The Return from the Other Shore - Chapter 440: Dark Knight (II)

"... Do you have anything else to explain?" Tianlu's voice was chilling to the bone.

"Tsk tsk... Oh well, there's nothing we can do about it then." Yu Jie shrugged helplessly.

"Very good..."

Tianlu raised his hand high, his hand still stained with Yu Jie's blood.

"Very well, very well, so you've been the one causing all this trouble all along! Die! Traitor!!!!"

The instant that hand was enveloped in holy light—

Pfft!!!!

Blood splattered everywhere.

It wasn't Yu Jie, but Tian Lu.

A dense, impenetrable darkness suddenly erupted from her hand, tearing it apart before it entered its enhanced state and breaking the bones.

"Varied--"

Then, Tianlu realized what was happening.

It's blood. Yu Jie's blood.

When she punched him in the face earlier, the force of the blow caused blood to flow freely down half of his face, and that blood then smeared onto her hands.

At that time, Yu Jie had already buried his "darkness" in his blood!

Of course, such damage would only distract Tianlu at most, but that gap of less than a second was enough.

The darkness that Yu Jie had been suppressing within him for so long finally erupted completely at this moment!

"You were careless, Heavenly Law! The Nightmare Maze!!"

"... Um...?"

The spirit rubbed his groggy head.

In the final moment, Yu Jie enveloped her in darkness, and then she felt dizzy, surrounded by explosions and roars. When she came to her senses, she was already kneeling on the ground.

"Here it is..."

"Oh? You're awake?"

That voice... Yu Jie!?

"Yu Jie? You—Eek!"

Before the spirit could scream, her mouth was covered by a large hand.

Even so, her gaze towards Yu Jie was still filled with fear.

His face possessed a decadent beauty reminiscent of a fallen aristocrat, with the left side covered in blood, large patches of skin torn off in some places. Although the right side of his face was relatively intact, this contrast only served to highlight how horrifying the left side was.

"It's nothing, I just accidentally went too far while playing defensively against that bitch Tianlu, and got a scrape."

"Waaaaah! (This isn't just a scrape!)"

"Shh! Keep your voice down, don't let her hear us..."

"Huh?"

Only then did the spirit realize where it was.

Pitch black.

Pitch black, pitch black, pitch black.

The pitch-black vines, the pitch-black walls, the pitch-black floor, the pitch-black cocoons—everything black was tangled together, spreading outwards from the two of them. At a glance, everything above, below, left, and right was filled with dark matter with pinkish-purple light patterns, with only a few rays of sunlight filtering through the gaps above, slightly brightening the space.

"Here... I'm... ugh!"

They were now on what appeared to be a narrow passageway, but after a few meters, the path broke into countless vine-like structures. The vines connected to the walls, and at the end of the walls, they became stairs. The stairs were sometimes gentle, sometimes completely vertical, and sometimes spiraling. At the end of the stairs were several interlocking window frames... The architectural layout was completely disordered, irregular, and even lacked basic common sense. Just watching the sacrificial altar for a while made one feel dizzy and lightheaded.

"Are you calm now?"

"Ugh... um."

"Good."

Yu Jie then released his grip, and Ji Ling, panting heavily, gently patted his chest.

"Hiss—it hurts!"

"Be careful, you're still injured, those bastards..."

"I'm fine, but you... and where exactly is this place?"

"The Nightmare Maze is the product of my assimilation of a large area with darkness in one fell swoop, followed by the rearrangement of the assimilated objects. You can consider this large space to be completely under my control."

"Amazing!"

"It's nothing special. The inspiration actually came from that Sick Spider's City of Spider Cocoons. I wonder how that woman is doing now?"

"... That woman?"

The spirit suddenly felt a sudden, inexplicable unease, and its cheeks puffed out.

"Hey, don't overthink it. That guy's a deadbeat lesbian, and he's not my type at all."

"So what kind do you like?"

"Flat-chested."

"Really!? -- Wait, what do you mean?!"

"Shh, shh, shh! Didn't I tell you to keep your voice down?! That guy Tianlu is still looking for us! I activated the Nightmare Maze while he was distracted, and thanks to that, we were able to hide here and catch our breath."

Upon hearing this, the spirit's gaze suddenly dimmed.

"... So it's true after all?"

What is real?

"It's just..." The spirit priest hugged her knees weakly, making her already slender figure appear even smaller. "It's all so unreal. I spied on the secrets of the Holy See, then I was discovered and was to be executed. Just when I was in despair... you saved me. It feels like a dream, so unreal."

"... Yeah, who could have imagined it would turn out like this? But the most dramatic novel in the world is 'life,' you know, nobody knows what will happen next... Here, put this on, look at how tattered you are."

"If we're talking about tattered and broken-down, you're the one who's... Hey! Wait a minute--"

Yu Jie took off his usual coarse cloth coat and draped it over Ji Ling's shoulders without saying a word. Ji Ling struggled at first, but quickly blushed and wrapped the coat around her body.

Silence fell upon them.

A woman's roar could be heard from afar; it was Tianlu searching for the traitors as she traversed the Nightmare Maze. Despite the terrifying enemy being so close, the two remained remarkably calm.

It was as if nothing mattered anymore.

"Hey, Yu Jie."

"How?"

"Why did you save me? This makes you an enemy of the Holy See, and I really don't want to drag you down with me..."

"Why? Ha, do you even need to say it?"

Yu Jie exaggeratedly spread his arms, pretending to put his arm around the spirit's shoulder, but she dodged him.

"So, you still don't understand men, Spirit Sacrifice-chan! Just think about it—a down-on-his-luck knight, to save a beautiful Princess, is willing to fight against everyone and confront a powerful evil organization alone! Although it sounds like a childish fantasy, it is indeed a man's romance! I absolutely enjoy that situation!"

"Be serious... I want to hear the truth..."

"..."

Yu Jie scratched his face, withdrew his hand from the shoulder of the spirit offering unwanted advances, and sat down against the wall, resting his head on the ground.

"Spiritual medium, what kind of man do you think deserves to be called a real man?"

"Uh... strong, brave? Or responsible... something like that?"

"Pretty much... But ultimately, I believe a man is someone who can forge his own path through his own will."

"I don't quite understand..."

"Actually, it's nothing special. For example, saving you this time was just a choice I made."

"Choose?"

"I made the choice so that I wouldn't regret it later."

"So I won't have any regrets..."

"Yeah, if I listened to those scumbags and killed you according to that stupid rule, I would definitely regret it, regret it to death. So I chose the option that I would least regret, just like countless times before... Heave-ho!"

Yu Jie stood up, dusted himself off, and casually pulled the Sword of Judgment from the ground.

"Yu Jie? Where are you going!?"

Need I say more? She's here!

--Boom! B...

The Nightmare Maze suddenly began to tremble violently, and beams of holy light shone down through the gaps above their heads, creating an unprecedentedly powerful sense of oppression!

"They're here!? Waaah... But what do we do...?"

"Run away, what else can we do?"

"Then hurry up--"

"Yes, you should hurry up and go. Just keep going in that direction—" Yu Jie pointed behind him, "—and you should be able to get out soon. As for Tian Lu, I'll hold her off."

"What—No way!!!"

"What do you mean 'can't' or 'can't'? Are you stupid? Someone has to stall for time, otherwise there's an 80% chance we'll all get caught. But if I stop her and buy her some time, you have at least a 90% chance of getting away safely."

"Come back! I, I command you as the Goddess! You are my Guardian Knight! Therefore!"

With a whoosh, a wall shrouded in darkness suddenly rose up, completely separating the two.

"I'm sorry, this is the choice I'm least likely to regret, but trust me."

"Yu Jie!! No, don't go! Please! Please! I still want to be with you—"

"Believe me, I will definitely come back to see you."

"Ah, blast blast blast blast blast!! Die, you bad guys!!!!"

Little Ying was screaming and releasing exploding bubbles, blasting wave after wave of paladins to smithereens, however,

Suddenly, Sin Annihilation grabbed her collar and pulled her backward, causing her to stumble and almost fall to the ground.

"Hey! What are you doing--"

--Whoosh!!!

A beam of light ripped through the air and shot past, its trajectory coinciding perfectly with the spot where her head had been a second earlier.

"... Uh, thanks."

You're welcome...

With a blank expression, Sin Annihilation Mie waved her hand, and her arm immediately exploded into hundreds and thousands of extremely thin Bone Chain, each accurately piercing through the heads of more than two enemies. Thousands of lives were thus easily reaped, making Little Ying's eyebrows twitch.

"Why are you staring at me?" Noticing Little Ying's gaze, Sin Annihilation tilted his head.

"Ah, no, no, I just think that Sin Annihilation- chan is really amazing!"

"Thank you, but not as much as Xiao Wu."

"Sister Sakura Dance? Hmm~~~ She seems like a very special person. 'Cool' would probably be a better word for her than 'beautiful'."

"--!!"

Suddenly, Sin Annihilation's eyes lit up, and he grabbed Little Ying's hand with a snap.

"Huh? What's wrong?"

"Similar." "Huh?"

"Great minds think alike! Xiao Wu super, super cool, yay!"

"That's true... but why are you saying 'Yay!' with such a blank expression? It's so silly!"

"No way... Ah, watch out."

She pressed Little Ying down again, and then the holy flames that blasted forth struck Sin Annihilation's head directly. Her beautiful face, hideous marks, and long gray hair were all engulfed in raging flames.

"Sin Annihilation- chan!?"

"An, Mo Zishi."

The head of the Sin Annihilation regenerated in an instant; the speed of its regeneration was faster than the speed of its burning.

"There are more and more people, be careful, Si Nan Xiao—hmm?"

"What's wrong now Spirit Sacrifice-chan...? You're making me so nervous..."

"If I hadn't warned you, your life or death might be in danger... but that's secondary."

"So other people's lives are secondary?!"

"Quiet, can't you feel it?"

"What do you feel?"

"There..."

The path to the Sin Annihilation points into the distance, towards the Cathedral of the True God.

"Something seems to have happened there. For a few brief seconds, I felt an extremely powerful sense of oppression, very dangerous... even above the Heavenly Laws."

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Finally home... So tired...