Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
When the two left Istan City at night, Bart looked very weak in the wind with his crutches, while Helen, eroded by the power of curse, she seemed like she was unable to stand steadily. Together, they lifted Agatha, who was sleeping, and left Istan City, they placed her into the hole of the defense wall of the ancient Istan City.
“This is enough. It’s already outside the devil’s altar!”
Those defense walls had been abandoned, most of them had collapsed, and some of the rest had become ruins. Unexpectedly, in the hole of the defense wall, they found a bundle of firewood and several torches. Helen muffled up Agatha and lit a fire. She looked at Agatha’s rosy face, and Helen was full of blissful smiles.
But as the doors of the abyss were about to open, Helen could be seen aging rapidly, and in such a short time, silvery hair began to appear on her head.
Bart looked at Helen’s face, “What are you laughing at? You’re going to die soon!”
Helen gently snuggled up and leaned closer to Agatha, she rubbed Agatha’s face, “It doesn’t matter, as long as Agatha is here, as long as she’s alive, it’s more than enough!”
Bart lowered his head and laughed, he looked at the sand on the ground and laughed continuously, “You’re a fool! A pathetic fool! Ridiculous! Ha-ha-ha… How could… how could it be…”
“A fool like you… it’s really…!”
After a long time, Bart stopped his mad laugh. He seemed to have made a decision. Bart picked up the crutches beside him and stood up with all his strength. He said to Helen, “Come with me to the top of the defense wall, I’ve something to tell you.”
Helen was somewhat surprised. She was exhausted and extremely uncomfortable, as soon as she stood up, she could feel her wobbly feet and she was about to fall onto the ground. Who knew how she had overcome her discomfort to carry Agatha over there with Bart?
Bart walked with his crutches and supported Helen by holding onto her arm; they climbed up the ancient staircase of the defense wall. The sky had just brightened up. They stood on top of the defense wall and they had a good view of the scene in the city.
The Steam Train Station in the South of the city was now crowded with people, there was a surge of people. Today, it was the arrival of the train once in a month. The steam train would arrive with food, goods, commodities, and most importantly, it was the contact with the outside world.
Only the arrival of the steam train could save the whole of Istan City, it was also the hope of everyone in the city.
Helen delightedly looked at the Steam Train Station, “As long as the train arrives, the crisis will come to an end, Agatha will be able to, well… live well!”
Just then, the bell from the city rang and the scheduled time had arrived, but the steam train was nowhere in sight. Everyone looked along the railway track and saw no sight of the steam train. The steam train had never been late, but only arrived in advance. But this time, more than an hour had passed and there wasn’t a single trace of the train.
After several days of gloominess in Istan City, they were welcomed with a rare sunshine; it shined on Bart and Helen who stood above on the ancient defense wall. Bart said, “The train will never come!”
Helen was extremely puzzled, “Why?”
Bart looked into Helen’s eyes, “Because when I came to Istan City, I had destroyed many railway tracks in between the cities.”
At the mention of that, the people of Istan City who had failed to wait for the arrival of steam train in Istan City, they had given up all hope and were in despair. In that moment, less than half of the population was alive. Most of the people died from the curse, the cold, the hunger and the chaos from before. And now the rest of them were all infected with the curse.
“No train, there’s no train!” The dying elders put down their crutches and kneeled on the ground, they looked desperately into the distance!
“We’re done for. We’re all finished. It’s an irreversible fate!” Women cupped their faces and cried out uncontrollably.
“Why is it so? Why is it so? Who’s here to save us!” Upon realizing that the train wasn’t coming, the man with his eye sockets up to his chin was completely devoured by despair and madness.
Everyone fought against each other as they roared in anger, some people set fire to the whole world, and some people raised their knives and guns to kill all the people they could see; all of them had turned into demons in despair.
Helen felt that she couldn’t fathom the man she had saved. She thought she had saved only a lost and wounded traveler, but it didn’t look so simple. She suddenly recalled what Bart had said before, “You did this… what does that mean?”
“And what did you say before, curses, doors of the abyss, and… what did those mean?”
Helen kept going retreating as she spoke, and she was feeling listless.
Bart smiled as wickedly as ever, “Because I’m a cruel and wicked Demon Warlock!”
Bart stretched out his hands towards Istan City, “It was I who cast a curse on Istan City, so everyone in your city was burdened with the power of curse, and sooner or later, all their energy will be sucked away by the curse and they’ll eventually die!”
“I opened the door to the abyss and sacrificed the whole of Istan City to Bartosz, the Lord of Abyss. I was the cause of all the deaths in the city!”
Helen looked at Bart in disbelief, “Why are you doing this, Bart, why did you?”
Bart sneered, “You silly country woman certainly won’t understand why, I did it for power! For demons like us, power is everything!”
Helen sat helplessly on the ground, she didn’t understand Bart’s words and his rationale for doing all that, “For power, you can hurt others willfully? You can kill everyone, using thousands of people in exchange for power?”
Bart laughed wildly, “Yes, yes! You’re right. Why? Now, do you know how ugly and repulsive a human heart is? Do you know what the world is like now?”
“It’s a fellow like us who controls the world. All supreme professionals looked down on all of you. The gods need your beliefs and souls. Hell also needs your beliefs and souls. The devils and the abyss also need your beliefs and souls. People like you are easy target of people like us – the spokespersons of gods, the spokesperson of hell and the spokesperson of demons – your lives are messed willfully and recklessly by us!”
“It’s all your fault. If you didn’t save me, everyone in the city will survive and your sister won’t be hurt. It’s all because you’ve saved me that everyone in the city will perish!”
Helen’s head kept wavering, and her gray hair which was gradually turning gray was fluttering with the wind, “No, it’s not like this, it’s not like this!”
Helen’s beautiful pupil looked at Bart, she couldn’t believe everything he said, “Tell me, you’re deceiving me, aren’t you? It’s not what you said!”
Helen held her head, she lost control and cried bitterly, “I killed everyone, I killed everyone!”
Bart threw a dagger engraved with Saint Markings of a Sun on the ground, “Come on and kill me, as long as you kill me, the sacrificial ceremony with me anchored as the coordinates will be interrupted and all will be over!”
Helen lost her wits, picked up the dagger and looked at Bart. Bart spread out his arms, “Come on, kill me, and you can save the rest of them!”
Helen trembled and pointed her dagger towards Bart. She kept looking back at the people fighting in the city, the blazing fire, and her sister, who was sleeping in the hole of the defense wall under her feet at the moment.
Helen roared angrily at Bart. Bart closed his eyes. The dagger engraved with the Saint Markings of a Sun would fully activate the Holy Seal in his soul and burn him into ashes.
But Helen lowered her hand when she was thrusting into Bart. Instead, she crashed into Bart’s arms and tumbled over on the ground together with Bart.
Bam!
Just then, a strange noise resonated from the city. The citizens of Istan City who were fighting, raised their heads and saw a black diamond rose slowly from the ground. The dark light enveloped the entire Istan City.
In the light of darkness, several ghostly figures gradually creeped out, the ghostly and dreadful silhouettes and disturbing roars were seen and heard in Istan City.
