Chapter 293: Chapter 140: Dawn, Sacrifice
"The Forbidden Item... the Coffin... is unsealed!"
"Hee-hee-ha-ha-ha-ha..."
Ales gazed at the coffin before him, which looked like a work of art. Dozens of glowing blue gemstones were embedded in its silver-white body. Intricate, twisting patterns radiated from these gemstones, snaking up to the lid and connecting with the starry-sky motif there.
"It’s so beautiful," Ales said, extending his right hand to gently caress the coffin. "This is what will resurrect me..."
The malice surrounding him seemed to respond to his joy. Countless tiny black bolts of lightning snaked out, slowly spreading throughout the entire confessional. They even pierced through the cathedral walls, faintly attempting to connect with the overwhelming malice that rained down from the sky upon the army of Holy Professionals.
SNAP.
Old Jack waved his hand, raising an energy shield to block the tiny bolts of lightning. A look of deep sorrow flashed across his face.
’Too many people have died tonight...’
Seventeen years ago, with Bishop Andrews’s tacit approval, Old Ernst had coerced the Noble Committee and some high-ranking members of the Council into orchestrating the destruction of the Secret Investigation Department, all to force Ales to submit.
The outcome was just as they’d hoped: the Secret Investigation Department was crippled, and a severely wounded Ales could only survive under the protection of the City-State Governor, Samir Stankic.
What they didn’t know, however, was that from that day forward, Ales had resolved to make them all pay...
Old Jack knew all of this.
But as he watched this disaster engulf the entire Caster City State—watching countless commoners die gruesome deaths, watching the nobility get decimated, the Council crumble, and the Church of Dawn collapse—his heart still couldn’t be at peace.
Thinking of this, Old Jack gently placed Clelia’s body on the oak table behind him. He looked at her intact head and feet, and her twisted body, which had been drained of all blood and moisture by some immense force.
"Shall we begin?"
"Of course, of course." Ales turned around, a strange, dark smile twisting his lips. His hand remained on the coffin. "We’ll wait for Tina and the others to crush the army of Holy Professionals..."
"Mm."
"Let’s go. It’s time to head to the final location..."
Old Jack sighed softly and followed him out of the confessional.
...
...
"Damn it, wh-why is he here?"
Baron Seth looked in terror at the bodies scattered across the ground. There were nobles, City Guards, and Shadow Killers. Without exception, their heads were separated from their bodies. They even had a wide smile plastered on their faces, mouths stretched to their ears, as if they had welcomed death with joy.
"Hum hum ha, the night’s a crazy crone, up all night and all alone, beating her black-flowered drum, THUMP-THUMP-THUMP..."
"Hum hum hey, the sun’s a squinty eye, wobbling all day, all day, causing fires, causing the earth to sink away..."
"Oh my my, the Storm’s a horse-and-bug, hooking up with ghosts, and birthing them one by one..."
And that wretched clown, while humming his awful song and taking light, dancing steps, casually tossed aside the head he was carrying, as if it were a toy he’d grown tired of.
Baron Seth trembled, his body wracked by fear of the out-of-control Forbidden Item and the gnawing worry that their entire plot was about to fail.
’The Count... yes, Count Ernst! He must have predicted this. I have to go!’
With that thought, he scrambled and ran toward the Council hall.
The other nobles who had miraculously survived did the same, desperate to put as much distance as possible between themselves and that damned, out-of-control Forbidden Item.
"Hee-hee-ha-ha, I miss home too, Tina..."
The clown giggled as he drew closer to Krimms Cathedral. When he saw the Holy Professionals radiating a golden glow, he laughed even louder and even gave them a seemingly friendly wave.
"The show was spectacular! The audience loved it, they all loved it, and you’ll love it too... Hee-ha-ha..."
In the clown’s eyes, his surroundings were merely a grand theater. He was simply moving from one stage to the next, with the audience naturally changing with each new scene.
"Praise the Dawn! We pray you bless us with your radiance and send down your grea—"
The Holy Professionals in the plaza outside the Cathedral were still unleashing their Power of Faith with all their might, praying for the Lord of Dawn to grant his divine favor and drive away the terrifying figure before them.
But as the clown approached, the Holy Professionals at the very front discovered in horror that they were unable to speak, unable to move, and couldn’t even turn their eyes to check for danger. They could only stand there stunned, despairingly awaiting the descent of the black lightning.
BOOM!
The collision between the black lightning and the golden radiance unleashed a violent whirlwind. It swept up the bodies of the Holy Professionals, who had been manipulated by the clown and then killed by the lightning, and flung them in all directions.
"Huh?!"
"Watch out!!"
The Holy Professionals at the rear, particularly the Ascetics in the center, saw the swath of death at the front, along with the growing number of Guardian Knights standing motionless, stripped of the protection of the Dawn Radiance. They hurriedly shouted, "There’s a bizarre power at work!"
"Is that... is that someone dressed as a clown?"
Among the crowd, a Holy Professional who had witnessed the clown’s rampage before saw the figure leaping toward them. As the image superimposed itself on the terrifying memory, they couldn’t help but cry out, "The Forbidden Item is out of control!"
"Out of control?!"
"Everyone, fall back! Do not break formation!"
"Stay away! Stay away from him! Don’t let him get close, or we’re all dead!"
At the command, the formation of Dawn’s Holy Professionals retreated in perfect unison—one step, then two...
Their movement, however, did not interrupt their chanted hymns. The Dawn Radiance above their heads moved steadily with them, away from the Demon Clown.
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