Chapter 526: More Terrifying than the Heirs of the Sun
This novel is translated and hosted on bcatranslation.com
Heidi’s anxiety grew as the number of invaders swelled far beyond her expectations. She had previously encountered cultists bound by dark pacts, but they were still fundamentally human. Using her specialized skills, she had found it straightforward to counteract them. However, these new adversaries were of an entirely different nature. Clad in black, these beings resembled nothing of humanity. They were the direct descendants of the Sun, emissaries of a fearsome and enigmatic force.
These beings, tainted incarnations of the Black Sun, did not think or reason like humans. Their alien and inscrutable minds rendered Heidi’s expertise as a mental therapist ineffective. Faced with such an adversary, her tools and techniques felt suddenly insufficient.
Nonetheless, Heidi, often called Miss Therapist, took a steadying breath. She tightened her grip on the shimmering golden spike she held. The Sun’s progeny were known for their profound disdain for sentient life, their malice unwavering and all-encompassing. Diplomacy was not an option. The presence of a formidable witch, Ms. Lucretia, complicated matters. Though Lucretia projected an aura of menace, Heidi secretly hoped she might intervene if things took a dire turn.
Heidi’s thoughts were interrupted by a fast-moving silhouette. A black-clad figure lunged at her with blinding speed. In that fleeting moment of distraction, she felt an excruciating pain in her abdomen. Glancing down, she saw a dark tendril embedded deep within her, a lethal wound inflicted. The shadowy assailant became slightly discernible at the tendril’s far end.
As Heidi’s form began its descent to the ground, her primary consciousness seamlessly shifted to an alternative persona standing nearby. This new manifestation lunged at another incoming shadowy enemy with the golden spike. Simultaneously, she positioned a revolver to her temple and squeezed the trigger without a second thought.
A fresh persona materialized, stepping in for the one she had momentarily relinquished.
Multiple figures clad in black converged on Lucretia. These entities seemed to glide rather than walk, their presence corroding the environment. The air tore apart and the ground fragmented under their ominous aura. Each step eroded reality itself.
Lucretia, with an ethereal finesse, danced around their every assault. With a predator’s grace, she closed the distance on one of her assailants from behind. Before this dark figure could sense her proximity, she lightly tapped a finger on its shoulder.
A shrill scream erupted from the creature. Amidst this cacophony, a distorted voice resonated within the minds of both women: “You have witnessed him; your end is inevitable here!”
Lucretia responded with icy disdain, “Your grotesque ‘kin’ is of no interest to anyone. It’s time for you to bloom.”
The creature conjured shadows under its cloak, forming a menacing weapon. But Lucretia had already glided away. Where her finger had touched, an unusual color began to stain the entity’s shoulder. This vibrant pigment spread rapidly, morphing into luminescent flowers and aggressive vines. With a chilling symphony of rupturing flesh and the creature’s agonized screams, these plants consumed the being entirely.
However, the fall of one did little to deter the advancing horde. The ambient sounds of the forest were masked by the rustling of many cloaked entities closing in. Emerging from the illuminated patches in the forest, their tall, shadowy forms began to circle Lucretia and Heidi, their malevolent energy palpable.
A crease formed on Lucretia’s forehead as she tried to comprehend the sheer number of attackers and their sudden manifestation within the dream. Her contemplation was cut short when several cloaked figures appeared right next to her.
Ready for them, Lucretia brandished what looked like a conductor’s baton, aiming it at the nearest foe. Just as she was about to unleash a spell or curse, a sudden wave of dizziness washed over her, momentarily disrupting her action.
A rush of wind, signaling an imminent attack, grazed past the witch. Fighting off her momentary weakness, Lucretia transmuted her form into a flurry of vibrantly colored paper fragments, scattering to safety. Reconstituting from this mixture of colors, she sharply turned to a particular direction, sensing the source of her momentary vulnerability.
Using her unique power of focus, a nebulous, swirling mass of smoke and dust manifested in the air. The smoke pulsated, taking on the semblance of a grotesque jellyfish. From this amorphous form, a dark chain extended downwards, solidifying into a link with a young man materializing from the air around them.
As this happened, one of Heidi’s humanoid avatars experienced a tremendous force of impact, propelling her backward and cleaving her in half. With her remaining energy, this manifestation raised her hand, firing three quick shots at the mysterious smoke jellyfish.
“Miss Lucretia! That’s the intruder I warned you about!”
With her customary cold demeanor, Lucretia responded, “You could choose a less grisly way to relay information.” She noted the fading form of Heidi’s projection, its lifeless eyes staring into the void, before raising her conductor’s baton just in time to parry an oncoming sharp tendril. She met the gaze of the newly emerged figure, the Annihilator, and questioned, “Are the deranged followers of the Nether Lord and the Black Sun now allies?”
The Annihilator, adorned in a blue uniform typically worn by medical staff, had a smug smirk. “I hadn’t intended on revealing myself, but it seems our temporary allies need support.” His eyes darted to Heidi’s futile attack on the smoke entity, unscathed by the bullets. He surveyed the scene – Lucretia and Heidi, both appearing worn from the relentless assault by the remnants. He then cast a glance upward, nodding subtly towards the fearsome celestial entity above.
“I trust you’ll hold up your end of the bargain; we’ll continue to excavate further.”
The sun overhead remained stoically silent, yet the radiance illuminating the forest below grew more intense, seemingly in acknowledgment.
Keep the promise? Excavate further?
These phrases uttered by the Annihilator caught Lucretia’s attention, but before she could ruminate on their implications, another assailant dressed in black materialized beside her. From the shadows, the creature’s arm transformed, revealing numerous blade-like limbs aiming straight for Lucretia.
In an instinctual response, Lucretia blurred into a spectrum of colors, reemerging meters away. As she did, she held out her conductor’s baton, pointing it threateningly at the approaching enemy. But in a fleeting moment of illusion, the perceived enemy morphed into a familiar figure.
Standing there was Tyrian, his face a mix of astonishment and concern. “Lucy, you’ve attracted quite a mess…”
The conductor’s baton that Lucretia clutched transformed into a wicked-looking death scythe. Without a second’s delay, she swung it with fierce determination, striking straight towards the head of the figure resembling Tyrian.
A mocking smirk crossed her face as the foe split cleanly in two, blood splattering across her visage. She looked defiantly towards the Annihilator, who watched from a distance, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “Is this the best you can do? Have you grown so accustomed to preying on the vulnerable minds of ordinary folks?”
The Annihilator remained silent, but the smoke jellyfish beside him pulsated in response. Almost immediately, a swift sound whizzed by Lucretia’s ear. Pivoting to the sound, her heart skipped a beat – standing there was her beloved clockwork puppet, Luni, its usually emotionless face now twisted in shock and fear.
Without missing a beat, her scythe danced upwards and descended in a swift arc, turning Luni into a cascade of metallic gears and ceramic fragments. Yet, before these shards could crash to the ground, they morphed gruesomely into gory flesh and blood.
As one illusory figure after another materialized, seemingly to torment her, Lucretia remained resolute. Taran El emerged as a shadowy replacement for one of the black-clothed remnants. With determination, Lucretia struck him down. Then the whimsical form of Rabbi the rabbit appeared, only to be met with the same fate. Even when Sara Mel, the esteemed governor of Wind Harbor, confronted her, she retaliated without hesitation.
Every step brought her closer to the Annihilator, whose demeanor now began to display a hint of desperation. However, her momentum slowed momentarily when a familiar and deeply personal figure materialized before her – her own father. Memories and emotions swirled within the witch, causing her to hesitate for the first time. But in an act of sheer willpower, she forced the flood of sentiments aside, raising her scythe to strike yet again, declaring, “Your psychological warfare has indeed advanced, but you still have a long way to go!”
But as the blade descended, something unexpected occurred. Lucretia failed to notice the fleeting expression of confusion on the Annihilator’s face. Her scythe suddenly erupted in eerie green flames.
Rather than meeting the blade with fear or resistance, the illusory figure of her father reached out and grasped it, a look of astonishment in his eyes. “Lucy, are you so disoriented that you can’t even distinguish real from dream?”
Frozen in place, realization dawned on Lucretia.
“This one… is real…”
xD
[ we’ll continue to ‘excavate’ further. ]
Maybe they are “excavating” the “true” reality, that what is behind the veil of safety that the sun projects onto the world.
I don’t think the enemy has the balls to impersonate Duncan lol.
Yeah, I was under the impression they’d be more terrified of the fake suddenly becoming real.
Are they even able tho? It has been confirmed that Duncan is at least as strong as gods in this world.
so, this chapter raised one question for me, was the excavation the reason the sun fragment fell? we can only wait and see!