Thump, thump, thump!
Heavy footsteps sounded behind him. Li Ran had just tried to dodge to the side when a huge force slammed into his back. His body involuntarily lunged forward, crashing into the wall.
Bang!
The intense pain made it difficult for Li Ran to breathe. He rolled onto the floor and only gasped for air after a second or two.
The candelabra was no longer in his hand. Li Ran endured the pain and struggled, managing to prop up his upper body. Looking up, Sirius was standing where he had just been. Sure enough, it was that old man who had knocked him flying.
Li Ran really hadn't expected that after hitting him so many times, this old man could still get back on his feet, and that his aged body actually contained such great strength!
He should have stabbed him a few times if he had known!
Li Ran regretted in his heart.
"Get up, Caesar! He's coming for you!"
Cecilia urgently called out.
Sirius Arapis walked towards Li Ran. In the faint candlelight, his figure appeared dark and eerie. Blood dripped from his forehead. Without a word, he extended both hands directly towards Li Ran.
The instinct for survival made Li Ran leap up. Seeing those hands coming for his throat, he almost subconsciously raised his hand to block.
In an instant, their skin touched directly.
Sizzle!
An intense stinging sensation erupted at the point of contact, like a surging electric current, piercing directly into Li Ran's brain!
"Ah!"
Li Ran was caught off guard, screaming in pain and clutching his head.
So painful!
It felt like someone was using an axe to split his head!
He was in so much pain that he knelt on the ground, unable to straighten up.
However, Sirius Arapis did not take the opportunity to attack; instead, he froze. He shook his head, a strange expression on his face, as if he was about to cry, yet also as if he was overjoyed beyond measure.
"My Lord... is that You? I feel Your presence..."
Large tears welled up in his fierce eyes as he mumbled incomprehensible words, staggering and trembling as he walked towards Li Ran.
As for Li Ran, he could no longer hear external sounds, because at this moment, his mind was filled with terrifying gibberish.
This was a language incomprehensible to human intellect, as if thousands of people were speaking at once, shouting, laughing wildly, weeping, and murmuring. Countless voices layered upon each other, mixing and blending into a pure, extreme madness that made one Can't help it want to listen, as if listening more closely would reveal the true meaning of the gibberish.
Intense pain followed him like a shadow; every murmur entering his ears was like a red-hot steel needle repeatedly piercing the nerves of Li Ran's brain.
It was that hallucination!
It was the sound the body's original owner heard when he had an episode!
Past memories and present pain collided in his mind. Li Ran clutched his head, his vision blurring from the pain.
It was at this moment that Sirius's hand reached out again.
Boom!
Li Ran only felt a loud roar in his mind. The real world vanished, and terrifying illusions enveloped him...
What did he see?
A cross.
A giant cross.
On an inverted cross so immense it seemed to prop up the sky, a colossal giant hung upside down, pierced by iron nails, blood staining his entire body. His face bore an expression of pain and bewilderment, as if he was on the verge of death, yet also as if he were in a deep sleep.
Sacred, peculiar, eerie, terrifying!
The frantic gibberish echoed in Li Ran's mind, the sound growing louder and clearer, finally exploding like a clap of thunder.
Finally, Li Ran understood the meaning of the gibberish.
"...The Lord's will shall be descend on earth.
"He" shall be with man and "He" shall bear our sins.
"His" great light illuminates the Darkness and thus all beings are saved..."
It was countless ancient people singing primeval hymns in an unknown language, an unnamed epic from the benighted era illuminated by torches. The singing was filled with fanaticism and reverence; they trembled, rejoiced, and went mad!
He didn't know how long it had been, perhaps an instant, or perhaps an eternity.
Just as Li Ran thought he would be trapped in this hallucination forever, he seemed to hear the sound of waves.
An incredibly ethereal sound of waves.
Along with the sound of the waves, both the hallucination and the gibberish rapidly receded, and his vision gradually cleared.
But as soon as he woke up, he felt the suffocating pain.
"Cough, cough..."
The pressure on his neck made it difficult to breathe. Looking down, Sirius's hands were tightly gripping his throat. The wound on his forehead was still dripping blood, but the color of the blood had changed from bright red to dark black.
But the color of the blood was no longer the most important thing! What was even more terrifying was that Sirius's entire face had twisted and deformed, becoming like a Monster. Protruding lumps covered his face and hands, and his mouth was split all the way to his ears, revealing sharp, stark white teeth inside!
"My Lord... Indeed, You are here..."
He mumbled indistinctly with his split mouth, his grayish-blue eyes filled with fanatical joy!
"Let go, let go!"
From the side came a girl's anxious cry; it was Cecilia, futilely pounding Sirius's arm, trying to save him.
"Use... the knife..."
Li Ran felt his vision blurring, his lungs burning and shriveled. He exerted all his strength, squeezing out two words from his mouth.
Reminded by him, Cecilia immediately reacted. She turned, picked up the dagger from the ground, then gritted her teeth and plunged the dagger into Sirius's waist without hesitation!
"Oh, oh!"
Sirius let out a cry of pain, flung his arm, and threw Li Ran away!
"Bang!"
Li Ran flew up again. This time, he hit a desk on the other side. He lay on the ground, grimacing, feeling a sharp pain in his back.
"Ah—"
Just as he was in unbearable pain, Cecilia's scream came from the opposite side; it turned out Sirius had lunged at her.
Hearing the scream, Li Ran instinctively grew anxious. Memories from Caesar urged him to save his sister. He reached out to grab the desk, trying to get up quickly, but in his haste, he accidentally pulled out a drawer, and the contents spilled all over the floor with a clatter.
Thump, a heavy object hit the back of his hand.
Li Ran looked down and saw a revolver lying on the floor, reflecting a metallic luster in the candlelight. He picked up the revolver; its heavy weight and intricate mechanical structure came into view.
...Is it real?
Cecilia let out another scream; she had been cornered by Sirius, with nowhere to hide!
Forget it!
Li Ran hardened his heart, knelt up, and mimicking the steps from videos he had seen, checked the cylinder. It was fully loaded with six bullets.
"Hey! Idiot!"
He assumed a firing stance, aimed the gun at Sirius, then raised his voice and shouted, "Your Lord is here! Come over!"
Sirius paused, as if instinctively drawn by Caesar's words, then changed direction and lunged towards him.
"Hoho!"
He became even less human, his mouth wide open, saliva stringing between his sharp teeth.
Screw you!
Li Ran gritted his teeth and desperately pulled the trigger.
"Bang!"
A loud gunshot echoed in the room. The powerful recoil violently struck the web of his hand, transmitting through his arm all the way to his shoulder, like a sledgehammer hitting him.
Sirius's body stiffened for a moment, seemingly hit, but very quickly, he charged at Li Ran again.
Li Ran didn't dare to hesitate. He fired all five remaining bullets at Sirius.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!..."
He had never practiced shooting and was firing purely by luck. Fortunately, the target was close enough, and his luck was good enough that one bullet happened to strike Sirius's head. The latter's brain splattered with a squelch, and he uncontrollably fell forward onto the ground, twitching a few times before becoming still.
"Huff, huff..."
Li Ran gasped for air, which smelled of gunpowder. His gaze passed over the corpse to Cecilia on the other side.
The girl was safe, but still shaken.
Li Ran's mind was blank, and he managed to force out a bitter smile to comfort her with his stiff face.
On his first day of transmigration, he had personally killed someone. It really was... a terrible start.