Chapter 26: Misfortune

The woman's voice was hoarse, like a wailing cuckoo, each word consuming half of her strength.

Chen Feng lifted his head.

He looked at the pitiful girl in front of him with some interest, not for any other reason, but simply out of curiosity.

The woman was obviously not right. Her eyes were bloodshot, but her expression was surprisingly calm. After experiencing such a brutal treatment, few people could remain composed, so there was only one possibility...

She had gone insane.

After experiencing certain setbacks, a person's temperament would change dramatically, and it seemed her consciousness had long since collapsed.

"Could you lend me a knife?"

Chen Feng thought for a moment and then tossed the bone-carving knife to her.

The woman bent over and took the knife in her hand, her face still terrifyingly calm.

Was she going to commit suicide?

Chen Feng appeared indifferent; perhaps this was the choice of the majority of people.

In the apocalypse, the most difficult thing to endure was not the ferocious monsters, but the endless despair.

The monsters swarmed relentlessly, and even the professionally skilled would be corroded by the hopelessness that had no hope.

Suicide.

It was the quickest way to escape from suffering.

The woman had gone insane.

If she wanted to end it all, there was only one way... to die!

Would she slit her throat, or awkwardly cut the tendons in her hand?

Chen Feng wouldn't intervene in anything. There were too many tragic events in this world for him to care about. What he had to do now was simply to be a spectator.

The woman slowly raised the knife, the blade pointing towards her own face.

"Swish..."

The sound of flesh being torn could be heard as the woman made a cut on her face with the bone-carving knife. The knife was very sharp, and a bright red streak immediately appeared on her fair skin.

One cut...

Two cuts...

The woman, like a puppet unafraid of pain, casually carved on her own face. After a dozen or so cuts, her cheeks became a bloody mess. But at the same time, as these cuts were made, a strange fluctuation emerged from her body.

Power.

The woman's body underwent some changes.

The curious smile on Chen Feng's face gradually faded, and he furrowed his brows, gazing deeply at the woman in front of him. He spoke in a low voice, "Transcendence awakening?"

At the moment when the apocalypse descended, most people unlocked the abilities of professionals, gaining powers that ordinary people envied.

However, some people, whether after a certain amount of time, or when their powers reached a certain limit, or after suffering a major blow, their bodies began to change, a phenomenon known as "transcendence awakening."

Transcendence awakening was a very special phenomenon.

These people broke free from their own constraints, gaining the right to preserve their dignity and even their lives.

As the power spread throughout the woman's body, Chen Feng felt a faint oppression in his chest, and at the same time, his eyes showed some bloodshot veins. His breathing became heavier, and his brain became muddled.

An ominous aura.

These strange changes made Chen Feng somewhat cautious. Despair had taken over his mind, and within a few seconds, he became restless.

From the woman, Chen Feng sensed a familiar aura.

It reminded him of a certain organization - the Church of Misfortune.

Compared to the government's power, some professionals formed factions or churches, recruiting skilled individuals and gathering a large organization in a short period of time.

The Church of Misfortune raised some followers who saw themselves as the embodiment of misfortune, spreading disaster and suffering throughout the world.

Independent and unpredictable.

The Church of Misfortune was not only a threat to monsters, but also to humanity. Its followers were dangerous, and their teachings revolved around catastrophe, death, and torment.

This was a church that was both good and evil. While its main targets were monsters, it also sought out criminals and other heinous offenders among humanity.

The followers of the Church of Misfortune believed that emotions, weaknesses, and love were entirely useless.

They were emotionless monsters.

They were dangerous and deadly.

Chen Feng had crossed paths with followers of the Church of Misfortune more than once. They roamed in the corners of evil, and compared to those who leaned toward the light, using the guise of justice to eliminate heretics, the followers of misfortune were more like wandering undead in the dark night. Their methods were more ruthless, and their hearts were darker. They had none of the distorted righteousness of the adjudicators. To achieve their goals, they were willing to use any means.

A brief silence fell.

The woman beside was completely shrouded in despair, holding a bone-carving knife and continuously drawing on her face. In just a few seconds, her once lovely face had completely transformed into a ghastly visage. Not only that, her nails began to lengthen, and her complexion became much more haggard, as if she had aged a dozen years in an instant. However, her strength continued to grow.

Willpower is a powerful force.

Strong willpower can even interfere with the minds of others.

Although she had just awakened, her momentum was particularly astonishing, especially with her scattered gaze and the bloodied and mangled cheeks, which visually imposed pressure on others.

Decaying cheeks.

Chen Feng fell into a reverie.

The Church of Misfortune had an unwritten rule that when a believer killed an opponent of the same level, they had to carve a scar on their face with a knife.

Badge.

Distinguishing the strength and weakness of the believers of Misfortune was easy; those whose faces were completely decayed, with no good flesh left, were best kept at a distance. Throughout the long process, they not only killed their enemies, but also made markings on their faces. They were inarticulate, and nearly every believer of Misfortune had some form of mental illness.

A church that was difficult to judge as good or bad.

Misfortune?

A hint of crazy thought surfaced in Chen Feng's mind, but his expression remained unchanged.

It seemed as though he had witnessed the birth of a strong individual.

Lady Misfortune.

The leader of the Church of Misfortune, elusive and proficient in using sharp nails to pierce through enemies' skulls. She was knowledgeable in punishment and torture. She seldom appeared in front of people, but when she did, it foretold impending death.

Could it be Lady Misfortune?

After a series of judgments, Chen Feng was 90% certain that the extraordinary woman before him was the existence who would later dominate the world and bring misfortune to countless people and monsters.

Unforgettable experience.

Lady Misfortune possessed the potential to make an epic impact. It wasn't just her strength, but also her innate talent for founding the church that inspired envy. During the era of the Apocalypse, the Church of Misfortune rose to prominence, even overshadowing the Judicators for a period of time...

Despair was breeding.

The long knife and the disfigurement seemed like a cruel sacrifice. The woman had offered her appearance and her mental state to the devil, gaining a terrifying power and a brand-new life.