City of Sin (Yanyu Jiangnan)

Hurts So Good

A loud explosion rang out, a new hole appearing in the wall as Tiramisu poked his large head in. However, he was slightly dizzy from smashing the wall apart; his unfocused eyes made it obvious that he did not understand what was going on.

In the blink of an eye, healing spells from three clerics and two priests bathed Richard in divine light. Even if he wasn’t as tenacious as he was, this clergy could bring a dead man back to life.

Io was the first to stop, shrugging his shoulders as he took a step backwards. Waterflower looked up immediately, glaring at him. The battle priest returned her gaze with a bright smile, in answer to which her eyes froze over. Her left hand reached for the Shepherd of Eternal Rest, her awoken bloodlust not held back in the slightest.

Io’s smile did not change. He merely spread his arms open, “There isn’t anything I can do anymore! Divine spells won’t have much of an effect on him now.”

But it was at that point that he seemed to sense something, his body stiffening slightly as the smile on his lips froze. A killing intent from a small distance away caused his chest to tighten, making him feel very comfortable. Io maintained posture while turning back slowly, just in time to see Phaser standing quietly a few metres away. Her robes were covering her entire body, revealing only the scarlet eyes. The gaze was meant for a dead man walking.

Richard suddenly coughed, pulling the eyes of Waterflower and Io. He started trembling, hacking repeatedly until he finally spat out a few lumps of black blood. One could still see traces of shadowforce wandering about on the surface, quickly dissipating into the air. He seemed to regain strength in his left hand once the blood was out of him, leaning on the elven sword and slowly getting up.

Flowsand charged to Richard, looking him up and down. She glared at him after taking note of every wound, enunciating each word as she yelled, “Are. You. CRAZY?!”

The injuries may have stopped bleeding, but they had not healed yet. There were three terrifying wounds on Richard’s body, so deep that one could see fractured or even split bones. Even with excessive healing, Richard would take a few days to recover.

Shadowforce could be seen twining around the injuries, preventing it from healing quickly. The holy lustre of the divine spells had yet to disappear completely, still twinkling between his flesh and blood, but it could not dispel the black vapour completely. One would need a grade 9 divine spell to immediately remove the shadowforce in his body.

Richard flashed a relaxed smile that made it seem like these injuries were fake, “Just a nightmare creature. I’ve already destroyed it.”

Flowsand’s amber eyebrows immediately rose up, almost going vertical like Sharon’s were prone to, “Nightmare creature! Why didn’t you escape? There are hundreds of types of nightmare creatures and you can fight less than twenty of them! Do you think the Eternal Dragon will just ensure you’ll always be given something you can take care of or something? As long as you escaped, we could have destroyed it together! My timeforce is the bane of nightmare creatures!”

Richard smiled without giving her an answer, instead grabbing her hands and placing an item in his right hand on her palm, “This is for you!”

Having said that, he turned to Olar, “Help we with the cleaning here. I’ll go rest somewhere else.”

Flowsand was looking at her palm in a daze. Within it was a sparkling black diamond with a tendril of shadowforce moving back and forth within.

Image Diamond. This was something that could only be solidified from a nightmare creature with a certain amount of power. It possessed shadowforce and gravity-warping powers, making it an extremely rare spatial material. It could be used to create either spatial equipment or tools that could affect gravity. Normally, any nightmare creature that could form this should be able to take care of Richard easily. Even she, with her fighting abilities, would be no match alone.

“AN IMAGE DIAMOND?! ARE YOU A LUNATIC?!” Flowsand shouted towards Richard’s back. However, he didn’t even turn around, merely waving his hand calmly, “Isn’t it taken care of already?”

Flowsand went quiet, not knowing what to say at that moment. She could only watch on as Richard walked further and further. Just as he was about to pass by Io, the battle priest suddenly looked to the side and whispered something to him quietly. Flowsand was still staring at the image diamond in her palm and didn’t pay attention, but two of Richard’s followers did.

The words had seemed very normal, “I’m level 13 now. I’ll treat you tomorrow so you can heal more quickly.”

The corner of Richard’s lips turned up in what could be considered a smile, and he proceeded further.

Phaser had just flipped up from outside, holding Extinction in her hand. However, Richard didn’t care much for the blade; he had already turned the corner in the corridor, walking far away.

All of his followers sensed his need for solitude, electing not to follow. While Flowsand was still staring at the image diamond in her hand, he had already left. She wanted to chase after him, but could sense a bit of estrangement projected from his back.

Flowsand gritted her teeth and was about to chase after him, but stopped after the first step. She looked all around her, only then realising the strangeness of the atmosphere. All of Richard’s followers were stood in place like statues, not moving in the least, but the pressure in the room was rapidly decreasing. A dense bloodlust took its place, making it seem as though she had just stepped into a battlefield.

Tiramisu was jabbing at the horn rising from his shoulder repeatedly, while Gangdor cracked his joints as he stretched. Olar looked relaxed, but he had already retreated into a corner and crossed his arms in front of his chest. A few whistles and his warsong would begin.

Phaser didn’t hold back at all, grabbing Extinction with her right hand as bloodlust flashed in her eyes. Waterflower drew the Shepherd of Eternal Rest, spreading her feet until only their tips touched the ground. She was ready to attack.

At this moment, all of Richard’s followers were ready for battle! Flowsand instinctually grew vigilant; their poses indicated they weren’t in the same camp as her.

Io leant against the wall, lazily hugging his shoulders while glimmering with sunshine.

The followers exchanged glances, exchanging a lot of information with their eyes. Waterflower’s were incomparably fierce, and eventually Gangdor gestured that he conceded and allowed her to proceed.

Waterflower’s right hand relaxed as the digits of the left tightened their hold one by one. The tip of her sword touched the ground and began to shake, producing a shrill cry!

The girl pointed at Io, ”You! Hands down, stand straight! Or I’ll chop them off!”

Io’s eyes narrowed in extreme shock.

“Waterflower, what are you doing?” Flowsand asked with a frown.

The girl didn’t pay any attention to her, instead lifting her sword. Phaser’s eyes brightened, the cutting edge of a blade peeking out from her left shoulder. Gangdor clenched his fists, while Tiramisu’s feet unconsciously rubbed the ground. Olar had also straightened, his former smile gone.

The clerics had no idea of what was going on. Kellac seemed to come to a sudden realisation, immediately taking a few steps back and leaving the room with his retinue. This was not a conflict they could be involved in.

Io finally smiled and stood up straight, spreading his arms, “Is this alright? There’s no need to be so serious, right?”

Waterflower stared at Io like a wolf, speaking in a slightly hoarse voice, “We are not friends. Do not joke with us!”

Flowsand was shocked and angered, “Waterflower! I asked what you were doing?”

However, a wave of the girl’s hands had returned the Shepherd of Eternal Rest to its sheath on her back. She took a look at Flowsand, turning to leave without a word. The rest of Richard’s followers followed her out, nobody bidding Flowsand farewell. Kellac, who had taken the priests to the hallway, looked around silently and left.

Only Flowsand and Io were left amidst the rubble. Her expression suddenly went dark as she stared at the battle priest, “What’s going on? Why do they want to attack you?”

“It could be a misunderstanding.” Stood in front of her, he was back to the sunny and relaxed demeanour he always had.

“It better be! Remember your status, and why I created you!” She then abandoned him, leaving the room by herself.

Io sighed once she was a long distance away, muttering to himself in a low voice, “My status? Hehe, but that might change one day. You’re all far too young. Isn’t this just a matter of a few words to explain? Well, I’m not going to pass on the message for you.”

Having said this, he left in a leisurely manner. Phaser silently appeared a dozen metres away. She had heard everything, but no matter how much she thought it over she had no clue what he meant. Why did she hear this? Priests didn’t just speak to themselves for no reason.

……

Richard arrived at a guest room and closed the door, picking up a random chair and sitting down before sighing. He raised his hand after a long while, revealing another image diamond within. There were actually two nightmare creatures in that attack, one being the warrior while the other was the axe.

He laughed and threw the diamond up, sending it in a high arc that dropped it crisply into a vase. Looking down, he saw the two gigantic wounds on his chest and stomach and actually reached out to poke at them. While the wounds had already been sealed by divine power, it still hurt enough for him to tremble. He suddenly smiled, expression slightly crazed.

This pain just hurt so good!