Chapter 565

Chapter 187 Awakening

…?

What’s this…

My body was floating in the air, everything was pitch black and I couldn’t see anything. It felt as if I was wrapped in warm fluid, momentarily giving me the illusion that I was still in the abyss. My head was hazy, and my hands and feet moved involuntarily, but unexpectedly, that buoyancy vanished instantly. The black mist dissipated, and my body started to fall—

“Ahh!”

I couldn’t hold back a cry, and with a “plop,” I fell into the water.

“Gurgle gurgle…”

Oh no, I can’t breathe! I’m going to drown…

Panicking, I started to frantically paddle with my hands and feet, spewing out bubbles. After paddling for a while, I realized something was off. I hesitated for a moment, then suddenly, with a splash, I stood up in the water.

“…”

…The water is so shallow.

Didn’t I just fall into a lake?

Still puzzled, my head was still dizzy, making it hard to figure out what was happening. Standing in the water for a while, I watched the black mist around me gradually dissipate. Then, I lifted my head and looked at the dawn light rising from behind the mountains to the east.

It’s morning…

Morning!?

Stunned for a moment, my heart sank.

Why is it already morning… Where am I… What happened before… Oh right, where is the clown?!!

As my mind gradually cleared, memories of before I fell asleep slowly surfaced. I looked around in shock. There was a huge pit, a rushing waterfall, and a dry lakebed that only reached up to my chest. In the distance, the mountains were outlined by the newly risen sun, and the trees on the slopes were lush…

All I could hear was the sound of the wind, so quiet.

The clown…

Right, the clown seemed to have been killed by me…

I released the power of the abyss, and he was swallowed up…

Then I fell asleep…

Sorting through my jumbled thoughts, I waded through the lake, slowly stepping out of the water. The bottom was all mud, very slippery. I balanced myself on a slope of mud, then looked down at myself. My dress was tattered, with my big toe poking out of a small leather boot. Both sleeves were burnt, revealing smooth, flawless skin. Even my left shoulder and slender collarbone were exposed. If not for the wet dress tightly clinging to my body, especially my chest, I would have seen the deep, unfathomable crevice.

Good thing there’s no one here…

My confused mind wandered to these chaotic thoughts. I swept my hair behind my ears, climbed out of the pit on muddy ground, and shook my head vigorously outside. Water droplets flew everywhere. I then patted my face, took a deep breath, and felt slightly more awake.

Power…

I looked at my hands, fingers spread, and clenched them in the air. Whether it was because of later hibernation or not, the previous battle hadn’t left me the slightest bit tired. Upon waking, I immediately sensed the surging energy within me, like an endless ocean, vast and boundless.

Order, chaos, sin—three forces like massive and profound whirlpools, independent yet seemingly integrated, intertwined. I could clearly feel their agitation. Although I had felt this way before, it wasn’t nearly as clear and distinct as now. It felt like I could destroy the world with a single gesture.

My power has grown…

Thinking this, my star-like eyes flashed with a fleeting crimson glow. A blood-red pattern appeared briefly on my lower abdomen, and my skin temperature skyrocketed. “Sizzle sizzle,” the moisture on my body evaporated, and my clothes dried in an instant. My hair became fluffy and soft.

Next, black mist surged out of my body, enveloping me in an instant. The flowing mist gradually condensed into a cold, viscous liquid, solidifying rapidly on my chest, back, waist, legs, arms, and forehead. The texture became hard. I slowly breathed in, then exhaled, and wisps of smoke and flickers of red fire escaped from my mouth. With each breath, the black abyssal armor formed and floated in front of me, my hair turning as white as snow.

But soon, that white color faded away, returning to its original black.

Rustle rustle…

“Who’s there!”

The sound of leaves rustling lightly echoed from the distant forest. I realized this wasn’t the sound made by the wind moving through the branches.

Someone is there!

Thump—

With a step, my figure darted forward.

At the moment my foot touched the ground, the earth beneath me suddenly caved in, and with a “boom,” it cracked open. The scattered debris and dust only appeared for a brief moment before being thrown far behind.

Thirty… fifty meters…

The height was still increasing.

A strong wind whistled past my ears, and the pit below rapidly shrank in my field of vision.

This jump’s force far exceeded my expectations. At the moment I heard the noise, it was an instinctive reaction. The strength I put into my foot was habitual, far from holding back, but the speed and height were enough to surprise anyone. It felt like I was flying, then my body began to lose balance in mid-air.

Don’t panic…

In mid-air, I spread my palms and released two bursts of frost mist, using the thrust to regain balance. I looked down to find the landing spot, realizing I had already jumped over the mountain peak, leaving the source of the sound behind. I paused slightly, then quickly shot out another burst of frost mist with a “bang,” and my petite figure…

The body abruptly turned back in the midst of frost crystals scattered throughout the sky, falling—

Swoosh…

It fell down the ridge, brushing past the treetops of sparse trees, breaking countless branches, and with a dull thud, landed heavily.

The knees bent slightly to absorb the impact, and I stood straight up, kicking my feet. I realized that my body’s strength had risen to another level at this moment.

But I didn’t care much about that anymore.

Where are people…

I stood in the woods on the mountainside, scanning around with furrowed brows, listening intently for any sounds nearby. After observing for a while, my face twisted in frustration.

People have already left…

I leaped forward, jumping towards what seemed to be the tallest tree within sight.

With the experience from the first time, I managed to control the force appropriately this time, not overshooting the tree tops, but there was still a slight miscalculation in the landing point. I intended to land on the thickest part of the trunk, but due to being overly cautious, I jumped too lightly, missing the height by a little bit…

The trunk suddenly loomed large before me, and I crashed into it. There was a “puff” sound as the trunk hit my chest. Thanks to the armor, I felt nothing, but I felt foolish, my face heating up. I quickly grabbed onto the trunk and climbed up, steadying myself before letting out a sigh of relief.

“Huh…”

Red light flashed in my eyes, taking in the entire half-mountain slope, the stream at the foot of the mountain, and the winding path in the distance.

There’s no one here…

What happened… Is someone watching me…

…Hmm?

That—

Suddenly, I saw something hundreds of meters away, on a small path leading to Deer Town. The land there was dark red, with countless fallen bodies clad in golden armor…

Knights of the First Order…

I froze for a second, then immediately reacted, jumping off the tree trunk again. My figure moved swiftly like lightning, flying over the treetops along the ridge while mastering the force. I ran toward the path, plucking a fruit along the way and holding it in my mouth.

Soon, my figure landed.

The smell of blood mixed with the stench of rotting corpses filled the air.

I took the fruit out of my mouth and held it in my right hand.

Looking up, the path extended from the narrow trail to the grassy areas on both sides, all covered with knights’ bodies wrapped in golden armor, their deaths gruesome.

There were also wildebeest carcasses.

Some of these bodies had limbs severed, some were cut in half at the waist, and some had no heads. The sturdy armor made by the central workshop seemed like paper under some terrible blow, shattering into pieces. The cut surfaces were exceptionally neat and showed a scorched black color.

High temperature…

This is the power of the fires of karma…

These dead knights’ eyes bulged out, their faces twisted in agony, like mummified corpses that died of thirst in the desert after three days and nights of scorching sun exposure. The skin exposed outside the armor looked like withered old bark. These once strong warriors, after death, shriveled up grotesquely, like thin children wearing adult-sized armor.

Blood…

Their blood has been drained…

That bead…

Those damned heretics…

Carrion birds screamed and descended, circling the bodies and feeding on them. In the distance, a few beasts I couldn’t name seemed startled when they saw me approaching, their ugly, furry faces smeared with blood, baring their fangs threateningly at me.

I felt dazed.

Deer Town…

I need to go back to Deer Town…

I couldn’t bear to look at these knights anymore, afraid of remembering their current state. My face pale, I turned and started running along the path, passing through the forest, over the mountain peak, and soon arrived at the eastern entrance of the town.

“Huh, huh…”

I panted slightly, my steps pausing as I stepped into the town.

All I could see were burnt houses and debris.

Collapsed stone-paved roads, cooled lava solidifying into strange shapes, occasionally with bodies lying by the roadside, half swallowed by the solidified lava, their skin so charred that gender couldn’t be determined. Their deaths were miserable, with clothes barely covering their bodies, just like those knights, drained of blood by heretics.

On the eastern side of the town, near the central square, I walked past the ruins of the church and followed a small path beneath it to reach an area unaffected by the fires of karma. I wasn’t sure what I was hoping for, walking aimlessly through the silent town, searching, trembling lips trying to shout but failing to produce a sound.

Everyone’s dead…

I didn’t find anyone alive.

Not a single soul…

Everyone’s dead…

I approached a body and knelt down, trembling.

It was similarly unrecognizable, a body so charred and dried that gender couldn’t be discerned. From the remnants of clothing, it appeared to be a civilian. The strange smell was somewhat pungent, but I ignored it, extending my pale hand to touch the face, trying to close the wide-open eyes.

“I’m sorry…”

I don’t know who you are…

But you died here, I’m sorry…

My hand trembled violently.

I tried hard to close the eyes of the deceased, but I couldn’t do it. I tried many times, but he kept staring, just staring…

“It’s all my fault… It’s because of me, I didn’t do anything… I didn’t do anything…”

“I’m sorry…”