Plague Doctor

Chapter 97: Ruin

A spell-like chanting that was even and low surrounded the shrine. Even chant was heavy with feverish passion and darkness. It did not sound like it could be made by human throats. While being surrounded by this cage of chanting, the illusion was triggered by the scalpel in Gu Jun’s hand. It pierced through the mist that blocked the past and future.

A letter filled with uneven handwriting of the foreign language appeared before his eyes like a memory fragment that he had forgotten. “I miss the days at Carlet Academy a lot. I spent my days studying medicine, submerging myself in relevant literature, discussing different topics with teachers and friends. It was truly a time lost in innocent bliss. How I wish those days would never end. But I know now that is impossible. I must admit with shame that I have failed.

“My power and intellect are nothing before this scary storm. I believe, even if I continue on this path, there won’t any chance for us to defeat those strange monsters. There won’t be any chance for us to uncover the real truth about life, medicine, time, and space that is beyond the comprehension of our intelligence.

“Perhaps death will give me another answer. With regards to saving this world… Please pass this message to my friends—everyone should have their own goal in life. Do not waver from it because of my decision. Please remind my good friend Raybundy Pedra especially. He is capable enough to take over and surpass me. Do not give up, but I am sorry that I will have to depart first.”

Gu Jun could see the illusion from a third-person perspective, but it also felt like he was experiencing the illusion himself from a first person perspective. On the seaside cliff that was abandoned and cold, the sea breezes whipped savagely. It was strong enough to almost lift up the strange rocks that protruding out of the cliffside. He was standing there alone. He looked toward the horizon. The sea surface appeared to be boiling with black water. He suddenly raised the scalpel in his hand and swiped it cleanly across his neck. The sharp blade sheared through the skin and made a clean cut through the airpipe and cephalic artery. Fresh blood blossomed into the air like the reddest flowers. They danced on the wind before dropping on the stones. A guttural noise echoed from his throat as the air was cut off…

The tired body swayed several times before the man knelt to the ground. He looked down the endless sea and mumbled, “Ruin, ruin…”

He repeated the term multiple times. The blood dyed the rocks around him red as the voice became more and more choked…

His soul and physique were returning to emptiness, but at that moment, he sensed something materialize behind him. He slowly turned his head around. Several steps behind him were nine figures who had appeared from seemingly nowhere. They were all shrouded in darkness, giving the illusion they were man, beast, or some creature in between. It was hard to tell whether they were really there in person or this was his mind playing tricks on him.

“Son of Steel, Freud Landon.” Of the nine figures, a dark voice spoke peacefully. “Our Great Old Ones have reserved a demonic seat for you. Beyond the human comprehension, there is a greater truth.”

He glanced at these figures. They were projections of the darkest abyss, but all he could see was light. That was a ray of light that was going to bring him down the true path. He stood up unsteadily. The blood on the scalpel dripped to the floor. He used his last breath to say, “I wish to know… those truths.”

At that moment, the illusion imploded. Gu Jun’s breathing came rapidly. His airpipe was closing, and his cephalic artery was pulsing, but thankfully, neither had ruptured. Gu Jun could see that he was still standing inside the altar. Xue Ba, Uncle Dan, Lin Mo, and the rest were all around him; he could recognize them all again. Holding the Carlot Scalpel that had dissected many abnormal creatures and the weapon that Landon had used to commit suicide, his body and soul felt rejuvenated like he had just drunk from the fountain of life. He found mobility again. Gu Jun’s consciousness had returned, and it had taken over his physical body. The agitation and darkness of the Son of Misfortune was suppressed by another power; the power had been awakened from the triggering of the illusion and helped revived his soul. That was the bright consciousness of the Son of Steel. It was as if it was whispering directly in his brain, “Do not give up… End the chaos… You are the fruit…”

Following this new sensation were many endless blurry images, they coalescence into several thousands clear foreign characters. With them came a new understanding of foreign spell. Gu Jun spill had no idea what was theory behind the knowledge and application of spell but he did remember how to use one of them…

“Ah Jun?” The Demon Hunters had their mind disturbed. Only the most mentally fit among them, Xue Ba, could still speak, albeit in a shaking voice. He was also the first to notice that Gu Jun had returned to them.

At the same time, the chanting grew louder. Other than the four figures in red who remained unfazed, the faces of the other wilted men in black started to distort. The mysterious pattern on their robes appeared to be some kind of talisman, and their power was being evoked through the scary and insidious chanting.

“הבשרשלךהואארוחהטובהשלנו,השםשלךיהיהשייךלנו,אניאדונך!”

The gray mist slowly faded away. As it turned out, every large tree around the shrine was a big banyan tree. Through the distance, the twisted branches looked like they were bound together by different carcasses. Could it be these banyan trees that were projecting through the abnormal space to spread the pain and horror of illness?

The red light in the pattern of the shrine grew brighter and flowed faster. They rushed toward the four stone pillars. The ceremony was about to end, but suddenly, the mutated wolves caught the change in the air. Their spines withered, and some wagged their tails anxiously. Gu Jun, who was supposed to be transfixed, suddenly opened his mouth to speak. His voice was steady and fearless. “Do you people… really want to meet the ‘Son of Misfortune’ that you’ve summoned? Do you really know who he is?”

There were not many who knew the answer to this question. It was true for both on earth and for the foreign civilization. Because those who were given the answer had all been verified to die from suicide. The power that he had inherited at the Longkan seabed was something that Lai Sheng Company had not really dug deep into.

Gu Jun swept over the wilted faces that were colored by confusion. His own expression shadowed over. “Before you summon the demon, have you made enough preparations to be consumed by it?”

Landon had the time, teachers, and friends that he had missed; Gu Jun had them too. He would not give up.

The dark consciousness that was suppressed in his body was boiling again, but this time, it was Gu Jun who was releasing it voluntarily. This power of darkness that he could not control could consume him at any time, but he felt no fear. He opened his lips to recite the spell and forcibly took over the energy that had gathered at the shrine.

“Ruin, ruin, ruin!” Gu Jun chanted again and again, as he faced different directions. He sent the voices from the abyss out into the open. “Ruin!”

In the foreign language, ‘Ruin’ was homophonous to ‘Misfortune’.

With each new chant, the darkness in his self-consciousness would deepen, and his vision would waver even more. He could see clearer the decay and putrefaction during autopsy, the mountain of cadavers inside the stone room of illusion, but his voice had gathered to the force of a giant wave. In just a few moments, the whole shrine had shattered. The four stone pillars crumbled. A spine-chilling grumbling came from underground. Even the earth itself was shaking. The spiral staircase about five thousand meters tall was falling apart. All the living wolves whimpered in fear as they scurried away to hide.

The mist that surrounded the shrine dissipated. The faces of the figures in black and red blanched. They appeared more corporeal than before, and their chanting had already stopped or rather been overwhelmed by Gu Jun’s more powerful one.

“Ruin…” Gu Jun’s body was swaying, and his face was eerily pale. He grabbed a rifle from Xue Ba, who still could not move, and aim it at the Lai Sheng Company’s member before him. His target was the leading man in red who had spoken earlier.

“Ruin!” His right index finger pulled at the trigger. The bullets fired…

Xue Ba, Uncle Dan, Lou Xiaoning, and the rest had their jaws dropped. The bullets from the rifle finally hit their target. They no longer phased through the bodies of those people. The skulls shattered, and blood splattered. The wilted men who were blaspheming the demon earlier now dropped like flies in their own pools of blood.

In this strange space, the scary chanting had stopped. Instead, it was replaced by even more horrifying echoes of shrieks and screams that gave the impression that they were experiencing hell on earth.