The Killing Intent Across a Thousand Years

“A millennium has passed… and the Temple remains so wretched!”

Black magic raged, swirling and howling, bringing with it the scent of death and madness.

Within this black hurricane, a figure clad in black, a massive scythe strapped to her back, slowly materialized, radiating an icy killing intent.

“Humility, integrity, compassion, valor, justice, sacrifice, honor, spirit! Were these not the virtues you swore an oath to uphold when you joined the Temple?”

“Yet, why do I not see even a trace of them in any of you?!”

“Facing a formidable enemy, unafraid and unwavering, courageous and loyal, worthy of God, steadfast and righteous, rather die than yield, protecting the weak, upholding natural law!”

“These are the duties of a Holy Knight, yet you have fulfilled none of them.”

“Instead, you oppress the common people, indulge in insatiable greed, succumb to rampant desires, lust for power, and covet wealth—you have done all of these to perfection!”

As a pair of dark brown boots softly landed, the roars and howls within the black aura intensified.

In Oston’s eyes, the faces of those he had tormented to death seemed to materialize.

Black blood streamed from their hollow sockets, their broken teeth gnashed above exposed gums, and skeletal hands clawed viciously towards him, as if eager to devour the defiled soul within his deceitful flesh.

“The color of your souls is truly laughable, devoid of any brilliance.”

“Instead, they overflow with the defilement of arrogance, envy, wrath, sloth, greed, gluttony, and lust. And you still dare to call yourselves Holy Knights?!”

“Though I never held any expectations for you, this nauseating decay…”

Two pinpricks of crimson light pierced through the black mist, fixing upon the Holy Knights.

Oston felt as though he had been targeted by an enraged dragon.

The crushing pressure, emanating from the apex of the food chain, caused every cell in his body to scream in raw agony.

Resistance was futile.

Utterly futile.

Absolutely impossible!

‘I’m going to die, I’m going to die, I’m going to die, I’m going to die…’

The immense pressure brought with it an indescribable psychological burden.

Oston was horrified to discover that the eternal, unwavering radiance of the blessed silver crucifix he had purchased at great expense from the Cardinal now trembled.

It seemed to shudder in fear of the oppressive figure.

As the black-clad figure, bearing a massive scythe, slowly drew closer, a short-haired, brown-haired knight behind Oston finally buckled under the pressure.

He let out a frantic, uncontrolled roar.

“Aaaah! You fallen witch! Our Lord will triumph! Holy radiance shines upon us! All defilement shall fade!”

As he chanted, a faint white glow emanated from his heavy knight’s greatsword.

This meager light, however, seemed to embolden him, spurring him to charge forward with his blade.

“Tusgar! Retreat!”

The captain’s reprimand proved ineffective.

It only propelled him into an even more frenzied charge.

“How truly feeble… Compared to those madmen of a thousand years past, you are no more than maggots, utterly worthless.”

A hint of almost imperceptible mockery laced her icy voice.

A slender hand, encased in a white glove, reached through the swirling black mist and effortlessly parried the oncoming blade.

Then, it clenched.

The sound of tempered steel shattering turned Oston and his team’s already grim faces utterly ashen.

The pale hand that had crushed the blade swiftly shot forward again, seizing the head of the brown-haired knight, whose face was etched with disbelief.

Then, it lifted him, dangling his feet above the ground.

Like a searing rebar plunged into a skull and violently stirred, the knight, Tusgar, let out a bloodcurdling shriek.

“You slaughtered 473 lives… not once raising your sword for justice.”

“Among them were 53 infants, 76 elders, 185 young women, and the rest were all innocent lives… Truly, a lifetime that sickens me!”

The voice from within the black mist grew even colder, devoid of all warmth.

Its emanating chill seemed capable of freezing a soul solid.

The suspended knight’s screams became increasingly agonizing, his body convulsing violently.

Wisps of smoke seeped from his seven orifices.

In mere moments, with a soft pop, he disintegrated into ash, from the inside out.

‘I never imagined… a mere reputation-farming quest would conjure such a monster! Am I truly going to die?! I refuse to accept this! I still have so much wealth and power left to enjoy!’

Oston, screaming wildly in his mind, attempted to retreat with his team.

However, he found that the oppressive black magic had, at some unknown point, utterly locked his body, stiffened by intense pressure and terror.

He couldn’t even manage to open his mouth to speak.

An aura of fear began to spread among the Temple members.

With the knights immobilized, the figure shrouded in black mist finally revealed herself.

She was a slender, tall humanoid, with silvery-white hair and delicate features.

A dark brown cloak, complete with a matching hooded capelet, draped over her form-fitting black gown.

Beneath her shoulder-length, silvery-white hair, a pair of silver-grey eyes were revealed.

These eyes, devoid of any expression, observed the captive knights.

Wisps of grey-white aura began to coil around the massive black scythe on her back.

Faintly, one could discern the roars of vengeful spirits, the wails of banshees, and the clatter of bones emanating from it.

It resembled a dangerous serpent, flicking its tongue, eyeing the knights’ defiled souls.

“Cough, cough…”

A hoarse cough halted Kovit’s advance.

“Oh… are you? Adi?!”

The humanoid turned, her icy voice softening slightly as she looked at the injured old man lying on the ground.

“Ha… ha, I didn’t expect it really was you… Miss Sally.”

The old man on the ground gasped in pain.

“Get up first, then we can talk.”

Black aura surged forth once more, but this time, it carried no unsettling sensation.

Instead, it was filled with a profound stillness, akin to the primordial darkness from which life itself emerges—reassuring, tranquil, and brimming with vitality.

In the blink of an eye, the old man, who had just been coughing and spitting blood, regained his vigor.

His revitalized appearance showed no trace of the severe injuries he had sustained moments before.

“Miss Sally… you are still as beautiful as ever…”

Beholding her beautiful face, utterly unchanged from his memories, the now-aged Adi couldn’t help but feel a pang of melancholy.

“Ah, look, how about I deal with these wretched fellows first, and then we can properly catch up?”

Her lighthearted, gentle words dispelled old Adi’s sorrow.

The humanoid pointed towards the cluster of statues, speaking softly with a bright smile, utterly devoid of her previous cold fury.

“Heh heh… you’re still as gentle as ever… Ah! That’s right! My granddaughter is over there!”

The old man, lost in contemplation of the humanoid’s unchanging face, only remembered his granddaughter amidst the statues upon hearing the reminder.

He quickly pointed to the girl opposite them, her hair in braids, her face filled with terror and on the verge of tears.

“You have a granddaughter!”

Observing the young girl’s youthful appearance and vibrant soul, the humanoid murmured with a touch of emotion, “That’s wonderful, truly wonderful.”

With a snap of her fingers, the restrained Fanny regained her freedom, collapsing onto the ground with a soft thud.

“Aaaah! Grandpa Adi! I’m scared! Waaah, waaah, waaah!”

The terrified girl immediately threw herself into her grandfather’s arms, sobbing uncontrollably.

Even as she cried, she instinctively huddled on the side furthest from Sally, clearly still reeling from the fright.

“There, there, it’s alright now. Grandpa will take you far away from here, away from these bad guys!”

The white-bearded old man gently patted her back, comforting his little granddaughter.

“You two should leave now. I have a score to settle with these fellows!”

“Alright.”

Moments later, once the grandfather and granddaughter had vanished from the area, an endless, dense fog immediately enveloped the clearing.

When the mist dissipated, all the figures that had been there were gone.

“Grandpa! Who was that big sister in black? She looked so scary just now!”

“Ah… she is a truly wondrous person, and yet, also very gentle.”

Watching the group disappear, old Adi calmly picked up his pipe and took a deep drag.

The world of the nightmare was an boundless sea of white flowers, swaying back and forth in a breeze from an unknown source, forming gentle white waves.

At the center of the sky hung an enormous blood moon, shimmering faintly amidst endless white clouds, casting an ethereal glow upon this hazy, mist-shrouded world.

The humanoid with the massive scythe now stood in the heart of this floral expanse, gazing at the cluster of statues opposite her with a somewhat mocking smile.

“Now, let’s have a chat!”

“Honestly, I do admire you all. I’ve been in seclusion for so long, yet you relentlessly pursued me, and you actually managed to dig me out.”

“Originally, I had planned to simply scare off and then release any truly brilliant souls, even if their minds were addled by Holy Light. After all, a millennium has passed, and I genuinely wished to avoid violence.”

“But… your actions have truly enraged me.”

Her elegantly languid voice held both a weary resignation and a bone-chilling killing intent.

The humanoid tilted her neck, producing a faint ‘crack’ of bones.

“I had thought that after so much time, the Temple might have matured a little…”

“But in you, I see the same defilement that lay beneath the Temple’s facade of light a thousand years ago.”

“No, it’s even more rotten and vile.”

“To slaughter an entire village for a mere shred of profit—how absolutely ruthless! Well, I suppose that has always been your modus operandi.”

“Of course, this isn’t a condemnation from a moral high ground. It’s simply because you… have provoked me.”

“…………”

Observing the knights’ panicked expressions, the humanoid pursed her lips in disinterest.

“I had already retired. I was thoroughly weary of days dominated by schemes, slaughter, madness, and hatred.”

“All I desired was a quiet, leisurely life!”

“No bloodshed, no distortion, no greed for fame and fortune, no frenzied hatred… what a perfect existence that was!”

“But… now, my decades of peaceful retirement have been so rudely interrupted by you all…”

“Ah… you have truly succeeded in rekindling the killing intent that had faded within me for so many years…”

“Therefore, to appease my murderous intent, within this isolated nightmare seal, I invite you to fight me!”

The black magic that had bound their bodies slowly receded.

The knights’ control over their own forms began to return.

“Perhaps once my killing intent is satisfied, I might even release what remains of you?”

She tapped her chin lightly, her tone seemingly laced with doubt, yet her eyes remained utterly indifferent.

“Now, begin!” The humanoid bared her teeth in a wide, pristine smile.

As the mist-shrouded greatscythe was unstrapped from her back, Kovit’s attire shimmered and transformed.

He now wore the black demon hunter’s set from a millennium ago: a flat triangular hat that revealed only a pair of scarlet eyes.

A black long coat, black capelet, black knee-high leather boots, and a black mask—they rendered the humanoid a pure black silhouette.

Only his silver-grey eyes remained visible, fixed upon the knights.

They were unlike human eyes, gleaming with a glassy, hard coldness, hollow and indifferent, as if observing mere dust and debris.

Oston moved his body, stiff from both confinement and fear.

An inscrutable glint flickered in his eyes for a fleeting moment.

He then shouted to his clearly panicking team members:

“We are the knights of the divine! We are the faithful of the divine! We are the Lord’s hand against demons! If darkness dares to rebel against our Lord, we shall cleanse it completely! Do not fear, do not panic, we are the hand of the divine! The Lord grants blessings! Amen!”

A strange wave of energy swept over all his subordinates.

The humanoid’s brow furrowed, then lifted in a show of interest.

Seemingly roused by their captain’s impassioned speech, the team members gradually regained their composure and began to assemble their ranks.

Holy radiance began to converge, clashing with the dark magic, producing a sizzling sound like oil hitting water.

Gazing at the knights, whose eyes burned with fervent faith, Kovit felt a momentary disorientation, as if transported back to a midday a thousand years ago.

Then, the humanoid began to chuckle softly, almost to herself.

“Hahahahaha… Yes! That’s it! Come on! Knights with defiled souls! Burn your spirits! Worship your faith! Let me see your resolve!”

Her words, imbued with madness, crescendoed into a heavy emphasis at the end.

Within the humanoid’s icy voice, mingled with a low, demonic whisper, an uncanny, bewitching quality emerged.

The next moment, the clash between Holy Light and demonic power was imminent!