Against The True Gods-Chapter 169: Larisse(II)

Elder Larisse, impaled by Caine's spear, limply hung in the air, her world of darkness fading away.

Her body, drenched in blood, was now armless, her stomach torn open, allowing her organs to spill out in waves, mixing with the warmth of her own lifeblood.

Slowly, her bloodied and bruised hands moved to grasp the pole of the spear that impaled her. Her eyes, wide with disbelief, stared into the amused face of the man before her.

"Well, you did say this would be quick, hm?"

There had never been any suspense.

Only anomalies like Adari and Emerys could hope to ever injure him while being relatively close to his own realm. Apart from that, and excluding those with talent equal to his, realms truly didn't matter.

Anything that wasn't a God was cattle to him now.

WHOOOSH!

White flames engulfed Larisse, burning her to ashes, her last moments spent in a vat of endless shock and regret.

Caine stored his spear away as he canceled his form. At the same time, his hand reached out into the pile of ashes that had begun to drift along the wind.

RUMBLE!

When he pulled his arm back, within his palm stood an orb of light—Elder's soul.

'This looks strangely appetizing.' His gaze narrowed. 'Hm. I'll have to spend some time studying why the destruction of souls is taboo.'

Slotting these thoughts to the back of his mind, he refocused as his True Will seeped into the fabric of Elder's soul.

The orb of golden light wiggled and almost became solid as the echoes of a voice began to escape it.

"Speak." Caine commanded.

The orb suddenly stabilized, and immediately, words came out of Elder's soul.

"I am Elder Larisse, real name Elderis Larissia, demihuman and daughter of the long-gone Void Boa King."

"As a Perfect Demihuman, after my birth, I was sent to the human side to reach the Holy Knight position and gather as much intelligence as possible on the humans' defenses."

"I eventually defected and separated from the beasts of the world before they recontacted me. From there, a new deal was struck between us. I essentially became a hitman."

"They come, they give me the target information along with the payment, and I kill the target—simple."

"You were simply the latest target they asked me to eliminate."

Elder Larisse then fell silent, awaiting further orders.

On the other hand, Caine found himself lost in his own thoughts.

"What's a Perfect Demihuman?"

"A Perfect Demihuman is a child born from the union of beast and human. More specifically, it is a child born without defects and possessing the best of both worlds."

"For example, I have the body of a human but the innate power of a Void Boa. I have the sharp mind of a human and the terrifying affinity of a beast—a perfect union."

Caine's thoughts intensified as a certain conclusion began to form in his mind.

"What's the purpose of this ongoing attack?"

"Rumors in the higher spheres of the world say a certain cult is having a meeting of utmost importance in the capital today, in secret."

"This cult—that's what the beasts are after. They seek to destroy them."

"Why?" Caine asked.

"Because when the Pope eventually dies, they will be the only hope of the world."

These words didn't come from Elder Larisse.

Panning his head, Caine found the entity who'd spoken.

There, a few meters away, Jamie stood, hands clasped behind his back.

He bowed to Caine. "Greetings. I apologize for my lack of manners, but we must go. Now is the perfect time to reach our destination."

"The chaos will act as cover."

Caine softly smiled as he stored Larisse's soul away, then nodded.

"Let's go then."

***

As the two rushed through the ruined landscape of the city, they began to talk.

"So those you were wary of…they're beasts?" Caine asked.

Jamie nodded. "Yes, they are. But calling them beasts doesn't do them justice. Their descendants are what we call beasts. The ones we face are called the Heavenly Creatures."

"You'll learn more about them soon, but… what I can tell you is that they're horrifying. They're everywhere." As Jamie spoke these words, his voice shook, panic and fear evident in his tone.

But strangely enough, a defiant sort of rage and hope sparked in his gaze, contrasting his tone and painting him in a light of ambiguity.

"The Pope and the Greatest God are our only shields. The former will soon leave our world, and the latter has long since fallen into slumber."

"That leaves the cult as our only chance."

Caine remained silent for a moment upon hearing this. "Are us humanoids so weak?"

Jamie chuckled. "When is it ever that simple? The fact that they are trying so desperately to dismantle the cult should tell you things are complicated."

"In all honesty, even I don't fully understand the details of what is happening."

"Betrayals, resources, benefits, other factions, hidden actors, the world, the mortals—humanity. It's all so complicated and convoluted that no line can truly be drawn and no finger can be pointed. Especially in our case, where this has been happening since the dawn of the first living being of our world."

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Caine smiled. "You think that even in such a situation, things are still so blurry? In the face of eradication, would humanity not band together, even if only momentarily?"

Jamie laughed at these words, shaking his head as he exhaled a breath of amusement.

He didn't answer, but Caine took his silence as one.

In fact, it reminded Caine of a saying the Sinner often uttered.

[Stabbed by my father, chained by my mother, and betrayed by my brother—I understood. Only then did I realize that the core of humanity is conflict.]

[Our souls reflect the flames of strife, and so, I embraced it.]

Caine sighed. 'The essence of our existence is chaos. How bleak of an opinion that is.'

'But then again…perhaps I am the best example of this.'

When Caine sacrificed the Three Realms to cast his final spell, just how many lives had he taken? How many families had he broken, all for his selfish desires?

The lives of billions—trillions—all for one man's foolish dream.

"We're here."

The two finally slowed down, stopping right before a strange gate embedded within the floors of a destroyed tower situated at the capital's core.