The Yellow-Haired Villain in Soaring Phoenix’s Novels Also Desires Happiness - Chapter 216
141. The Weeping Serpent (Part Eight)
“I am in position.”
In the outer area of the altar meticulously crafted by the cultists, a gaunt figure lurked in the shadows atop a high tower, observing everything that transpired at the altar.
The Silent One, Jin Ze.
After receiving the elder’s orders, he did not participate in the cultists’ full-scale assault tonight. Instead, using a special ancient relic, he masked his presence and slipped past the layers of defenses set by the cultists and the moon beasts, arriving alone at this core area.
His task was singular: to eliminate the key figure, Anna Carberlin, at the critical moment.
He had thought this would be an easy task, for he had reviewed all the information on Anna Carberlin, understanding her combat style and strength. With his own abilities and the items he carried, even if Anna Carberlin were ten times stronger, killing her would be a simple matter.
But at this moment, Jin Ze’s forehead was already covered with fine beads of sweat, and he couldn’t help but feel a bit dry in his throat.
Since he became a Silent One, he had faced countless strange occurrences created by evil gods or their followers, but never had he felt as tense as he did now.
This was solely because, in front of him, through a specially crafted magical telescope, he saw an incredibly beautiful scene.
Under the ghostly blue moonlight, a girl with a serpent’s tail floated quietly, her purple skirt swaying, making her look like a mermaid peacefully sleeping in the deep sea.
Yet at this moment, Jin Ze had no mind to appreciate the beauty; through this special telescope, he could clearly see wisps of light mist, far deeper than the moonlight, appearing abruptly from the void and slowly merging into the girl’s body.
As those mists entered her, the girl’s aura began to become terrifying.
And that terror did not stem from an elevation in her realm; in fact, at this distance, no matter how powerful Jin Ze was, he couldn’t sense how high the girl’s realm was.
—It was more like the girl was undergoing an ultimate sublimation of life, as if an ant was about to evolve into a bird soaring in the sky, looking down upon them, the humble creatures that were also ants.
“Damn it!”
Even Jin Ze, who usually remained calm in the face of crises, couldn’t help but lose control of his emotions and curse out loud.
As a high-ranking member of the Silent Organization and the most capable subordinate of the Swordbearer, how could he not see what the current Silent Moon was scheming?
It was actually planning to descend into the world using Anna Carberlin as a vessel!
“Is this the peculiarity of Anna Carberlin? The reason why the evil followers would go so far as to attack the branch of the Silent Organization to obtain her? A perfect adapter of evil god power?”
“But even if the evil god creates a perfect vessel, what does it matter? It cannot truly descend; the deity’s true form cannot pass through the barriers of the world—this is an absolute rule!”
“If it’s only a partial descent, aside from weakening its own power, what’s the use? The divine war is about to begin; isn’t it just looking for death?”
“Unless… it doesn’t want to be a god anymore?”
A ridiculous thought suddenly took shape in Jin Ze’s mind, making him unable to suppress a laugh even in such a serious situation.
The true form of a god cannot pass through the barriers of the world, but the will, authority, and power of a god can seep through.
Therefore, logically speaking, descending in a way that does not regard itself as a god makes some sense to a certain extent.
But how could that be possible? An evil god could never abandon its divine body, give up its divine position, and lower itself to become the lowly creatures of the lower realm that it looks down upon?
Such a notion would make even a three-year-old laugh at your fanciful thinking, as if you were dreaming in broad daylight.
But…
No matter how low the possibility of such fanciful thinking was, as a qualified Silent One, he had to prepare for the worst at this moment.
Jin Ze silently took out the silver briefcase that the old man had given him earlier.
After a complicated authentication process, he finally released the intricate sealing matrix engraved on the case. Jin Ze took a deep breath and solemnly opened the case.
Inside the case, an arrow that resembled crystal carving appeared in his sight.
The arrowhead was translucent, like a shining ruby, but within that ruby was a terrifying power that made Jin Ze’s breath catch.
The Origin Stone.
The name of this ruby flashed through Jin Ze’s mind.
This was a terrifying weapon crafted by the great mage who could not leave the academy, the only thing she had provided as assistance in the war between Belrand and the evil gods.
Sealing the last remaining origin-level archmage’s full-force strike in this world, the miracle known as “certain kill” was engraved upon the gemstone, thus forging this “theoretically” capable death arrow that could kill any existence.
No matter what intentions that moon harbored, as long as the vessel it relied upon vanished, everything could not be spoken of.
Therefore…
Loading the arrow into the specially crafted long-range crossbow, Jinze slowly aimed at that mermaid-like silhouette.
Through the scope, Jinze could see the fear and struggle in the girl’s brow, looking pitiful, but he took a deep breath and quickly calmed his emotions.
The hand that had been slightly trembling was, at that moment, as steady as steel.
“Heavy rain, no wind, visibility very low.”
“The opponent has yet to discover my presence.”
“The magical elements are relatively stable, observation is clear.”
“Aiming direction is unobstructed, can shoot.”
“Please issue the command.”
After a series of preparations were completed, Jinze reported to the specially crafted small communication stone in his ear.
“Shh—”
However, after a long time, the small communication stone still only emitted a rustling noise.
The elderly man on the other side of the stone, who held the final decision, remained silent.
“Please issue the command.”
Jinze urged.
Before him, that moon seemed to sense something, and gradually, a thick black mist began to seep out, slowly enveloping the entire altar from bottom to top.
That was… the dark moon mist that isolated everything.
Jinze’s breath quickened involuntarily; although the origin stone was terrifying, it needed to hit to be effective. If the dark moon mist covered the altar, he could only watch helplessly as the silent moon completed its plan.
“Please issue the command!”
This time, Jinze was nearly shouting.
“Alas—”
Finally, the elderly voice came from the communication stone.
“Jinze, tell me, which is more important, one person or hundreds of thousands?”
“Of course, hundreds of thousands!”
In his urgency, Jinze completely overlooked his rudeness.
“Please issue the command quickly, the dark moon mist has already covered one-fifth… one-third… half… it’s about to obscure my shooting angle!”
“Is that so?”
Countless thoughts intertwined, only able to transform into the old man’s helpless bitter smile.
“Perhaps I’m just overthinking things… If that’s the case, then…”
“Eh?!”
The old man was about to issue an order when he was interrupted by Jin Ze’s astonished voice.
“What’s happening?”
“How is that possible?”
Jin Ze exclaimed in disbelief,
“That person… that person is Mu En Campbell, right? How did he appear here?”
“Mu En Campbell? Are you sure?” A sound of a chair being overturned faintly came from the communication stone.
“Absolutely, it’s him.”
Jin Ze fixed his gaze on the scope, at this moment, his focus shifted from the fish-like girl to the periphery of the altar.
The blond boy had suddenly appeared there, circling around the Dark Moon Mist.
Suddenly, he seemed to make a decision and strode into the mist without looking back.
“Is he crazy?”
Jin Ze was dumbfounded.
In the Dark Moon Mist of the Silent Moon, even the crowned ones could get lost within; a pampered duke’s son entering it was akin to seeking death, right?
Wait, though…
How did a pampered duke’s son, who appeared to have no hidden aura or ancient relics, manage to penetrate the layers of blockade set by the heretics and moon beasts to arrive here?
There was no time to ponder this; Jin Ze’s attention returned to the main point—the Dark Moon Mist was about to completely close off; he had to make a decision!
“Forget it, put down the crossbow for now.” The old man’s command came through the communication stone.
“What?”
Jin Ze thought he had misheard. “Have you lost your mind? This is our last chance!”
“It’s not the last chance.”
The old man said:
“Even in the worst-case scenario, that moon truly has descended upon Anna by forsaking its divine body and divine position. At the moment of its birth, it remains the most vulnerable, and the Origin Stone is still effective.”
Jin Ze forced a smile: “But the probability of hitting a stationary target versus a moving target is not even close.”
“It won’t be a moving target.”
The old man said coldly:
“No matter how strong that moon is, having lost its divine position and divine body, its authority cannot be fully exerted. It won’t be difficult to temporarily hold it back; it’s merely… a matter of sacrificing something.
But since even that foolish boy, with a bright future ahead, can forsake everything to come here, what do I, an old man with one foot in the grave, have to be afraid of?”
On the other side, the old man stepped out of the dilapidated shop, his aged eyes opening and closing, bursting forth with a brilliance that was hard to behold.
He gazed up at the deep blue moon hanging in the sky, sighing as he spoke:
“Having fought against the dark gods my whole life, my hands stained with blood and sin, I never believed in miracles. Yet in the end, I can’t help but yearn for a beautiful dream.”
“Mu En Campbell, old man, I’ll indulge you just this once.”
“You must… save that silly girl who can only cry alone.”
…
“Senior, you must be inside.”
In the vast space, Mu En circled the pitch-black mist before him, confirming that the feeling he sensed was indeed pointing towards the fog.
He knew this was the Dark Moon Mist, far more potent than the one the siren had just used; even the crowned ones could lose themselves within it.
But he took a deep breath and stepped in without hesitation.
“Senior, I’m here to save you.”
…
PS: I’ve had some things to attend to in the mornings lately, so updates are generally in the evenings. During peak times, I’ll try to keep the updates more stable.