Chapter 109

Thump, thump!

Lu Mian heard his own heartbeat in his ears, and it seemed as if some images deep in his memory were being slowly and arduously dragged out.

This caused him a pain that made his head feel like it was about to split open, and he resisted it extremely, not wanting to continue.

Outside the stained glass, seeing that the ritual had already begun, Ryan no longer hesitated. He threw the "Tanago Scarecrow" to Fors, signaling her to use this sealed artifact to deal with the parish priest, while he himself raised the "Sword of Morning Light."

Under the illumination of those golden flames, Fors and Valentine circled to the side of another piece of stained glass, separated from Ryan by only a semi-protruding cylindrical wall.

They did this to avoid the damage caused by the "Storm of Light" and not to affect their own actions. Given the "defensive ability" just displayed by this Saint Soth church, they believed that having a certain barrier between the two sides should be fine; after all, Ryan would also try his best to control the direction of the attack.

Fors held the "Tanago Scarecrow" from behind and pressed it against the stained glass depicting the scene of Saint Soth preaching, aiming her gaze at the altar and at the parish priest Guillaume Bennett, who was presiding over the ritual.

On the other side, Ryan held the hilt with both hands and plunged the "Sword of Morning Light" into the windowsill.

This greatsword, condensed purely from light, immediately split apart, turning into a hurricane in the form of countless sharp fragments and patches of light.

The "hurricane" instantly grew larger and slammed into the stained glass in front.

Amidst a cracking sound, the entire church swayed, and fine cracks appeared on the surface of the glass, as if covered in countless spiderwebs.

However, it still stood there firmly, not "yielding" a path.

Seeing this, Ryan let a bit of dawn emerge around him, condensing it into a great axe that required two hands to hold.

He could not use the "Storm of Light" again in the short term and had to switch to another weapon.

Fors and Valentine, aided by the protection of the protruding wall, successfully avoided the aftermath of the "Storm of Light." At this moment, the gaze of the "Tanago Scarecrow" also fell upon the parish priest, and the eyeballs embedded in the surface of the brownish-green straw reflected the figure wearing the white robe with gold trim.

Suddenly, Fors saw a layer of faint light emerge around the altar where Guillaume Bennett stood, a silver-white and black faint light.

With a pop, the eyeballs of the "Tanago Scarecrow" burst, shedding drops of blood-colored tears.

The parish priest glanced toward this side and then withdrew his gaze.

Only when two sheep "voluntarily" walked onto the altar did he chant the following incantation with a steady expression and a fanatical tone:

"You are the eternal cycle, the destined fate, the cause, the result, and also the process!"

Suddenly, the light of the two candles on the altar representing the deity elongated, becoming as large as a human head.

Inside the church, a howling wind blew, and those villagers seemed to have turned into statues, except that silver-white and black tumors slowly protruded from exposed areas like faces and the backs of hands, one after another.

The silver-black faint light that had originally only surrounded the altar spread rapidly in all directions, encompassing the entire church.

The spherical dome filled with murals became transparent, the high-altitude clouds dispersed, and the crimson moon grew deeper, approaching the color of blood.

The stars on that black velvet curtain were no longer obscured, lighting up one after another, reaching a luminosity nearly that of the sun.

In an instant, night turned into day, and the villagers finally moved, saying like sleepwalkers:

"The constellations have changed..."

"Good luck has arrived..."

With three thuds, Ryan, Fors, and Valentine, who had heard nothing but witnessed this scene, fell to the ground simultaneously, rolling, wailing, and screaming, as if suffering immense pain.

Ryan's skin turned a grayish-blue, countless maggots seemed to be wriggling on Fors's face, and buds were about to grow out, while Valentine lit up with a sun-like radiance, from the inside out, from top to bottom.

They were just a step away from entering a state of loss of control.

The "Tanago Scarecrow" was thrown to the side, lying there trembling violently.

Lu Mian felt his chest become abnormally burning, and that terrifying voice, which seemed to come from infinitely far away yet was close at hand, rang in his ears again.

His head was being pierced and stirred by invisible steel rods, hurting so much that blood vessels protruded all over his body, and silver-white and black circular spots appeared and disappeared beneath his skin.

An invisible force wrapped around him, lifting him from the altar.

The ropes that bound him and the cloth gagging his mouth turned into dust and drifted into the air.

Aurora was also lifted by this invisible force, floating above the altar, face-to-face with Lu Mian.

Lu Mian's bloodshot eyes reflected his sister's disheveled golden hair, hollow light blue eyes, holy yet dull face, and simple yet eerie white robe.

He jerked his head back, feeling the sense of familiarity and déjà vu from deep within his memory surface again; the accompanying pain was no weaker than that produced by the gibberish.

The surrounding scenes were "shredded" and overlapped, appearing in Lu Mian's mind simultaneously:

There was the parish priest's solemn and fanatical expression;

There was the black-robed figure's figure stepping toward the altar step by step;

There was the shepherd Pierre Berry's action of crawling toward the ground;

There was the transparent church dome;

There was the red moon and constellations in the high sky;

There were the villagers with dull expressions welcoming good luck;

There was Aurora, whose face showed a bit of distortion and seemed to feel pain as well...

Lu Mian's spirit began to daze, feeling his body being torn apart bit by bit by that invisible force, and the silver-black luster on his skin appearing more and more.

And he was completely unable to break free from the current restraints, finding it difficult to put up effective resistance.

"Ah!"

Lu Mian could not help but let out a scream; his chest was being opened bit by bit, and silver-white and black light shone out, falling onto Aurora.

Hearing this painful sound, Aurora's eyeballs turned slightly.

Her hollow eyes reflected Lu Mian's face, with its protruding blood vessels, distorted expression, and hidden silver-black color.

After a brief stagnation, she instinctively and dully extended her hands, pushing Lu Mian hard, pushing him away from the danger.

Sister... Lu Mian stared blankly as Aurora pushed him out of the altar's range.

Suddenly, the terrifying voice in his ears disappeared, the invisible restraints on his body were gone, and the burning sensation all over his body weakened.

But the pain in his head had not changed at all, and some of the images deep in his memory had been forcibly dragged out.

It was as if someone were using a hook to pull his brain out of his head bit by bit.

Aurora's light blue eyes stained with silver-black, her hollow and lifeless gaze, her dull and numb face, and her firm and powerful action of pushing him away flashed in Lu Mian's mind simultaneously, almost identical to what he had just seen, only the background was slightly different, without that black-robed figure present.

This exaggerated sense of déjà vu made Lu Mian instinctively feel whether similar things had happened before, which made him scream in pain once again.

Bang! Having broken free from the altar, he fell heavily to the ground.

Disregarding the severe pain in his head and the daze of his spirit, Lu Mian jumped up abruptly, about to pounce toward his sister to take Aurora away from the altar.

A figure blocked his path; the black-robed figure wearing his face punched him in the right cheek, knocking him to the ground.

Lu Mian did not despair; with the courage to seek a path to life in the face of death, he rolled over and stood up again, rushing toward the black-robed figure blocking the way.

Slap!

The black-robed figure swung another punch, and Lu Mian instinctively dodged it.

He paused for a second, a distorted smile appearing on his face, and growled:

"You're this weak?

"As weak as me!"

Lu Mian forgot about the parish priest, forgot about the shepherd Pierre Berry, and pounced directly at the black-robed figure.

The black-robed figure turned his body sideways, lifted his right foot, and kicked and tripped Lu Mian's lower leg. Lu Mian did not dodge; relying on the terrifying flexibility of a "Dancer," he forcibly half-turned his body, extended his arms, and hugged the enemy.

Thump! Having been tripped, he fell to the ground with the black-robed figure.

The black-robed figure nimbly lifted his right hand, pinched Lu Mian's neck, and followed up with a knee strike, slamming heavily into the enemy's crotch.

Lu Mian did not dodge or evade; with blood-red eyes, he used the fingers of his right hand to dig into the other person's eyes.

"Ah!"

The black-robed figure screamed; both eyeballs were forcibly gouged out by Lu Mian, and blood flowed everywhere. Lu Mian instinctively curled into a ball—the pain in his lower body made him nearly faint.

He struggled to lift his body again and laughed grimly at the black-robed figure rolling on the ground:

"Come on! Let's die together!

"You coward! You wimp!"

He pounced again, wrapping his arms around the other person's neck.

At this time, Pierre Berry at the edge of the altar fought against the fear in his heart, climbed up with difficulty, carried his axe, and ran to Lu Mian's side.

Slap!

His axe slashed down heavily, but it was blocked by a faint gray mist that had permeated from somewhere, failing to harm Lu Mian.

Pierre Berry tried two different abilities in succession, but neither could break through the protection of the gray mist.

Seeing this, the parish priest Guillaume Bennett no longer hesitated and chanted the subsequent prayer:

"I pray to you,

"Praying for you to grant a gift,

"Praying for you to grant me..."

Before he could finish chanting, new changes occurred in the surroundings:

The constellations in the high sky moved bit by bit, changing their original positions.

The entire Cordu village shook violently, and every house and every inch of soil moved toward the church.

Those villagers disintegrated silently into one organ after another—there were eyeballs, mouths, noses, hearts, fingers, and pure flesh...

A small portion of these things reorganized themselves into different people; some were normal, some were messy, some were missing parts, and some had extra things.

The remaining majority flew toward the altar, toward Aurora.

Cracks appeared on Aurora's body, and she soon disintegrated into countless flesh and blood.

Seeing this scene, Lu Mian was filled with despair.

But he did not give up; he pressed down on the black-robed figure's head, twisted it with force, and with a crack, snapped his neck in the other person's terrified eyes.

Lu Mian stood up and ran urgently toward his sister.

But it was as if there were an invisible shield around Aurora, blocking him.

Rumble!

A muffled sound came from underground, the church began to rise, and the trees, soil, and boulders outside the village, as well as the houses, furniture, and miscellaneous items inside the village, all flew toward this side.

Most of the villagers' organs entered the altar and aggregated with Aurora's flesh and blood, twisting and wriggling into a giant.

The giant was four or five meters tall, had three heads and six arms, and its entire body was pieced together from chunks of flesh and fragments of organs; cracks were everywhere on its surface, flowing with yellowish pus.

The head in the very center of the giant, filled with pain and regret, looked toward Lu Mian with difficulty.

Transparent, blood-colored tears slowly slid from the corners of "his" eyes.

Seeing this scene, Lu Mian's mind buzzed, and his whole person felt as if he had been split in two vertically by an axe.

His vision began to sway; he "saw" the church decomposed into fragments, "saw" the gradually rising blood-colored "mountain peak," "saw" the thorny "city wall" twisted from houses, "saw" the circles of ruins surrounding the "mountain peak," and "saw" the various monsters forced to leave this area...

This... Lu Mian's head throbbed violently again.

While watching countless tiny rays of light fly out from the giant's body and the bodies of the surrounding monsters into his own chest, he discovered that the images deep in his memory had been completely dragged out, almost identical to what he was seeing now.

This is... Lu Mian suddenly had a guess, and his headache became even more severe.

Suddenly, everything before his eyes became incomparably illusory, with obvious cracks appearing, like shattered glass.

This is! Lu Mian finally remembered something.

Then, he saw the black-robed figure turn into pitch-black, filthy liquid and fly before him, flowing into his left chest.

"Ah!"

Lu Mian let out a painful scream, seeing all the surrounding scenes collapse completely.

He opened his eyes abruptly and found himself lying beneath the blood-colored "mountain peak," the "dimness" suspected to be the arrival of night having almost completely faded.

Lu Mian sat up subconsciously, leaned forward, supported himself with his hands, and looked around.

He saw the twisted thorny "city wall," saw the wasteland without a single weed growing, saw the "dream ruins" on the other side, and saw Ryan, Fors, and Valentine lying at the edge of a room not far away.

They were fast asleep.

Lu Mian lowered his head abruptly, raised his hands, grabbed his hair, and whispered painfully:

"Is reality a dream, and is the dream reality?

"Is this the present, and is the present the past?

"Aurora, can Aurora not be saved?"

"Yes." A female voice sounded within the ruins.

Lu Mian looked up blankly, his vision blurry as he saw the mysterious lady appear in front.

She was wearing the orange dress from the very beginning and walked over step by step:

"That is why you were so eager in the dream to obtain extraordinary power regardless of any consequences;

"That is why you disregarded the lives of others and even your own, just wanting to solve the cycle representing the concept of 'problems' as quickly as possible;

"That is why you could not control your instincts, saying inappropriate things and doing inappropriate things on certain occasions..."

Lu Mian stared blankly at this mysterious lady and discovered that the indescribable, unreadable strange emotion in her eyes had appeared again.

And this time, he was finally able to read it.

It was pity.

PS: Seeking monthly votes for the big chapter~

(End of chapter)