Chapter 1124: 111. Lamplight

Theodore retreated at full speed.

The old man pursued at full speed.

Even with countless grains of sand and stone blocking the way, with wood splinters flying everywhere, the distance between them was shrinking at an extremely rapid pace.

Under Theodore’s protection, the candle flame swayed, still unable to illuminate too far.

And the enemies who had just been delayed had all come back to themselves as well, pouncing over like beasts that had lost all reason.

Enemies were everywhere, on every side. Theodore had fallen into the encirclement alone, with no escape.

Yet within this desperate situation, Theodore did not reveal even the slightest trace of despair. His pupils reflected those sharp claws growing larger and larger, and as he felt the breath of death gradually drawing near, the corners of his mouth... curved up slightly.

“I am not alone.”

“I am saving Annabawei.”

“How could something like that ever be done alone?”

...A fierce wind tore through the encirclement.

A broad-backed, bear-waisted figure suddenly jumped out from the ambush point where she had long been waiting. First, she knocked an utterly unprepared evil believer flying with one punch. Then, immediately afterward, she stomped hard and charged a few steps forward, rushing toward the old man.

The ground she stepped on split apart inch by inch!

“Hey, old bastard. Did you forget about us?”

Her tone was incomparably vulgar, yet that voice was as pleasant as a lark’s.

Her adorable twin ponytails scattered in the night wind, making the imagination wander endlessly. Her slender, graceful ten fingers clenched into fists, with the rare smooth whiteness found in Annabawei, just like two cute white buns.

But when those white buns smashed into the evil believer’s body, they had not the slightest softness to them... instead, they came down like iron hammers. That utterly unprepared evil believer’s body bent straight over and was smashed into the wall so hard he could not be pried out.

Because above those white buns... were thick arms, bulging blue veins pulsing like little snakes, and... swelling pectoral muscles!

The Barbie built like a diamond—no, perhaps she should be called the Pioneer known as Queen—finally rushed onto the front battlefield. Without another word, she punched the old man in the side.

The bones growing randomly out of his limbs audibly shattered.

The old man’s reaction could not be called slow. As though he had no sense of pain at all, the instant he was attacked, his sharp claws stabbed out.

However, they were blocked.

Another Pioneer known as City Wall also charged out from the side, standing in front of those sharp claws and stopping them from advancing another inch.

He clasped his hands together. The sharp claws stabbed into his palms, and a bit of blood fell to the ground, yet he acted as if he did not feel it at all.

“Hmph. This little bit of strength is not even half as fierce as my wife.” City Wall sneered. Even though his palms had been pierced through by those sharp claws, his face was full of disdain.

“Oh my, don’t say that. How embarrassing.”

The Barbie built like a diamond pulled in her abdomen, twisted her waist, and threw a punch, all in one smooth motion. As her fist swept past, it released a sonic boom that made one’s hair stand on end.

And yet her own face was still bashful.

The old man was sent flying again.

This time, he looked far more miserable than before.

The sudden change made even these evil believers with broken minds subconsciously stop in place, frozen where they stood.

They had sensed a threat.

“Don’t worry. There is still time tonight. A very, very long time. We can take our time playing.”

Theodore crouched down, dripped candle wax onto the ground, then planted the candle firmly in place.

And when he rose, many figures had already stepped from the night into the light.

These were Pioneers.

True Pioneers.

Pioneers who had not been eroded by the Goddess, who fought for Annabawei.

And that was not all.

As Theodore placed the candle in the open ground and let that light spread, one light after another began to rise in succession, forcing the darkness to retreat again and again.

Inside houses, on the streets, in open spaces.

Those who had not gone out on Pioneer work took out the ancestral candles stored in their homes and lit them without the slightest hesitation.

If they had no candles, then oil lamps.

If they did not even have oil lamps, then they took out the dry grass they had harvested some time ago and set it all alight.

If the dry grass was not enough, then they lit even more things.

Cloth, wooden tables, wooden chairs—everything left behind from more than four hundred years ago that could be lit was lit.

And so, flame after flame rose. Light after light bloomed.

Those cold shadows were actually driven away for the moment, leaving only the pupils of the gathered evil believers’ eyes, where the vicious aura grew even more terrifying.

Bang!

The old man, who had just struggled up from the ground, staggered again and was knocked down in a wretched state.

He raised his head and discovered that the one who had attacked him was not a Pioneer, but an ordinary person in ragged clothes.

That person was trembling, his legs shaking, yet he still raised the stone in his hand and smashed it fiercely toward the old man’s head.

“Do... do you know the consequences of doing this?”

The old man’s limbs and head were already visibly deformed, yet he seemed not to feel even the slightest pain. He only watched these people whom he had once protected as well, while the madness and rage in his eyes surged more and more violently.

“So what if we do?”

More and more ordinary people approached, holding all sorts of strange “weapons” in their hands. That person seemed to gain courage from it too, and, mustering his nerve, said,

“Come on! You... you evil traitors! Fallen ones! Lapdogs of the Goddess! We absolutely won’t admit defeat!”

“That’s right! We absolutely won’t admit defeat!”

“Annabawei will not perish!”

“Long live the light!”

“Long live the light!”

The anger suppressed by several hundred years of darkness erupted like a volcano, staining the entire night in the blink of an eye.

And so, more evil believers appeared.

They came with the night, with the Goddess’s gaze, determined to extinguish this flame and this light.

Their numbers had not been small to begin with. Drawn by this light, their numbers nearly multiplied several times over, and for a time, they instead surrounded the Pioneers here.

But no one was afraid.

Whether the Pioneers, or those powerless ordinary people who understood that lighting a fire was almost equal to death.

None of them were afraid. They had already decided to burn everything they had and wager it all on a future no one knew.

“Come on, the more the better. Pour all of the Goddess’s anger out here.”

Theodore gripped his longsword again. Those Pioneers stood beside him.

Behind them was Rabuya City, symbolizing freedom and adventure, and the people of the city who had stepped forward of their own accord.

And behind everyone was light, blooming in Annabawei’s night for the first time in four hundred years.

They were weak. They were fragile. They faced despair...

But they had never admitted defeat.

It had been that way four hundred years ago, and now... it was still the same.

Tonight, the lamplight was like a dragon.

...

...

“Hiss... So gloomy. So scary.”

Inside the mist, Marcie followed closely behind Muen. Even though she knew very well that the person before her was immensely strong, she still could not help feeling frightened at this moment.

The cold was one part of it.

More importantly, from the moment she had entered the mist of this valley, there had always been some inexplicable unease inside her heart.

She did not understand where that unease came from, but she always felt... extremely uncomfortable.

“Damn it, you were right. I should have put on another layer before coming in.”

Even Theresa, beside her, could not help sneezing. Marcie, at least, had seriously put on two layers. This fellow’s upper body was basically bare, and according to him... only this way could the Goddess feel his manly aura.

What the hell kind of manly aura? From the Goddess’s perspective, she would only think this guy was a turnoff.

Muen silently complained, then raised his hand and gestured.

“Rest for a bit.”

For this operation, he and Marcie were moving together with Bear King Theresa and his little follower. In any case, they could be counted as people he was relatively familiar with. As for the others... although they had agreed at first that it would be best to move as a group, this mist was clearly mixed with some special power. As they walked, most of them had vanished from sight.

But that was not a major problem. The identity codes on the Pioneers that could determine their position, together with the thing Theodore had left at the Goddess’s hiding place, meant that they would not end up walking in circles or unable to find the Goddess.

Theresa kept fiddling with something that looked like a compass. Every time they advanced a certain distance, Muen could clearly feel the chill around them increasing constantly.

When it came to moving through mist, Pioneers really were professionals.

“This is really damn strange. This fog doesn’t look as thick as the fog in the Fog Wall, but its isolation ability is even stronger. It cut off the signal several times. Good thing I’m experienced, damn it.”

Theresa cursed as he complained. Clearly, even for a professional like him, moving through this fog was not easy.

“How much longer until we find the Goddess?”

“According to past experience, there should be about an hour’s journey left.”

“But there still hasn’t been any movement...”

Muen looked around. Although his death warning had not begun buzzing yet, he still faintly felt that something was wrong.

“It’s too quiet. When we were outside, we could at least detect some shadows of evil believers. Now we’ve been walking for so long, yet we haven’t even seen a ghost.”

“Ha, then it looks like Theodore’s plan succeeded and drew most of the evil believers away.”

The so-called plan was the content that had just been distributed... simple to an unreal degree.

...Lure the tiger away from the mountain.

Theodore, who stayed to guard Rabuya City, would lead a portion of the Pioneers as well as the city residents who volunteered to fight, light candles, and draw the evil believers over to slaughter them.

And while most of the evil believers were drawn away, the main Pioneer force on this side would enter the valley and carry out the mission to kill the Goddess.

Back and forth. Simple and practical.

Thinking this, Theresa was both excited and worried. The plan’s successful implementation meant that their probability of success had risen considerably.

But in that case, Theodore’s side was facing unimaginable pressure.

He did not know how long they could hold. The Goddess possessed the ability to transfer her evil believers at will through the darkness. If that side could not hold them, then this side would definitely run into major trouble later.

By the same logic, if this side could not deal with the evil believers in time, then whether it was the Pioneers left at headquarters or the residents of Rabuya City...

Theresa shook his head hard, throwing all those bad thoughts away.

Now was not the time to think about that.

“Speaking of this plan, I have one question.”

Muen looked into the deep night and suddenly asked.

“Please ask.”

“The light rising in the darkness—what exactly does it mean to that already-mad Goddess? Why would she send evil believers over to stop it even at the cost of her own safety?”