Endless Debt

Blood and flesh shattered, with blood splattering everywhere. Breaking free from the limbs' restraints, Bologue and Aimou fell directly into a pool of blood, while the crossbow arrow was stuck not far from him. As for the impaled limbs, they convulsed painfully, spraying more blood.

The impact brought waves of pain, and Bologue's mind gradually cleared up. He struggled a few times lying on the ground but still couldn't stand up.

When caught by the limbs, it crushed Bologue's calf. With ether depleted, Bologue simply couldn't heal this injury.

Bologue could only laboriously crawl on the ground, and as he moved, he took the opportunity to observe the massive crossbow arrow.

The arrow itself was crafted from pitch-black metal, slender and sharp, more akin to a giant long spear made for hunting legendary sea monsters or giants; in any case, this weapon was not designed for humans from the start.

On the surface of the black metal floated a faint light, intricate patterns flashing; this arrow was an alchemy armament.

"Good news, we're saved."

Bologue said to Aimou, "I must have triggered some kind of defense mechanism, so it seems the Desperate Outpost will certainly notice the anomaly here."

The limbs struggled painfully, and the ground trembled violently. More limbs lifted from the ashes, their scarlet flesh covering mouthparts like human faces. They opened wide, sharp teeth interlacing and clashing, producing a chilling, tooth-gnashing sound.

"The bad news is the defense mechanism might kill us along with it."

Bologue growled while dragging his body, striving to avoid contact with the limbs and maintain a safe distance.

In this situation, Bologue's resistance was utterly meaningless; he simply couldn't escape the hunt of these limbs. Worse, he had awakened from Calamity's temptation, but his mind continued to suffer tearing pain until it exploded, unbearably.

Bologue's complexion was pale, cold sweat soaking his collar, and his expert instinct led him to make the wisest judgment.

He let go of Aimou, shielding her beneath him. In these circumstances, Bologue was not concerned about his survival; now, he just needed to protect Aimou, even if he died, others could handle the aftermath.

The limbs ahead suddenly lifted, but at that moment, more whistles sounded, and arrows kept arriving, accurately shooting down these awakened limbs.

Above Bologue, further above Holy City, the sprawling buildings, like rings, constructed along the steep cliffs. On the extending platforms, large arrow platforms continuously fired down at the awakening limbs.

This building complex, similar to wandering crossroads, had a name Bologue was very familiar with, having witnessed personally.

Desperate Outpost.

"Careful not to hit that unlucky guy."

The steady voice echoed in the minds of the crossbowmen, then shattered by the whistling of arrows.

After the man finished instructing, he overlooked down into the Abyss from the high platform, with Holy City standing calmly within. In its original Golden Palace's location, a sunken pit replaced it, burning fiercely, seemingly reaching deep into Hell, from where the relentless firestorm originated.

The sight shifted outside the city gates, as crimson awakened from the earth, and arrows continued firing, piercing flesh and pinning them back to the ground.

In this roaring apocalypse scene, a figure lay among it, seemingly dead.

Seeing that figure, Holt's expression was somewhat complex.

"This guy actually managed to reach here..."

Holt felt a bit uneasy. As early as a few days ago, Lebius had already cautioned him that Bologue Lazarus always gave people unexpected surprises, hoping the fourth group's rescue would be quick to prevent Bologue from discovering these things.

Initially, Holt didn't care much. In the Desperate Void of Abandoned Land, judged by just First Stage ability, Bologue couldn't get far, let alone reaching the core area and coming before Holy City.

Bologue managing not to die in the outer regions was considered a miracle.

But now the facts unfolded right before his eyes. Bologue had quietly reached here, and the Desperate Outpost was completely unaware.

"According to our judgment, he should have fallen at the perimeter, so the rescue team kept lingering there..."

Standing beside Holt, the man analyzed, bearing thick lenses, appearing knowledgeable.

He was astonished that in the face of the unknown, Bologue dared to risk and chose to delve into the Abandoned Land, evading continuous firestorm.

In the deputy's view, the entire Abandoned Land was a self-contained, massive cage. The Serenity Defense Line's constructed ether vacuum could revert any Condenser setting foot into a mortal's state, while the firestorm ignited by Calamity alongside light scorching could destroy anyone attempting to approach. Moreover, occasionally Calamity might briefly awaken, instinctively consuming.

"Evan, stop analyzing, fact is this guy truly reached here," Holt shook his head, interrupting Evan's words, "now let's think about how to explain these to him."

"By the way, can the Border Sanatorium help erase his memories?" Holt asked again, "Instead of weaving lies to explain, it's more prudent to simply delete the memory."

As the leader of the fourth group, the Abyss Watchers, Holt only needed to do two things: watch over this place, ensuring it remained in its eternally desolate state, and bury the secrets here forever, preventing anyone without authority from knowing the stories of this place.

"Sorry, we have no such cooperation with the Border Sanatorium. To be accurate, in recent years, there has been no case of someone mistakenly entering the Abandoned Land, witnessing the Holy City, and surviving," Evan remarked calmly.

"So we're just going to let him leave like that?" Holt doubted.

"That depends on your discussion with Lebius," Evan said, pressing his hand against the whistle by his ear. After a few seconds, he continued, "Lebius is already on his way."

Holt was silent for a moment, his gaze ominously fixed downward.

The pitch-black crossbow arrows embedded into the ground, crushing flesh at the same time. The towering black iron columns resonated with each other, collectively forming some kind of Alchemy Matrix. Pale blue arcs throbbed across the metal surface like obscure runes, and then they linked together, forming a Holy Words of electric light.

Dazzling thunder enveloped the crossbow arrows, erupting into a fleeting storm of lightning. Roaring thunder struck the surrounding material, easily piercing thick ashes, and even the flesh hidden below turned into foul blood.

Bologue pressed Aimou down, hiding under layers of the lightning storm. The deafening noise destroyed Bologue's hearing, with blood flowing out of his ears.

"We're still alive!"

Bologue shouted at Aimou.

Though he couldn't hear his own voice, Bologue felt he was yelling. He wanted to say more, but his vision uncontrollably plunged into darkness, his consciousness weighted down until he passed out.

Bologue had reached his limit; consecutive injuries accumulated and finally killed him.

After the thunder, the awakening flesh was subjected to some invisible suppression, no matter how furiously it struggled, its own support continued to collapse, as if giant hands were grabbing them, dragging them back under the ashes, burned into ashes by the rolling flames.

"The suppression is over."

The report sounded in their minds. Holt gestured slightly to Evan, who pulled a lever by his side. After a few tremors, the platform below began to slowly descend.

The descent continued for a few minutes. Holt arrived at the ash-covered Abandoned Land; he had been stationed here for many years, but to this day, he was still unaccustomed to this Ether vacuum feeling.

Arriving at the gate of the Holy City, Evan checked the condition of the gate and saw it was still tightly closed, which relieved him a lot. Holt stood next to Bologue's corpse, looking at this scarred fellow.

"Is this guy dead? Can we just leave him here?" Holt frowned slightly, not expecting Bologue to die at a critical moment.

Evan pushed up his glasses and explained, "Leader, he is an Undead. If you take the corpse out, he will come back to life."

"Ah, is that so? Did Lebius mention that?"

"He did, but you probably forgot."

There was no trace of helplessness in Evan's tone, as he was already accustomed to the leader's demeanor.

"Honestly, my memory is getting worse. Should I retire, Evan?"

Holt said as he picked up Bologue's body. At that moment, the ground beneath them trembled slightly, and a crimson limb raised again, apparently a remnant from the earlier suppression.

"Leader, you're only 37 years old this year, in your prime, and still some time away from retirement."

Evan stood expressionlessly beside Holt. Holt casually raised his hand, and a massive surge of Ether disappeared in an instant, with the crimson limb shattered into countless fragments in a moment.

"I'm only 37 this year?" Holt showed a surprised expression and then helplessly rubbed his head, "I feel like I'm almost 85. When can I retire? I'm really fed up with this hellhole..."

Holt kept complaining, while Evan sighed quietly; listening to these complaints for too long made even him feel quite irritable, but unable to comment since this was his leader.

The two were about to leave, but Holt stopped again, noticing something. He then looked at what Bologue had been protecting beneath him.

A ball of charred, slightly shining scrap metal.

"Did Lebius mention there's such a thing?"

Holt asked.