Chapter 157
Lady listened to the sound of the wind and snow outside, her head bowed, lost in thought.
I didn't feel ashamed of what I had just done. Shame is probably considered not to be of much help in surviving, which is why it is only triggered in a very small number of people.
This carriage was given to Ark to rest in, and also used to store miscellaneous items. The two carriages in front were simply separated by gender. Gray and Deedri, who didn't mind, rested on the men's side.
There are four men and five women in the group. Two of the men are upstairs keeping watch in the cold wind. Therefore, the girls' carriages are a bit crowded. Even if Lady comes to this carriage to find Ark, there still needs to be at least three people resting in each carriage.
To be honest, it's a bit of a stretch to fit nine people into three carriages.
Lady began organizing the supplies. Because they had always been just piled up, it was a bit messy. Denos had taught her how to do these kinds of chores, including storing various items and how to keep comprehensive records. Her own musket also needed some basic cleaning and maintenance.
She had just had a good sleep and was now wide awake. The two strongest guards were on night watch, so she figured she might as well do something here to pass the time.
The snow outside was heavy, extremely heavy. The carriage slowed down. It was powered by steam, but relied almost entirely on water and a fire elemental array driven by magic cores.
Perhaps we could collect this snow; the little spider said he could drink this water, and a little dirt wouldn't bother him. Strictly speaking, none of the people on this carriage had any aversion to this water and wouldn't care at all when they needed to drink it.
Even if you don't drink it, it's good to use it as motivation.
But just as I was about to go out, I suddenly felt like I heard someone making a noise.
Without a second thought, a dagger slid into her hand and pointed at the guy who had appeared behind her at some unknown time, and then she froze.
"Grey? What are you doing here?" Lady was stunned, looking at the girl who had raised her hands in fright.
Gray and Dark, the two cats, are now inseparable from the coffin and rarely retain their human forms. But the creature appearing before them now does indeed seem to be that child who can't speak very clearly.
"I... I came here to find something," she said softly, then suddenly jumped back, because if she had been a step too late, the spider legs that were thrusting at her would have pierced her body.
Lady turned her head and looked at the little spider that had rolled in.
"Who are you?" The little spider frowned at her. "Monster, why are you here?"
This time, Lady was stunned. She watched as the humanoid figure in front of her slowly twisted and finally turned into a cloud of black mist.
The creature that had transformed into a small spider disappeared after speaking. They hadn't paid it any attention, but then it somehow managed to reappear.
"What do you want to do?" The little spider looked at it, and then at the boiler behind it, which was a fire magic circle containing the magic cores of several monsters.
Ten minutes later, the black mist surged out from a magic core, and the previous magic core collapsed and disappeared.
"Huh? This looks like fun." Lady tilted her head and looked at the guy, who had shrunk into a dark ball like a water balloon after eating.
"How did you follow me here?" The little spider hesitated for a moment. "Can you turn into an object?"
The object transformed into a dagger in front of him.
"Impressive." Lady stroked her chin, looking at the thing, then picked up the dagger. After swinging it a few times in the air, she pointed it outside, and the dagger transformed into a spear.
"What's going on?" Yak realized there was some noise downstairs. He had been wandering around and only now noticed the sounds coming from inside the carriage.
Then, upon entering, I saw a small black ball curled up in a ball.
"I've never seen anything like this before." Ark sat down next to Chris after watching the thing transform into a small spider and smiled at him.
"Thank you for bringing me out." He blinked and said, "I thought I was destined to stay in a place like that for the rest of my life."
Then he looked at Ark and said with a smile, "Can I stay here? I'm easy to take care of, as long as I can eat magic cores."
"No problem, but it's not safe for us here." Ark hesitated, looking at the creature, but quickly realized the difference. The guy in front of him only had the appearance; in reality, he possessed very little magic power, even less than an ordinary monster.
It's probably only survived this long by virtue of its shapeshifting ability, which is understandable given its frequent changes in size. If it possessed a lot of magic power, the ability to compress itself into the size of a dagger would be astonishing.
In short, this guy seems to be all about consuming magic cores, specifically the magic cores of ordinary monsters. Keeping one around wouldn't be bad. It doesn't seem to have low intelligence either; having one of these should provide plenty of amusement.
Its name is Noni, a simple name it gave itself, without any other meaning.
It nodded, seemingly pleased that its request had been granted. Then it turned back into a black blob and huddled in the corner, as if it had finally put an end to something.
The reason was that they were terrified.
Although I've always lived in such an extremely dangerous place, encountering such a major disaster after coming out is definitely not something to laugh about.
Moreover, the people in these carriages all seemed more terrifying than the last. If they disliked him, it would be tantamount to cutting off his own path to survival.
Fortunately, at least for now, the people here don't seem to be very irritable.
......
Benny sat on the city wall, gazing into the distance, lost in thought.
Three days had passed since Ark left, and three days later, the last calamity-level monster to enter the city fell to the ground. This effectively declared victory for humanity, and everyone was overjoyed, as if they had escaped a calamity.
In that case, perhaps I should be happy.
But she couldn't feel happy, because now she was all alone in this city. Ark was gone, gone. She was left all alone. Even Xiaobai was gone; she suddenly felt utterly alone in the city.
Not to mention that people didn't even dare to approach her because she was a saint.
Everyone witnessed the scene that had just occurred not long ago: her battle with the demon god was more like a more bizarre monster destroying something that was merely vicious and disgusting.
They are all monsters, and there is no difference between them in essence.
It was such an annoying extension of the situation; Benny hated the way these guys looked at her. It always made her feel uneasy. She stood up, dusted herself off, and adjusted the cloak around her neck. It could completely cover her under her robes, so no one would feel uneasy because she was just an ordinary girl.
The reason for this is that if they knew their protector was a little girl, they wouldn't feel guilt, only fear. Their enemy is monsters, and if a human were to protect them, they would surely die. Only monsters can defeat monsters.
She walked on the city wall; it was just a wall away, yet it was a completely different world.
Behind me was the safe zone, the safest place. Outside lay a city almost completely destroyed, countless buildings collapsed. Fires had been burning there that morning. Now, with the bodies disposed of, they were on the verge of unleashing a plague and transforming into even more grotesque creatures that would attack humans.
Therefore, burning the city down and rebuilding it was obviously a good option.
Less than half survived; it was a strict survival of the fittest. Those who were weak or old perished in the attack. So many burned in the fire—where in the world could such firewood be found? In the flames of that inferno, all lives and happiness, regardless of their origin, turned to ashes.
But clearly, fate didn't want them to succeed, so it rained heavily again halfway through. The fire was extinguished, but the city wasn't completely burned; everywhere was pitch black, and charred corpses were scattered everywhere.
It looks like we'll have to wait until later to continue burning. The city is completely useless now; only after it's completely cleared can a better city be built.
Construction wasn't difficult; for this city, there was no better architect than a sorcerer. With a little thought, houses could spring up quickly. In just a few months, the city could be restored to its former prosperity.
Benny clenched her fists, inhaling the stench of burning flesh, her expression filled with anger.
She didn't know who she was angry at, or what had caused the whole thing; she just felt incredibly angry. The air around Phile seemed scorching. She wanted to curse, but couldn't find anyone to yell at. So she paced back and forth on the city wall, her expression terrifying.
When she had calmed down enough, she turned to look at the safe zone behind her.
The temporary refugees were housed inside the city walls because there was virtually no place to settle in the safe zone. This was the only place where food could be grown, and the harvest was almost ready. It was better to have those who couldn't fit in temporarily set up camp outside than to take up space inside.
The church's losses have been tallied, and all the high-ranking clergy are safe and sound. This incident, once reported, will likely be considered a model of perfect handling. No losses have been amplified, since the church only considers the data on high-ranking clergy; there might also be issues with food production.
Because of the heavy casualties in this city, it's estimated that there will be a food surplus. After the harvest, it might be transported out to support other cities. Several settlements completely destroyed in the Blood Sun Massacre haven't yet resumed production and need some of this food reserve.
This isn't something she should be worrying about; it's the benevolent one who should find this difficult. That guy seems to have a lot of free time every day; I really don't know if he's actually done these things properly.
Benny looked behind her; the sky seemed to have split open, one side shrouded in dark clouds, threatening to crush the city, while the other side basked in bright sunshine. Flowers sang, birds soared—it was like the difference between heaven and hell. Only a wall separated them.
Once upon a time, the whole world was like this. Abundant wealth prevailed; no one on this land went hungry, and no one was destitute. Until the great war between God and the devil turned the world into hell, with heaven hidden within, forbidding anyone to enter.
There's a certain resentment among those demons and gods; their battles are completely inexplicable, only recorded as beginning a war. They couldn't find a reason, they just started a war—perhaps they were bored and decided to fight.
Because of them, even survival now requires immense resolve. Even now, they search the world for their own shadows, ready to continue the war at any moment.
Benny laughed, then suddenly found it a bit ridiculous. In that case, perhaps she was a rather powerful piece on God's chessboard? After all, she directly inherited the abilities of an angel, making her a very, very strong person.
She patted her head, realizing she shouldn't be letting her mind wander.
But if she didn't start thinking wildly, she didn't know what she could do. She looked up at the dark clouds in the sky.
For her, it felt like a vacation, traveling the world without having to worry about dealing with paperwork if problems arose somewhere. She could do whatever she wanted. Even this time, if she didn't want to help the city, no one could persuade her otherwise. It was her freedom; she just felt she should help the people here. Apparently, Ark had a friend here, something like Denos, and he'd mentioned it before leaving.
Thinking this, she jumped off the city wall. But instead of landing directly on the ground, she bounced off the wall and landed in the dark city.
Perhaps I should help clear out the various monsters in this city; it's my job, and if monsters appear here, I should eliminate them.
She wandered aimlessly through the burned-down city. This once great city had vanished into nothingness; its former fame had vanished in an instant.
She brandished her short sword a few times, hacking several charred corpses that were still trying to get up into pieces, which then fell to the ground and rotted into a heap.
Occasionally, they would squat down and search someone's body, eventually finding something that wouldn't be burned by the fire, such as jewelry that a man bought for a woman.
Although it's not anything special, I'm bored anyway, and maybe I'll find something good.
As she walked, she unknowingly arrived at the original site of the sorcerer's school. At the original school gate, a middle-aged man was impaled by strange long claws and had been corrupted into a monster. Upon seeing Benny, he waved his arms as if he wanted to bite her.
Benny showed him mercy and cut off his cervical vertebrae. His current state is probably an insult to him as well.
She stopped in front of the collapsed tower, looking at the magnificent building, and suddenly felt as if she heard a strange sound.
That sounded like someone speaking, someone calling for help.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com