Part 1 The Joker Chapter 209 – Light

　　”Whoa!”

　　The baby in Mego Oss’s stomach let out a cry, squirming and trying to descend, trying to help its mother out of her predicament.

　　The thin, black, cold, slippery threads fell back as if frightened and as if gripped by an invisible force.

　　”Whoa!”

　　Dunn and Klein simultaneously experienced obvious dizziness, their throats tightened on their own, their airways were constantly compressed, and their breathing instantly became difficult.

　　The ends of their noses, the corners of their eyes, and the sides of their ears dripped downward with crimson, and all the capillaries seemed to have cracked open.

　　Had it not been for the ravings and hisses that Klein always endured before entering the gray mist, and had it not been for Dunn holding the ashes of St. Selene in his hands, they would have fainted, just as Leonard Mitchell had.

　　The headless body of Mego Oss turned and faced Klein squarely, burnt to the point where chunks of skin and blood fell away and the white bone blade, holy and demonic, reflected clearly in the other man’s eyes.

　　Just rely on the rich experience to get rid of the influence of the Klein suddenly scalp numb, forget the right chest injury, seems to have seen the other side in a flash posture frantically pouncing, do not give himself a chance to chant the incantation, infused with spirituality, throw “Yang Yan Charm”.

　　Just as he was about to roll to avoid it, Klein saw Megalios suddenly stop, saw Dunn-Smith’s black trench coat flutter backward, saw the captain in front of him bury his head, and his back protruded into thick, writhing strips one after another, as if there were vipers, tentacles, and monsters hidden underneath!

　　Dunn was using his “nightmare” ability to forcefully interfere with Megalios.

　　Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! As soon as Megalios struggled, the thick stripes that protruded from Dunn’s body simultaneously exploded!

　　A large amount of, bright red blood splattered out, raining down like a torrential downpour on every corner around them.

　　For this result, the pale-faced Dunn wasn’t dismayed, because that blood was absorbed by the rooted black thin threads created by St. Selene’s ashes!

　　Absorbed!

　　Those countless cold, slippery, and tentacle-like thin threads became furious all of a sudden, changed their retreat to advance, and surged back up, firmly wrapping around Mego Oss, wrapping around her raised and starting to squirm abdomen.

　　Chance!

　　Klein was nervous and elated, the ancient Hermetic word for “light” already brewing in his throat.

　　”Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!”

　　The baby’s cry rang out once more, more continuous and more urgent than a moment ago!

　　The black, uncountable, nearly invisible threads suddenly lurched as if they had been struck by lightning, trembling and shivering as they recovered.

　　Dunn looked at this scene, realizing that Mego Oss was about to get out of the trap, the expression on his face changed for a moment, and with barely half a moment’s hesitation, he withdrew his right hand, opened his five fingers, and plunged them into his own chest, the left side of his chest, with a poof!

　　His right hand quickly withdrew, stained with blood, his five fingers clutching a heart that carried with it the feeling of nightly peace and dreamy multiplicity, a heart that was still contracting and expanding!

　　Captain …… Klein’s vision flew blurry as he watched Dunn Smith shove the heart he held in his right hand into the urn of St. Selene.

　　Woo! Woo! Woo!

　　Like the sobbing of nightmare voices in the dead of night, the uncountable thin black threads re-tightened with an unusually cold and hushed sensation, and firmly and deathly imprisoned Mego Oss!

　　Even as another baby’s cry came from Mego Oss’s belly, they did not loosen, even locking the terrible sound within their own wrappings!

　　Tears mixed with blood slipped from Klein’s eyes, and an ancient Hermetic word spat low from his mouth:

　　”Light!”

　　The light that illuminates the darkness! The light that brings warmth!

　　What was left of his aura poured almost entirely into the thin gold piece engraved with a mysterious pattern, and his head was suddenly empty and dizzy.

　　Gathering his last strength, Klein threw the “Yang Yan Charm” at Megalios, who was imprisoned by countless thin black threads.

　　This time, those black threads didn’t retreat in advance, no longer following their instincts, as if they had been instructed by a certain will.

　　Poof! Poof!

　　Inside St. Selene’s urn, Dunn’s bright red heart was still beating.

　　The sunlight once again pierced through the large hole in the ceiling, penetrated the entire third floor, and shone into the Blackthorn Security Company, almost solidifying into a pillar.

　　It was pulled by the “Yang Yan Charm” and reflected towards Mego Oz.

　　The two merged above the headless monster and exploded like a sun!

　　Boom!

　　In the blazing white light, Klein closed his eyes and engraved the last image in his mind:

　　Mego Oss lost her left arm, lost her head, and the charred black body that had lost so much of its flesh and blood instantly disintegrated, and inside there was something half-illusory, half-real and terrifying that no longer had reality to fall back on, unable to complete the final step of its transformation, and unwillingly and angrily dissolving into blackness and melting away into the light and the flames.

　　Rumble!

　　The whole house shook violently, but this was only the slight after-effects of the “Yang Yan Charm”.

　　Unlike normal bombs, its power was cohesive and tightened!

　　Klein barely managed to stabilize himself and opened his eyes a few seconds later to look ahead.

　　He saw a wall collapsing, he saw a charred circle where Mego Oss had been standing, and the floor was surprisingly only half melted.

　　He saw a blood-stained, curled, fire-marked umbilical cord laying there, he saw Dunn Smith’s figure in a thin black trench coat still standing in the same spot, he saw the heart still beating slowly inside the urn of St. Selene, and he saw Leonard Mitchell lying across the room not knowing if he was dead or alive.

　　The highly exhausted Klein was overcome with joy, feeling as if he could still salvage the captain with ritual magic, feeling as if Mego Oss and the baby in her womb were truly being addressed, no, the latter was closer to being interrupted and exorcized.

　　At that moment, Dunn-Smith turned his head sideways and looked over at Krynn, a gentle, easy smile on his pale face, his voice as mellow as ever:

　　”We saved Tingen.”

　　After he said that, he looked like he was back in his twenties, no longer so stoic and no longer so proper as he squeezed his left eye at Klein.

　　Klein’s expression froze on his face as he saw the heart inside the urn of St. Selene stop beating and turn into a bright spot of light that dissipated into the surroundings, and he saw the captain’s body fall backward and his hands loosen up.

　　It was all like a picture composed, yet it was impossible to stop.

　　Thud!

　　St. Selene’s urn fell to the ground, just like Klein’s heart.

　　Grunt! Gulp! Though the urn was left uncovered, the deep darkness within blocked the exit and kept the fine sandy grains of radiance from spilling half of it as this box tumbled and rolled toward Klein.

　　Dunn Smith collapsed on the ragged floor, his deep gray eyes losing all their brilliance, facing the broken hole into which the sunlight had spilled.

　　Captain! Crane’s vision blurred again and tried to call out, but the word and the words that followed stuck in his throat:

　　We can’t let you go either ……

　　At this time, St. Selene’s urn rolled to his feet.

　　Suddenly, Klein’s chest ached, his pupils clenched, and his entire body was instantly fixed in place.

　　He buried his head down and was stunned to see a slightly pale palm penetrating out from his left chest position, which was stained with blood.

　　Mei Gao Ou Si is still not dead …… No, the new enemy …… that black hand behind the scenes …… am I going to die ……

　　Klein’s thoughts flew disorganized, his eyes almost lost focus, while his body fell softly toward the side.

　　His breathing gradually came to a standstill, and finally he only felt the palm jerk back, seeing only a pair of shiny leather boots and a downward, slightly pale hand.

　　It held the urn of St. Selene.

　　Darkness fell before his eyes, and Klein lost all consciousness.

　　……

　　The ruined Blackthorn Security was littered with burn marks and broken things, but there was not a sound, it was like a tomb.

　　After a few minutes, Leonard Mitchell’s body moved and his eyes slowly opened.

　　He straightened up with difficulty and looked around, seeing Dunn Smith, who had fallen to the floor, and Klein, whose eyes were wide open and frozen in shock, both with visible wounds on the left side of their chests.

　　No …… Leonard’s throat squeezed out a word, and he stumbled, half crawling, half walking, to the vicinity of Dunn, to Klein’s body.

　　He kept verifying it, kept going back and forth between the two, but in the end he had to accept the unchangeable result.

　　Leonard’s legs gave way and he fell to his knees, pain filling his turquoise eyes as tear after tear crossed his face, washing away the blood and the dust.

　　He listened sideways for two seconds, then suddenly half-slumped down, roared in anger, clenched his fists, and pounded them into the floor.

　　Thud! Dang! Thud!

　　Leonard kept on weeping and pounding the floor, with more than a distinct note of hatred in his grief, more than a palpable sense of self-loathing.

　　Da da da da, the sound of fast running up the stairs, Leonard raised his head, with blurred vision to see the “substitute punisher” and “mechanical heart” members who had just arrived.