Crimson Eternal - Book 6 - Chapter 32 (Patreon)

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Table of Contents

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Click the following link for the 1595 word chapter 32:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MgBybMzGFlzLrvzZWgorUVaBbpSej8dnfme2kCK7Kb0/edit?usp=sharing

Or you can read the unformatted version below:

Aria

For the first time since meeting him, I feel sympathy for the Horseman of Pestilence. For his loss.

I can’t imagine how upset I’d be if Asher died. Not that it’s even possible for Asher to die.

Still. The idea of never being able to see him again is heart wrenching, no matter how much trouble the little cat gets into.

So the sight of Pestilence roaring in anguish is… a little hard to look at.

Meanwhile…

I glance at War next to me, who is just casually eating popcorn.

Right. Something tells me this is not a good spot to be anymore. So I go ahead and pack up my things before moving to the other side of the battlefield. Far away from the Horseman of War.

I’m pretty sure he killed both the ruler and Pestilence’s companion. As for why he did it? Probably to take a power.

One of War’s greatest powers is his dueling power. A power that lets him take one skill from whoever he kills in a declared duel.

Most likely, he snuck inside of the sealed space before the seal was put there. Then he let the ruler and serpent battle it out for a bit before appearing, declaring a duel with both of them, which they likely accepted on instinct due to being animals, and killed them both.

Thereby giving him two new powers in the process.

All while putting the blame of the serpent’s death on the ruler and those who sealed the serpent inside.

Still. Pestilence isn’t that easily fooled.

He may not care about anything other than his companion and his experiments, but that doesn’t mean he’s stupid or doesn’t notice when people are tricking him. So he’ll probably realize what happened after his rage cools down.

But for now?

Pestilence isn’t in any mood to talk or think things through.

He is utterly enraged and not really thinking much. After all, if he was thinking, he wouldn’t be spreading his fucking pestilence through my damned planets and cafes again.

I glare at him after getting the report from my nations and cafes about his current actions.

Fucking hell.

I don’t waste any time as I get up again and enter the Plane of Death. Then I ask for Zero’s help again.

Because there’s no way I’m letting him ruin my stores of wine again. Even if I managed to stash most of it away in storage items this time.

Zero, Zwei, and En all join me as I enter the Plane of Pestilence again. Then the three move to block all of the pestilence energy currently running rampant across the universe.

They don’t attack Pestilence, because that would be interfering. Plus I feel some sympathy for him due to his loss.

But I won’t let him ruin my wine again. So the pestilence energy he’s infesting the universe with has to go.

Pestilence doesn’t even seem to notice my actions as he charges straight at Raja and slams a pestilence energy infused fist right in his face. Sending Raja flying out of the Plane of Pestilence.

Then, surprisingly enough, Pestilence himself just follows him out and continues pummeling the man, who is currently shocked at the sudden development.

Clearly not understanding just how important his companion was to Pestilence when he made this plan.

Anyway, now that the pestilence energy situation is handled, and my wine isn’t in danger anymore, I begin to relax a bit again. Enough that I actually follow them out of the Plane of Pestilence to continue watching the fight.

Of course, War does the same. While holding onto his popcorn.

Which is a strange sight, but whatever.

Asher jumps into my jacket pocket while I float out of the Plane of Pestilence to watch the battle. After shrinking himself down, that is. Then he sticks his little head out of my pocket to watch, letting me scritch his head between the ears with my finger.

When I arrive outside of the Plane of Pestilence, I find all of the other Grands already here and attacking Pestilence. But Pestilence himself is actually pushing them back despite the numbers.

He’s still getting hurt while doing so, what with there being several Grands attacking him, but they’re getting hurt worse.

I find myself only mildly surprised, if surprised at all, by the sight of Pestilence actually having the upper hand. Despite it being a battle of several Grands versus one weakened Pestilence.

The battle up until now was still him holding back a bit.

He was annoyed, that much was clear, but he wasn’t angry. And he was significantly stronger than Raja alone. So there was no need for him to go all out.

Now is a different matter, though.

Now he’s genuinely pissed to the point of clear thought going out the window. Otherwise he wouldn’t have left the Plane of Pestilence.

Or, at least, that’s probably what the Grands are thinking. Since it is their only chance to beat him.

But now, after seeing him still having the upper hand against them?

They’re probably realizing that they underestimated him.

I narrow my eyes at the sight of Pestilence sending them all flying while still roaring out his anguish for all to hear. Meanwhile all of the nearby planets are being turned into poisoned wastelands. Ones that no one could ever step into and survive on.

The Grands are trying to push him away from any planets, but he’s too berserk, making it difficult for them to guide him. To the point that he’s just going around attacking everyone, with a focus on Raja more than the others.

And I can see the plagues spreading through all of the Grands bit by bit.

They’re starting to weaken. Which doesn’t bode well.

I narrow my eyes at the sight of my parents genuinely struggling, and a part of me actually wants to go help them. But I also know that my interference won’t do anything other than handle the pestilence energy flooding the universe from the Plane of Pestilence through the Grand Death Spirits.

At best I can stop him from hiding back in the Plane of Pestilence.

The Grand Death Spirits can’t exit the planes, after all. Not without me being significantly higher level.

And Pestilence is far too powerful for me to even be able to scratch him at my level.

Eventually, after watching for a while, I notice something that gives me some relief. Specifically that Pestilence does still seem to have some of his right mind left.

Or at least, he’s regaining some of it.

I can tell because he seems to be avoiding hurting my parents too badly. As if he knows they’re my parents and doesn’t want to start a conflict with me.

That’s good.

Back to lying back and watching.

I pull out my lawn chair and the wine again. Then I begin drinking my wine while watching the battle. With a large barrier around me to make sure the pestilence energy here doesn’t mess with my wine.

And, as I do all of this, I make sure to keep an eye on the Horseman of War. Because I wouldn’t be surprised if Lucius decided to interfere at some point anymore.

When he first arrived, I thought he was just going to spectate like me. What with his incredibly nice recliner recommendation and all.

He seemed skilled at the art of spectating drama and battles. Even more skilled than me, despite him being newer at it.

An impressive feat.

But after seeing him kill off both the serpent and the ruler, I’m beginning to wonder if that’s all he’s here for.

Maybe he plans to jump in and challenge one of the Grands to a duel while they’re weaker and can’t accept?

No, that doesn’t really sound like Lucius. Lucius is all about fighting people at their strongest, so maybe he’s just waiting for them to give up and realize they can’t defeat Pestilence?

Then he will take advantage of Pestilence’s mental instability to challenge him to a duel in the hopes that Pestilence, while not in his right mind, will actually accept?

I’ve heard that War has actually challenged the other Horsemen to duels many times before. They just never bothered accepting.

Famine probably felt it was a waste for the Horsemen to fight each other, and Pestilence probably thought it was a pain in the rear end to deal with War’s constant badgering.

So the ultimate duel for Lucius, the Horseman of War… wouldn’t that just be a duel against another Horseman?

I narrow my eyes slightly at War as he smiles at the battle. Only for him to notice me and give a smile while lifting his bowl of popcorn.

Of course, I could be overthinking things. But, despite how he usually acts, War is the greatest strategist and general in the entire universe.

He has led more wars than the number of minutes I’ve been alive. And he has never lost a war either.

Even back in his days when he was far weaker, he still never lost a war. Despite sometimes going up against people stronger than him and with more numbers.

So he is very much capable of a strategy like this.

I watch him for a few more moments before returning my focus to the battle itself.

Then again, it doesn’t change much for me if he does fight Pestilence.

With that thought in mind, I bring out another glass of wine to drink.