“Barton!”
“Joey Barton!”
An extreme sense of danger surged into Xia De’s heart, and then everyone saw it—the gaunt black giant in a cloak rising from behind Joey Barton.
A huge shadow covered everyone on the ice. At this moment, it was as if the world had completely fallen silent. No one could clearly see what was inside the cloak, but they could all see the black scythe.
“Is this the true power of a Chosen One of death?”
The giant, pitch-black scythe slowly swept across the ice. Although it was incredibly slow, time seemed to stand still because of the scythe’s swing. Having witnessed True Death, Xia De understood that this was a strike imbued with the true meaning of death and end. Any living being hit by it would immediately step into death.
“death Bringer’s Scythe (Note).”
Joey Barton sighed softly as a pitch-black light trace swept across everyone on the ice. The ice shattered into dust just from being touched by the scythe, huge waves surged, and death would end everything.
“Balance!”
And in that black light and shadow, dark golden light soared into the sky. With a golden Balance suspended behind her, an enraged Iluna threw that golden lightning spear under the night sky.
The shining golden light broke through the lake surface, and the blossoming lightning seemed to want to end everything.
The Sunlight Gun directly struck Joey Barton, who took a step back, retreating into the expanding Gap’s white mist. The white mist dissipated the lightning.
“Space Stabilization Aura!”
A hand appeared behind Barton. Xia De grabbed his thick right arm.
The deformed young face turned to look at Xia De, and his completely black left eye met Xia De’s gaze in the moment.
【Instant death attack... No, even if you fail the judgment, you won't die. He held back.】
The sudden chill in his soul made Xia De freeze in place. Joey Barton stood on the remaining ice, turned, and pulled the clown towards the re-opened Gap passage. But a pitch-black vortex appeared behind him at this moment:
“Sunlight Gun!”
Using her Chosen One dark talent, Iluna’s right hand passed through the vortex, and the Sunlight Gun directly hit Joey Barton’s back. Xia De, at close range, was splashed by the lightning, but he also saw the golden spear pierce through his body.
“This…”
The Gap entrance disappeared, taking away the clown and Barton, whose life and death were unknown. Xia De, recovering from the cold sensation of death, looked at the lake again; only ice shards floated in the thin mist, and the shimmering Moonlight witnessed everything that had just happened.
“He definitely didn’t die... Oh no, Iluna!”
Xia De, treading on the water with the Miracle 【Walking on Water】, hurriedly ran to the center of the lake. He saw the golden light in the lake and immediately reached into the water, pulling Iluna out.
She had blocked the death Bring's Scythe for her Church colleagues and then threw the Sunlight Gun with all her might, looking very weak.
Grabbing Xia De’s hand, her wet head emerged from the water. The seventeen-year-old girl coughed a few times, then unhesitatingly rubbed off her shoes underwater, and then wrapped her arms around Xia De’s neck, who was bending over, and stood up by stepping on Xia De’s feet.
The golden Balance behind her slowly dissipated. Her brown long hair was still dripping, and under her wet eyelashes, her eyes were filled with anger:
“Oh, I thought he could become one of the Church’s people, but he actually attacked us!”
The golden Balance, representing the power of “Balance,” blocked most of the Death Bringer's Scythe’s power. The few members of The Society of Truth were all annihilated, their bodies now sinking into the water, while the other members of the Sun Church had fallen into a brief coma, being lifted out of the water by Iluna’s water manipulation.
“It’s good that you’re fine.”
Xia De breathed a sigh of relief, took Mia out of his pocket, and the cat poked her head out, looking around. Then Xia De took out a towel and handed it to Iluna, who shook her head and did not take it:
“Joey Barton definitely didn’t die, I’m very sure of that. Last time at the Crow Club, didn’t he seem quite normal? Why did he suddenly go crazy? I originally thought he could become our fellow traveler.”
Iluna, soaking wet, asked through gritted teeth, looking truly angered. Water droplets from her hair fell onto Mia’s head, and the timid cat immediately shrank back into Xia De’s arms, but soon poked her head out again, looking up at the dripping strands of hair.
“People always have many thoughts. But the good news is, at least this Chosen One didn’t join The Society of Truth’s faction.”
Xia De, standing on the water, helped Iluna steady herself, her fair feet stepping on his shoes. The two embraced, turning to look at the Moon in the distance over the lake:
“The bad news is, Joey Barton went in a different direction than us. See, our Diviner friend’s plan, as expected, went wrong again. The first candidate escaped into the Gap, and things will probably be very troublesome from now on.”
Iluna said softly, Moonlight falling on her face, her tone inexplicably much softer.
“He is just a lost lamb on the path of life. He confused life and death, thinking he could revive the dead. But he doesn’t know that reviving the dead is not that simple; even if granted by a god, it requires enduring a thousand years of mutual torment.”
Xia De thought of Grace and Helen, and he sighed:
“Tell the Church everything. Search for Barton in the Gap with all your might. Now, things have come to the final step, and it’s time for an end. If he truly pulls a dead soul back from True Death through the incredibly fragile Gap, then no matter which passage was used, the collapse of the Gap probably won’t be stoppable by the Church’s divine rituals. Why are the living always so keen on bringing the dead back?”
“Because the living always have too many regrets, just like you went to save your Priest friend... Next time we meet, I won’t let him leave like today.”
Iluna said through gritted teeth:
“Even if he has outstanding talent and can unleash such terrifying power without even performing a ritual, in a fair one-on-one fight, he would definitely be the one to die.”
She had been holding Xia De’s waist, and now she wrapped her arms around Xia De’s neck, looking into his eyes:
“Detective, just you wait, this time, I definitely won’t disappoint you.”
Although usually shy, in her current angry mood combined with the Moonlit atmosphere, Iluna Bayas actively kissed Xia De.
The girl’s lips were also wet, and the two stood on the silent lake surface, Moonlight shining from between the valleys. If there weren’t a few unconscious people floating around, the scene would probably be even more romantic.
“She clearly had enough strength to keep her colleagues from sinking, so why did she fall into the water herself?”
【You’d best not ask that question.】
