Chapter 324: Let There Be Holy Light (Part 2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 324: Let There Be Holy Light (Part 2)
"Ha... haha, damn it."
Barton panted heavily, staring at the two halves of the corpse that filled him with such twisted excitement. He couldn't help but curse:
"I was going to keep you alive for a bit, to have my way with you right in front of that Muen Campbell. But you just had to say that shit! Whatever. Placing your severed remains before him... just thinking about that scene is enough to make me giddy."
Barton took a deep breath, his emotions gradually steadying.
Though he was easily provoked to rage, the scent of enough exhilarating blood could make any amount of anger vanish into thin air.
That’s right—as long as there was enough blood, just like what was currently pouring from the girl's mangled...
Wait.
As if suddenly spotting something, Barton’s body jerked into a stiff freeze.
Then, his eyes widened involuntarily.
"What...?"
The girl's body, severed in two, was indeed lying right before him.
However, from the jagged edges of her dainty frame, no blood flowed.
There was nothing at all, except...
A brilliant, incandescent golden light.
Then, the golden light surged, transforming into countless golden butterflies that fluttered their wings and took flight in a graceful dance.
It was hauntingly beautiful, yet it sent a bone-chilling cold through Barton’s entire body.
An afterimage?
Or a phantom?
But when?
Just as Barton’s face contorted in disbelief—
Whoosh—!
Amidst the thick dust kicked up by the fallen giant tree, a dazzling golden radiance suddenly erupted. Immediately following it, golden chains the thickness of a finger pierced through the dust, shooting toward him like arrows.
Barton’s pupils shrank. His Fighting Spirit surged instinctively, but the fluttering golden butterflies suddenly swarmed him all at once.
"[Holy Chant]"
It was as if an ethereal, sacred song had begun to play. The golden butterflies dissolved into a thick, pouring stream of Holy Light, causing Barton’s mind and body to seize simultaneously. His Fighting Spirit flickered and collapsed for a brief moment.
By the time he snapped out of it, he found his torso and limbs tightly bound by the golden chains.
"This is..."
"I told you before, didn't I? I like reading."
Finally, the girl’s voice rang out.
Barton whipped his head around, staring into the settling dust.
"Therefore, I am not stupid."
"As you said, Mr. Barton, I am not even a martial artist. I have never truly fought anyone; I’ve always just handled support work from the sidelines. How could someone as weak as me possibly charge forward to face you head-on?"
"You mean..."
"That’s right. The one you were struggling against just now was merely a Holy Light phantom I created. Incidentally, the inspiration came from Muen."
Barton’s eyes looked ready to burst from their sockets.
In this moment, as the truth was unveiled, the anomalies from their brief clash began to surface in his memory, piece by piece.
For instance, the girl had condensed Holy Light into the shape of a blade before him but hadn't attacked immediately. Was that a deliberate move to make him believe she intended to engage in close quarters?
And that Holy Light blade that had completely ignored his Fighting Spirit... of course it ignored it, because it was goddamn fake!
Furthermore, when he thought back carefully, their seemingly intense battle had actually... never involved any physical contact at all.
Haha, damn it all. He had nearly pissed himself in fear back then!
"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!"
Barton trembled with rage. There had been so many loopholes, so many flaws, yet under the girl's deliberate guidance, he had fallen for it anyway.
He was like a stupid piece of prey, led step by step into this ridiculous trap by a shrewd, cunning hunter!
But he was supposed to be the hunter! She was the prey he was meant to bag!
"But!"
"So what!"
Barton took a deep breath to steady his mind, roaring at the girl whose figure was still partially obscured by the dust:
"You're just pointlessly stalling for time!"
"...Heh, you didn't even take this chance to run. Don't tell me you're still hoping someone will come to save you..."
"I'm not waiting for anyone to save me."
The girl interrupted him.
"Besides, I’ve said it many times already. This time, I don't plan on running."
"...So, so what!"
Barton faltered for a second before resuming his roar:
"You think this kind of thing can hold me? Mere chains? Watch me use my powerful martial techniques to easily—"
Clink...
Before Barton could finish his sentence, even more chains shot out from the dust, precisely wrapping around Barton’s... fingers.
"Eh?"
Barton’s face suddenly turned deathly pale.
"Is something wrong, Mr. Barton?"
The sound of footsteps approached. Liya finally stepped out from the dissipating dust, bathed in Holy Light, her clothes pristine and untainted.
Her gaze was calm as she asked softly:
"Only your hands and feet are bound. Your Fighting Spirit should still be functional, shouldn't it? Why don't you use... your 'powerful martial technique'?"
"You..."
For the first time, an emotion called terror surfaced in Barton’s eyes. He asked in a trembling voice:
"How did you find out?"
"It was quite simple. Your moves, Mr. Barton, were too abnormal. They were too powerful—so powerful that they were completely inconsistent with your otherwise mediocre abilities.
So, I wondered if you were relying on some kind of external power.
Once I looked at it from that perspective, the answer became quite obvious."
Liya pointed a finger. The chains yanked, forcing one of Barton’s hands up. His sleeve fell back, revealing a simple, ancient-looking bracelet hidden beneath.
Just as she thought.
There were only a few things that could make a person suddenly become that much stronger.
A Magic Device.
A Magic Scroll.
An Alchemy Weapon.
But those things all had distinct signatures that were easy to identify.
That left only one category—one known throughout the world for being eerie and unpredictable...
An Ancient Artifact.
"And Ancient Artifacts often require a specific trigger," Liya said. "Mr. Barton, the trigger for your artifact... is hooking your fingers, isn't it? How convenient. No wonder you were able to make such a name for yourself in the Empire with just this one trick."
"You... you... even if you know, so what!"
Facing the humiliation of having his greatest trump card exposed, Barton forced himself to maintain a front of bravado, though his voice cracked with fear.
"In the end, there is a real gap in our realms! I am a powerful Fourth-Tier martial artist! These puny chains... I can break them with raw physical strength alone...
Eh? Why... why can't I break them?"
His manic expression dissolved into pale despair.
Barton frantically channeled his powerful Fourth-Tier Fighting Spirit, struggling with all his might, but those seemingly delicate golden chains didn't budge an inch.
"Of course you can't break them," Liya said casually, her finger tracing along a link of the chain.
"The time I bought just now was more than enough for me to inscribe one hundred and twenty Third-Tier Solidified Formations onto these chains. Even if you are Fourth-Tier, it would take quite some time to break free, I'm afraid."
"Wh... what?"
Barton looked at her as if she were joking.
"One hundred and twenty Third-Tier Solidified Formations? That's impossible! How long has it been? Not even three minutes! Even Fullar couldn't work that fast!"
"It is possible."
"You just have to read more books," Liya said earnestly. Then, she began walking toward Barton.
Holy Light condensed in her hand once more, forming a razor-sharp blade.
This time, it was no deceptive illusion. it carried a very real, very lethal intent.
"Wait... wait!"
Barton panicked.
"Let's talk! Let's talk this out!"
"What happened just now was a misunderstanding! I was wrong! I was really wrong!"
"I'm willing to pay any price! Don't kill me! Please don't kill me!"
Liya didn't stop.
"Right! I can give you this Ancient Artifact!"
"It has my mark on it! If you kill me, it will self-destruct!"
"This artifact is incredibly precious! It can even pose a threat to Fifth-Tier experts!"
"Using it to buy my life is a massive profit for you!"
Liya finally stopped, standing very close to Barton.
She glanced down at the bracelet on Barton’s wrist and whispered, "An Ancient Artifact... precious?"
"Yes, yes!"
Barton’s eyes lit up, and he said urgently, "It's worth a fortune! It's priceless! Even if you don't use it, you could sell it at auction for at least—"
Snap.
A crisp sound echoed, cutting Barton’s words short.
He stared blankly as Liya silently withdrew her Holy Light blade. He looked down at his wrist. The artifact that had made his name as "Butcher Barton"—the incredibly precious item that could have sold for over a billion—was now... shattered.
"Wh... why!"
Barton’s face contorted as he shrieked at Liya, "Do you have any idea what you just destroyed?! Do you have any idea how valuable that was?!"
"I know," Liya said expressionlessly.
"But... who knows what kind of traps you might have left on it."
"..."
Barton’s expression froze.
"Besides, Ariel said that you must never accept things people offer you—especially things men offer you!
Oh..."
As she spoke, Liya tilted her head slightly, a brief flash of innocent confusion crossing her face.
"Did I already break Ariel's rule...? Well, I suppose it's fine to accept things from Muen."
Liya raised the blade of Holy Light, aiming it at Barton’s chest.
"Wait, don't—"
Barton snapped back to reality, pleading in terror.
"Wait, no, please! I'll do anything! Just don't kill me!"
In that moment, he noticed the girl's hands were trembling. A flicker of hope flashed in his eyes.
"Little gir—Miss, beautiful Miss, you've never killed anyone before, have you? Let me go, I beg you, let me go. There's no need to dirty your hands for a piece of trash like me.
And I've learned my lesson! I really have! I'll never do the things I said before, I swear!
You're so kind, so lovely, surely you wouldn't—"
Squelch—!
The blade sank into flesh.
Her hands were still shaking, but Liya gritted her teeth. Just as the books said: when facing a villain, you must plunge the blade firmly into their heart. Then, you twist.
"Cough... cough..."
Barton coughed up blood. His eyes, gradually losing their light, stared at Liya in a daze.
"You..."
"I don't want to kill people."
The girl forcefully twisted the Holy Light blade, staring intently as the light slowly scorched Barton’s flesh. She spoke with absolute sincerity:
"But... you wanted to kill Muen."
"I am very angry."