Chapter 556

Chapter 78 Gray Scale Three

Bang—

Golden light rose into the sky, exploding above the town’s flames like a signaling flare, its dazzling brightness spreading out and instantly turning the gloomy twilight as bright as day.

The old bishop was enveloped in the surging flames, his blackened, skeletal arm that had been raised now powerless, hanging down.

“Oh dear, it seems I accidentally killed him… Shouldn’t you just resist a little and then escape? Don’t you know how to do that?”

The monster floating in mid-air casually said, half of its blood-red mouth open as if mocking, “Miss Silvija, didn’t you see me kill a bishop right in front of you just now? Why didn’t you stop me? Didn’t you think about saving that poor old man?”

Buzz—

A slight ringing in the ears accompanied by headaches assaulted intermittently.

My mind felt like a jumbled mess, my thoughts disordered, making it hard to think.

What he said seems right…

I should have saved that old man… but I didn’t… I…

What am I… doing?

“Forget it, he’s dead anyway. At least he sent a signal before he died. More church people will come soon… Well, judging from your current state, you don’t seem to care much. Hey, beautiful lady, do you want to eat me?”

I…

“Ugh.”

Do I want to eat him?

Yes…

I’m so hungry…

Rumble rumble rumble…

From the south outside the town, a massive explosion-like sound echoed from the direction I came from, still clearly audible even here. That’s where Olivia is fighting, the commotion is huge… They’re still alive; I should go save them… I…

[You still refuse to accept the real you.]

A voice sounded from within my consciousness, soft yet surreal, like a hallucination, but I knew it was my own voice.

[Now is not the time to resist…]

That voice had a magical quality that pierced through.

“Mmm…”

My head hurt, chaotic thoughts swirled in my brain. The surrounding dead smoke had slightly thinned, and clarity returned to my eyes, though still with a hint of confusion. Shifting my gaze from the old man’s motionless body to the south, after the golden light overhead dissipated, I faintly saw the glow coming from the distant shrubbery.

Kill the clown, save the person…

Kill the clown, save the person…

I repeatedly emphasized this in my heart.

In the next moment, in the peripheral vision, the floating monster suddenly opened its large mouth, black mist seeping out, but scarlet fire rapidly converged, forming a fiery ball in its mouth. Then, scorching wind surged, breaths of fire spewing out.

Boom—

… Moon Step.

Fierce flames spewed into a thick column, appearing in an instant. In that moment, I stepped out Moon Step, my figure flickering, “bang,” brushing past the overwhelming karma fire, swirling with rampant black smoke, rising high into the sky. Dark flames and white light trailed behind me, like ink being splashed, rushing towards the floating monster!

Kill him…

Eat him…

Let him turn to ashes, leaving nothing behind…

Winds howled, fires roared. In the chaos of my mind, only the most persistent thought remained, crystal clear. The complex images flying before my eyes shifted, revealing the giant head, still spewing flames, now right in front of me.

“Clown—”

As the monster’s eye turned, pupils narrowing, it realized what was happening and tried to change the direction of the flames. But in the next instant, I swung my right fist, the wind roaring like a tiger’s roar, striking upward, hitting his open jaw.

Crack!

A huge dull sound reverberated through the air, the impact spreading outward from my fist. Hair danced amidst the turbulence. The monster, still spewing flames, took a heavy blow, its bloodied mouth snapping shut with a “thud,” followed by the sides of its face swelling up. Next, its entire neck bulged, the unspewed flames bursting out from nostrils and teeth gaps, the whole head tilting back under the force, then igniting in a raging explosion—

Boom!!!

With a deafening roar, the monster’s jaw was blown off. The overwhelming karma fire instantly engulfed the view. I did not dodge, facing the scorching hot waves, my eyes flaring red. As my body began to fall, I grabbed the monster’s face with one hand, then released black flames and dead smoke.

“Roar!”

The clown transformed into a monster, let out a scream, struggling amidst the black mist and red flames, carrying me higher into the night sky. The fierce winds howled by my ears. One hand gripped a droplet of blood, the other grabbing onto the horns on its head. Chaotic power surged endlessly from within, the surrounding karma fire rapidly diminishing. The monster roared incessantly, shaking its body to try to throw me off.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh—

The intense wind filled my ears. Man and monster darted up and down in the night sky, flying quickly from one end of the town to the other. They crashed into the central tower of the square with a loud “boom.” The monster’s massive body shattered the flower bed, carving a deep trench like plowing. The girl holding onto the horns rolled far away, getting up before she stopped, taking a few steps back, lowering her head to look at the broken horn in her hand, then discarding it.

Gurgle gurgle gurgle…

Not far away, by the completely destroyed flower bed, the monster supported itself with a huge bloody hand, leaning forward and groaning, a sound like a beast, yet mixed with pain. The dead smoke surrounding it was extremely dense, the “hissing” sound piercing. Black flames burned on its back, its blood-red fur withered, wounds on its body exposing bones, the exploded jaw not regrown yet, blood-red tongue

The head was half hanging, and blood mixed with fire flowed to the ground, resembling a fiery waterfall.

“Aha, hahaha… Silvija…”

Despite the severe injuries to his mouth, he could still speak, as if his vocal organs did not need to cooperate with his mouth. It was indeed abnormal for a head to produce human sounds.

However, at this moment, the monster’s voice no longer had the same confidence as before. Although he still maintained a casual and teasing attitude, the pain from the dead smoke constantly eroding him was hard to hide. His massive body trembled violently, almost unsteady on his feet. With an increasingly hoarse voice, he spoke in fragments: “Do you know? I like the current you… the current you… has resonance with me… hehehe…同类…”

“同类?”

Crack, crack!

The right arm had broken bones during the collision, but the strong recovery ability instantly reconnected and healed the bones. I shook my arm forcefully, moving my five fingers agilely, and asked the monster, puzzled: “Who are you talking about?”

“I’m serious… Miss, we don’t have to be like this. What I mean is… I really like the current you, powerful, ruthless, and cruel, completely different from your previous fake and pretentious attitude… I have a proposal. Since you’re interested in that bead, I’ll tell you what it is and its function, then you can swallow it… Don’t look at me like that, I’m not really interested in that thing.”

“…”

I didn’t say anything, just took a deep breath, feeling the injuries on my body healing, and the pain in my stomach subsiding. Then, I turned my head, spat out some bloody foam, and moved my neck slightly.

In front of my line of sight, the monster continued to try to dissuade me, his tone somewhat neurotic: “What, are you still determined to devour me? Oh God, considering how much I like you… Isn’t that bead enough? Soon, the Church will come, either the Faith Order or perhaps the Papal Knights…”

“Those monkeys won’t treat you kindly, let alone consider you a hero saving the South. Look at yourself… I mean, there might only be me who likes the current you in this world… only me… I’m serious… Hahaha!”

The monster’s body trembled more intensely. He emitted a strange laugh and continued: “But you don’t have to worry. I think the current you and I can stir up a storm here. How about it? You’re thinking the same way, aren’t you? Follow your heart, let’s do it together…”

… Headache, headache, headache!

Fucking crazy!!

“You…”

I interrupted him with a melodious sound: “Are you begging for mercy?”

“…”

The monster suddenly fell silent.

Immediately after, he burst into mad laughter: “What foolish words are you saying? I am very good at… escaping!”

Suddenly, as the monster’s words ended, scarlet blood ignited into flames, enveloping his massive body. A piercing shriek echoed, and the ugly angel-like figure disappeared in front of me, leaving behind an empty, smoky ground.

… Want to run!

“Ahaahaha!”

I heard my own sharp laughter.

Even if you can teleport, you won’t escape from me!

The next moment, I raised my head to gaze at the night sky. Burning black wings spread from my back and flapped, creating a howling hurricane. My body shot up like a cannonball, flying to nearly a hundred meters in the blink of an eye. White hair fluttered behind me, and my blood-red eyes flickered. Within the time it took to exhale and inhale, I had locked onto the massive figure flying eastward.

There it is!

The flaming wings flapped, stirring up astonishing air currents, carrying me towards the monstrous clown at high speed. White mist-like air broke apart in front of me, and the sound of huge explosions filled my ears—”boom boom boom.” One second, two seconds… Below, intact and damaged buildings zipped past. In just seven or eight seconds, I closed the distance with the low-flying monster. In the wind, I waved my small hand, and several thick, fierce black smoke serpents shot forward, instantly engulfing the monster’s body.

“Roar——”

In the earth-shattering roar, the monster writhed in the black smoke, causing his flight path to deviate. Like a dark meteor, he plummeted toward the mountain stream outside the town to the east. I flapped my wings again to accelerate, turning sharply in mid-air, chasing after him!

Eat him…

Turn him to ashes…

The monster, entangled by the dead smoke, collided with a low hill, scraping through the bursting dust, and crashed into the silvery glimmering stream below, “splash!” Water splashed high. The next moment, my fists condensed into white frost, accompanied by whistling winds, descending from the sky, rushing towards him—

Boom!

Like the explosion of a torpedo in shallow water, the water splashes that had just risen hadn’t even settled when a higher wave surged up, creating a massive impact that spread across the surface, churning the surrounding stream into layers of white foam. In the next instant, everything froze solid, and the high-splashing water fell like hail, shattering on the frozen stream.

My enormous black wings spread open from my back. I stepped on the chest of the monster beneath the ice, grabbing his corroded, bony hand in the swirling dead smoke. With a “whoosh,” I pulled half of his body out!

His fire was almost extinguished, but he still had strength to resist. Suddenly, he lifted another hand, casting a massive shadow that broke through the ice from the left, striking directly. “Bang!” The bloodied hand sent me flying, crashing into the mountainside beside the stream, almost embedded. The bead I had been holding slipped away from my grasp under this blow, falling somewhere unknown.