Chapter 312

Chapter Ninety-Eight The Foolish Holy Maiden

The golden light around Margaret gradually dissipated like starlight.

Her injuries on her body and face had mostly healed. Apart from being somewhat dirty and with the new skin on the right side of her face being overly pale, Margaret remained as beautiful as ever.

She just looked extremely exhausted.

“If you don’t mind, I hope you can come back to the royal city with me…”

When she said this, she seemed slightly nervous.

She was probably still worried that this incident would make me have a very bad impression of the church and her. Margaret hunched her shoulders, trying to appear calm despite her eyes not daring to look at me.

But I was surprised.

“You know?”

“What…”

Margaret looked over, suddenly startled.

“What armor are you wearing… Ah, your eyes…”

Huh?

Eyes?

“What’s wrong…”

“Your eyes are now red.”

What…

I instinctively reached for my eyelids.

Red… Is there really?

Seeing that I didn’t seem to be aware of this, Margaret asked again, “Don’t you feel anything?”

I shook my head.

I didn’t feel anything… Just a headache.

I’ve been getting headaches frequently lately. It seems to happen after using power for a while, especially when using chaotic power. I’m almost used to it; it’s not unbearable.

Forget it, let’s not think about these things for now…

I looked at Margaret seriously and said, “The Abyss might be in the royal city…”

She froze for a moment, then turned pale with shock.

“You’re sure?”

“Mm-hm.”

I nodded earnestly, “Basically, we can confirm that.”

Then I briefly told her the information I gained from the abyssal mud.

“No wonder it could escape so quietly…”

Margaret murmured.

“I was planning to send a message carrier raven back to the royal city to inform His Holiness about the situation here and arrange a meeting between you two… Now things have become complicated…”

She raised her index finger above her head, emitting a faint golden glow, and a tiny particle of light shot into the night sky with a “whoosh.”

“Miss Sylvie, if everything you say is true, and the abyss has already started eating people in the royal city, I must leave immediately. No matter what, I need to find that abyss with the strange powers first, before the situation becomes irreparable… There is also an additional Holy See knight arriving soon, according to the timing, they should be close. I don’t know if we’ll make it in time. The royal city is now very dangerous. If it truly retains its humanity and can communicate well, there might still be a chance…”

She paused, her eyes showing a hint of anxiety.

“Will you still help me?”

Of course, I am willing to help.

This is Victoria’s country, and the royal city is the city where she resides. Those people are her subjects. No matter what happens, I won’t stand idly by.

Moreover, the new abyss knows me, and she remembers many things. I have plenty of questions to ask her.

However…

I tilted my head.

“What do we do, Nero?”

Only that fat man escaped.

He is extremely dangerous. After this battle, his hostility towards me will escalate into hatred, and he will surely strike again, planning more thoroughly. He will use all his strength, determined to kill me. To be honest, I’m a bit afraid.

It’s not because I’m timid, but having someone at the pinnacle of power remember me, that feeling is really not pleasant…

I definitely have to kill him.

But before that, I need to solve the crisis in the royal city first, which is more important.

But I need to hear Margaret’s, or rather, the Holy See’s opinion first.

“We will handle Nero’s affairs. Please trust His Holiness; he won’t let you suffer. Given the circumstances, he must be even angrier than you… Considering his personality, he might even take matters into his own hands.”

Margaret composed herself, speaking with utmost seriousness.

“You can rest assured. Nero was severely injured this time. He was corroded by your death smoke… There is no way to heal it with any miracle or means. Even with the blessings of the gods, human bodies remain fragile. If not, the abyss wouldn’t be so terrifying… Where did you hurt him?”

“Chest, face… Many places.”

Margaret laughed upon hearing this.

“Only hurting limbs can still save lives, but if it’s the chest and head… Then I can only pray to the gods. Whether Nero can survive is unknown. The power of the death smoke will continuously erode his body, and he must constantly release faith to resist. The church has been fighting against the abyss for centuries, and such situations have occurred to high-ranking clergy members before. Life-anchored death smoke will stay for months, or even longer, which is a long and painful process… So, Nero won’t appear in front of you for quite some time… unless he seeks death.”

Hearing this, I felt a bit relieved.

I thought miracles could do anything, cure everything…

Not long after, two nuns from the Holy Maiden class arrived riding rhinoceros beasts. They were the only ones who survived this time. They followed Margaret to the town, and both were heavily injured. When Margaret came to help me, she had them wait outside the town and watch the knights’ movements until they received a signal to hurry over.

Previously, when I fought with Nero,

The knights had already been left far behind, but since they were all riding on rhinoceros beasts, their lack of movement was somewhat strange. I learned from the Holy Maiden Ban that they had observed from the hilltop for a while before turning around and heading in the opposite direction.

They actually ran away…

I then told Margaret that the remaining knights were coming this way.

But Margaret didn’t intend to pay any attention to them.

“The second knight commander is Nero’s confidant; he won’t listen to me, and I don’t trust him either. All those I trusted have died in the valley… This matter can’t be resolved peacefully, and they will all face punishment.”

She instructed two nuns, asking one to chase after the fleeing knights while the other remained to monitor the movements of the less than thousand people left.

The rhinoceros cart was destroyed, but the packages containing food and clothes were still intact. Margaret’s nun’s robe was tattered, and she needed a change. I looked down at my own armor with its terrifying crack on the lower abdomen and faintly felt that I could repair it with the power of chaos. However, thinking about going to the capital, it would be better not to wear such attire, so I also asked for a nun’s robe.

It was deep in the night.

The moonlight was dim, and after I extinguished the surrounding flames with the Frost Order, I could barely see anything beyond five meters. I found a patch of grass, closed my eyes, and tried to establish a connection with the armor.

Focus, just like controlling the black flames…

After a short while, the tough armor covering my body gradually softened and turned back into pitch-black abyss mud, wriggling quickly into my body.

As I expected.

Whether it’s the dead smoke, black flames, or these abyss muds, they are all essentially the chaotic power of the abyss, just manifested differently and possessing different characteristics.

The special force that formed the armor was taken from the endless abyss, which I call the “shaping” ability.

But unless absolutely necessary, I didn’t want to use these powers…

The night wind was chilly, making me shiver uncontrollably as it brushed against my skin.

Not because I was cold, but suddenly feeling a sense of shame exposed to the elements.

I quickly changed into the nun’s robe, shook out my hair that had been wrapped in the armor, combed it while walking over to Margaret.

The robe was a bit loose, feeling quite baggy…

Margaret had also changed into a new nun’s robe, white with gold edges, identical to mine. She stood next to the rhinoceros beast, munching on a coarse grain biscuit, looking very hungry. Seeing me approach, she took out two more biscuits from her package and handed them to me.

“Eat something, and we’ll set off.”

I was indeed hungry and took them without hesitation, starting to munch loudly, crumbs filling my mouth. Within seconds, I finished the food, blinked my eyes, and stared at Margaret’s face.

She quickly stuffed the last piece of biscuit into her mouth.

“…There’s none left.”

“…”

If there’s none, why eat so hurriedly?

“Let’s go.”

Margaret mounted the beast, then moved forward, leaving space behind the saddle.

“Climb up.”

…Right, no rhinoceros cart anymore.

I immediately shook my head, “I want to fly.”

“Do you want everyone to see your black flames?”

“…”

But…

Those knights know now…

With so many people, it’s impossible to keep their mouths shut… Soon, unpleasant rumors will spread, right? It’s inevitable—

“So what?”

Margaret’s slender waist was held straight, and she gently stroked the beast’s gleaming mane.

“Who would believe a sinner’s words…”

I was stunned by her words.

Immediately, I understood her meaning and thought about the fate awaiting those knights.

But considering the situation in the valley, some of them might have only made their choices because they didn’t want to die…

But what does it matter?

They made their choice.

I shook my head, dispelling these thoughts, and mustered the courage to walk over, stepping onto the beast’s back.

Then, I tightly embraced Margaret’s waist with both hands.

“Haa—”

With a pleasant exhalation, the rhinoceros beast galloped southward under the night sky.

The night wind blowing from both sides scattered my black hair wildly. I held Margaret tightly, smelling the faint scent on her, feeling drowsy as I closed my eyes.

Tired…

So bumpy.

Headache…

“We’re the only ones left,” I heard Margaret’s voice faintly after a long time.

“How ironic…”

She said softly, her tone filled with deep fatigue and disappointment.

“I once told you to prove yourself through facts, that you weren’t what he thought… Am I really that foolish?”

I didn’t know how to respond.

Margaret was indeed foolish, as if she was asking the abyss if she was foolish.

“I thought they would only argue incessantly in the court meetings, fighting over benefits, each with their own direction, no one persuading anyone else. The church has always been like this for millennia, but when it comes to important matters, no one dares to act recklessly… How naive I was to believe this…”

She spoke, and I listened quietly.

“There was a nun who followed me for years, returning to the embrace of the divine…”

“She was meticulous, doing everything methodically… She just shattered into pieces… right in front of me…”

“I hate them…”

The translation avoids direct comments and focuses on conveying the narrative clearly in English.