Chapter 164 (2): Wayne from the Inner World
The wind howled violently, and air currents surged. The resulting rumbling roared like thunder, directly hitting the eardrums. Blade aura sliced through the corridor, lifting the ceiling above and collapsing the floor below, while the walls on both sides exploded along the cracks with an audible crash.
Amid the storm, grey tendrils coiled, corroding everything in their path and reducing it all to ash. If the sword struck true, the target’s flesh would be stripped clean in an instant.
Wayne gripped his sacred lance, golden light surging in his eyes as he thrust it, unleashing white holy radiance that stirred up whirlwinds. The air seemed to explode, churned into a massive spiral visible to the naked eye. The thunderous sonic booms screamed and crashed forward like a meteor.
Light and Death energy collided. The resulting hurricanes twisted together into a mass, and space itself shook like water. Shedding its shell, the light morphed into fiercely blazing sacred flames, matching the death energy in power. Overflowing energy surged in all directions, the shockwaves sweeping through the corridor and leveling it in an instant.
As the two waves of energy clashed violently, a white light flashed, darting to the Death Knight in the blink of an eye with a lance condensed from holy light.
Mona!
The Death Knight paid her no mind, not even glancing at her. Death energy surged around him, erasing the incoming lance with even greater energy. At the collision, the energy lance scattered into light particles that fell like shooting stars, piercing through the curtain of Death energy and raining down on the Death Knight.
He swayed. Following an explosive shout, his surrounding space boiled like water. The spiraling sacred flame struck the Death Knight like an unstoppable avalanche, pushing him back step after step. Caught off guard, his skeletal body, clad in black armor, got lifted off the ground, swept away by the roaring sacred flames and smashing through over ten corridors before finally stopping.
The light dancing in the skull’s eye sockets stilled before coming back alive and turning crimson again. Looking at the collapsed ground, the Death Knight made a step with explosive mana, suddenly appearing before Wayne with his sword as if he had teleported.
Clang!
Wayne was ready. He blocked Shadow Nightmare with his sacred lance. His golden eyes met the red orbs of light. Both found the other utterly unfamiliar.
Wayne found the Death Knight before him vastly different from his memory, so much so that they seemed like completely different people. It was too absurd. Had a third person picked up Shadow Nightmare and ridden Julia? Then, in addition to the Headless Knight, her current rider, Wayne, had also been cuckolded.
He wouldn’t allow it. Better that he cuckold the world than let anyone cuckold him. It was the bottom line of a warrior of true love.
Wielding an energy lance, Mona continued to attack the Death Knight. Her stigma activated, extinguishing Death energy with the sacred flames of the Golden Law to deny the Death Knight a chance to make explosive attacks. That greatly lifted the pressure on Wayne.
The Death Knight was thoroughly annoyed. He had no interest in Mona, only caring about Wayne. Black smoke roared as he said, “The light on you is glaring! Why aren’t you a Death Knight? You betrayed the goddess!”
How am I supposed to become the Death Knight when you have Shadow Nightmare?
The outburst confused Wayne. Under Mona’s cover, he combined the Golden Law’s sacred intent with the Sacred Lance of Heaven. Blazing white light enveloped him, intensifying into searing white sacred flames.
“Traitor! You don’t deserve to live, much less enjoy this peaceful world!”
The Death Knight wasn’t to be outdone. He unleashed even more intense Death energy. Grey tentacles coiled into a grey sphere two meters in diameter, cutting off all surrounding life force and tightly encasing him within.
Space rippled. Unimaginable energy erupted and sent terrible gusts sweeping through the area. Sacred flames carved through the air with blazing heatwaves, while cold Death energy ravaged everything indiscriminately.
The ground collapsed, and Wayne and the Death Knight fell to the lower floor, which collapsed once more and dropped them. Mona watched helplessly as the narrow space became increasingly spacious from their destruction. She spread her wings and flew down.
Wayne and the Death Knight battled until they were in the lobby on the first floor. Their clash was a pure collision of energy with no technique involved. It was a contest to decide whose mana was greater and whose energy was stronger. In this situation, Wayne was allowed to get by with his poor lance techniques.
The Death Knight didn’t know that particular weakness. He assumed that he was suppressing Wayne tactically and would secure his victory by wearing Wayne down. He wanted Wayne to die in extreme agony for betraying the Goddess of Death, but also for his own longing and hatred for the world Wayne resided in.
The mirror world, also known as the inner world or the inverse world, was a pitiful world consisting of all the negativity of the surface world, dark, cruel, and despairing. It was the surface world’s garbage dump and powder keg, filled with unstable factors and teetering on the edge of collapse every day with constantly unfolding tragedies.
When negative emotions reached a limit, the inner world would completely collapse, but due to the mirror’s effect, it would revive again, copying the surface world one-to-one while continuing to serve as its garbage dump.
Living beings of the inner world knew of the surface world, and when they looked up, they could see the mirror separating them and the negative emotions constantly falling from it. Every curse and every evil thought from the surface world accelerated the inner world’s destruction. Those living in the inner world thus longed to enter the surface world while hating it, resenting the irresponsible act of garbage dumping from the other side.
This Death Knight was ‘Wayne’ from the inner world. His hatred for Wayne had reached its peak. He wanted him dead in the most excruciating way possible.
Boom!
Surging energy ran wild as the two men fell another floor, entering an upside-down hotel lobby. Mirrored, everything was reversed with the ceiling at the bottom.
Mona didn’t rush to Wayne’s aid. She saw herself as if looking at her own reflection. The other Mona wore the same white battle gear of the church, but had a fierce, demonic expression, and the cross on her back was crimson.
She sensed evil in her counterpart, pure evil, which twisted faith and erased the cross’s holiness.
Their eyes met. Mona felt heartbroken to see the other Mona’s features contorted as she shrieked endlessly. With a wave of her hand, black light took shape as a lance. The other Mona stomped with explosive mana and charged at herself.
Rip!
The black holy light scattered. Mona of the inner world was pierced by the lance of holy light, the tip protruding from her back and tearing apart the red cross.
Mona had gone through two level-ups, while Inner Mona hadn’t. She had no stigma nor a new uniform, so their strengths couldn’t even be compared. The gap was so vast that Mona could kill her counterpart instantly.
Inner Mona grabbed onto the holy light lance with both hands, blood gushing from her mouth. The crimson light in her eyes slowly dissolved as she cast a gaze of incredible longing at herself.
That made Mona’s heart race. She hesitated momentarily, finding it difficult to kill her counterpart.
Inner Mona thought differently. She suddenly rushed toward herself with another explosive step. As their eyes met, she said with painful yearning, “You’ve been too happy... You have everything you wanted. Everything...”
Mona opened her mouth, but couldn’t say anything through the lump in her throat. She couldn’t comfort her other self because she truly had gotten everything she wanted.
The light in Inner Mona’s eyes gradually dimmed, her body fragmenting like a broken mirror. “Hold onto everything in your hand and don’t let go. Or I will be your future...”
“Never let go...”
***
Outside the hotel, over ten figures in black robes stared at the precarious crystal sphere, beyond shocked.
“What’s happening? The mirror space projection barrier shouldn’t consume such a large volume of elements. Is that woman so powerful in the inner world?”
Projection required energy. The most basic spatial energy was the four elements of earth, fire, water, and wind. Mana would work as well, but most people wouldn’t dare to attempt it since it would instantly drain their mana and vitality.
The energy consumption depended on the projected beings’ strength. The crystal sphere stored enough of the four elements to guarantee the mission’s success—or it should guarantee it. Yet barely ten minutes in, the projection barrier threatened to collapse. The robed figures raised their voices as they argued about the impossibility.
“It shouldn’t be happening. That woman isn’t even a legendary mage...”
“I get it. There are other powerhouses among the Church of Moonlight’s team, more than one.”
“Damn it, how did you gather the intelligence? Even Francan people wouldn’t make such basic mistakes!”
“Chester, what do we do now?”
“Shut up! Don’t use my name out here!” Chester didn’t hesitate before giving the order: “At this rate, the four elements will be exhausted, and the crystal sphere will immediately shatter. The mirror space will collapse... Use the anti-magic domain. It’s our only choice.”
“Now?”
“What else? If the members of the Church of Moonlight break out, we’ll be exposed. The Ministry of Magic won’t take responsibility for the ambush of the Church of Moonlight’s High Reverend. We’ll be executed as dark mages!”
They all fell silent and began preparing the anti-magic domain.
Chester was right. Their mission couldn’t be exposed, or they would be publicly executed as traitors while the Ministry of Magic maintained an amicable relationship with the Church of Moonlight.
“Be careful. This isn’t an ordinary anti-magic domain. It seals not only the four elements, but also mana...”
“Understood,” said everyone else.
“Did everyone bring guns?”
“Ready.”
“With this much firepower, not even a Golden mage could survive!”