, I’m not unfamiliar with you. In the Winter City, in the royal city, I’ve encountered your people before. They were all disruptors of society, troublemakers. So, I killed them.”

I exhaled lightly.

“Mother Teresa, you should be familiar with her. I fought her once and killed her. She harmed innocent children. The scene is still vivid in my memory. Sometimes, even now, when I close my eyes, I can still see the pitiful corpses and smell the blood.”

Crack, crack.

Several loud cracks echoed as the clown’s arm bones reconnected. He gently moved his arm, feeling around awkwardly with his hands, then pushed himself up from the ground, trying to pull his head and shoulders out of the dirt.

I looked at him and continued, “Because of such things, I killed her. In the outskirts of the Winter City, I also killed several heretics. They were all evil people who would stop at nothing to achieve their goals. But… you, you are also Truth’s Gate, yet different from them.”

“You harm life without purpose, just for amusement. What happened in the Silent Castle, in Aletheia City, I have seen everything. There is no humanity, only lust and malice emanating from within. Savage and unbridled, not for any purpose, but to torture others for pleasure… Those people are probably your kindred.”

I paused.

Actually, I didn’t understand why I was telling him these things. Even if he could hear me, what difference would it make?

Could such a person feel remorse for their actions?

Obviously not.

They acted with impunity because they knew they were doing evil, disregarding all rules, unleashing the ugliest and most primal desires of intelligent beings.

There was no point in talking to such creatures.

“But those people were merely executors. You, Clown, you gave the orders and let them run rampant. Your evil fostered theirs. You are the root cause. I’ve never seen anyone like you before, none of the heretics I’ve encountered were like you.”

It was pointless…

I knew this deep down.

But I couldn’t help but speak.

The sorrow and rage that had been building up since I arrived in the south, accumulating with no outlet, exploded in me. Every scene from the Silent Castle, the screams that night, the lamentation of the Third Knight Order outside Aletheia City, the killings in the city, the flames burning, the horrifying sounds and scenes… All of it built up inside me, and killing heretics did nothing to alleviate it.

Even though it was futile,

I wanted him to know.

I wanted him to realize what he truly was before he died.

“Before this, the heretics I killed were irredeemable evildoers. And you, you are not even human.”

With a faint, weak voice, the man spat out a mouthful of black mud, wiped his dirty face, and started fixing his hair. After a moment, he seemed to remember something and glanced at me: “Hmm? You finished?”

Oh, he heard me.

But his expression remained calm, showing no concern for what I had said—this was something I already understood.

Yet, seeing such indifference toward life and everything else, the man called Clown remained unaffected by my words. He didn’t care, truly didn’t care.

Anger, sorrow, indescribable hatred, bone-deep loathing, and a violent urge to tear him apart surged from my chest, overwhelming and uncontrollable.

“Damn monster…”

Bang!

I took another step in moonstep.