Chapter 44: The Former Mother (Five More, Seventeen Thousand)

This might be called a bloodbath triggered by a bag of glass shards.

“That liar—ha, a Holy Knight would never lie.”

Maria held the bag of glass shards in one hand and Bargo’s severed head in the other, smiling with a twisted amusement.

She bent down, staring at Bargo’s lifeless, wide-eyed head, and instinctively began peeling off his scales one by one, as if she had once truly hated them.

She recalled the past—she had once raised many “good sons,” and after painstakingly raising them, they all still died on this dock.

Names like “Kevin, Suker, Phila, Ferland” flickered vaguely through her mind.

Over twenty years, she had raised wave after wave of children.

But what was the point?

Once they left, not one of them escaped becoming “nourishment” for this city.

Honest lives were hard; arrogant ones died violently; diligent ones were crushed by illness; beautiful ones perished in the Flower Alleys; ugly ones died alone and in agony. In the past, every time she heard news of her children growing up, it was only bad news and dire tidings.

Occasional good news? There was some—but it only made the following bad news feel even more ironic.

Those who got rich were ruined by rigged schemes; those who married and built families saw their households destroyed; those who became transcendent died on the road.

What distance could children without money, status, or talent possibly swim after escaping the pond?

“No no, Kevin is the current child—that one who became a debt slave must be Kais? Kael? Will?”

She instinctively tried to recall, but serving “the Beast” and surrendering her heart to it had another side effect: her memory was truly growing worse.

Too many fragmented memories, an unresolvable self, a past self slowly losing her heart—she had often wondered if she was still Sister Maria, or just something wearing this skin.

Now? She no longer had any need to wonder.

“I’ve forgotten my children’s names—I’m truly an unfit mother. Whatever. It makes no difference. Once they’re ‘taken out,’ they’re still slaughtered. This world is too cruel. Too cruel.”

What’s the point of raising children if the world they grow into holds only pain and more pain?

Better to fall into eternal slumber while still carefree children.

“Is this why you killed us?”

One by one, the spectral shadows of children appeared before her.

Some were familiar, some vaguely so; some were orphans from the academy, others merely past prey.

These children—some furious, some weeping, some trying to clutch her legs and demand answers, others waving tiny fists.

“Yes, this is Mother’s love. Mother will now take you out of this sea of suffering.”

Still that gentle smile, still that mask seemingly glued to her face—but in her hand, a short scythe dimly glowing, swung lightly.

The blade was swift, yet when the shadows shattered, all that followed was silence. She felt a hint of disappointment—it was still just an illusion.

Too bad. A year ago, she would have felt pain, sorrow.

But now, perhaps only when the blade fell and blood spilled would she feel even a flicker of heartbeat.

“Too bad. Mother can’t kill you twice. Mother can’t take you away.” She licked her lips—was it hunger, or regret?

“Is this why you killed those children?!”

The renewed accusation startled her.

Another illusion? It seemed her condition was worsening.

“Answer me, Sister Maria!”

Only then, with the distant roar of a man, did she fully awaken from her dream.

She looked up to the other side of the cave—there, the figure seemed vaguely familiar.

They were angry. Furious? How enviable an emotion.

“Answer me!”

The furious Holy Knights raised their swords and demanded an answer.

But the young armored Holy Knight had already begun his charge.

Threatened, the Beast herd naturally stirred—combat erupted without warning.

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

His accumulated combat experience and adjusted state allowed him to advance more steadily and effectively.

“Isn’t this the liar?” She watched Li En’s group, blocked yet still inching closer, and pondered.

She saw the anger on each young face. How utterly enviable!

At this age, they still felt anger! They still felt rage toward this world!

She paused, as if wanting to say something—but finally shook her head, saying nothing.

In the past, a year or two ago, she might have argued—but now, only death was equal.

She looked at each young knight; their eyes burned as if they longed desperately to kill her.

The angriest was surely the confused Arachnid child—he had unconsciously bitten his lip open, blood dripping down.

He still clung to the form of justice? How naively admirable.

Recalling her guidance to Lari, Maria’s calm heart trembled for a moment—what a blessed kind of torment.

No wonder he’s a noble’s child—how smooth his life must have been to have the leisure to ask such a foolish question? My children? They couldn’t even afford to think about justice—they had to abandon morality, even ethics, just to survive.

“Why couldn’t my children have such a good birth? Why couldn’t they grow up and ask such foolish questions? They’re too busy surviving—they even trample underfoot the morals and laws I taught them.”

Suddenly, Maria found Lari’s anger hollow and dull. Her gaze shifted to the next.

The boar-man, slashing wildly. Ah, she remembered—he too was born in filth.

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

“How wonderful. How wonderful—a child so strong, his mother needn’t fear waking to find him gone.” At that moment, Maria envied Dimon’s mother, even though she was merely a Flower Alley woman.

Now, the way that child roared at her in fury—was even more captivating.

“Why, my children, when you sink into darkness, can’t you ever rise again?”

My children? When they came back to visit, their eyes darted away whenever asked what they did—how it pained the old her. But as a mother, how could she punish them? It was the world’s fault, not theirs.

Bai Yin in silver armor—likely the core of the group. He was truly formidable, holding his own against several young Beasts alone.

Oh, he always came to Fuli Academy to visit the children. He was different from the others—too mature, as if he’d lived a whole life already.

He’d seen too much darkness, yet still clung to the light, believing his actions could bring a better future. How—how enviable. How I wish…

“Destroy them.” To Maria, the dock district’s knight squad had always been blindingly bright.

Every time she passed them, she had to suppress the urge to destroy them.

But now, perhaps she no longer needed to hold back.

Maria extended her hand—holding a severed “horn.”

The curse she was about to unleash was a vile one, drawn from life itself.

But at this moment, the knights’ dazzling light drew all her attention—the lurking shadows had already begun their move.

“Lightning Phantom Dance, Blood Fury.”

The instant the shadow assassin surfaced, his racial Tianfu of speed and fury activated simultaneously—the swift leopard swelled violently, its crimson eyes filled with murderous intent.

【Blood Fury (Silver-Rank Racial Tianfu ): A warrior obsessed with blood cannot be restrained. In Blood Fury state, you gain extreme strength enhancement and immunity to pain and low-tier mental arts.】

A Tianfu meant for Berserkers had instead manifested in an Assassin—only fate’s cruel joke.

But at this moment, she was immensely grateful for her Tianfu !

“Get out of my way!”

The small Beasts circling Maria, as bodyguards, reacted instantly—they lunged and bit.

But Talia S Daer , immune to pain, her crimson eyes blazing, unleashed both daggers like meteors.

The brute assassin drove his blades in wide arcs, channeling all force into the edges.

In a single flash, the blades crossed Maria’s neck!

“Malice—” The incantation was cut mid-syllable. Maria, hardly a qualified warrior, couldn’t react at all—her head flew upward.

Long immersed in illusions, she didn’t even feel her own death—her fingers still pointed toward her target.

“We won!”

The strategy of feinting while secretly advancing succeeded. Seeing the headless corpse, everyone exhaled in relief.

“...the flower blooms, the chains of hell.”

But the floating head finished the second half of the incantation!

“Hum!”

The earth split open—“teeth” erupted from below.

They bit into the knights’ surrounding Beasts and beast-men, yet ignored the attacks entirely.

Bone spines pierced flesh—boots were instantly pierced; knights were forced to retreat into defensive stances.

Dimon, weakest and wearing scale armor, was drenched in blood.

“Oh? Isn’t this the Chief Inspector? Long time no see.” The floating head still spoke.

Maria’s headless body picked up her own head, trying to reattach it—but the gushing blood prevented it.

Helplessly, she held her own head in one hand and Bargo’s severed head in the other—strangely comical.

The scene looked like a slapstick comedy, yet also like a horror film.

The assassin didn’t stop—failed once? Try again.

She, once a killer, knew that even in the transcendent world, no one possessed true immortality—most who seemed indestructible just needed to be killed again.

Talia gritted her teeth, shook off the small Beasts clinging to her, and dodged the beast-men.

She attempted to forcibly slip into shadow, still planning another assassination.

But the severed-horn Beasts rose up on their hind legs.

The snow-white monster transformed into a pitch-black demon, its twisted eyes filled with countless pupils, and its two claws radiating the dominance of a top predator.

This time, the threat to her was fully several times greater than before.

Their very presence restricted Talia’s extraordinary abilities.

Watching the three black beasts close in, she faintly sensed her own demise.

“Get out of my way!”

At that moment, Li En Sudar forcibly burst through.

Wearing the Hill Giant Gauntlets, he charged forward with brute force, using his heavy armor and ancient shield as support, attempting to carve a path through the beast tide.

Watching Li En Sudar draw near, and Talia being crushed by the “grown offspring,” Maria smiled.

She wasn’t in a hurry—the one in a hurry was her opponent.

She simply picked up her own head, turned, and retreated, preparing to exit from one end of the cave.

Li En Sudar was now only a few meters away; he swung his sword with all his strength, the sacred sword technique already prepared in his mind.

“Ah!” Talia’s scream drew the man’s attention.

Already bearing countless wounds from forcing his way through the young beasts’ bites, she finally collapsed under the assault of several evolved human-beasts.

At that moment, Li En Sudar gritted his teeth, shifted his blade’s trajectory, and chose to save her.

“Hold on.”

(End of Chapter)