Chapter 82: Ascension Transformation |
An Dewen knew exactly how pain felt. He had experienced it during the screening ritual.
Every Star Child Cultist knew it well.
When Divine Grace descended, all past agonies transformed into power, securing him firmly onto the chariot of the Blood Red God to ride alongside it. Yet, pain alone was not enough. The Blood Red God desired not merely physical suffering, but a profound meaning hidden behind this spiritual tsunami. An Dewen knew very little about the deity, so even though he did not understand, he asked no questions. Instead, he waited patiently for the moment of his enlightenment to arrive.
Now, it was here.
He had lost consciousness while plummeting from the sky, the blackout scattering his rage and thirst for vengeance.
When he awoke from the darkness, only numbness remained. Divine Grace was mending his body, but the process was agonizingly slow. His spine was severed, stripping him of essential sensation and leaving him unable to command his limbs.
The Bishop and the follower who had accompanied him were already dead, filling his heart with immense grief.
Even now, An Dewen still could not understand why the deity had brought them here.
He was too weak to stop himself from feeding this doubt. He thirsted for an answer, just as he yearned for the profound meaning behind this Belief. If they could not bring about the descent of the deity, what was the point of everything they had sacrificed along the way?
Lifting his head slightly, he saw a pale, humanoid shape with a massive maw filled with sharp teeth. An Dewen recognized this blade-like arrangement. Once, a cultist had been too lazy to wield the knife himself and had built a barrel filled with razor blades to skip the necessary steps of Sacrificing. He was punished severely for it. An Dewen had caught a glimpse of that contraption, and it looked strikingly similar to the entity before him.
But that was meant for the sacrificial offerings.
In that moment, he felt a profound terror he had long since lost, like a child wandering adrift in the midnight streets.
"I am not..."
What followed was an even deeper darkness.
Amidst the fear, Divine Grace healed him, followed by sharper howls and frantic struggles. He clawed at the dense flesh, tearing open a gash with his bare nails, only to lose his fingers the very next moment. The cycle repeated itself over and over. Soon, his mind and body began to separate. He no longer cared about his physical form, viewing the events unfolding before him from a distant, detached perspective.
Pain was nothing more than a stimulating signal of the nerves.
Yet, why could such a minuscule electrical current summon a blessing?
An Dewen felt that he was incredibly close to that enlightenment.
He drifted out of that pale cage of blades, soaring toward the answer, only to notice two figures approaching from the dark. Wearing pitch-black armor, they stumbled yet resolutely closed in on his useless physical body.
Wait.
One of them drew a knife. The first thrust pierced his outer skin and sank into his shoulder. The second strike caught on a rib, then twisted to bypass the bone before plunging straight into his heart.
An Dewen crashed back into his body, feeling them walk away, feeling his own life slipping away.
He had been so close.
If he died now, what part of the Divine Kingdom would he arrive in...?
How far would he be from the Blood Red God...?
He could think no more.
"The eternal abyss, the heart yearns for it. Seeing only the starlight, still calling out to it."
"A hundred suns share the sky, their radiance flooding the wilds. The soul's shadow fades, the wheel of time turns."
"Endless suffering, blissful slaughter. Flaying skin and tearing bone, desecrating fate."
'Who is speaking?'
"My pursuit is as faint as a firefly's glow. Even in this state, enlightenment may still be granted."
An Dewen could not understand the obscure murmurs, but he awoke from his body once again. The pale form outside had dissolved, Divine Grace spreading through his pathways, while a spiderweb-like pool of blood expanded beneath him.
This time, there was no pain, no darkness. Within this bleeding, shattered body, only tranquility remained.
Suddenly, he understood.
He realized why the sacrificial offerings they presented to the Blood Red God always smiled in their final moments, why pain could summon such blessings, and why Divine Grace was a double-edged sword that harmed both oneself and others.
This was a purification.
The light of Divine Grace seeped out from within him. It had faded not long ago, but now it returned in full force.
Purifying the filthy body with agony, and liberating the bound soul through death—only then could one approach that distant, unreachable radiance.
Even if it was just a little closer, even if...
It turned out he was not merely benefiting himself; he was saving others, not murdering them. This world was steeped in such despair, which was exactly why it needed people like the Star Child Cultists!
A tear of profound emotion welled up in the corner of An Dewen's eye.
He had received a divine revelation.
"The mayfly shall rise, the moth flaps its wings. The great work remains unfinished, coveted by the impure."
"Rotting things, fragile and useless. Ascension Transformation is granted, the broken blade forged anew."
"Return at once!"
At this moment, all the Divine Grace on the surface of An Dewen's body turned crimson.
He levitated from the ground, facing upwards.
His crimson pupils gazed into the depths of the darkness, pointing out the direction he needed to go.
He made his way toward it.
"Analysis complete."
"Intelligence Department Countermeasure Compilation Team A has uploaded the 'Emergency Response Protocol'."
"It is confirmed that the Subject possesses 'Divinity'."
"Large-scale human activity will increase its threat level. Containment missions should be executed in small squad formations."
"Warning, The (Unnamed Subject) possesses intelligence and can utilize spontaneous light sources to contaminate and convert biological organisms. Evacuate the Cognitohazard range immediately, preemptively purge the surrounding environment, and ensure all Anomaly byproducts are eradicated to prevent triggering a defensive response!"
The cluster of red eyes in the darkness drew closer and closer.
The N4 Squad was a group of battered remnants, but they weren't foolish enough to wait for that thing to reach them.
Captain Holly fired first, and the others immediately followed suit. However, the barrage of bullets did nothing to slow the approach of those red eyes.
In an instant, it doubled in size, charging straight into the white light as if surging upstream against a roaring waterfall.
Agent Kyle forced his head up, pulling his focus away from the ancient chanting echoing in his mind, and crawled toward the Communication Device with its glowing screen.
"Intelligence—"
The intelligence had arrived perfectly on time.
But it was already too late.
The dimming white light at the edges illuminated the carrier of the red eyes. Only at this moment did they realize it was a naked human, devoid of any hair, covered only by those Eye Patterns. Bullets pierced its skin but inflicted no substantial damage.
Captain Holly twisted the safety off the detonator and pressed her finger against the switch.
At the exact same time, the humanoid figure threw its arms wide.
All the crimson eyeballs scattered in every direction at once, dragging the creeping roots from the base of the Eye Patterns as they detached. It looked like the unveiling of a grand performance, or an impatient child tearing into a gift to strip away the useless wrapping.
The squad members only saw a burst of dissipating blood mist from within, a flash of a white silhouette, a fierce gust of wind...
And then, the sickening sound of blades slicing into flesh.
The monster that materialized before their eyes looked like a fused Ascension Transformation of a Scythe Monster and the Visitor. It had a slender body, four towering, blade-like forearms, and a slightly open Maw running vertically down its chest.
Its hollow face was devoid of eyes, but it was horrifyingly fast.
Captain Holly's intact forearm, still clutching the detonator, was sent spinning through the air. Another blade had already pierced her chest, hoisting her up before tossing her down the steep slope.
The other two slender blades slashed toward Vanessa, who was charging at it.
The armored plating emitted a sharp crack. As a spray of blood bloomed diagonally across her chest, Vanessa collapsed.
As she tumbled down the slope, a gleaming metal ring appeared on the index finger of her right hand.
That split-second window and the incredibly close distance had given her just enough time to jam a hand grenade into its chest.
And then—