Endless Debt Chapter 1619: Reunion_2

Carol’s pitch‑black eyes fixed on the shadows where Olivia hid, her mouth opening in a grotesque arc as a vast tide of Ether gathered inside her.

Seeker of Glory.

Olivia’s eyes widened, staring in disbelief at what was happening, and then the roaring sound wave crashed over her completely.

In that brutal instant, the powerful sonic force swept across the Central Courtyard like a raging storm; the floor along its path shattered like glass, and the stone pillars collapsed one after another under the assault.

Before this surging tide of sound, Olivia seemed so small and powerless. She tried her hardest to evade, yet was still struck directly; the Seeker of Glory’s Ether swept across her body, and under Ethereum Mutual Exclusion, she was forced out of the shadows, her figure exposed in midair.

The next moment she was like a fallen leaf caught in a vortex, slammed back and forth, her body battered and torn. Immediately afterward, the Heartless closed in, trying to rip her apart completely; just as the deadly blades were about to reach her, Olivia’s figure exploded into countless writhing shadows.

They fled to one side like a swarm of snakes, gathering and reforming.

Olivia had barely found her footing when Carol howled again; the sound wave spread out in a conical blast, sealing off every escape route Olivia had.

As her old friend, Olivia knew very well what kind of Secret Energy Carol possessed. She also knew that through the long years, Carol’s Secret Energy had long fallen behind the times.

Yet under the might of a Seeker of Glory, even a dulled blade was enough to pierce flesh and bone.

Shadows sprang up from beneath Olivia’s feet. She tried to dive into them again, but the fierce Ethereum Mutual Exclusion disrupted her Secret Energy; she had only half her body inside when she was forcibly squeezed back out.

The violent impact made Olivia’s head spin. Several seconds later her consciousness cleared, and by then everything around her had already been pulverized to dust; her body was tumbling in the sound wave like a butterfly swept up in a gale, completely out of control.

At last she crashed to the ground. The floor that had once been hard and intact was now broken and loose; the air around her was thick with dust and the taste of shattered stone. Olivia coughed, the pain unbearable.

Before Olivia could rise, a Heartless lunged in front of her, swinging a Giant Sword down toward her head.

When the trembling echoes faded and the dust rolled aside, fractured shadows emerged in a safe spot. Olivia clutched her shoulder; blood ran down her arm and pooled on the ground.

A short distance away, the Heartless was straining to wrench the Giant Sword out of the crater. Only then did Olivia notice that the sword was completely fused to the creature’s arm—flesh, tendon, and metal merged into one.

The Heartless turned, glaring at Olivia with murderous intent, and in that moment Olivia managed to just barely recognize its twisted face.

“Uncle Oken?”

Olivia stared at him in disbelief, then snapped her gaze toward the other Heartless.

Those faces, twisted in agony, slowly softened; one name after another—names Olivia had nearly forgotten—rose up from the depths of her mind.

Olivia suddenly realized that these Heartless had not been directly transformed by the torment of Bloodthirsty Syndrome. Someone had deliberately punished them. They had all once served Serey.

Likewise, she now had the answer to why the other Night Race had managed to survive. They had turned these Night Race into blood cattle, drinking their blood, tormenting their very selves.

A crushing sense of helplessness surged into Olivia’s heart, followed by fury: fury at the Night King, fury at Serey, and fury at herself.

Oken did not regain the slightest shred of reason upon hearing his name. He hefted the massive Giant Sword and strode toward Olivia. The other Heartless did the same, closing in around her like a hunting pack of wolves.

Fresh blood scent spread from Olivia’s body, drifting through the deep corridor, winding past the long stairway. In the dark depths of the Origin Tower, the shadowy figure chained in place lifted his head.

He smelled that strange yet familiar blood scent, and from it he glimpsed the bloodline he had cursed and loathed.

“Serey…”

The distant, uncanny voice crooned.

With her wounds bleeding, Olivia’s long‑maintained concealment had completely failed. The Night Race were exquisitely sensitive to blood; from a single drop they could infer all kinds of information.

Likewise, the Heartless also smelled Olivia’s blood. Even without minds, that instinct born of the Night Race made them brim with hatred for the blood of Serey’s line.

Layer upon layer of terrifying Ether reactions flared. Olivia watched in despair, knowing this was her end. In the end she still could do nothing, could not mend any of her mistakes.

But Olivia would not, like Serey, meekly accept her fate. She would fight back, and bring release to these Heartless.

The shadows roiled in frenzy, circling around Olivia and Etherializing, shadow‑shaping her body along with them.

The Heartless pressed in step by step, shrinking the space she had left to live. Just as she braced for a desperate final struggle, suddenly a hand stretched out from behind, clamping over Olivia’s mouth and stuffing her roar back down.

“Quiet,” Church murmured, “I’m Church Burton, attached to the Order Bureau’s Crow’s Nest.”

A standard identification, meant to keep Olivia rational. Immediately after, a strange sensation of stripping closed over Olivia’s entire body. She could clearly feel herself losing something.

Her understanding of the world, the completeness of her memories… She seemed to be sinking into a marsh that was constantly erasing information. When Olivia was completely digested, the very concept of “Olivia” would vanish from the world entirely and Fade Away.

Fortunately, things did not reach that level of despair. The sensation of stripping stopped after about half a minute. At the same time, Olivia noticed that the Heartless who had surrounded her now seemed unable to see her at all, staring blankly around as they searched for a target.

“Don’t panic. This is my Secret Energy. It pulls your existence out of the real world,” Church explained. “The price is that, during the extraction, you’ll lose some memories, some understanding… but compared to dying, that cost isn’t much, is it?”

Perhaps because she was submerged in Church’s Secret Energy, Olivia felt her thoughts turning sluggish. It took her more than ten seconds to accept what was happening, before she asked, “Order Bureau? Why are you here?”

“Isn’t it obvious? The Order Bureau is conducting an operation against the Land of Eternal Night.”

Church spoke as he pressed down on Olivia’s shoulder, guiding her toward the exit of the Pilgrim’s Courtyard. “Bringing others into the Narrow Space alongside me is a new trait I obtained after advancing to Negative Power User. But this is my first time doing it, so I’m not very practiced.”

As an absolute lone wolf, Church rarely risked exposing herself to rescue others. But there was no helping it: if Olivia died here, who knew what Serey would do. Once Serey lost control, the entire operation would become perilous.

Only after wrestling with this did Church finally choose to act, to protect Olivia.

“We have to get out of here quickly, and you must end the state of Walking in the Narrow Space as soon as possible,” Church said tensely. “As time goes on, you’ll forget more and more, and… and I’m not even sure how long I can keep this state stable.”

Just as Church finished speaking, their bodies glitched like faulty images; blue and purple afterimages appeared on Church and Olivia alike. Even Olivia could clearly feel the stripping effect covering them weakening rapidly—they were about to be sent back into reality.

Olivia said, “You can abandon me.”

“Abandon you? Serey would go insane,” Church added. “He’s in the Land of Eternal Night right now. He came to save you.”

Hearing this, Olivia froze. She could hardly imagine that Serey had actually left the Undying Club, and even less that he had come for the sake of saving her.

At that very moment, a piercing Ether reaction came from outside the Pilgrim’s Courtyard. Wind howled; then several figures wrapped in the storm burst through the doors.

“I smell it!”

Serey stood behind Bologue, shouting, “Olivia’s blood is nearby!”

“I know, I know, stop rushing me.”

Bologue’s expression was grim as he looked at the courtyard full of Heartless. Sensing the suffocating Ether intensity emanating from them, he silently drew the Vengeful Saw Axe and loosened the strap binding it.