Chapter 99
The person speaking to the two of them was Aaron, and he hadn't come here alone. There were three others with him, including Zavi. The other two were members of the Intersection Society; Mine and Hana, both dressed in uniform sets consisting of slightly loose cream-colored shirts to allow easier movement, paired with tight black pants and formal black boots.
The two of them had managed to survive the creature's deadly assault when Julian and Zato sacrificed themselves to divert its attention. And neither of them knew whether those two were still alive or already dead!
Hana and Mine escaped without much difficulty once they realized the creature seemed to harbor a grudge that had to be settled against the two of them.
Whether it was coincidence or something already planned, they ended up crossing paths with Zavi and Aaron, who were moving toward the location where an overwhelming roar echoed clearly, followed by the sound of collapsing buildings.
The two of them had difficulty recognizing the woman speaking to them, assuming she was just an ordinary human, when in reality she belonged to the dangerous group behind the destruction of Moran City. The Intersection Society.
But after witnessing it with their own eyes, both of them immediately stared sharply at the woman from head to toe, causing a cold, razor-like sensation to strike their minds and instantly making them want to divert the conversation and steadily back away.
'There's no way an ordinary person can see supernatural beings like the two of them,' Aaron thought with a frown.
'I've seen objects move before, supposedly because of supernatural beings. Well, that was before I became like this.'
Zavi thought as he recalled the incident while narrowing his eyes at the horrifying creature ahead of them.
The moment the pressure suppressing the spiritual bodies of the two Recipesteles was released, the horrifying creature immediately sensed a danger capable of killing it in the blink of an eye as its instincts locked onto a man dressed in a classic knee-length black coat with a thin white shirt beneath it. Aaron Kwok.
One second later, the horrifying creature beat its wings violently, causing black feathers to fall and scatter through the wind as it shot toward Aaron.
The circular shadow that always lingered beneath Aaron's feet churned violently upon detecting the presence of a supernatural being, a type of demon, nearby.
Tell's eyes widened when she felt an unpleasant sensation that made her spiritual form tremble. Her face turned deathly pale as she nodded before touching the Recipestele beside her with her tiny index finger, and the two of them instantly shifted over a hundred meters away from their previous location.
Without the slightest resistance, the pitch-black body that constantly radiated disgusting terror had now been completely neutralized by Aaron so effortlessly that the three people standing beside him were spared from that extreme fear.
Like a storm sweeping everything away, the creature was sent flying, its pulsating black body exposing the human form hidden inside it.
Aaron's eyes widened as he looked closer, seeing pale bluish human skin inside the horrifying creature, and for the first time witnessing a Recipestele with enough destructive power that his instincts immediately urged him to kill it as quickly as possible.
"Actitus," Aaron said hesitantly. "Get away from this place. I'll handle that creature myself." He gave a faint smile upon seeing the confusion on Zavi's face.
The corner of Zavi's lips curled upward as he mocked, "If you die, those women are gonna be heartbroken."
Aaron reflexively glanced at the two women who were leaving him behind, staring at their backs as they ran with movements that looked incredibly feminine yet still upright, while their hair swayed beneath their shoulders, brushed by the midnight wind, making Aaron remember the existence of his friend once again.
He smiled faintly before saying, "I only need ten seconds to defeat that creature."
After saying that, he strode forward steadily toward the horrifying creature, which sat with one leg bent while the other remained raised, its lowered gaze accompanied by heavy breaths that sounded like irregular knocking, breaking the tension of the midnight air.
The moment he saw that, Zavi immediately ran away following Aaron's orders and hoped he would be alright because people like him were incredibly hard to find and could make his wish come true.
Besides that, he still had to find Zuhen, Felina, and the other Intersection Society members regarding the Prisoner's second-level information, Motivation.
'I hope I can get it,' he thought while occasionally glancing at Aaron and avoiding the shattered stone roads and debris scattered across the streets.
Meanwhile, Aaron swept his hand cloaked in shadows, leaving the creature completely helpless as it roared and was flung away, crashing through houses still burning with black flames.
Aaron moved toward it and repeatedly tore apart the horrifying creature that had previously rampaged wildly, but now had fallen to its knees before him.
The only thing it could do now was scream and scream from wounds that could no longer regenerate in the slightest.
Aaron repeated the same attack seven times, causing the horrifying creature's body to burn with Mine's black flames from earlier, bringing disaster upon the houses and buildings around the border between the two streets as they became engulfed in increasingly intense black fire over time.
And with the final sweep from the Exorcist, Aaron released the veil of shadows when he saw the body of a naked woman, though he quickly averted his gaze as the horrifying creature was left with only its wings and the pitch-black mass covering everything from the waist down.
As the veil of shadows protected his coat and blistering skin from the scorching black flames.
Like a violent storm, though in reality it was his shadows, they instantly slammed into the creature's body at incredible speed with the weight of thousands of tons, causing the creature to lose its Existence in this world and leaving behind Niva's body, which slowly began to fade away.
The fragrance of wisteria flowers drifted through the night wind, while the smell of incense pierced Aaron's nose as he slowly watched the naked woman before him begin to shatter into grayish-blue light like crystallized rain turning into millions of snowflake-like fragments hanging in the air.
A grim expression appeared on his face as he clenched his fists in worry, hoping the woman would finally rest peacefully in the afterlife.
Then he turned around, allowing the fragrant breeze to wash over his body, followed by a faint smile as the scent disappeared, as though Niva was truly grateful to him for freeing her from the curse that had turned her life into hell.
With his head held high and his body slightly tilted back, Aaron's eyes grew watery as he watched what looked like tiny elegant and mesmerizing particles of light filling the sky above Niva's body, dissolving into thousands of tiny lights.
Stunned, Aaron could not say a single word as his mouth hung slightly open, while a sense of peace and warmth made his chest feel freed from the burden he had carried all this time.
He smiled bitterly as he dissolved into shadows when his curtain of darkness seeped into the ground, causing the place he had just stepped on to be devoured by the black flames that had continuously battered the shadow curtain from outside.
Forgenate, the site of a horrifying battle filled with both joy and sorrow just minutes ago, had turned silent, suffocating, and drenched in death as the air itself seemed frozen in mourning over the destruction that had occurred there.
Leaving behind remnants of unforgettable memories, both good and bad, a place where someone grew from childhood into adulthood and died upon the very ground they once stood on.
Now it was nothing more than a fairy tale with a terrible beginning and an even worse ending than anyone could have imagined, as the city had become uninhabitable ever since the comet appeared and destroyed everything, leaving behind only the lingering cries of nature struggling and collapsing from the tragedy.
Meanwhile, as Aaron continued searching for Zavi's whereabouts from beneath the ground, memories of happiness and sorrow resurfaced from the days before he became a fugitive.
However, he knew that was a past that could never be changed, and he did not resent his own fate in the slightest. He would continue living on even though he knew he was exhausted from constantly moving from place to place in search of peace.
He smiled bitterly as he dissolved into shadows when his curtain of darkness seeped into the ground, causing the place he had just stepped on to be devoured by the black flames that had continuously battered the shadow curtain from outside.
Forgenate, which only minutes earlier had become the stage of a horrifying battle filled with joy and sorrow, had now turned silent, dreadful, and consumed by death as the air itself seemed frozen in grief over the destruction that occurred there.
Leaving behind fragments of unforgettable memories, both good and bad, a place where someone grew from childhood into adulthood and died upon the land they walked upon.
Now everything felt like a fairy tale with a terrible beginning and a far more horrifying ending. The city was no longer fit to live in ever since the comet appeared and destroyed everything, leaving behind nature's cries writhing endlessly amidst the devastation.
Meanwhile, Aaron continued searching for Zavi's whereabouts as he gradually materialized his physical form after moving away from the previous location, now standing on the lowest road connected to the roundabout he had once visited before. With every step and every breath, memories of happiness and sorrow from before he became a fugitive resurfaced in his mind.
However, he knew that was a past that could never be changed, and he did not complain about his own fate in the slightest. He would continue moving forward, even if the hardships of life made him want to give up, because he would still search for the peace he longed for, even if he had to seek it at the ends of the world.
Several minutes passed quickly as he finally stopped searching and found Zavi together with the two women sitting beside him with their hands tied.
Their current location was on the lower ground above the station entrance road. The smell of rusted iron from the railway tracks lingered in the air together with the scent of pine trees carried by the wind, while the tall trees not far ahead stood as silent witnesses before this place would eventually be abandoned for a very long time.
"So," Aaron finally spoke. "Where are the two of them?" he asked curiously.
Zavi let out a short sigh as the reality struck his mind.
"Too bad I don't know where they are right now," he answered. "But those two definitely won't die that easily." Zavi was incredibly confident in his own instincts.
The two of them then turned toward Hana and Mine, who were tied up facing each other. Only then did Aaron realize what Zavi had been doing this whole time.
"You... were planning to do something weird to these women?" Aaron asked, frowning.
Zavi recalled Aaron's earlier words and immediately replied without hesitation, "Weren't you the one who said we should interrogate them? Don't tell me you forgot already?"
'Is he seriously as forgetful as I am?' Zavi added inwardly, influenced by the habits he carried from life on Earth.
Only then did Aaron realize it. He walked toward the two women with an icy stare.
"Tell me, where are your other comrades?"
'I want to ask about Celina, but it seems unnecessary,' Aaron thought.
Mine and Hana kept their mouths tightly shut while their expressions displayed overwhelming confidence, as though they were not afraid of whatever would happen to them afterward.
However, Aaron had already anticipated this. With a swift movement, he sliced his own hand before making a shooting gesture with the tip of his index finger, releasing a small cold shadow that touched Hana's forehead.
The moment Hana felt the sensation, goosebumps spread across her body and fear instantly gripped her mind.
"Answer him, you're the one who knows about it," Hana whispered while glancing toward Mine.
Mine clicked her tongue as she half-turned despite the tight ropes binding her, then spoke while staring indifferently at Aaron.
"We all split up when that creature appeared."
Zavi stood silently at the edge of the road overlooking the railway tracks while glancing toward the three of them.
'Looks like my effort to come all the way here and destroy Syrp was pointless,' he thought bitterly to himself, having assumed the person who died earlier from the box jellyfish poison was the one he had been searching for, only to realize the truth was the opposite.
Then, with a heavy sigh, he turned around and walked toward them.
A few meters before reaching them, the gazes of the three suddenly shifted toward him, and then Zavi spoke in a restrained voice, "Where are your people who are Receivers of Prisoner?"