Chapter 538: Holy City of Black

For everyone, walking in such a ruin is not a big deal. Even Mary, who was a little uneasy at the beginning, gradually calmed down after a long walk, and because of this, Mary discovered some abnormal phenomena that she had not noticed before.

"Mr. Duanmu, there seems to be nothing here...?"

"Huh?"

"No, I mean..."

As Mary spoke, she took a flashlight and shone it on the ground around her. There was nothing on the smooth floor except some dust, which was also normal, but in a ruin, this was a little abnormal.

"There are no remains, no decorations or anything like that... Is this normal?"

Yes, Mary had followed her teacher to investigate the ruins before. Generally speaking, in the ruins of such a large building complex, there would mostly be remains or even the remains of some civilized items left by the predecessors. But this place was as clean as if it had been vacuumed, and nothing was left.

"Oh, it's not normal to put it somewhere else, but it's normal to put it here."

Duanmu Huai gave the answer quickly.

"Hey? Why?"

"Didn't I just say that? The ancients couldn't leave the planet because of their degeneration, and then they encountered a little trouble and then became extinct."

"Is it a disease? Or a plague?"

"Hehe, neither."

Duanmu Huai shook his head.

"It's a rebellion."

"……………Rebellion??"

"Yes, you can see that there are such a large complex of buildings, and the ancients are here for vacation. They can't be stupid enough to build their own houses, so they used their knowledge to create a creature called Shoggoth as a servant. This thing... well, it's very disgusting. You can imagine it as a ball of moldy and spoiled jelly with countless eyes on it, and its body can be deformed anywhere."

"Woo...………………"

Just imagining it, Mary said... it's really disgusting.

"In short, the Shoggoths rebelled, and the degenerated ancients could neither fight nor run away, so they were doomed. As for their corpses and other things, they were naturally swallowed by the Shoggoths—and then there was no more."

"What about the Shoggoths?"

"Oh, right down here."

As he spoke, Duanmu Huai clenched his cane and knocked on the ground, and the heavy sound of the impact echoed in the dead silent hall. His attitude was so matter-of-fact that Mary couldn't even react for a while.

"………………Hey???"

"It's right under here."

"…………………………Are you kidding?"

Mary stopped and looked at the solid, smooth stone slab under her feet. She didn't know if it was influenced by the story told by Duanmu Huai, but now she seemed to be able to feel that under this thick stone slab, there seemed to be something rustling and wriggling, and that thing itself came from tens of millions of years before humans were born...

"Okay, this is not important at the moment, let's take your friend back as soon as possible."

Speaking of this, Duanmu Huai also stopped. Mary looked up and found that they had walked through the corridor and came to a heavy, sealed door without knowing when. Duanmu Huai reached out and pressed on the cold and heavy door panel, and then roared.

"Open!!"

"Boom boom boom boom---"

The stone door opened in response, and at the same time, it seemed to attract the attention of some existence. In just a blink of an eye, suddenly, a series of harsh and weird screams came from all directions.

"This, this is?"

"Well, it seems that the other party is obviously waiting impatiently... ..."

Duanmu Huai clenched his cane and snorted coldly.

"Lorena, get ready."

"Of course, Lord Knight!"

Hearing Duanmu Huai's words, Lorena nodded, and then Mary saw the girl suddenly open the holy book in her hand. The next moment, a dazzling light emerged from it, turning the heavy protective clothing that Lorena was originally wearing into a set of white gold-rimmed clothes that looked like the clothes worn by clergy. At the same time, Lorena also clenched her fists and stood at the door with her back to them.

"Please leave it to me!"

"Wait, wait, Miss Lorena, this is..."

"Okay, don't worry, this little trouble will not be a big problem for Lorena, but it will be a problem for you to stay here. Go in, remember, you have only one goal, don't forget it!"

As soon as the voice fell, Mary was pushed into the door by Duanmu Huai's hand. The next moment, her eyes were suddenly dark. With a loud bang, everything seemed to return to its original silence.

"Mr. Duanmu? Miss Lorena???"

Mary held a flashlight in her hand and looked around blankly, but she saw only darkness in front of her.

No, not completely dark.

Mary's right eye, the golden pupil saw through the essence of the darkness.

That was... stairs, circling upwards, as if leading all the way to the sky.

At the same time, Duanmu Huai's voice sounded in Mary's ears again.

Remember, you have only one goal, don't forget it.

…………………

That's right, I have only one goal, whether it's in the dark streets of the foggy city, in the snowy Antarctic, or even now...

"Charlie, wait for me, I'll come to you now."

"Da Da Da Da Da Da..."

The crisp footsteps echoed on the dead silent stairs, and Mary strode up. Although she didn't know where to go, she knew and was very clear about her goal, the goal she was looking for.

It's at the end.

She was obviously running, and she didn't know how many hundreds of meters of stairs she had run, but unexpectedly she didn't feel tired at all, let alone panting. It was as if this was not reality, but a dream. Or maybe Miss Lorena's exercise worked?

However, compared with the footsteps and fatigue, the oncoming darkness brought another change to the girl's mood.

That was the echo and memory of the past.

The scene of her mother, a master's mother, saying goodbye to her at the airport.

"That's all. Be a good child with good words and behavior, Mary."

"I know. I'm not a child anymore. It's okay to be alone, so mom will work hard over there. Take care, mother."

"Ah, you too, Mary..."

Just like that, her mother left her, she lost her father, and the mother and daughter who had depended on each other since childhood were separated, but Mary knew very well that her mother just abandoned her. She chose her job instead of her daughter...

Don't leave me, mother.

Looking at the airship going away, the only thing the girl could say was the whisper in her heart.

Don't leave me alone...!

"…………………………"

The footsteps stopped.

Mary widened her eyes in surprise. At this moment, her whole body trembled involuntarily. The memory two years ago that she no longer wanted to recall turned into a nightmare at this moment, controlling her body from the inside out. It was the wailing of her young self two years ago.

Please, mother, don't leave me, don't leave me alone, it's so scary and lonely...

However, at this moment...

"What are you doing?"

A man's voice came to my ears again.

A deep, familiar man's voice.

"Don't forget, you have only one goal."

"That's right."

Hearing this, Mary was shocked, and her tired body, which seemed to be a bad omen before, seemed to become much more relaxed.

It's not over yet, I didn't come here to end it!

The girl raised her head again, walked forward, and walked up the stairs.

Forward, keep forward.

Then she saw it.

A friend with blonde hair, green eyes, and a gentle face, she just stood on the altar, wearing a dark dress that seemed to be woven from the darkness around her.

"Charlie..."

Even though she had foreseen this scene countless times, Mary still didn't know what to say when she saw her friend's posture in front of her. And she also noticed that her friend's left eye, like her right eye, turned golden... golden pupil.

"………………Long time no see, Mary. To be honest, I didn't expect you to come here."

As always, her tone was calm and gentle, as if they were preparing to taste afternoon tea in Mrs. Liz's restaurant.

"Charlie, why did you do this? What is your purpose?"

Looking at her friend, Mary finally asked her inner questions.

And she finally got the answer from Charlie.

"………………Because I don't want to lose you."

"……………………"

"I'm scared, maybe tomorrow will be like that."

"………………"

"So, I don't need a future."

"………………"

"Just today, just now. I don't need a future. Instead of losing you, why not...stay here, Mary?"

As Charlie said, she raised her hand and pointed at Mary.

"My wish has come true. I met you in Sharnos, where I should have been alone. So, please, stay."

As Charlie spoke, darkness squirmed, twisted, condensed, and turned into a sharp blade at her white fingertips.

"Stay in the eternal present... Only in this way can we protect us, right?"

"But...but..."

Looking at her friend in front of her, Mary gritted her teeth.

"No one is here, neither is Ah Xie, nor are everyone else. It's just you and me here, Xia Li."

"That's right."

Hearing Mary's answer, Xia Li lowered her eyes.

"You are much gentler than me. I have given up everything except you, but don't worry, Mary, I knew you would say that a long time ago..."

Speaking of this, Xia Li raised her sword and pointed it at Mary.

"I will tear off your thorns and pierce you with my thorns. You will stay here with me forever. So...stay here with me! Please! Mary!!!"

Accompanied by the girl's screaming, the next moment, the black sword blade stabbed towards Mary's chest.