Chapter 1123: 110. Luring the Enemy

The candlelight swayed, yet it could not illuminate the room.

The warm light only covered a space of less than two meters around Theodore. Beyond those two meters lay a terrifying shadow beyond description.

That roar was still echoing beside his ears. He could hear the gentleness that had once belonged to that voice, but now it was filled with madness and violence, wrapped in incomprehensible murmurs and noise that made his brain ache unbearably.

Theodore struggled to steady his mind, keeping himself from being affected by the Goddess’s anger.

This was only the beginning.

Lighting the candle was easy. The difficult part was how to defend it.

The mad Goddess wanted to completely destroy Annabawei, so she would not allow even the slightest bit of light to exist within the night she had brought down.

But over the past several hundred years, there had always been people like Theodore, unafraid of that roar, unafraid of that intimidation, who still insisted on kindling light in the boundless dark.

All those people had died.

They had been killed.

“Extinguish... the candle...”

Another voice sounded, but it was not the Goddess.

In the darkness, several figures had appeared at some unknown point.

They staggered with every step, as though they had crossed an immense distance under the power of the night and arrived directly before Theodore, arriving inside this cramped office.

Their faces were pale and their eye sockets sunken deep, but Theodore recognized most of those faces.

From memory, from books, from the documents that had been passed down.

Their bodies were grotesque. Deformed limbs tore through their clothing. Sharp claws and bone spurs interlaced with one another, leaving hideous marks across the walls and floor with their keen edges.

The few strips of rag hanging from them were familiar to Theodore as well.

After all, the Pioneers’ uniforms had not changed in decades. They were all the plainest coarse hemp cloth.

This kind of coarse hemp was not comfortable to wear, but it was durable and wear-resistant, very suitable for Pioneers who had to face danger at every moment.

Whether in the past or now.

“So it really is you.”

Even though he had long since prepared himself mentally—or rather, this was the very scene he had wanted to see—Theodore still could not help but sigh.

“The Pioneers’ strongest enemies are also a group of Pioneers. How is that not... ironic?”

“Extinguish... the candle... Theodore.”

In the shadows, the figure at the head swayed and repeated, “Otherwise... die...”

Theodore froze. He had not expected the other party to be able to call out his name.

But when his gaze swept over him, realization dawned.

“So... it was you...”

That was a face more familiar to Theodore than any of the others.

The previous President.

The previous President who had supposedly died suddenly.

Everyone had thought he was dead, that he had died during one reckless expedition.

But now, he had appeared again, as an enemy.

“Even someone like you was bewitched by the Goddess of Night and stood on the opposite side from Annabawei? Teacher.”

Theodore’s expression was sorrowful.

“Extinguish... the candle... Theodore.”

“Listen to what you’re saying, Teacher. You used to be the most radical faction among the Pioneers. In almost every Pioneer operation, you charged at the very front. Would the old you ever have imagined that one day, you would say something like this?”

“Extinguishing light... is... the will of the great Goddess... and also the only... path.”

“You clearly hated the Goddess most of all. You once hung a portrait of the Goddess on the wall of this very office. Although it didn’t look anything like the Goddess’s true appearance that I later saw with my own eyes, you always treated her as the Goddess, then threw darts at her every day. Do you remember?”

“You are not allowed... to blaspheme the great Goddess...”

The old man, whose body was crawling with maggots, gradually turned hideous. There was no longer any trace of the gentleness Theodore remembered.

“Extinguish the light, Theodore! Otherwise... die!”

“It seems conversation is useless. And I suppose I’m probably going to die too.”

Theodore did not retreat in the slightest. He turned around and pulled his own sword from the wall behind him.

It was a very fine sword.

Its base was refined steel, supplemented by magical materials. Attribute-amplifying magic stones were embedded in the hilt, making the entire sword look exceptionally gorgeous.

Of course, this was not a product of the current era either. It belonged to that age when sunlight shone everywhere, and people could enjoy light as they pleased.

Steel, magic, splendid decorations. Once upon a time, this place had also been incomparably prosperous. Everyone could smile freely under the sun. Everyone had the right to work at sunrise and rest at sunset.

Everyone could eat their fill, and the food was not the kind of mud cake that could barely be digested or those awful unripe potatoes.

It was bread. Vegetables. Delicious meat.

Only, throughout the long darkness, all those beautiful things had quickly declined until they stood on the brink of destruction.

So... he was going to take all of it back.

This sword, which had once bathed in light, naturally had to be used to cut open the darkness.

Theodore remembered that when the former President—that old man—had solemnly handed this sword to him, those were the words he had spoken.

“Teacher, I remember everything you said.”

“Yes, I will die. Many people will die tonight...”

“But not now.”

“The candle will go out eventually... but not now either!”

Theodore pointed his sword at the night and the shadows.

“Come! Lapdogs of the Goddess! Come try to destroy us! Annabawei did not submit during the long darkness, and now... it will never submit either!”

The candle flame leapt, stretching Theodore’s shadow long, making him look like a giant...

A fearless giant!

“...Ridiculous.”

But what answered him was only a faint, almost imperceptible sigh.

Boom!

The roar and explosion filled the entire room in an instant.

The one who moved first was naturally that old man.

Theodore’s vision blurred. The other party almost flickered across the distance of several meters in a single instant and closed in on him. The floor beneath his feet shattered under that enormous force, and the entire small building began to tremble violently.

The attack came.

Those gentle hands that had once loved to messily rub his head, turning his once thick hair into a chicken’s nest, had now mutated into hideous sharp claws.

The claws tore through the air, rushing straight toward Theodore’s face amid an ear-piercing shriek.

Theodore’s pupils contracted sharply.

As the “disciple” whom that old man had personally brought from a “trainee” into a true Pioneer, how could he not know how powerful this teacher of his was?

Ten years ago, this old man had once “suppressed” him with one hand again and again. No matter how hard he struggled, he could not resist.

Even in their final exchange before he disappeared, Theodore had never {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} won.

That was how strong he was.

The strongest Pioneer from ten years ago, titled Red Wolf, identity code 02878... If Marcie were here, she would definitely be so excited she would jump up again.

He was too famous.

He had once pushed the Pioneer node forward by two thousand meters through his strength alone!

Several times farther than Bear King!

“But that was ten years ago!”

Theodore was forced back by the attack, and the shadow behind him was instantly scattered by chaotic radiance. Yet he still showed no fear. Instead, he gripped his sword in one hand, shielded the candle with the other, and slashed horizontally!

Clang!

Sparks sprayed, adding to the force of the light. That powerful strength cut through the foul, bloody wind, and also made that crazed and hideous face show a flash of astonishment.

Sword against claw, and single-handed besides.

Theodore had actually seized the upper hand.

“I haven’t only been working overtime, drinking tea, and losing hair these past ten years, you old bastard!”

The sword trembled, forcing Red Wolf back. Theodore pressed forward, then thrust out one elbow with lightning speed.

Boom!

This time, what boomed was a deep thunderclap!

His elbow was faster than his sword, and even stronger.

Red Wolf had no time to resist. He was directly sent flying backward, knocking down several figures along the way until he smashed through the wall and vanished from Theodore’s sight.

“Do you understand the pain of losing hair not only from overtime... but from working out too...?”

Theodore exhaled deeply.

Vaguely, he seemed to see another strand of hair fall, like a withered leaf in autumn.

The Gobi had already completely turned into a desert.

And now, it seemed even the desert was expanding.

Painful. Truly painful.

“Fortunately, this pain is worth it.”

If losing hair could save Annabawei, then he was willing to become bald right this instant.

Unfortunately, right now, he did not even have time to quietly lose hair.

Theodore raised his eyes.

He had temporarily repelled the strongest Pioneer from ten years ago, but the enemy seemed to have no intention of giving him any room to relax.

In the shadows, several more people stepped out.

Their mad eyes stared straight at Theodore, while their mouths were still murmuring things like “extinguish the light.” Aside from those bizarre limbs, even standing made them sway unsteadily, as if they posed no threat at all.

But Theodore only felt the pressure grow heavier.

Those who had come to extinguish the light were almost all Pioneers. Former Pioneers. During this century, for some unknown reason, they had fallen into becoming the mad Goddess’s lapdogs, but their strength had not weakened with the passage of time.

He had completely confirmed that during his exchange with his teacher just now.

Perhaps this was the “grace” that Goddess had bestowed upon them.

But she herself had clearly already become like that, bleeding upon her divine throne, bleeding for hundreds of years. One could imagine the pain she had endured during that time... and yet that Goddess still wanted to snuff out every light in this world.

Theodore actually could not quite understand it. Even if the Goddess had gone mad, where had this hatred come from?

Did she really have to force the children she had once sheltered into such a desperate situation?

“Forget it. I won’t think about it. My habitual problem of thinking too much is not a good thing right now. Theresa... and Mr. Campbell’s side should help me find the answer.”

There was no time to think.

The terrifying attack came again.

And this time, it was not as “honorable” as when the old man had attacked just now.

Theodore’s heart stopped for an instant. Several auras crushed toward him together...

The remaining evil believers had actually all attacked at once!

“Damn it!”

Theodore gritted his teeth. Unable to care about anything else, he shielded the candle with one hand, swung the longsword with the other, and slashed with all his strength!

A sword mark swept past.

The two evil believers at the very front frowned. They instinctively looked down at themselves, yet did not see a single wound.

That sword had not been aimed at them.

While they were still thinking, the entire small headquarters building shook with a rumble. The ceiling, floor, and walls all shattered at an extremely rapid speed, and a large amount of stone, wrapped in dust, scattered in every direction.

This small Pioneer headquarters building had originally been a shoddy project built to save costs. During Theodore’s exchange with the old man just now, it had already been on the verge of collapse. After being struck by Theodore’s slash...

Of course it collapsed directly.

Everything familiar turned to dust before his eyes, but Theodore did not have the slightest time for sentimentality. His figure flashed, and he used this chance to retreat at high speed.

He was not foolish enough to fight these people head-on.

Choosing such a small building to meet the enemy had been done with the idea of relying on the terrain to delay them a little from the very beginning.

Even if that was a place he knew well.

Even if it could only delay them by a few short seconds.

Boom!

Like a mountain of stone splitting apart.

The collapsed building exploded directly, and a figure suddenly shot out from within.

The old man covered in maggots did not look like someone whose flesh had rotted away at all. In this state, he was actually the first to rush out, attacking Theodore with his sharp claws once more.

The time he had delayed was far shorter than Theodore had imagined.

But this time, he was much calmer.

He continued retreating with the candle, and even the candle flame barely swayed.

The old man had moved later yet arrived first. Under the reinforcement of madness and fury, his attacks had already surpassed what he had been ten years ago. Any single Pioneer facing him alone would have felt his courage freeze.

But Theodore did not feel his courage freeze at all.

Because he was not alone.