Chapter 106: Altar of Heads
Shaye was astonished, her voice filled with disbelief, “How is this possible?”
It was indeed hard to imagine, but it was the truth.
The soul crystal was like a storage device for soul fragments, memories, knowledge, and experience.
The situation with the First Hero was probably even more complicated than Qin Chu had imagined.
Of course, even if it was empty, it still had value. After all, for the members of the Hero Squad, as long as they didn’t carefully sense the contents of the soul crystal, they wouldn’t know it was empty. They could only sense the familiar aura of Jie Luo from it.
It was enough to use as a threat.
Although Qin Chu was a little unhappy that he couldn’t obtain the memories inside, he found it intriguing.
Interesting, who could have taken away the memories imprinted within the soul crystal? Was it Violet, Nagath, or even… Jie Luo himself?
The Demon King Nagath had killed Jie Luo in front of the Hero Squad, his soul shattered. One of the fragments flew to Violet, and this fragment was empty… The memories that should have been imprinted on the soul fragment had long since disappeared.
Could it be that the moment Jie Luo’s soul was shattered, his consciousness and memories somehow detached from the broken soul fragments? But where could they have gone after detaching?
As Qin Chu pondered, the Temple of Storms suddenly began to shake.
Dense cracks appeared on the walls, and large amounts of dust fell from the ceiling.
This temple had been supported by Violet’s magic. If she hadn’t wasted so much power on maintaining the temple, she would have been much stronger than she appeared. Now that Violet had temporarily fallen asleep and the magic supply was cut off, this ancient temple that had stood for a thousand years finally reached its end.
Violet’s body was very tall. Even though Qin Chu wasn’t short, holding her like this still felt a bit strange. But now wasn’t the time to think about these things. With a tap of his toes, Qin Chu, Anthea, Ekaterina, and Shaye all rushed out of the temple.
Rumble…
Just as they left the temple, the entire building began to collapse completely.
Walls cracked, the roof caved in.
A large cloud of dust rose from the ground.
This ancient building that had stood for a thousand years finally disappeared.
The commotion of the temple’s collapse awakened Violet. Her blue-gray eyes gazed at the ruins in front of her, with a hint of attachment and reluctance, but no sadness.
For a thousand years, she had stubbornly repaired and maintained the temple, as if it were still intact, as if her former companions were still there, as if everything was the same as before.
But this false dream had finally come to an end because she had found new hope.
Violet glanced at Qin Chu beside her, a faint smile appearing on her lips.
From now on, she would chase the light!
“Violet, the First Hero’s soul fragment is empty. Have you studied it?” Qin Chu asked.
Violet was clearly surprised and then shook her head.
“I haven’t studied that thing, after all…” Violet didn’t finish her sentence.
But Qin Chu already understood what she meant. After all, at that time, Violet was already on the verge of madness. Dealing with her own matters and maintaining the temple’s existence was already difficult enough, she didn’t have time to care about other things.
“Then what are you going to do?” Qin Chu thought about how to lure Violet… no, how to persuade Violet to join him on this journey.
Of course, it wasn’t because he wanted to have frequent trysts with her. It was mainly because Violet was very strong and could be an important teammate by his side.
“We’re going to another place next…”
But before Qin Chu could finish his persuasive words, Violet’s face suddenly changed. Her bright eyes were filled with fear, and her tall body trembled pitifully, “Are you… are you going to leave me?”
Her eyes dimmed. If she was abandoned again, Violet couldn’t guarantee what she would become. She might go mad immediately.
Good heavens… Qin Chu was still thinking about how to lure her in, only to realize that he didn’t need to at all.
“Ahem, of course not. If Miss Violet is willing to follow me, I would naturally welcome it. However… there are some things that Miss Violet needs to understand. It has been over a thousand years, and the Holy See has become the largest church in the Heavenly Continent. I inevitably have to deal with them occasionally…”
Qin Chu gave her a heads-up in advance. He didn’t want to see Violet go berserk when she saw the Holy See.
Although it might be quite exciting.
Violet bit her lower lip lightly, took a deep breath, and finally nodded, “Don’t worry, I’ll control myself.”
Fate was always unpredictable. A thousand years ago, Violet couldn’t believe that such a disaster would befall her until the Holy Knights of the Holy See stepped into the Temple of Storms.
After a thousand years, although the hatred still existed, the long loneliness had given Violet good patience.
Looking at the time, it was about time to go to Benson’s body. Loseweisse should be arriving soon.
As they walked, Qin Chu asked, “By the way, Saintess Violet…”
“Violet!”
“What?”
“Call me Violet,” the Saintess emphasized.
This was a very stubborn girl. Once she set her mind on something, she would stick to it. After all, Violet had maintained the Temple of Storms for over a thousand years. Qin Chu wisely judged that arguing with her about her name was pointless and meaningless, so he decisively gave up.
“Okay, Violet,” Qin Chu relented.
Violet smiled, satisfied with this address.
“Can you tell me about the authority of the Storm Lord?” Qin Chu asked, then apologized, “I’m sorry for peeking at your diary.”
He took the diary out of his storage ring and returned it to Violet.
After all, with Violet by his side, the value of this diary no longer existed.
Violet didn’t get angry and didn’t take the diary. She just glanced at it casually, acting nonchalant, “Keep it. I don’t need it anymore.”
This diary was more like another kind of memory for her. Her consciousness was often confused, her memories blurred, and she would even forget who she was.
At those times, she needed the diary to remind her.
However, the current Violet no longer needed this. With the collapse of the Temple of Storms, the responsibility on her shoulders had disappeared, and she had also found a target to follow. Her sanity had returned.
A faint blush appeared on Violet’s cheeks, “The Storm Lord’s final oracle was to let me hand over the authority to the inheritor of the Seed of Light.”
“Through… the most primal way of humans…” Violet bit her lip, her voice a little muffled, “By having children, the Seed of Storms can be transferred to the inheritor of the Seed of Light.”
Although her consciousness had fallen into madness just now, in retrospect, she didn’t dislike that feeling. She liked holding Qin Chu in her arms, letting him rest his head on her chest.
Although she was a little crazy at that time and might have used a bit too much force, almost suffocating Qin Chu and breaking his neck.
Although her voice was muffled, Qin Chu heard it. He was speechless.
Were all these gods a little off? What kind of inheritance method was this?
“Why didn’t you take the Seed of Storms just now?”
After a pause, Violet mustered her courage, “If it’s you, I’m willing to try again!”
Her bright eyes gazed at Qin Chu, with a hint of fear in them.
Seeing Qin Chu stunned, Violet panicked, “You… you don’t want to?”
“Is it… is it because I’m too tall?”
“Or, or because I’m a ghost?”
She said anxiously, “Although I’m a ghost, you know, I can use pure elements to simulate a body that’s no different from a real one…”
“As for my height, it’s a side effect of the divine authority. If you can take the Seed of Storms, I’ll return to normal…”
Well, actually, this height… wasn’t bad, Qin Chu muttered in his heart. It might be addictive.
Seeing Violet like this, Qin Chu smiled. He wanted to pat her head and comfort her, but… looking at the height difference, even if he stood on tiptoe, he couldn’t reach it. Qin Chu could only settle for patting Violet’s arm gently:
“What are you thinking…”
“It’s my honor to have Miss Violet’s favor.”
“But, you’re a good girl. You’ve persisted for over a thousand years for your faith and hope. This is something I can’t do. You’re the most suitable person to inherit the authority of the Storm Lord.”
Qin Chu used a very good reason to refuse, but in fact, it was to control Violet. Holy Light’s eruption had damaged Violet’s soul body, but it had also suppressed and cleansed some of the pollution she had suffered. She had returned to normal, but the pollution caused by the Seed of Storms still existed in her soul body. If she didn’t want to go mad again, she could only rely on him, get close to him, and absorb the purification of the light.
If he really took away the Seed of Storms and Violet completely recovered, it would be inconvenient to control her. If she wanted to leave, there would be nothing he could do to stop her… Again, it wasn’t because he wanted to have a fling with her, it was mainly because he had his eyes on Violet’s strength.
As for the Seed of Storms, he wasn’t very interested. He already had the Seed of Light, the Seed of Life, as well as Shaye and Anthea in his body. He couldn’t accommodate any more.
Violet gave Qin Chu a resentful look and pursed her lips. She didn’t dislike this man who made her feel warm… However, she was still a little happy that Qin Chu cared so much about her.
“Ekaterina…”
“Master, I know what to say when I see Loseweisse and the others,” Ekaterina replied.
It was good that she had this awareness. However, it wasn’t just Loseweisse. There were also matters to attend to after returning to the Imperial City. Qin Chu had prepared a huge trap for Athena, just waiting for her to jump in.
To make Athena jump into the pit on her own, he needed Ekaterina’s cooperation, so he had to rehearse their lines on the way.
That lazy, charming, and soft-spoken older sister, he hadn’t seen her for a long time either. Now that he had Jie Luo’s soul fragment, Qin Chu was starting to look forward to it.
This time, he would use completely different methods from what he used on Benson to make Athena walk into despair on her own.
…
At the foot of Mount Cavanyas.
Loseweisse was gasping for breath. She was extremely exhausted.
Ever since she broke free from the Minotaurs, she had been flying here at full speed without any rest.
Her Saintess attire was a little disheveled, and there were dark circles under her eyes.
A sliver of dawn had appeared in the sky, dispelling the long darkness and gloom, but the foot of Mount Cavanyas seemed even more eerie.
Loseweisse didn’t hear any sounds of battle, and she couldn’t help but worry. Could it be that she was still too late?
She sped up a little, but when she saw the scene at the foot of the mountain, she froze. Goosebumps erupted all over her skin, and a creepy feeling of fear made her scalp tingle.
Countless bloody heads were piled together, forming a tall and wide altar.
Thick, dark red liquid dripped down the altar, pooling in the depressions on the ground.
The pungent smell of blood was nauseating.
Bonfires burned around the altar, the dancing flames making the severed heads look even more terrifying.
What… what had happened here?
Loseweisse had a vague feeling that things had become troublesome.
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