Chapter 604

Chapter 226 The Curtain Middle

In an instant, the world turned snow white.

The ashes raining from the sky vanished instantly, and the wind that had been slicing across my face stopped abruptly. The colors of the world faded away in my eyes, and time seemed to freeze at that moment. I felt as if I was floating in nothingness. My forward momentum softened immediately, and my body floated like it was on water, swaying endlessly.

How comfortable…

Just as this thought surfaced in my mind, the next moment brought waves of nausea and pain surging through my brain and engulfing my entire body.

“Ugh!”

This feeling again!

Just like when I arrived, that intense discomfort felt like a high-voltage current piercing through my body, leaving me momentarily blank-minded and unable to bear it.

I couldn’t help but curl up, clenching my small fists, flipping and swaying in this bizarre pure white space, powerless to resist. My eyes were tightly shut, unable to think about anything else, even finding it hard to shout. All I could do was grit my teeth and silently endure the extraordinary dizziness and pain, hoping this “space travel” which felt like years would end soon.

Soon, my body suddenly felt lighter.

I was out…

At the realization of this, I reopened my eyes.

Through hazy vision, that void of snow-white had faded. What reflected in my eyes was a star-studded night sky, as dark as ink, with two gentle and bright moons hanging above.

I was out!

My body fell to the ground in the next moment, rolling far into the grassy area with a “crackling” sound, crushing countless branches and leaves. My head hit the soft and damp grass, and the smell of earth, slightly tinged with blood, filled my nostrils. It was the familiar, vibrant scent. I immediately understood that I had left that decaying and dim world. A tiny thrill rose within me, as if I had come back to life, and even my dazed spirit perked up. Once the rolling stopped, I quickly got up.

Where am I…

Sitting in the grass, I surveyed my surroundings.

A gentle breeze rustled, and the vast grassland rippled under the starlight, stretching endlessly. Faint sounds of insects chirping echoed from all directions. It seemed quite late at night; the moonlight softly illuminated the earth, faintly outlining the silhouette of withered trees in the distance.

I recognized it, this was indeed Woodward Forest…

I returned to the normal world…

I bet right!

The intense dizziness in my head slowly dissipated, though my body still felt uncomfortable, and I felt very nauseous, waves of fatigue hitting me. Yet, I still got up from the ground, steadying myself shakily, and turned around.

There was nothing behind me.

The storm, the towering sacred tree in the storm, all seemed to have vanished without a trace. Even the red glow in the sky seemed to have disappeared long ago, as if nothing had ever happened. Only the wind blowing from the front, carrying a hint of blood, and the barren land under the night sky, proved that something had indeed occurred here.

However…

Where are they?

I rubbed my temples and looked back, frowning slightly.

The Faith Order warriors, the old archbishop, the heretical old servant…

Where did they go?

Just as this thought crossed my mind, a faint light from torches appeared ahead in the darkness.

One, two, three… Bright red lights emerged one by one from the distant darkness, gradually approaching. Between the flickering torchlight, the blood and corpses hidden in the night were revealed. There were knights, mostly robed monks, and members of the Faith Order. Their heads had been severed, their bodies split open, and their bloodied remains piled up over a hundred meters away, spread out across the grassland, a gruesome sight.

Closer by, a knight’s hook spear, produced by the Central Workshop, was stuck upside-down in the dense grass, its tip lifting a bloody human head. Before the torchlight reached, the face of the head was indistinct, but the grayish-white hair made me immediately think of the heretic old man.

He…

is dead?

I instinctively took a step back.

Buzz—

In the next moment, a golden flash appeared, and a figure materialized before me.

“Hi, Little Charcoal~”

The figure waved at me, the familiar teasing tone, familiar blonde hair, familiar smile, and familiar lavish golden robe. He stood less than ten meters away, holding a staff under the moonlight, his eyes showing a fleeting surprise that quickly turned tender.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m late… How are you? Did anything happen? Is the thing inside dead? Did you kill it? What about that heretic woman? Did you take care of her too? Wow… You don’t look so good, must be exhausted, huh.”

The man fired off a string of questions, but they didn’t seem very serious. He then opened his arms wide, making an embrace gesture from afar: “Come on, come on, into the Pope’s arms.”

“Angel…”

I called out the man’s name softly, lifting my foot slightly, but not moving rashly.

Seeing this, the man laughed: “Haha, don’t be shy… Come on, come on, you’ve worked so hard, I need to hug you properly… Can you walk?”

“…”

I looked at him, my mouth opening but no words coming out.

Something is off…

Although Angel seemed no different from usual, still that laid-back, somewhat unorthodox demeanor. But I noticed a hint of caution in his eyes—Angel seemed to be wary of me, speaking those annoying yet familiar words, yet he remained far away, not making any move to come closer.

“Hey, Little Charcoal, what’s wrong? Why aren’t you talking?”

Seeing I wasn’t responding, the man lowered his outstretched arm, scratching his messy hair, wearing a rather puzzled expression: “Are you okay? Don’t scare me.”

“…I’m fine.” I responded softly.

It’s just that I was so tired I could fall at any moment…

But at this moment, I suddenly felt…

However, not wanting him to detect even the slightest hint of weakness, she discreetly pinched her thigh and forced her eyes wide open. “That old heretic, did you kill him?”

As she spoke, she pointed toward the head hanging on the lance in the distance.

Upon hearing this, Angel paused slightly, twisting his body to look in the direction I was pointing at. As the light from the torches drew closer, the face of the head became clearer: dull eyes, a slightly long mouth, and a face full of wrinkles. I immediately recognized him; he was the old servant who had been following Eluna, Sebastian.

“Oh, you mean that one.” The Pope only glanced once before losing interest, turning back to me and shrugging. “I didn’t kill him. Why would it be my turn? Although we arrived late, I did bring helpers with us, hmm?”

The man snorted, then smiled at me again. “You, it’s really good that you’re not hurt too badly. If you hadn’t come out any later, I might have had to find a way to go in and save you… Actually, I was already planning for it, but that damned entrance suddenly disappeared. We couldn’t figure out how to get inside. You know, just now…”

“Angel.”

I interrupted the man’s belated attempt to claim credit, struggling to steady myself as I asked, “Why did you only arrive now?”

“…Huh?”

He sounded puzzled, as if pretending to be confused. Seeing that I wasn’t going to speak further, he stared directly at me, realizing he couldn’t bluff his way out of it. He then began to explain: “Oh, you’re talking about this. I was delayed by some matters. According to the plan, I should have arrived earlier… But fortunately, everything went smoothly. Little Charcoal, you seem quite tired. Why don’t we—”

“Hold on.”

My head was buzzing, and my legs were weak, feeling exhausted just standing. I had planned to collapse and sleep as soon as I got out, but things didn’t go as I expected. I never thought I would see Angel here, and even less expected him to say something like that after everything was over.

“Angel… do you think, everything… went well…”

As I said this, I took deep breaths, trying to stay awake and calm the sudden surge of anger.

Those words were casually spoken by the man in front of me. He didn’t even realize the issue, only noticing my unusual mood and responding in surprise, “Is it not… going well? Little Charcoal, did you fail to eliminate whatever was inside? Or is it—”

“If what you mean is the demon you people talk about, I took care of it.”

I said, and Angel raised an eyebrow. “Then—”

“But before that, many people died.”

I paused, then smiled at him. “Commoners from Deer Town, priests, knights… Olivia, Carl, Daniel. They all died. You didn’t know about these things?”

“Uh, Little Charcoal…”

The Pope touched his nose, seemingly wanting to speak, but I didn’t give him the chance. “Or perhaps, even so, you still think… things went well because I succeeded. I did what you wanted me to do. Besides that, everything else… doesn’t matter, right?”

Angel was stunned.

He finally realized he had said something wrong.

“No… Little Charcoal, you misunderstood me. What I meant was… sigh—”

The man let out a long breath, tilting his head as if pondering his words. In the next moment, he put away his smile and stood solemnly before me. “This battle was truly brutal. Many sacrifices were made. I understand, very clearly. Little Charcoal, I understand your feelings. That’s why I didn’t want to tell you these things here… they would make you sad. You look so tired.”

“But you seem to misunderstand me. I don’t know what reason you have, whether someone said something to you… making you so sensitive. This isn’t like you. We’ve known each other for a while. Don’t you know what kind of person I am?”

That’s hard to say…

I didn’t say this out loud, just watching him explain earnestly, his handsome face showing some委屈 (resentment).

The Pope continued, “Forget it, let’s not talk about this now. You’re really tired. These days have been tough on you, and you’ve seen so much… you’re just a little girl. I overlooked this, thinking you could handle everything. That was my mistake. Now… don’t think too much. Come back with me. Little Charcoal, you need rest. You need time to stabilize your new power. This is important and can’t be delayed…”

“Then that demon is the Sin Goddess, right?” I suddenly asked.

Angel’s expression changed slightly.

The change was subtle. This man was extremely skilled at hiding his emotions. If not for my astonishing perception, even in such exhaustion, maintaining extraordinary visual acuity, I might have missed that fleeting change.

“It was that dancer who told you, right?”

Angel patted his jacket and laughed. “That statement isn’t entirely wrong, but there are discrepancies. The relationship is very complex. If you’re interested, I’ll explain it to you when you wake up. But for now…”

“Now, I need to take a break.”

I shook my head at him, stepping back two steps. “Angel, you don’t need to worry about me. I’ll find you later if there’s anything to discuss.”

Perhaps he isn’t what I thought he was…

But until everything is clarified, I can’t trust him anymore.

Let’s leave here first…

I turned to walk away, but suddenly my legs wouldn’t listen to me. My step faltered, and I almost fell.

“Haha!”

The man’s heartless laughter echoed, “Little Charcoal, you can barely stand. Where do you think you’re going? Don’t rush, let’s see who I brought with me.”

Behind the Pope, the light from several torches grew closer. I could vaguely make out the figures holding the torches, and among them was someone I found quite familiar.