Hunter of the Evernight
Chapter 478: Once in a lifetime opportunity

Chapter 478: Once in a lifetime opportunity

Standing over Jeanne’s corpse, Aiden watched it swiftly degrade, a pungent smell escaping as it did.

Lucille, his Homunculi assistant, had her gaze elsewhere as she inquired. "Why isn’t it doing anything?"

"It’s not that it isn’t doing anything." Aiden calmly intoned as he crouched, quite aware of what Lucille was referring to. "Do you know why the Greatest Evil is referred to as a 1st-class Otherworldly?"

"Because of its ability to corrupt all things."

Aiden shook his head. "That’s merely a facet of what that dastardly creature is capable of."

"Hmm."

"Reality fails in the presence of the Greatest Evil, Lucille. Space warps, Time distorts and the very essence of Order is turned into chaos. It’s almost like a carrier of the very thing that created the Abyss."

"So even as it stands as a lone sentry out here..."

"Reality is already crashing." Aiden calmly intoned as he reached out and poked the space beside him only to watch it break off like a piece of glass.

Underneath, the void made itself known.

Suddenly, Lucille intoned with a frown. "I just received word from the citadel. An army of undead led by a Headless Horseman is attacking."

"Let them handle it. I believe that is within their jurisdiction." Aiden replied as he shifted his gaze to the towering tentacle before them. "Our main task is dealing with this tentacle before Reality completely crashes."

Nodding in agreement, Lucille produced a chain weapon with thorns on it, forged from Quillion and suited for an automaton like her.

"How would you like to proceed, Master?"

Aiden took a deep breath. "It’s too big to be destroyed by my eyes. Also, the space around it is too fragile to attempt powerful attacks. The chances of hastening the destruction of Reality significantly increase the moment we make a wrong move."

"Do we seal it?"

Aiden chuckled. "I doubt we have any seals capable of interfering with Reality."

"We cannot leave it."

"And I don’t intend to do so," Aiden replied as he proceeded to take a seat on the ground before crossing his legs in a lotus position.

"Master..."

"We only have one chance, Lucille, I intend to use it well."

With that said, the area about them was soon filled with several invisible sword slashes waiting to descend at a moment’s notice.

As the slashes continued to increase without striking, Lucille quickly realized what her master intended to do and so with renewed vigor, came to stand before him, taking on the role of his protector.

***

When he’d first gotten the SOS, Lionel had wanted to believe that the person on the other end, when talking about savages, was referring to the Night Kindred.

But then faced with the bloody sight of humans killing themselves like beasts, reveling in the act as they did so, he couldn’t help but wonder... What now?

He had sworn to protect these people with his sword.

It was his Creed.

So was he to go against that Creed and risk losing his Advancement?

It left him wondering if this was the worst thing to happen.

"Master." His Homunculi assistant, ever-present she was, came to stand beside him. "Our men are restless."

"As they should. We have fought Night Kindred, Fought Abyssals, and even fought other nations but our people!" Lionel stopped there, unwilling to say anything else.

"What do we do?... If we don’t use force, we will lose men."

Lionel let out a sigh as he knew what had to be done though he was unsure if he had the strength to do it.

He turned back to face his subordinates, finding them prepared for battle behind their respective company captains.

Though they appeared to be ready to move once the order was given, Lionel knew better.

He could sense the discomfort, the confusion... the fear.

"Stand down!" He ordered, catching the men off guard.

"But Commander..."

"I said, stand down!... Or would you rather use the weapons meant to defend our people against them?"

The captain quickly mellowed, his expression mirroring countless others in the discomfort they felt.

Letting out a sigh, he turned back to face the city. "What are the odds we would be able to save the people without killing them?"

"It would be difficult. Even if we don’t use force, they will. I doubt you would want your men to go into danger knowing that." His assistant replied.

"Then we have no choice." Lionel intoned as he let out yet another sigh, this one more drawn out.

His expression reflected his unwillingness to do what he had in mind but knowing that leaving things the way they were was tantamount to dooming everyone in the city to death, he decided to act.

Several illusory swords appeared from the space above him, each one glowing with a colorless light.

Taking a deep breath, he remarked. "Go."

And in response, the swords moved according to his Will.

If there were those untouched by the madness, he would ensure their survival.

***

The nameless nun managed to escape the domain Arthur left her in, not because she was able to crack it, but only because Arthur was no longer in range to maintain it.

She was less than pleased upon finding that her target was gone.

Clasping her hands together, she uttered a short prayer of repentance, pleading for mercy from the Mother.

"You failed." Another voice from within the tunnel intoned as footsteps approached her location.

The nameless nun frowned as she questioned. "Why are you here?"

"My master foresaw your failure. He sent me to aid you."

"You are not worthy..."

"Shut the fuck up, I’m not about to listen to your preachy bullshit."

The nameless nun turned to face the one speaking, revealing a man with porcelain white skin with slit-like eyes and a smile too stretched to be human.

"You..."

"The Virgin Mother is important, not just to you, or to me. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and our respective masters do not wish to let it pass. So as much as I wish to end you, I’d much rather we work together for now to reclaim the Virgin Mother for the Messiah’s birth. I’m sure we’d have enough time to kill each other once the Messiah is born."

The nameless nun remained silent for a moment, as she saw reason with the strange man’s words, before ultimately replying. "I can sense the Messiah better now, especially since he has fully awakened. There will be no trouble in finding her."

"Fine then, we go after her but this time... We will make sure she can’t escape."

With those words, his appearance suddenly changed, taking on the form of a healthy young male with white hair and blue eyes.

At the same time, the Slenderman broke the wall blocking the end of the tunnel, allowing it to join up with the Mystics within.

A moment later, space crumbled with a portal into the Abyss taking its place.