Volume Four: Fading in the Mortal World - Fading

In the center of a vast expanse of ruins, both Sin Annihilation and Xiao Wu were simultaneously drawn to the enormous golden cross in the sky.

Under the constant onslaught of explosive developments, Xiao Wu was almost numb.

"So... what's going on this time?!"

"It is the law of Heaven..."

"Celestial Law? Is that the legendary Holy See, the strongest?"

"Records of Heavenly Law enforcement officials taking action throughout history are very rare, so I'm not entirely sure..."

The last time the Heavenly Law Goddess intervened was over two hundred years ago. That time, she fought against the most powerful and heinous criminal in the history of the Holy See, the Bloody Saintess Ai Kasser. It is said that the current Goddess of Heavenly Law was in a difficult situation and was constantly suppressed.

However, note that Ai Kasser, who later became Blood Fiend, was a true high-ranking member of the organization. His terrifying strength was far beyond what ordinary people could imagine. Faced with such an opponent, the Divine Law at the time was merely "suppressed".

In other words, Tianlu's combat power is absolutely comparable to that of the higher-ups.

But anyway--

"Tch, no matter how strong she is, I can't just stand by and do nothing..."

If Yu Jie and Sin Annihilation were both major variables, then without a doubt, the appearance of Tian Lu had completely reversed the course of the battle.

I'm probably—no, I'm definitely no match for him.

But this cannot be an excuse for inaction. With that in mind, Xiao Wu once again prepared to head to the battlefield.

"Xiao Wu..."

The voice of Sin Annihilation came from behind.

"..."

"Don't go, the Heavenly Law is very powerful..."

"... You worry about people too."

"... Huh?"

"Sigh..." Xiao Wu sighed, running her fingers through her hair as if at a loss. "I don't know the specifics of your predicament, but generally speaking, you seem to be good by nature... at least not completely evil. As long as you give up the assassination, I don't want to be your enemy."

"Give up, assassination..."

Sin Annihilation's hands unconsciously twisted together.

Abandon the assassination attempt.

This means that he will suffer his first defeat after inheriting the name of the Sin Annihilation.

Failure must be made up for with several times the effort; this is an ironclad rule.

What kind of punishment would I receive if I went back like this?

But--

"--!!! Xiao Wu, hide! Or get out of here!"

"How--"

"'He's here! Although he's not as strong as you or me, it would be terrible if he remembered my face!"

Xiao Wu also sensed something amiss; a very faint aura was rapidly approaching! She had almost missed it, indicating that the newcomer was a master of stealth!

"Who exactly is this person...?"

"Hurry up!"

Seeing that Sin Annihilation was unusually anxious, Xiao Wu realized that the matter was no small thing. Without saying anything more, she quickly distanced herself from Sin Annihilation and hid on the ruins of a building, looking down below.

"Is it him...?"

A man in a trench coat, almost completely blending into his surroundings, appeared before Sin Annihilation.

"Ha, I've been looking for you for ages, Sin Annihilation."

He was a bald man who looked to be about thirty years old.

No... it wasn't so much a bald head as it was an incredibly scarred scalp, with even the hair follicles completely destroyed. His head was covered in gruesome wounds: cuts, drill holes, needle pricks, hammer blows, and even bite marks from wild animals. It was truly unimaginable what this man had gone through.

Although he had no hair, every inch of his head was covered in tattoos, resembling dark blue centipedes. His trench coat concealed his body, and the few exposed areas of skin were also covered in disgusting tattoos.

"Damn it... I've been looking for you everywhere!"

He starts complaining with unpleasant things.

"..."

Sin Annihilation simply lowered his head silently, clearly having become accustomed to it.

"What an awful sight, Sin Annihilation! You've turned yourself into this mess. Have you not completed your mission yet?"

"I'm very sorry, Director."

"Tsk!"

The man frowned and threw a punch at her—then stopped halfway through.

"If I could, I'd love to punch a few holes in your head to vent my anger, but you're just immune to that kind of harm... It's so damn annoying! The Vatican's higher-ups are already in chaos because of the Rebel Army, and you've messed things up even more! When I get back, I'll be the one getting yelled at, not you!"

I'm so sorry.

"You... forget it! I followed Tianlu to this godforsaken place not to hear your apology! Do you even remember the absolute code of the Sin Annihilation?"

"You must never let anyone know of your existence... especially other Goddess and Saintess."

"Good that you remember! Now get back to Gloria right now and avoid the Heavenly Law! Treat this mission as a failure!"

"Clear..."

Are we finally going back?

Finally... it's time to say goodbye to the people I've met these past few days.

"When we get back, I'll have to keep you under house arrest for a while longer, and then you won't have a moment's peace! One failure will require dozens of times the effort to make up for it! From now on, be prepared!"

A single failure requires dozens of times more effort to make up for it.

In other words, the frequency of missions will increase dramatically in the future.

The more missions there are, the more battles there will be, and the more times you'll need to use Sacrifice Attack.

The sooner one's body deviates completely from humanity, the closer one gets to death.

In the past, most of those Sin Annihilation people who had completely lost their core humanity by the time they were in their forties or fifties. They were then dealt with and replaced by new people. However, there were also a few who completely collapsed in their thirties or even before they were thirty. These were people who had made serious mistakes and suffered major failures, and had to work twice as hard as possible as a result.

And now, it's her turn.

"... Understood. As the Sin Annihilation, I will fulfill my duty."

"Hmph... If you understand, then hurry up and come back with me, or you'll be in for a world of hurt!"

Thus, the head of the Inquisition successfully recovered the Sin Annihilation that had failed to complete their mission.

On the distant ruins of buildings, Xiao Wu watched all this, her teeth clenched.

Amidst the rubble of the city, Haoyue and I sat quietly on the ground.

Well, to be precise, I was sitting, and Haoyue was currently enveloped in my blood, like a fetus in the womb. Her severed limbs were regenerating at a visible speed, and her damaged bones and organs were growing back. Next to us was a small clump of grayish-brown jerky-like flesh, which was the spinal cord that had previously invaded Moon God system.

Although it took a lot of effort, I managed to retrieve it successfully. At this moment, Fran Jack's Netherworld Soul Chaser is possessing me, so I'm not fighting alone!

... Although, having absolutely no knowledge of surgery, I practically disassembled Haoyue's entire spine, doing whatever I wanted just because I could sustain my life with my own blood, it was still great that I was finally able to completely remove and kill her.

"Are you feeling alright, Haoyue?"

"Hmm... (blushing)"

"I'm sorry, but beating you up so badly, even though it was to completely disable you, was still a bit excessive."

"It's okay... (blushing)"

Is there anything else that's not right?

"It's alright... (blushing)"

"Why are you blushing like that? Is my blood too concentrated?"

"No, it's because I'm so excited! Being covered in so much blood makes me feel like I'm inside Xiao Ye's body... gurgle gurgle gurgle"

Mommy's a pervert here.

"You... we've known each other's strengths and weaknesses for a long time, so what's there to be excited about?"

"Eh? No, no, no, I haven't experienced that yet. Xiao Ye, you've always been the one on the offensive, and I've always been at your mercy."

"Huh?"

"Really! Although I usually initiate things and you only half-heartedly go along with Xiao Ye, once it really starts, you show no mercy! You've been using Blood Tentacle to [Xiao Ye], using lots of blood crystals to [do something], and pouring tons of blood into [your genitals] and [your genitals], and we haven't had a normal play yet. It's almost like you're summoning a bunch of Blood Beast to play [something]!"

"Huh? Oh? Did that happen? I don't remember at all?"

"Xiao Ye usually seems a bit dull, but he's actually incredibly sadistic inside. The erotic novels I used to read often had exaggerated descriptions like 'the female protagonist faints in bed after a big battle,' but Xiao Ye... forget about fainting, he won't stop unless he's playing with his opponent until they're close to shock."

"Am I really that cruel...?"

I only continue playing after confirming the other person's vital signs are normal enough to prevent death. Besides, when things get really interesting, seeing their various strange expressions is quite amusing. And some people just have weak constitutions, so it's not my fault... For example, last time with Haoyue and Xiao, Xiao rolled her eyes, foamed at the mouth, and went limp within minutes, while Haoyue was still energetically saying, "Come on, come on, let's continue!" -- How is that possible?!

"What nonsense are you spouting! Besides, if I'm a sadistic dominant, then wouldn't you be a super masochist?"

"A real woman can bend and stretch~~ Xiao Ye, if you ask me to be submissive, I absolutely won't be the attacker... although even if I were to attack, I wouldn't be able to compete with you on the same stage."

"You're putting me in a difficult position by saying that..."

"And thanks to Xiao Ye's careful training, even though I was in excruciating pain when I was being controlled, like electric ants crawling all over my bones, I still didn't lose consciousness! Whether my arm was torn off with force, whether my legs were severed in a flash, or whether my other arm was crushed with a thud, anyone else would have gone crazy by now. Only I would accept Xiao Ye's rewards without hesitation."

"Hey, hey, hey, you're making it sound like I'm some kind of awful person! I already said all of the above was pure fabrication! Pure fabrication! What you just said about the extreme play during their intimacy is completely unfounded! And the thing about him pulling Xiao and doing xxx to her never happened, okay?! Stop making up things that didn't exist! If you keep going, people will misunderstand!"

"Tch... but if I don't put it more seriously, Xiao Ye definitely won't agree to a threesome!"

"That's too early to talk about... Besides, is it really appropriate to discuss these things on the battlefield...?"

"Even though I've launched several offensives, that idiotic delinquent girl is really stubborn... So frustrating! I guess I'll have to resort to dragging Xiao down with me..."

"Although Xiao is a bit of a closet pervert and a little lewd, she's basically a good girl. It's impossible for me not to notice her feelings, but it's also difficult for me to accept them immediately."

"It was Xiao Ye who turned her gay, and you're saying such heartless things. Xiao is really pitiful~"

"Hey... listen to what you're saying, it's like I inherited Blood Fiend's heartlessness too—wait a minute!?"

That is--

Suddenly, a golden light burst forth in the distant sky, revealing a cross-shaped crack, like a gateway to another world! Immediately following, towering flames and lightning erupted directly beneath the golden cross, along with numerous enormous crosses of light reminiscent of the Apostles. My keen hearing allowed me to catch increasingly loud wails in the distance; without a doubt, the Revolutionary Army was being unilaterally slaughtered by some unknown force!

Haoyue and I exchanged a glance.

"Don't go, Xiao Ye. Can you feel that oppressive aura? Based on the intelligence we've gathered, it's probably—"

"--The Vatican's strongest fighting force... Heavenly Law?"

Why would the strongest fighting force suddenly appear here?

But thinking about that kind of thing is useless.

We must devise a countermeasure quickly.

"As Givinia herself said, the Heavenly Law's combat strength is comparable to that of the organization's higher-ups. Right now, you and I are probably..."

"I know, but..."

But the revolutionaries are being slaughtered, Nid is likely engaged in a fierce battle, Little Ying is in danger, and Loxue is extremely anxious.

These were not my top priorities.

I suddenly felt a pang of heart palpitation.

It was bone-chilling, icy, and reminiscent of death and misfortune, causing a chilling feeling.

Who is there?

Someone I knew died.

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Second update scheduled for today.