Chapter 114#

The Holy Son of the Fallen Evil God#

Although most nobles didn’t think much of it, it didn’t stop the legend of the Avenging Angel from spreading rapidly throughout the capital.

Children sang songs, collected fallen crow feathers, made simple bows and arrows from bamboo strips, and played role-playing games with their friends in the streets and alleys. Although they were quickly stopped by the adults at home, as bards sang the songs outside the capital, more and more people living under the Church’s high-pressure rule began to believe in the existence of this “Avenging Angel.”

Legend had it that he was a messenger sent by the God of Light, holding a bow of judgment and being invincible wherever he went.

Legend had it that he possessed an unparalleled handsome face, with eyes as bright and dazzling as the stars and hair as flawless as frost and snow.

Legend had it that he was three meters tall, could shoot through giant stones with one arrow, and possessed the divine power to move mountains and seas.

Legend had it…

“Stop, stop, that’s enough,” Lin Xiaodong looked helplessly at Ike, who was enthusiastically reporting the situation of public opinion to him, and sighed, “How is it getting more and more ridiculous? I told you to win some support from the commoners, but I didn’t tell you to make up nonsense stories.”

“Legends have to be a bit exaggerated for people to believe,” Ike, who grew up among commoners, accepted this well. He even felt it could be more exaggerated. “However, I heard that some nobles living near the West District have also stepped up security in their manors. Your Highness, please be careful when you act.”

Lin Xiaodong nodded. “I know.”

He stopped his cleaning motions, adjusted the aim of his crossbow against the sun in the sky, and his lips curled slightly. “The previous ones were just minor scuffles. While those nobles still don’t take us seriously, I’ll take action tonight.”

Late at night, everything was quiet.

After taking a bath, Count Philly changed into a dark red bathrobe and returned to the bedroom yawning.

A servant respectfully dried his hair, while another brought freshly grilled veal cut into pieces, feeding it into the man’s mouth bite by bite with a fork. After eating, a special person even wiped the sauce from the corners of his mouth with a handkerchief.

From beginning to end, all he had to do was move his mouth.

After enjoying his late-night snack, a little boy who had been tied hand and foot was already on Count Philly’s bed. He struggled desperately, glaring at the middle-aged man undressing by the bed with big eyes, which only made the other laugh excitedly, “Good! This batch is good!”

He liked little boys with temper; that was the only way to make it fun!

Count Philly ordered all the servants to withdraw and even extinguished the candles in the bedroom, making the room instantly dark.

But the moonlight was very bright tonight. Count Philly chose a whip, cracked it loudly twice in the air under the boy’s gaze, which had turned from anger to terror, and walked toward the large bed with satisfaction.

Outside, the servant who heard the noise let out a sigh.

It seemed the Count was in a good mood tonight; who knew if that child could last until tomorrow.

But on the large bed inside, the little boy who had been desperately screaming “Mmm-mmm-mmm” suddenly stopped struggling.

Count Philly was somewhat dissatisfied and was just about to deliver a few whip lashes to get the brat moving when he suddenly felt a cold night wind whistling behind him, as if a window had been blown open by the wind. He instinctively turned his head and saw, under the moonlight, flowing long white hair and those dark eyes as bright as stars.

The white-haired youth stood on the windowsill, looking down at him. His black wings suddenly spread, and the falling feathers were swept up by the wind, landing on the little boy’s pillow at the head of the bed.

The sound the Count was about to shout was stuck in his throat.

“You, you are that… Av—Avenging Angel?” he asked with wide eyes, his voice hoarse.

The “Angel” did not answer his question, but only expressionlessly raised the crossbow in his hand and aimed it at his heart.

“Philly Eureks, having participated in the slave trade, killed over twenty slaves and seven commoners, including fourteen children,” he announced coldly, “by judgment, you are guilty.”

“Wait—wait a minute! Hear me out!” Count Philly shouted. “I have my reasons, I, I…”

Seeing him racking his brain for a long time and failing to come up with even a single excuse, the white-haired youth curled his lip mockingly and directly pulled the trigger in his hand.

With a dull thud, Count Philly fell by the bed, unable to rest in peace, naked and still clutching his favorite “precious whip.”

Lin Xiaodong lightly jumped off the windowsill, stepped over Count Philly’s body as if ignoring trash, walked to the terrified little boy, and pulled the silk cloth from his mouth.

“Do you still have family?” he asked.

The boy took two quick breaths, looked at him cautiously, and shook his head.

“Then come with me.” Lin Xiaodong untied him, let him hold his neck tightly, and flew back into the night sky from the wide-open windowsill.

“Are you a demon?” the boy asked softly as he held him.

The white-haired youth looked down at him, his lips curling into a slight arc.

“To some who have committed many evils, I indeed am.” he answered.

The next day, the maid who came to wake the Count and clean the bedroom let out a scream that echoed through the mansion.

The Church, arriving in a hurry, only found a black feather on the Count’s pillow. When they tentatively tried to touch it, the feather suddenly turned into a ghostly blue flame and burned instantly, scaring everyone present out of their wits.

“I carry out the will of God… performing the judgment of the end of the century…”

Hearing this low echo that seemed to come from the bottom of the abyss, the Church bishop in the North District was drenched in sweat and almost collapsed on the floor.

It was over!

Capital North District, Viscount Mansion.

Viscount Schmidt held a “banquet” at his home and invited several nearby nobles to attend. Because many accidents had happened recently, many nobles had temporarily stopped holding banquets to avoid trouble. When someone finally had the guts, it naturally attracted a group of fellow enthusiasts to come and support.

“I’d say they’re just cowards,” Viscount Schmidt swirled the red wine in his glass and said disdainfully to a baron beside him, “all those princes and dukes, making millions in gold every year just from rent, yet they’re scared like this because of a murder case. It’s truly laughable.”

“Exactly,” the baron agreed, “who knows what they’re thinking? If I were them, having saved so much money, I’d definitely spend it however I want. I’d go to an auction and buy a dozen slaves to enjoy myself first!”

Just then, accompanied by a burst of crying and screaming, several girls who appeared to be only thirteen or fourteen years old were dragged and pulled into a cage on the stage by several strong servants. They were all sallow-faced, thin, and scantily clad, looking as weak as chicks.

But bursts of exclamations rose from the audience. The baron looked at Viscount Schmidt with admiration: “You truly have deep pockets!”

“Hardly, this is just to liven things up.” Viscount Schmidt drained the red wine in his glass. Although humble in words, he still showed a proud expression. “Someone, release our ’little pets’!”

A stray dog that had been hungry for almost three days was brought before everyone on a chain.

To make the match more “spectacular,” the servant deliberately gave the stray dog a few whip lashes. Hunger and anger made it let out a low growl from its throat, and it irritably crouched down, revealing a mouthful of salivating, white teeth.

The girls screamed and huddled together, trembling. The nobles below the stage cheered excitedly, and some people eagerly bought some scraps of meat from the servants, letting them throw them onto the girls: “Tear them apart for me! Hurry!”

Of course, there were also some who showed more pity, asking for shields and daggers from the attendants nearby, hoping the girls could last longer. But no matter which side it was, Viscount Schmidt was the one who profited in the end—seeing these nobles completely attracted by the “game” he had set up and unhesitatingly opening their purses, he laughed so hard his mouth almost couldn’t close.

This was why “cockfighting” matches were so popular in noble circles.

Even those who weren’t interested in such bloody scenes would attend similar events to join in the fun or curry favor with the powerful. And if one could hold a match at home, it was even more profitable, more so than being a bandit!

Under the girls’ desperate gazes, the stray dog was forcibly pulled into the cage by two adult servants with an iron chain as thick as a thumb. Amidst the cheers of the surrounding crowd, it tossed its head frantically, desperately trying to break free from the shackles and tear everyone in front of it apart.

“Sister, I’m scared…” The youngest among them was only ten years old. She was held in her sisters’ arms, crying until she was out of breath. Under her influence, low sobbing soon broke out.

“Don’t cry, what’s there to cry about!”

Just then, a freckled girl wearing only dirty, ragged sackcloth bravely stood forward. She stared fixedly at the stray dog, her face equally pale, but she held a shield tightly in her hand and crouched down in a somewhat non-standard defensive posture. With her other hand, she slowly picked up a dagger a noble had thrown into the iron cage and gripped it firmly.

“Stand up, like a warrior!” she shouted with a hoarse voice. “Kill it!”

Under her call, the girls gradually stopped crying and began to use various tools on the ground to protect themselves. But before they could react, the servant had already released the iron chain in his hand!

The unleashed stray dog instantly erupted with trembling power, darting out like a black lightning bolt and knocking down the leading freckled girl. It barked fiercely, baring its foul-smelling teeth to bite through her neck, but the freckled girl quick-wittedly jammed the dagger into its teeth, successfully crushing one of the dog’s molars and making it let out a shrill bark.

Viscount Schmidt immediately introduced to the other nobles, “I bought this from a certain tribe at a high price. It knows a bit of magic and I’ve been raising it for almost two years.”

A rain of attacks fell on the stray dog, but a mad dog whose ferocity had been triggered was not so easy to deal with. Soon someone was injured, and the scent of blood made the hungry stray dog’s eyes glow green.

For a moment, cries and screams filled the iron cage.

The freckled girl, who had a piece of meat torn off by the stray dog, was also somewhat unable to hold on due to excessive blood loss and long-term malnutrition. She swayed her body, half-kneeling in the iron cage, having to rely on the shield to barely maintain her balance.

“Maria…”

In a daze, she heard her parents calling her back for dinner again. The girl bit her lower lip hard and pressed the shield firmly onto her bleeding wound. The pain instantly distorted her still-somewhat youthful face, but it also stimulated her originally drowsy nerves—Maria let out an angry roar and suddenly stood up, taking the opportunity when the stray dog’s back was turned to her and plunged the dagger into the back of its head.

It was over…

Watching the stray dog fall unable to rest in peace, she also fell to her knees with a thud, showing a face of relief after the disaster.

“Wait a minute,” on the spectator stand, a noble who still wanted more raised his hand again. “I’ll offer another fifty gold, add another dog!”

Maria jerked her head around, not even having the strength to feel hatred. She just numbly watched the deal concerning their lives being completed before her eyes. Seeing another starving stray dog being brought into the iron cage, she wanted to get up and fight, but she didn’t even have the strength to pick up the shield.

“Oh, God of Light, please save us!”

A girl’s desperate prayer came from behind. Maria thought indifferently, where are there gods in this world?

If there were really gods, why would they end up in this state? And the true evildoers, why received no punishment?

Looking at the stray dog pouncing toward her, Maria weakly closed her eyes.

Goodbye, Dad, Mom…

But what she waited for was not the intense pain of teeth sinking into flesh, but a gentle embrace.

“You’re very brave, darling.” The white-haired youth spread his wings and gave a faint smile to the girl in his arms who was looking at him in disbelief, reaching out to gently wipe the blood from her face.

“Good girl.” he praised.

Maria held her breath, looking at the black wings behind him that blotted out the sun, and those beautiful eyes as deep as the night. She felt she had never seen such a beautiful person in her life.

“Are you… a god?” she asked cautiously.

“No,” the white-haired youth replied softly. “I am the most loyal believer of God. You can call me… the Avenging Angel.”

He raised the crossbow in his hand, aimed it at Viscount Schmidt who was panic-stricken and trying to get up and flee, and pulled the trigger without hesitation.

An arrow pierced through his knee, and Viscount Schmidt screamed, falling to the ground on the spot.

Seeing this, the nobles present immediately fell into a mess. They screamed and tried to flee from that “monster” in mid-air, just like the girls who were locked in the iron cage earlier, with terrified expressions, completely losing their reason and poise.

In this world, the System could not accompany him at all times, but this also meant Lin Xiaodong could no longer care about the headquarters’ requirements.

To hell with using virtue to convince people or returning good for evil. He was going to give them a taste of their own medicine, letting these beasts experience a taste of the tables turning!

The white-haired youth, holding Maria in his arms, slowly landed on the ground. With a wave of his hand, a ghostly blue abyss fire rose, trapping the nobles in this “banquet” venue with no way to escape.

He handed the crossbow in his hand to Maria and smiled, “Do what you want to do, child.”

Maria stared at him blankly.

Even though she wasn’t an adult yet, Maria also knew that the person in front of her was definitely not an angel belonging to the Light camp. Whether it was the dense dark energy surrounding him or his style and way of doing things, all indicated that the youth was a demon from the abyss.

But… so what if he was a demon?

She gripped the crossbow in her hand and, step by step, dragged her painfully aching legs toward Viscount Schmidt, who was struggling and crawling like a maggot on the ground. She raised her arm and pointed the aim at his chest.

Lin Xiaodong stood silently on the spot, watching her thin and weak back.

Even when he saw the girl’s figure become unstable halfway and almost fall, he had no intention of going up to help. He just stared at the long trail of blood on the ground made by the girl’s step-by-step footprints and turned to drive all the nobles who came to watch this “cockfighting” match with flames.

Before dealing with the people according to the list, let them run a few thousand meters first.

What, you say you can’t run?

Then I’m sorry, choose between having your butt burned by fire or running until you spit blood.

“No… don’t!”

On the other side, Viscount Schmidt looked at Maria walking toward him, terrified and trembling, crying and begging for mercy to her, a humble slave, on his knees: “Please, I’ll give you half my family property, okay? All, all of it to you is no problem! As long as you let me go, I—”

His pleas stopped abruptly.

Maria pierced through his chest with an arrow.

Viscount Schmidt looked down at the big hole in his chest in disbelief, raised his head to stare at her, made two sounds in his throat, and then tilted his head and fell to the ground, no longer showing any signs of life.

After confirming that he was dead, Maria instantly collapsed on the floor, breathing heavily.

She turned around and saw only a few girls left in the iron cage who could still stand. They were also almost covered in wounds and were being carried away for treatment by several knights in armor. Suddenly she wanted to cry, her nose feeling sour.

But seeing those respectable nobles who were previously arrogant now being chased around the field by a hellhound made of blue flames, she instantly turned her tears into a laugh, covering her mouth and laughing until her whole body trembled, for a moment forgetting the pain from her wounds.

“Come with me.” Lin Xiaodong held out his hand to her.

He was somewhat self-reproachful that he arrived a step late tonight and hadn’t saved more people. But among these survivors, this girl with freckles on her face truly made him look at her with new eyes—she was a true warrior, a hundred times braver than many adult males Lin Xiaodong had seen.

Maria looked at the hands the white-haired youth held out in front of her. His wrists didn’t have much gold and silver jewelry decoration, yet it made Maria feel somewhat ashamed of herself. She lowered her head and suddenly wiped her hands, soaked with sweat and blood, on her dirty clothes, and then cautiously held Lin Xiaodong’s hand.

She raised her head and looked at the white-haired youth’s profile, her gaze filled with reverence and fanatical emotions.

“As you command… My Lord.”