Steam Age: I Fight Against Divine Authority with Otherworldly Tales

Chapter 34 Necessary Sacrifice?

The sounds of flesh and blood still lingered in the air, urging Suren to act quickly. He no longer hesitated; at this critical moment, with life and death hanging in the balance, there was no time for further thought.

Suren loosened his right hand, and "Eye of Destruction" fell to the ground. He didn't even glance at it. His left hand had already reached for the gun holster on his left side. He pulled out "Eye of Withering," tossed it, and caught it steadily with his right hand.

This time he did not choose to use the hip-fire method of unleashing a barrage of bullets, because the subsequent shots needed to be sufficiently accurate.

At that moment, the chunk of flesh moved, and it separated from the body again, forming a long whip of flesh. The whip swept across from the side, moving so fast that it left afterimages.

With his experience, Suren rolled even faster this time, the long whip whistling past his back.

Suren could feel flesh buds clinging to his shoulders and back, frantically burrowing into his flesh. But this time, he didn't even glance at them; his eyes remained fixed on the mass of flesh.

Raise the gun.

Aim.

The crosshair landed steadily on a spot, right above the exposed flesh and blood of the finger—the original location of Ellie's head.

Suren pulled the trigger, and with a "bang," the bullet whistled past, leaving a dark trajectory in the air.

Because Suren adjusted the position of the revolver, the first shot was still an "incendiary" bullet, and the flames frantically devoured the flesh and blood on the surface of the chunk of meat.

Without hesitation, Suren pulled the trigger, and the second bullet hit the same spot precisely, causing the flames to spread even more fiercely.

The areas covered by flames were charred and curled, with patches of flesh peeling off. Even the tentacles extending from the flesh began to tremble wildly, unable to launch another attack.

Suren finally saw what he wanted to see: that eye—the eye that once belonged to Ellie.

Suren spun the revolver back to cylinder number 1, which was where the pre-loaded "explosive" bullets were located.

At this moment, the granulation tissue on his body had begun to spread, and Suren could clearly sense that it was burrowing in along the muscle fibers, trying to bury himself deeper into the flesh.

Suren's index finger was already on the trigger, the resistance of which was particularly pronounced at that moment, his finger pressing against the curved metal surface. He knew what this shot meant—the bullet would explode inside Ellie's skull, shattering the last trace of humanity into fragments.

"Rest in peace..." Suren thought to himself as he pulled the heavy trigger, the bullet striking Ellie squarely in the forehead.

With a "boom," the bullet exploded from inside the chunk of flesh. This time, there was no gruesome scene of blood and flesh flying everywhere. The swollen mass of flesh stopped writhing, and the white flesh buds slowly withered, rotted, and drooped limply.

Meanwhile, the granulation tissue on Suren's body rotted and peeled off along with the flesh.

He gritted his teeth and stood up. As soon as he straightened his back, the wounds on his body where granulation tissue had burrowed in were aggravated, causing his lips to twitch and him to gasp in pain.

"The adrenaline kicked in during the fight, and now that the crisis is over, the pain is unbearable."

Suren muttered to himself, standing there with a wry smile, and took a deep breath. Only after the pain subsided did he carefully stretch his body, and only then did he have the strength to look around.

Perhaps the battle in Suren was too fierce, for chaos had already erupted all around. People screamed and scattered in all directions, footsteps and cries creating a cacophony of noise. Two figures in police uniforms stood starkly at the right-hand street corner, seemingly frozen in place by the sight before them, their presence unknown.

Ignoring the chaos around him, Suren picked up his gun and strode over to Ellie's body.

It was no longer a corpse; the flesh had rapidly rotted into a puddle of thick liquid—just like the monster Suren had killed last time.

At this moment, there was no "Demon Heart" or any derivative materials in the thick water; only a necklace emitting a faint green light lay there quietly.

Suren grabbed the necklace and found that it was completely uncontaminated by the thick water, as if it had been isolated by something.

A gem-like object hangs from the end of a silver thread, with a large tree carved in relief inside the emerald green gem—the same one depicted in the magic circle inside the room.

Suren gazed silently at the Tree of Life, as if she could see Ellie's smile.

"I'll call you 'Ellie's Tears'," Suren thought wistfully as she put the necklace into her pocket.

The two policemen then jogged up to Suren's side. After recognizing Suren's uniform, they smiled obsequiously and said:

"Good evening, Lord Deathbird. This demon is truly terrifying. Fortunately, an expert like you is here. We didn't step forward to help because we were worried about disturbing you. Please forgive us."

Suren wasn't in the mood for small talk with the two, and their actions were perfectly reasonable. He had no reason to blame them; in fact, he felt that their help would only cause trouble.

He waved his hand: "I'll leave the cleanup here to you. You can record the reports yourselves. I'm leaving now."

After saying that, Suren went into the house, picked up the canvas bag he had left behind, and turned to leave, his footsteps fading into the distance on the bluestone slabs.

But the two policemen's complaints still managed to reach his ears through the whispers of the wind:

"Sigh, these lowly people can't even keep quiet for a moment. They hold some kind of ceremony every now and then, which only causes trouble and serves no other purpose. If Lord Deathbird hadn't happened to be here, who knows how much trouble would have occurred."

"You're right, we should thank the church for its protection so that we can have a peaceful life."

Their voices faded into the distance, gradually swallowed by the wind.

Suren paused, remembering how Ellie had addressed him in the alley—the great "Deathbird" lord.

Suren couldn't help but think: Is it really that great?

Was Ellie wrong? She simply didn't want to watch herself slowly slide into the abyss; she just wanted her family to come back, so she believed the beautiful words in the book.

Were those two police officers wrong? They just didn't want to deal with trouble; they were telling the truth, and they just wanted a peaceful life.

"Who is wrong?" Suren asked himself, but he couldn't find an answer.

He suddenly recalled Mr. Mercury's question from earlier that day: "When order goes to extremes, does it itself become a form of disorder?"

His response at the time was: "I like an orderly social environment. Sometimes, some necessary sacrifices are worthwhile. The key is what the sacrifice brings."

"Then what about Ellie? Was her sacrifice worthwhile?" Suren asked herself.

He looked up at the towering church in the center of the town.

He lowered his head, wrapped his coat tighter around himself, and continued walking forward, no longer thinking about it.