Falling into the Abyss

Editor: Kat, Proofreader: Yuzu

In the First Space Station, the Provisional Central Government of the Earth Union was holding a secret meeting. In the open and clean conference room, there was only a large round table. Around it were eleven comfortable and wide chairs, and in each chair, there was a solemn-looking member sitting in it. Only two chairs were empty.

Of the two empty chairs, the biggest one was merely a projection, a projection of President Appiah. Her physical body was far away in a safe fortress outside the solar system, unable to attend the secret meeting in person.

A black-haired female Beta member of parliament was speaking, “The envoys of the God of Order sect of the Eves have set out with ample God of Order’s eggs. It is expected that they will arrive in the next two days. The military is ready, and the Ophiuchus Alliance gene tracking system has arrived at the border. As soon as the envoys arrive, it can be launched immediately.”

Another older, dignified Alpha member of parliament said, “I’m still against this plan. The power of the God of Order’s eggs is huge, and no one knows how much radiation it will cause. I’m afraid the entire planet will be ruined at that time!”

“Is the current state of Earth better than being ‘ruined’?” the female Beta said coldly, “Besides, you also heard about the situation in the Ophiuchus Alliance. Ethan Eldridge can’t be executed using ordinary methods.”

“But Earth is the origin of civilization of the whole galaxy. How can it be destroyed like this?! Moreover, we also have to use the tracking system provided by Ophiuchus Alliance. Who knows if they are harboring evil intentions!”

“Sean.” In a matter-of-fact tone, the president asked the opposing Alpha member of parliament, “Is there any other reason for your objection besides the meaningless reason that Earth is the origin of all civilization? If so, do you have any better solutions?”

Sean stared at the president with an incredulous look. As the leader of the government in the Senate, his whole family had a significant influence in the government. Even the former president did not speak to him in this tone. However, the new president never seemed to think that she needed to respect him. Her questions always made him feel that she was mocking him, which made him very angry, but he was unable to find a medium to vent to.

Maybe it was time to think about supporting a new president? He thought angrily but still couldn’t answer President Appiah’s question.

“There is currently a lot of evidence supporting the existence of superintelligence species, and the president of the Ophiuchus Alliance is not a fool. They won’t scheme against us at such a critical moment. What’s more, they are in our territory. If they cause trouble under such circumstances, it means that every one of us is trash. If that happens, it would not be a surprise that this government collapses.” She was straightforward, and her eyes were sharp. No members dared to retort.

“That’s it. Watch the situation on Earth closely, and let me know if there’s any changes.” With that, her projection disappeared.

The remaining nine members were relieved and whispered to each other.

“It’s said that the situation inside the Eves’ planet is also very tense. The heir to the throne is missing, and the next successor, Archduke Sagalore, has sided with the God of Order’s sect. The relationship between him and the current Eve king is quite tense. I don’t know if the God of Disorder sect headed by the Eve king will cause trouble.”

“The Sagalore family’s influence in the royal family cannot be underestimated, and recently, the Eves’ domestic public opinion has shifted. People have a lot of unpleasant opinions on the current Eve king. After all, there are fewer people in their territories whose faiths align with the God of Disorder. In addition, this time, it was the Eves’ who voted to provide aid to us, so the Eve king should not be able to do anything about that.”

“I’ve heard that the gods that the priests from the God of Order sect believe in have revealed something to them? If their God of Disorders can make a monster like Ethan Eldridge, will the God of Order also make a monster?”

“It’s better if neither side wins. Otherwise……after knowing the existence of those things, I can’t stop feeling insecure……”

.

For the first few seconds, Ethan looked at Tanisiel in front of him as if he had suddenly lost his mind. As soon as he loosened his hand, the pieces of paper full of ancient characters floated away in the wind.

Tanisiel also gazed at him with an almost infatuated look in his eyes and approached him step by step. Even when the priest raised his hand and gently stroked the side of his face that was filled with black lines, he was not sure whether he was hallucinating or not.

Tanisiel’s hand warmed his cold skin. It was an act he had done several times. Ethan was familiar with this movement of his, and it had been a long time since he last did it. Ethan raised his hand and pressed it against the back of Tanisiel’s hand. Black tears left long tracks from the corners of his eyes.

“You……you’re not dead……” Ethan’s voice was a little choked up and incoherent. For a moment, he seemed to revert back to the ordinary man who was easily frightened in the Forbidden City, instead of the monster that threatened the whole Earth Union and even the galaxy.

For a moment, Ethan even thought of dying right now. In this way, he would never lose Tanisiel again.

Tanisiel stroked the back of his head. He was as clean as the sun, and his warm breath enveloped him, as if driving out the endless darkness in his body. The black lines on Ethan’s face gradually faded until he gradually morphed back into his original appearance.

“Are you really back?” His voice was muffled by the priest’s clothes, sounding a little childish. The priest chuckled and said, “Yes, I’ve come back to pick you up.”

Ethan let go of the priest and looked up at the face that was always delicate and perfect. “Pick me up?”

“Mm.” Tanisiel said with a gentle smile, “There’s nothing you miss here, is there?”

To leave here, leaving this nightmare and following the man who redeemed him.

That would be perfect.

Ethan held onto some doubts for a moment. “Don’t you……want me to complete the ceremony?”

“I have betrayed my faith. I’m free.” Tanisiel gently traced the tip of his brows. “Now, I just want to be with you and go to a remote and safe place.”

“But…where have you been? I’ve been looking for you……” Ethan murmured, and a deep, dull pain spread out in his heart. He thought of his father and the deep loneliness he had experienced during that time. That kind of loneliness could cause anyone to give up all hope. If he didn’t see Tanisiel again, he wouldn’t know that he was a walking corpse previously, living solely for a crazy goal.

He wanted to use the so-called acceptance ceremony to force Nyarlathotep to appear, and he would use everything he had, including the army he was gathering little by little, to force the Crawling Chaos to return Tanisiel and his father to him. He knew that even if he was a descendant of Nyarlathotep, it would be a fool’s dream to defeat an ancient god who had been living for hundreds of millions of years, so he prepared for the worst. If he had to sacrifice himself in the end, he would agree as long as he could see Tanisiel again.

At that time, he was not afraid that his original soul would be engulfed when he accepted the spirit of Azathoth. Anyway, he didn’t feel as though much of his spirit remained within him.

However, the moment he saw Tanisiel, he knew that he had never really lost this last hope. Once he saw Tanisiel, he was no longer willing to give up his body. Innumerable hopes grew vigorously in an instant, like the green buds that sprouted after a wildfire, and his blood that stopped flowing began to move through his blood vessels.

He wanted to believe. He didn’t want to doubt anymore. Therefore, before the priest answered, he had decided that he would believe the priest’s words.

“I remember what happened after I entered warp drive. My consciousness was very confused. I seemed to be caught by something terrifying……and then I woke up to find myself on an asteroid near the isolation zone of the Earth Union’s Tenth Space Station. Some Earth Union patrolling troops from the Ninth Space Station rescued me and said that I was floating outside the Tenth Space Station. I guess I may have entered the second universe in the course of warp drive and then emerged through the crack caused by the Tenth Space Station.”

At this time, a huge explosion sounded not far away. The explosion caused a fire, and with a rush of air, it spread out to the ruined city, where the nonhumans were gathering. Ethan was stunned and cursed in a low voice, “Shit!”

Just now, Samuel had said, “If you still treat me as a friend, don’t go back to where the nonhumans are at.”

He also said, “Those people should die.”

How could he not have thought of it? Samuel was going to avenge his father and Schneider!

Maybe that was why he came so close to the Forbidden City, because he had come to find Chen Zeng!

Ethan said to Tanisiel in a hurry, “Samuel! I have to find him!”

Tanisiel nodded. “I’ll follow you.”

He rushed to little Rafael. The giant worm seemed to be frightened to some extent, shaking its head uneasily in the direction the explosion happened. Ethan quickly jumped on his back and reached out to Tanisiel. The priest looked surprised, but he took his hand and sat behind him. “This is……something that hatched out from Schneider’s body?”

“Yes……”

“It grew so quickly.” The priest sighed and said, “As long as the other egg of the queen worm hatches, the prophecy will be fulfilled.”

“Prophecy?”

“The prophecy of the coming of Azathoth. As the core of the universe, there was no order of time or cause and effect. It has long since been determined when he will come, which was recorded in the holy book of the descendants of Disorder. The book was something I previously seized from Pales, but it no longer matters.”

Little Rafael, though bulky, could move at an amazing speed. However, it was too late when they got to the area where the nonhumans were gathered.

The ground was full of broken limbs that had been blown beyond recognition. The smell of gunpowder caused people to be unable to open their eyes. The flames burst into the sky, and the sky glowed red. Besides the smoke and fire, there were gunshots and screams. Ethan’s vision, which had mutated, sharply penetrated through the barrier of smoke. He spotted Cavin and the others hiding behind a broken wall, shooting at the members of the Lord Grace’s Association with guns.

Obviously, they had planned this and brought a bomb with them. But in the end, the number of believers was still too great, and they had gradually pushed them back into a corner.

“Stop!” Ethan shouted.

As the smoke gradually dissipated, they saw Samuel firmly holding Chen Zeng, surrounded by the raging fire. He stood on a collapsed wall that was full of debris, with a knife against Chen Zeng’s throat. The look in Samuel’s eyes was ferocious, full of the killing intent of a wolf.

Beneath Ethan’s body, Little Rafael let out a cry for some reason.

“Don’t move!” Ethan’s heart tightened. He stood up and exposed dozens of black tentacles behind him, demonstrating his might in the sky. At the same time, he yelled at the nonhumans, “Put down your guns!”

“Great teacher!” When the faithful believers saw that their spiritual mentor’s life was on the line, they didn’t listen to Ethan’s threats and pointed their guns at Samuel one after another.

Ethan immediately let out a strange howl, and a thunderous echo emerged in all directions. Thousands of humanoid worms appeared and approached the nonhumans at the command of their king. Ethan’s tentacles reached out from the skies, and he lifted everyone carrying guns. The timid nonhumans were afraid to flee, and the rest were either afraid to run away or stood still, wanting to protect their mentor.

“Samuel……” Ethan looked at the Omega, who had lost everything, but was still insisting on his ways. He hesitated for a moment and finally said, “If you want to do it, then do it quickly!”

Samuel seemed surprised that Ethan didn’t intend to stop him. He looked down at the ordinary man whose life was held in his hand, but Chen Zeng still didn’t seem to be too afraid, so his inner anger grew more intense.

“This was how your followers killed Schneider,” Samuel gritted his teeth and spoke in Chen Zeng’s ear.

“I’m sorry,” Chen Zeng closed his eyes and said calmly, “But that was not my intention.”

“Hahahaha……what a monster! It was not your intention…… You controlled people by feeding off of people’s fear. You are the real monster!” Samuel’s words were full of hatred, but his face was filled with tears. “Die!”

His dagger fell onto the skin of Chen Zeng’s neck, and blood gushed out. But at this time, a believer with his whole body aflame rushed out of the fire and slammed Samuel at a lightning-like speed. For a moment, Samuel’s body lost its balance, and he fell into the burning flames below. However, he still did not let Chen Zeng go, and they fell into the sea of fire together.

“Samuel!” Ethan hurriedly reached out his tentacle to pull Samuel out of the fire. He immediately jumped down from Rafael and rushed to Samuel’s side. However, he was stunned.

Samuel had stabbed the dagger, which he had just used to slice Chen Zeng’s throat, into his own chest.

How could that be? Didn’t Ethan save him?

“No, no, no……” Ethan pressed down on the bloody wound with his hands in a hurry, but he also noticed that the color of his blood was a little black.

Samuel quietly pressed onto his hands. His face was stained by the smoke, but he showed a faint smile. “Don’t bother, this is my own choice.”

Ethan was stunned. He shook his head hard and said hastily, “Tanisiel is back. He will save everyone. He will save you!”

“Ethan, after my father died……I was bitten by an infected person when I escaped from the Third Space Station.” There was no fear of death in his voice, and there was even a slight smile on his face. “I don’t want to become that ugly. Also, I have nothing to miss.” As he spoke, he coughed violently, and more blood gushed out. Looking at Ethan’s face, he suddenly began to feel sad. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have betrayed you……I shouldn’t have used you for revenge…I just hated…I hated everyone…I hated the world that took everything away from me…”

Ethan’s lips were trembling, and he was speechless.

The infection, it was the infection he created……

First, it was his father……then, it was Samuel……

Maybe……the person who should disappear most was him……

He held Samuel’s hand and watched the Omega, who had to wear a disguise all his life and suffered while he lived, struggled to breathe. Every breath he took could have been his last.

“But……Ethan, I’m glad……to meet you as a friend……”

After that, he clenched Ethan’s hand and coughed as if he wanted to get up. When they were unaware, Little Rafael had climbed behind Ethan, its front end slightly raised as if it was looking at the dying person on the ground.

Samuel gazed at the giant worm in his last moments. For some reason, his eyes suddenly widened.

In the end, his expression was fixed on it, and he had a slightly surprised expression.

And Ethan didn’t know what he saw in the end.

The author has something to say:

If you look at the speed of me delivering this bento, you should know that the novel has entered its finishing stages ~

I chose the song of Fast and Furious 7 as the synopsis of this chapter: See You Again, which was dedicated to Paul Walker who had passed away. I really like this song, and felt that its very suitable for the atmosphere of this chapter.