Betrayal

Li Yue walked slowly atop the Death Abyss. Through the reflection in that pure black surface, she saw a monster that looked exactly like her, yet was not her.

“Who is this?” Li Yue frowned and reached out to touch the water. Her pale hand stirred the calm yet surging surface, sending ripples outward. The monster in the water blurred as its familiar yet strange face distorted with the waves.

When everything returned to stillness, the reflection in the water and Li Yue continued to stare coldly at each other. Only at this moment did Li Yue clearly understand that what lay behind the Death Abyss was herself.

“Ah... I have already... become...” she murmured, the light in her eyes slowly fading as if she had fallen into deep thought. She looked at the pitch black sky, where a memory was playing—a deep blue cathedral and a humanoid monster with ten pairs of hands wearing a deep blue mask.

This was a memory, a horrifying and unforgettable one, which allowed Li Yue to perceive such a clear image. However, Li Yue did not feel much. If this was considered horrifying, then what were the massive blood demons she had created?

Why did I create blood demons again... I don’t remember... but those creatures are very similar to my current dietary preferences.

Li Yue’s consciousness slowly returned to reality. She looked coldly at everything before her: the collapsed walls, the crumbling buildings, the piercing alarms, the approaching aura of pressure from the distance, and her own slightly weakened state.

Li Yue licked the blood from her finger. She glanced at the ruins nearby, where a large pool of blood lay, as if something had been burst open by its own blood. Beside her lay a pale human body that was still breathing. Her neck had a massive gash, and the blood seemed to have dried, no longer able to spray out.

“Your life force is truly strong. Do you not want to die?” Li Yue leaned down to look at her. Scattered around her were torn threads—the magical tools of her attendant Night Dew, weapons forged from God’s remains that could directly bind a soul. When Li Yue first encountered them, they had caused her quite a bit of trouble.

“Why...” Although Movella had lost the ability to speak, she seemed able to force a sound out using magic.

“I first killed a few heretics who enslaved souls to see if I could obtain any information.” Li Yue crouched down. She could already feel a portion of the power of time beginning to ripple outward; it seemed to be Clo’s magic.

“The memories in their blood are quite interesting, especially the parts about you. There is jealousy and awe, though their faith is a bit ridiculous.” Li Yue smiled. “Your throat is His God’s legacy, isn’t it? Very interesting, though the taste isn’t great.”

“Although I do not understand that piety, whether from my own followers or heretics, treating souls this way is a desecration of the laws I have established.” Li Yue licked the blood from her finger. “Didn’t the god you worship ever tell you? Enslaving souls is not allowed.”

Li Yue watched the figures becoming clearer in the mist of the ruins and licked her fingers clean.

“The memories in your blood are enough for me to find my follower’s soul. Thank you very much. Although you weren’t a primary participant and some of the images aren’t very clear.” Li Yue brushed the dust from her hands. She sniffed her palm; other than a slight sweetness, there was no unusual scent.

“However, your blood is delicious, much better than the meals you served me.” Li Yue smiled and waved her hand. The pitch black Death Abyss pierced through the shriveled corpse. Li Yue did not know why her mood was so good right now, to the point that her expressions were much richer and she was even talking more. Previously, she would not have said so much to someone about to die.

“Clo~” Li Yue called out to the figure flashing through the dust. The dust slowly settled, and Clo gradually saw Li Yue behind the haze. The building they were in began to collapse, with decorations constantly crashing to the floor and kicking up clouds of dust.

“Li Yue...” Clo felt her pupils trembling. She looked at those eyes flashing with a piercing red light in the gloom, and her hands would not stop shaking. “You... what have you done?”

“I thought I could keep it from you...” Li Yue sighed, her tone carrying a hint of satisfaction and madness. “I... I discovered the truth. And then, while cleaning up the heretics, I just couldn’t help myself...”

“Do you know... that... sweet scent? I smelled it the moment my finger sliced through her skin!” Li Yue covered her face with both hands. Her trembling eyes could be seen through the gaps between her fingers. Her voice shook along with her body, as if she were resisting an extreme state of excitement and madness.

“At that time, a voice in my head kept calling out to me. Faster... faster... drink their blood, dismember their bodies, burn their souls!” Clo looked at Li Yue, whose expression was bordering on losing control. She clenched her hands tightly and then slowly let go, still trembling.

“Clo... (trembling voice)” Li Yue’s sharp fingernails gradually sliced into her own beautiful face, leaving ten bloody marks. “Have I... become a monster?”

As soon as Li Yue’s voice fell, a pitch black shadow suddenly emerged from her own shadow. He held a pitch black dagger, and a massive, snarling, pale creature bit toward her body.

“Clo?” Li Yue looked at the Clo before her. The other girl seemed to have finally released her long accumulated power. The time around her seemed to freeze instantly, and in a flash, a torrent of centuries of time poured down from the ceiling.

Boom! The powerful force smashed a massive crater into the ground. The vast energy gradually spread out, creating ripples of time that impacted the surrounding space. People began to see objects around them repeating their actions over and over, as if a video were being replayed.

At that exact moment, Li Yue felt a warm power wrap around her. Something seemed to embrace her, carrying her quickly away from the Specter Church’s ambush.

Even like this, you aren’t willing to heavily injure me, Clo... you really are something.

“Aren’t you afraid... that a monster like me might kill you right now, human...” Li Yue murmured. Her consciousness began to fragment. For a moment, the madness and corruption clinging to her body vanished.

“...” Clo did not speak. She moved through the torrent of time. In just an instant, the magic users surrounding her were blown back by a powerful force. Relentless time stripped away their lifespans, and the bodies of some who tried to approach Clo began to rot.

A sacred domain slowly descended, encompassing a large number of black robed magic users. After the toll of a bell, something began to shift.

“The Time Temple... you obtained this... from Him?” Li Yue felt the power she had absorbed gradually decreasing, as if she were returning to how she was at the start.

“What are you... going to do?” Li Yue’s voice trembled as the power within her was stripped away layer by layer.

“At the cost of the remaining lives of the magic users in this circle, I am stripping away everything you gained... and lost... in the past hour.” Clo’s voice was cold, yet it could not stop trembling.

“It seems you have given me a chance for regret...” Li Yue murmured. A pitch black blood crystal floated out from her chest, and her body went completely limp, as if she had lost all power and means.

“While I can still fix this...” Clo held Li Yue a bit tighter.

“But Clo... Fate... you cannot change it...” Li Yue’s consciousness began to slowly fade.

“Then let it come a little later.” Clo pursed her lips. Carrying Li Yue, she stood before a grey black villa. She slowly pushed open the front door, her face carrying a heavy expression.

Silence

Sunlight peeked through the heavy black clouds, casting the first ray of bright light seen in the past two days. Although this light lasted only a few dozen minutes, it made Clo, whose mood had been heavy, feel much better. She sat on a sofa on the first floor, a lady sitting beside her engaged in conversation.

“It is like this, Miss. Given the various recent events, this area might face a series of searches. The flow of goods and the supply of funds are very tight...” A middle aged woman with her face partially covered held Clo’s hand, appearing to want to discuss something.

“I am considering an emergency sale of my property... so...” Before she could finish, a sharp, ear grating sound of wood rubbing against wood came from upstairs.

“That was...” A hint of hesitation appeared in the middle aged lady’s voice. She looked at the ceiling. The chandelier emitted a dim yellow light, and the sound of the clock’s pendulum suddenly became very clear. She felt a bit of sweat in her palms.

“A pet I recently took in. It is a bit... disobedient.” Clo’s face was expressionless, even appearing somewhat deathly still, as if she had experienced a major setback. She seemed numb, as if her soul had been hollowed out.

The ring on Clo’s hand flashed, and the strange noise vanished instantly. The middle aged woman before her looked troubled.

“We originally planned to move out in a few days, but these current days are indeed a bit awkward.” Clo crossed her fingers. “Furthermore, what you are saying now goes against our original contract.”

“I will return your rent... I am truly sorry. My husband was recently suspended from his job, and the price fluctuations these past few days are indeed...” The middle aged woman looked embarrassed.

“There is no need. Everyone has difficulties.” Clo gave a small, forced smile. She took out three gold coins. “Consider this a gesture of goodwill between strangers, and as compensation for the floor wear caused by my pet.”

“Thank you so much, Miss.” The middle aged woman let out a long sigh of relief. She shook Clo’s hand and walked straight out the door.

“I have only not seen her for a few days... how could this lady’s temperament change so drastically?” the woman muttered to herself, but she suppressed all her questions.

“Alright... the brief negotiation is over.” Clo took a sip of tea. The grating sound overhead continued, sounding like a bed frame rubbing against the floor. With a slight wave of her hand, all the curtains in the house were drawn, plunging the entire building back into darkness.

She walked slowly upstairs. The sound of her cotton socks on the stairs was muffled, but it was completely drowned out by the sound of the floor rubbing.

The noise was coming from the bedroom. She hesitated at the door for a long time, not knowing how to face the scene inside or what she should say.

What was she feeling right now? The anger of betrayal? Not at all. She simply felt as if a giant stone had finally landed in her heart. Some things were simply inevitable. The things she feared most were happening one by one, devastating her life and her being.

She thought about the rest of her life. Once, the thought that someone would accompany her for the rest of her days made her look forward to every tomorrow. Now, every day seemed filled with fear, as if something would be lost in these ordinary moments, like a patient who had been sentenced to death.

Decades of her life were suddenly compressed by more than half. The conclusion named death was advancing toward her at an unprecedented speed. She had to set aside everything at hand and quietly wait for the final moment to arrive. And in this limited time, before the true ending came, she even felt as if her life had become eternal.

Wanting to live but unable to, wanting to die but not knowing when death would arrive as promised.

She gently pushed open the door. A girl with her limbs bound in golden chains was struggling violently. Her pale white hair had lost its former luster, and her thin clothing was heavily torn from her struggling, revealing skin bruised from the exertion.

Her eyes were dazed and pained, and pained whimpers came from her mouth. Her voice sounded hoarse.

Bloody marks had been chafed into her wrists, with fresh blood occasionally dripping down. Her muscles no longer had their usual recovery speed; her injuries only grew heavier day by day.

“Ngh... ah...” A pained low howl came from Li Yue’s mouth. She turned her head with difficulty but did not dare to look at Clo, as if she were afraid of something.

“Is it still such a torture?” Clo sat by the bed and gently wiped the sweat from Li Yue’s face. She did not know what to call this phenomenon. Withdrawal symptoms? But this level of pain seemed far more intense than that.

“Of course...” Li Yue coughed violently, her fingers stretching straight one moment and clawing the next. “Clo... it is no use... you stopped that possibility... but I will still walk toward a path of destruction...”

Li Yue pulled hard on the chains, letting out a sharp clink.

“I know...” Clo murmured softly. She gently brushed aside Li Yue’s messy hair and looked into her clouded eyes. “I do not like this process... I cannot accept you walking toward your end through this process.”

“I want to make this time... a little longer...”

Or rather... is fate really something that cannot be changed?

“I will remove your pollution, no matter the method or the cost...” Clo gently held Li Yue’s hand, a strange determination in her eyes. Several chains emerged from her sleeve, winding up Li Yue’s waist and binding her even tighter.

“Until you adapt to this feeling, I am sorry... this is all I can do.” Clo lay down beside Li Yue, looking into her eyes which held madness, calm, hatred, love, grievance, entreaty, and sorrow. It seemed every emotion was there, yet they also looked like a pool of stagnant water, just as they had always been.

“I know you might stand against the world...” Clo gently touched Li Yue’s face. “But you cannot become a blood demon... I cannot accept it.”

“If that day truly comes, I think... you will kill me peacefully...” Li Yue gave a light laugh. Her laughter grew louder, laughing out all the pain and sorrow.

“If not for the mad craving for blood, what would the process be like...” Li Yue turned her head away. She had a strange sensation, as if something were holding her, but the intense pain made her almost unable to feel any touch.

Li Yue’s eyes gradually lost focus. Amidst the extreme pain, those bloody memories seemed to become clear one by one. Gradually, she felt as if... she could feel nothing at all...

An extreme, longing, death like silence.