abcnovels
Chapter 167 I'll Hunt You Down
Chapter 167 I'll Hunt You Down
- POV General -
In the Kingdom of Zal, the country that lay to the west of the Dark Forest, there was a large city that served as the capital named Zalhythe. Time passed and the humans of the city became more and more tense as for a few days, army movements could be observed in the streets. The one and only Princess of the Kingdom was still missing and the King was preparing to leave.
2,500 Knights were camped outside the city gates, waiting for one thing: the signal to leave. Hundreds of men and women in armor were swarming, sweating, out of breath and still training. In just a few hours they would begin their march to the forest, and everyone felt eager and honored to be part of the Princess' rescue.
However, the Knights of the Kingdom were not the only ones who were impatient, for the Paladins of the Church of Humanity were also part of the expedition. Unlike the King's army, being less numerous, they were all within the walls of the main church. Located almost opposite the castle, this proud building was made of white stone that seemed to glow in the sunlight.
In this church, there was no armor, no sword, but simply men and women wearing white gowns, embroidered with golden threads. Everything was very quiet, no footsteps could be heard in the corridors and a very special atmosphere reigned within it. Like Freya's mansion, the church was built in such a way that each floor represented a particular rank.
The first floor was accessible to all the members of the church, but the higher you went, the more the floors were only accessible to a small number of faithful. The last floor was exclusively reserved for the Supreme, who was known for never leaving his quarters. Thus, apart from the Holy Scholar, Sage, his faithful right-hand man, the head of the paladins and a few important Protectors, no one had ever met him.
Still dressed in a bright red toga embroidered with gold thread with a black bird spreading its wings embroidered on the front, the Supreme stood there, sitting in the highest room. The same small golden crown was placed on his head and on a black veil going all around his head, hiding his face that even Sage had never seen. Was this "he" a "she" ? No one knew.
Seated on a marble throne in the center, the Supreme stood in a large room lit almost entirely by candlelight. Only the ceiling had a round window, the only one, allowing sunlight to fall on the marble throne. Various large statues of people from different eras stood proudly against all the walls of the room, giving it the look of a solemn crypt.
Sage the Holy Scholar stood before the throne of the head of the Church and waited. Behind the Supreme was a small staircase that led to a platform where pages from an extremely old journal were displayed. They were protected by a cage made of glass, completely surrounding the Church's treasure. Like the many countries of the world, the Church had inherited part of the journal written by "The Liberator" during the Age of Extinction.
In an ominous silence, under the eyes of Sage, the Supreme then rose from his throne to walk around it and towards his treasure. His large red robe lay on the floor and although it was loose to hide his body, he moved with ease. Walking slowly up the steps, the head of the Church finally stopped in front of these pages, just before turning to address the only one present.
"Sage...if you are sure you have observed everything correctly, the prophecy and the mysterious voice were right. There is indeed a being similar to this monster that appeared during the darkest years of humanity. But it is even worse than we thought..."
As he paused in his sentence, small sounds of flapping wings could be heard over their heads. Looking up, the only two people in the room could see a small brown bird fluttering back. The ceiling window was not open, but just as it was about to hit the glass, it disappeared. The brown bird had disappeared and was replaced by a gray cloud passing through the window.
At that moment, the Supreme's head could be seen following the strange smoke while Sage's eyes were no longer green but completely white. His long grey hair was floating at the back of his head, while the smoke was coming into his hands. The bird that brought the boy his daily pills was actually created by magic. The Holy Scholar himself controlled this magic, having perfected it over the years.
As Sage slowly came to his senses, his body wavered slightly as he slowly closed his eyes. The Supreme was still watching him with a watchful eye, hidden by his black veil that covered his entire face. After a few seconds, the Holy Scholar opened his eyelids again, revealing his green eyes as the androgynous voice of the head of the Church finally rang out.
"Sage...are you sure you saw a creature with white hair and violet eyesn? You say moreover that it is a child ?...How strange..."
"I am sure of what I saw your Excellency. I followed that hybrid thing you sent into the forest and observed everything with the eyes of the bird. Although my eyesight is not very well suited, I clearly saw a small creature similar to this description in a place that looked far more advanced than a simple camp."
The bird was purely the creation of Sage who, thanks to his element "Smoke", could materialize many living beings and take their place. He had therefore, at the cost of enormous exhaustion, used his mana for three days to watch over the young dragon. The latter had a seal containing Sage's mana placed on his lower back, allowing the Holy Scholar to find him anywhere.
Not only could he track him no matter where he was, but he could also transmit some messages to give orders and so the head of the Church was able to order the young hybrid to bring back the little Princess of Elysium. While the Supreme was thinking, Sage, who had a serious face, took the floor again to share the rest of his discoveries of the most worrying for them.
"I didn't see everything in detail but this creature, so small that I observed, was standing in some sort of small castle that sat in the middle of a town to the west of the Dark Forest. I wasn't able to see the town but it looks like over 200 subraces are clustered in this place. I know it's hard to believe but..."
Sage didn't even have time to finish his sentence when the Supreme cut him off with a different air than usual. His voice, although still androgynous, had become cold, trembling and paralyzing. Every word he spoke echoed in the huge room and made the atmosphere disturbing. The Holy Scholar dared not move and clenched his fists to stay upright as a black aura emerged from his Excellency.
"The situation is much more serious than I thought. Even if this creature has reappeared in the form of a child, it is still dangerous ! And then a city...how is it that a damn subrace city could have been built in this world without anyone knowing ??"
The more words came out of his mouth, the more the black aura spread through the room at an incredible speed. All the candles were extinguished, daylight no longer entered and a thick black fog filled the room. At that moment it was impossible for Sage to see anything because he closed his eyes trying to bear the pressure which was not even representative of the power of the Supreme.
With his eyes closed, the Holy Scholar could not see the red glow that shone discreetly and very slightly behind the black veil hiding the face of the head of the Church. A violent wind was coming out of his body and his big red toga was flying more and more powerfully. And then, suddenly, as quickly as this black aura had spread, it disappeared in an instant, while the Supreme one calmed down.
"Ahem...I let my anger get the best of me for a short while, that is absolutely not worthy of me. Sage ! Continue to watch every move of our experiment and make sure it takes its pill every day. If it should disobey, let me know right away !"
"Yes your Excellency !"
The Supreme had given his orders as he returned to sit on his marble throne, bathed in light once again. The room was back to normal and although the candles had not been relit, the sun's rays were still streaming down its center. As the head of the Church rested his elbow on the right armrest, he placed his hand under his chin, questioning his faithful Guardian and Paladin.
"That stupid King's Knights are positioned at the front of the capital and are ready to go aren't they ? How's that working out for us ?"
The head of the Church had looked up at Sage to question him again. The Holy Scholar was shaking slightly, recovering from that dense mana attack as he answered. His voice was shaking, his hands were clammy, his legs were firmly planted on the ground so as not to wobble, and despite the shaking, he answered.
"I...as you requested, 400 Paladins are also ready to go at any time, ranging from level 20 to level 35. The...the two small armies are ready and just waiting for confirmation that there is indeed something in the Eastern Forest."
"That's not enough ! Add another 100 Paladins and warn the King that our troops can leave tomorrow at dawn !"
"Well your Excellency !"
As Sage bowed and walked out of the room to execute the requested changes, the head of the church remained. He nervously patted the marble armrest and mumbled words to himself while remembering that strange voice. Several weeks ago, an unknown voice had whispered to him in his dreams, a few words that seemed more and more true. Alone in the room, the Supreme One was muttering those same words.
"When humanity is at its peak. A terrifying beast from another world as beautiful as it is ruthless, as cold as ice, will rise up against you and disrupt the order of the entire world and plunge it into chaos."
For him everything fit, the discovery of the little white-haired girl and this warning that had been sent to him from nowhere. At that moment, an urge to raze the whole forest went through him as he contained his aura this time. He was alone so no one could see him slowly get up while leaning on his arms with difficulty. Compared to earlier, the Church leader looked strangely weak as he murmured.
"Just a little more...just a little more and I could soon have this little creature for my experiments. All my life I have been working for this very moment and nothing and no one can stop me from accomplishing my goal."
The Supreme spoke to himself as he moved his body slowly before taking a deep breath and standing up straight. Once again, his posture changed from that of a weak person to an upright, proud and confident one. The leader of the Church had resumed his usual posture and as he walked to the back of the room, his voice rose softly in the room.
"I managed to crossbreed two totally different species and the result although a bit messy is not bad. This ancient earth dragon that I acquired ten years ago has been an excellent guinea pig for a useless being. Now...all I have to do is get that purple-eyed, white-haired thing from the Dark Forest and...my research will finally be complete..."
As he took one last look at the door to the room, he stopped in front of an empty wall before raising a gloved hand and placing it against the wall. The next moment, a secret door opened to reveal a set of stairs that the Supreme quickly descended. The place was dark and there was no light in the long black corridor, but the leader of the Church descended without fear before arriving at a small wooden door.
"Soon...soon you will find yourself here, little girl, harbinger of chaos..."
As he spoke these words, he pushed open the door and entered a medium-sized room. Faint noises could be heard from everywhere as he snapped his fingers and the light finally came on. In this secret underground room was the place where all the experiments of the head of the Church took place, where the young dragon had spent most of his life.
There were many tables made of wood, iron, where straps were placed on each side to hold the subject in place. The floor was covered with blood, vomit and many liquids both bodily and magical. A smell of death was rising in the room, accompanied by the smell of excrement and all kinds of putrid odors that it was better not to breathe through the mouth.
All along the walls were huge cages containing many non-human children, all victims of the Supreme's cruel experiments. Some had their limbs cut off, their eyes gouged out, others had developed diseases, infections and none were healthy. Their shallow breaths rose to the ceiling and the scene before the newcomer's eyes could make any warrior falter.
Yet, without a glance for his young subjects who were dying slowly, the head of the Church walked with a determined step to the back of the room. There, there was a table with many bloody utensils next to a little 7 year old girl rabbit tied and gagged. She was missing a leg, an ear, all her teeth, her hair and a few pieces of skin that now littered the floor.
This little girl's eyes were completely empty, her face swollen from crying and her tongue dried out from screaming in pain. On her bare chest a seal had been drawn with a knife, the dried blood of which was already beginning to fester into a yellowish, purulent liquid. Her eyes were almost falling out of their sockets and even if the poor child was still breathing, she didn't have long to live.
The Supreme, glancing briefly at the unfortunate child, showed not the slightest sign of remorse and as he approached the table, he began to gently caress the extinguished face of his latest victim as if he loved her dearly as he spoke in a high-pitched, mad voice.
"It seems that I have found a creature similar to the one that almost caused our downfall. Little girl from the Dark Forest...you'll be on this table soon and I'll finally get what I'm looking for hihihihihi~ I'll hunt you down to the ends of the earth and that's even if a terrifying monster were to stand in my way! hahahaHAHAHAHA~"
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FULL STATUS
Names : Freya / Lucifer Nightshade
Age : 0 years old / Mentally : 25 years old
Sex : Female
Course: Ice Demon Wolf of Chaos - Adult
Race : Imperial Demon
Titles :
- Demon Goddess of Primordial Blood and Death (former - until all powers are regained) - 20%.
- Wrathful Lucifer (7th Sin) - Master of the unique Sins Demons (to unlock it please collect the other 6 - 3/6 - (locked)
- Dragon tamer
- Ruthless slayer
Level : 45/70
Exp needed for next level: 0 / 46 000
HP : 80 600 / 170 000 MP : 32 610 / 85 000. BLOOD : 100 / 100
Strength: 560
Defense : 560
Agility : 566
Endurance: 563
Speed : 562
Intelligence: 560
Charisma: 500 (imperial she-wolf)
Attribute points to allocate : 600
Married to : Gaya
Daughter : Shiro
Little sister : Kira (Greedy Fox)
Big sister : Kalaa Nightshade
Empire (menu)
Subordinates: 1239
Humans killed: 153
Souls: 2/3
Elements: Ice / Chaos (Freya) - Blood / Death (Lucifer)
Skills (all):
Attacks:
- Demon Claws (Lvl 5)
- Bite of hell (Lvl 6)
- Infernal ice spikes (Lvl 6)
- Fighting techniques (Lvl max)
- Mastery of the katana (lvl max)
- Demonic Empress aura (lvl 6)
Defense:
- Ice demon wall (Lvl 6)
- Demonic Cloak (lvl 5)
- Pain Resistance (lvl 5)
Attack/Defense:
- Domain of the Ice Empress "Frozen Wrath" (lvl 2) - (under condition)
- Death Gaze (lvl 1)
Others :
- Humanoid form
- Demonic form (linked to the title so incomplete) - 20%.
- Ice creation (Lvl 6)
- Storage of chaos (Lvl 4)
- Devouring Chaos (Lvl 5)
- Master of Souls (lvl 2)
- Lucifer's Threads of Blood (lvl 2)
- Healing Blood (lvl 2)
- Analysis
- Telepathy