The Black Crow's Substitutes

Tamashi still remembered the first sorcerer he had killed. Back then, he had not yet become a Judgment Retainer. Although he was already capable of subduing the young retainers in the cult within five minutes without taking a scratch, the cult still refused to let an ordinary person become a Death-Herald Black Crow who hunted wickedness. They preferred that Tamashi serve as Miss Yelu's deputy in charge of logistics for the cult—after all, Tamashi was quite good at cooking. So, before the other retainers set out on missions, he sneaked a peek at the mission intelligence. He then traveled sixty kilometers in half a day and slaughtered the sorcerer spy sent by the Calamitous Fire Sanctuary who had been lingering in town. The Black Crow had long forgotten what it felt like to take a life for the first time. After all, when you have eaten so many slices of bread, you do not remember what the very first slice tasted like. But he remembered that due to his clumsy technique, he had gotten splattered with blood all over. Add to that the exhaustion, dust, and streaming sweat from walking so far, and worse still, rain had fallen. He was caked in blood and mud, and even some excrement—because he had to carry the corpse back, and after he snapped the Calamitous Fire sorcerer's neck, the waste inside the corpse had leaked out under gravity. Killing really was a filthy business. That was one of the reasons the Black Crow had later taken a liking to Harvey; he even felt that necromancers who disposed of corpses free of charge were basically philanthropists. As he carried the corpse back, someone found him halfway. It was Tanomu. Back then, Tanomu was only in her teens, but she was already a sorcerer. Thanks to her talent for healing and her striking beauty, she had directly entered the ranks of the Blessing Monks—a White Crow. Though called a White Crow, white garments soiled easily, so she usually just wore a white scarf paired with a black dress and leggings, along with practical short boots. Yet when she found him, only one of Tanomu's short boots remained, and she was carrying it in her hand. She had numerous bloody scrapes across her body, and her pretty face was bruised and abraded—obviously from running too fast and tumbling. Where the other boot had gone, nobody knew. Her face was also smeared with tear stains. What the cult was least satisfied with regarding Tanomu was that she shed tears so easily; she was not tough enough. Seeing the filthy Tamashi, Tanomu threw the remaining boot at him. But she had so little strength that, let alone aiming, she could not even throw it very far. She picked up the boot, slipped it on, and limped over to embrace the filthy, stinking Tamashi. Burying her head in his chest, she panted in short gasps, and as she panted, she began to sob. Her crying sounded worse than a crow's caw. She seemed to have said something, but Tamashi had already forgotten. Then Tamashi gave his own short boots to Tanomu, while he put on the corpse's boots, which were several sizes too big. Just like that, carrying the corpse on his back and holding hands with Tanomu, he walked slowly back to the Kill-All-Crows Cult. This became a portrait of their future together. After completing missions, the Black Crow would carry a body bag on his back while leading Tanomu, who had poor stamina, walking beneath the skies of the Senluo wasteland. Sometimes they chatted about the Void Realm and various topics across the wasteland; sometimes they simply talked nonsense, as if they had an endless stream of words and topics that would never run dry. Yes, once upon a time, Tamashi had been a very chatty, talkative Black Crow. The Black Crow had assumed those days would go on forever. And so, he had never imagined that two people who once shared everything... *Shhk.* Because the Grey Fox blade struck down so swiftly, the Black Feather sorcerer thought for an instant that he was unharmed. But a second later, a vertical line of blood welled across his body, and he split in two. Amid the splattering blood, the Black Crow raised his head. Beneath his blood-stained crow mask, his eyes met the cold gaze of Mercury Trojan hiding behind the sorcerers in the distance. Now, they were left with nothing to say. *Sizzle!* The wine and blood pooling on the ground suddenly surged into countless high-pressure water arrows. Empowered by the Black Feather sorcerers' lightning sorcery, they crackled with eerie arcs of thunder and bore down like a driving tempest! Faced with such an attack, the Black Crow had no need to retreat into Igola's Sanctuary. He whirled and slashed through the thunderstorm like a petrel riding a gale. The lightning-water arrows cleaved by his Grey Fox blade burst into flashes of lightning, splashing vivid hues across the Black Crow in that instant. Igola and Gwen, however, did not have it so easy. Even though they used Mind Shriek and Starlight Curtain to block part of the assault, they still bore the brunt of half the volley—the Black Feather sorcerers were actually guiding every single water arrow. The two could only shrink their Sanctuary as much as possible to reduce the surface area under attack. Yet this was not the end. Colossal flames suddenly erupted across the hall, followed by howling gales converging into a sweeping firestorm. Compared to the lightning-water arrows, however, the firestorm's area was noticeably narrower. The Black Crow stepped onto sonic booms and dodged it outright, while Gwen promptly grabbed Igola, starlight gleaming beneath her feet as she slid with him to the other side—a movement sorcery spirit of the star sorcery school: Meteor! Yet the firestorm was aimed precisely at Igola and Gwen. As the inferno baked their Sanctuary, Igola had no choice but to unleash a close-range Mind Blast to dispel the flames. The very next second, however, the ground beneath their feet gave way! Though they took flight at once, another barrage of lightning-water arrows came crashing down! Suspended in midair, they would undoubtedly take the full brunt of the deluge! Perhaps excited that their miracle assault was working, a Black Feather sorcerer could not contain his thrill and widened his eyes toward Igola and Gwen. Yet through the gaps between flame and rain, he discovered Igola staring right back at him. After that, he could no longer tear his gaze away. The Swindler's eyes seemed brimming with a lethal magnetism that seduced one into ruin. The surroundings suddenly plunged into silence; he felt like a moth adrift in boundless darkness, with the Swindler as his only light. "Bart!" When Mercury Trojan's voice snapped Bart awake, he found he had already stepped out of the Sanctuary. Gripped by terror, he scrambled back toward the safe zone, but in that fleeting instant, a dark shadow flashed across his vision. It was the Death-Herald Black Crow. Then Bart heard a soft rush of wind—the sound of blood spraying from his throat, like the caw of a Death-Herald Black Crow. His head soared skyward, and his body crashed to the ground. "Do not look at them!" Mercury Trojan warned harshly. "Focus on casting!" Although he had successfully lured out and killed another Black Feather sorcerer, no joy showed on Igola's face; his heart grew increasingly heavy. Mercury Trojan's strategy was utterly simple: keep every sorcerer protected inside Sanctuaries and combine different schools of sorcery into more potent assaults, such as lightning and water, or wind and fire. Yet it was precisely this simplest of tactics that made Igola miserable. Because this was an outright clash of sorcery power! Aside from the four Sanctuary sorcerers, the other Black Feather sorcerers could also join the offensive. When neither side could pierce the opposing Sanctuary with their attacks, Igola could only pit his own sorcery power against the collective reserve of their entire force! This Black Feather Guard was clearly an elite unit hand-picked by Mercury Trojan. Heaven knew how she had trained them, but they obeyed every command without hesitation, their sorcery coordination honed to perfection. In addition to attacks like firestorms and lightning-water arrows, they could cast collective defensive miracles. Right now, a thin white mist draped over the Black Feather sorcerers' formation; while it severely hampered their vision, it drastically diminished the power of miracles relying on sound and light! Furthermore, their attacks were wide-area bombardments that required no precise aiming. They only had to confirm where Igola was and blast away, pushing their numerical superiority to the extreme! Igola's only advantage was that he could use mind miracles to lure out the Black Feather sorcerers from within, allowing the Black Crow roaming the periphery to pick them off swiftly. Working together, eight Black Feather sorcerers had already died beneath the Black Crow's Grey Fox blade. At that rate, however, more than half of Igola's sorcery power was already drained! They could not afford a war of attrition... Igola and Gwen slowly edged toward the mist gate leading back to the floor above. Mercury Trojan caught on at once, launching a firestorm to drive them back while having earth sorcerers erect a solid earthen wall before the gate! "Isn't it a bit late to think of running now?" Mercury Trojan said viciously. "Even if you retreat to the floor above, I'll chase you down. I won't forgive you until I watch you plunge into Hell." "What terrifying hatred," Igola sneered. "But how many will I drag into the grave with me before I die? Ten? Twenty? By then, how many of your Black Feather Guard will be left to follow you to a new kingdom and start anew? They're all seeds capable of becoming Sanctuary sorcerers in the future—can you really bear to squander their lives in the muck of the Silent Spiral?" "Who told you to spurn a woman's good intentions?" Mercury Trojan snorted. She produced a bronze flask, took a swig, and asked proudly, "Black Feather Guards, are you willing to wash away this humiliation for me?" "We are willing to lay down our lives for Your Eminence!" The cries of the Black Feather Guard echoed relentlessly throughout the hall. Igola's eyes turned frosty. His words just now had not been meant to negotiate with Mercury Trojan, but aimed at the Black Feather sorcerers, hoping to coax out cowardice or other cracks in their resolve. Yet their loyalty to Mercury Trojan was already that of zealots. What a Swindler did best was find the dark corners of an enemy's soul and continually rip them open and expand them until the enemy was swallowed whole by that darkness. Zealots, beyond doubt, were a Swindler's least favorite clientele. Even so, Igola had never truly intended to flee. Mercury Trojan's cunning and cruelty meant they could never coexist. Even if the Swindler did not care about himself, he had to consider Yaxiu heading down to the bottom floor—things between Yaxiu and the Silver Lantern were complicated enough without Mercury Trojan meddling as a third wheel! *Bang! Bang! Bang!* Just then, Igola noticed that the Black Feather Sanctuary sorcerer Daoqiong had been firing gunshots at the Black Crow non-stop, with various bullets tracking the crow's movements. But the Black Crow was simply too experienced against gun sorcerers; even facing a Sanctuary gun sorcerer, he evaded and parried with consummate ease. Hm? Only now did Igola realize that not just Daoqiong, but the other Black Feather sorcerers were watching the Black Crow as well. It was not that they lacked negative emotions; rather, their negative feelings were not directed at Igola, but aimed squarely at the Black Crow. That was why Igola had struggled to leverage their darker sides against himself. Black Crow Tamashi... Black Feather sorcerers... A strange idea formed in Igola's mind. He used hand signals to direct Gwen and the Black Crow. Though perplexed by his commands, they complied nonetheless. The Black Crow abruptly abandoned his hit-and-run evasion and went on the offensive against the Black Feather sorcerers. Blocked by Sanctuaries, his Grey Fox blade could not reach the sorcerers inside, but he successfully drew all their attention onto himself. At the same time, he repeatedly parried the bullets shot by Daoqiong, letting out a disdainful sneer that stoked waves of humiliated fury in the Sanctuary gun sorcerer. Right then, Tamashi suddenly leapt high into the air, his Grey Fox blade scraping all the way up the Sanctuary barrier like a black crow spreading its wings in flight! The Black Feather sorcerers froze for an instant before erupting into ecstatic delight, all aiming at the leaping Black Crow in midair—without leverage in the air and without being a sorcerer himself, taking to the air was practically a death wish! Right at that moment, Gwen shot out a speck of starlight—not toward the Black Feather sorcerers, but directly above the Black Crow! The starlight flared brilliantly, casting the Black Crow's shadow over the Black Feather sorcerers below! *Now!* Igola boldly unleashed a miracle, and the target was—the Black Crow's shadow! Miracle: Psychological Shadow Blast! The Black Crow's shadow instantly twisted and detonated like a bursting bubble! The explosion was completely silent, without even kicking up a gust of wind, yet numerous Black Feather sorcerers were blasted out of formation, and the defensive miracles protecting the Black Feather Sanctuary sorcerers were shattered by the blast! Daoqiong, the Sanctuary gun sorcerer, coughed up a mouthful of foul blood, but he kept aiming at the Black Crow. The moment he pulled the trigger, that crow in the sky would plummet— Miracle: Mind Thrust! Igola used the only miracle he possessed capable of piercing a Sanctuary. An invisible psychic dart traversed space and pierced straight through Daoqiong's head. He fell dead. Meanwhile, the other Black Feather Sanctuary sorcerers had already launched ranged attacks at the Black Crow. Yet at that critical juncture, the Black Crow's figure shifted ten meters to the side in bizarre fashion, landing smoothly on the ground. Taking the heads of several Black Feather sorcerers who had been blasted out of their formation, he returned unscathed into Igola's Sanctuary. "How did you shift in midair?" Igola could not help asking. He had actually braced himself for the Black Crow to be gravely injured. "Oh, a very simple trick," the Black Crow said. "I punch a vacuum beside me, and the air pressure pushes me over. If there's someone across from me, this trick can even let me swap places with them... Though creating a vacuum puts a heavy strain on my arm, so I can only do it once in a short span." Igola nodded as if he understood. But after a moment, he said, "Since Yaxiu isn't here, Gwen, you do the honors of calling out how utterly ridiculous this 'simple trick' is." Gwen could not help snickering, though she said nothing. "Your miracle just now was amazing," the Black Crow said. "Do it again!" "It wasn't me who was amazing, it was you," Igola said. "Hm?" "Activating that miracle requires two prerequisites: the target must be covered by a shadow, and the owner of the shadow must be something they dread," the Swindler said. "If it weren't for your shadow, that move wouldn't have possessed an ounce of power." "They dread me?" The Black Crow paused, then looked enlightened. "Of course. Evildoers always dread Judgment Retainers." "They don't dread your martial strength, but your very 'existence.'" A mocking smile laced Igola's tone. "They dread that you'll steal away Mercury Trojan's affection." "The Black Feather Guard is a personal retinue Mercury Trojan created with you as the blueprint. Every one of these Black Feather sorcerers is a substitute she found after losing you." By this time, Mercury Trojan had already reorganized the Black Feather Guard's formation. Cradling Daoqiong's corpse, she said slowly, "I will say it once more. Do not look at them. Focus on casting." "You are my last reliance," Mercury Trojan said, her voice soft and sorrowful. "I don't want to lose any more of you." The Black Feather sorcerers' eyes widened with fury and anguish, their teeth grinding so hard they almost cracked, as if they wished they could take their own lives on the spot to atone for their failing. But they did nothing and said nothing, merely staring silently at the ground before driving their sorcery spirits to unleash miracles! Suddenly, one of the Black Feather sorcerers collapsed, the patterns of a Blood Crow surfacing across his body—he had actually generated such immense guilt that it triggered the curse of the Kill-All-Crows Trial, bringing the Blood Crow to peck at his conscience! He had felt no guilt over joining the Four Pillar Cult, nor over any of his evil deeds, yet he felt guilty over failing Mercury Trojan's expectations! However, after a few words of comfort from Mercury Trojan, he quickly broke free of the curse and rejoined the casting ranks with grim resolve. "Looks like there won't be a second chance," Igola sighed helplessly. "They no longer have a psychological shadow over you." "Their psychological shadow was never me to begin with." The Black Crow tightened his grip on his Grey Fox blade and said calmly, "It was the Tanomu of their own imagination."