Chapter 45: Voice of Penance

Chapter 45: Chapter 45: Voice of Penance

This Penitent of the Mist didn’t retreat, even with the light shining directly on it. Its black robes were giving off smoke, as if it were burning, but it did nothing except hold that ominous ball of energy.

’What the hell are you, you bastard?’

Victor glanced toward the end of the alley. He could keep going through the next intersection between the houses, but right now, he was fighting these specters. How could he even think about turning his back on them?

There were many of them, and that was clearly their advantage, but Victor was surprisingly stronger than any of them individually, obviously. On the other hand, the larger Penitent whispered in an ancient language that Victor, after spending days in this scenario, was able to understand.

It was a broken voice, as if he were listening to a zombie trying to cry.

[Where shadows embrace the night, it is my light of vengeance that shall ensnare all those who flee from my power.]

[Oh, child of the gods, you who gaze upon the decay of my being, you shall pay with your blood for the pain that afflicts my heart.]

Victor stumbled backward, stunned by this incredible discovery, but he had no time to marvel at the Penitent’s voice, for the creature raised its hand high, its bones glowing gold. The next second, the sphere of energy shot toward Victor.

’You damn idiot!’ Victor screamed inwardly.

He ran toward the corner of the next alley just as the sphere slammed into the wall.

Dark flames spread from the point of impact, embracing the walls and the ground like murderous hands. These flames produced no light at all, but with them almost brushing against his skin, Victor could feel that they were more than ordinary magical flames.

He turned his attention back to the corner, where the strange Penitent was preparing to unleash its devastating magic again.

’Why the hell did a variant of these things have to show up right now?!’

He wouldn’t learn anything by trying to figure it out himself. He simply ran down the alley, hoping to reach a more open area where he wouldn’t be at the mercy of its magic, but two more Penitents crossed his path.

Victor clicked his tongue in annoyance and crossed his arms, the flashlight aimed at the specters and his knife ready to slice them apart. Since it was a Hunter’s Knife, it had retained its edge as sharp as the day he first got it, no matter how many times Victor used it against these monsters.

With a single devastating slash, enhanced by the skills he had obtained, Victor cut them in half and continued toward the exit as the creatures fell, succumbing to the cold embrace of death.

[The god "Serpent That Bites Its Own Tail" celebrates your mastery over the Penitents of the Mist.]

"Shut up!" he shouted after seeing the System window.

As he emerged from the alleyways, he found himself facing the dust storm once again. White lightning bolts illuminated the gloom with their thunderous power, revealing the other Penitents of the Mist, who were patiently waiting for Victor to appear.

"Oh, sure! Now that I’m alone, you suddenly figure out how to work together!"

Desperate, he ran through the dust. He heard one of the Penitents shriek beside him and, knowing he was about to get hit again, threw himself to the ground, rolled a couple of yards, then got back up and kept running.

’Ahhh! Damn storm! Only I would be stupid enough to go outside in a situation like this!’

It wasn’t as if he had a choice, either. Brika’s life was in danger, and so was his own. If he didn’t do this to grow stronger, then he’d just be waiting for death like an idiot.

It was all or nothing. Luck or no luck, Victor was determined to fight his way through this predicament with his knife. And that’s exactly what he did. Relying on nothing but his hearing and that strange chill that warned him whenever something bad was about to happen, he ran and threw himself to the ground, rolling whenever one of the specters was about to charge at him.

’Damn it! I thought rolling around like a complete idiot only worked in video games!’

But it was working, and that was more than enough. The worst part was that the number of Penitents just kept increasing with every attack. Consequently, that "Elder Penitent" had more and more opportunities to attack him from behind.

Victor sliced through a couple more Penitents, and they fell, as fragile as glass.

’Damn it. I can barely see anything because the dust is so thick.’

He looked behind him, but froze in shock when his gaze met that of the old Penitent, which was standing only a few feet away. The monster was holding another sphere of energy.

[Ancient songs of fire resound within the bones of the fallen, crying out for the death of those who are children of divinity.]

The sphere shot toward him. Victor jumped to the side, but ended up slamming face-first into the wall as the sphere’s impact set his cloak ablaze with black flames.

Confused, he recovered while shaking his head, but the moment he felt the heat of the flames, he immediately tore off his cloak.

’Damn it...’

His goggles were cracked, and dozens of Penitents were closing in around him.

The Elder Penitent stopped in front of Victor and began chanting again:

[Divine blood, mortal pain.]

It reached toward Victor’s face, but he stood up and sliced off its hand with his knife. The golden bones fell to the side with a soft sound against the dust. The Penitent looked at its hand on the ground, but it didn’t fall silent. Instead, it stared intently at Victor.

[Divine blood, chaos assured.]

[Oh, children of the gods, you shall fall by my hand.]

A bolt of lightning struck, illuminating the entire scenario with its white light, but Victor’s eyes widened. In the light spreading out before him, hundreds of Penitents of the Mist floated in the same posture as the Elder Penitent.

All of them, like stars against the whiteness.

’There are... too many.’

Once again, a lone man knelt before the dangers of life, which sought to claim his soul through agony.

Darkness returned, and Victor gripped his knife tightly. The next moment, he desperately charged into battle, and amid the deep darkness, a small flame rose from somewhere in the scenario, followed by the words:

"Shattering Heartbreaker Crystal Space Light!"