Chapter 75: Chapter 79: Dim Lights in the Narrow Alley
Somewhere deep in a dingy alley away from the abandoned factory, an inconspicuous, old house suddenly lit up with an oil lamp.
In the flickering lamp light, the simple and worn furnishings of the house were visible, along with the slightly moldy ceiling, faded and peeling wallpaper, and a slowly shrinking black crack in the corner of the room.
A terrifying Skeleton Hunting Dog was lying next to this crack, motionless as if it had no strength left, like a dead dog. On the other end of the dark iron chain, Sherry, dressed in a long skirt with black and white edges, carefully adjusted the wick of the oil lamp before moving to the window to anxiously check the outside sky.
“…the ‘Creation of the World’ is out,” the girl sighed lightly, “Luckily, I got home before night fully fell; otherwise, I might have died in some stinky ditch like a dog.”
Not far away, the Abyssal Hound lying flat on the floor immediately lifted its head, its throat emitting a hoarse, splitting sound, “Speak for yourself, don’t bring dogs into this.”
“You’re still able to talk? I thought this transition through the Mysterious Deep Sea cost you half your life,” Sherry turned her head and glanced at the dog, “Can you talk now? Why did you suddenly run away—and using the most dangerous transition through Mysterious Deep Sea? Didn’t you say there are countless demons in the Mysterious Deep Sea waiting to chew up that black skeleton of yours?”
“I can get around the many demons in the Mysterious Deep Sea. I might not beat them, but I can outrun them. But just now… if I hadn’t run immediately, I probably couldn’t have escaped,” the Abyssal Hound finally seemed to catch its breath and slightly lifted its head to look at Sherry, “You should be thankful I react quickly. When that terrifying fellow diverted his gaze, I opened the crack. Otherwise, as long as his eyes were on us, I wouldn’t have been able to open the escape route!”
Sherry frowned, slowly approaching the Abyssal Hound, “So, what exactly happened? Why are you so scared? This guy named ‘Duncan’… Have you seen him before? Is he some big shot from the obliteration church? Or is there a Profound Demon standing behind him?”
The Abyssal Hound seemed to recall a terribly terrifying sensation, its bones clacking all at once before lowering its voice and muttering, “Never seen him, I don’t recognize him.”
Sherry suddenly stared wide-eyed, “You’re this scared and you’ve never seen him?”
“Even if I’ve never seen him, as a Profound Demon, I can ‘see’ shadows more terrifying than death!” the Abyssal Hound suddenly lifted its head, its hollow, red eye sockets intensely “staring” at Sherry, “Inside a human’s shell stuffed with a swirling vortex of light and shadows that even drives me mad just looking at it! You tell me, how can I not be scared?!”
Having said this, it paused as if to organize its words to describe its feelings to Sherry, a fellow human. After a long time, it slowly began, “When he spoke, I could hear a thousand overlapped voices screaming simultaneously. When he looked at me, I felt every fate from my birth to my demise laid out flat on the ground for display. Let me tell you, the last time I felt this terrified, I had merely glimpsed ‘The Saint’ from afar in the Mysterious Deep Sea! But, The Saint wouldn’t move. Today, we met someone who could move and act!”
Sherry was creeped out by the dog’s scary tone and gaze (though its eyes were just glowing hollows), but still instinctively muttered, “I didn’t feel anything back then… I even thought he seemed kind…”
“That’s why sometimes I really envy you humans with your slow and inefficient perception—this barrier of ignorance is truly a treasure bestowed by the world. It lets you die smiling in the midst of insane, twisting disasters,” the Abyssal Hound feebly laid down again, “Keep being blindly ignorant. This world can be a bit better—for unfortunate little dogs like me, it’s not so lucky. Every now and then I see things that would scare me to death…”
“…how the hell can there be such a cowardly Profound Demon like you in the world,” Sherry couldn’t help but give the dog a sidelong glance, then as if struck by a thought, hesitated and said, “But now that you’ve mentioned it, I kind of feel like we shouldn’t have run… If he really is as powerful as you say, then maybe tying up with him could be beneficial! Look, he was quite nice to us just now, even asked us questions, and it seems he doesn’t get along with those sunlight bastards either, isn’t this an opportunity? I could act cute, play up the charm, maybe find a backer…”
Before the girl finished speaking, the black iron chain clanged, and the dog that was lying dead a second ago suddenly sprang up, “Stop that crazy notion immediately! Your chaos is almost enough to open a Subspace passage!”
Then, it paused before continuing anxiously, “Listen, never deal with those who wear human shells but harbor indescribable inner beings. They are more cunning than pure demons, more vicious than real humans. Their seemingly amiable talks are always just the appetizer to a feast—despite his friendly demeanor just now, do you think, after you’ve told him everything you know, he would let you leave completely intact?”
It seemed the Abyssal Hound’s unprecedented stern tone had an effect, and Sherry seemed somewhat subdued, finally giving up her bold ideas, but still murmuring, “Alright, alright—but why do you sound like a nagging mother, Dog?”
The Abyssal Hound collapsed to the floor, “Nonsense, I raised you!”
Sherry huffed, then looked outside the window. Seeing the night slowly falling, she stepped towards the window.
The black iron chain stretched taut, and as the girl moved, the reluctant Abyssal Hound, lying down to rest, was helplessly dragged along the ground. This massive, heavy Profound Demon was casually dragged back and forth by Sherry, appearing surprisingly weightless in her hands, “What are you trying to do now, can’t you let me rest for a bit, today has been so exhausting…”
“Am I the one mainly putting in the effort in fights, being at the forefront?” Sherry didn’t turn her head as she looked outside, “I’m checking the situation outside… It’s completely dark now, and the street lights have just come on.”
“After all, this is a poor district. The fact that the authorities can ensure these street lights maintain the most basic demon-repelling capabilities is already pretty good; don’t expect them to light up before dusk like in other districts,” A-Gou muttered, then turned to look again at the oil lamp on the old dining table, “Turn off the lamp later, oil is quite expensive.”
Sherry pursed her lips, “…Let’s turn it off before going to sleep, otherwise it’s too dark in the house.”
A-Gou’s stomach growled, but he didn’t say anything.
Within the City-State, the city’s managers and builders had strictly planned the positioning and quantity of “street lamps,” the most basic demon-warding devices, spread throughout the city. The gas lamps could ensure the entire district was protected after nightfall, making it safe to use either electric or oil lamps inside houses, even safe to turn off the room lights after the street lights were lit.
But even in bustling cities, there are forgotten corners; in areas even older and more dilapidated than the Lower City District, the number of gas street lamps was far fewer than in other areas. These street lamps were barely enough to maintain safety between day and night, and such a “barely sufficient” state was obviously not comforting enough.
Thus, in poor districts, flame-lit oil lamps and grease candles became essential for every household.
If the street lamps were delayed even momentarily, the flames at home could at least temporarily fend off the darkness after sunset.
Of course, another important reason many poor families used oil lamps and candles was that they couldn’t afford the relatively high costs of electric retrofitting.
Electric lights were bright, clean, and safe, and in secure districts, they were already the preferred choice for household lighting. But in this small hut in the slums…
What still brought Sherry and A-Gou a sense of security was only the flickering flame in that old lamp.
In the dim firelight, the voice of the Abyssal Hound broke the silence, “…Do we still need to go out and act during this period?”
“Yes.”
“Continue to mess with those ‘Sun bastards’?”
“It’s about gathering intelligence from them.”
“It’s more or less the same… but from what we’ve seen today, even they don’t seem to know exactly what happened eleven years ago; they were also asking the locals…”
“This is because today’s people just happened to be from Rensa; maybe next time we’ll find something.”
“Alright, as long as you’re happy.”
“A-Gou, next time you weave a Disguise for me, just make it convincing, don’t get exposed halfway through again.”
“I just hope we don’t run into that terrifying person from today again—I suspect our presence was exposed in advance because of such a strong ‘disturbance’ on the scene…”
“Alright, alright, whatever you say…”