Chapter 292: “Ignorance is Bliss”
This novel is translated and hosted on bcatranslation.com.
Under the influence of the symbiotic pact, the spell meant to reveal the hidden knowledge of the shadow demon ended up being ineffective. The failure of the spell shocked the two Annihilators present even more than if they had seen a corpse rise from the dead.
Furthermore, the “death crow” was one of the most powerful shadow demons in terms of magical prowess.
A slender woman, clad in a black skirt, stared in disbelief at the figure standing quietly before her, who seemed to have been “resurrected.” At the same time, she sensed something amiss with the “death crow,” a being bound to her by chains extending from her collarbone. The shadow demon repeatedly sent out dangerous signals, even attempting to break the connection with its master and retreat to its mystical realm. Finally, she reacted, swiftly grabbing the chain beneath the death crow with one hand and clenching thin air with the other while locking eyes with Duncan: “Something is wrong… You are not the deceased… Who are you?”
“Before that, tell me who you are,” Duncan said, looking at the woman before him and then at the silent man nearby, who still held his “crowbar staff” and maintained a safe distance from him. “Let me guess… You are clearly not an envoy of the death god; you deceived the guard with… let’s say ‘deception skills.’ You came for me, or rather, for the body I am currently occupying. Am I right?”
The woman in the black skirt slightly parted her lips, her mouth moving as if to speak, but Duncan couldn’t make out her words. In the next moment, she abruptly raised her previously clenched right hand, and the faint murmur from her mouth turned into a spine-chilling shriek! At the same time, the “death crow” demon perched on her shoulder spread its wings wide. Bound by the symbiotic pact, this shadow demon was forced to suppress its innate fear and launch an attack on Duncan.
A palpable pressure emerged, accompanied by abnormal trembling and distortion of the ground beneath them. The earth around Duncan began to ripple like liquid, and several colossal black thorns, resembling bone spurs, erupted from the ground, curling around him!
However, Duncan showed no sign of evasion—mainly because his terrifyingly fragile temporary body couldn’t perform such quick maneuvers. He merely watched the approaching thorns as they encircled him.
Then, a radiant ghost flame burst forth from within the thorny snare, instantly reducing the spell-summoned thorns to a mound of ebony ashes, with a few scattered sparks fading into the wind.
“I told you, you’d be better off throwing that crow on your shoulder at me. That might actually scare me a little.”
Duncan sighed resignedly, but as his words trailed off, he felt a disconcerting sensation in his body.
He instinctively raised his hand, and to his horror, he saw cracks forming on both his hands.
These were not wounds inflicted by the earlier thorns but spontaneous cracks. As Duncan watched, the cracks continued to expand, as if the skin and muscles of this body had suddenly lost their vitality and suppleness, rapidly fracturing in the dry, icy air.
The cracks oozed only a meager flow of blood, while desiccated, shriveled fragments persistently fell from the wounds to the ground. Within seconds, Duncan could distinctly feel the already fragile body becoming even more delicate.
He observed the strange transformation of his body with a sense of wonder, then shifted his gaze to the woman in the black skirt across from him, “Is this another effect of the curse? Did it finally take hold?”
The woman in the black skirt seemed to still be reeling from the shock of the utter destruction of her “thorns.” Her complexion had grown notably paler, and the death crow on her shoulder drooped its head in exhaustion. However, upon hearing Duncan’s words, a faint smile appeared on her face, “Ah, it seems this body is nearing its breaking point… That makes things significantly simpler.”
“Nearing its breaking point?” Duncan echoed involuntarily, apparently inferring something from her words and demeanor. But before he could voice his thoughts, the woman in the black skirt issued a cold command, “Attack.”
Her command set the silent, gaunt man beside her into motion. He stared blankly at Duncan as the floating demon, resembling a combination of smoke and a jellyfish, pulsed rhythmically. A mass of dark matter, sizzling with vapor, burst from the jellyfish-like body, barreling toward Duncan like an incendiary projectile!
However, the “acidic cannonball” had already transformed into a faint green hue midway through its flight and crumbled before reaching its intended target. The dissolution was soundless and left no trace.
Duncan looked bemusedly at the exploding mass of dark matter, “I tried to tell you, this thing doesn’t…”
Before he could finish, the smoke and sparks hanging in mid-air had disappeared. As the smoke cleared, he noticed the silent man nearby lifting his staff toward him—its tip splitting in the middle, revealing a large-caliber gun barrel.
“Bang!”
The gun barrel erupted with a blast of flame, but the sound didn’t permeate beyond the mortuary platform—the woman in the black skirt had already raised her finger to perform a silencing gesture.
The large-caliber bullet sliced through the air, generating a muted rumble within the hushed vicinity. Duncan’s eyes tracked the bullet’s final trajectory, but he made no move to evade. He merely glanced sideways at the silent man, host to the jellyfish-like demon.
The next second, his vision plunged into darkness.
The potent impact of the specially crafted bullet obliterated his head, leaving nothing above his neck.
Duncan’s body swayed, stood still for a contemplative moment, raised its hand to probe the area above its neck, and found nothing. It then extended its hand toward the woman in the black skirt and the silent man, gesturing rudely before collapsing backward.
The woman in the black skirt fixated her gaze on the eerie and terrifying headless body.
She witnessed her partner blow the body’s head off with a single shot, watched the body raise its hand to feel its missing head, and saw the bizarre actions that a headless body shouldn’t be capable of!
Whatever it was, the entity that had inhabited that body had undoubtedly not perished! It had merely departed, a transient banishment.
Realizing the dangerous situation, the woman in the black skirt decided to abort the mission for the day. She quickly turned to her companion, “We need to leave. Once we’re out of the graveyard, signal the others. Something is critically wrong today…”
The taciturn man holding the peculiar staff remained frozen for a moment, as if failing to understand his companion’s urgency.
He stood in silence, and along the inky chain jutting from his throat, a fleeting spark of green danced and extinguished.
That spark had once traveled along the chain, seeping into his flesh and blood, indicating his heart was already set ablaze.
“Hey, are you listening?” The stern and impatient voice of the woman in the black skirt resounded again, “We must leave quickly, lest our commotion today attracts the guardian’s gaze!”
The lanky man with the staff nodded and gradually turned around.
“What just happened to you?” The woman in the black skirt scrutinized her comrade but quickly dismissed her concern, “Nevermind, let’s move at once, Duncan.”
“Indeed,” Duncan responded with a smile, “It wouldn’t do well to linger here.”
The woman in the black skirt nodded, preparing to turn around and head up the path, but just as she moved, the “death crow” that had always perched on her shoulder suddenly erupted into a harsh, eerie caw. The bones of the shadow demon rattled and the obsidian smoke swirled as it abruptly turned its head to fixate a stern gaze at Duncan, emitting peculiar cracking sounds while its wings flapped erratically.
Behind Duncan, the jellyfish-shaped shadow demon levitating in the air spontaneously combusted. Amidst the dense black smoke and blazing fire, the incorporeal jellyfish demon was reduced to cinders within seconds, and the chain binding the symbiote released a series of harsh clinking sounds, crumbling into fragmented links on the ground.
The woman in the black skirt abruptly froze, receiving an overwhelming sense of dread and a portent of doom through the death crow’s link.
She even vaguely experienced the visual feedback of the death crow’s gaze—when the demon on her shoulder turned to face Duncan, a jolt of pain surged through her brain, reminiscent of a needle’s prick. An indescribable array of distorted light and shadows swarmed her reddened vision, as though her retinas were set ablaze!
Typically, shadow demons don’t have hearts; they operate purely on instinct. When facing colossal danger, they wouldn’t extend the same courtesy to their masters as Dog would to Shirley, taking their mental well-being into account.
“Ugh—” The woman in the black skirt let out a low groan, instinctively backpedaling in pain and confusion. She found support on a nearby street lamp, her eyes wide with terror as she stared at the familiar yet alien, slender figure standing at the boundary of light and shadow, “What… what are you?!”
Duncan glanced at the grotesque skeletal creature perched on the woman’s shoulder (undeniably more repulsive than Ai) and then at the black ashes scattered behind him, sighing in regret.
“Ignorance indeed can be bliss,” he shook his head, “but it seems your fortune has worn thin.”
Bruh who is so stupid as to name their child Duncan in this era, no wonder they turned into a cultist
No, the cultist may not have been named duncan. She calls him Duncan because once captain takes over a body, their percieved name, and also their recorded name changes to Duncan as in Captain Duncan. Same thing happened in Pland.
People just like to forget key story elements while reading lol.
Hmmm… You seem to have misunderstood, the woman mentions Duncan because of Duncan manipulation of reality after the takeover.
This is also why the woman was confused by her (former) partner behavior.
When Captain Duncan possesses a body. It takes on his name even if they weren’t called “Duncan” same thing happened previously.
Reality is bending around him again.
My friend, nobody is called Duncan, it’s just that when he posses the body of someone reality distorts to make everyone believe that he is named duncan, name have power
Duncan: “Hippity Hoppity, your body is now my property.”
Hippity hoppity your REALITY is now my property.
Duncan: If Amon from Lotm was a mc