Chapter 385: Chapter 250: Night of Riots 2
Finally, from a distance, Liu Ling activated the Bronze Cauldron Han Danqing had left behind, inflicting Ten Times Gravity on Satan—this Alchemy Tool could be used without a Soul Link.
"Get ready. About eight minutes left, maybe sooner."
Zhou Chen looked toward the sky. As time passed, the turmoil continued to escalate. Amidst the spreading blood, fire, and death, the sins of humanity had accumulated to a terrifying degree. It was like a dam filled to the brim, bound to burst with cataclysmic force sooner or later.
Suddenly, a noise came from the end of the street. Two children, about elementary school age, were fleeing, crying and screaming themselves hoarse. Chasing them were several thugs wielding crowbars and baseball bats, laughing as they ran. Their weapons were stained with thick, sticky blood, and they treated the chase like a hunt.
Chengzi raised her gun, aimed at the thugs behind the children, and pulled the trigger, breaking their knees and rendering them immobile.
"Don’t come any closer!" Chengzi yelled. These children couldn’t withstand the psychic corruption emanating from Satan. If they got any nearer, they would likely lose their minds on the spot and twist into demons.
However, faced with such a terrifying disaster, the two children were already panicked out of their minds. They ran desperately toward what they believed was safety.
Chengzi gritted her teeth and rushed over to stop them. Scooping one up under each arm, she started carrying them out of the block, warning sternly, "Get out of here now if you want to live."
But the two children clutched at her, refusing to let go, and asked between sobs, "Why are my mommy and daddy fighting? Why has everyone gone crazy?"
"Why are they killing people... Why..."
Chengzi didn’t know how to answer. She could only send them away by force.
In this Hell on Earth, where everyone was madly unleashing their inner Darkness, there were some who remained temporarily unaffected.
These young, pure-hearted children.
They didn’t understand what was happening, why everyone had suddenly gone mad, why they had all turned into bad people. Why were they fighting? Why were they killing? Why were even their own mothers and fathers attacking each other like mortal enemies?
None of it made any sense to them.
It was like a horrible nightmare.
·
The sounds of crying and screaming rang out from every corner of the town.
Children stood by windows and on street corners, gazing around in a daze. Burning flames and billowing smoke reflected in their eyes.
These pure, innocent children stared out at a World filled with sin and suffering, witnessing the cruelest atrocities of the Darkness.
Looking at the ravaged streets and the adults who raged like Demons, they were utterly lost, weeping and wailing in despair.
’Someone, please save us!’
"What’s happening outside...?"
「Joey’s House.」
Four children stood by a second-floor window, watching the town go up in flames as terror washed over them.
BANG BANG BANG!
A violent banging erupted from the door downstairs.
Then came the sound of arguing. It seemed Joey’s parents were fighting with whoever had arrived.
Before long, several gunshots rang out. The four children shuddered in fright. A dark premonition filled Joey’s heart. He then saw several hooded figures fleeing, clutching their shoulders, as his own parents grabbed firearms and gave chase.
"Dad! Mom! Stop chasing them!" Joey opened the window and yelled, but his parents paid him no mind, quickly disappearing from view.
A short while later, apparently noticing the door was open, a few shady figures crept toward the house.
But they were driven off by a homeless man brandishing a wooden club.
Old Jack spat, pointed his club at the bandits, and cursed, "You dogs, brainwashed by the Illuminati! Get the hell out of here!"
The men exchanged glances. Seeing that Old Jack seemed unhinged, their malicious intent returned. They started to slowly circle him, but Old Jack was surprisingly alert. On top of that, he was incredibly strong. A few swings of his club had them howling in pain and fleeing in terror.
After chasing off the ruffians, Old Jack stared at the fire-lit town, standing frozen for a long while. Finally, as if compelled by some unseen force, he walked into the heart of the turmoil.
"Old Jack, where are you going?"
Joey and the other kids came downstairs and shouted after him, but Old Jack didn’t answer or even pause. He just kept walking and disappeared into the distance.
They hurried down to the basement, trying to get Renie’s attention.
Renie remained completely focused, shutting out the outside world. Sweat poured from her like rain as she worked the forge. Beneath her Forging Hammer, a sharp weapon was gradually taking shape.
"What do we do now? Is there any way to stop Father Natas?" Martin asked anxiously.
"I don’t know, I don’t know... We’re just kids," Joey sighed. "All we can do is pray that Mr. Smith and the others succeed."
No one spoke again. Silence and Fear spread through the basement.
·
Within the Barrier, Satan abruptly opened its six pairs of Demon’s Eyes. The metallic paper covering its face spontaneously burst into flames.
With a twist of its body, the steel javelin piercing its chest shattered.
"Just how many Supernatural Powers are there in this World that I don’t know about..." Satan murmured, straining with all four limbs to break free from the Thick Earth Arrow’s suppression.
Zhou Chen’s expression was grim. He conjured a massive Fireball and blasted it downward. Satan shrieked in pain and convulsed. Though bathed in fire, its body showed no damage; it only felt an unbearable, burning agony in its mind.
It was growing stronger and stronger. Even when its Soul was damaged, its terrifying regenerative speed healed the wound in an instant.
RATTLE... RATTLE...
The four iron chains rattled as it struggled, and the Thick Earth Arrow was slowly being pulled out of the ground.
"Twenty times gravity!" Liu Ling yelled, gritting her teeth and cranking up the power.
Yet even a force of twenty times normal gravity only managed to slow Satan’s movements by a fraction.
Chengzi opened fire frantically. Each Alchemy Bullet was capable of inflicting massive damage on creatures of Darkness, yet they couldn’t even penetrate Satan’s scales.
Zhou Chen channeled the Hammer of Forging’s "Fragilization" through the four iron chains again, using his Cyan Flame as a medium. The last time he had used this Ability, he had easily destroyed the Demon’s limbs. This time, however, Fragilization only managed to make its scales brittle enough to crack and flake away.
In just one minute, Satan broke free from the restraints of the Thick Earth Arrow and the Light Net. It then countered the Cyan Flame with its Fury Fire and used its Maw of Gluttony to devour the chains.
Before the Maw of Gluttony, the special alloy chains were as brittle as crackers. They were snapped apart in a few crunchy bites.
It reached the Barrier and, ignoring the searing pain, pressed its palm against the curtain of light.
In the center of its palm, the Maw of Gluttony opened wide and chewed a hole through the light screen.
The corner of Zhou Chen’s eye twitched. ’That’s Holy Light, the ultimate counter to creatures of Darkness! Even if it eats it, it should burn itself... Is its infinite regeneration really that incredible?’
As it turned out, it really was that incredible.
"You lot have some skill. Why not become my servants?"
Satan spoke suddenly, its gaze sweeping over Zhou Chen and the other two. "Submit to me, and I will spare your lives. You can even become one of the future rulers of this World."
Its six pairs of eyes began to faintly glow.
"Don’t look! Don’t listen!" Zhou Chen shouted, averting his gaze from Satan. He pulled the Soul-Shocking Copper Whistle from his clothes and blew it. The piercing sound made Liu Ling’s and Chengzi’s heads ring, but it also snapped them out of their bewitched state.
They looked bewildered and instinctively took two steps back.
They had been avoiding looking directly at Satan to prevent psychic corruption. In other words, Satan had managed to enthrall them with its words alone.
A moment ago, they had actually wanted to become Satan’s servants...
SNAP.
With a soft snap, the final seal shattered, disintegrating into a rain of light fragments. Satan was free.
The very next instant, there was a deafening boom.
Zhou Chen was sent flying into the sky.
