99: The first demon

The humanoid figure condensed from the dark mist sat quietly on the wooden stool, as if the surrounding light was completely swallowed by him.

Celestine's body, after the initial stiffness, slowly relaxed instead.

She slowly turned around, facing the humanoid black mist.

Her pure and holy face, Li Ke an angel's, showed no expression, Li Ke a cold and beautiful mask.

"You saw it."

Celestine's voice was no longer the feather-light softness from before,

but carried an extreme indifference, as if devoid of any human emotion.

"I didn't kill them; they were going to die anyway. I just helped them find release sooner."

From the humanoid black mist that Li Ke had transformed into, a calm voice emerged:

"That mother was indeed about to die, but what about that little girl?

She trusted you so much, yet you killed her with your own hands."

"In a place Li Ke the Lower City District, without parents, she would either die very quickly, or..."

"She would only live a life worse than death."

Celestine's voice carried a hint of pity.

"Disease, hunger, despair... day after day, with no hope in sight."

"For her, living was just a longer torment."

"What meaning does such a life have?"

As Celestine spoke, she took two steps closer to the black mist figure, looking down at him slightly.

"To grant her eternal peace from endless suffering."

"Isn't that a form of mercy?"

The humanoid black mist that Li Ke had transformed into did not respond immediately.

He could clearly sense that as Celestine's words were uttered,

the vast and startling dark demonic nature within her intertwined tightly with the platinum Holy Light, burning Li Ke raging flames and surging towards the high sky.

"No matter what, you don't seem to have the right to decide other people's lives, do you?"

"Your so-called mercy is merely depriving others of their right to choose, based on your own will."

A moment later, the calm voice emerged from the black mist again.

"Choice?"

On Celestine's cold and beautiful face, a slight ripple appeared.

"Did they truly have a choice?"

Could they choose not to get sick? Could they choose not to starve? Could they choose not to be treated Li Ke livestock by those noble lords?

Their fate was already sealed from the moment they were born.

The so-called choice is nothing but a hypocritical lie..."

Celestine's speaking speed gradually quickened, and her voice became even colder.

While the two were conversing,

Celestine quietly moved a few steps closer again,

now only a few steps away from the black Qi figure.

Before her words even finished, suddenly!

Her eyes were abruptly filled with scorching platinum Holy Light!

"Boom!"

Blinding white light erupted from her body,

Li Ke countless sharp arrows, instantly piercing through the adobe walls of the house, leaving the simple dwelling riddled with holes.

And the black Qi figure sitting on the wooden stool,

was instantly rendered incomplete under the penetration of countless Holy Light.

The black Qi gradually dissipated, and an incomplete body slowly revealed itself,

then fell to the ground, with trickling blood staining the dirty soil red.

Seeing this, the Holy Light in Celestine's eyes gradually receded.

She looked down at the incomplete corpse on the ground, a look of pity on her face.

Then, Celestine slowly turned and prepared to walk out of the riddled house.

"Let's say you have a point, for now."

However, as she reached the doorway, she heard a familiar voice from the courtyard.

Only, there was a hint of playfulness in that voice.

"Then, is killing me also considered a mercy?"

Celestine's pupils suddenly constricted.

In the courtyard, on a low adobe wall,

a dark humanoid figure sat upright, identical to the black Qi figure from before.

Celestine immediately turned to look inside the house.

In the room, the incomplete corpse that had fallen to the ground earlier had vanished without a trace.

There was not a single drop of blood on the ground, only a broken and incomplete wooden stool, lying quietly.

It was as if what she had just seen was merely an illusion.

"Who would have thought that a Saintess as merciful as Holy Light would actually be a crazy person who enjoys killing, and quite skilled at it too."

"What will your followers think?"

"And what will the Radiant Light Holy Court think?"

On the adobe wall, the voice of the black Qi figure carried a laugh, seemingly somewhat gloating.

"Who exactly are you?"

Celestine slowly turned around.

"Hmm... that's a good question..."

The black Qi figure's laughter paused.

He pondered for a moment, then slowly said:

"You can... call me the Demon Lord."

"Then."

Celestine tidied her silver-white nun's habit,

then lifted her face, fully revealing her pure and holy countenance.

"Lord Demon Lord."

"Can you spare me?"

"I'll do anything you want."

"Oh?"

The black Qi figure seemed to be startled.

"Really anything?"

"Of course."

Celestine said in a faint voice.

"As long as you can spare me, I'll do anything."

"Then how about this?"

The black Qi figure floated down from the adobe wall and came before Celestine.

He extended a hand, seemingly wanting to caress her forehead.

Celestine slightly lowered her eyes, her long eyelashes obscuring the light in her gaze.

As the black Qi humanoid's hand lightly touched her forehead,

the moment a warm sensation came,

she suddenly took a step forward and tightly embraced the figure in front of her.

"Boom!!!"

Even more violent platinum Holy Light once again gushed out from her body!

It was more condensed and terrifyingly powerful than before,

instantly devouring and annihilating the black Qi figure in her arms.

"Tsk tsk tsk..."

However, the next moment,

that familiar calm voice once again sounded not far away,

the black Qi figure, which had clearly possessed a physical form and body temperature just now,

had once again transformed into wisps of black mist and dispersed.

A few meters away, he reformed perfectly intact.

"How about it, is it fun?"

"You don't seem to have mastered true divine arts, are you not good at it, or did no one teach you?"

Li Ke noticed that the Holy Light power within Celestine was at least at the Silver Tier level,

but she seemed to have no idea how to utilize it, only relying on the extremely pure essence of Holy Light to achieve a certain destructive effect.

"Why?"

Celestine's body paused in place.

A moment later, she looked up, her eyes, at some point, filled with tears.

Tears streamed down her pure and holy face, a breathtakingly beautiful sight.

"Why won't you let me kill you?"

The holy mask on Celestine's face completely shattered, and an extremely stubborn light appeared in her eyes.

Platinum light once again emanated from her fingertips, as she furiously attacked the black Qi figure that Li Ke had transformed into, again and again.

"Why don't you go die yourself?"

"Do you think living is such a wonderful thing?"

Holy Light and black mist continuously collided, annihilated, and were reborn in the narrow courtyard.

The black mist figure that Li Ke had transformed into could always skillfully dodge among the countless Holy Light, and even if dispersed, he could quickly reform.

"Then why don't you die?"

In the black mist, Li Ke's voice carried a hint of teasing.

Celestine's frantic attack suddenly paused.

She stood still, her golden wavy hair disheveled, breathing slightly.

"Because there are many people who deserve to die, who haven't died yet."

"This defiled world hasn't been destroyed yet..."

"I see, I understand."

The black mist figure that Li Ke had transformed into let out a soft laugh.

"Then, let me teach you how to destroy a world!"

Celestine's body trembled, and she slowly looked up.

The black mist figure in front of her suddenly expanded, transforming into a thick, dark mist that violently enveloped her.

The next instant, a slender finger,

lightly touched Celestine's brow before she could even react.

Dao Heart Demon Seed!