Chapter 65: The Absence

Chapter 65: The Absence

Everyone’s gaze locked on Mo Fei and Shangguan. The world almost dropped in faint anticipation. The Curator couldn’t move, his body paralyzed by the soul-cutting Glaive.

Mo Fei slashed down again, the weapon cutting through another thread, and made the Curator’s heart stop for a second.

The bone cage in front of Shangguan shattered, and Xue Lan landed on the ground with a thud. He turned toward the group, facing the royal guards, with a final glance at Mo Fei, he walked toward the royal guards.

The Curator grunted, his mouth pushed blood out.

Mo Fei pulled his hands back for another strike; his eyes glowed behind the mask. The thick threads meant nothing to him anymore. A human against a demigod, how peculiar.

The group stopped the royal guards; just then, Xue Lan jumped in.

"Veil..."

Snap!

The air changed, only for the royal guards. There was no group anymore. They hung on a cross, their eyes widened at that sight. A long sword pierced through their hearts, pinning them down on the cross.

Xue Lan stopped near them. "Enjoy the salvation."

He turned toward the group, but they couldn’t see the group. All they could see was a darkness that led them to feel every inch of pain in their bodies.

Xue Lan glanced at Jian Yue with an expression that almost seemed as if he already knew that’d happen. "Kill the God." With those words, he moved toward Yi Jyuhan.

All of them nodded and rushed at the stilled God.

Jian Yue raised his hand slowly; the wind softly moved, reaching toward the God. He closed his eyes and intertwined his fingers together.

Lin jumped at the God. She drew her blade in an arc and slashed down its hands. There was no scream, only silence followed. It was still frozen; next, Jim came up and stabbed its chest. Finally, Zhuo followed Jim and pushed his own blade deeper.

Both of their blades pierced through the heart.

Lin landed on its arm and jumped toward its head. Her blade lodged in its neck... but couldn’t cut through. The flesh was still too dense. She pulled, strained, and with a scream of effort, she pushed through. The head fell. The body was still standing. They had to cut it apart, piece by piece, while it still twitched.

Jim and Zhuo’s blade pushed deeper in the heart. It pulsed, almost as if screaming for the God. Then, blood came down, flowing down with a faint splash sound.

Lin finally came down, and instantly she was behind the God. Her blade slashed down the son from the middle; at that same moment, the blade shattered. With a metallic clatter, the piece fell on the ground.

While, on the other side. Xue Lan held Yi Jyuhan’s shoulder, who grunted as the pain intensified. But that was just the physical pain; it’d go someday... But the pain of fate and despair...

Xue Lan pulled him back away from the falling God.

Its body fell entirely; limbs fell one by one. All of its different hands chopped from the roots and inside, the bones fractured, breaking into pieces, and pulled its body down. It crashed on the ground with a loud thud that echoed through the hall.

The Curator’s hollow eyes widened, his pupil dilated in trauma. Everything that had happened shook his soul entirely. He was close... he was really close. All of that plan, all of that struggle, and all of that devotion faltered at that same moment. His eyes watched his own God’s vessel fall, completely broken by a group that didn’t even know him.

He squinted his eyes, the eyes turning darker than night. His body watched it, being completely helpless.

Rage built, corruption took over.

His finger trembled in an attempt to move but couldn’t. Mo Fei was still behind him, chopping every single thread.

Slash!

Shangguan gasped. Another thread fell, then another, then another.

Mo Fei still didn’t stop. He knew that once he stopped, the Curator would kill him instantly. His own grip faltered on the Glaive. Sweat dropped from his face.

The Curator looked at Jian Yue, who was still now, watching the body of a dead God. Another veiled body that refused to pay for sins.

Jian Yue inhaled a long breath. Behind him, the presence of the Warden remained there for a few moments before a blow of wind passed it and ruffled his hair. He knew what’d happen now.

Shangguan’s eyes bled in rage. His mouth dripping blood, his body couldn’t maintain the shattered soul. Anger rose; he blamed Jian Yue. Everything was going good, everything... the God was there; he was close to praying to him. He was close to walking on his God’s path, yet... that man ruined everything. Shangguan’s breathing turned faster; he clenched his fist.

And then...

A quill appeared in his hand. A feather adorned with a reptile scale, Mo Fei prepared himself for cutting another thread.

The words came out of the tip of the quill, beautiful... Terrible... Choice of heaven must be followed!

Mo Fei’s body slashed down by the shoulder, he tripped back, clenching his shoulder. His palm turned crimson, then another shockwave rushed and pushed him off the ground.

Krrrrssss

The force launched his body backward, and within a split second, the stone wall stopped him dead. The impact broke the plaster of the wall and drove the oxygen out of his lungs. Now, Mo Fei coughed out blood. He crumpled to the ground, gasping for air that didn’t come.

He tilted his head toward Shangguan. His eyes widened in pure shock.

The threads he had cut...

The threadbinder’s artifact wrote a few words in the empty air, forming a gray stroke. The spirit threads began to reform again; the chopped thread lifted and merged together.

"Ru–" Mo Fei choked on his throat. "RUN AWAY, JIAN YUE!!"

The voice was late. Before the voice could reach, the Curator was upon Jian Yue. Shangguan stood in front of him. His eyes showed pure rage toward Jian Yue.

At that moment everyone turned.

The royal guards fell on the ground, their expressions terrified by the dream they just had. Their eyes snapped open from sleep.

Lin took a cracked breath. "Jian Yue!"

Zhuo stumbled back and looked at the horrifying moment happening in his line of sight. His lungs gave up; his heart pounded so fast that it threatened to come out.

The Curator pulled Jian Yue in his grip and clenched his throat tightly. Jian Yue shot out his hands, trying to remove them.

Shangguan whispered in a deep, choking voice. "You have no idea what you just did."

Jian Yue stopped his attempt. His hands fell toward the ground softly. His expression shifted into a profound acknowledgment. With a struggling gasp, he whispered. "Y.. You–your action could have ruined lives."

The Curator raised his hand. "Ruin... RUIN. You RUINED my purpose."

Jian Yue could only look behind at Mo Fei, just one last glimpse. He remembered the letter, but at that time he only hoped Mo Fei would read it and understand it.

Mo Fei noticed a small curl on his face; that was when his expression faltered entirely. "That couldn’t be... what about the survival? We would survive together, right..." Mo Fei’s voice gradually lowered. "Tch."

Lin and Zhuo tried to move, but before they could, suddenly roots came out of the ground and held their ankles back. Lin shot out her hand in empty air desperately, and Zhuo cried out helplessly.

Yi Jyuhan whispered in a cracked voice. "Open... Open the door, Lin."

Hissss

Shangguan’s hand pierced through Jian Yue’s chest. With a wet tearing sound of flesh, the hand came out of the other side. The Curator held his heart in his grasp; blood covered his hand, and with a little force, he crushed the heart.

The Warden’s presence behind Jian Yue flickered. He looked at the sky; one hand reached toward him. He only imagined it... that was ’Him’; now it was time to find his God. In the far absence, ’He’ waited for his greatest devotee, always present, always eager to see what ’His’ devotee looked like.

His eyes shut down, and his body went numb.

A new leaf never arrived; the roots were gone.

Zhuo’s face darkened in disbelief. His heart almost stopped beating, pressing his lips together. "No... No. No, why..."

Jim’s blade fell from his hand... that wasn’t the end he had anticipated. Riyoshi... Now Jian Yue. Alisa’s hand went to her mouth, too many deaths...

Lin closed her eyes and turned toward them. Her hand traced the air, trembling without stopping. She pushed the key into an invisible gateway.

The portal opened.

Yi Jyuhan scanned the place, his eyes trying to find Mo Fei, before they fell on his broken body near the wall. He was away from them... too far.

Mo Fei’s hand scraped against the cold surface. His shoulder was torn, his vision turned blurry, blood dropped from behind his mask, and his body was broken. He dragged himself forward, one inch at a time.

"Jian Yue..."

The Curator threw the body on the ground. Shangguan stood near his body. The crushed heart was still in his hand. He grasped it tightly before throwing it on the ground.

Mo Fei’s hand stopped. He could not reach him.

Beside him, Lin’s voice cut through the silence: "Mo Fei, come here quickly!"

He turned. The portal was open; all of them waited just for him. But he was so far away. He glanced back at Jian Yue’s body. One last time.

But before he could run...