Chapter 67: At the End of the Void Lies the Enemy!
Imperial Capital, slums.
The Witch’s Hearth Tavern.
Qin Chu frowned as he watched the guards expel the patrons.
“Wait,” he said, “it’s more lively with everyone here.”
“Hero-sama, these commoners aren’t worthy of drinking with you. Please be mindful of your status,” the lieutenant said, his voice respectful yet firm.
“Aren’t we all human?”
“But humans are not all equal.”
This was a deeply ingrained belief in the Heavenly Continent. Only nobles were considered true humans. Commoners were barely considered people and certainly weren’t worthy of sharing the same space as a noble.
Knights, though technically part of the nobility, occupied the lowest rung of the social ladder. They endured the oppression of higher-ranking nobles and, in turn, exerted their own authority over commoners, reinforcing their own fragile status.
The commoners, their skin tanned from years of toil, their clothes simple and coarse, shuffled out of the tavern, their faces resigned. They were accustomed to such treatment. Only a few muttered curses under their breath.
They didn’t blame the Hero. After all, he had tried to stop the guards. It was the soldiers, abusing their authority, who were at fault.
The tavern was now empty, the knights forming a cordon around the building, preventing anyone from approaching.
Behind the bar, Candice’s purple hair seemed to gleam with an inner light. Qin Chu sensed that her power had increased slightly.
She looked at him with suspicion. What was the Hero doing in her tavern?
Had he discovered her true identity? If so, things could get messy.
She had been studying the Heavenly Fire Meteor spell Horus had given her, her power increasing, but she wasn’t confident she could defeat the Hero, Lena Martithes, and the knights surrounding the tavern.
A flicker of wariness crossed her violet eyes. “Welcome, Hero-sama and Knight-sama. What can I get for you?”
“A Witch’s Heart, please,” Qin Chu said.
“I’ll have a Witch’s Hair,” Lena Martithes said.
Candice smiled, her slender fingers expertly mixing the drinks. Soon, a glass of crimson liquid, “Witch’s Heart,” was placed before Qin Chu.
Lena Martithes received a glass filled with black liquid, its surface shimmering like silk, strands of what appeared to be hair swirling within. It was both beautiful and unsettling.
Qin Chu, swirling his drink, wanted to clink glasses with Lena Martithes and say something like “To your eyes…”
It would be… romantic.
But Lena Martithes simply raised her glass in a silent toast. “Cheers…”
She downed the drink in a single gulp.
Then, with a thud, she slumped onto the counter, unconscious.
She was drunk.
Her tolerance for alcohol was nonexistent.
One drink, and she was out cold.
And yet, she loved to drink…
There was even a betting pool in the Knights’ Order: whoever could finish a bottle of alcohol before Lena Martithes passed out would win a thousand Mana.
Candice, surprised by her sudden collapse, looked at Qin Chu, her voice uncertain. “Hero-sama, this knight…”
“Don’t worry, she’s just drunk…” Qin Chu shrugged. If she hadn’t been such a lightweight, he wouldn’t have brought her along. He would have invented an excuse to drink alone, to wallow in his manufactured sorrow.
“Candice,” he said, his voice soft, a smile playing on his lips, “may I ask you a question?”
“Of course… but… Hero-sama, I believe you’re mistaken. My name is Katherine, not Candice…” Candice bit her lip, her words tumbling out in a rush. Her violet eyes darted nervously around the tavern.
“There’s no need to be nervous, Candice. I mean you no harm.” Qin Chu raised his glass to his lips, his smile unwavering. “I’m just here to collect some information, on behalf of… someone…”
Candice’s eyes narrowed. “I’m just a humble tavern owner. I don’t have any information. Are you sure you have the right person?”
Qin Chu’s gaze met hers, his smile intensifying.
“My eyes see through millennia.”
He had decided to handle the information exchange personally. His entourage was growing, making covert operations difficult. He couldn’t appear as Horus every time.
To maintain control over Candice, Horus’s identity had to remain shrouded in mystery.
And Candice was intelligent. She would eventually deduce the connection between Horus and the Hero. It was better to be proactive.
He wasn’t worried about her exposing him. After all, who would believe a half-Demon, someone with Succubus blood, over the Hero?
And he had ways of keeping her in line, of ensuring her silence.
Candice gasped, her composure finally cracking.
“My eyes see through millennia.”
Those were Horus’s words.
Women were good at making assumptions.
She didn’t hide her surprise, her violet eyes shining with admiration.
How did the Hero know those words? Had he met Horus?
Ah, the great Horus! To have brought the Hero under his control, despite the constant scrutiny of powerful factions, the Holy See, the Church of the Earth Mother Goddess, the Empire… He was truly impressive!
She clasped her hands together, her excitement making her lean forward.
She had chosen the right side.
In this world of darkness and despair, only Horus offered a glimmer of hope.
She glanced at Lena Martithes, concerned about her presence.
“She’s drunk. She won’t remember anything.”
Nothing could rouse Lena Martithes from her drunken slumber.
“Are you… under Horus’s command?” she asked cautiously.
If so, wouldn’t they have to… establish a hierarchy?
How should she address him? Fellow servant of Horus? Brother and sister in arms?
A strange sense of competitiveness welled up within her. To be called “junior” by someone younger than her… it wounded her pride.
“Command?”
Qin Chu shook his head, leaning back in his chair.
“Candice, I think you’ve misunderstood. I’m not under his command. Our relationship is one of… equals. We’re… close.”
He added, “We’re practically the same person.”
Equals… Candice pouted, feeling a twinge of disappointment.
So, she had to address him as… what? Uncle?
She was a generation below him?
But why was Horus so close to him? This Hero was weak, no match for her.
Perhaps he saw potential in the Hero? It was said that this Hero was far more talented than the First Hero…
She looked at her… uncle… curiosity filling her eyes. “Where’s Horus?”
Qin Chu smiled. “He’s gone to a faraway place…”
“Where?” Candice was eager to know everything about Horus.
Her fascination puzzled him.
He looked towards the night sky, his voice taking on a melancholic tone.
“The Void.”
He remembered the cage within the Void, inventing an explanation, maintaining Horus’s enigmatic and powerful image.
But he had a premonition that he would eventually face the entities within the Void, even though his only goal was revenge.
Suddenly, his head spun, his consciousness pulled into the endless Void. The colossal, fleshy sphere, covered in countless eyes, their crimson gaze boring into him…
The indescribable scrutiny triggered a reaction within him. His head throbbed, his soul threatened to shatter, and eyes, countless eyes, erupted across his skin, peering out from beneath his flesh, their gaze filled with madness and chaos.
The contamination was spreading.
He didn’t panic. Holy Light, soft and gentle, enveloped him, banishing the grotesque transformation.
Candice trembled, her face pale. The whispers, the maddening whispers, had assaulted her mind, her soul tearing at its seams. Her skin itched, as if those eyes were about to burst forth from her own flesh.
It was a presence she couldn’t bear to witness, to even hear.
“Hero-sama, what was…”
Qin Chu shrugged, his voice calm.
“You know… we’re battling… those… entities… within the Void.”
Candice stared at him, a mixture of fear and awe filling her eyes.
The Void?
It was a forbidden realm, a place of mystery and terror, unexplored by both humans and Demons. And Horus… he could traverse the Void?
Her admiration for Horus intensified. She believed him without question. It was fitting for someone like Horus.
Even the Hero… he had been attacked by an entity from the Void. She had only felt the faintest touch of its power, and her soul had almost shattered. He, the target of the attack, must have endured unimaginable torment… and then he had banished it with his light.
This Hero was far more powerful than she had realized. No wonder he was Horus’s… comrade…
“What… what’s in the Void?” she whispered, her voice barely audible.
“At the end of the Void… lies the enemy,” Qin Chu said, his voice low and enigmatic. He tapped his finger against his glass, the sound sharp and clear.
“Our world is bound by chains.”
“We’re like the liquid in this glass, trapped within a cage, oblivious to our imprisonment.”
Candice trembled. She felt as if she had glimpsed the truth, a terrifying truth.
Their world, a prison? Horus and the Hero… were they fighting to break free from these chains?
She thought of the endless conflicts, the bloodshed, the struggle for land and wealth that consumed both humans and Demons.
Horus and the Hero… they were truly noble, their purpose far greater than any petty squabble.
Ah, Horus, you are so captivating… Candice’s cheeks flushed, her eyes shining with admiration.
Wait…
Wasn’t she supposed to… question this?
He was making things up…
“Candice, Horus is busy. He might not be able to meet you every time. I’ll be handling some of the communication. If you have any information, tell me. Understand?”
Candice, her awe momentarily subdued, took a deep breath. “I understand.”
“Lomond will attack Benson in three days…”
Time was short. He hadn’t fully subdued Ekaterina yet.
He had to accelerate his plans.
He leaned back, setting down his glass, his fingers steepled beneath his chin.
“Inform Lomond. Tell him that Loseweisse and Ekaterina will be leaving the capital in three days to assist Benson. Tell him to intercept them…”
…
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