Chapter 11.2 - Choice
Su stood back up while staggering about. His left eye that was barely opened had already became red from blood congestion. Everything he saw seemed to be soaked within a sea of blood. Glaring handprints could be seen on his neck, and it was still turning more red. The air he breathed in got stuck at his throat. His neck was already completely rigid; if he even moved his neck bones slightly, it would bring back stinging pain. Su knew that his own neck bones were already covered in cracks, and that the slightest movement would cause them to fracture into pieces. However, right now, he wasn’t thinking about how to deal with these injuries at all.
Even though he couldn’t see everything clearly already, there were still a few figures that hadn’t fallen in Su’s field of view. These were without a doubt individuals on Sarton’s side!
“Fuck! Why are there… so many… still alive!...” A low, rolling roar sounded from Su’s throat like that of a wild beast’s. His left eye that was already completely bloodshot released a frightening dark red radiance, and then he began to drag his body that was as heavy as a mountain towards that old man!
However, things did not turn out as he wished. After taking a single step, Su’s entire body went still and he fell onto the ground. Under the disorderly, bloodstained hair whose original color couldn’t even be seen anymore, blood was currently crawling out like earthworms.
The small church entered a momentary state of silence.
Only after a bit of time had passed did the elder release a breath of air, breaking this suffocating silence. He looked around, and with a smile, he said, “You’re not wrong, the number of people that should be alive really is still a bit too high!”
When the elder spoke the final syllable, as if in response to his words, most of the arbitration officials on the ground twitched a bit, and then a strand of blood flowed out from their mouths and noses. The four curse masters who were still sitting by the blood pond’s edges were horrified as they watched the blood pond surge. Four streaks of blood that were even thicker than their arms fiercely poured over! In that instant, the sea of blood poured into the curse masters’ stomachs, turning them into spheres!
The blood in the blood pond quickly decreased, and soon after, the bottom could be seen, revealing the steel-cast dragon coffin immersed within. The four curse masters collapsed onto their backs one after another, the expressions revealed from their eyes completely that of fear and suffering. From their separated pupils, one could even see a bloody redness that was currently spreading! Their bodies swelled up like balls, and the skin was swollen to a bursting point. One could see the veins and arteries underneath. It was quite the miracle that they didn’t burst yet.
Meanwhile, the fetters and handcuffs binding Peperus’ limbs were covered in a thin layer of frost, and then they disappeared. However, the alloy steel shackles that were covered by it quickly turned an ash gray, and then they crumbled apart into ashes like charcoal, dissolving just like that. Peperus was thrown onto the ground, the long period of torment making it extremely difficult for her to even climb to her feet. Peperus clenched her teeth and supported herself. With a half kneeling posture, she said, “Peperus has seen great one before!”
“I guess you haven’t disappointed me too greatly.” The old man indifferently said. Without even giving her a look, he directly walked over to Su’s side. He looked at the piece of cloth that had a bit of scorched traces on it, and then he squatted down, wiping away a bit of blood from Su’s temple region before carefully folding up the cloth and placing it back into his clothes pocket.
“Great one, is he dead?” Peperus asked. Her trembling voice contained an indisguisable concern.
“Pretty much certain.”
The old man stood up, and then he tidied up his suit that didn’t even have the slightest wrinkle. Then, he walked to the already dried blood pond. With a wave of his hand, the extremely heavy steel cast dragon coffin slowly rose from the ground and landed in the old man’s right hand. Carrying this enormous heavy coffin seemed like carrying a thin porcelain plate for this old man.
“You should bring this little fella back to Dragon City. Perhaps they might have some way to rescue him. The little fella isn’t bad, his last moments were barely acceptable. It would be a bit of a pity if he died just like that. You should return after completing this task.” After speaking, the elder carried this enormous steel coffin and walked out of the church’s entrance, quickly disappearing into the boundless darkness.
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He seemed to have somehow returned to the green sea, hearing the noises and watching those blurry figures come and go. Countless faces appeared in front of him, but none of them remained in his memory. They were trying to say something, and they would even ask him a few questions. The language they used was clearly one he could understand, but for some reason, he couldn’t understand exactly what was being said.
Inside of that green sea, time, space, and sensations interweaved together into countless illogical pieces, attacking at him in fast and overwhelming amounts.
This was a suffocating world.
During that unbearable moment, he was just like a fish that was washed up ashore, risking everything he had to jump a final time. At the end of his jump, he finally broke through the ocean surface and reached a brand new world. This world was much more realistic. In addition, once he emerged from the water surface, he saw a face. Unlike the world within the green sea, this was a face he recognized, one that he had a deep impression of. Only, at that moment, no matter how he tried to think about it, he couldn’t think of who it was. Before he was able to think things through, he sank into that green sea again.
Before long, an abrupt icy cold feeling woke him up from this slumber! This was an intuition towards danger, as well as a fear that was deeply engraved within his consciousness, as if a natural enemy already sank its teeth into his skin!
This indescribable fear left him shivering. He leapt with everything he had, and then he rushed through the surface of this green sea!
That delicate face that didn’t carry the slightest trace of emotion appeared in his field of view again, her faint blue eyes currently staring at him.
“Helen?” When his sluggish mind finally remembered this name, he also remembered that his name was Su.
Su struggled about as he tried to sit up, but his body, to which he could previously give directions to even singular cells, now didn’t obey his commands at all. A few areas could still transmit back a painful feeling, but he couldn’t feel anything from most of his body.
“Being able to recall my name means that your brain hasn’t suffered incurable damage, so that’s good. Don’t move about recklessly!” Helen stopped Su’s attempt at sitting up, and then she raised his head slightly, letting him clearly see his current situation.
Hundreds of data lines were hanging from a platform, attached to Su’s body. There was a similar amount of fine catheters that were connected to various vessels in his body, sending all types of medicinal liquid slowly into his body. At first glance, Su looked like a strange monster that was formed from data lines and catheters.
Without any reaction from his body, just by seeing this scene alone, Su already had some understanding of his own injuries. However, from his sluggish memory, another matter surfaced that made Su’s expression change greatly. “Helen, could it be that we have to use the medicine from last time again?”
“Of course not.” Helen’s reply made Su feel slightly at ease, and he also felt a bit better about the state of his injuries. The recovery medications last time made Persephone take on a huge debt and also take risks out of desperation.
Helen gently lowered Su’s head and coldly said, “It’s too early to be happy. This time, the reason we didn’t use those medicine is because Phoney couldn’t afford it. In addition, with her current financial situation, no one would lend her any money unless she used her body as collateral.”
Su’s pupils rapidly shrunk. The bones in his arms actually released a wave of light and concentrated crack crack sounds. However, Su’s sharp perception told him that Helen’s attitude towards him was a bit more moderate, not like the coldness and gloominess at the very beginning. Su’s tense body slowly relaxed. Right now, he couldn’t do anything for Persephone, and the most important thing was to recover from his injuries first. However, the feeling he received from every part of his body cast a shadow over his mind. Su didn’t know if he could completely recover.
Helen stared at the screen on the side and said, “Your injuries are quite complicated, only slightly better than last time. If you want to completely recover, then you have to completely listen to me during this period of time. No matter what I tell you to do, you cannot disobey me in the slightest! If you cannot do this, then you should say that right now. I will immediately stop your treatment. You should understand that no matter what type of place it is, there is no place for crippled trash!”
Su revealed a forced smile and said, “This is obviously something I understand. What, you don’t seem to trust me much?”
Helen’s voice was extremely calm, but she seemed to carry an incredibly detached coldness. No anger could be heard, but there weren’t any other emotions either, “I have no way of trusting you, just like how you don’t trust me and Phoney.”