Chapter 83: Two Places

Chapter 83: Two Places

Ever since the war had deepened, Loen soldiers had seen far too many unscientific and unnatural phenomena—so many that they had become somewhat numb to them. Yet the sight of these mangled corpses crawling to their feet one after another still shocked them, leaving them horrified and bewildered. It gave them the feeling that they, too, would not be spared, and would eventually become living corpses.

Of course, there was a reason they could still maintain morale after witnessing so many unscientific and unnatural phenomena without collapsing.

Just as great fear rose in their hearts, waves of chanting came from behind them:

“They lie all night naked, without clothing, and have no covering in the cold.

“…

“Evernight did not abandon them, and granted them Her favor.”[1]

The sacred, compassionate prayer echoed across the entire defensive line, causing every soldier’s fear to rapidly dissipate. Their bodies and minds became tranquil.

Then, some of the soldiers followed orders, bringing out cannon shells covered in silver patterns. They adjusted the muzzles, aiming at the mass of incomplete corpses surging toward them.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Amid constant flashes of fire, shell after shell landed in different parts of the battlefield and exploded, releasing dense darkness.

Those incomplete corpses were either directly destroyed or collapsed powerlessly, returning one after another to eternal sleep.

Behind the resistance army, the mysterious person wearing a black robe and hood raised both arms, as though wanting to embrace the crimson moon high in the sky.

At that moment, his body suddenly turned illusory and took on a faint red glow, becoming a hazy beam of moonlight.

That moonlight shattered instantly, turning into piece after piece of red scale that scattered and vanished from where he had stood.

Moonlight Transformation!

This was a Beyonder power already possessed by Sequence 5 Crimson Scholars of the Apothecary pathway. For a Sequence 4 Witch King, it had practically become instinct.

Where that Witch King had been standing, a figure swiftly outlined itself.

It was an enormous rag doll. Its hair was golden, its eyes crimson, and it wore a black gothic dress engraved with countless mysterious patterns and entangled with sinister vines. Its skin lacked the luster that humans should possess.

Reinette Tinekerr!

What She had summoned using the Staff of the Stars was Herself in complete condition.

Naturally, the Staff of the Stars Klein had lent Miss Messenger was the true Staff of the Stars, brought from above the gray fog to the real world in advance.

If not, it would have meant Klein’s historical projection summoning the Staff of the Stars’ projection, and then that projection of the Staff of the Stars summoning Reinette Tinekerr at Her past peak state. All of that burden would have fallen upon Magician Forsi, causing her spirituality to be drained dry very quickly.

By temporarily handing the true Staff of the Stars to Reinette Tinekerr, that problem could be effectively avoided. The spirituality consumed would be borne by this ancient evil thing Herself.

At the same time, Reinette Tinekerr was also one of the beings least afraid of the Staff of the Stars’ negative effects.

As the representative of the temperance faction, as a Puppet and a rag doll, She could make sure no image surfaced inside Her mind. And after She shifted into a concealed state, it would also become very difficult for the Staff of the Stars to influence Her historical projection.

Just now, Reinette Tinekerr in Her complete state had attempted to approach in concealment and directly possess and control the Rose School of Thought’s Witch King, ending the battle in an instant. Yet the other party had somehow sensed danger in advance and, by relying on the moonlight, escaped Wraith possession one step early.

Beneath the crimson radiance that covered the earth, pieces of red scale rapidly reassembled in the distance, condensing into the Rose School of Thought’s Witch King in his black robe and hood. His eyes were tightly shut, not daring to look directly at the ancient evil thing opposite him.

At the same time, on the other side of the battlefield, a figure rapidly took shape. It was Gehrman Sparrow, wearing a black trench coat and a silk half top hat. A transparent glove covered his left hand. His right hand lifted, and he snapped his fingers.

Cluster after cluster of crimson flame rose across the battlefield, as though announcing the opening of a grand performance.

No sooner had that Witch King finished reassembling than he stretched out his left hand and tore open the clothes over his chest and abdomen with a swish. At that very moment, Reinette Tinekerr’s scarlet eyes had already reflected his figure.

If nothing unexpected happened, the Rose School of Thought’s Witch King would, in the next second, turn into a rabbit or a goat, “losing” the vast majority of his traits and Beyonder abilities. However, his body only gave off a faint glow and underwent no change.

His chest and abdomen were exposed. Embedded there was a long, thin, yellowish-brown puppet.

The puppet seemed to have grown out of the Witch King’s body, connected to his internal organs. Its eyes and mouth were like crescent moons. Dried flowers and withered grass had been planted across its surface, giving it an indescribably uncanny air beneath the moonlight.

All at once, the puppet was dyed scarlet, as if soaked through with blood.

It then softened visibly, becoming a puddle of rotten mud leading directly into the Witch King’s five viscera and six bowels.

From within that rotten mud, an arm reached out.

Across its surface flowed a black, sticky liquid. One strange protrusion after another bulged from it: some were skulls, some were thorned tongues, and some were three-dimensional eyes.

Abomination Suah!

This leader of the Rose School of Thought, an existence of Sequence 1, had descended from afar using a prearranged setup!

The evil aura instantly caused the surrounding Rose School of Thought members and their vassals to either drop dead, mutate, or madly attack their own allies. Aside from that Witch King, not a single one was spared.

…

West Balam, a certain port city.

The Witch King Karaman, who had become the supreme ruler of this place, stood on the top floor of what had originally been a Church of Evernight cathedral, looking down upon the city with its sparse points of light.

Inside a house not far away, Emlyn White glanced at Sharron, who sat in a chair like a doll, and took out a bronze box inlaid with multiple rubies.

Inside the box was an eyeball-like glass orb. This was the Sun-domain Grade 1 sealed artifact Emlyn had applied for from within the Sanguine. It was called Pure White Sight.

It was extremely effective against demigods of the Mutant pathway and Witch Kings. In some respects, it could even be called a counter.

Of course, it would not become merciful or kind just because Emlyn and Sharron were Beyonders on the same side.

Seeing Sharron nod gently, indicating that there was no problem, Emlyn’s body abruptly turned illusory and broke apart into piece after piece of bright, bewitching red scale within the moonlight shining into the room.

On the top floor of the nearby cathedral, Karaman, with his fluffy, black-and-white hair, paced back and forth a few times. He responded with a cold sneer to the matter of the city’s Nighthawks and Mandated Punishers having evacuated early with Loen immigrants and taken all the sealed artifacts away:

“If it were only Beyonders, escape might not be impossible. But with so many ordinary people, how can they conceal their transfer? I do not need to send anyone to track them. As long as I block the surrounding places where ships can dock and food can be obtained, they will collapse on their own…”

While muttering soundlessly to himself, this Witch King, who had been active on the Southern Continent since the early Fifth Epoch and was even suspected by some of having long since died from age, turned his gaze outside the window and stared at the crimson moon high in the sky.

The earlier abnormal phenomenon of the “red moon turning white” had allowed Karaman to sense the Primordial Moon’s anger, leaving him unsettled and uneasy all this time.

He had become a believer of the Primordial Moon step by step while studying mysticism knowledge such as the natural interaction method and secret-contract rituals.

Normally speaking, a Witch King could live to one thousand years of age with relative ease. But after that, physical decline, irreversible aging, and the decay and corruption of the spirit body would inevitably appear. Thus, one thousand two hundred years was often the natural limit for Witch Kings and Sanguine earls. If one wished to continue living, one could only rely on all kinds of methods to prolong life, such as sealing oneself and sleeping inside a coffin deep within an ancient castle.

Karaman remained full of energy at nearly fourteen hundred years old, requiring no reduction in activity, because he had once received a bestowment from the Primordial Moon.

This was also the reason he had disappeared for so many years.

Later, he received a revelation from the Primordial Moon and joined the Rose School of Thought.

In this regard, Karaman had always been somewhat doubtful. At times, he believed the Mother Tree of Desire and the Primordial Moon were one and the same, different faces of the same great existence. At other times, he felt that the Mother Tree of Desire and the Primordial Moon were not only entirely different, but perhaps even held a deep contradiction between them.

This led to a situation where those Primordial Moon believers who later joined the Rose School of Thought never received enough importance. Apart from being gifted some items, they were all assigned to noncritical positions.

Just as Karaman focused on feeling the red moon, trying to receive revelation, within the crimson moonlight scattering over the cathedral bell tower, piece after piece of scarlet, pure light-scale surfaced, gathering together into Emlyn White in formalwear and a bow tie.

Behind this Sanguine spread dense black gas, forming a pair of illusory bat wings.

Emlyn had long since taken the corresponding potion to eliminate his own scent and spiritual fluctuations, allowing himself to approach the target in concealment.

Of course, his target was a demigod—a Sequence 4 demigod of the same pathway. Even with thorough preparation, he did not dare get too close, or he would easily be discovered.

After glancing at the window of the room where the Witch King Karaman was located and spending one second examining the reflection on the glass, Emlyn White opened the ruby-inlaid bronze box and, with his left hand wearing a black velvet glove, picked up the Pure White Sight.

His expression immediately twisted for a moment. He experienced the agony of being fully exposed beneath scorching sunlight.

Enduring that sensation, Emlyn brought the transparent eyeball-like glass orb before his right eye.

All the buildings ahead abruptly “vanished” from his sight, leaving only figure after figure that was either cold and crimson or depraved and evil.

Among them was one figure like a gigantic black vortex, madly devouring the surrounding light and distorting even itself.

That was precisely Emlyn’s target: the ancient Witch King, Karaman.

A point of light immediately lit up, condensing into a blazing, dazzling ray that shot from the Pure White Sight and headed straight for the figure behind the glass window.

[1] Adapted from the Old Testament, Book of Job.