The Final Protectors

Chapter 12: Abyss Dhole Part 3

When the “legendary” Archbishop Aldo had appeared in front of the people again, people basically began referring to him as “eccentric” instead.

The good thing was that the Temple was a place where “bizzare events happened yearly, and such events were unusually plenty this year”. Although everyone had suffered some shock for a while, it was not to the extent that they found it unbelievable.

When the four left the Temple Palace with their own thoughts, they found that the sky had already turned dark.

Sculler could not handle it long ago. Half of his body was leaning on Roy. Once they exited the place, Roy supported him to his rest area.

Mr. Good stretched lazily and told Jel, “Should it be convenient, may I pay a visit to that ancient cleric staying with you?”

The current Archbishop had a large beer belly. Normally, when someone reached his weight, their size could give them a calm air, like that of an unmoving mountain—such as a Calico cat—and now, Mr. Good had even seen Archbishop Aldo. Even if someone told him that the person living in Jel’s house was Karlos himself, he won’t find it too staggering.

Jel dialed the phone number in his own residence, but no one picked it up. He sighed, finding it to be within expectations—compared to the mysterious and stern Archbishop Aldo who absolutely fitted everyone’s image of him, that ancient cleric in his house was truly too exasperating.

As for why they still had not returned even after their long shopping trip, Jel believed that John Smith’s soul had likely been enticed away by some ice cream shop or game center.

So, he called Evan next. Thrice, but all of them were unanswered.

Jel could only turn to tell the Archbishop, “I can’t get a hold of them right now. Maybe they’re not home yet, so I suggest having dinner first.”

Archbishop Good chuckled, “The temple’s blueberry cheese pie had always been one of the State of Salla’s Ten Delicacies, but we haven’t had much of a chance to try it. How about we try it today?”

Just like this, the two of them went to eat jam and cheese without any pressure, while the miserable Evan was in a life and death race against time on ice.

He slipped and nearly rolled all the way down from the narrow stairs. The ice sword that John gave him also dropped down. Luckily, the spiral shape of the stairs prevented the sword from rolling to the next step. Evan picked it up with both his feet and hands. He had not even released a sigh of relief when he saw John do something terrifying—the Abyss Dhole had already reached him, but he was still standing there, composed.

Then, the icy layer beneath his feet suddenly transformed into a gigantic spiral slide—it was what they saw in the playground in the mall in the afternoon. Self-taught, John leapt up on it with a lift of his legs, and slid straight down. He even had the time to blow a whistle at the spawned Evan on the floor. “Quickly run, bro! If you space out any more, I’ll be smashed into pancake… Cough, cough, cough.”

Even his fragile coughing could not conceal the reality of him playing on the slide happily…

But things did not look as positive beneath the slide. In place of a ballpit to lighten the fall, there was only icy cold lakewater. But John did not mind. The speed of the lakewater spiralling upwards and becoming an ice ladder was ultimately still slightly faster than him sliding down.

Evan gritted his teeth. Like an idiotic tortoise sliding on an icy surface, with all of his strength, he managed to climb up, leaving a layer of sweat on his forehead.

On the other hand, the Abyss Dhole clearly did not like the playground. It roared in rage, beginning to use its large body to hit the frame of the “ice ladder”—even if the ladder did not look that weak, bits of ice continued to be scrapped off with each attack. It made Evan’s heart thump hard in fear.

John’s voice came from below him. “What are you looking at me for? Stop wasting time! Quickly run!”

With a “boom”, the entire slide broke from the assault. Large broken ice pieces dropped down towards John’s head.

Evan screamed in fear—even if ice was lighter than water, such a large piece of ice would turn Mr. Cleric into a Cleric pancake. He felt his heart rise to his throat and hurriedly dropped down on the floor, leaning by the edge of the ice ladder as he looked down nervously.

Just as the ice piece was about to touch John’s good-looking head, it suddenly turned into water. At the same time, the ice at the Abyss Dhole’s feet exploded. Other than the still suspended ladder under Evan’s feet which went against the law of physics, the entire lake surface had instantly been swallowed up by the icy lakewater.

“John!”

Evan screamed at the top of his lungs. John did not respond, but the water surface began to shake fiercely. A gigantic being broke the surface—My Lord! The Abyss Dhole had grown in size again!

There must be agar in its body, to expand in size the moment it hit the water!

Yet, in the very moment the Abyss Dhole broke the water surface, the water on its body instantly turned into ice. It was completely frozen into an ice sculpture.

John’s head finally appeared above the lake surface. He stretched a hand to grab a piece of floating ice, waving hard at Evan, “Aim behind its neck, aim! Jump!”

Evan’s legs were shaking all over. He tightened his grip on the ice sword, inching anxiously at high ground… Aim behind its neck?

How was he supposed to aim when he jumped down? It wasn’t like he could “walk on air”! There was a higher chance of stabbing into the Abyss Dhole’s buttocks or its tail, alright?

“Evan, what are you dilly-dallying for!” The ice layer on the Abyss Dhole was cracking open at a visible speed. The heavy ice layer would not be able to seal this guy up for much longer.

At this crucial stage, Evan suddenly felt a desire to pee rise up in him. He really even had the desire to just die.

“For the sake of the Temple’s ragged rooftop, stop staring at it so tenderly, do something!” John yelled.

Evan sucked in a deep breath, shutting his eyes. Along with a scream, he leaped up. “Ah—-”

Then as straight as a wooden stick, he held that formidable ice sword and danced wildly in the air while brandishing his claws… and missed the Abyss Dhole, plopping down into the water instead.

Bubbles plopped from the water surface.

John’s face that was turning green from the biting cold finally showed an expression as though he had just witnessed a tragic scene.

He couldn’t stab it even when the prey was nailed there. Such a talented fellow truly did have a great significance in opening a new chapter in John’s thrilling life.

Mr. Evan Gerardo, you’re truly a great pioneer that transcends generations!

John knew that as an excellent hunter, he should not think this way. But right now, other than the word “help”, no other words could truly describe his current state of despair.

His thoughts suddenly resonated with Roy’s. Why would the Temple let such a guy graduate? Had the current Archbishop already turn senile?!

At the same time, the Abyss Dhole finally emitted an enraged roar. It broke free of John’s restraints, the giant ice shards breaking from his body. It howled towards the sky. The ice had melted now.

The Abyss Dhole who was nearly frozen into ice was deeply furious. In the next instant, it opened its mouth wide, leaning down to bite John lying on the water surface.

John sighed. The water around him suddenly split apart in two directions. Beneath his side, a tiny ice layer formed just so he could stand on it. There was an additional ice sword in John’s hand. Blood and water both rolled down from his chest wound. While he stood upright, his entire person emitted a cold, murderous intent.

Just as he was planning to welcome the Abyss Dhole’s sharp teeth with force, the Abyss Dhole’s gigantic body suddenly twitched. As though it suffered immense suffering, it started swinging its body with its utmost. Even Evan who dropped into the water was tossed out.

Although John had not figured out what was going on, it did not hinder his immediate decision—The area under the Abyss Dhole was frozen into an ice circle that firmly trapped it inside. The ice ladder suspended in the air fell straight down, turning into a sharp knife in the air before it plunged straight into the Abyss Dhole’s throat. 

This time, the beast did not even make a single sound before it rolled straight into Hell to meet Satan.

Once the owner of the “field” was gone, it immediately broke apart. The dense dark abyss instantly vanished, while the Abyss Dhole’s corpse floated on an ice rock. It had already turned to the size of a normal dhole.

John pressed on his torn wound with a pale face. He panted for a while before he went to check the Abyss Dhole’s corpse. When he saw the ice sword that jutted out from its buttocks and even caused its tail to stand straight up… he fell silent.

“My original intention was for you to stab its neck,” John said calmly.

“I… I didn’t aim right,” Evan answered bashfully, explaining quietly, “But I fell into the water, right on its tail. The tail brushed me away a few times and I even choked on the water, so I only remembered to stab its body…”

“Mn, you did stab it.” John pulled the Abyss Dhole’s corpse with the tip of his feet, replying with an even more complicated expression, “You stabbed its asshole.”

Evan, “…”

John guffawed shortly but his body swayed as he kneeled on the ice surface.

“My God! Why are you…” Evan climbed up in panic. He hadn’t even stood up steadily when he saw the blood that flowed out from his torn chest wound. Thus, without even completing his sentence, his legs transformed into noodles as he fainted on the ice surface feebly.

Utterly spent, John fell on the ice surface, forcing down the bloody breath that raised up in his throat. Enjoying himself even in his suffering, he concluded his journey today—it was really a fucking fulfilling and meaningful day.

While enjoying the cheese pie, Jel once again called Evan’s phone only to find out that it was switched off. He shrugged, closing his phone and telling Mr. Good, “I was too agitated earlier and actually forgot to ask Archbishop Aldo about the Cleric Knight. Right, and about Karlos too.”

Mr. Good was thoughtful. “You will have a chance to meet the Archbishop. But as for your ancestor, wouldn’t it be the same if you ask your Mr. Cleric?”

“That’s true too.” Jel laughed. “To be honest, I had even imagined the wildest thing. That John was Karlos.”
Mr. Good stilled. “Why not? It is not like the possibility doesn’t exist.”

“Roy said that Karlos had never been a Cleric Knight before,” Jel said, “And objectively… I can’t see any similarities between him and that statue in the Adoratt Cemetery.”

“In your mind, what kind of person should Karlos be?”
Jel pondered. “Even if he’s not like the image of that warrior in the cemetery, he was probably similar to Archbishop Aldo. Few words, distant but polite, making it difficult to get closer to him, so we can only worship him… Of course, I still think that Mr. Smith is cuter. You’ll understand if you see him. It’s really unbelievable that there used to be such a young and energetic cleric in the Temple. He’s very likeable… like a living person.”

Like a living person.

Jel recalled Aldo’s pair of icy-cold, grey eyes that glanced past everyone… Even at the Barrier’s core, a visible coldness was hidden in his gaze.

Jel put himself in his shoes. If he woke up one day only to be told that it was already a thousand years later, even if he hoped to behave a little smarter, a little stable, and tried his best to remain unaffected, his heart would still be filled with a fresh curiosity and a desire to explore this new world.

However, Archbishop Aldo, he did not even want to give it a single look.

Even if this was the world that he protected from birth to death, and from death to life.

Jel suddenly felt that aside from the Barrier, there was no meaning at all to Archbishop Aldo’s life.