Chapter 1138: 125. Madness

“It’s over.”

Sunlight spilled down, making Muen’s golden hair look especially dazzling.

With a flourish of his blade, he put Elizabeth away.

No matter how long the process had been, no matter how difficult the road had been to walk, this story of so many people resisting without surrender would, in the end, come to its curtain call.

Just like now.

There was no eternal night in this world, nor any pain that would continue forever.

Struggle with all one’s strength, fight through hardship, and what awaited would naturally be a beautiful future.

“Do you still want to fight? Your wounds should be quite serious by now,” Muen said.

Not far away, the knight was half-kneeling on the ground. His armor had already become tattered and broken, blood continuously flowing from the gashes cut across it.

After a fierce battle.

The final victor was naturally Muen.

But since the enemy was the former First Pioneer, as well as the brave man who had once almost saved this land of Annabawei, Muen also had to admit that this former hero named Alan truly was strong.

So strong, in fact, that it was somewhat unreasonable. In a place as barren as Annabawei, where even birds refused to shit... no, wrong, where there was not even a single bird at all, it really was hard to imagine that such an unparalleled brute of a man could be born.

No wonder he had nearly killed the Goddess of Night back then and turned the tide by force.

Of course, this also proved from the side that Annabawei several hundred years ago had indeed once prospered. Back then, it should not have been like now, where even the magic system and martial system had been lost, and what people relied on most were only the experiences they had groped their way toward through the endless black night.

But no matter how one put it, even if Alan was very strong, strong enough to stand shoulder to shoulder with the First Demon General Zagu of back then, he was still a thin line below the current Muen.

After all, Muen was also worlds apart from the version of himself who had once faced Demon General Zagu.

After the reshaping he had gone through during the Saint Blancfazesiya incident, leaving aside the changes in his essence for now, in terms of pure martial realm alone, his realm had already reached the late stage of the fifth rank, only one step away from the peak.

Together with the support of all his various methods, even if he could not use Time Stagnation, Muen was confident that he absolutely would not lose to anyone below a Crowned One.

“So, Mr. Alan, do you have any last words?”

Muen sighed, restrained that small bit of pride rising in his heart, and spoke to the knight.

He did not cling to sunlight the way Annabawei did, and so he did not go enjoy this light that had broken through the black night. Compared with that, Alan before him interested him more.

Unfortunately, he should be dying soon.

Muen saw that the evil believers around them had all stopped moving. Some of their bodies were even rotting and collapsing at an extremely fast speed. The reason they had been able to live until now might have been because the Goddess’s power had sustained them. And now that the Goddess had already been defeated, they naturally also welcomed their own end.

“...No.”

Perhaps because the Goddess was now completely stepping into death, Alan’s consciousness had become much clearer again.

“I have no last words.”

“Looks like you really hate me.”

Muen could sense the gaze beneath that visor. Without the madness, the emotions within it became even clearer. So apart from the fear that had puzzled Muen before, he also felt an extremely intense resentment.

“You killed the Goddess.”

“If the Goddess of Night did not die, how would light come to this place? You are a native here. You should understand better than I do what would happen to the people here if things went on like this.”

“...”

Alan fell silent.

Chaotic memories wove together in his mind, but there were only some things that remained exceptionally clear even when his consciousness had been at its blurriest.

Yes. If the Goddess of Night did not die, the people of Annabawei would sooner or later be completely destroyed by the endless black night and the scarce sunlight.

But...

But...

Then why, four hundred years ago, had he ultimately chosen to give up?

And what exactly had he seen at the end of the fog?

He could not remember... How strange. Why were his memories missing precisely around these most important things?

“Why tangle yourself up like this? As a former hero, isn’t it good to watch Annabawei be saved?”

Muen shook his head. He knew the other party had no intention of saying much to him, and so there was no need for him to press his warm face against a cold backside either. After letting out that sigh of emotion, he turned and prepared to leave.

And then, at that moment, Alan suddenly spoke again.

He sounded as if he were lamenting, and also as if he were talking to himself.

“You’re wrong... Annabawei has not been saved at all.”

“...”

Muen did not look back, nor did he say anything else. He only treated it as the former hero refusing to admit defeat, then began walking again, heading toward Marcie, stepping into the boundless light.

“Huh? Strange. Annabawei has clearly already seen the light... Why, why would I say that?” Alan clutched his head, still muttering to himself.

...

...

“We won! We won! We won!”

Marcie’s eyes were brimming with hot tears. Under the shine of warm sunlight, the pain from the wounds on her body seemed to vanish all at once. She directly hugged Landa beside her, and the two little girls, both so injured they could not even stand, rolled around on the ground like they had gone mad.

She had succeeded. A little Trainee Pioneer like her had, in the end, personally dealt with the Goddess and allowed all of Annabawei to see the sun again... The bold words she had once declared had become reality. How could Marcie possibly not be excited?

Landa was the same. She had personally avenged the person she loved, and had ensured that his sacrifice had not been in vain. The young girl’s love, in a sense, had also reached its conclusion.

“I’m going to share this joy with Lord Theresa.” Landa wiped away her tears. “I don’t know if he can still see it now.”

“Mm-hm, hurry and go!”

Landa glanced to the side. Under that teasing gaze, her small face suddenly reddened. She hurriedly got up in a panic, accidentally tugged at her wounds again, and grimaced from the pain.

All she could do was hop away quickly on one foot, looking extremely adorable.

Only Marcie remained lying where she was. Suddenly, she propped up her head with one small hand and struck an extremely arrogant pose.

“What are you doing?”

A voice even gentler than the sunlight rang out. Muen leaned over and studied Marcie as she was now. “Setting your sights on becoming a courtesan who seduces men at such a young age? What a pity. Your looks are a bit lacking, and that figure of yours is barren...”

“Pah!”

Marcie looked down at him through her nostrils. “How are you talking to me? Is that the tone you should be using with me? Insolent! Don’t you know who stands before you right now?”

“Oh?”

Muen pretended to be terrified. “This humble one has only just arrived and does not quite understand the situation. Might I ask who you are...”

“Hmph, hmph. Seeing as your attitude isn’t bad, this young lady will reluctantly tell you.”

Marcie cleared her throat. “Standing before you at this moment is the great Pioneer who, relying on outstanding skill, excellent reactions, and powerful mental fortitude, played an incomparably crucial role in this Goddess subjugation battle, freed all of Annabawei from the Goddess’s persecution forever, and brought light back after darkness!

“The hero—Marcie herself!”

“Waaah—” Muen clapped. “So impressive.”

“If you know how impressive I am, then hurry up and give me a hand!” Marcie’s arrogant expression suddenly changed, her little face practically scrunching together. “And help me call a doctor. Can’t you see I’m about to die from the pain?”

“I thought you were going to keep up the act forever.” Muen laughed. “Keep pretending a little longer. I don’t mind.”

“Hurry up! Do you want the hero who just saved Annabawei to die in such a humiliating way?” Marcie’s brows shot up, and she snorted coldly. “When that happens, you’ll be Annabawei’s greatest sinner, the kind everyone curses behind your back!”

“...”

This girl really did get so arrogant she lost all sense of direction at times like this...

But forget it. After all, she really had completed something this important. Even Muen himself had never imagined beforehand that Marcie would be able to deal with the Goddess personally. Letting her act arrogant for a while was no great issue.

Muen reached out, paused for a moment... and then, urged on by Marcie, grabbed that small hand.

It felt icy cold, slick with blood.

“Looks like it was rough.”

“Of course. I almost died several times. Luckily, there was everyone, and also...” Marcie squirmed awkwardly. “You. Thanks.”

“Oh? To receive gratitude from the great hero herself, this humble one is truly fortunate across three lifetimes. This is a healing scroll. Take it and recover quickly.”

Muen tossed Marcie a magic scroll meant for healing. The latter’s eyes immediately widened, and she turned the magic scroll over and over as if she had seen some peerless treasure. “Th-this-this... You actually have something like this? Why didn’t you take it out earlier?”

“I don’t have many of these, and taking them out would not have changed the overall situation. Instead, it would have caused unnecessary suspicion and fighting.”

Muen shook his head. Ever since he had become able to use black flames to recover from his own injuries, he basically rarely carried recovery scrolls anymore. Add to that the fact that the previous war had consumed far too much, and the one he was taking out now was still a defective product from before. It was powerless against injuries that were too severe.

“Oh.” Marcie nodded. She still had a clear enough head about this and did not keep pestering him.

After handing Marcie the instructions for using the scroll, Muen crossed past her and arrived before the Goddess of Night.

The Goddess of Night had not died yet. Even though that sacred artifact had been stabbed deeper into her flesh by Marcie, it still could not directly take her life. More than anything, it had sealed her power.

But she was indeed growing weaker and weaker. It was very obvious that she was about to die.

Taking advantage of this time, Muen needed to hurry and confirm a few questions.

After all, there were still many unresolved doubts in his mind... For example, this was already the grand finale, so why had Miss Dragon still not come out to show herself? Was her target not this Goddess of Night?

Judging from the signs now, the source of the evil believers here was very clearly this Goddess of Night.

“Good afternoon, Goddess of Night. The sunlight is truly warm right now.”

Muen bowed respectfully toward the Goddess upon the divine throne and offered a friendly greeting.

No matter what the Goddess had done during this period of time, she had once protected all of Annabawei. She was worthy of respect.

“Out... sider...”

Beneath pale strands of hair, those distinct black-and-red eyes moved slightly and looked toward Muen.

Those eyes were filled with sorrow and the will to die, as well as some madness and anger that had still not faded even now.

Muen’s brows furrowed slightly. He could feel that the madness and anger at this moment were all directed at him, which made him somewhat uncomfortable.

“Goddess of Night, may I ask you a few questions?” Muen temporarily endured it. After all, this was the most important moment of his somewhat inexplicable journey through Annabawei.

“...”

The Goddess did not answer.

“Do you know Tars?”

“...”

The Goddess still did not answer, but her expression clearly changed slightly.

“Looks like you do know... Then I didn’t come to the wrong place.” Muen let out a breath. If the Goddess of Night had shown at this point that she did not know Tars, that would have been a real headache.

Thankfully, she was able to know of that city destroyed eight hundred years ago... It seemed she truly was one of the few people who had escaped from Tars.

“I will not ask about Tars for the time being. That is not something I can casually understand. So... can you tell me the truth about this Annabawei? About the Pollution here, the Fog Wall covering this place... and everything else.”

“...”

The Goddess still did not speak. She simply stared tightly at Muen with those eyes full of mad resentment, as if she wanted to swallow him alive.

“Looks like... communication is impossible?”

Muen sighed helplessly. After thinking for a moment, he said, “In that case, I wonder if you could log out for a bit and let the other normal Goddess chat with me instead? I think she should be more willing to talk to me.”

“Heehee...”

Muen felt his request was very reasonable. After all, the Goddess had already lost now. She had no room left to go mad... Who knew that at this moment, the Goddess would suddenly laugh, and the laugh was somewhat mocking. “Normal? You actually say she... is normal?”

“What do you mean?”

“Heehee... heeheeheehee... sob...”

The Goddess laughed, jeered, but as she laughed and laughed, she began crying again.

That wrinkled, cracked, aged, and withered face of hers froze in a ridiculous expression that was both crying and laughing at once.

“You think she is normal? That thing that wants to destroy everything is normal? Heehee... Fools! All of you are fools! Whether my children... or you... all of you are fools!”

“I am not mad... I am not mad at all... The one who is mad... is the other me... The children all refuse to believe me... all betrayed me... They all betrayed me... I am not mad... heehee... I am not mad...”

It was still incoherent, with no connection between the words before and after.

Completely the self-muttering of a madwoman.

But certain information revealed in those words made Muen’s pupils shrink.

His mind began to operate at high speed. Some of the questions he had previously set aside—or rather, deliberately set aside—all tangled together at this moment like threads...

“So you had already guessed some of it long ago.” The Goddess stared fixedly at Muen, her expression growing even more mocking. “So you are the same as me. Heehee... exactly the same.”

“How are we the same? I’m not a madman.”

Muen took a deep breath and smiled coldly.

“Crying one moment and laughing the next, and you still say you aren’t mad? That’s what all mental patients say.”

“Heehee...”

The Goddess’s crying and laughter both suddenly stopped. Only a pale sound squeezed out from her throat.

Muen did not know whether it was his imagination, but at this moment, the mad anger in her eyes was disappearing little by little. Replacing it... was a kind of pity.

Pity from the depths of her bones, from the depths of her soul, from the bottom of her heart.

The Goddess gazed at Muen with pity, as if she were looking at someone who suffered from the same illness.

For some reason, this gaze made Muen far more uncomfortable and irritated than the madness and resentment from before.

“What exactly are you trying to say?” he asked in a low voice.

“Heehee... You are already... deliberately ignoring it anyway... So why... waste more time... asking me these things?”

“In any case... you are about to know very soon... aren’t you?”

“Look... at your hand.”

My hand?

Muen lowered his head blankly.

And then... it was as if he had fallen into an ice cellar.

Because upon that palm, terrifying Pollution was attached.