AnalogHorror: Rule Kaidan 4016
Chapter 939 - 435 "Rumors of the Ashen Apostle_2

Chapter 939: Chapter 435 "Rumors of the Ashen Apostle_2

More and more zealots began chanting, and even the mysterious art teacher joined the chorus...

"Damn! These guys are completely nuts!" Lin Yi muttered under his breath. Realizing that things were starting to spiral out of control, he decided not to dig for more information from the mysterious art teacher and instead intended to grab Li Huiyuan’s hand and make a run for it.

However, the mysterious art teacher noticed Lin Yi’s actions and quickly snapped out of her fervent state. She continued, "That’s not all. I’ve also heard a certain rumor about the ’Ash Apostle.’

Lin Yi hastily stopped pulling on Li Huiyuan’s hand to flee, instead gently stroking her hand as if nothing had happened. With a perfectly feigned innocence, he said, "Your hands feel cold. Is it chilly here? Uh... anyway, teacher, please continue." _{free\we\bnov(e)(l).com}

He looked at the mysterious art teacher. "What exactly does the rumor say?"

The mysterious art teacher shot a glance at his hands but resumed her explanation: "Legend has it that the ’Ash Apostle’s’ sequence number is very high, and within that pathway, there can only ever be one ’Ash Apostle’ at a time."

"Whenever ashes from an angel fall, countless beings may attempt to accept it. But only those who can bear the ashes and survive are qualified to compete for the title of ’Ash Apostle.’"

"No matter how many compete for the name of ’Ash Apostle,’ in the end, only one individual can become the Ash Apostle."

"It’s a battle of sequences—one slot, one contender."

"Originally, an ’Ash Apostle’ was never supposed to appear on campus. The school administration would go to great lengths to prevent even the slightest chance of an ’Ash Apostle’ arriving here..."

"But according to what you’ve said, after the principal went missing, someone deliberately broke the campus layers, causing the ’ashes’ of an ’angel’ to scatter within the school grounds. Moreover, an ’Ash Apostle’ managed to smuggle itself in as well..."

"It’s true that ’Ash Apostles’ will compete against each other until only one remains. But if you throw multiple gu worms into the same gu pot, even if all the gu worms kill each other until only one is left, it still cannot claim the sequence title."

After hearing this, Lin Yi couldn’t help but say, "So you’re saying there are probably multiple ’Ash Apostles’ over in the Art Building, but only one on the campus grounds here. Wouldn’t that mean this one effectively gets an automatic spot in the finals?"

This one on campus could essentially just wait and reap the benefits of others’ struggles.

But judging by their level of experience and training, wouldn’t the Ash Apostle that survived the mountain of corpses and seas of blood over in the Art Building annihilate the one here in a face-off?

Or is there some other explanation? Is it not calculated that way?

The mysterious art teacher shook her head and said, "You’re oversimplifying things. I suspect there’s something else at play here."

"Oh? Feel free to elaborate!" Lin Yi quickly urged her to continue.

The mysterious art teacher shot him a glance: "Fine, I’ll tell you. I feel like someone is setting up the Ash Apostle for an ambush."

"Set up for an ambush?!" Lin Yi was shocked. "An Ash Apostle can be killed? How would that even be possible?"

The mysterious art teacher replied, "Definitely not directly. Conventional power in reality is negligible before an Ash Apostle. Facing an Ash Apostle is no different than an ant trying to topple a tree."

"Across the entire campus, perhaps only the security guard and the convenience store owner could stand up to it—and that’s simply because they’re taking advantage of the terrain."

"In fact, we’ve been aware of the appearance of the Ash Apostle on campus for some time. However, as the saying goes, ’Well water does not violate river water.’ We’ve been coexisting peacefully because the Ash Apostle has no interest in us. It only kills those competitors who pose a threat to it."

"That said, the supernatural power it uses is different from ours. Without supplementation, its supernatural traits will gradually diminish over time, and its body will continuously shed ’ashes.’ Eventually, it will perish due to the depletion of its supernatural strength."

"This process may take a long time. Whenever the Grey Mist invades, it can twist the layers and draw sustenance from over in the Art Building. So despite consistently declining, it’s still far from a point of collapse..."

Lin Yi’s gaze flashed with understanding. "I see... so they’ve come up with a plan to harvest the ’ashes.’ At the rate the Ash Apostle is deteriorating, combined with the fact that it won’t attack ordinary people, it’s practically like they’ve let loose a chicken that lays golden eggs!"

A fine bunch of vampires—they’re even exploiting the Ash Apostle?! Lin Yi was dumbfounded. This was absurdly cutthroat capitalism.

It was akin to a herd of dung beetles secretly capturing an elephant. The elephant wouldn’t bother stepping on the beetles, yet the beetles would merrily roll its droppings into dung balls.

But then again, on that first night, when the Ash Apostle entered the classroom, could it have actually sensed his "threat" and intentionally come looking for him?

And because, at that moment, he had just started "adapting" to the campus, he instead managed to escape unscathed?

If he’d experienced a sudden burst of inspiration, wouldn’t he have been like a beacon in the dark, instantly targeted and killed by the Ash Apostle?

If that’s the case, it would also explain why the Ash Apostle went after Tian Bufan—because the contamination shared between them linked them together.

So, that’s why the boss acted immediately to purge the ash from him—because if he’d been tainted with ash, even the boss might not have been able to protect him?

After all, what he was facing was a mysterious sequence creature—the ’Ash Apostle’—one that shouldn’t even be here on campus!

Wait!

If this line of reasoning is correct, then given his current ash-bearing capacity, wouldn’t the Ash Apostle inevitably come for him tonight?!

"Shit..." Lin Yi cursed under his breath, a sense of foreboding crawling over his skin as goosebumps rose along his arms.

Suddenly, a wicked idea crossed his mind: What if he agreed to team up with the mysterious art teacher and her group right now? Then, when the Ash Apostle came for him, couldn’t he just let them fight it out instead?

This thought barely surfaced before Lin Yi snuffed it out.

Because it was pointless.

Given how the nocturnal species feared him, these zealots, in the face of the Ash Apostle, likely wouldn’t put up more resistance than a patch of freshly mowed grass.

An armored vine withstands fire and blade, but even that’s only good enough to drool over.

"Teacher, do you have any other theories or guesses?" Lin Yi asked quietly, unwilling to let any opportunity to gather information slip by.

Especially with the zealots—it might even give Class Teacher-040 some fresh inspiration.

The mysterious art teacher’s expression grew heavier. "I fear the truth may be even darker than my suspicions."

"What do you mean?" Lin Yi asked.

The mysterious art teacher looked at him: "If an immortal pill, something only gods could partake in, were to suddenly fall down, some people would go mad for it."

"You’re saying...?!" Lin Yi quickly caught on. "Some people would knowingly take on the ashes even if they couldn’t bear it, risking everything?"

"And such individuals will certainly not be few!" The mysterious art teacher nodded. "Among the slaves digging for diamonds, there will always be those few willing to risk their lives to smuggle a diamond out—let alone something like the Ash Apostle’s ashes."

"And once someone bears the ashes, they become marked. It doesn’t matter if they survive it or not—the ashes will ignite the host, making them a target for the Ash Apostle’s wrath."

"Once ignited by the ashes, they become sustenance for the Ash Apostle. It will seek them out, kill them, and devour their remains."

"And these individuals are by no means a match for the Ash Apostle—in fact, they’re destined to be slaughtered and consumed by it..."

"In other words, if an organization is sending numerous people to harvest ashes, we can’t just stop there with our assumptions. If we think bigger and darker, their motives likely extend far beyond merely collecting ashes."

"It’s highly possible that this organization is deliberately trying to nurture the Ash Apostle!"