Chapter 282 - 276: Unbearable Memory Fragments

Chapter 282: Chapter 276: Unbearable Memory Fragments

"Huh... How is this possible? Are you also involved in the Suffering discipline?"

The lumberyard manager stared, momentarily stunned, at the scholar who had suddenly transformed into a hulking monster of muscle.

In his eyes, the scholar Kading towered like a small building, his body a mass of solid muscle seemingly capable of shrugging off gunfire. A single, blood- and grease-stained apron was all that covered his private parts. In one hand, he clutched a gory Pig Slaughtering Knife; in the other, a meat hook skewering severed limbs and various internal organs.

The manager felt that, before this being, he was nothing more than a frail piglet, liable to be casually hung on that meat hook at any moment...

But even abilities from the Suffering discipline shouldn’t make someone this huge and powerful, right?

And what’s with the getup? He looks like some kind of butcher.

The manager paused, a flicker of realization in his eyes.

"So it’s the power of Wisdom? An attempt to interfere with my vision?"

Feeling he had seen through his opponent’s trick, the manager let the apprehension and fear drain from his face.

"Petty tricks from the Wisdom discipline are nothing to be afraid of. To one who has abandoned Rationality and embraced madness, these Illusions are but a clown’s sideshow. Heh, you won’t intimidate me that easily."

Just then, a few low, indecipherable whispers seeped into his ears from an unknown source, as if the mountainous beast before him was trying to communicate.

He couldn’t make out the meaning of the whispers, but he had the distinct impression he was being cursed out.

’Whatever. Still just a petty trick from the Wisdom discipline. It can’t possibly affect—’

He was still thinking this with full confidence when the whispers in his ears suddenly amplified, as if something had detonated right beside his head.

A loud buzzing filled his ears, followed by a wave of pain so excruciating he nearly passed out on the spot. It felt like red-hot steel needles were being driven through his eardrums again and again.

But before the manager could even cry out, a new, more intense and distinct pain erupted in his mind. It was as if his skull had been pried open and a heap of random junk was being forcibly crammed into his brain matter.

In a single instant, he lost all control of his body. He couldn’t even scream. All he could do was stand frozen, silently enduring the agonizing torment as a deluge of random nonsense flooded his vision.

The memories of some couple’s petty drama, completely random knowledge on art appraisal, professional skills like how to mix mortar, snap a chalk line, and work a tape measure.

This avalanche of utter nonsense cascaded into the manager’s brain, instantly turning it to mush. His own thoughts and consciousness were utterly buried beneath the heap of mental refuse.

He then collapsed limply to the ground. Veins bulged across his skin as his limbs and flesh began to Twist and churn uncontrollably, his body warping as he transformed into a Demon.

These were the classic signs of losing control and falling into corruption.

The scholar, Kading, was also frozen to the spot. Dark blood trickled from the corners of his mouth as he swayed, struggling to remain on his feet.

Though the strain and injuries to his body were severe, his mind remained clear. Still, he had no idea what had just happened.

Only a few seconds prior, Kading had risked everything to forcefully activate his Conviction and Purification abilities, only to see them stopped with just two of his opponent’s fingers. At that moment, he had already prepared himself to die.

Or perhaps, it was more accurate to say he was reminded of the resolve he’d steeled himself with long ago.

After all, he was a veteran investigator with twenty years on the job. Without the resolve to make the ultimate sacrifice, he never would have made it this far.

’It was just a little vexing... to not die in the line of duty during an anomalous event, but to be murdered by a bunch of cultists instead...’

But what Kading hadn’t expected was for the tables to turn so suddenly and dramatically.

The manager, who could have finished him off effortlessly just moments before, had suddenly frozen in place. A series of bizarre expressions flickered across his face, and he started spouting some nonsense about the Suffering discipline that Kading couldn’t understand.

Then he heard a voice from behind the manager:

"In the name of Veto!"

Next, he watched as the impossibly arrogant Cultist slowly sank to his knees and began his transformation into a Demon.

Yet the expression on the man’s face was frozen in a look of placid calm. No struggle, no pain, no screams. It was as if he were completely oblivious to the changes wracking his body, serenely accepting his fate.

An indescribable sense of the bizarre washed over Kading, making his scalp tingle with dread.

Then, he saw the young Executioner from the Holy Judgment Court, Lloyd, step out from behind a tree. He looked at Kading and asked,

"Are you all right?"

Kading didn’t answer.

Because he didn’t know how to answer...

Or rather, whether he *should* answer...

Next, he watched as Lloyd drew a flashy, ornately crafted new-model pistol from his hip and aimed it at the manager on the ground, still in the throes of his transformation into a Demon.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

After three shots rang out, Kading looked down at the bullets that had landed by his own feet, and a terrible realization seemed to dawn on him...

He promptly collapsed to the ground, utterly spent, and snarled through gritted teeth:

"To think... you’re actually in league with them?"

"Uh... no, that’s not it. There’s a problem with the gun’s rifling... it wasn’t sighted in properly, so the shots went a little wide..."