Chapter 113

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Episode 25 - Angel Marionetists [3]

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The villagers slowly gathered around the jester.

The air filled with various emotions; some curious, others amused, and some full of anticipation.

Charlotte and I did not get too close, but we stayed close enough to understand what was happening.

I used my senses. Somehow, I had a feeling that something would happen at any moment.

Minutes passed, and the entire plaza had already become crowded with people.

The jester had done nothing; rather, he occasionally bowed, greeting the new people arriving.

The center of the plaza was surrounded in no time.

The murmurs and conversations among children and adults slowly began to fade.

The village chief seemed to have arrived based on the whispers I heard from some people.

He was an elderly man wearing a tailored suit. He held a cane, and his back was slightly hunched forward.

In any case, the old man smiled as he looked around, occasionally greeting a few people.

"The atmosphere here feels really strange, doesn’t it?"

"More or less."

Charlotte and I both sensed the strange atmosphere in the plaza.

Using my senses, I had not detected any suspicious movement whatsoever.

Perhaps because Luminus was a 10-Star and had highly developed senses.

The villains acted like ordinary villagers.

In any case, the minutes felt increasingly longer than usual.

Maybe it was some kind of paranoia, or perhaps I was simply waiting for something to happen so I could finally move my body.

Either way, the jester finally began performing different kinds of acts.

The children laughed, and the adults applauded whenever the jester did something funny or interesting.

The seconds began to feel slower.

The jester continued with the performances.

Some children approached him and asked questions, which the jester answered with a strange yet radiant smile.

Then more minutes passed. I asked Charlotte for the time, and it was close to 4 p.m.

I began growing impatient because nothing had happened yet.

But then, at that moment...

The jester took out three small spheres and rolled them between his fingers.

He performed a sort of trick with the spheres, but that was all.

However, when I used my senses once again, I instantly felt a familiar sensation.

’Power of Chaos...’

I used Mana Sense to search the surroundings and eventually focused on the jester’s three spheres.

"....!"

The Power of Chaos began increasing far too quickly and in an absurdly massive amount.

’A... bomb or something like that.’

Suddenly, the three spheres began to crack. Probably no one else could hear it, but I could.

Instantly, I used the Twenty-Four Steps of Space, appearing right in front of the jester.

The jester flinched, but then let out a smile.

"Too late, ha..."

The three spheres cracked, producing a loud sound.

The villagers and, especially, the Awakened noticed the Power of Chaos.

And just as the spheres were about to explode...

"Growing Flower."

I used my Trait’s Domain of Flower, Growing Flower.

The jester and I vanished from the plaza and appeared inside the Domain of Flower.

BOOOOM!!!

***

After leaving the Domain of Flower, I remained standing for a second before collapsing to my knees.

"Cough...!!!"

A mouthful of blood flooded my entire esophagus and throat before pouring out of my mouth.

Blood had also entered my airways and came out through my nose.

Since I was the owner of the Domain of Flower, if someone strong enough, or a chain explosion destroying everything in its path, shattered the entire domain, I would naturally suffer a backlash through my Circulation Veins.

I felt my blood boiling and the veins all over my body swelling.

Mana started moving far too quickly, tearing apart everything inside me.

Blood kept dripping onto the ground.

My body trembled as both hands pressed against the concrete floor covered in dust and small stones.

I couldn’t breathe because of the large amount of blood filling my airways.

’D-damn it... damn it...’

At the same time, I could sense dozens of individuals moving.

Their energy was obviously the Power of Chaos, but because I avoided the explosion, the Awakened had started to counterattack.

’At least... I saved the villagers.’

There were many Awakened. The jester had probably planned to sacrifice himself to kill or severely injure the powerful Awakened.

Because yes, there were truly powerful Awakened, and there were many of them.

***

Charlotte moved her legs and increased her speed using Stellar mana. Small stars shimmered around her figure.

In an instant, she arrived where Adel was lying on the ground.

The villagers had started running like crazy, trying to find a way to escape from the villains.

The Awakened began to fight.

But Charlotte didn’t care. The villains were few in number anyway.

The jester must have been the greatest catastrophe, probably, but Adel ruined it.

Charlotte searched through the few potions she had left.

In reality, she had used up most of them because of the training she received from Luminus in Chapter One.

In any case, Luminus had given both her and Adel a single potion, but of extremely high quality.

She quickly adjusted Adel into a favorable position to keep him from choking on his own blood.

The bleeding finally stopped shortly afterward. Then Charlotte used her mana, trying to stabilize Adel’s mana, which had suffered a backlash.

’I don’t know what he did, but he probably used some kind of Zone of Isolation, and because of the explosion, he ended up like this.’

In any case, he did what he had to do, and shortly afterward, Charlotte managed to stabilize Adel’s mana.

Then, after that, she brought the potion to her mouth. She didn’t drink the liquid, obviously.

Afterward, she held Adel’s head by the cheeks with both hands and brought him closer to her face.

The potion’s liquid somehow managed to go down Adel’s throat.

Charlotte had used mana to make sure he wouldn’t choke.

Shortly afterward, the potion took effect, and the thick, easily visible veins on Adel’s body disappeared.

Charlotte pulled her face away from Adel’s and took a deep breath.

"Hey, wake up, we don’t have time. We need to go after Isabella."

She shook Adel several times while yelling at him.

She remained like that for the next few seconds before Adel suddenly took a sharp breath.

He stood up almost instantly. Charlotte stepped back a few paces and then approached him again.

"Hey, are you okay? That was reckless, you know? Damn idiot."

She felt frustrated, but she knew Adel’s action had been the best choice they could make.

She had come close to losing her partner and possibly failing the Memory Gate cleanup.

Adel finally snapped out of his daze and shook his head.

"I’m... I’m fine, just mentally exhausted."

Adel used his senses while feeling an intense mental fatigue.

Even so, he used his senses and noticed all the movement, the mana, and the Power of Chaos clashing against each other.

Then he remembered something and said urgently:

"It’s true, Isabella, let’s go."

Charlotte sighed and followed Adel.

Along the way, they killed every villain they could.

Most of them were not strong. Probably the strongest ones were fighting against the most powerful Awakened who, unexpectedly, were in the village.

It might have been a small or medium-sized village with a few merchants.

But it was also a place where Awakened from all over usually passed through to restock supplies or rest for a while.

In any case, Adel and Charlotte did not take long to leave the plaza.

Villains kept appearing, but Adel killed them easily.

Before long, they left the village behind and ran toward the cabin.

But when they got close enough...

"..."

"...."

The first thing both of them noticed was a head split diagonally by a thin cut.

Then, the tree severed from the trunk.

And a few threads that only Adel could "see," nearly invisible to the naked eye.

He sharpened his senses and noticed that Luminus was shouting from quite a distance away while fighting someone.

’Isabella...’

The same dreadful thought crossed both of their minds.

Especially Adel’s, since he had been closer to her.

***

A couple of minutes earlier.

As usual, Isabella was swinging forcefully on the swing.

Even after Adel had scolded her for doing that.

His words went in one ear and out the other.

Isabella gazed calmly at the sky, but at some point, a voice reached her ears.

It was calm, unfamiliar, and somehow, Isabella vaguely remembered it.

"You’ve been doing well all these years."

Isabella slowly stopped swinging until the swing finally came to a complete halt.

Then she turned her head toward the source of the voice.

There stood a man wearing robes not too different from those worn by bishops, Popes, or any important figure within a church.

His hair was black, and his eyes held a strange dark emptiness that was impossible to properly describe.

Isabella’s expression barely changed. She was slightly surprised, but her emotions did not seem disturbed in any way.

The robed man smiled faintly, as if it were something warm.

But his smile only continued to widen, and at that moment...

"So you finally show up, you son of a bitch."

Luminus’s voice echoed powerfully.

She slowly stepped out from the cabin’s doorway, staring at the man with a calm smile.

Her killing intent was overwhelming to any ordinary person.

The man did not look at her. He simply gestured with his hands, and the next second...

Countless invisible threads emerged from every direction.

Luminus was not surprised, but her eyes locked onto Isabella, and the very next second...

Her expression changed.

The cabin was sliced diagonally apart.

And the tree was cut down as well.

But Isabella...

Luminus could not help but widen her eyes, yet she still failed to react in time.

It was completely useless. Half of Isabella’s body had been cleanly severed.

"It’s a shame, honestly. You were a good vessel... no, you were the best. But you rebelled against us and against my Lord."

Isabella fell onto her back as her vision became blurry. She looked at her small legs still lying where they had been before they finally collapsed as well.

Meanwhile, Luminus did not even have time to do anything, but the next second, she launched herself at the leader of the Church of the Black Dawn.