Chapter 223: Sixty-six, have a good rest, son (5K)_2
By rule, the Devil’s Army should not operate at night, nor should they operate in rainy weather.
But here they were, working arduously through the night, amid a deluge, within the mire of the Polluted Land.
There was no choice; it was an order.
According to officials from the rear, Lyra was facing an “imnse crisis” at the mont, thus demanding greater action from the Devil’s Army.
And for the majority of Devil Knights, they had no idea what the crisis actually entailed. Sowhat aloof from worldly affairs, their responses to the events unfolding in Lyra City were naturally dull, save for a vague awareness that Gerard had caused so trouble.
Gerard, that na again!
Suddenly, the Devil Knights’ resentnt toward Gerard reached new heights.
Especially during the day, more than one Devil Knight claid to have seen Gerard’s spectral visions still roaming the Polluted Land, including their commander Yuri.
This naturally cented the belief that Gerard was a contaminated individual, and they were eager to rush back to Lyra City to take his place, those useless Bone Knights, and apprehend Gerard directly.
As the team’s commander, Yuri was naturally aware of the unsettling atmosphere among his troops.
But he had no real solution.
He too felt that sothing was terribly wrong with Lyra, as the signs were too nurous to ignore.
Yet with only the information he possessed, he couldn’t paint a complete picture of the truth.
It made him restless.
No, he couldn’t afford to be restless.
The more dire the situation, the more he, as the commander, had to remain calm.
He looked around at his surroundings, at the subordinates by his side.
Years ago, Gerard had co here with Night Star and ultimately t with complete disaster. Yuri had always taken this as a warning, determined not to let such a fate befall him, not to repeat Night Star’s dood path.
“Stay sharp!” Yuri shouted, “Keep an eye on your comrades! Don’t get separated!”
Before his words fell, he heard a low chant beside his ear: “Rest assured, we won’t get separated. We’ve already scouted the path for you.”
Yuri paused, instinctively turning his head toward the source of the voice.
And then he saw, standing atop a massive corpse, two figures clad in Night Star uniforms.
They raised their hands, pointing toward a direction.
“Over there.”
Before Yuri could react, voices of Devil Knights ca from the direction the figures had pointed: “Found it! Commander, we’ve found it!”
…
“You’re saying the others are still alive?!”
Gerard was taken aback by the first piece of news Ian had brought; it stunned him.
“No, not alive…” Ian shook his head and said, “Their bodies have been completely annihilated. Only their souls remain. In the Abyss, souls do not dissolve. That’s also why Yong Xin couldn’t completely kill , and why your soul was able to remain there for ten years. But without bodies, the souls beco more and more fragnted.”
He paused, then spoke softly.
“During the fight against Yong Xin, I saw you, and… others. At first, they could talk to , but gradually they couldn’t. They beca increasingly fragnted, either forgetting who they were or rembering only that.”
Gerard, reminded once more of the spectral vision that had entered his own body, and thinking of his forr comrades still wandering in that eternal fog, couldn’t help but ask, “Is there… no way for them to return?”
“No, their bodies are destroyed,” Ian said softly, “Without bodies, the souls cannot leave the Abyss. Yong Xin was able to leave because… my body wasn’t destroyed.”
“When you ca back, were you already Yong Xin?”
“Yes,” Ian said, “I’m the one who knows him best in this world. I know what he is. If we let him return to Lyra, it would be an absolute threat to… cough, cough, cough…”
Watching Ian in agony, Gerard instinctively wanted to pat his back to ease his pain.
But he stopped halfway.
Because he knew that would only hasten Ian’s death.
“Don’t bla yourself, Ian,” Gerard could only say softly, “It’s not your fault.”
“I don’t have ti for guilt anymore,” Ian squeezed out a smile, “Father, do you know what’s truly in the Abyss? I an, apart from Visas’s tongue.”
“Apart from Visas’s tongue… are you talking about a new god?”
“Yes, you already know,” Ian said, “It’s… the corpse of a new god.”
Gerard’s pupils constricted slightly.
Although he had already speculated as much, since all the evidence was pointing in that direction, his surprise hardly lessened when confird by Ian.
Ian’s next words doubled his astonishnt.
“To be precise, not a new god, but an… Old God.”
“Old God?!”
“Yes, it’s the remains of an Old God,” Ian continued, “But that Old God has forgotten its identity, for Its body is decaying, Its soul dissolving, It is dying, or rather, is already dead… Does this state seem familiar to you?”
“… Just like those contaminated,” Gerard understood Ian’s aning. Looking into Ian’s eyes, he said deliberately, “Like you and Yong Xin.”
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