Chapter 16: Allen's Mind in Turmoil
At this moment, Krista felt more disheartened than ever before.
Once a mighty cult leader who could easily decide the life and death of her followers, she was now being forced into submission by the very people she had scorned. Her emotions were a tangled mess.
On her knees, she struggled to speak.
"D-Dad…"
Tears of humiliation slid down her cheeks. She was over a hundred years old, yet she had to call a young man, still wet behind the ears, "Dad." The very act shattered her pride into countless pieces, filling her with an indescribable sense of shame and something else she couldn't quite name.
"Are you satisfied now?"
Krista's face was ashen, her gaze hollow.
"Oh wow, your eyes are so empty, it's like they're warm and moist on the inside—so inviting that one would shiver just stepping in."
Allen's cheeks flushed for no apparent reason.
Bruce and Oliver looked away, unable to bear it anymore.
Bro, can you just use normal comparisons? She just has a blank stare, and you're clearly implying something else.
"I'm sorry, but no, I'm not satisfied."
As soon as the words fell, Allen swung the Redemption Blade down onto the Flaurus Emblem.
Clink!
A crisp sound rang out as a crack appeared on the emblem's surface.
In an instant, dazzling rays of light burst forth, rippling outward in waves.
A chilling sense of foreboding gripped the hearts of the cultists.
Without Flaurus' protection, Alessa would be free to storm into the church and slaughter them all.
The next second, the ground at the center of the church caved in, as if revealing an unknown abyss.
Blazing flames erupted from below, illuminating a cavern filled with molten lava—it was as though a passage to Hell itself had been opened.
"You bastard! Why did you do that?"
Krista roared in fury. She had already endured humiliation and surrendered, so why destroy the emblem?
Deep down, she knew the answer.
Alessa's first target would be her. After all, she had once subjected Alessa to a brutal fire execution in an attempt to seize Samael's power.
Just then, thorned wires shot up from the chasm like sentient serpents, writhing through the air.
A hospital bed was lifted from the depths by the wires.
On the bed lay a woman wrapped in bandages. The exposed areas around her eyes bore the scars of severe burns.
At the same time, on the opposite side of the Silent Hill cliff, Sadako suddenly lifted her head.
She sensed that the suppressing force around this place was weakening—it could no longer keep her out.
In the blink of an eye, she was gone from the other side of the cliff.
Inside the church, chaos erupted.
The cultists screamed in terror and rushed toward the exit, desperate to escape Alessa and save their lives.
Splat!
A massive, rusted blade cleaved down, splitting the nearest cultist in half from head to toe.
The others turned pale as they saw a towering figure, over three meters tall, blocking the doorway.
A giant, wearing a massive triangular metal helmet and dragging an enormous blade.
Pyramid Head.
Alessa's guardian.
One of the beings the cultists feared most.
Meanwhile, the thorned wires rampaged through the church, mercilessly slaughtering people and hoisting them up to be hanged in midair.
"There's no way out! There's a monster blocking the door!"
Bruce observed that Pyramid Head felt no pain. Despite the cultists' desperate attacks, even blades piercing his flesh failed to make him flinch.
If they tried to fight him together, they probably wouldn't even budge him.
"Allen, think of something!"
Oliver turned to Allen anxiously, already treating him as their leader.
But Allen was focused on Krista, watching eagerly.
"Wait a second. She's about to get skewered by those thorned wires. It's gonna be a wild scene."
"…"
As expected, two wires coiled around Krista, hoisting her into the air.
"Hahaha… You and your mother are both filthy mongrels!"
Krista had lost her mind, spewing venom at Alessa.
Schlck!
The next second, the thorned wires pierced through her body, sending a fountain of blood spraying out.
"Oh yeah! Nailed it, didn't I?"
Seeing Krista meet her end, Allen cheered excitedly and turned around to boast to his companions—only to find a shadowy figure right in his face.
"You're too close. I can't see properly. Let me back up a little."
Allen leaned away, and his gaze fell upon a woman with long, unkempt hair, exuding an aura of silent, seething resentment.
Bruce and Oliver had already backed far away.
The sudden appearance of this woman sent a deep sense of dread through them.
This entire experience had been like an insane roller coaster ride.
They had once lived in a prosperous, modern city, firm believers in materialism.
Now?
Screw materialism.
The world was anything but scientific.
"Allen!"
While Bruce and Oliver worried for Allen, he instead beamed with happiness, grabbing the ghostly woman's hand and swinging it playfully.
Then, with a sweet, coquettish tone, he said, "Beibei, I knew you still had me in your heart. I'm so touched!"
Bruce and Oliver rubbed their eyes in disbelief.
"A ghost… and Allen… are a thing?"
"Does this count as interspecies love?"
The two couldn't help but feel like total losers.
Allen was out here flirting with a ghost, while they had almost been sacrificed.
"…Beibei, are you mad at me because I'm not talking?"
Allen rested his head on Sadako's shoulder, twisting coyly.
"I like playing on my phone when I'm on the toilet. I just happened to set it down on the toilet seat. You're not mad, are you?"
Was it really just a phone?
You put an entire TV bigger than your head on the toilet!
Through the strands of her disheveled hair, Sadako's ghostly eyes glowed with an eerie, silent accusation.
'Oh? So you're bullying me just because I don't talk, huh?'
But alas, Allen's sweet words were too much.
Sadako, so simple-minded, couldn't possibly resist.
Her cold, wrinkled hands, pruned from years underwater, gently caressed the back of Allen's head.
'What can I do? He called me baby…'
Having finally avenged herself, Alessa turned her gaze toward the lovestruck pair.
As the embodiment of darkness, she couldn't stand the sight of anything remotely beautiful. The mere presence of it filled her with an uncontrollable urge to destroy.
"That's enough!"
With a furious command, thorned wires whipped into motion beside her.
"Beibei, she's being mean to me. I'm so scared."
"Beibei, I only want to die in your arms."
"Beibei, you'll protect me before you kill me, right?"
…
With every Beibei, Sadako sank deeper into Allen's spell.
Having such a dramatic, tea-scented admirer was just too intoxicating.
Suddenly, Sadako glared at Alessa.
No one was allowed to hurt her little Beibei.
"Don't be like this…"
Allen held Sadako's hand, his tone full of concern.
"For me, it's not worth it, Allen."
"I'm just a nobody. Just a pathetic lunatic in everyone's eyes. Meeting you here is already more than enough for me."
With that, Allen placed the Redemption Blade in Sadako's hands, lifting it to his neck.
Taking a deep breath, he whispered, "I promised I'd die by your hand…"
Sadako's eyes welled up with tears.
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