Chapter 71: Act 11: Silver’s Love Is Never Tainted

As for the others... because he had caused Werewolf Romeo to grow stronger, they were tangling with the shadow Followers in sheer Madness, as the shadows had also received a boost in strength from the main body.

The flowers on the ground meant for Recovering Health... were reduced to merely ordinary blooms. Even if one picked them all, they wouldn’t restore much health.

Those flowers were apparently called Snow Lotus. They really were beautiful.

Blaze fell prey to the terrifying side effects of [Adrenaline]. Exhaustion and Dizziness swept over him, yet he felt somewhat at ease.

Perhaps it was because he had been stifled inside a helmet for so long; it had been ages since he could breathe so freely.

"This world really is beautiful.

"Don’t you think it’s a pity that you can’t live on in such a beautiful place with Juliet?

"Romeo."

Werewolf Romeo clutched his head and let out a low growl, clawing at his own face with Madness. His flesh tore open easily, only to heal rapidly under the moonlight.

The youth in the mire began to struggle, but the filth came alive, binding him tightly.

"Shut up! This body is already mine!"

Werewolf Romeo shrieked hysterically, but even more voices bubbled up.

"No, it’s mine! I want the body!" "Blood! I want blood!" "Hahahaha! The moon!" "Give the body to me, I’ve already lived for sixty-seven years, and I want to keep living!" "Awoooo—" "Bugs, so many bugs!" "Where am I? I’m lost."

The souls of twenty Werewolves had become a part of Werewolf Romeo. They were identically cruel and bloodthirsty; hence, those shared traits began tearing at Werewolf Romeo’s soul, vying for control of the physical body.

The filthy mire churned into massive waves, sweeping the youth into its depths. Just as he was about to be completely Devoured, a hand grasped his struggling, desperate arm.

The youth froze. It was someone he didn’t recognize.

Then, more hands reached into the mire, grabbing the youth and pulling him, inch by inch, out of the bestial filth.

Among those people were men and women, yet there wasn’t a single person the youth knew.

However, they carried a scent that was intimately familiar to him.

Those were the souls of the Silver Believers. Upon entering his body, the Werewolf and human parts had separated.

However, the Power of those Silver Believers was incredibly weak and resembled an Illusion. The vast majority of their strength had long been snatched away by the Werewolf souls. Merely keeping the youth from being Devoured by the mire took everything they had.

At that moment, countless pairs of hands reached out from the depths of the muck, pushing against the youth’s back and slowly hoisting him out of the mire.

The youth looked back, his pupils shrinking in shock.

He recognized them. They were the Arcadians he had killed—those who had succumbed to Madness.

He had killed so many Arcadians. He should have adhered to the mission of the Silver Believers, instead of selfishly choosing to live on.

But... but...

The youth stood up from the mire. He fell over and over again, his body becoming unbearably filthy as he trudged forward with great difficulty.

More and more people emerged from the muck—hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands.

That was the ancient Memory residing in the blood of the Silver Race—the shared Memory of all Arcadians.

Though long dead, they clustered around the youth, pushing him ever forward.

For the youth was still alive, and the girl he loved was still alive as well.

The youth saw his other soul—the Werewolf. Twenty-one Werewolves were tearing at and Devouring each other in an area shrouded by moonlight.

Their ugliness was monotonous and identical, yet what they loved was uniquely their own.

The youth continued to crawl through the dark mire, but those who followed him came to a halt.

It couldn’t be helped. They truly, deeply wished they could accompany the youth a little further, but they had long since passed away, and that side belonged to the world of the living.

This was all these predecessors, whose own efforts had been in vain, could do for him.

Blaze struggled to stand up straight. Honestly, he felt like his very first death was going to be forfeited right here.

Of course, he was still going to finish Romeo off. He couldn’t allow Romeo to live on in this state. He had impulsively insisted on letting Romeo live, so he would take responsibility to the bitter end.

Collapsing alongside another man in a sea of pure white flowers could be considered a rather poetic ending.

"But, it definitely won’t end here."

Blaze’s face was battered and bruised, yet a smile broke through.

Above Werewolf Romeo’s head, the title [Werewolf Level 75] began to Twist.

AAAAAAHHHHHH—

Werewolf Romeo let out a maddened roar, sounding like the despair of someone with nowhere left to run, or perhaps a final, dying counterattack. He surged forward like a chilling flash of light, lunging straight at the tottering Blaze.

"Blaze!"

Audrey slammed hard against the murky mist. Blood streamed down her body, but her voice was Piercing enough to cut through the fog.

Blaze, who was on the verge of losing consciousness from the side effects of [Adrenaline], smiled.

"You’re here, Audrey.

"So, I can’t fall here just yet.

"Riding on the outcome of this battle is your future, as well as the future of all Arcadians," he thought.

Blaze leaned back as if he had lost consciousness and was collapsing. The Sharp claws swiped past, taking a few strands of his black hair with them.

The huge, burly Werewolf came to a halt in front of Blaze, its body trembling uncontrollably.

"I... I know I shouldn’t... but... but..."

The Werewolf’s cruel muzzle quivered ceaselessly. Enormous tears welled up in his eyes and dropped onto Blaze, splashing into searing droplets.

"I really love her so much.

"I... I really want to live... I really want to grow old with Juliet."

"Heh, you coward."

Blaze chuckled softly and yanked the Holy Emblem off his neck. Its pitch-black exterior was washed clean of filth by the tears, revealing a brilliant Silver shine beneath.

"Then I will be the one to save you!"

[Moon’s Holy Emblem / Confirmed]

[Werewolf’s Tears / Confirmed]

[Ancient Silver Coin with Goddess Head / Confirmed]

[Filthy Blood / Confirmed]

[Ancient Altar / Confirmed]

[Commencing Download of the Demon Hunter Project]

Within a pitch-black space, massive waves of digital data surged with Madness.

"Holy crap—something is downloading Demon Hunter!" a Penguin programmer screamed.

"What! We just hastily plugged in the data with our toes, the rest isn’t even finished yet!" A wolf programmer’s expression shifted into a flurry of mosaic Transformations—a glitch caused by his shoddily-made virtual avatar failing to keep up with his sudden emotional changes.

"We only added the acquisition conditions to the world!"

"Downloading... that’s... not something a player can do. Could the one who received the quest be..." another programmer muttered to himself.

Suddenly, a piercing warning alarm rang out.

"What’s happening!"

The Penguin programmer, who was already contemplating resignation, wore a despairing expression, looking as though he wanted to cry but had no tears left to shed.

"That thing is accessing our core data, completing the project on its own while downloading it simultaneously!"

"Oh crap—!"

The programmers hastily scrambled to override it, but the entity’s speed was far too fast. The very instant the alarm was triggered, it had already accessed every single file, ultimately coming to rest in a completely unknown corner.

Demon Hunter Level 1 — Demon Hunter ██ Level 1