Chapter 472: Turned into Ashes (Two in One)

Hearing Diomedes' words, Droste's eyes suddenly widened: "You..."

Without waiting for him to say anything more.

The light around him suddenly dimmed.

The sunlight at three o'clock in the afternoon disappeared in an instant, as if the curtains were drawn, and it was even getting darker.

As everything around him grew dim, only Diomedes shone with a bright glow. It was like lighting a candle in a stormy night with a power outage, gradually illuminating everything around him again... but the lifeless objects turned gray, as old as old photographs.

Diomedes stood there motionless with his hands behind his back, looking at Droste expressionlessly.

A dim yellow flame suddenly ignited in his pupils. The flames only rose for a moment before stagnating and solidifying as if the pause button had been pressed.

Under the old elf's gaze, Droste's movements gradually began to slow down.

The expression on Droste's face seemed frozen, and his outstretched hand grew slower and slower, until it finally stopped. His body gradually lost color.

When Droste was completely still, his body turned into the same black and white as the surrounding room, like a stone statue with empty eyes, or like a portrait with a hideous and funny expression.

In just a moment, Droste was subdued by Diomedes.

——Just like those who tried to assassinate Droste in the past were controlled by Diomedes.

Diomedes stared at Droste with a sad look in his eyes, as if he was reminiscing about the past.

"Is this the strength of the Pope's guards..."

Aiwass sighed softly, feeling a sense of longing for the moment.

In this worldline, Janice left Avalon prematurely, presumably because Queen Sophia, after using the potion, became a seeker of the Twilight Path. This fundamental shift in perspective created a rift between the two old friends.

Agnese is clearly a very determined Balancer. She returned to Avalon after leaving it for fifty or sixty years just to bury her old friend.

The Queen used potions to break the natural limit of her lifespan, which obviously violated the principles of the path of balance.

Diomedes' ability to freeze other people's time is obviously related to the power of the Twilight Path.

"I thought elves hated the power of dusk."

When Aiwas thought of this, he asked with some doubt, interrupting Diomedes's thoughts.

"That's basically true, but the Papal Guard is a special case."

Diomedes tilted his head slightly and patiently explained to his new master, "The inheritance of the Papal Guard is related to the three paths of balance, devotion, and twilight..."

The old elf was not in a hurry at all, because time was always on his side.

Aiwass was completely unaware of this knowledge. After all, the Pope's Guard was a profession that players could never obtain... because it was not a "profession".

Not all elves will embark on the path of "profession." The "profession" system is a new path shaped by the great philosophers. Only races like humans, with their wide and diverse adaptability, are most in need of the "profession" to purify their path.

For races like elves, children of the moon, and dragons who are born with a tendency towards the Tao, they rely more on "inheritance" with more stringent conditions.

"In the Theocracy, elves generally have an adaptability to the path of devotion, just as humans generally have an adaptability to transcendence and love.

"We are basically divided into two factions, those leaning towards 'Balance' and 'Dusk'. Like human parties, we are deeply opposed to each other."

Balance comes from the elves' neutral attitude and their mission as a check and balance; while dusk comes from the elves' long lifespan.

Elves who tend to the former are usually more active in intervening in the affairs of short-lived species and are willing to try new things; while elves who tend to the latter are relatively more passive and indifferent, more conservative and alienated from short-lived species... just like humans who simply don't keep pets for fear of their pets dying.

"Are you a twilight-oriented person? Is that why you're so nostalgic?"

"No, I am the Pope's Guard."

Diomedes replied, "When we receive inheritance, we are divided into two groups, each learning the power of 'Dawn' and 'Dusk'. After all, 'Devotion' is the core of the Theocracy, and Balance and Dusk are merely means and directions..."

The bright yellow balance and the dim dusk are both yellow.

That is the light that can be emitted by a lit candle.

...In that case.

Since Diomedes is the Knight of Dusk, then Mr. Oswald may possess the power of "Dawn"...

Aiwass thought.

"……well."

Diomedes's thoughts and recollections were ultimately interrupted by Aiwass. He sighed heavily, "It has finally come to this..."

He finally moved.

Even if it was just to prove that he was not a nostalgic person, he had to strike with this sword.

Diomedes stretched out his right hand from behind his back, with his index and middle fingers together.

It was neither fast nor slow, he just stood there motionless and drew a few strokes in front of him lightly.

I saw a golden arc of light shooting out from his fingertips like a whip blade or a soft thread!

Cut Droste's body horizontally into two halves!

When the ray of light touched him, the gray-white Droste instantly regained its color.

However, at this time his body had been cut into two parts very smoothly.

He didn't even realize he'd been cut in half. Even as his upper body fell backward, he subconsciously reached forward to grab hold of his body, trying to balance. As a result, blood instantly spurted out of his body like flowers, solidifying into gray-white stone flowers in the air the moment it left his body.

In Droste's subjective consciousness, he did not see when Diomedes' "invisible sword" was unsheathed.

He had no idea what Aiwass and Diomedes were talking about.

He only felt that after the surroundings became dim, he could no longer see Diomedes' sword swinging movement - he only saw a flash of lightning arc remaining in his retina for a moment, and then he was hit by the sword!

What a fast sword!

That was a speed that even the senses couldn't catch up to.

When Droste realized this, the pain was delayed.

“Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh—”

Droste, who was cut in half, let out a shrill scream and crawled on the ground.

But his voice couldn't reach the dim barrier at all. They were all frozen.

Blood, fat, and viscera continuously flowed out of Droste's body, cooling and solidifying after leaving his body, turning into the same gray-black color as the surrounding filters. They all mixed together, making it impossible to distinguish their original forms.

Within the range of the light, only Aiwas and Droste were illuminated and had color. They were also the only ones who could hear Diomedes' voice.

The old elf with a square face looked down at Droste, whom he had seen grow up, with a complicated expression.

"I've given you plenty of chances, Charles."

The old elf sighed and slowly raised his drooping right hand again.

"Don't, don't kill me... Diomedes! Grandpa Diomedes——"

This old and fat man, who is in his eighties or nineties this year, revealed an extremely strong fear in his eyes - it was the fear of death and the end.

He screamed hysterically like a child who had fallen to the ground and cried loudly: "I was wrong, I was wrong, Grandpa! I will change... I will change! I know I was wrong, Miss Crawley... I was wrong! Forgive me, I will change! I don't want to die, save me!"

He had an extremely strong desire to survive, and spoke with such sincerity. But no one around him paid any attention to him.

Neither Aiwas nor Diomedes would be soft-hearted. They looked at him coldly, watching the fear in Droste's eyes grow.

"...Please give him to me, Mr. Diomedes."

Aiwass said politely: "As for the reason..."

He touched the necklace on his chest with his left hand, and threw the red crystal-like card out with his right hand without mercy.

The red card was spinning in the air, and after leaving Aiwass, it gradually lost its color and slowed down.

But just as it completely solidified in mid-air, the black butterfly symbol on the card began to flutter its wings. A stream of crimson flames erupted, forming a vortex.

"Butterfly of Rebellious Flame!"

Aiwass shouted her name loudly, celebrating her awakening.

The necklace on his chest also began to tremble, and then flowed out from between Aiwas's fingers, turning into a stream of flames and sinking into the vortex.

The two streams of flame converged, eventually transforming into four gradient red and black butterfly wings. The edges of the wings continued to shatter like black ash, while the lines on the wings cracked, revealing a dazzling golden flame like magma.

Now standing at 1.7 meters tall, the Flame Butterfly is almost a head taller than Yulia herself. She is no longer the petite and naive girl she used to be.

She looked even older than Yulia at this moment, and was already the same age as Aiwass.

And it is obvious that even if Yulia grows a few years older, her height will never reach this level.

Yulia's jet-black hair reached her ankles, turning crimson from the ends and burning with blood-like flames.

Her eyes, black with dark red irises, slowly opened, looking cold and dangerous.

At this moment, she was wearing a black gauze dress like a widow, the edges of which were burning with crimson flames visible to the naked eye, making her look like a fire queen embraced by flames.

——She is the Flame Butterfly that was raised to the fifth energy level by Aiwass.

[Capital Sin: Flame-Butterfly (Sun, Hanged Man)]

Level 47

[Path of Devotion, Fire Attribute]

Just as her appearance had already reached adulthood... The current Flame-Defying Butterfly had finally shed the label of "juvenile." Her consciousness had finally become clear and mature, no longer as naive as it had been in its juvenile stage.

When the Flame Butterfly was truly under control, Aiwass could finally inject its power back into Yulia's body.

However, Yulia herself refused. Her pride was much stronger than Lily's—Yulia said she wanted to at least advance to the third energy level on her own, using her own path characteristics to develop her own unique ability system.

Having learned from the lesson of the Night Devil, Aiwass did not choose to raise the little butterfly to the sixth energy level this time to trigger the balance mechanism.

When she appeared, the originally dim barrier suddenly became brighter. The flames burning on her body illuminated the surrounding space, making the grayish-white objects bright and colorful again.

"——Demonologist? Phantom...Yulia!"

Drost, dazed by the pain, unconsciously shouted, "You're still alive! You're a demonologist!"

His eyes bulged outwards. The vitality of a fourth-level transcendent allowed him to still have the strength to crawl on the ground and struggle vigorously even after being cut in half.

"Not bad."

The corners of the Flame-Butterfly's mouth rose slightly, revealing a smile without any hint of laughter: "You still remember my name."

Her voice is very similar to Yulia's, but more mature and lazy.

But unlike the Yulia in Aiwass's impression, the Flame-Butterfly was much more aggressive—

She stretched out her right hand, and the swirling flames transformed into a giant hand, which grabbed Droste's upper body and dragged it back to his lower body as easily as sticking to a candle.

"Does it hurt, Mr. Scum?"

While speaking gently, the Flame Butterfly smiled sweetly like a young girl and put her left hand behind her back.

The next moment, as the crimson flames turned into a blazing white, Droste's charred body began to heal rapidly.

The feeling, like being immersed in warm spring water, instantly silenced Droste's miserable cries. His brow relaxed, and his fist, clenched until blood flowed, slowly loosened, his bones crackling with pain.

Sharing memories with Yulia, she is, in a sense, another Yulia.

When summoned by Aiwass, the fragments condensed from the deaths of "Yulia" and "The Butterfly of Perverse Flame" merged with her again. Memories from this world line poured into the Butterfly of Perverse Flame's sea of ​​consciousness.

Not only the memory of the "Butterfly of Rebellious Flame" that devoured Yulia's body with the body of a phantom demon and appeared alone... but also the unwilling and sad emotions of Yulia in the last moments.

When the Flame-Butterfly separated from Yulia, Yulia and Isabel had not yet become friends. Therefore, the Flame-Butterfly and Isabel were not that close. Sofia's death did not have much impact on her.

But Yulia, who "saw" this world, died because of Droste's conspiracy. She lost control and almost went crazy and killed Aiwass, who had depended on her since childhood. After Aiwass finally succeeded in stopping his madness and defeating him... he stroked the broken necklace and cried day and night.

The Flame-Rebellious Butterfly felt a flame burning in his chest.

If she hurt herself, the Flame-Defying Butterfly would not have such strong resentment and hatred - she is the Flame-Defying Butterfly, a flame butterfly that burns herself with flames.

But hurting Yulia, hurting Aiwass...especially, letting her hurt Aiwass herself.

This caused the murderous intent in her heart to spread like fire, and she could no longer stop it.

As Droste's vitality gradually recovered and grew stronger, his consciousness gradually regained consciousness. The Flame-Butterfly looked at Droste, who had reopened his eyes, and the corners of its mouth slowly rose, revealing a somewhat cruel but blissful smile:

"It hurts...that's right.

“I was in pain too.”

Along with the clear laughter of the Rebellious Flame Butterfly like a silver bell, the flame suddenly reversed again and turned into a dark red color as sticky as blood.

The flames, hotter than before, were like a cancer in his bones, instantly permeating Droste's entire body.

And when Droste's consciousness became blurred again, the flame turned white again.

The pain dissipated like the ebb tide, and his body regained consciousness from the tingling and warmth. The pain would never paralyze his nerves, because every time he would recover his healthiest posture.

Pure fear finally appeared in Droste's eyes: "No, no..."

"You don't want to die, right?"

The Flame Butterfly dances in the air like the queen of flames, controlling flames of different attributes.

She stared at Droste, her dark red pupils like coagulated blood: "What a coincidence, I didn't want to do that either."

The next moment, the flames reversed again.

This time, the Flame-Butterfly didn't reverse the flames. Instead, it increased the firepower and burned Droste to ashes with a strong murderous intent.

Aiwass reached out and gently stroked the Flame-Defying Butterfly's hair. It felt similar to Yulia's, only slightly hotter... like a glass of boiling water.

She just squinted her eyes like a kitten and remained silent.

After gaining full intellect, he made himself appear cruel in his first appearance...

…Now that I’ve calmed down, I feel a little embarrassed.

But I don't regret it, thought the Flame-Defying Butterfly.

If she had the chance again, she would do the same thing.

She would be happy, but also sad, to see Aiwass avenge her and torture Droste for her and Yulia.

...That is the sadness of loved ones being forced to seek revenge and having their hands stained with blood.

Because in her memory... and also in Yulia's memory, Aiwass was the brother who was always gentle but sometimes seemed a little weak.

He would force himself to stay awake all night to accompany Yulia because she was feeling uncomfortable; he would also take leave to stay at home with her for a long time because Yulia felt lonely at home.

When he was living in the orphanage, Aiwas's favorite food was fried cod. He would feel very happy when eating fried cod, and Yulia would stare at him blankly - a look like the sun that a parentless, homeless orphan should not have.

It is the color of hope for those who lack it.

Perhaps because Yulia was always looking at him, Aiwass thought that Yulia also liked fried cod fillet. So he always gave her most of the meal.

But Yulia doesn't really like fried fish. It's too greasy for her. She prefers vegetables and desserts.

But every time Aiwass gave her food, Yulia felt a warmth in her chest. It was a feeling that made her want to cry... It was the taste of "family" in Yulia's memory, a feeling she hadn't had since she could remember.

Yulia knew that she and Aiwass were not the same kind of people from the very beginning.

Aiwass had a family when he was a child.

He had his own father and mother, and even had memories of living with them. He vaguely remembered their appearance and names, but the memories were not very clear.

But Yulia was an abandoned baby. She had been an orphan for as long as she could remember. She didn't even know her last name, let alone whether her parents were still alive.

Aiwass is the sun that has sunk to the bottom of the valley, yet one day it will rise again. There will be many people around him, and he will not be the first, nor the last.

But Yulia was a bat that had lived at the bottom of the valley since birth. She had only ever seen one kind of light: the light of the sun.

However, in Yulia's memory... Aiwass was actually much more fragile than her.

He was very afraid of pain and would cry if he just bumped his head or hand. He was also very afraid of bleeding. When he accidentally fell and scraped his knee and it bled, he was so scared that he thought he was going to die.

Aiwass wasn't the type with simple desires. Quite the opposite, he was quite greedy... Every time he gave something he loved to someone else, he felt bad.

He was also very timid, much more timid than Yulia. Yulia was actually never afraid of the dark, but Aiwass was always afraid of the dark... He was not afraid of ghosts, but he was afraid that someone in the dark would kill him, just like his parents.

...But even so.

Yet he was willing to hurt himself without mercy and feed his own blood; he was willing to give the things he liked to Yulia, who was not related to him by blood; he was obviously very timid but pretended to be brave and tried to protect Yulia.

So, Yulia would pretend to be weak so that Aiwass could protect her.

Because she is now Aiwass's "sister".

But the Flame-Defying Butterfly is different.

She is a demon, a phantom. A paradoxical beast that shouldn't exist.

She was a cruel and mad fire demon who nearly burned Aiwass to death in this world, only finally coming to her senses at the last moment. Now, it made sense for her to burn Droste to death several more times...

But just when the Flame-Bending Butterfly was feeling a little lost, Aiwass suddenly said, "You are quite kind.

"I only healed him twice, and then I killed him completely... If it were me, I would have killed him at least ten times. As expected, the Phantom Demon of the Way of Devotion can't be too bad-tempered."

The Flame-Defying Butterfly raised its head and stared at Aiwass in a daze.

Aiwass touched her gently and called softly, "Are you tired? Come back and rest for a while."

The corners of her mouth slowly rose, and her body shattered, turning into a flame butterfly that slowly landed on Aiwas's fingertips.

...That was definitely not tenderness towards Yulia.

She finally felt it clearly.

That is the light that belongs only to you.

——It was not until Droste turned into ashes that the Flame-Rebellious Butterfly completely separated itself from Yulia.

Update completed!

My work and rest schedule has broken down again, so I’d like to offer you a new book by an old author!

(End of this chapter)