Ch 9 Breaking the Chains

Leon slowly backs away, but then he sees Jane bite the old man's hand!

So it's true that Jane wants to attack him, but this old man shields him while protecting Jane at the same time!

This old man's style looks different from the one before, he wears a black raincoat, black shirt, jeans, and boots.

The only thing similar to the old man who went crazy is a small book in his other hand.

As Leon steps aside and moves closer to Walter, the old man in the raincoat quietly bites his thumb while still holding the book and smears the bloodied thumb on Jane's forehead.

"By blood, this chain be broken," the old man whispered gently, his eyes closing.

Then, nothing flashy or loud happens... But a few seconds later, Leon can see Jane start convulsing!

But what Leon and Walter don't see... is seen by the old man.

…

The old man opened his eyes to see that the scene in front of him looked completely different. There was no dim, dark orphanage, but instead a golden sky stretched above. The ground was covered with pure white tiles lined with elegant golden trim.

From afar, numerous white columns could be seen scattered throughout, each rising strongly toward the sky. And standing among them, a giant figure could be seen.

a 3-meter-tall creature that appeared as a beautiful, pure white female statue with golden lining tracing her body from head to toe.

It was clad in a pure white dress, with a face that no one could see. Yes, it was faceless, with only golden lining visible where its face should be.

It radiated holy light... so bright and blinding.

But the old man was not that different. Currently, he was clad in pure white body armor. Then a shining light formed a helmet on his forehead.

In his right hand was a pure white sword, and in his left hand a transparent shield that occasionally glimmered with light.

He was shining even more brightly than the statue, yet his light felt warm to the touch and gentle on the eyes.

He looked calm and slowly raised his sword of light…

"Light of truth, cut through all illusion. Let reality stand unveiled!" As he spoke, his sword swept through the air, its blade gleaming with divine light! Then something changed...

The once blinding golden sky changed to a bloody night. The pure white tiles with elegant gold lining transformed into flaming rocks, cracked and dangerous as flames poured out from within.

The pure white pillars rotted and became sharp, protruding rocky cliffs. The standing figure remained the same.

Except its elegant, faceless visage began to change. The golden lines on its face pulsed with sickly light before cracking open like a zipper, unveiling rows of razor-sharp fangs like those of certain alien movies.

Its massive stone hands remained as beautiful as ever, but somehow when it clenched them, they seemed more menacing, each fist the size of a boulder, capable of crushing anything in its path.

It roared at the old man, but the sound was unlike any roar he had ever heard, calm and beautiful, yet utterly eerie and dangerous.

Then it charged forward. Its massive body lunged fast at the old man, who predicted the attack and rolled to the right. The old man then swung his pure white sword at the creature's exposed flank.

His sword struck the creature's leg, leaving only a thin golden crack - barely more than a scratch on the massive stone surface. The pathetic wound seemed to mock his efforts as rage consumed the massive statue.

The creature let out a deafening roar and went into a rampage, pounding its massive fists randomly around where the old man dodged.

The old man rolled desperately to avoid the crushing blows, but had no chance to fight back. When one massive fist slammed into the ground just inches from his body, the creature paused briefly. In that split second, the old man struck with his sword, slashing at the statue's exposed arm.

His sword hit, but only produced a tiny spark. Feeling something was off, the old man's eyes widened as he realized the truth it was a trap!

Then the statue's massive hand swept around in a devastating backhand, striking him directly in the chest and hurling him like a rag doll across the sky!

“Arggh!” Blood spurted from the old man's mouth! His armor showed visible cracks from the impact, but mid flight he desperately positioned his shield under his body.

When he crashed down, the statue's devastating force continued driving him forward, his transparent shield suddenly hardened into solid light that scraped and sparked against the rocky surface as he slid helplessly along!

When the sliding force finally stopped, the old man instinctively rolled forward! Just as he moved, the statue's massive fist smashed into where he had been, leaving a huge crater!

The old man look in shambles… sweat tickling down and his breath heavy… his armor cracked heavily.. His shield light dim… his sword.. Useless…

This is a desperate fight!

Suddenly the old man shout! "My life for theirs, my blood for their freedom, my sacrifice to shatter these chains!"

The blood answered his sacrifice. Every drop from his wounds, from the ground, from his armor, all of it flowed toward him, enveloping him in a blood red cocoon.

It lasted only a second before dispersing. When it dispersed, the old man had already changed! His once broken armor had repaired itself and looked more powerful and mighty. The helmet of light transformed into full face helmet of light, radiant and blinding.

The once pure white sword turned crimson red, with blood visibly swirling within the blade!

As soon as this happened, a huge shadow enveloped the old man. He quickly raised his shield.

*boom!*

A massive hand slammed down and smashed into the old man with tremendous force!

The old man gritted his teeth under the helmet, but his shield was not broken! The ground around him had cracked and sunk, leaving him standing in a crater.

Seeing that its attack hadn't damaged the old man, the statue quickly raised its hand again! This time, it used both hands to strike!

The old man wasn't stupid enough to take this attack, he quickly jumped from the crater!

*boom!*

As he leaped out of the crater, the impact made it even deeper behind him!

The massive force of the attack left the statue frozen for a moment, both stone fists buried deep in the ground.

The old man seized his chance, he leaped and slashed at the exposed shoulder! Unlike his previous futile strikes, this time when his crimson sword slashed across the statue's shoulder, it left a deep, gashing wound! Cracks appeared and golden light kept streaming out!

This made the statue angry! So angry that the cracks even got wider!

And this was just the start! Whenever there was a chance, the old man would slash at the statue, carving more and more golden wounds across its surface. The statue's attacks grew wilder, more desperate. Finally, it leaped backward and roared!

But what emerged was not a rough and harsh roar but singing... a beautiful melody that could captivate the soul!

Hearing this beautiful song, the old man started to break out in a cold sweat as he couldn't move much!

His whole body suddenly felt heavy, but he still raised his shield with difficulty, trying to protect himself.

But the light around his shield began to dim! Then a massive hand suddenly swiped from his right! The statue had closed the gap in just seconds!

Unable to dodge, the old man got hit and was flung high. "Aghh!" A spurt of warm blood burst from his mouth, staining his full face helmet. The armor cracked and he fell, rolling numerous times across the harsh ground.

After rolling, he stopped quickly, raising his shield upward while kneeling, and shouted, “For my shield shall stand firm!”

Two massive hands then slammed down and struck the shield!

*Boom!*

This created another crater beneath the old man's feet! He spat blood again, but soon the blood floated up, repairing his armor and making the shield much stronger! He managed to hold against the statue's powerful attack!

The statue raised both hands again, and the old man shouted, “And the light shall not yield!”

As the statue's hands fell down, the old man leaped up! This was no ordinary leap, his whole body radiated strong light, blinding even the statue!

What it couldn't see was the once crimson blade starting to shine with bright light again, though blood kept pouring from the blade like a river of crimson fire as it slashed across the statue's neck.

“Thus falls the idol of lies” the old man said. Then the statue's neck began to crack, and the head crumbled down!

“AAAHHHHHHHHH!” As it fell, an agonizing voice could be heard. It was horrifying yet sorrowful!

Then everything returned to normal.

…

Leon could see the old man sigh, and Jane slowly fall down, sleeping like a little beauty. And when he looked at the other kids who were still tied up... well, they didn't even move and were still sleeping like logs.

“Everything is done. Take care of them well. Ah, that boy needs immediate medical attention. Get him to the hospital soon.” The old man looked tired, but that was all. nothing else could be seen from the outside.

Leon nodded. “Yes, yes. Thank you, sir, for your timely help... Uhm, well, ah, right... You are bleeding. Want some band aid?” Leon then took out a band aid as he saw the old man's thumb bleeding because he had bitten it himself. Weird... uhm

The old man nodded and tended to his wound as if nothing had happened. Then Leon looked between the unconscious old man and this other old man...

“Right, let him rest. It's fine, just some residue. Nothing will affect him much. When he wakes up, just give him water” the old man said.

But he seemed to want to double-check. After examining the unconscious man more closely and noticing the seizure-like convulsions, he said, “Actually, I think I should take him to hospital right away”

Leon just nodded, secretly wondering if it really was some spiritual nonsense... or if maybe he'd gone a bit overboard with the stun baton.

Meanwhile, old Walter tenderly moved Jane and made her lie down more comfortably, then untied the other kids.

Without saying much, the old man in the raincoat lifted the unconscious old man and walked away before old Walter could even offer him money for his trouble. He walked rather fast and was already out of sight.

“Kid, help me move James and the others. I need to get Roy to the hospital!” Old Walter looked at Roy, who was still bleeding. He really needed to bring Roy to the hospital, or else who knew what would happen!

In the end, Leon moved James, Jane, and Emilie to their beds while old Walter rushed out with Roy to fix his broken nose. It was still bleeding.

After covering the kids with their blankets, Leon sighed and walked toward his own room. “What an eventful day... sheesh, fake priest, sleepwalking that went wrong... tsk tsk... Hey Nova, you still sleeping?”

Leon looked at his watch, it was already 3:15. But Nova hadn't talked to him yet. Confused, he took out his phone only to realize that it was dead. The battery…

“Oh... that's why…” Leon shook his head and charged his phone, throwing his six broken flashlights into the trash bin.

“Damn that old scammer... Did he use an EMP to make his act real? Damn... I hope my phone's alright... and that mysterious old man... hmm... looked more like a cultist with blood and such, hahaha…” Leon tried to rationalize everything, but he knew something wasn't right.

The lights suddenly went out, the signal cut off and how come Jane was suddenly on his back! He was so sure he had tied her up super tight!

Leon could feel something was wrong, but that was all. In truth, it was something spiritual... even somewhat related to him.

…

The scene changed, and a freshly written diary could be seen.

[Main possession: Jane]

[Traits: sleepwalking, singing, likes beautiful things]

[Expected demon: False Glory - starting phase]

[Note: finds hope, recognition, worships a security guard called Leon. When sleepwalking, she sings a beautiful poem in front of a mirror to show that she wants to be the star. Stalks her idol, turns hostile when laughed at by her own light]

[Poem recorded :]

“Golden crown, silver light,
Shiny dreams that burn so bright,
Pretty rings and silken thread,
Tell me lies and paint them red.

dlog gnirb sdnah sih ,dnik retsaM

.dlot m'I os ,ykcul ma I

,yrc reven dna ,elims dna woB

...yrt ohw esoht rof llaf lliw sratS

[Reversed second part]

“Master kind, his hands bring gold,
I am lucky, so I'm told.
Bow and smile, and never cry,
stars will fall for those who try…”

[Another note: It feels dreamy, almost like a lullaby, but praises shiny dreams and painted lies. showing her blindness as she is grateful to the light not for pocket money, but for the appearance of kindness, albeit being used as child labor, which deep down she knows is wrong.]

[Another note: child labor is forbidden by government law, but looking at this orphanage's condition, I can't comment on this.]

[Sub possession 1: Emilie]

[Trait: sleepwalking]

[Note: sleepwalking forward and follows whoever pulls her. On the last night, even with open eyes and small obstacles like bean bags, she still kept moving forward, she needs active guidance. Without one, she doesn't know what to do, so she keeps moving forward and doesn't care if it's harmful or not.]

[Sub possession 2: Roy]

[Trait: stares at wall and bangs his head]

[Note: trait means he refuses to be blind. He knows something is wrong and doesn't want to submit, so in the end it turns into self-harm by banging his head against the wall.]

[Sub possession 3: James]

[Trait: moves backward]

[Note: trait means he wants to bring peace among his circle but failed, no one hears him and the argument escalates, which makes him passive and move backward, but he keeps trying and trying. When he realizes everything becomes worse, blinded by panic, he keeps trying and trying even when facing a wall even though it is still a failure.]

“Sigh... May the light bless these kids.” The sound of the book being closed could be heard.