Chapter 271: Human Bell |
Mochi Mochi was once again sucked into the waist-high bronze bell, and this time, his head went in first, powerless to resist.
He was nearly two meters tall, thin and lanky. When his head rammed into the inside of the bell, more than half of his body was still hanging outside.
Bang!
A deafening crash echoed from within the bell, making one wonder if Mochi Mochi’s skull had cracked the bell.
However, a human head is still not as hard as a bronze bell.
His limbs twitched a few more times, then stilled completely.
Thick, dark red blood oozed from within, trickling down his black formal suit and dripping, bit by bit, onto the floor.
As luck would have it, a breeze passed through the open window of the bell tower. Though Mochi Mochi wasn’t light, he was swayed easily by this gentle wind.
His head remained hidden inside the bell, while his body began to sway from side to side, his limbs dangling rhythmically in midair.
DONG—DONG—DONG—
He had become the clapper of the bell.
The melodious sound rang out across the entirety of Grind Sail Town, and it was distinctly different from the muffled tones earlier.
“Could it be because the bell isn’t stuffed full of junk this time?” Saul bent down and picked up the two ancient coins, slipping them casually into his pocket.
These old coins were quite something. If you figured them out, they made for a powerful life-saving tool—a real game-changer.
While picking them up, Saul’s right hand remained tucked in his coat pocket.
He had no choice—his hand was clutching a Second Tier Spell Scroll in there. If Billy dared make a move again, he might just be able to strike back.
Billy, who was one level above him, still hadn’t made his stance clear, and Angela was a fair-weather ally at best. Until things truly spiraled, Saul didn’t want to provoke Billy.
But that didn’t mean he’d forgive and forget. Oh no—he’d written that grudge down in ink.
“Now that we have our sacrifice…” Saul turned to look at Billy and Angela, “Can you tell me how we get out of here?”
While Saul was picking up the coins, both Billy and Angela had been watching his hands closely, clearly interested in the spell tool that could deflect a lethal strike.
But after that eerie and unexpected reversal from Saul, they were a bit wary now.
Especially Angela—she’d always known Saul was fast at learning runes, but she hadn’t realized he could alter them too.
And that was one of the most advanced techniques in rune magic.
What she didn’t know was that Billy was even more shocked—though his naturally gloomy expression masked any visible reaction.
In Billy’s understanding, modifying the effects of a spell item—especially an ancient one—was an extremely complex task.
Yet, if he remembered correctly, Saul had only pulled out the ancient coin moments earlier, while they were still walking here.
And in just a few minutes… he had successfully performed a modification?
Adding to that, Saul had completed two physical transformations in less than three years.
Suddenly, the rumor that Saul had been chosen as a disciple purely for his exceptional mental aptitude seemed off.
If that’s all the Tower Master saw in him, then Billy could only think bitterly, “Tower Master, you were wrong.”
Right now, he kind of regretted helping Mochi Mochi earlier. In hindsight, Saul looked far more like a worthwhile investment.
So he didn’t try to snatch the coin from Saul’s hand—letting him keep it instead.
But Saul might not take that as a peace offering.
In the span of a few heartbeats, Billy’s mind raced through dozens of scenarios.
And yet his face remained blank as ever.
“The theory about the sacrifice,” he began, “is also tied to what I mentioned earlier—the World Destroying Black Tide.”
From within the bell came a series of faint tolls, while outside, the sound of waves remained ever-present.
“Some curses can’t be stopped without enough life offered up first. Like with the World Destroying Black Tide—even if someone finds a ship, they need to fuel it with lives to get it going.”
“So when I saw Mochi Mochi, I realized—that bronze bell was the key to activating it.”
“And that’s why you pushed me out as a substitute for Mochi Mochi?”
Billy hesitated. Angela, terrified they might start fighting again, didn’t even dare breathe too loudly.
Finally, Billy admitted it.
“At the time, it seemed Mochi Mochi would be more useful for escaping the town. But you’ve since proven me wrong.”
He could admit fault without batting an eye.
Saul hadn’t expected Billy to be that kind of man—so shamelessly straightforward. He merely let out a cold laugh and pushed the emotion deep down.
If he hadn’t received that diary warning on the way here—“You’re laughing too early. You’ll be crying soon enough!”—he wouldn’t have suspected the coin Mochi Mochi gave him was rigged.
So, back on the road, he kicked his mental processing into high gear. With the help of the diary, he rapidly rewrote the resonance relationship embedded in the ancient coin.
Now, with a single burst of mental energy, he could sever the link between the coin in his hand and its twin.
That was how he’d managed to send Mochi Mochi back at the last second.
He hadn’t broken the link immediately so he could play weak—if Billy or Angela tried to ambush him at that moment, they’d walk right into his trap.
And if he could take down even one of them, he wouldn’t be stuck in a 1-vs-3 situation.
In a one-on-one, Saul might not beat Billy outright, but if it came down to survival, Saul liked his odds.
“How much longer are we waiting?” Angela asked softly. She had no idea she’d already died once in someone else’s plan, “The sea of blood is almost up to the windows. How are we getting out?”
Saul looked outside and saw that the crimson tide had indeed risen again.
Only a few rooftops remained above the waterline. Broken goods floated chaotically atop the blood-red sea.
“This really looks like the end of the world,” Saul murmured.
“Heh. This isn’t the end of the world,” a new voice said, “just the end of mine.”
Suddenly, a fourth voice rang out in the bell tower.
A young girl had appeared out of nowhere, sitting atop the swaying bell clapper.
She gripped the iron chain suspending the bell with one hand and braced herself against the slanted roof with the other, swinging like she was on a bloody corpse-made swing.
She wasn’t very old, and while she could only be called “cute” at best, her eyes shimmered with star-like brilliance—giving her an air of mystery.
At the exact moment she appeared, the blood sea outside surged into a frenzy.
Crashing waves slammed against the bell tower walls, sending bloody spray flying dangerously close to the open windows.
Everyone quickly backed away.
Penny ignored the blood spray and gently patted the giant bell beneath her. With a heavy sigh, she said, “I told you, the first one to sniff out the truth behind all this was going to be the sacrifice. But you didn’t listen. You just had to wait until Saul got here so you could bully him. And now look at you—ended up as the sacrifice anyway.”
“Penny?” Saul called out, staring at the girl, trying to confirm her identity.
Penny turned to him with a flawless smile, “We meet again, Saul.”
Angela’s eyes widened slightly. Seeing that Saul recognized the girl, she clenched her left hand, fingers trembling.
“Who are you really?” Saul narrowed his eyes. Penny still wasn’t giving off the aura of a soul.
The bell swung wider. As it reached its peak, the girl looked down and locked eyes with Saul.
“I’m Penny,” she said.
As she swung backward again, her voice became faint beneath the bell’s tolls.
“I’ve been Penny for many, many years.”
Many years…
If something had been wrong with Penny for that long, then whose eye had he taken away back then?
He was about to ask when he saw the girl press a finger to her lips, then twirl a lock of hair around her finger.
Saul swallowed all his questions about the Nightmare Butterfly.
Just then, Angela’s voice came through via a whisper spell:
“Saul, if you know her, could you ask her to let us go?”
Before Saul could respond, Penny—now swinging forward again—stared down at Angela with a cool, assessing look.
“No can do~”
She had heard their whisper spell.
Everyone’s faces changed. They exchanged glances, but didn’t dare use spell messaging again.
Penny didn’t explain how she’d done it. She swung back, and what she said next made all their brows furrow.
“This little town… has already become a cage with no exit.”
(End of Chapter)
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