Chapter 734

Chapter 119 Demons and Deities Mid

“Sss—”

In the midst of the giant beast’s scream, Alistair couldn’t see what exactly had happened; he only felt his vision blur suddenly. Everything seemed to spin around him in a daze, and before he knew it, antelope beasts were flying. Soon after, there was a mournful cry, and something crashed nearby with a “bang.” His body tumbled along with the sound, landing on the ground. The intense pain and the sensation of breathlessness hit him simultaneously. He rolled a considerable distance on the soft sand, almost losing consciousness before finally stopping.

“Ugh… mmph…”

He lay face down on the ground, his robes covered in sand and dust. His right elbow seemed dislocated from the impact, and one leg was numb. He tried to get up but found himself unable to move. The excruciating pain made his chest feel constricted, and he sobbed, struggling for air. It took him a long time to lift his head with great difficulty.

Then, he saw the demon standing quietly ahead, its black-armored feet planted firmly.

“Ugh… ugh… wait…”

The man was terrified, instinctively trying to beg for mercy through his words, but they wouldn’t come out. His face turned red and then blue as he frantically waved his left hand at the demon. The demon seemed to hesitate before making any move, merely watching him for a long time. Only when he finally began to breathe heavily did the demon slowly crouch in front of him.

“Wait… I, we’ve met… we’ve met before… cough, cough…”

Alistair coughed so hard that saliva dripped down his chin. Ignoring the sand stuck to his face and mouth, he spoke in a trembling voice, “Do you remember me… I am… Alistair… We’ve killed heretics together… last year in Westland… Silence Castle… Alretion City… We fought side by side there… Hil… Miss Silvijah… Consider… Ah—”

He let out a startled cry as if his scalp was being torn off. The small demon grabbed the young bishop’s hair, pulling his head up from the ground and dragging his entire body, bringing his face close to hers.

“Miss Silvijah is dead.”

She stared directly into his eyes.

“Aaah… let… go…”

Alistair’s expression was one of agony. His bloodshot eyes looked down at the ground, too afraid to meet the young girl’s ruby-like pupils. His tone had become almost pleading: “I, I was ordered… You know, I’m just an ordinary priest following orders from the Church… You, what happened later in Silgaya… I wasn’t involved… I didn’t know anything…”

He wasn’t lacking in strength to fight back.

In fact, since entering the town, Alistair hadn’t done much fighting. He was still in peak condition. Whether it was divine miracles or natural ones, among his peers and even within the faith circle, Alistair was always among the best. His faith was purer and stronger than any other priest who had died previously. Although he had fallen heavily and was injured in his elbow and leg, he still had enough strength to resist.

He simply lacked the courage to do so.

The young bishop now clearly understood the enormous gap in combat power between him and this girl who had turned into a demon. It wasn’t something that could be bridged easily with just “courage.” She was no longer the same person she was a year ago in Silgaya. She had “died” once, and that experience, in some sense, brought her an opportunity that was neither fortunate nor unfortunate.

Though he didn’t know exactly what had happened.

But now, appearing again in this desolate place in Eastland, her power far exceeded what the Church could imagine.

Alistair felt it directly.

That unparalleled pressure, even just standing there without doing anything, made breathing difficult.

Out of breath—she hadn’t even truly exerted herself. From beginning to end, she had merely hovered in the sky, effortlessly blocking the onslaught of holy light. Then, she summoned minions born from the Abyss, letting the chaotic power engulf the land, annihilating the Church’s elite First Order of Grace Knight Division with overwhelming force. The entire process didn’t take much time; even before Alerista could escape the town, they were already chasing after her.

Order, chaos, even divine fire…

The young girl already possessed strength beyond anyone’s imagination.

Thinking back to the hellish scene that had just occurred in the center of the town, the young bishop was terrified, his teeth chattering and his mind blank.

Rebellion meant certain death.

Only by lowering his stance to the ground might he have a chance at survival.

“At that time… I was still in Aletheon City… I knew nothing, I did not participate in the choir’s actions… About you… I also learned later… At that time, we even saved people together! You forgot?”

“Mm, I remember.”

The demon girl nodded. “So what?”

After these words were spoken, the unpleasant smile on the man’s face froze instantly.

“You…”

His cracked lips trembled as he didn’t know what to say—his eyelids slightly lifted, and his despairing gaze followed. Alerista saw in the girl’s crimson, bright eyes that there was no longer the clarity, vitality, or kindness like sweet spring water he remembered.

Those eyes looked at him, neither agitated nor angry, neither sympathetic nor pitiful. Apart from a hint of mockery, the deepest part of those eyes held only an endless void, immeasurable and boundless.

A puppet devoid of human emotions.

She…

really wasn’t that simple girl named Sylvia anymore.

“Who… are you…”

Fear continued to grow, making Alerista almost unable to speak clearly: “You’re not… Sylvia… but you remember those things… You have her memories… her body… but you’re not her… Who are you? Are you… a demon, or… the will of the Abyss… Are you a god…”

“I am not a demon,” the girl interrupted Alerista.

She seemed to be tired of watching the man trembling in fear. She let go of Alerista’s hair, allowing his head to hit the ground with a thud, causing him to groan in pain as he tried to crawl away.

The demonic girl paid no heed.

She slowly stood up, black flame wings folding behind her back. Her long tail swung restlessly. In a posture of dominance, she watched him silently, her voice indifferent as she continued, “I never wanted to become any kind of god. Honestly, from the start, I never believed this world had gods. Whether there are gods or not has little to do with me. Initially, I just wanted to live quietly in that simple village. But what happened next…”

The girl looked up at the rolling gray clouds.

“Demon, god… these things are just definitions humans give them, aren’t they? Given by the Church.”

“Whether demon or god, you ask me, but you don’t really know. Since my consciousness fully merged and awakened, I’ve been thinking about what I am now… Before I could think it through, your attacks came one after another…”

The girl paused.

She looked at the sky, her mouth curling sadly: “In the beginning, you treated me just like this.”