13 Mink Street

Tafmann sensed the emotions of the giant beast beneath him, which he had originally pacified, were suddenly undergoing a complete reversal. Its head started whipping back and forth rapidly again, and even hotter breath sprayed from its mouth and nose. The breath shot up towards the top of its head, and the blood mist filling the area around the turtle started to retract. Its whiskers started lashing upward, as tried to eliminate the threat atop its head at any cost.

“Is the array ready yet!” Tafmann shouted to Elder Zimar.

“Not yet!” Elder Zimar shouted back. The foundational array was already complete, but the array materials needed to amplify its effect were not all embedded. They would greatly affect the destructive power once the ritual array was activated.

“There’s no time. Start it!” Tafmann raised a Light barrier around himself, grabbed Elder Zimar by the shoulder, and dragged him down from Torathos’s head. If they did not leave, it would no longer be a matter of the explosion’s power falling short of expectations, but the array itself being destroyed, because Tafmann alone had no way to defend against Torathos in its near-frenzied state.

After Elder Zimar was pulled back and sent flying by Tafmann, the man immediately activated the ritual array.

In an instant, a violent red beam exploded from the top of Torathos’s head. Boom!

Tafmann and Zimar, who had not managed to pull away to a sufficiently safe distance, were directly blasted away by the force of the explosion. As they fell, Tafmann gritted his teeth and stimulated Darkmoon power. A red light appeared behind him, dragging Elder Zimar upward together with him. In the end, he deliberately let his own back strike the ground first. Bang!

After the two landed, both were sent tumbling.

Tafmann was covered in blood, and who knew how many bones in his body had broken. Zimar’s injuries were lighter, but while gasping heavily, he could not help looking toward Tafmann. “Tafmann, you—”

“After this matter is resolved, you can report me.”

“No, you misunderstand. I won’t—” Zimar immediately tried to explain, but as he did, a roar rang out.

The intense explosion had blasted Torathos’s neck downward. Its advancing steps finally stopped.

***

“Did it work?” Expectation appeared in Ophelia’s eyes.

“It should have,” Karon echoed, though he was not so optimistic.

“Heh, how could it?” A strange voice appeared above them.

Ophelia and Karon both immediately looked up. The next instant, Ophelia flashed upward, rising directly into the air to bring her sword back down upon the newcomer.

Karon hesitated. Last time, he had truly mistaken the captain for being deranged, which was why he had attacked without hesitation. That final sword had even been aimed straight for the captain’s heart. But this time, Karon no longer believed Nio was deranged. Naturally, he had also lost the impulse to attack.

On one side was Ophelia, on the other was the captain. Helping either side was unsuitable.

The captain dodged several of Ophelia’s sword strikes in succession. He seemed uninterested in attacking Ophelia and only smiled. “If I were you, I would not be fighting right now.”

“Unfortunately, I am not you.” Ophelia swung her sword again.

A sword of Light condensed in the captain’s hand, parrying Ophelia’s blade aside. He then swiftly retreated, and when she prepared to pursue, the captain’s retreating figure suddenly dispersed, only to appear behind her.

The sword in Ophelia’s hand swiftly withdrew, and her body turned to the side, adapting a defensive posture.

But the captain did not choose to launch a sneak attack. Instead, he retreated again.

Seeing this, Karon could only flash to where the captain was retreating, ready to intercept the man.

The captain seemed to deliberately accommodate Karon. His retreating figure rapidly pulled forward again and he clashed with Ophelia once more. Swords clashed more than a dozen times, with Ophelia responding calmly and enduring everything.

“Oh my, after our last exchange, you’ve improved a lot.”

At this moment, Karon closed in again and began chanting.

The captain let out a sigh. Dazzling white light shot from his body, forcing back Ophelia’s offensive. The man then vanished into the distance. Karon sent him off with a Cage of Order.

But the captain had left a doll behind. Both of the two dolls the captain had obtained from Adjudicator Luke had both been cut down by Ophelia’s sword during their battle on the Snake Island, and this doll was clearly rather crude. Unless there was some accident, it should have been made by the captain himself. It was somewhat ugly, but at this moment, it transformed into the captain’s phantom. As for the man’s true body, he had already pulled far enough away. Who knew where he had hidden.

In essence, the captain’s strength gave him an absolute advantage over Ophelia. Combined with the fact that Karon was only contributing in form and not in force, Nio could quite calmly decide whether he stayed or left.

Ophelia raised her sword, preparing to stab the doll on the ground, but Karon interrupted her, “Wait. He seems to want to say something.”

Ophelia stopped her sword from stabbing down the rest of the way.

“You’re much smarter than this little girl. Heh. As expected of the new shell I chose for myself, though you also carry the lingering stench of Bernard’s bloodline.” The captain’s phantom formed by the doll began speaking. “If not for Miss Poelle’s mark inside of you protecting you at the critical moment, and if I had not hesitated for Miss Poelle’s sake, I might already have successfully occupied your body then. It’s just too bad that this current body is still a little too damaged. Even the face is gone.”

Karon did not know whether to laugh or cry. Even now, the captain still did not forget to help patch his cover. He knew why the captain had appeared here. Watching the spectacle alone had grown a bit dull. After savoring the moment in solitude for long enough, the captain wanted someone to share it with.

This was where the captain’s amusement lay. Many things he had once said in a joking manner were not jokes at all, because he had been living them out all along.

“You can control it?” Ophelia asked.

“Barely, a little,” the captain answered.

“Phileas, I understand the hatred in your heart, but many of the people on Darkmoon Island are merely ordinary people. Not everyone carries the Darkmoon bloodline. Your revenge can be directed at me, at the palace, at us descendants of Bernard. Most of the people in the town are innocent.”

The captain’s phantom looked at Ophelia and said, “My choices for revenge are too narrow. Besides, have you ever seen vengeance that comes with reason attached?”

“The people in the town are innocent,” Karon added a useless sentence. “They are pitiful.”

“I know they are pitiful, but what about me back then? What about those who followed me? Were we not pitiful as well? We gave so much for this island’s prosperity, and what did we receive in the end?

“Betrayal. Slaughter. Humiliation.”

A furious roar rang out in the distance. Torathos, whose advance had halted after the explosion on its head, raised its head once more. Its colossal body began to move again.

The efforts of the Darkmoon Island elders had not managed to end things successfully.

Seeing this, Ophelia spoke in desperation. “I am the candidate for the next Darkmoon clan leader. If Mr. Phileas can stop destroying the town now, I can kill myself before you right now.”

The captain laughed. “Then kill yourself. Do as you like. If only you die, I will not be satisfied.”

“Ophelia, do not do anything foolish,” Karon advised. “That giant beast cannot enter the town.”

“Little girl, you are indeed different from your ancestor Bernard, and I also believe what you said just now was sincere. But I am sorry. I cannot accept your trade, because I would lose too much. As for you...” The captain extended a hand and pointed at Karon, continuing, “I naturally know the people of the Church of Order are on the island right now, but since I dared to summon Torathos, do you truly think my vengeance is only a meaningless venting?

“Let me tell you, I dislike doing meaningless things.”

Karon felt somewhat puzzled for a moment. He would no longer believe the captain was deranged, but he did think that the captain had been somewhat influenced by Phileas. Also, what exactly did the captain mean by those words? Even if the Church of Order acted, they could not stop Torathos?

Ophelia clenched her sword tightly again. She knew that Phileas’s true body should be nearby. Though she could not sense him, she had to do something. She could not continue standing here speaking nonsense with this puppet projection.

But how could the captain allow his audience to leave early? He could not tolerate his enjoyment diminishing at a time like this. He said, “You had best stand here now and go nowhere. Do you still remember the insects you swallowed last time? I have placed dozens of insect nests on this island. Believe me, if you leave here now, I will detonate those nests immediately.”

“You...!” In the end, Ophelia could only remain where she was.

Karon knew the captain did not have those insects, but he still could not understand how the captain’s claim that he did not do meaningless things would continue from here.

The captain’s phantom looked at Karon and said, “Have you ever experienced the joy of vengeance?”

“I don’t know.”

“Is that so? You don’t know? Then observe me now. I hope you can come to know it. Consider this a lesson given to you for Miss Poelle’s sake.”

As he spoke, the captain’s phantom spread its arms, then, with a snap, clasped both hands together in the shape of a gun and aimed them toward Torathos’s direction of advance. His mouth even imitated a sound effect, “Bang!”

At this moment, Torathos had already advanced to the front of the Darkmoon army. The army began firing cannons, but all these Arts shells were blocked by the blood mist before Torathos. Although the scene looked dazzling, it achieved no substantial effect.

“Prepare to engage!”

The warriors within the army tightened their grips on their weapons, welcoming the arrival of this giant beast.

Torathos raised its neck. Its throat began to redden. Immediately afterward, its head extended forward, its mouth opened wide, and it spat terrifying, scorching lava toward the army blocking its path.

The enormous column of magma directly cut the military formation apart from the middle. The warriors swept by it basically melted together with their armor in the first instant, while the nearby warriors burned by the heat lay on the ground and began howling in agony.

Although the entire formation did not outright collapse, anyone with eyes could see that after this round of attack, it was already on the verge of breaking. Once Torathos’s massive body crushed forward, they would probably immediately throw down their weapons and flee.

***

“They’ve formed their battle line, but made no layered defensive preparations,” Bishop Rudina said.

She was one of the three representatives from the Knight Regiment. If the Church of Order were compared to a nation, she would count as a representative of the military.

Cardinal Claude slightly opened his eyes and beckoned toward Clan Leader Veynar of the Darkmoon clan, who was kneeling there. Veynar immediately rose and walked over, then knelt before the cardinal.

“The quality of Darkmoon Island’s army truly is inadequate.”

In truth, Veynar could have explained that the army currently blocking Torathos had been hastily drawn from various places on the island, had not been drilled, and was not made up of soldiers intended for a frontal battlefield. But Veynar did not explain, because he had already heard the meaning behind the words. He said, “You are correct. We have long recognized this problem as well. I had originally intended to personally ask you after the negotiations ended, asking the great Church of Order to send people to help us organize and train our army.”

Cardinal Claude did not speak. Bishop Rudina beside him said, “Yes. Darkmoon Island’s navy also needs restructuring. Only then can it shoulder the responsibility of defending these waters.”

The current situation was clearly a matter concerning a land-based army, yet even Darkmoon Island’s navy had been pulled in. Their fleet was their true strongest force, but Veynar did not hesitate at all. Though he believed the Church of Order would not simply stand by and watch Torathos destroy the town, he understood even more clearly that Order was using this moment as a pretext to take control of Darkmoon Island’s military. He could refuse, but afterward, the Church of Order might no longer need any pretext at all.

“Yes, Your Eminence, you are entirely correct. Darkmoon Island’s defensive capabilities are woefully inadequate and are in urgent need of Order’s assistance.”

“Mm.” Claude finally spoke again. “Rudina, since Clan Leader Veynar has already made the request on behalf of Darkmoon Island, then trouble yourself to remain on the island and help them restructure their defenses.”

“Yes, Your Eminence.” Bishop Rudina immediately saluted and accepted the order.

She then looked at Clan Leader Veynar and said, “Have your army withdraw. They can no longer stop that giant beast. Holding on will only cause more meaningless casualties. I do not want to spend time recruiting new soldiers afterward.”

“Yes. I will pass the order immediately.”

***

As Torathos’s colossal body pressed forward, the Darkmoon forces received the order to withdraw and evade. Warriors scattered to both flanks at once, without the slightest hesitation.

Torathos paid them no mind. It charged straight toward the final ridge. Beyond that ridge lay the town.

At that very moment, a black throne appeared high above. Vast beyond measure and steeped in sovereign authority, it descended from the heavens, settling directly across the path Torathos was bound to take.

The Church of Order was finally making its move.

***

Ophelia let out a long breath. Her body swayed slightly. She believed that once Order acted, even something as powerful as Torathos would not be able to advance another step.

Karon’s gaze fell on the captain’s phantom. Everyone had actually anticipated this scene long ago. But where did the captain’s confidence come from?

“Hehehehe...” The captain smacked his lips and said, “Torathos, let them see your true form.”

***

When the colossal Throne of Order appeared in the sky, it should have meant that this sudden incident had finally reached its end. Aside from the Throne of Order, the Church of Order had also completed preparations for two large ritual arrays. At the same time, an Archbishop had already selected a Whip of Order squad to replicate what Tafmann and the others had failed to complete earlier.

This was the final line of defense, and also the most despair-inducing line of defense for the giant beast.

However, at this moment, Torathos’s body suddenly began changing. Its head showed signs of aging. Its body began decaying. Large cracks appeared across the turtle shell on its back.

As for the pool at the center of its shell, the originally azure water also turned dark and foul. Dense death energy lingered around the giant beast’s entire body. Large patches of black spots began appearing on its body.

On the turtle shell, Tafmann and Elder Zimar exchanged glances. A hint of horror appeared in both their eyes. Elder Zimar’s hands began to tremble. An immense terror made him only able to open his mouth now, unable to utter a word.

Tafmann sat collapsed on the ground, supporting his forehead with his hand as he murmured, “So this is why Phileas sealed Torathos?”

***

“Because back then, Torathos’s lifespan was already nearly exhausted. It was about to die,” the captain’s phantom said. “Its racial abilities allow it to sleep for ages. I helped it complete its self-sealing and enter that slumber. It said that when it awoke after a hundred years, it hoped to see just how prosperous and beautiful the Darkmoon Island we built together had become.

“Even if it would die after a single glance.”

Karon said, “So that immensely terrifying aura of death has long been building up within its body.”

“Yes, precisely. And there is one more thing. The Curse Insects were bred from the fleas on Torathos’s body. Tell me, how many eggs do you think are inside it now?”

Shock filled Karon’s eyes. Though he had prepared himself mentally, he had never expected matters to develop to this extent, because this meant that the colossal beast was now, in truth, a vast and terrifying source of corruption.

If it burst open, or were blown apart by outside forces, that dreadful corruption would engulf more than half of Darkmoon Island in an instant. Leaving aside how many on the island would die immediately, after suffering corruption on such a large scale, the island itself would no longer be fit for habitation.

The Throne of Order in the sky halted its descent. Clearly, the Church of Order had also realized how the situation had changed.

Torathos was now a gigantic abscess, on the verge of rupturing on its own and spilling filth everywhere. If the Throne of Order, or any other ritual array, were used to suppress it now, it would be no different from forcibly bursting it open, causing destruction on an even greater scale.

Bishop Rudina called out, “Stop the attack! Do everything possible to evacuate the crowd.”

***

The captain’s phantom wept and laughed at once. “This is why I awakened it! This was the promise I made to it! More than a hundred years later, the descendants of Bernard and I would wake it, let it look once more upon the island before death, let it see how beautiful the place where Light would bloom again had become. But clearly, Bernard did not dare write that into his diary. Heh...”

He raised both arms and roared, “Torathos, do you see it now? You see it now, don’t you?”

Torathos answered with a furious roar. The Throne of Order above did not descend any further, nor were any other ritual arrays activated. Torathos smashed through the hillside before it, shattering the final line meant to stop it. One immense foot stepped to the edge of the town.

Devastation seemed only a moment away, but at that very moment, Torathos stopped.

It lifted its head toward the heavens and released a cry of profound sorrow.

Seeing this, Ophelia instinctively asked, “What is wrong with it?”

The captain slowly lowered his arms and bowed his head. “It cannot bear to do it.”