Chapter 43: I… still alive

Chapter 43: I... still alive"You..." Anna was momentarily startled by Lathel’s explanation, but then she roared with fury, "You’re not human." "Give me back my husband! Give me back my children! Give them back to me!!!" Anna screamed, her voice strange yet overflowing with hatred and an aching yearning for her lost family. But Lathel only glanced at her with utter disdain. "All you have to do is die, and you’ll be able to see them again, right?" BAM! No sooner had he finished speaking than a shockwave exploded out, crushing every soul clinging to his body. Anna too was blasted backward by the force. Whoong! At that moment, the spear arced perfectly through the air, then landed back in Lathel’s hand. GRAOO!!! The soul of a man charged at Lathel, but he didn’t dodge or use the Celesthalis spear. Strange magical runes still shimmered on his hands, emanating a mysterious black light. BAM! His fist shot out, instantly exploding the soul’s head. KRIT!! Not just one, but a flood of souls rushed at Lathel. He bared his teeth, face savage and wild with madness. Keng! Lathel stabbed the spear into the ground, clenching his fists tightly. "Lathel... you..." Evelyn’s voice rang in Lathel’s mind. "I want to feel what it’s like to crush these worthless souls..." Lathel laughed. "With my own hands." BAM! BAM! BAM! Every punch he threw precisely blew apart the head of another soul. He didn’t care how pitiful the soul was—old, young, child, or woman. He only wanted to destroy everything before his eyes. Lathel grabbed the soul of a woman; instead of smashing her head right away, he gripped her head and twisted it backward. Crack! Her head spun a full one hundred eighty degrees to the back, but he still wasn’t finished. Lathel seized her head and pulled hard. Smash! Smash! A sound like tearing echoed—her head was violently ripped off. BAM! Lathel crushed her head, and she dissolved into a swirl of black mist, then vanished into the air. The other souls, seeing Lathel’s brutality, wildness, and savagery, grew terrified and dared not advance. "What’s wrong?" Lathel mocked. "Didn’t you want revenge? Hurry up... before I change my mind." Thud! Thud! Thud! Lathel stepped toward the crowd of souls, each footfall echoing sharply, slicing through the silence of the thick, dark mist. The souls of the villagers were ugly and ghastly, retaining the state they’d been in when the raging fire consumed their village. But on those charred, coal-black faces, fear was now visible. They... were afraid of a human. The souls shrank back with each heavy step Lathel took. "Kill him!" Anna suddenly shrieked, her hoarse voice full of rage: "He’s the one who slaughtered all of us, killed our loved ones, burned our village, trampled our faith!" "We have been granted power by the great Xal’veth—why are you still afraid of him?" "Kill him! Take revenge for what he did to us!" Anna raged on and on, but the souls only continued to back away, as if they hadn’t heard a word. Lathel watched this and let out a snort of laughter. "Pff! Hahaha... you’re truly ridiculous." "Do you know the difference between a king and the horse he rides?" "It’s... instinct." "You..." Anna ground her teeth, not fully understanding what Lathel meant, but knowing full well he was mocking her. "I... I’m not afraid of you!" Anna shouted, immediately charging at Lathel. He didn’t dodge, standing perfectly still as Anna’s tendrils stabbed toward him. But— Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! "What?!" Anna gasped when she saw her tendrils instantly dissolve into wisps of black smoke upon touching Lathel’s body. Smash! "Ack!" Lathel’s hand shot out, gripping Anna’s throat with perfect accuracy. He lifted her into the air as easily as picking up a chicken, his eyes full of contempt and a hint of amusement. "Why aren’t you dancing anymore?" Lathel asked, his voice so indifferent it turned cold. Anna gritted her teeth as the charred, blackened flesh of her face and neck began to fall away in crumbling chunks. "Help me! Help!" Anna looked toward the souls of the villagers, but they only stood there, staring at her, not daring to take even a single step forward. "Why... I... I gave you strength... why?" Anna couldn’t understand. Why, even after gaining immortality as souls, were they still afraid of Lathel? "I already told you," Lathel mocked. "That’s called instinct." "Look at that worthless rabble—no matter how much power they have, what can they do besides stand there, trembling in fear?" "Am I wrong? Even if I let you live, you’d never crawl out of that filthy swamp." "You... will always... only be lowly, filthy creatures—like maggots." Tears streamed from Anna’s eyes—no, not tears. It was blood... two dark streaks of blood trickling from her sockets. "No... I must... have revenge... I..." Anna struggled to get out each word as Lathel squeezed her throat. This time, she couldn’t turn into mist at all, as if she’d been sealed. "My husband... my children... I... must... have revenge..." Anna’s voice broke and faltered. "Anna... save me..." Suddenly, the scene before Anna shifted, replaced by her husband’s blood-soaked face. "Mother... save... it’s so hot..." "My children..." Anna heard the desperate cries of her two children. She saw them flailing in a sea of fire, desperately searching for a way out, screaming "Mother," hoping for salvation. But in the end, everything ended—everything turned to ashes. "Seems... you’re suffering terribly..." Suddenly, Lathel’s voice echoed. Anna jerked, eyes wide as she stared at his face. That face was handsome, but now covered with a demonic aura, a crazed smile like a serial killer that would strike fear in anyone. Lathel smirked. "Let me... set you free." "No... I..." Anna tried to speak, but— Smash! Lathel’s hand punched through Anna’s chest, then pulled back, leaving a gaping hole as black, muddy blood and chunks of charred flesh fell away. "I... must..." Anna mumbled, as if clinging to her last shred of will. Her body slowly turned into dark mist, then... completely vanished, leaving behind a single word that echoed through the endless darkness. "Revenge..." Lathel watched the mist Anna had become drift away, and suddenly, a memory long buried surfaced in his mind. He saw the silhouette of a woman standing before him, screaming, "Lathel... you must live... you have to survive... I... I..." Lathel frowned, reaching out as if to touch that shadow, but it instantly vanished. At that moment, he could feel the life inside him draining away at a terrifying speed. His hair quickly turned white and fell out, his skin shriveled and wrinkled, his muscles wasted away. Blood streamed from his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears in thin rivulets. His eyes grew cloudy and dull, losing the light of life. "Lathel..." The voice of the woman he had just seen echoed again: "After I die, you must keep living." "You have to try to survive, even if you have to become a dog... you must live." That voice trembled, as if the woman was crying as she spoke. Yet Lathel could sense both love and hatred brimming within her words. "Lathel... you... you must keep on living..." Hearing that, a flash of clarity appeared in Lathel’s eyes—but then, his irises instantly turned pitch black. The villagers’ souls vanished, but now the Dark Mist around him began creeping closer. At this point, he was lying on the ground, his body withering like a dead branch, eyes turned entirely black, staring off into the void. Within the dark mist, a fish-shaped creature with two great wings like a swan’s swam gracefully. Lathel lay still, unmoving, as if awaiting death. The fishlike creature and the dark mist steadily approached him. "Lathel..." "Who? Who’s speaking?" Just then, another voice sounded, pulling him back to reality. That voice was full of majesty, yet incredibly gentle: "Are you about to die?" Lathel realized it was Evelyn’s voice. He couldn’t speak, but could answer in his thoughts: "Die?" Suddenly, he remembered the words of the shadowy woman—a middle-aged woman, weeping as she pleaded with him. At this, Lathel smiled, a grin brimming with contempt and madness: "Die? What a pity, I will not die." "The skill you just used..." Evelyn continued, "It’s burned up all your life force. Even if you don’t die, the dark mist will turn you into a puppet—the end is the same as death." "You’re right," Lathel replied in his mind. "However... this skill has a loophole." "Hm?!" As Evelyn tried to understand, the giant fish in the dark mist drew closer to him—when suddenly, something strange happened. "That is..." Evelyn gasped. "Could it be... you’re planning..." "Hahahaha... Even if all of you die, I will still survive..." Lathel said, his voice filled with wild pride and madness. "I... still alive!"