Pant... pant...
Celia suddenly collapsed onto her knees, panting heavily.
What on earth had just happened? Why wasn't that man dead even after being blown to that state?
And what was that bizarre clay pot...?
Celia was still trembling slightly all over, as if she hadn't yet recovered from the terror.
She tried her best to move her legs, but they felt as if all strength had been drained from them, refusing to obey her commands.
Knowing she couldn't go on like this, she tried to repeatedly reassure herself:
“It's fine... I still have the Notes... I just need to go back and get the copper mirror to activate them. Then, all these problems will be solved... Yes, that's right. That's definitely right...”
Taking a few more deep breaths, she temporarily suppressed the fear in her heart. Her legs gradually regained their strength, and using this momentum, she pushed herself up from the ground again, barely managing to steady herself.
But not long after she caught her breath, a bizarre thudding sound rang out once more!
This time, it was behind her again!
Celia froze.
After what had just happened, Celia had no desire to shoot anymore, nor did she dare to look back at whatever was behind her. Gritting her teeth, she hurried back toward her residence!
Thud, thud, thud...
Panting heavily, she pushed open the door, rushed to the long table, and grabbed the copper mirror.
She then pulled the Notes of Destiny from her holy robe and slowly brought them together, waiting for the writing on the pages to appear.
“Faster, faster!” Celia prayed desperately in her heart.
Yet, even after a long while, there was no reaction at all...
Why is this happening...?
It's impossible... It's impossible...
Anxious to the extreme, she repeatedly separated the two items and brought them back together...
Two minutes passed...
A quarter of an hour passed...
The minute hand of the grandfather clock had already swept through a large arc, but the Notes remained completely unchanged.
It's still not working... Why is it still not working...?
What on earth is going on?!
She had clearly used it many times before; it shouldn't just lose its effect like this!
She tried a few more times to no avail. Celia collapsed in a heap, her grip loosening so much that the copper mirror slipped from her hand.
A loud clatter followed, but she was completely oblivious to it.
It really lost its effect...
What should I do... What should I do...?
“Right! Ignis! I can still go find Ignis!” The thought suddenly popped into her mind.
With this in mind, Celia immediately got up and hurried toward the door. However, just as her hand touched the doorknob, she suddenly froze...
Because the familiar footsteps had returned, right outside the door!
“Thud, thud-thud!”
The expression on Celia's face stiffened.
How... How are they back again?!
“Thud, thud-thud!”
Although she couldn't pinpoint the exact direction, she could vaguely sense that the footsteps were getting closer and closer...
Until they finally stopped right at the door!
The footsteps suddenly vanished, and the surroundings fell back into silence, but Celia did not believe the other party had left.
“Knock! Knock-knock!”
Right then, a knock sounded on the door, urgent and forceful.
Celia's body instantly tensed up. She instinctively raised her hand crossbow and asked with a trembling voice:
“Who is it...?”
The outside of the door fell silent for two seconds before a man's voice came through:
“Hello, my Lady. I am the guard sent by Lady Ignis to protect you...”
“How can you prove you were sent by her and aren't someone else?!” Celia's guard was already fully raised. She cut him off before he could even finish speaking.
There was a brief silence outside the door before the voice replied:
“My Lady, there is no need for me to lie to you. Just today, you asked Lady Ignis about the Silent Order. You originally agreed to have me come tomorrow, but she was truly worried about your safety, so she had me come early.”
How does he know what I discussed with Ignis? Could he really be a guard sent by her?
“Stay right there at the door. I'll open it!” Celia warned.
“Very well.”
The voice outside was very calm, carrying a sense of confidence, but Celia knew this could absolutely not be a guard arranged by Ignis!
She reached out, cracked the door open slightly, and peered outside warily.
Right then, she was shocked to find that the man standing outside the door was none other than the one who had been following her earlier!
What was even more bizarre was that he was standing there completely unscathed!
Having no time to think, she slammed the door back open and tremblingly aimed her hand crossbow at the doorway.
The moment the man's figure came fully into view, she pulled the trigger and fired.
One, two, three bolts...
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The sound of explosions instantly erupted, and the man's body was once again blown to pieces as he collapsed.
Seizing this opportunity, Celia rushed out of the door and ran toward the monastery.
The streets were still empty, without a single soul in sight. Even the goods on the stalls on both sides were perfectly laid out, as if the vendors had simply vanished into thin air.
Celia had no time to worry about any of this; she just ran forward blindly.
“Thud, thud-thud!”
Just then, the footsteps behind her rang out again, the distance still as precise as before.
Bizarre... This was too bizarre...
But it was fine... As long as she reached the monastery, she would be safe!
As long as she got there... as long as she found Ignis!
“Thud, thud-thud!”
As the footsteps sounded, Celia accelerated once more, rushing through the pathway and entering the monastery.
The footsteps behind her gradually grew distant...
Before the pursuer could catch up, she ran through the corridor in one breath and found Ignis's room.
The moment she opened the door and stepped inside, the footsteps behind her vanished. Leaning against the door, Celia finally let out a sigh of relief.
Looking into the room, she saw Ignis holding a tome and standing by the window. The red rose was still on the windowsill.
Seeing Celia, Ignis asked coldly:
“What's wrong?”
Panting heavily, Celia said to Ignis:
“Sister Ignis, huff... I-I'm being stalked by a Beyonder of the Hermit pathway!”
“Stalked?”
“They... they can't be killed...” Celia's voice trembled. She could no longer care about hiding the fact that she had bought a hand crossbow. “I shot a stalker through the body with a bolt and watched him fall with my own eyes. But not long after, he appeared before me again, completely unharmed...”
“And they keep making footsteps. The sound just follows me. No matter how far I run, it follows, and the distance never changes...”
“Oh? Footsteps?” Ignis smiled slightly and continued to ask, “What kind of footsteps do you mean?”
Huh? Why is she asking that?
Still, Celia didn't think too much about it. She gesticulated anxiously:
“Um... like, like...”
“A thud, thud-thud sound, right?” Ignis smiled.
“Huh? Sister, how did you know?!”
How did Ignis know? Had she been sending people to watch her all this time?
Wait... has Ignis ever smiled like this normally...?
Realizing this, Celia finally sensed that something was off. A shiver ran through her body, and she instinctively took half a step back.
However, Ignis maintained her smiling expression. It was a very bright smile—abnormally bright.
“Thud, thud-thud!”
At that moment, the familiar and eerie thudding sound echoed once again.
“Listen. Is it this sound?” As she spoke, Ignis's smile became increasingly twisted.
Seeing this, Celia's pupils contracted. She whipped around, wanting to escape, but when she reached the door, she found it completely locked from the outside.
How could this be...
“Thud, thud-thud! Thud-thud, thud-thud-thud!”
Right then, more and more dense footsteps echoed all around Celia. At times, they sounded like wild beasts running amok; at other times, they sounded like demons giggling.
Celia could no longer tell where the sounds were coming from, nor could she distinguish whether they actually existed or were merely the echoes of her own terrified mind.
A sense of despair gradually spread in her heart.
Why... Why is this happening...?
The man's wild laughter, the failure of the Notes of Destiny, Ignis suddenly turning bizarre... Event after event repeatedly battered her psychological defenses, cutting off all her paths of retreat. She finally broke down and collapsed limply to the floor.
“Thud-thud-thud, thud-thud-thud-thud!”
The sounds were sharp and piercing, as if they were drilling directly into the depths of her mind, churning wildly inside!
“Ahhh! Stop making noise! Stop making noise!”
Celia clutched her head, screaming frantically in her heart.
Yet, those sounds remained incredibly clear, growing even more intense.
...
She didn't know how much time had passed...
Celia felt as if a century had gone by, yet also as if it had only been a single instant, because throughout this entire stretch of time, she had done nothing but listen to those eerie, thudding sounds.
She felt her body grow weak and limp. She felt extremely hot, yet also freezing cold. Her brain was in a completely dazed state, unable to understand anything, and wanting to think of nothing.
Just like that, she waited for a very, very long time...
Perhaps because time was up, the scene before her eyes suddenly shattered.
And then, Celia woke up.
She found herself still kneeling on the same street. In front of her was the charred skeleton, collapsed on the ground in a bizarre posture. Clutched in its arms was the grayish-white clay pot, the black substance inside seemingly completely depleted.
Just then, a few raindrops pattered against the stone pavement nearby.
Drip... drop...
Where is the dripping sound coming from...?
Dazedly, she stretched out her hand. A few raindrops fell onto her palm. She stared blankly at them, her mind empty.
Soon after, more raindrops fell, quickly enveloping the entirety of Leytin City in a pattering shroud of rain.
The rain soaked Celia's hair and shoulders, a chill seeping into her skin, yet she was completely oblivious to it, as if her body did not belong to her.
Her violet eyes lacked any focus, staring blankly at the wet cobblestone street ahead, listening to the pitter-patter of the rain hitting the canvas awnings and wooden signs of the nearby stalls.
Suddenly, a few wisps of black smoke drifted into her line of sight. She froze, her dim eyes lifting slightly.
Beside the skeleton, a mass of pitch-black smoke seemed to appear. Within the smoke, a figure could be vaguely seen, taking slow steps toward her.
He arrived before me.
He pressed his hand against my chin, forcing me to lift my head, making me meet those pitch-black, terrifying eyes.
I also saw some bizarre, darkly patterned scales. Upon those scales, countless tiny flesh buds seemed to be slowly writhing, making my stomach churn.
Soon, a thick, viscous black smoke continuously spread across my vision. I knew I was about to die.
In my hazy state, I vaguely heard that person speak:
“The taste of despair is truly wonderful...”
Rate on N.U.
