The Lich of Glory Knight Spirit: Moving towards Krimasha!
Chapter 143 - 27: Between Black and White (5) (Second Update)

Chapter 143: Chapter 27: Between Black and White (5) (Second Update)

Roaring sound.

Looking up, the angels saw the rolling clouds in the sky, with lightning interweaving, hissing. It was as if they stubbornly wanted to illuminate the entire world.

The earth trembled.

Countless birds were startled into flight, chirping noisily.

"What is this power..."

Soon, all eyes focused on Gray.

Vivian trembled, slowly releasing her embrace of Gray, her eyes wide open.

Gray lay on the ground, reaching out, groping around, and grasping the hilt of the broken sword that had fallen beside him.

The soul fire in his eye sockets burned fiercely, and the fractured bones in his body were healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Gray propped himself up on the ground, slowly standing up.

"What happened? Why is the source of the Demon Lord’s power in him?" an angel exclaimed.

Abod, who had traveled some distance, stopped in his tracks, looking back in horror.

The clouds in the sky were converging.

The power on the ground was also converging toward Gray. The forces of light and darkness coexisted within his body, battling, fighting, and roaring.

Countless voices roared in his ears, wailing in pain.

Gray was trembling slightly.

Pain, attacking from all directions. The lich had no sense of pain, but this time, Gray truly felt it. It was a tearing pain from the depths of his soul.

Gray gritted his teeth, enduring it.

Everyone was staring in a daze.

Gradually, all the power surged towards the bone ring. Whether it was the power of light or darkness, it ultimately turned into a dark gray color.

The power in Gray’s body finally stabilized, and the intense pain gradually became numb.

It was a powerful aura visible to the naked eye, not the original power of the lich, nor the pure white after transformation into a saint, nor the pure black given by the Demon Lord. It was a dark gray, a new power. It surrounded him tightly.

An angel couldn’t help but swallow her saliva, retreating a little.

Gray held the sword in his hand, and with a swipe, the broken part grew back instantly. It gathered like the wind, gushed like water, and grew like plants. It struggled, twisted, ignited with a fierce gray flame, sprouting new totems, and forming new dark patterns in Gray’s hand.

"What is happening!" the Black Cat exclaimed.

At the same time, the damaged armor on his body seemed to gain autonomous will, beginning to grow naturally, self-repairing like flesh. Furthermore, it took on a different appearance, turning from the original pure white into dark gray.

"He, did he accept the Demon Lord’s power?" an angel asked quietly.

A bolt of lightning struck down from the sky, hitting Gray directly. The surrounding grass ignited and quickly extinguished, leaving only a scorched patch. Gray’s armor seemed to be endowed with new life, with sparkling points flowing on its glossy surface. It flickered brightly.

Everyone involuntarily retreated, including Belinda, including Vivian.

It was a power so strong it was suffocating, eerie.

A gust of wind emanated from Gray, like a giant beast exhaling slowly. The earth seemed to leap. The mountains emitted a low roar.

After a brief upheaval, everything seemed to return to calm, with only the gray flames on the longsword in Gray’s hand crackling and burning.

The Demon Lord’s voice echoed in everyone’s mind, "Hello, angels, I am your greatest enemy. Let me formally introduce you. This is Gray, the new chief Demon Envoy from Hell. From today onward, he is not only your Holy Knight but also our Demon Envoy. Until he is stripped of his Demon Envoy status, I will support all his decisions. Any attacks against him, lacking justifiable reasons, could escalate to the height of a covenant between the Holy Spirits and me, potentially triggering a new war. So please, be cautious."

Every angel present widened their eyes, staring dumbfounded.

Slowly tilting his head back, Gray opened his jaw. A turbid, gray breath exhaled from his mouth, seeping through the gaps in his armor. It drew a long arc in the breeze, wafting into the distance.

Looking at Belinda, amidst the stunned gazes of everyone, Gray said softly, "Since you believe power can decide everything, then let’s talk again about what justice means."

Vivian sat down, staring blankly at Gray in front of her.

At this moment, that figure seemed to hold up the heavens and the earth.

...

"Look at what you’ve done!" A voice roared from within the Holy Light, "You pushed your saint towards the enemy with your own hands! Only I cast the approval vote! Only me! Abstained, abstained, abstained! Did you think abstaining would keep you out of this? With teammates like you, it’s no wonder we always lose!"

"You are all shameless shirkers!"

"You shut up! You are worse, casting the dissenting vote!"

"I cast the dissenting vote to support the law. We cannot grant amnesty; otherwise, what is the point of our laws? Impure justice is not what we pursue, and justice decided by one person’s judgment is also not what we pursue."

"You have to have faith in the sacred belief; he is a saint. Even using the Demon Lord’s power, he will not fall. We have not lost him."

"Is there any use in saying such self-consoling words now? I am ashamed of you! Just two more votes! Only two! We could have prevented this from happening! But you all chose to stand by!"

Amidst the dazzling Holy Light, there was silence. All voices fell silent.

After a long time, a voice said, "In fact, we already knew this would be the result. It’s not a matter of two more votes, one more approval vote would mean one more dissenting vote. So we deliberately cast abstention votes."

"’We’? Do you mean you weren’t the only one who knew the result but still abstained?"

"Yes."

...

"What should we do now?"

"He holds dual roles as Holy Knight and Demon Envoy. Has there ever been such a situation before?"

"Never."

"If we fight him, should it be considered an internal or external conflict? The covenant seems to have no such provision."

"Oh my God... A comrade using the Demon Lord’s power? How should we deal with this?"

The angels began to discuss quietly among themselves.

"I don’t know how we should handle it in the future, but right now, we definitely can’t do anything. We can’t possibly beat him, let alone take Vivian away."

"So we can only let it be? Why don’t the Holy Spirits just pardon Vivian, so we wouldn’t be in such an embarrassing situation now?"

"Maybe they want us to be embarrassed?"

Gray stood resolutely, protecting Vivian behind him, staring at the angels.

Belinda, masked, remained silent.

...

"Not just me." That voice said, "But I won’t tell you how many of us there are. We all know there are issues with the church, and not minor ones. In the past, we thought the problems were at the grassroots. Regardless of how much effort we put in, it was impossible for humans with barely a lifespan of a hundred years to come into contact with true holy belief. And it was even less likely to have enough people who did to spread across the continent to guard our lines. But this incident showed us that it’s not just the grassroots; there’s a problem in the higher-ups too, even the pope, our Holy Knight, the Guardian Angel – they all have problems."

All the Holy Spirits listened quietly.

The voice continued, "This is a difficult decision. We have been too indulgent, too doting, warping belief for them. We’ve come to this point, and we feel the entire church needs to be torn down and rebuilt. Every angel must self-reflect, not just repair. I know, this will consume a great deal of time, and belief across the continent will be shaky in this turmoil. We will suffer for it. But for us, who are eternal, isn’t time the least significant thing? If we don’t do this, we will remain where we are, never moving forward."

"Whether the Lich Knight experiment will ultimately succeed, we don’t know. But at least so far, there have been gains. It made us abandon our illusions. This gain is more meaningful than the short-term expansion of belief. It will be used to test ourselves."

"You are causing a split!" someone accused.

"Yes. But understanding the sacred has never been singular. Otherwise, why would we have council rules?" the voice answered, "Proposing a resolution to overturn the church here will definitely not pass, will face enormous resistance, countless arguments, and an insurmountable process. So we hesitated all this time. Since that’s the case, why not let the demons do it for us? Moreover, in the process, they are willing to support a saint with pure belief. It’s perfect. The Demon Lord wants the church on the continent to split into two; we actually hope so too. The difference is, he wants the church to remain split, but we hope it will eventually reunite through a storm, revitalized, rather than slowly rotting away."

"So?" another voice asked.

"We will use our votes and all means at our disposal to steer the result towards what we want, not just to express a stance." the voice answered.

"’You’ want to intervene directly in affairs like the Demon Lord who gave the Lich Knight power, rather than just arbitrating?"

"Yes."

"This will lead to chaos in belief!"

"Is it not chaotic now?"

...

Belinda slowly opened her eyes and said softly, "Gray, you won. Vivian’s guilt has not been pardoned, but as long as she stays by your side, based on the evasive clauses in the Heaven and Hell covenant, we will indefinitely postpone her pursuit. Retreat."

Flapping her wings, she slowly retreated, turned, and flew into the sky.

The other angels too flapped their wings and followed, some hesitating, some wanting to leave immediately. Only Abod who had hurried back remained watching from a distance.

Soon, the mountain forest returned to its original dark state.

Watching the receding figures of the angels, Vivian let out a sigh of relief, sitting down as if utterly exhausted.

Turning her face, she looked at Gray, staring blankly.

"You accepted the Demon Lord’s power?"

Gray stood silently, staring down at his hands, watching the gray flames on the sword slowly extinguish, turning into a wisp of smoke that drifted away.

The thunder subsided, and the clouds in the sky gradually dispersed, allowing the blue moonlight to pour down again.

Gray quietly watched his sword, his armor. Under the blue moonlight, his gray armor glowed with a peculiar sheen.

The Black Cat and Tenidas watched beside him, dumbfounded.

"Alright, even though you haven’t fully mastered the power I gave you, now you are the most powerful being on this continent. Consider Vivian my gift to you. You can do anything you want. Anything. I await your performance in the abyss."