Re: In My Bloody Hit Novel-Chapter 750: City Of Indulgence.

Silmarien walked beside Chiron as the air beyond the Veil shimmered with muted colors—neither sky nor void, but something in between. After a moment, he spoke, voice low.

"Where exactly are we heading?"

Chiron did not slow. His gaze was fixed forward, unreadable.

"A remote place," he replied simply. "Even beyond the Veil, the Zodiac Families and the Holy Church do not own everything."

He glanced sideways at Silmarien, a faint curve at the edge of his lips.

"They are conquerors, not gardeners. They only keep what they believe is fruitful. Anything deemed barren, useless, or inconvenient… they abandon."

Silmarien listened closely.

"One such place," Chiron continued, "is the old ancestral ground of the elves. From a thousand years ago—before your ancestor's pride sealed itself into a Cardinal Forbidden Zone after losing the war."

Understanding flickered in Silmarien's eyes. He nodded slowly.

Then he leaned down, picking something off the ashen ground.

A wanted poster.

Chiron's face stared back at them—clean, righteous, almost heroic in the exaggerated way propaganda always was. Crimson seals of the Holy Church stamped the edges, Zodiac sigils burned into the corners. Beneath the image were words declaring him an enemy of order, a blasphemer, a calamity given flesh.

Silmarien raised a brow.

"So," he said mildly, holding it up. "How do we plan to reach this place when you're one of the most wanted criminals in existence?"

Chiron glanced at the poster.

Then he waved a hand.

Blood rose from his skin like mist, flowing upward and sideways, folding over his features. Bones shifted with soft, wet sounds. His eyes darkened, his jaw narrowed, his hair lightened. In the span of a breath, the man on the poster no longer matched the one standing before Silmarien.

Where Chiron had been, another face now existed. It looked ordinary, forgettable, wrong in a way that drew no attention.

The blood sank back into his body.

Silmarien exhaled softly. "…Convenient."

Chiron turned away, already moving. He gestured toward a shadowed corner of the vast expanse.

Silmarien followed his gaze—and stilled.

There, perched along jagged outcroppings of black stone, were ravens.

Not birds.

Flying core beasts. Each the size of a carriage, feathers like layered blades of obsidian, eyes glowing with cold, predatory intelligence. Their wings twitched restlessly, stirring violent currents of air as they waited.

"Our transportation," Chiron said. "They know the dead paths."

Another Convenient reason he agreed to pick this gate.

The other side where they now stood was not protected for a lack of man power and it was nearest to his destination.

Chiron looked back at Silmarien, tone suddenly brisk.

"We should hurry. Even flying, it will take several days to reach the Elven ancestral grounds."

One of the ravens let out a low, echoing croak that vibrated through the air like distant thunder.

Silmarien tightened his grip on the wanted poster, then let it fall to the ground.

And followed Chiron toward the waiting beasts.

It took a full week of flight.

Not a clean one either.

They changed core beasts three times, abandoning exhausted ravens mid-journey and summoning fresh ones chiron attracted over using blood runes he etched into the sky itself.

He had become really proficient in his blood curse techniques.

Of course, each transfer was done in silence, precision bordering on ritual, for this stretch of land lay under the loose surveillance of the Holy Church and several wandering detachments of the Zodiac Families.

More than once, patrol lights cut through the clouds like spears.

The first encounter came on the third night.

A Holy Church wing, six silver knights riding luminous mechanical constructs, crossed their path without warning.

While Chiron was confident in his disguise, he some had to be gotten rid of.

Or rather practised with. After all, he was getting used to his new power in a fight.

There was no negotiation. Chiron descended first.

His body unraveling into a storm of blood threads midair, reforming behind the rear knight.

The sky screamed.

Blood spears bloomed from the knight's chest while black-red flames erupted outward, devouring sound, light, and matter alike.

All the while, Silmarien watched from the side, even clapping his hands for Chiron as he cheered him on.

If any one saw this, they would relize that these two were a weird and scary duo.

The remaining silver knights tried to scatter, prayers already forming on their lips as spiritual energy gathered—

Too slow.

Chiron's flames did not burn like fire. They erased. Where they passed, existence itself thinned, memory unraveling as if it had never been.

When the flames receded, there were no corpses. No broken constructs. Not even scorched air.

Only empty sky. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

This was the fruit of his effort. Yes. Chiron had began to merge Faith into his battle techniques.

After seeing what that divine entity did when it came for his blessed land, he had learned.

Back then, he had felt the divine energy in every attack.

While he was not yet a god, and still hovering at the rim of demi God, he learnt how to incorporate faith with his abilities to produce similar effects as divine energy.

This time around, even the formally clapping Silmarien watched in silence.

Impressed.

The second fight was worse.

But still enjoyable.

It was a Zodiac patrol—beast-blooded cultivators bearing constellation marks—ambushed them near a fractured ley corridor.

This time Silmarien fought as well, arrows of mother-tree wood screaming through the air, each strike draining core energy from its target, leaving screaming husks to fall into the void below.

When it ended, Chiron descended alone.

Blood flooded the battlefield like a tide, then ignited.

His flames swept outward in a slow, deliberate wave, consuming blood, weapons, corpses, even the concept of conflict itself.

When he was done, there was nothing left that could be traced—no residue, no spatial disturbance, no echo for those annoying zodiac family diviners to follow.

"Paranoia," Chiron said calmly as he returned to his mount.

Silmarien did not argue.

By the seventh day, the sky began to change.

The Veil thinned. The air grew heavier, saturated with old, forgotten essence. Broken landmasses appeared below, stitched together by bridges of light and commerce rather than ley lines.

And then they arrived.

The ravens circled once before descending.

Silmarien leaned forward, peering down—and froze.

Below them was not a sacred forest like he had assumed they would see.

Not ruins.

Not even a battlefield.

It was a city.

Neon-colored lanterns burned through the twilight. Towers of glass and stone rose crookedly, balconies draped with silk and illusion screens. Music drifted upward—laughing, sensual, indulgent. Streets glowed red and violet, lined with pleasure houses, markets of flesh and fantasy, laughter thick with vice.

A red-light district.

Silmarien slowly turned his head toward Chiron, one brow lifting.

"…This," he said carefully, "is the ancestral ground of the elves?"

Chiron lnew he had every reason to doubt it. But then again, the elves were conquered some 1000 years ago.

Life had to continue. Besides this was made the way it was intensionally.

Chiron's lips curved faintly.

"Yes. It is. A red light district."

The ravens continued their descent as the city's lights reflected in his eyes like burning embers.

The mounts descended only as far as the outer edge of the city.

A sharp whistle cut through the air, followed by a curt gesture from the ramparts.

The rule was clear—no flying core beasts beyond this point. Even here, law existed, though it bent more than it stood straight.

Chiron swung down first, boots touching stone. Silmarien followed, his expression tightening as he took in their surroundings.

The city walls rose high, layered with runes and embedded crystals that pulsed faintly. Guards lined the parapets and gates—humans and demi-humans alike, clad in armor that radiated restrained but unmistakable power. Some bore beast traits openly: horns, tails, slit pupils glowing faintly in the dark.

Chiron's gaze sharpened.

Three of them.

At least three gold-rank cultivators stood openly at the gate, arms crossed, eyes calm and watchful.

So it's grown this far already…

This place had not been like this when the initial Mc came here.

Chiron quickly assumed his interference in this world was the result.

If the Holy Church alone had its way, this city would have been reduced to ash long ago, labeled a den of sin and heresy.

But the irony was delicious. This city survived precisely because those same "righteous" forces needed it.

Not just the Church.

The Zodiac Families too.

Here, away from their banners and doctrines, they could indulge. Drink. Touch. Break their own laws in secret. And so, in silence and hypocrisy, they poured power and protection into the city's foundations, ensuring it endured.

A sanctuary of corruption, protected by saints and constellations alike.

Chiron smirked faintly as he and Silmarien passed through the gates.

Inside, the air was thick with sound and scent.

Laughter spilled from balconies. Music pulsed from hidden halls. Illusion lights shimmered over streets slick with spilled wine and perfume. In shadowed corners, bodies pressed together—men kissing women, women laughing with women, demi-humans tangled with humans without shame or restraint.

Nothing explicit.

But nothing hidden either.

Some leaned against walls, hands roaming boldly. Others sat openly in laps, whispering promises meant only for the night. A few couples were so lost in each other that the passing crowd ceased to exist to them.

All forms of indulgence were allowed here.

Silmarien's jaw tightened.

His brows drew together as his eyes swept the street, discomfort plain on his face. "This place…" he muttered, almost to himself.

Chiron, however, looked amused.

"The surface," he said calmly. "Let it offend you if it must."

He gestured forward, toward where the streets narrowed and the lights deepened into richer hues. "Our destination is at the center."

Silmarien exhaled slowly, then followed.