Chapter 44: The Former Mother (Fifth Watch, Seventeen Thousand)

This, perhaps, could be called a bloodbath caused by a bag of glass shards.

"That liar? Ha, paladins do not lie."

Maria held the bag of glass shards in one hand and Balgu's severed head in the other, smiling with a playful air.

She bent down, looking at Balgu's head, which refused to close its eyes, and instinctively reached out to pluck the scales from its body one by one, as if she had truly hated them in the past.

She recalled the past, when she had once had many "good sons," whom she had painstakingly raised, only for them to ultimately die on this very dock.

"Kevin, Suker, Fila, Ferland"—one by one, names appeared hazily in her mind.

Twenty years of time, raising generation after generation of children.

But what meaning did it have?

Once they went out, without exception, they ultimately became the "nutrients" of this city.

Those who lived honestly suffered hardships; the arrogant died unnatural deaths; the diligent were crushed by illness; the beautiful died in the flower alleys; the ugly died in loneliness and pain. In the past, every time she heard news of her grown children, it was only bad news and dire tidings.

Occasional good news? Yes, there was some, but it only made the subsequent bad news seem even more ironic.

Those who struck it rich were ruined by rigged schemes; those who married and started families saw their households destroyed; even those who became extraordinary beings died along the way.

Those children with no money, no status, no aptitude, and who were utterly ordinary—even if they jumped out of the pool, how far could they swim?

"No, no, Kevin is the current child; the one who became a debt slave should be Case? Kyle? Will?"

She instinctively tried to recall, but another side effect of serving the "Beast" and giving her heart to the Beast was that her memory was indeed deteriorating.

Too many fragments of memory, an unanalyzable self, a person who had gradually lost her heart. In the past, she often doubted whether she was still Sister Maria, or something else wearing that skin.

Now? There was no longer any need for the current self to doubt.

"Even forgetting my children's names, I truly am an unfit mother... Never mind, it makes no difference anyway; after all, once they are 'slaughtered,' they will be butchered. This world is too bitter, too bitter."

What meaning is there in raising children? The world of adulthood holds only pain and more pain.

In the end, it would be better to fall into a long sleep while still a carefree child.

"Is this the reason you killed us?"

Phantoms of children one by one appeared before her.

Some were familiar, some somewhat strange; some were orphans from the orphanage, while others were merely previous prey.

These children, some were angry, some were weeping, some tried to embrace her legs to question her, while others waved their small fists.

"Yes, this is a mother's love. Mother will now take you all out of this sea of suffering."

It was still a gentle smile, still a mask seemingly affixed to her face, but the short-handled scythe in her hand, adorned with dim radiance, waved lightly.

The blade was fast, but after the phantoms were shattered, everything around merely returned to calm. She felt a bit disappointed; it was still an illusion.

What a pity; if it were a year ago, she would still have felt heartache and distress.

But now, perhaps only in the moment the blade falls and blood spills will she feel a slight flutter in her heart.

"What a pity, Mother cannot kill you twice, Mother cannot take you away..." She licked her lips; was it thirst, or regret?

"Is this the reason you killed those children?!"

The renewed questioning made her pause in surprise.

Another illusion? It seems my condition is worsening.

"Answer me, Sister Maria!"

This time, accompanied by a man's roar from not far away, she finally woke completely from the dream.

She looked up toward the other side of the cave; the people there seemed somewhat familiar.

They were angry, in a rage? What an enviable emotion.

"Answer me!"

The angry paladins held their swords and issued the question.

But the young armored paladin had already begun his charge.

The Beast Herder was threatened, so the herd naturally began to act; the battle was triggered without warning.

This time, the herd was truly too numerous; Li En dared not use the Dragon Eye, or he might be torn apart in an instant.

And the combat experience accumulated previously, along with his adjusted state, allowed for a more stable and steady advance.

"Isn't this the liar?" Watching Li En and his group, who were being blocked but still gradually approaching, she pondered thoughtfully.

She saw the anger on those young faces. Truly, how enviable!

At this age, to still possess the emotion of anger! To still be able to feel anger toward this world!

Pausing for a moment, Maria seemed to want to say something, but ultimately, she shook her head and said nothing.

If it were the past, if it were one or two years ago, she would probably have argued about something, but now, perhaps only death is equal.

She looked one by one at the young knights; in their eyes, it was as if they were burning; they must be desperately eager to kill her.

The angriest one must be that confused spider-child; he had unknowingly bitten his lip until it cracked, and blood had already fallen.

He, he still clings to the form of justice? Truly so naive it is enviable.

Recalling the memory of guiding Larry, Maria's calm heart wavered for a moment. What a happy trouble that was.

Truly, as befits a noble child; only if one's life had been so smooth sailing previously could there be the leisure to ask such a foolish question? As for my children, let alone pondering philosophical questions like justice, they cannot survive without discarding everything, including morality.

"Why couldn't my children have such a good background? Why, after they grew up, couldn't they ask such foolish questions? Oh, they were busy surviving, even willing to trample upon the morality and laws I taught them."

Suddenly, Maria felt Larry's anger was hollow and boring; her gaze turned to the next person.

That pig-man who was slashing wildly... Oh, she remembered, he too was a child born in filth.

He had a good mother, and his mother had a good child.

"How wonderful, how wonderful. Such a strong child; his mother need not worry that upon waking from sleep, her child will be gone..." At this moment, Maria was incredibly envious of Dem's mother, even though she was merely a woman of the flower alleys.

Now, the posture of that child roaring angrily at her was even more captivating.

"My children, why, once they sink into darkness, are there no means to rise again?"

Her own children? When they came back to see her and were asked what they had been doing, each and every one of them dodged her gaze with their eyes, and her past self truly felt heartache. As their mother, how could she possibly punish them? It was all the fault of the world, not the children's.

Li En in his silver armor should be the core of the party, right? He really was impressive—single-handedly holding several young beasts at bay.

Right, he always came to Fuli Academy to see the children. He was different from the other children—far too mature, mature like someone who had already lived a life once.

He had seen plenty of darkness, yet still clung to the light, believing his own actions could bring about a beautiful future. Really, really enviable, makes one want to—

"Destroy them." The knight squad of the dock district had always been far too dazzling for Maria.

Every time they brushed past her, she had to restrain her impulse to annihilate them.

And now, it seemed there was no need to endure any longer.

What Maria extended was a "horn" that had been severed off.

What she was about to use was a vicious curse born of life itself.

But at this moment, the knights' overly dazzling light drew her full attention. The lurking shadow had long since begun to move as well.

"Flicker-Dance of Phantoms, Blood-Soaked Berserk."

The instant the shadow assassin broke the surface, she activated simultaneously the racial talents of extreme speed and berserk fury. The thunder-swift leopard swelled abruptly, its crimson twin pupils filled with killing intent.

【Blood-Soaked Berserk (Silver-Tier Racial Talent): A warrior obsessed with blood cannot be stopped. While in blood-madness, you receive an extreme boost to power, and simultaneously ignore pain and low-tier mental arts.】

Originally, a talent suited for a berserker, yet it was born upon an assassin—one could only call it the caprice of fate.

But at this moment, she was incredibly grateful for her own talent!

"Get lost!"

The small beasts circling Maria were far too qualified as bodyguards; they reacted with extreme speed and had already lunged in to bite.

But Talia, who ignored pain, her pupils crimson, drove her twin daggers with full force, transforming them into shooting stars.

The brute-force assassin arced her blade in a long sweep, channeling force into the edge.

In but an instant, the blade had already completed its intersection with Maria's neck!

"Malice—" The incantation, only half-chanted, was cut off. Maria, who could hardly be called a qualified warrior, simply couldn't react in time; her head flew straight up into the air.

Having long been immersed in her illusions, she didn't even feel her own death; her fingers merely continued to point at the target.

"We won!"

The stratagem of feigning one path while secretly taking another bore fruit. Seeing the headless corpse, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"... bloom, O flower, shackles of purgatory."

But the head floating in midair had actually finished the second half of the incantation!

"Buzz!"

The earth split open with a violent crack, and blooming "fangs" sprang up from underground.

They tore into the small beasts and human-beasts within the knights' range, yet completely ignored this kind of attack.

Bone spurs stabbed into flesh one after another, boots were pierced through in an instant, and the knights were forced back into a defensive posture.

The weakest among them, Dimon in his chainmail, was drenched in fresh blood.

"Oh my, isn't this Sheriff my lord? Long time no see." The head floating in midair could actually still speak.

Nun Maria's headless corpse took back her own head and tried to place it back on her neck—but the spurting blood stopped her.

Somewhat helpless, she could only carry her own head in her left hand—one of her own heads, and an enemy's, Balgu's head—making her look oddly quite comical.

Looking at just this scene, the setting was a bit like a comedy, and a bit like a horror film.

The assassin did not stop there—if one kill wasn't enough, she'd do it again.

She, who had once been a killer, knew that even in the world of the Transcendents, no one truly possessed eternity. Most of those who seemed unable to die—just kill them a few more times!

Talia gritted her teeth, shook off the small beasts on her body, and dodged those human-beasts one by one.

Trying to forcibly slip into the shadows, she still intended to continue the assassination.

But those small beasts with broken horns also rose up on their hind legs.

The snow-white monsters transformed into pitch-black fiends; within their twisted eyes were densely packed pupils, and their two claws carried the might of apex predators.

This time, the threat they posed to her was several times that of before.

Their very existence constrained Talia's Transcendent abilities.

Watching the three black beasts closing in, she faintly sensed her own death phase.

"Get lost!"

And at this moment, Li En forced his way out.

He had donned the Hill Giant Gauntlets; supported by his heavy armor and ancient shield, he launched a brute-force charge, trying to forcibly carve a path through the beast tide.

Watching Li En closing in, and Talia being cut down by the "grown cubs," Maria smiled.

She wasn't in a hurry—the one in a hurry was the other side.

She simply turned around and retreated with her own head in hand, preparing to leave through one end of the cavern.

But Li En was already only a few meters from her. He swung his sword with all his might, an ultimate sword technique taking shape in his mind.

"Ah!" Talia's scream drew the man's attention.

Forcing the assassination while enduring the bites of small beasts had already inflicted many wounds. Now, surrounded and cut down by several evolved human-beasts, she finally couldn't hold on any longer.

At this moment, Li En gritted his teeth, turned his blade, and chose to save her.

"Hold on."

(End of chapter)