501 The Fallen

The burning flames were rumbling in his left hand, the coldness in his eyes was bold and upright.

When the fireball was charged to its maximum limit, Kieran hurled it out into the breach like he did before this.

The evil spirits in the breach that came after the initial fireball clashed with the second one firing at them.

Powerful level flames burnt all the evil spirits into ashes without any resistance.

Soul Shards fell one after another yet Kieran's attention didn't shift. He stared directly at the breach.

There was a dense malicious intent hiding inside. Even though the thing had given its best effort in hiding itself, Kieran still could make out a black shadow, different from the negative energy clump, it was colder and darker. As it seemed to realize Kieran's gaze, the malicious intent quickly dispersed.

Following the dispersion, the waves of evil spirits subsided soon after, like a falling tide.

The negative energy field even repaired itself, completely sealing the breach away.

Ohara and Azinder were astonished when they sprinted over, both of them never thought the waves of evil spirits would retreat like that since both of them had the resolution for a harsh battle.

"2567?" Ohara quickly noticed the unusual sternness in Kieran's expression.

"All these evil spirits… they seemed to be controlled by something else!"

The word "someone" was at the tip of his tongue but he didn't utter it out loud. More so, from what Kieran saw, the thing that could control such an enormous amount of evil spirits and seemingly able to fuse with the negative energy field couldn't strike him as a human.

At least a normal human being couldn't give out a presence even colder and darker than the negative energy clump.

"Controlled?" Ohara frowned.

As one of the Archdeacons of the Sanctuary, Ohara was definitely experienced and knowledgeable but she had never seen something like this before.

Even in the records, similar cases happened only before the Blood Moon War, however, such cases were less than a handful even during ancient times.

"The Wraith Lord?" Ohara guessed.

"I don't think that's the case." Kieran shook his head.

Kieran also knew about the spiritual being that was nearly being labeled as myths or legends, though it was because he knew of its existence, he was certain it wasn't it.

Otherwise, let alone Kieran stopping the waves attack, even Smulder and the others with him couldn't even escape its grasp.

That's right, Smulder and the others ran!

Even without sizing them up carefully, Kieran could see how ugly the Holy Knight had been.

Though Smulder wasn't feeling natural when he noticed Kieran's gaze, or in other words, embarrassed.

Smulder felt upset in his heart when the person he treated as his rival saw him in his ugly condition, yet no matter how upset or angry he was, Smulder wouldn't defy his own will to lie.

Even if he did, it would hurt his reputation quite a bit!

"That's right, it isn't a Wraith Lord but…"

Smulder said honestly, agreeing to his rival's guesses but he stopped all of a sudden and presented a complicated expression on his face. After pausing for a few seconds, he continued.

"It's the Fallen!"

Ohara's face turned pale when the term was mentioned, even Kieran furrowed his brows together.

The Fallen was what the Sanctuary addressed those members who betrayed their conviction. Although Ohara tried to betray the Sanctuary once, she wouldn't be considered a Fallen because there was still humanity left in her heart.

As far as she was concerned, it was because of her immense love for Hugh blinded her eyes and clouded her judgment, thus leading to her betrayal.

However, a Fallen was different, they gave up what defined them as human and discarded all emotions. There would be no mercy, empathy, justice or loyalty coming from a Fallen and neither would there be sincerity or courage. They would sever all hopes with death.

In simple words, the Fallen might maintain a human look but they barely had anything left in them to consider them as human, it would be more appropriate to address them as another type of living being.

Kieran read it before in Nikorei's books, the books even painted a picture of how terrifying the Fallens were.

'If a Holy Knight is a positive light, then the Fallen is an opposite darkness!'

'Most of the time, darkness was feared by people. Pray for those unfortunate souls, hoping they could cross the path over the nether realm with the light of the Holy Knight'

The Holy Knights and the Fallen were mortal enemies, at the same time they were also fated arch nemeses.

It was mentioned directly in the books, only a Holy Knight could defeat a Fallen.

Though Kieran wouldn't buy what the books recorded, right now he was more curious how the Fallen appeared.

Kieran had a curious heart, so when the term Fallen was mentioned, he started to recall all the information he had read about the Fallen back in Nikorei's study room but other than that one book, there wasn't anything else mentioning the wicked being, let alone how a Fallen was formed or appear.

It made Kieran's gaze at the negative energy clump and have another sense of speculations.

Ohara beside furrowed her brows tightly.

"This isn't possible! Even with the density of the negative energy here, it is impossible for a Fallen to appear here, unless…"

Ohara the Archdeacon knew how hard was it for a Fallen to form and how harsh the requirements were to transform a human into one. Yet after the difficulties and harsh requirements, what the Fallen got in return was tremendous power.

Otherwise, the Sanctuary wouldn't come up with the saying of the Fallen were the Holy Knight's mortal enemies, arch nemeses, and sorts.

Though before Ohara could finish her words, she stopped. It seemed like she had remembered something.

"Just like what you thought. When Simon led the men into ambushing the base of operations, Barry had set a trap to immobilize them and he forced them to witness a big wicked massacre! Hundreds of thousands of men were slaughtered before them... Some of the members became stronger when facing the horrifying scene but some of them suffered a breakdown and completely lost it. Those who lost it…"

Smulder couldn't continue anymore at that point, but the answers were obvious.

Those Sanctuary members that suffered a breakdown were turned into the Fallens.

"I don't know what kind of wicked massacre happened but I am curious why would Barry know how to create a Fallen? I thought it is supposed to be some forbidden secret even among the mystical realms?" Kieran laid his eyes on Ohara who had worked with Barry once.

"I didn't tell him any of these. Even though I wanted revenge but I really hoped that Barry would go down together with the Sanctuary!" Ohara said honestly.

However, it seemed like such honesty caused everyone around to feel uncomfortable.

What a terrifying woman! Azinder skipped a beat in his heart, feeling horrified by the confession.

Ohara too seemed to have noticed her honesty wasn't appropriate, she carefully looked at Kieran trying to spot any dissatisfaction but when she didn't notice any changes on Kieran's face, only then did she relieved.

"...It's 2567's fault asking me directly, so I try to be honest here…"

Ohara felt remorse in her heart, promising she would do better in the future.

Then she quickly shifted the topic. "Regardless of how Barry found out, we must save those who are trapped inside, otherwise, more Fallen will rise and the whole West Coast will be doomed!"

"Yes, we must hurry! I've already seen that bastard trying to prepare for the second round of wicked massacre!"

"It's just that the negative energy is suppressing our powers here…"

Simon and Maya spoke as well, looking bitter as they revealed their helplessness.

Smulder wasn't looking comfortable either, they knew they must hasten the process, otherwise things would get out of hand very fast, however, they were really feeling helpless against the restraints.

The negative energy field over Ciaran City halved their holy power, maybe even less than half of what remained in them. There were even some spots that could heavily decrease their Sanctuary Force usage.

Huuu!

"I'll go in again!" Smulder said after letting out a big sigh. His honor and glory wouldn't permit him to give up just like that.

Yet before Smulder even make a move, Kieran beside him who had been fumbling with his thoughts for half a day already headed towards to the negative energy-filled city.

Kieran didn't declare anything, nor did he say anything loud and decisive. All he did was advance silently.

Smulder and the others were stunned, so were the other mystics around looking at them.

Soon enough, the mystic spectators changed their gazes at Kieran. Their eyes had added a layer of respect to Kieran's moving figure, even so for those East Coast mystics. Although they were from opposite factions, it didn't stop them from paying respect to a true brave hero.

Though when they turned their eyes to Smulder, the gazes changed once more.

It seemed like the gazes had a slight delay at the Holy Knight, it wasn't really doubtful but when compared to Kieran who moved forward without saying anything, Smulder had obviously been through a lot in his mind and made the decision to go for it with a clench of his teeth. The difference between the both of them was like the difference between heaven and earth.

If Kieran wasn't in the mix, Smulder's hard decision would deserve respect from the crowd but when Kieran silently moved out, it was hard for the other mystics not to compare the both of them.

Smulder too felt the unusual gaze on him, the anger made him breathe rapidly and heavily.

He was giving his best effort to suppress himself from roaring at the spectators around him.

When all of that was happening, Ohara too gave chase to Kieran's back. Both of them seemingly disappeared into the darkness side by side.

Only then Smulder suppressed his rage but he was still standing in the same spot.

The atmosphere started to become more and more subtle.