Steam Age: I Fight Against Divine Authority with Otherworldly Tales

Chapter 88 The Demon in the Rain

The alley was dimly lit in the rain. Edmund looked at Suren. Although he was shocked by Suren's sudden appearance, his inherent pride prevented him from showing any emotion. He took a step back to create some distance, trying his best to remain calm, and said with a sneer, "A rat is a rat, resorting to such underhanded tricks."

Suren didn't speak, but just stared coldly at Edmund.

Edmund felt a little uneasy under his gaze. He had originally planned to attack immediately if he was discovered, but for some reason he hesitated now, as if his instincts were warning him not to do so.

At this moment, Suren suddenly spoke up: "If your teacher, Leonard, had killed Karl and even kept the 'Prometheus' manuscript, what would you have done?"

Edmund was taken aback; he hadn't expected Suren to suddenly ask such an absurd question.

Suppressing the strange feeling in his heart, he adopted his usual arrogant demeanor and raised his chin: "If that's the case, it means this is the church's decision. The church is above all else, and Karl is a heretic!"

"Sigh..." Suren shook her head and sighed in disappointment, "I gave you a chance."

Hearing Suren's calm words, a great unease spread through Edmund's heart. He remembered his teacher's warning, and his heart began to race, as if he were the mouse that had fallen into the trap.

Impossible! He's just a "Seeker of Reason," while I've just been promoted to "Awakener." He can't possibly threaten me!

Edmund reassured himself, then looked at Suren, who was standing with his head bowed, and said with a hint of bravado but not quite, "You're just a lowly 'Those Who See Through Reason,' but I am now an 'Awakener'!"

Suren slowly raised her head, her face showing none of the fear Edmund had expected; instead, her eyes were filled with murderous intent.

"If you have to blame someone, blame your bad luck; it just so happens to be a rainy day."

As Suren finished speaking, a sudden, inexplicable feeling of unease filled Edmund's entire body. Before he could react, pairs of pale hands emerged from the raindrops around him, grabbing his arms, ankles, and torso!

In an instant, Edmund was silently dragged into the rain.

The raindrops around Suren emitted a pale blue light. He turned slightly to the side, and the instant he touched the raindrops, he vanished. The entire alley was empty, with only the pattering of the rain remaining.

When Edmund opened his eyes again, he found himself in a strange space. The buildings here were the same as those in the alley, except that the walls and other scenery were reversed, and the surface had a hazy, illusory feel.

What terrified him even more was that he felt his life force slowly draining away, and he couldn't even find the source of the attack!

What exactly is this place?

Why can Suren, who is a deathbird, attack me on his own initiative?

Why does he possess abilities that are completely different from those of a "battlefield alchemist"?

One thought after another popped into Edmund's head, and fear gradually enveloped him. Everything that had just happened was too fast and too strange, leaving him somewhat at a loss.

Just then, a pale blue light shone five meters in front of him, and a figure appeared out of thin air—it was Suren!

"Where am I?! What have you done?!" Edmund shouted instinctively as he looked at Suren.

He didn't expect Suren to answer. As he spoke, he raised his hand, preparing to activate his ability, but Suren moved even faster!

A phantom tentacle made of black shadow appeared out of thin air in front of Suren. The tentacle shot towards Edmund, who tried to turn his body to dodge, but the tentacle was too fast. Almost instantly, the tentacle touched him.

The tentacle vanished the instant it touched Edmund, as if it had been an illusion.

However, only Edmund knew that the illusory tentacle was not an illusion. At this moment, it was tightly wrapped around a power node in his consciousness, which belonged to the power node of [Forced Exchange]!

Edmund attempted to inject "Source Knowledge" into this node, only to find that "Source Knowledge" was like a mud ox entering the sea, instantly swallowed by the tentacles.

What on earth is going on?!

Edmund couldn't help but panic. He had no idea what Suren's abilities were. This was the first time he had entered such a dangerous situation since joining the church!

Driven by the instinct for survival, he frantically tried to activate his ability, and a balance scale pattern was about to form in the air.

But at that moment, Edmund felt a burning sensation on his face. In his eyes, a churning fireball exploded out of thin air in front of his left cheek. A sharp pain shot through his cheek, causing him to involuntarily take a step back.

Edmund's face was half burned by the flames, a bloody mess, and his abilities were forced to stop, the exploding fireball forcing him to swallow the incantation he was about to utter.

But Suren's attack did not end there. After the fireball exploded, it quickly split into four smaller fireballs, which landed on the illusory ground and formed miniature walls of fire.

Four walls of fire burned along the ground, surrounding Edmund, and in an instant, they leaped up Edmund's trouser leg!

Edmund had no time to care about the flames on his body, because he discovered that rows of dense white buds had appeared on the burnt parts of his face. The buds were wriggling wildly, as if trying to repair the charred skin!

"Ah!!!" The immense pain caused him to involuntarily let out a scream.

By this time, the flames on the ground had completely spread to Edmund's entire body, and now he looked like a man of fire!

Even more terrifying, he could see that the same white fleshy buds were growing from the places where the flames had burned!

The frantic writhing of these white granulations attempts to heal the scalding wounds, but the flames on the granulations only create new wounds. These two forces constantly cancel each other out, creating a bizarre scene.

Suren stood still, coldly watching Edmund scream in agony.

Edmund rolled on the ground in an attempt to extinguish the flames, but all his efforts were in vain.

At this moment, his entire body was covered in flames and fleshy growths, resembling a corpse crawling with fat worms, looking disgusting and miserable.

He looked at the black-haired youth standing before him, the fear of death gripping his heart. He stretched out a hand with difficulty, trying to call out to Suren: "Help..."

In the end, he was unable to utter a complete sentence. His whole body was like a withered rag, eventually being consumed by the remaining flames and turned into a large pile of ashes, leaving only a piece of glowing blue crystal—"The Bridge of the Dead".