Chapter 1141: 128. Passing By

“So, the Pollution... what exactly is going on with this Pollution? Why do the evil believers have outward changes in their bodies, while the people of Annabawei show no abnormalities at all from the outside? Even... their consciousness shows no signs of corrosion?”

Muen did not look at Marcie. Or perhaps he somewhat did not dare to look. His gaze still remained on the Goddess as he opened his mouth and asked.

“Pollution? This Pollution is naturally something they were born with,” the Goddess of Night said. “As for the corrosion of consciousness... we have not yet felt corrosion of consciousness from an Evil God, but I... have always been preparing for it.”

She raised her hand, and there was a sheet of night in her palm.

Night was her title, and also her ability. For hundreds of years, her night had always been good at only one thing.

Protection and disguise.

“Impossible.”

Muen said decisively, “Pollution cannot be something someone is born with. Only Evil Gods can bestow Pollution. How could it be innate...”

“The target of Pollution bestowed by an Evil God is not only individuals... but also races, is it not?”

“...”

“It is like planting a poisonous seed at the source. Then the entire river will become highly toxic. Some of the Evil Gods’ vile methods are beyond your imagination.” The Goddess of Night laughed self-mockingly. Those methods, she had felt very deeply.

“As for changes in form... of course, only when you realize you have been Polluted will the Pollution truly manifest, will it not? This is one of the mechanisms by which Pollution spreads. Just like the more easily a contagious disease spreads, the less obvious its symptoms often are. But Pollution is different from a contagious disease. Once it erupts...”

“All Polluted existences... will become the property of the Evil God.”

Muen murmured, taking over the Goddess of Night’s words.

In this aspect, he also understood very well.

Pollution. Corrosion. Control.

The three usual tricks of Evil Gods.

Although there were slight differences and branches in the process, and in some details the Evil Gods had even played out tricks like flowers, overall, no matter how many changes there were, they did not depart from the source.

They were all methods Evil Gods used to gnaw away at this world.

Since it was gradual gnawing, it could not be achieved in one step. Having coveted this world from beyond it for more than a thousand years, most Evil Gods were very patient in these matters.

They would quietly wait for that moment of eruption, like a pot of old wine—the longer it aged, the richer and more mellow it became.

“So... those evil believers...”

“Correct. They all gradually became aware of their own Pollution while exploring the Fog Wall, and also became aware of Annabawei’s situation. That is why they came to my side. I helped them stabilize their Pollution, and they... helped me clear away Annabawei’s light.”

The Goddess of Night tapped her head. “Unfortunately, the Evil God’s consciousness had not yet affected them, but under the influence of the other me, they had already gone almost completely mad.”

Madness, confusion—the evil believers wandered across this barren land.

Sometimes lucid, sometimes chaotic.

But no matter what, they had never forgotten their duty.

Just as they had not forgotten it before they became evil believers.

“I see.”

Muen’s voice was somewhat hoarse. He had not expected that even after things had reached this point, these simple words would still be so heavy.

Behind this so-called taboo of “there must be no light at night” was such a laughable reason.

It was simply because they were afraid that light in the night would be too conspicuous and would attract Miss Dragon, who might come wandering around outside at some unknown time. So it was directly forbidden.

Was it laughable?

It was laughable.

Because Muen knew very clearly that with just a little candlelight or firelight at night, it was fundamentally impossible to attract the ability of an existence outside Annabawei. What had truly blocked Miss Dragon for hundreds of years was the displacement of time.

Once the displacement of time was corrected, then even if Annabawei hid itself deeper, it would certainly be discovered. Muen believed Miss Dragon had that ability.

It was only a question of speed.

But such a laughable thing... Muen could not laugh no matter what.

Because this fear of danger everywhere, this panic at the slightest sound of wind and grass... was the last method these pitiful people here had, in their confused ignorance, to resist a natural disaster.

The Goddess of Night had once personally seen the scene of everything being destroyed.

Eight hundred years ago, the giant dragon who had not yet been called a natural disaster by people destroyed the ancient city called Tars. And the Goddess of Night... was a survivor from that time.

That wound was too deep. So deep that even after eight hundred years, it had not healed in the slightest.

“Why didn’t you tell the people here about this?” Muen asked. “Enduring the black night together would still be better than splitting apart and fighting each other.”

“...”

After a moment of silence, the Goddess of Night sighed. “I... did say it.”

“What?”

“When the first black night covered everything, I said it. But as the black night became longer and longer, as the disasters brought by the black night began spreading through Annabawei, while that threat from the outside still never appeared... the Goddess became a madwoman.”

The Goddess of Night said softly,

“At that time, I had not yet split mentally.”

“...”

Muen’s heart tightened, and he did not know what to say.

“Please do not misunderstand. I do not blame them. There was nothing wrong with their actions. Faced with a threat close at hand and a threat whose arrival time was unknown, making that kind of choice was also within reason.

“They were not wrong. I was not wrong either. What was wrong was only this world. For pitiful people like us... it is too cruel.”

So cruel that...

Even enjoying light was a curse.

Tears mixed with blood, and the Goddess of Night murmured in a low voice, “The sky is bright again.”

Yes, the sky was bright.

Muen had also noticed it.

The light of day once again returned to clarity. The sunlight once again became bright.

It was as though that massive shadow from the outside world had already disappeared.

In the distance, people who did not know the truth had already begun cheering. They thought this might only have been an accident—an unknown terrifying existence had been attracted by the joy here and had curiously glanced inside.

After looking, that existence left... It was that simple.

Humans always imagined a reasonable explanation for situations they could not understand.

For example, the sudden descent of the black night four hundred years ago. After the initial endurance, they believed that the Goddess of Night had gone mad and wanted to completely destroy Annabawei.

In fact, the Goddess of Night did indeed go mad later... but everything she did truly had only been for complete protection.

Another example was now.

Most people were comforting themselves that the unknown terrifying existence would not have any thoughts of doing anything to Annabawei.

Of course, reality could not possibly be like that.

Miss Dragon had pursued those “remnants” for a full eight hundred years. How could she possibly retreat of her own accord at a time like this?

She had come precisely for this...

To completely destroy this place.

The Dragon of Death and Doom, known as a natural disaster, never showed mercy.

Muen raised his eyes, and sure enough, he saw a fiery-red figure before him.

Familiar, and dazzling.

Her bright red hair was still casually loose, her long black dress was covered with thorn-like decorative patterns, and her white jade feet stepped on the ground soaked in blood, noble yet bewitching.

Miss Dragon stood there, with her back to Muen and facing the Goddess of Night. The breeze could not move the hem of her dress. She seemed to stand independent from the world.

“Long time no see.”

But at this moment, in her words, there was a gentleness beyond Muen’s expectations.

The giant dragon crowned with the name of natural disaster lowered her head and looked at the Goddess of Night, as though looking at a friend she had not seen for a long time.

“Andrie, you’ve grown up.”

“I’ve grown old, Dragon Sister.”

The Goddess of Night smiled faintly. Her old face, full of wrinkles, trembled along with it, as though even the fate of destruction had been thrown to the back of her mind. Her tone was also incomparably intimate.

“But you, Sister... have grown up. Unfortunately... you are not as... cute as you were back then.”

Cute... Muen was somewhat confused. Who could call a dignified natural disaster cute?

And yet the Goddess of Night had said exactly that. The key point was that Hamreign did not deny it either.

“Have these years been good to you?”

“No. I have lived in terror every day, unable to rest. I clearly knew this day would come eventually, but when this day truly arrived... I was still somewhat afraid.”

The Goddess of Night sighed softly. “Even though I am already mad now.”

“So you still want to make the same choice as back then?”

The golden dragon pupil watched the dying old woman on the divine throne. Perhaps because it was taking her current weakness into consideration, even the golden light radiating from the dragon pupil had dimmed slightly.

“Do I have a choice? Back then, we only wanted to live. But who could come save us?” The Goddess of Night cried and laughed at the same time. “Dragon Sister, will you come save us?”

“You cannot live...” Hamreign said mercilessly. “I do not allow you to live, and I do not allow you to be saved.”

“Yes... I should have known eight hundred years ago... We cannot live. We were born... as sinners.”

The Goddess of Night wiped her tears. Several hundred years had passed, and the discussion of guilt and innocence had long since reached its final conclusion. Saying anything more was completely meaningless. No one would pity existences like them, who were born only to be abandoned.

“Come, kill me.”

The Goddess of Night spoke. The cracks on her body spread once again. In the deep darkness, deformed flesh and blood were constantly writhing.

She was not the source of the Pollution.

She was also the same as everyone in Annabawei.

A victim.

“Come, Dragon Sister. Just like you once did, kill us. Kill me too, and let this me, who has suffered in the black night for hundreds of years, be completely freed... No!!!”

The Goddess of Night’s words suddenly changed.

Her twisted face began to shift. Reason and composure faded away, anger and madness surfaced... but they only surfaced for an instant. When her muddled gaze met the golden dragon pupil, all of it turned into pleading.

“Dragon Sister... don’t... please... don’t... You can kill me... but my children... I beg you... they... they really are innocent.”

“Innocent?”

Hamreign said coldly, “How can vermin that endanger the world be called innocent?”

“They haven’t done anything! I will... keep them locked here forever. I will not let them... do anything bad. They absolutely will not do anything bad either...”

The Goddess of Night’s body trembled, tears streaming down her face. That mad yet still stubborn personality begged continuously. “Please... Dragon Sister... show mercy... They... they are already pitiful enough.”

“Impossible.”

What Hamreign breathed out softly was still cold and merciless.

“They must die.”

“Must... must?”

“Must. Just like eight hundred years ago.”

“You evil dragon!”

The Goddess of Night suddenly roared madly, “Executioner! Butcher! Cold-blooded creature! Why can’t you be tolerant... just a little tolerant? Now, and Tars eight hundred years ago too... It was clearly Tars that took you in, yet you destroyed Tars... You ungrateful bastard!

“You are the evil one! Evil dragon! You are the evil one!”

“...”

This time, Hamreign did not respond.

Or rather, she disdained to respond.

Over the past thousand years, she had killed so many people. Among them, countless had been just like Andrie at this moment—some begged, some cursed, some pleaded humbly for pity, some acted as if they were mad.

If she had to pay attention to every single one, would she not be exhausted to death?

She had long since stopped caring about such things.

A proud dragon would not care what kind of mental activity the ants on the ground had when they were destroyed.

She was only carrying out her duty.

“Too slow.”

Hamreign suddenly turned her head and looked at Muen. “You should have sent me guidance earlier.”

“Sent... guidance?”

Muen, whose heart was still complicated, had not yet returned to himself and was somewhat dazed. “What guidance?”

“What do you think I threw you in here first for? There is a barrier outside specifically aimed at me. Although it cannot stop me, it confuses my sense of direction. I threw you in here so you could hurry up and send me a location guide... Do you know I wandered outside for several days?”

“...”

So that was how it was.

“But you... didn’t say anything either. When I woke up, I was already here, completely blind to everything.” Muen smiled bitterly in helplessness.

This kind of accidental mistake—was it luck, or misfortune?

In the end, he had still completed the task Miss Dragon had given him.

Only in a way that even he himself had not imagined.

“No perception at all!”

Miss Dragon passed by Muen, and a sharp cold wind brushed across Muen’s cheek. “Forget it. The fact that I could find this place means you have indeed already given a great deal. You worked hard. Leave the rest to me.”

“...”

Muen opened his mouth, but not a single sound came out.