Chapter 61: Crimson Moonlight
It was midday, yet the sky was filled with an ink-like darkness, even the warm sun losing its brilliance.
A shocking crimson flowed across the ground, almost forming a river. The girl’s expression was frozen in a moment of astonishment, the blood staining the ground making her skin appear deathly pale.
Unexpectedly, the Company had made its move. The impending storm in Victoria was gently stirred by a blood-red rose, shattering the last vestiges of calm before the tempest.
This tragic scene marked the beginning, the sound of shattering deafening.
…To target Luo Ling’s team, the Company didn’t need to expend much effort or lay elaborate traps.
They didn’t need a conveniently timed Incubation Barrier, a lucrative B-rank commission, or meticulous preparations that delayed execution for days.
The reason was simple.
Because… they were simply too weak.
Compared to the Hunt team, the entire Twintails team had only one High-Order Awakened One, and she had only recently been promoted, still adapting to her new abilities and power. Her combat strength was considerably weaker than the average Seventh-Order Awakened One.
The Hunt team, on the other hand, openly boasted six experienced Eighth-Order Awakened Ones, all battle-hardened elites.
Even excluding the traitor, Frick, their strength still far surpassed the Twintails team. They also had Linna, who wielded secret techniques and could, under specific circumstances, confront Ninth-Order Awakened Ones or even higher. They were truly an elite team at the pinnacle of human strength.
Even the directors themselves would struggle to silently eliminate all members of the Hunt team.
That’s why the Company and the Torchbearers had to meticulously set a death trap, luring the Hunt team step by step into the abyss of sacrifice.
But what did the Twintails team have?
Only a few fragile lives. There were countless teams like them in Victoria. For the Company, crushing these delicate flowers was merely a flick of the wrist, a trivial matter.
Their deaths and withering were but insignificant specks of dust beneath the wheels of history.
However, Luo Ling hadn’t expected Eve to be the first victim, not herself or Elsa.
Besides killing her, the enemy seemed to have other objectives.
“Captain!”
“Sister Eve!”
The sudden incident caused a brief panic within the team, but they remained relatively calm, not rushing towards Eve’s body.
The recent Incubation Barrier training had transformed the Twintails team. Even facing this sudden crisis, they didn’t lose their composure.
Cen Xiangyun and Elsa quickly took their positions, their nerves taut, wary of another attack from any direction.
At the same time, Lu Manqing quickly approached Eve, attempting to heal her.
Everyone present trembled slightly with tension, but they suppressed their emotions, avoiding looking at Eve’s gruesome state, preventing sorrow from dictating their actions.
The unknown enemy still lurked in the shadows. Even if Eve was truly dead, they didn’t have time to grieve, for the slightest carelessness could make them the next victim.
Lu Manqing even forgot about her beloved camera. Her usually cherished Polaroid lay on the ground, its casing cracked.
A half-ejected photo stuck halfway out of the camera captured the smiles of the five as they were about to leave.
And the owner of the camera, her hands trembling, carefully peeled back the girl’s torn clothes, attempting to heal and save her.
However, even Lu Manqing, as a doctor, found the gruesome state of Eve’s chest wound difficult to bear. Flesh and internal organs were mangled together, churned into a viscous mess like mud. An ordinary person witnessing this scene would likely be scarred for life.
How could anyone survive this?
Even using…
Before Lu Manqing could finish her thought, she heard Elsa’s anxious voice,
“Sister Manqing—”
Faster than Elsa’s voice was another swift sword glint, instantly robbing Lu Manqing of consciousness.
She only felt a sharp pain in her chest before her mind blurred, her vision darkening, the sounds around her becoming distant and drawn out.
The doctor’s body slowly slumped to the ground, joining the maid in the pool of blood.
Fortunately, her injury seemed to have deliberately avoided a fatal spot. She had merely lost consciousness from excessive blood loss and still had a faint pulse.
Under the dark sky, the seemingly omnipresent sword glint hung over them like the Sword of Damocles, poised to execute anyone present at any moment.
However, even in this situation, terror didn’t spread across everyone’s faces.
The moment Lu Manqing was attacked, Elsa had already pinpointed the source of the sword glint. She opened her mouth slightly, uttering a soft “Proverb,” targeting the presence hidden in the shadows.
At the same time, Cen Xiangyun’s Elemental ability was finally ready. She raised her ice staff, summoning a dense blizzard that swirled and surged around them.
However, the blizzard didn’t attack the target Elsa had pointed out, but instead spread out, enveloping the entire battlefield.
The swirling snow instantly obscured everyone’s vision, adding another layer of concealment under the pitch-black sky. Those caught within it would struggle to distinguish even the cardinal directions.
Cen Xiangyun sadly realized that the enemy hidden in the shadows possessed a strength they had never encountered before, at least equivalent to a Ninth-Order Awakened One or even stronger.
In just a single exchange, their strongest member, Captain Eve, had been killed, and in another moment of carelessness, even their field medic, Lu Manqing, had fallen.
And they didn’t even know where the enemy was, who they were, which Grotesquery they were, or… if they were even human.
This was beyond the Twintails team’s ability to handle. Continuing to fight would only result in more casualties. The priority was to immediately escape the Incubation Barrier and seek help from the Company.
While Elsa’s “Proverb” was in effect, Cen Xiangyun wanted to use the blizzard as cover to carry away Eve and Lu Manqing, who were lying in pools of blood.
She endured her grief and fear, maintaining her most energy-consuming blizzard ability to buy time for her teammates’ retreat.
However, how could the presence in the shadows not know Cen Xiangyun’s intentions? The enemy seemed determined to thwart her plan.
Even the shadow-filled blizzard couldn’t obstruct the enemy’s vision or sword glint.
Not long after Cen Xiangyun raised her ice staff, before the blizzard had fully formed, the incoming sword glint directly severed it. At the same time, a powerful mental force accompanied the sword glint, backfiring on Cen Xiangyun, who was already pushing her limits.
The broken ice staff fell to the ground, the scattered snowflakes forming only a thin layer that quickly melted away, leaving no trace.
Another failure.
The third member of the Twintails team fell. Cen Xiangyun coughed up a mouthful of blood, her eyes filled with bloodshot veins.
She tried to struggle, but to no avail. She finally closed her eyes and lost consciousness.
All of this happened in a flash. From the appearance of the first sword glint to Cen Xiangyun’s incapacitation, only a few breaths had passed.
Under the shroud of the dark sky, the Twintails team members fell one after another, until only two remained standing.
—Elsa and Luo Ling.
“Sisters…”
Elsa bit her lip, tears welling up in her beautiful emerald eyes, staring fixedly in a certain direction. She had locked onto the enemy’s position.
No matter what, now… she had to expose this villain!
When the enemy first attacked Eve, Elsa had already sensed the slight fluctuations and ripples of inspiration caused by the Incubation Barrier. When Lu Manqing fell, Elsa had pinpointed the general direction.
Now, a lean and wiry figure, concealed within the darkness of the Incubation Barrier by some artifact, had formed in Elsa’s mind.
Her eyes flickered with a strange crimson light, piercing the surrounding darkness.
A few more “Proverbs” rang out. The wiry figure, clearly having suffered from the “Proverbs” before, dodged with a wider berth, partially revealing their form from within the artifact.
“Now!” Elsa shouted, throwing a crystal vial. “Bella, go!”
The vial opened, and a tiny, sprite-like figure appeared, surrounded by a hallucinatory mist, a light, alluring laughter seemingly flashing within.
“Illusion, activate!”
Bella, who could only briefly manifest in the outside world, exerted all her power, using the “Beautiful Illusion” ability of the Nightmare Grotesquery to influence the slightly disheveled figure, luring them into a terrifyingly gentle dream.
Unfortunately, the illusion only lasted for a brief moment before the enemy forcibly broke free with their will. The gentle dream couldn’t trap them, only delaying them for half a breath.
However, half a breath in battle… was an eternity.
While Elsa was casting, Luo Ling had already moved.
When the figure in the shadows was forced to reveal themselves, the chilling glint of a blade was already upon them. As they struggled to break free from the dream, a deathly Sacred Tool struck their chest.
The Sacred Tool, “Absolute Blade,” possessed the power to kill any being.
Even the High-Risk Grotesquery, Puppet Ballad, couldn’t escape the death it delivered.
“…….”
The extreme danger finally forced the man hidden in the shadows to fully reveal himself. He held a three-foot long sword in his hand, blocking the Absolute Blade.
The always unstoppable Absolute Blade, capable of cleaving even non-living matter, was stopped for the first time by another weapon, halting before a grey short coat.
The handsome young man’s face was calm, only now showing a hint of regret. “I didn’t want to reveal my identity, but I really didn’t expect…”
To be forced to emerge from “Time” was truly embarrassing.
Moreover, it was at the hands of two juniors who weren’t even High-Order Awakened Ones… No, wait, the red-haired foreign girl beside him should be more than a Mid-Order Awakened One. There seemed to be an error in the Company’s files.
…But it didn’t matter. It wouldn’t make much difference, just a bit more effort.
He would just kill them all.
“It’s been a while, Mr. Cheng Jianming,” Luo Ling said slowly, her voice cold. “Or should I call you… Justice?”
“Either is fine,” Cheng Jianming nodded slightly, saying indifferently, “Believe me, I have no intention of crossing blades with you, but you are already marked for death. Even if I don’t do it, someone else will.
“Just because… you returned from that place.”
From the moment Luo Ling returned from the Realm of Nothingness with valuable information, Cheng Jianming had marked this pitiful black-haired girl for death in his heart.
Even after Luo Ling received the directors’ invitation and gained free access to the board, he hadn’t changed his mind. He knew the three shadows standing by the fireplace too well.
Compared to Cheng Jianming himself, the Company directors were truly unscrupulous, disregarding sacrifices, solely focused on achieving their ultimate goal.
In their words, sacrifices were unavoidable, all for the sake of saving a future that might already be beyond salvation.
Such people were the most terrifying.
The reason Cheng Jianming had later given Luo Ling the high-grade elixir, besides the part he had told her, was mainly to express the Torchbearers’, and his own, stance to the Company.
That’s why Cheng Jianming had personally visited the Company’s office, leaving the letter even when Luo Ling wasn’t there.
“At such a young and beautiful age, you shouldn’t be involved in these matters. These are the consequences of your own mistakes.” Cheng Jianming sighed inwardly. The next moment, his sword moved again.
But it wasn’t aimed at the black-haired girl in front of him, but at the red-haired girl further away.
His orders were to preserve Luo Ling’s soul, ensuring no damage.
To achieve this, killing her would be more troublesome and time-consuming. The only potential threat present was this Dream Path Awakened One named “Elsa.”
A Seventh-Order Awakened One could injure him if he wasn’t careful.
Therefore, Cheng Jianming’s plan was simple.
First, eliminate the troublesome Elsa, then slowly deal with the Company’s primary objective.
As Justice of the Torchbearers, making decisions for the organization was Cheng Jianming’s responsibility. Some called him cold-blooded, others cruel.
Cheng Jianming felt they were both right and wrong.
He was a sword.
Wielded by the Torchbearers or the Company, a sword to eliminate all unclean existences.
This was just a routine mission. Cheng Jianming had completed many before, and today would be no different. He would continue to do so in the future. This was the fate of a sword.
And as a pure sword, the only thing Cheng Jianming possessed… was unparalleled combat strength.
He had previously limited his power because he needed to conceal his identity within “Time,” unwilling to expose himself, which was why Elsa’s surprise attacks had succeeded.
But now… facing a fully drawn sword, Elsa, a mere Seventh-Order Awakened One, had no chance of resistance.
Soon, this sword would easily tear apart this lovely red-haired girl, adding another source to the pool of blood on the ground, insignificantly adding another speck of dust to the annals of time.
But at the moment the blade was drawn, its path was blocked.
“Drip, drop…”
The sound of water droplets falling on the surface.
The sound of blood dripping into the pool of blood.
Under the silent, dark sky, it was piercingly loud.
“Ugh…”
Cen Xiangyun slowly awoke from the backlash, her delicate but pale face etched with pain and tear stains. She heard the terrifying dripping sound and slowly raised her head, her face turning even paler.
Lu Manqing also awoke beside her, her lips bloodless, her eyes wide with shock and grief.
“No…”
Another blood-red rose slowly bloomed.
The gloomy black-haired girl, at the instant the blade was drawn, blocked its edge.
Her fragile body was torn apart by the terrifyingly close sword glint, as easily as tearing paper. The residual force of the blade pulverized her flesh and blood.
Cen Xiangyun and Lu Manqing, witnessing this scene, couldn’t utter a word. Their throats were choked with grief and rage, but they couldn’t even move a finger.
They could do nothing.
“……”
Looking at the mangled body on the ground, Cheng Jianming was silent for a moment, then sighed. “Why bother? You could have at least kept a whole body. Besides, in this situation… it’s difficult for me to report back.”
He looked at the stunned red-haired girl beside him and the two pairs of hate-filled eyes, knowing that after this battle, he would likely have to change his identity.
It didn’t matter. It wasn’t like he hadn’t done it before.
As long as the Torchbearers and the Company still needed a relatively sharp sword, he would never lose his value.
Whether his name was Cheng Jianming or Wu Jianming, the essence of a sword remained the same.
It was to kill.
“My condolences.”
Cheng Jianming bowed slightly to the two women who had unwillingly closed their eyes on the ground and the red-haired girl beside him, offering an apology of sorts.
Then, he took out a crystal ball, preparing to complete his other task for the day.
“The Grotesquery in the Boundary Collapse Incubation Barrier needs nurturing. An ordinary point requires at least one High-Order Awakened One… This is enough.”
Cheng Jianming spoke to himself, ignoring Elsa, as his objective had been achieved. Killing another would be a waste of effort.
Next, he just needed to wait for the phenomenon-type Grotesquery within the crystal ball to feast on the nutrients within the Incubation Barrier.
However…
Cheng Jianming waited for a while, but the crystal ball remained inactive.
“What’s… going on?”
Cheng Jianming frowned slightly, his gaze falling upon the mangled remains of the Iron Fist maid.
Within the “Purgatory” Incubation Barrier, shouldn’t anyone who died become its nourishment?
Just as Cheng Jianming was puzzled, a calm yet somewhat childish voice sounded from above, “Strange, isn’t it? Two people have died in the Incubation Barrier, but Purgatory hasn’t reacted at all.”
“Who!”
Cheng Jianming was startled, abruptly raising his head and looking towards the source of the voice.
He hadn’t expected another presence here that could evade his perception.
Atop the three-story apartment, a small, silver-white figure sat on the sloping roof, her bare feet dangling in the air.
The beautiful yet cold silver-haired girl looked down at him calmly, her faintly glowing grey eyes particularly striking under the dark sky.
A blood moon rose behind her, its terrifying crimson staining half of the dark sky.
Silver and crimson intertwined, the ghostly girl sitting beneath the blood moon.
“You are…”
Cheng Jianming recognized the silver-haired girl at first glance. The calmness he had maintained vanished, replaced by unconcealed panic.
“The answer is simple,” the girl said, looking down at him. “Because this is my Kingdom.
“In my Kingdom, I decide whether something falls into Silent Demise.”
The maid lying in the pool of blood below, her mangled flesh and organs began to churn. The bloody mess parted, revealing delicate, youthful skin.
Puppet Ballad’s first ability, Proliferation.
An ability born from the Silent Demise Path, it had saved countless lives on the verge of falling into Silent Demise.
“White Witch…”
Before Cheng Jianming could process his shock, he saw the previously stunned little girl suddenly become excited, waving her small hands at the figure on the roof, saying happily,
“Sister White, I knew you weren’t dead! Sister Eve isn’t dead either! Everyone will be alright!”
At this moment, Cheng Jianming finally realized something, his expression changing drastically. “Your team… actually colluded with a High-Risk Grotesquery, the infamous White Witch!”
“So what if we did? What are you going to do about it?”
Elsa stuck her tongue out at Cheng Jianming and hid behind Luo Ling, who had stepped off the roof.
Luo Ling, transformed into the White Witch, looked at the regenerating flesh with satisfaction and nodded. “It seems the clone I spent all night creating has achieved a level of realism.”
Not only could Elsa and her teammates not see through it, even Cheng Jianming, a Ninth-Order Awakened One who possessed the ability to use Authority-level Sacred Tools, had been fooled.
Luo Ling hadn’t stayed up all night doing nothing. She knew that she and her team likely couldn’t escape this tribulation. Even if they avoided this B-rank commission, there would be another.
And if they avoided that one, there would be yet another.
It seemed like a dead end.
Unless… she let the Company have their way.
…Then let them have their way.
Therefore, Luo Ling set her own trap. She hadn’t actually detected the hidden danger around the apartment. Cheng Jianming had done an excellent job preparing, avoiding virtually all detection.
This was his job.
Every one of Cheng Jianming’s jobs required him to evade the eyes of everyone in Victoria, including the Company and the Harbingers, creating one seemingly accidental tragedy after another.
And this time, the sudden Grotesquery Incubation Barrier and the unprepared low-level team would be the beginning of this tragedy.
However… the actors in this tragedy didn’t seem to be very obedient. The play had only reached its halfway point when they completely deviated from his carefully prepared script.
Even the seemingly perfect first half… had gone wrong.
Cen Xiangyun and Lu Manqing had indeed lost consciousness, but Eve hadn’t. Before Cheng Jianming could voice his intention to kill her, Luo Ling had already noticed.
Luo Ling’s preparations last night weren’t limited to a clone ready to die. She had also placed a safeguard on all her teammates.
Hidden within each of their hair were several strands of carefully prepared fungal threads.
Even so, Cheng Jianming’s hidden sword was indeed swift. The fungal threads on Eve alone couldn’t completely block the wound.
Fortunately, Luo Ling, whose main body was already outside, instantly transformed into the White Witch, using the power of her Authority, Kingdom, to save Eve’s life.
Moreover, Luo Ling thoughtfully used the fungal threads to sever all of Eve’s sensations, including pain. She hadn’t even felt the agony of being eviscerated.
With a snap, she had simply fallen asleep, all five senses shut down, her expression frozen in that instant.
In reality, when Lu Manqing tried to examine Eve’s wound, the flesh had already regenerated thanks to Proliferation, leaving only a pile of literal rotten meat for Lu Manqing to see.
Luo Ling’s subsequent “death” was even simpler. This was to leave a memory for Cheng Jianming.
As someone skilled in manipulating memories, Luo Ling knew that fabricated memories weren’t as impactful as real ones. The Company was so eager to kill her; they must be able to obtain what they wanted from her dead body.
Similarly, using the directors’ methods, Luo Ling could also let them obtain what she wanted them to know.
For example… that Luo Ling was dead.
It was enough for their memory tracing to stop here. No further performance was necessary. Puppet Ballad’s second ability, Read, would clean up any unnecessary traces.
“All your actions are within my calculations, Mr. Cheng Jianming,” Luo Ling said calmly, picking up the short sword, Absolute Blade. “Justice of the Torchbearers, your opponent is Sequence 49 of the Grotesqueries, the White Witch of Silent Demise.”
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