Stray - Chapter 237

    God’s Wrath

    Jesse Dillon of Tumbleweed lost his voice, and the spell fluctuation of another spiritual sacrifice became weaker.

    Hamlin could almost guess what happened. After all these years in the Radish choir, “spiritual sacrifice” was the only spell they were allowed to practice.

    Jesse Dillon was probably seriously injured or in a coma, making it impossible to continue to deliver magic power through the mark. As for Adrian Cross, from the battle that happened not long ago, he probably didn’t have any spare power left.

    Now they have left the abyss, and the two members of the tumbleweed are extremely weak, and one of them has clearly alienated. It is a good time for the fanatics to act – even if the Pope himself investigates the matter afterwards, he will not be able to pick out the error in the procedure. Can only eat this dark loss.

    Hamlin’s palm resting on the armrest was sweaty.

    The one-eyed dwarf Rugo looks down on humans, even if he agrees with the other party because of Mr. Cross’s strength, it does not mean that he really cares about Cross’s life.

    Safely returned to the surface without suffering fatal injuries. He just had to keep feigning weakness and watch it all. When this task is over, he will be able to leave the choir and return to his home where he is no longer poor.

    But…

    Hamlyn Elmer raised his head and turned his blind eyes in the direction of Adrian Cross’s breath.

    The traitor of Radism, the black seal of sin. While staying in the Holy Land Hatfield, Hamlin had heard many rumors about Adrian Cross.

      Not to mention the trade mark of the superior demon to lure the “battlefield saint” Cahill Edwards to make a contract with the superior demon.

    But not to mention the tumbleweed’s favor to his brother, in that suffocating darkness, Mr. Cross was the only one who found himself in poor condition.

    The only one.

    Hamlin shuddered and lowered his body, tremblingly trying to connect the blood of the sacrifice on the back of the neck of the former Judge Knight.

    Brother is waiting for him to come home. It is a felony to arbitrarily use spiritual sacrifices against people outside the Holy See – let alone apostates. Once discovered…

    Impulsive and stupid, Hamlin thought. It had never occurred to him before that if he wanted to go against the dogma for the first time, he would take a risk of this level.

    But if the other party just wants a little time, a little time to protect their companions.

    Mr. Clos’s voice trembled a little, would “The Morning Star of the Glow” also be frightened?

    Hamlin clasped his cold hands, panting with trembling.

    [O merciful God, all glory belongs to you. Please forgive my sins and lead me out of this quagmire. 】

    He prayed desperately in the bottom of his heart, and then sent out the power regardless.

    The empowered Adrian Cross did not pray.

    After many pleas to no avail, he simply accepted the status quo. The former Judge Knight Commander just stood there quietly, supporting his dilapidated body, with a terrifying peaceful smile on his face.

    The fighting spirit radiated from the tattered silver sword to the surrounding area, and if anyone tried to approach, the blade would definitely bring up a bloodstain after it was slashed. Whether it’s armor, a heavy shield, or another sword, it all becomes paper-thin before that sharp aura.

     Considering Hamlin’s own frail condition, Adrian did not dare to ask for too much power. He stubbornly stayed there, with sword skills as the main, and magic as the supplement, without taking a step back.

    Like a breathing fortress.

    How many minutes have passed until now?

    The field of vision was stained with blood red under the blast of a new round of spells. Adrian found his breathing began to erratic.

     But the people behind him still didn’t wake up.

    …then continue.

    He was gradually moving towards death, and Adrian knew that. After several fierce battles, his hands were shaking uncontrollably, and his muscles seemed to be completely torn. Excessive blood loss made him chill.

    But the smile on the corner of his mouth grew wider.

    What a familiar cold, Adrian thought groggy. Like sixteen years ago? Or seventeen years ago?

    At that time, he first met the guy who couldn’t wake up behind him.

    Adrian can’t remember too many details about the war, only remembers the charred tree trunks, the swollen corpses and the overwhelming snowstorm after the war. In the winter of lack of food, after the cannibalism of humans, demons and beasts swarmed to **** the remaining corpses.

    Grief turned into hunger, hunger turned into despair, and riots were born.

    And he stepped on the thick snow, walking alone in the night storm.

    Having lost everything in the war, Adrian, who was still a teenager, didn’t have much choice – he didn’t want to stab his former neighbor’s head on the tip of a branch for a little bedding and hard bread. But he also didn’t want to shrink in the ruins of blood splashing and monsters wandering, waiting for death to come.

    In the endless madness, it is very likely that the self who is not strong enough will become the dinner of some beast or some people.

    Fortunately, he is not desperate.

    There is a Radish church not far or near, and they are willing to accept war orphans of the right age – but it takes two days and two nights to walk through the woods by the ruins of the village. In a blizzard that doesn’t seem to be about to stop, such an act would be tantamount to suicide.

    But that was his only option.

    The wind swept the ice and slapped the already numb skin on Adrian’s face. The shabby clothes that are not thick enough cannot resist the cold, and his feet have already lost consciousness, and he can only count the steps with trembling.

    He didn’t know how long he had been gone, and everything he saw was a vast expanse of white. Adrian can’t even tell where he came from and in which direction he’s heading. Worse yet, he may have been circling around a certain area like a headless fly.

    The dead trees that were not too close were buried deep in the snow, and gradually turned into the same appearance in his eyes.

    What followed was an increasing darkness.

    After a day’s march, facing the gradually darkening sky, Adrian tasted true despair for the first time.

    He thought he could find one or two dead wood stumps to protect against the cold wind, and if he was lucky, he could also get some dead grass and soft bark for the stomach, but he found nothing. There are only scattered dead trees and white snow left between the sky and the earth.

    I am dying.

    Adrian pushed the thick branch in his hand into the knee-deep snow and moved forward almost instinctively. Everything in front of him began to blur, and the skin that rubbed against the rough clothing became hot and painful. His breath seemed to freeze, and his throat was blocked by the icy wind, unable to breathe.

    The last thing that left his memory was the snow, the white snow that glowed vaguely in the night. Adrian knelt down, letting them catch his body, raised his head laboriously, and extended his hand in the direction of the imaginary church.

    But he knew in his heart that the snow would bury him and spit out his bones in the spring.

    I don’t want to die yet, Adrian, who was a teenager at the time, thought numbly.

    That was his last thought before he lost consciousness.

    What happened after that is enough to be called a miracle.

    In fact, until recently, Adrian Cross wasn’t sure if it was a strange end-of-life hallucination. Or maybe he just met a well-intentioned passerby, whose frozen brain distorted reality.

    The first thing to come is the warm breath, and the eyes pass through the eyelashes decorated with ice particles. Stimulated by the long-lost warmth, Adrian unconsciously swept his gaze.

    He saw a huge row of fangs belonging to a beast. But the cold and unconscious nose did not smell the unique stench of beasts, and there was only the faint sound of wind in his ears.

    The overly large beast was staring at him with icy blue eyes that were as cold and emotionless as its color. He still cannot escape the fate of being devoured by beasts, either, Adrian thought casually, at least now he won’t feel too much pain.

     But what followed was not a tear of sharp teeth, but a sea of ​​soft fur.

    The huge beast fell down, curled its body into a ball, and wrapped him in the middle of the body. The soft and smooth white long hair seems to have magic power, and a strange floating sensation wraps him, and his limbs tingle to regain consciousness. Adrian clutched at the long soft fur subconsciously, making sure he smelled a bit of the aroma of berries mixed with milk.

    If this is a hallucination before death, death may not be as terrible as he thought.

    The long, fluffy white fur cut off the cry of the blizzard while allowing him to breathe. It’s so warm, it’s too comfy and soft to feel half-real.

    But when she woke up the next day, Adrian found that the furry hallucination was still there. He struggled to get himself out of the pile of long hair, and the huge beast was still huddled together, the white fur and the snow almost blending into one. Those icy blue eyes were tightly closed, and the odd horns shone delicate golden light in the sunlight.

    By the way, she was snoring.

    The blizzard stopped at some point, the sun was pouring down, and I was no longer hungry or thirsty. Adrian stretched his arms through the thick long hair, probing the beast tentatively—the other party only grunted a few times, tightening the ball.

    Adrian looked around subconsciously. Under the clear blue sky, he could see a little bit of the steeple belonging to the church.

    The destination is close at hand, and he clearly didn’t go that far last night. But given what was happening was bizarre enough, Adrian plucked his thick branch from the fur and gave the odd animal a clumsy salute.

    The other party smacked his mouth in his sleep, not intending to wake up. The elegant behemoth was still lying on top of the snow, as beautiful as a dream.

    After that, things were very simple. Adrian managed to reach the church and was successfully taken in. He ran back to the woods the first day he got the winter coat, but the strange beast had long since disappeared.

    It also does not exist in any books, murals, legends, or even bard nonsense. Adrian tried to ask the upper floors of the church and the residents who lived here for a long time, but he basically got responses like “I haven’t seen it”, “It’s your hallucination” or something similar.

    The beast only existed in his shattered memory, leaving no other trace.

    After that, every winter, Adrian would search in the woods, chasing a more and more vague hallucination. That winter when he had to leave this area until the promotion order of the Judge Knight Commander came.

    “Goodbye.”

    Adrian, who was no longer a teenager, bowed his head and said goodbye to the forest for the last time.

    The moment he raised his head, he seemed to see it again – that beautiful giant beast, it stood in the dead bush not far away, and the ice blue eyes were full of playfulness .

    But when Adrian looked closely, only snow could be seen between the brown and black branches covered with ice.

    [You finally found me. Ed, did I say that? I love the way you are now and it feels… sorely missed. 】

    Jesse Dillon has long known… that sleepless bastard.

    The memory fades in a gradually blurred consciousness.

    Adrian raised the sword in his hand, his ears filled with the sound of his own breathing and heartbeat. The swollen eyelids were almost too heavy to lift, and the body instinctively resisted waves of blades, arrows and spells.

    The silver sword let out an overwhelmed groan, and the former judge knight commander could hardly see everything in front of him.

    He grasped the slightly deformed silver sword, and the remaining strength was not even enough for him to raise the corner of his mouth. The fanatics seemed to be shouting, but he couldn’t understand the meaning of those words.

    Adrian could only barely manage the spells that attacked him.

    The former Judge Knight Commander used to be very good at this, the endless tracking technique. The damage is huge and it is extremely difficult to activate. The other party must have spent a high-level scroll for Jesse Dylan.

    The warm white light pierced into his eyes, like bright snow in the sun.

    【Promise me not to die easily. 】

    【Then you have to protect me, I am very fragile. 】

    He promised the wayward Mr. Dylan two things. Now it seemed that he was bound to break one of those promises.

    Since you can only choose one, choose the one you like better. The other party had given him so many years of time, and it was time to give it back.

    “Goodbye.”

    He said softly, suddenly wanting to hear Jesse Dillon ask that question again.

    [Hey Ed, do you really like me a little today? 】

    Since I don’t like to lie, how should I answer this time?

    In order to avoid the excessive consumption of magic power and kill Hamlin, Adrian cut off the spiritual sacrifice by himself. He didn’t dodge from the blazing white light, but just squeezed out all the remaining magic power in his body to build the final protection.

    The spell pierces the flesh and disperses. The deformed long sword was inserted into the soil, but Adrian Cross still did not fall.

    Only the pool of blood kept accumulating under his feet and then spreading.

    The warm blood gradually cooled, soaking the long coat of the blond youth behind.

    Two or three seconds passed, Jesse Dillon blinked.

    This journey into the abyss was not pleasant at all. As if completely letting go of his instincts, the hostility from the Demon Lord’s body suppressed him without hesitation. The connection with his own body was cut off, and the battle of the pale hive completely overdrawn his power, and he almost couldn’t even maintain the power to maintain his form.

     Jesse raised her hand, satisfied that it had returned to human form.

    Then he put one hand on the ground, and just sat up, he frowned because of the wet hands and the blood filling his nose.

    “Ed.” Jesse turned his eyes as usual to the figure standing beside him.

     But his knight commander didn’t answer the call, Jesse raised his eyes and even saw a small piece of sky through the terrifying hole in the other’s left chest.

    The blond youth fell silent.

    “…Oops.” After a while, he looked back and muttered softly. “Looks like I’m still a little late.”

    After saying that, he stood up and glanced at the mad believers who were standing still, as if they had not recovered from the scene in front of him.

    “Gentlemen and gentlemen.” Jesse Dillon’s tone sounded as light as ever.

    His star went out. Adrian Cross is a mortal after all, human beings are fragile and short-lived, and can easily die for all sorts of bizarre reasons. Even if it was once the “luminous morning star”, it will inevitably decay slowly, turn into bones, and eventually be completely forgotten by the world, like a worm in the corner of an abandoned house.

    “Something bad happened just now, but it was all a misunderstanding, I promise. I can explain.” Jesse raised his hands and took two steps forward on the blood, extremely said smoothly.

    Their main target, Cross the Apostate, is dead and nothing to fear. The fanatics looked at the man in front of them and frowned.

    Jesse Dillon has completely recovered his human appearance, and the abnormal magic fluctuations have disappeared at this moment. The main purpose is achieved, and important evidence of alienation is lost, and things start to get a little tricky. But before they could agree on what to do next—

    “…I should have said this.” The abnormally beautiful blond young man walked past the corpse of the former judge knight commander, and the smile on his face disappeared completely. “But I’m a little **** off now.”

    The remaining members of the tumbleweed took another step forward, picked up the half-conscious gray parrot on the ground, and threw it on the back of the Fuller goat.

    “Well, let me correct it, I’m quite angry.”

    Jesse thought for a moment, and his tone was serious. He didn’t look back at the corpse, his tone was cold and calm.

    “I can’t beat Ed before you kill him. As I said, I don’t like to lose.”

    It was clear that the other party did not take any action, but the few mad believers who stood closest suddenly had chills on their backs. It was an instinctual fear, as if it was not a human being in front of him, but an unknown and terrifying human natural enemy.

    They didn’t wait for the order, they attacked directly.

    And their target didn’t even bother to cast a glance. Jesse Dylan glanced at the spell that rushed in front of him, and the spell just stopped in mid-air for a few seconds, then returned the same way.

    The deadly spell passed through the head of the caster, and the sound of the body falling to the ground was particularly heavy in the silence.

    “This is your first hand.” Jesse shook his finger, “Remember, even Ed or the captain can’t make excuses to scold me now.”

    “Adrien Cross is dead.” The leading mage swallowed and hissed.

    Commander Lugo didn’t say a word, he looked at Jesse in front of him with his big yellow one eye, and his skinny paws touched the scroll.

    “Isn’t that obvious? I’m not stupid.” Jesse responded lightly, taking another step forward. “Obviously agreed not to die easily… He was very fragile before, I just took my eyes away for a while, alas.”

    “You can’t attack us.” The fanatic in the red robe glanced at his companion who fell to the ground, his voice sharp. “We have not violated any dogma, even if the Pope is here, he has no right to interfere with our actions!”

    “Adrien Cross was a vile apostate, and a little **** deed can’t offset his sins. As for you, Dylan. Stay where you are now, or we will start attacking-“

    “Apostate… Ha.” A sneer gradually appeared on Jesse Dillon’s beautiful expressionless face.

    “What does your dogma have to do with me? In the interest of the surface? To be honest, I know your stupid dogma, but none of them stipulate that the alienation inspection must be carried out immediately. I will see the time… Well, I was only in a coma for fifteen minutes. What, you received an oracle in a hurry – if you don’t check right away, the surface will explode in fifteen minutes?”

    “If you are really justified, my stupid Ed will not resist the so-called ‘righteousness’. Make dogmas for yourself, preach justice for yourself, and then take advantage of the dogma you set . Your goal was Ed in the beginning, right? Use me to do this… ah, that’s awesome.”

    The blond young man clapped his hands insincerely and took another step forward.

    “Attack.” The mage ordered loudly, “For Chenni’s glory!”

    Several lines of white light lasing from all directions.

    And then disappeared halfway, leaving no trace.

    “I changed my mind.” Jesse Dillon glanced at the corpses that were mutilated by the rebound of the spell, and touched his chin. “It’s boring to kill you all… After all, according to your delusions, if you die in battle against ‘evil’, you can still enter an ideal land or some other ghost place.”

    An even more rapid and violent attack answered him.

    But those earth-shattering spells are still silently dissolving halfway. Before the sharp blade touched the corner of Jesse Dylan’s clothes, it burned and vaporized directly.

    “In my opinion, you are so devout that you deserve a reward…deserving a careful ‘reward’.”

    Jesse walked directly to the leading mage and grabbed the other’s collar. The tone was very soft, but the malice in it was almost overflowing.

     “Don’t you want to maintain the glory of God and keep the believers pure? Isn’t your ultimate goal to return to your ideal homeland and crawl in front of Chenni?”

    The mage took out the Dragon Breath stone dagger in his pocket, raised his hand and stabbed Jesse Dylan in the abdomen. But the powerful blade seemed to pierce into the void, unable to injure the opponent at all.

    “What the **** are you?” He asked a question from between his teeth.

    “I have many names, which one do you ask?” Jesse’s voice was clear and loud. “Now my name is Jesse Dillon. But the elves like the name ‘Celestin’ and the one-eyed dwarfs call me ‘Mansfield’. See the dragon dizzy over there? They gave me ‘Dimitrieu’.”

    Then the blond monster moved his lips sarcastically.

    “And you keep calling me ‘Denny’.”

    “What are you talking about—”

    “Next, please meet your gods.”