Category: Dear, it’s time for your medicine!

Chapter 104: There, There, It’s Alright

Violet’s voice had become distorted.

Her beautiful face was contorted with a grimace. It must have been extremely difficult for her to regain her sanity for a short time in the afternoon. Even during that brief moment of lucidity, she was still battling the madness deep within her heart.

She craved the Seed of Life. Only the nourishment from the Seed of Life could soothe her tormented soul that had endured countless agonies.

Violet’s grip was so strong that Qin Chu felt like his neck was about to snap. It hurt a little… but only a little.

Facing the almost insane Violet, Qin Chu didn’t feel even a shred of fear. If he had only thought he could contend with the Storm Witch before, now he was full of confidence.

Looking at Violet’s attire, Qin Chu knew his previous guess was right.

The black gauze fluttered in the wind.

Violet had prepared for this, but Qin Chu used a rather unfortunate method, forcing her to continue waiting in agony. She had waited for over a thousand years, her patience long since worn thin. Now, even a two-hour wait was unbearable for her.

She mocked Anthea, thinking that Anthea didn’t know how to obtain the treasure right beside her, but how much better was she herself? She desperately kissed Qin Chu’s face, but didn’t know what to do next.

She became more and more confused, more and more anxious, more and more uncomfortable, more and more crazy…

The dark red thread-like patterns on her fair face seemed to spread even more fiercely due to her anxiety and madness.

Originally, Qin Chu was a little resistant to Violet… It wasn’t that Violet wasn’t good-looking or that her figure wasn’t good enough. After all, Violet was the Saintess of the Temple of Storms a thousand years ago. Both her figure and appearance were impeccable.

It wasn’t that Qin Chu wasn’t confident in himself either. But… how should he put it? Violet was three meters tall!

But now, seeing Violet like this, Qin Chu even felt a little sorry for her. If this continued, Violet’s consciousness would truly collapse.

Coupled with the effects of the Moonflower pollen, Qin Chu finally sighed and took the initiative.

…

Qin Chu found that he had been completely overthinking it.

Although Violet was three meters tall, she wasn’t much different from girls like Ekaterina and Angelica.

Although she was a ghost, Violet’s existence was very special. Her spirit body could bring sensations almost indistinguishable from a real person.

However, the development of the situation was somewhat beyond Qin Chu’s expectations.

He had thought that Violet would calm down, but her condition worsened. The remaining rationality in her eyes was quickly being devoured, and the traces of madness became more and more intense.

In her near-insane state, Violet couldn’t control her strength at all. Her fingers almost sank into Qin Chu’s neck.

The damage to his neck was instantly healed by Holy Healing.

The speed at which Violet destroyed was far slower than the speed at which he healed.

Her three-meter-tall body completely suppressed Qin Chu, her grip on his neck tightening, as if she was about to break it.

Violet’s guess was wrong. The Seed of Life couldn’t soothe her soul. Her craving for it was merely an undead’s instinctive yearning for life.

If it were just like this, Violet would forever be a lunatic, her chaotic consciousness never to be pacified.

Until finally, she completely devolved into a crazed Witch.

“Bloom…”

Violet’s crazed face froze for a moment, “What did you say?”

“Holy Light!”

He once again became light.

Perhaps, only the Holy Light could purify the pollution in Violet’s soul.

Intense white light burst out from Qin Chu’s body like sharp swords. If someone were watching from a different angle at this moment, they might think Qin Chu had turned into a hedgehog covered in white thorns.

That is, if their eyes weren’t blinded by the white light.

The bright light dispelled the darkness in the temple, piercing through the walls that had stood for over a thousand years. The cold air outside surged in through the holes pierced by the white light.

Violet, who was on top of Qin Chu, bore the full brunt of the Holy Light’s eruption.

Her eyes widened in shock, filled with an indescribable emotion.

Then, with a shrill scream, Violet’s body was directly blown away by the impact of the Holy Light, her tall body crashing heavily to the ground.

When Qin Chu learned that Violet was already dead, that the current Violet was a ghost, the fear in his heart completely disappeared. Because the Holy Light he wielded was the bane of all ghosts and monsters, and the former Saintess of the Storm Lord was no exception.

This had been personally tested by Anthea during the first time he used it, and the effect was extraordinarily good.

Although both were Holy Light, Qin Chu’s Holy Light seemed to be a level higher than the Holy Light of the Holy See, and its destructive power was even more exaggerated.

With this move at his disposal, Qin Chu had a means to counterattack even against a completely insane Violet.

If Violet could return to normal, Qin Chu wouldn’t be willing to use Holy Light to harm this Saintess who had persisted for a thousand years.

However, Violet’s situation surprised Qin Chu.

It wasn’t that the damage from the Holy Light’s eruption wasn’t enough. On the contrary, because Violet was still holding Qin Chu’s neck, she had taken almost the full force of the Holy Light at such close range.

Her thighs, abdomen, chest, and even her beautiful face had traces of being pierced by light swords. The power of the Holy Light was still burning Violet’s spirit body, continuously producing wisps of white smoke, making the Storm Witch’s current appearance even more terrifying.

Her spirit body had suffered severe damage.

If she took a few more hits, she might even dissipate directly.

But Violet wasn’t afraid like Anthea was before. Instead, her eyes revealed a kind of excitement and madness that made Qin Chu’s hair stand on end.

Even though the Holy Light was still shining like the bright afternoon sun, and Violet’s body was continuously suffering more and more serious injuries, she seemed completely oblivious to her own situation.

She didn’t care that she was covered in dust, only staring obsessively at the bright Holy Light in front of her, letting it pierce through her eyes.

Even though her body could no longer stand, she still crawled forward on the ground, her hand reaching out as if trying to touch something.

Her lips parted slightly:

“Light, it’s light…”

After so many years.

She finally saw the light again, the Holy Light.

The Temple of Storms was bone-chillingly gloomy at night and dimly lit during the day.

She hadn’t seen such bright light for over a thousand years.

This light was so warm, so warm that she felt like her soul was about to melt in it. Her eyes seemed to see another world.

It was heaven.

The oracle of the Storm Lord before his demise once again surfaced in her consciousness.

Find the inheritor of the Holy Light, follow Him, serve Him, give the power of the storm to Him, and He will lead you to find light in the darkness!

She inherited the seed of hope, and she had to pass it on.

She had only sensed the aura of the Seed of Life on Qin Chu and wanted to plunder it, to use its gentleness to soothe her pain. She didn’t expect that Qin Chu also possessed the power of the Holy Light.

Violet’s eyes were filled with a crazy obsession. She stretched out her hand, trying to grab the light. Even though her fingers were mercilessly melted by the light, she didn’t stop. She wanted to get closer to that blazing heat.

Suddenly, Violet cried.

Like a little girl who had lost her mother.

After a thousand years, a thousand years of waiting, she had finally waited.

Who could know how much torment she had endured during this long time?

Who could know how many times her will had collapsed, how many times her faith had crumbled? But Violet was the seed of hope, unable to tolerate giving up on herself. She picked up her will again and again, and collapsed in despair again and again, like an endless cycle.

She had thought that she would never wait until the day she completely broke down, until her consciousness dissipated.

But now, the responsibility she had been carrying had finally come to an end. This endless cycle would end at this moment.

Violet was just a ghost, a spirit body without a real physical body. She shouldn’t have tears.

But at this moment, two muddy tears rolled down her cheeks that had been pierced by the light sword.

That scene seemed to have a strong impact on Qin Chu’s heart.

He took a deep breath and finally dispersed the light around him.

The Holy Light was no longer harming Violet, but she seemed to have suddenly lost her soul. Her broken fingers waved desperately in the air, trying to catch the dissipating light:

“No, don’t…”

“Don’t disappear…”

She screamed, and then, without even standing up, she crawled quickly towards Qin Chu on all fours. Light, she wanted light.

Even if she was burned to ashes by the light, she wanted it.

Anthea separated from Qin Chu’s body, her spear aimed at Violet, seemingly worried that the crazed Violet would harm Qin Chu.

There was no master-servant relationship between Anthea and Qin Chu, but staying by his side made Anthea feel very comfortable, so she wouldn’t allow anyone to harm him.

Besides, the fact that her spear throw had been caught by Violet last time still bothered Anthea. It had become a knot in her heart. She was confident that she would never lose to this Storm Witch.

“Anthea, there’s no need,” Qin Chu sighed and said.

Anthea hesitated for a moment, her delicate brows furrowing slightly. In the end, she still took a step back.

And Qin Chu walked straight towards Violet.

Anthea wanted to stop him, but Shaye shook her head at her, signaling that it was better to leave this matter to Qin Chu.

Actually, Shaye also secretly breathed a sigh of relief. The powerful magic she had been meticulously preparing was finally put down.

This was Shaye’s ultimate move, the Gate of Darkness, which could directly banish her opponent to the abyss of endless darkness.

But, if she used this move, all the energy Shaye had recovered so far would be completely depleted, and she would fall into a deep sleep within Qin Chu’s body… Well, although this power was originally parasitic on Qin Chu, she had taken a share of every bit of experience and energy he gained.

Qin Chu walked towards Violet step by step. Looking at the Saintess who was no longer as beautiful as before, crawling on the ground in panic, he slowly reached out and held her head in his arms.

Violet subconsciously struggled desperately.

Qin Chu patted Violet’s head gently as if coaxing a little girl:

“There, there… it’s alright…”

Qin Chu comforted her gently, his voice so warm.

…

But his eyes were cold!

Violet was just a pitiful tool, being used.

Faintly, he felt like he was being calculated, which made him very unhappy.

Chapter 103: Give Me the Seed of Life!

No wonder the first page of the notebook said that all the gods were dead.

With forty-nine Witches appearing at once, it made sense.

Although the number of gods in the Heavenly Continent was large, it wasn’t as exaggerated as in Journey to the West, where you could kill a bunch of gods by throwing a brick. Forty-nine was definitely not a small number.

What exactly happened a thousand years ago that could lead to such a large-scale demise of gods? Could it be that a divine war broke out, a civil war among the gods?

Unfortunately, although Violet’s diary recorded many things, she was, after all, just a mortal, a Saintess. She didn’t know much about the affairs of the gods.

Violet inherited the authority of the Storm Lord.

But, in addition to this authority, there was also the oracle from the Storm Lord before his consciousness completely dissipated.

[His authority has been usurped, shadows will engulf this world.

Find the inheritor of XX, follow Him, serve Him, give the power of the storm to Him, and He will lead you to find light in the darkness!

You carry… hope!]

This was the oracle recorded by Violet, but several words on it were crossed out.

Then, the War of Faith in the Heavenly Continent suddenly broke out.

The Holy See issued an order to abolish all churches except for the Holy See itself. All statues of gods were to be moved into the Holy See, and all the people of the Heavenly Continent could only believe in the one and only, supreme God, the Goddess of Holy Light.

Undoubtedly, this sudden declaration naturally met with opposition from other temples. No one took the Holy See’s threat seriously. After all, although the Holy See was the most powerful of all churches, it couldn’t possibly be the opponent of so many other churches combined.

But unexpectedly, the Holy See actually started a war.

They formed a powerful Iron Crusade and brazenly launched an invasion against other churches. Temples crumbled under the iron hooves of the Iron Crusade, statues were demolished, and clerics were burned at the stake as heretics.

The Temple of Storms was also destroyed at that time.

In the notebook, Violet vividly recorded the scene at that time based on her diary.

“Their bodies were covered in steel, their heavy bodies marching in unison.”

“The earth trembled!”

“Their eyes were red, their hands were red, their spears were also red, stained with blood.”

“I couldn’t believe that the once most outstanding Holy Knights of the continent had become like this. They seemed to have become crazed monsters, destroying everything. Priests were pierced through the chest and died, nuns were raped in the corners…”

“They had lost their humanity, leaving only bestial desires.”

“I am the Saintess of the Temple of Storms, I have nowhere to retreat. Although the God has fallen, I cannot tolerate His glory being desecrated by these thugs.”

“I fought to the last moment. I am so tired, I feel like my body has stiffened, my fingers can’t move, until a spear pierced through my body… I had no strength to dodge.”

“Inch by inch, it pierced into my chest, pierced through my heart, and came out from my back. It hurts so much…”

Simple and unadorned words, seemingly without much emotion.

Violet seemed to be narrating what had happened in a very simple and plain tone, but between the lines, Qin Chu could sense a faint trace of despair and pain.

Qin Chu’s heart twitched slightly.

Based on the contents, Violet should have died a thousand years ago, right?

Then the current Violet… was just a ghost? A spirit?

Qin Chu scratched his hair irritably. Shaye was a ghost, a pure spirit body. Anthea, needless to say, was also a ghost. Now Violet was also a ghost. Did he have a spirit-attracting constitution or something? Why were ghosts all gathering around him?

However, Violet, this ghost, seemed to be a bit special. Her presence felt very real. During his brief contact with Violet, Qin Chu didn’t detect any ghostly characteristics on her.

Perhaps it was the authority of the Storm Lord that prevented Violet from dissipating like other ghosts. Her soul awakened after a long time.

What she saw after waking up was the dilapidated Temple of Storms. The War of Faith had already ended, and the Holy See was the final victor. Except for the Church of the Earth Mother Goddess, all other churches had been conquered by the iron hooves of the Holy Knights.

The statues enshrined in the Holy See, besides the original Goddess of Holy Light, also included the seven auxiliary gods of the Goddess of Holy Light, despite the fact that they had razed the temples of these seven auxiliary gods to the ground.

Apart from these deities, other gods were not worthy of having faith in the Heavenly Continent.

After waking up, Violet didn’t seek revenge. She knew she couldn’t do anything. She was like a bound spirit, trapped in the ruins of the Temple of Storms, stubbornly trying to restore it to its original state.

She buried the bones of her companions and placed the corpses of the Holy Knights that the Holy See hadn’t taken away in the desert.

She repaired the damaged walls, windows, and statues, digesting the knowledge of the gods, waiting for the arrival of the “He” mentioned in the oracle.

She believed that He would bring salvation.

It was a life of loneliness, solitude, and hope.

Loneliness and solitude would grow, but hope would only gradually fade.

Violet didn’t know how long she had been waiting. Days passed by, day and night, spring and autumn, one year? Ten years? A hundred years? Hundreds of years?

Loneliness was the most terrifying punishment.

Waiting was like a long road with no end in sight.

Finally, Violet’s soul couldn’t bear the torment anymore and began to show some abnormalities. The divine knowledge had also reached the limit of what she could bear.

She started to have hallucinations, occasionally seeing a large number of Holy Knights from the Holy See appearing in the temple. She fought with those Holy Knights, destroying the temple she had repaired.

After destroying it, she would be in unbearable pain, kneeling on the ground and wailing.

She realized that her consciousness was about to collapse, but she was powerless to change it. She knelt before the statue and prayed for salvation, but then suddenly became enraged. The Storm Lord had claimed that there would be a great being who would guide her to find light in the darkness, but where was this “He”?

The enraged Saintess destroyed the statue, and after her sanity returned, she wept and repaired it.

Again and again, it was like a painful cycle. She couldn’t find a way out. The will of the god she had inherited also became a torment. She began to resent the Storm Lord for giving her this authority.

The handwriting in the notebook was sometimes neat and elegant, sometimes twisted and crazy.

Where is He? Where is He? Where is He? Where is He…

The last few pages of the notebook were filled with frantic scribbles.

Phew…

Qin Chu let out a long breath. He knew that Violet was actually crazy.

But Violet’s madness was a little different from ordinary madness. It was somewhat similar to schizophrenia. Her consciousness was divided into two parts, one rational, the other insane and extreme.

The two consciousnesses influenced and interfered with each other.

The strange conversation with Violet in the afternoon had taken place under this interference. At that time, Violet seemed to be relatively normal. It should be that her rational consciousness desperately regained control of her body, but the interference from her insane consciousness couldn’t be ruled out.

Moreover, the insane consciousness clearly had the upper hand in Violet’s body. Towards the end of their conversation, it had already taken over. It must have been quite difficult for her rational side to gain control for a moment.

Closing the notebook, there was no doubt that Violet wanted to get something from him. She had set this trap for him.

But surprisingly, Qin Chu didn’t feel hatred towards Violet, but rather pity.

A thousand years!

What kind of torment was a thousand years of loneliness?

Even without the erosion of divine knowledge, one would go crazy.

This was a tragedy. Violet from a thousand years ago was just a young girl caught up in this tragedy, forced to bear pain that she shouldn’t have to bear.

This diary was a precious treasure, giving Qin Chu a certain understanding of what happened a thousand years ago, although there were still many unanswered questions.

For example, was the divine war a thousand years ago an internal strife or an invasion?

Were the gods in the Void, the goddess in the cage, related to the divine war a thousand years ago?

What were their identities?

What was Violet waiting for?

But knowing this much was already a good harvest. Qin Chu put the notebook into his storage ring, planning to decipher it carefully when he had time later.

He turned to leave. After all, Ekaterina had been calling out for two hours already, her voice almost hoarse. Her suffering should be over.

But just as Qin Chu turned around, with a whoosh, a black shadow pounced on him with a gust of wind.

Her speed was too fast. Even though Qin Chu’s strength was already quite good, he had no chance to dodge. A pair of slender, fair fingers directly grabbed his throat.

Before him was a familiar yet strange face.

Her blue-gray eyes had turned into a dull red.

The upper half of her right cheek was covered with dark red, thread-like patterns, like branches or feathers, extending directly to the back of her eyes.

Her entire face was filled with a terrifying yet alluring beauty.

It was Violet.

Madness was spreading and intensifying!

The black gauze fluttered in the wind, revealing her fair body underneath.

The anxious wait had made Violet lose her patience.

She had waited for over a thousand years, and she didn’t want to continue waiting like this. When she was about to go upstairs to find Qin Chu and plunder the Seed of Life, she sensed a faint aura here…

Her dark red eyes stared fixedly at Qin Chu, the thread-like patterns on her face spreading rapidly. She opened her mouth, revealing her neat teeth. Her desire for the Seed of Life had become unbearable:

“Give me the Seed of Life… now!!!”

Chapter 102: Brother, I’ve Avenged You! 

In Karsus’s dull, sluggish, and simple mind, the mark on the white stocking clutched tightly in Benson’s hand was his guide.

It was the Holy See that had betrayed Benson.

He wanted to use the heads of the Holy See members to pay tribute to his best friend.

He knew that there was a patrol team formed by Holy Knights of the Holy See stationed at the border.

He had seen those people when he came to support Benson.

He was furious, he was mad.

Indescribable whispers seemed to echo in his ears once again, and only the blood of those people could extinguish the burning flames in his heart.

The skeletal warhorse galloped across the land, kicking up a cloud of dust behind it.

Karsus didn’t know how long he had been riding. A river appeared before him, and beside the river was a temporary camp.

There were over a thousand Holy Knights of the Holy See stationed in the camp. Except for a small number on night duty, most of them were resting in their tents.

The bonfire burned, and black smoke spread in the night sky. The sound of rushing water echoed in his ears.

Several Holy Knights gathered around the bonfire, holding metal flasks filled with strong liquor. Although the Holy See had many rules, it didn’t prohibit alcohol. Moreover, for those who were out on patrol, without the stimulation of alcohol, the exhaustion of their bodies would quickly make them unable to hold on.

“Damn it, the First Hero died too quickly. If it weren’t for the First Hero rashly rushing over to fight the Demon King one-on-one, he wouldn’t have been torn to shreds,” a Holy Knight muttered after taking a sip of wine.

He had never met the First Hero.

But he had heard some stories about him.

In his opinion, only someone with a screw loose would go and fight the Demon King one-on-one.

Another Holy Knight also looked displeased, “Tell me about it. Now, although we’ve summoned a Second Hero, who is said to be even more talented than the First, he just stays in the Imperial City all day, indulging in wine and women, with no intention of coming out to fight Demon Beasts. What a coward…”

It was unclear whether it was because they were drunk, or if this was their true opinion, or if the cold wind and night frost of the patrol had caused too much resentment to build up in their hearts. They didn’t consider that the Second Hero’s current strength wasn’t enough to face powerful Demon Beasts at all.

They were just venting their dissatisfaction:

“Damn it, we summoned the Hero to deal with Demon Beasts, not for him to stay in the city and play with women…”

“We are Holy Knights! We actually have to do the work of ordinary soldiers, this is an insult to us!”

Suddenly, a stronger Holy Knight seemed to sense something. He looked up and saw a dark figure under the moonlight.

The ghostly figure made him shiver. He subconsciously reached out to grab the spear beside him, but soon he felt something was wrong.

This figure looked familiar. Wasn’t this Karsus, the filial son from the Hero Squad?

Although there was the Holy Maiden in the Hero Squad, their relationship with the two major churches had never been particularly good, but they still had to maintain a facade of courtesy.

The Holy Knight stood up from the ground, placed his right hand on his left shoulder, and bowed slightly, “So it’s Sir Karsus, why are you…”

Pfft!

He originally wanted to invite Karsus over for a drink and to warm himself by the fire, but before he could finish his sentence, the dark spear in Karsus’s hand shot out.

The spear was like a dragon.

The speed of the spear was simply beyond the Holy Knight’s reaction time. A large hole instantly appeared in his chest.

The sturdy standard armor of the Holy See was as fragile as tofu in the face of Karsus’s spear. After piercing through the Holy Knight’s chest, the spear continued to fly straight towards the back.

With a whoosh, it pierced into the bonfire.

The Battle Qi attached to the spear instantly spread, and the seven Holy Knights around it were directly torn to shreds. Flesh and blood splattered all over the ground.

Karsus stretched out his hand, and the spear automatically flew back.

The commotion finally attracted the attention of the sleeping Holy Knights. They quickly crawled out of their tents and looked at the bloody stains on the ground and Karsus on the other side.

Even an idiot would know what had happened. They surrounded Karsus with their weapons, loudly questioning why he had attacked them for no reason.

However, Karsus didn’t answer their questions at all. Only a gloomy laughter came from under his helmet, the voice hoarse and sinister.

Dark red flames burned on Karsus’s armor, making him look like a Demon King emerging from the flames.

His eyes were filled with endless rage.

“I will use your blood, your lives, your heads, to pay tribute to my best comrade,” Karsus said in a gloomy voice.

These words made the group of Holy Knights dumbfounded.

What was this all about? His best comrade? Could it be that a member of the Hero Squad had died?

But what did that have to do with them? Why was it their fault?

They didn’t have the strength to kill a member of the Hero Squad!

The leading Holy Knight wanted to explain, but the enraged Karsus didn’t give them a chance to do so. He raised his spear high and threw it directly into the dark night sky.

After the spear reached its highest point, it completely ignored the effects of gravity and didn’t fall back down at all. It just hovered in the air.

The next second, a dense rain of black spear lights poured down from the sky.

Although Karsus had problems with his mind and was occasionally insane, no one would deny his strength.

Once he started fighting, this man would let you know what true hell was.

The Holy Knights below looked up in fear. They could only see streaks of spear shadows tearing through the air, making a buzzing sound. In an instant, it was like a black meteor shower unfolding before their eyes.

That’s right, this move of Karsus’s was called Meteor Shower.

Although the destructive power of a single spear shadow wasn’t particularly exaggerated, it was more than enough to kill these Holy Knights.

The most important thing about this move was its wide coverage and extremely strong penetrating power. It was one of the few martial skills that could be compared to Super-tier magic.

Ahhhhh…

They wanted to dodge, but faced with such a dense meteor shower, where could they dodge to? They could only watch helplessly as the spear shadows fell from the sky!

Pfft!

Piercing through their heads, piercing through their bodies, blood gushing from their shattered bodies. In a short time, small rivers formed on the ground, flowing into the river beside them.

Countless lives were met with death amidst screams. Karsus didn’t stop either. He drew the sword from his waist and charged into the crowd, the blade dancing up and down. Those Holy Knights who had luckily dodged the spear lights couldn’t escape Karsus’s slaughter.

Frostmourne radiated a faint chill, its sharp blade easily slitting throats, sending blood spraying everywhere. The black armor was dyed scarlet in a short time, wet and sticky all over.

He was like a merciless butcher, constantly harvesting one life after another.

At some point, Karsus stopped.

There was no one left for him to kill. Broken limbs covered the ground, and the entire camp had completely turned into a living hell.

The river water was dyed scarlet.

Karsus roared towards the sky:

Brother, I’ve finally avenged you!

But this wasn’t enough. Just the lives of these Holy Knights weren’t enough to compensate for the life of his best friend. After burying his friend, he would prepare more sacrifices for him.

…

On the other side, Qin Chu didn’t know that the blame he had casually shifted to Augustus would have such an effect.

He was looking through the diary.

This diary was clearly written by the Saintess of the Temple of Storms a thousand years ago, who was now the Storm Witch, Violet.

That’s right, this woman was the former Saintess.

A thousand years ago, the faith in the Heavenly Continent was quite diverse, with various temples standing tall, but they surprisingly maintained a good relationship with each other. Anthea was once a believer of the Storm Lord, so Violet knew her.

The more Qin Chu read, the more alarmed he became.

The diary recorded that the gods wouldn’t easily give up their authority.

Only when a god perished would they scatter their authority across the land.

And only girls with pure bodies and pure souls could sense the consciousness of the gods and inherit their authority.

These girls became Witches.

Reading this, Qin Chu wasn’t that terrified yet. What truly terrified him was a number below.

A thousand years ago, forty-nine Witches appeared in the Heavenly Continent at once.

Forty-nine Witches meant that forty-nine gods had perished.

Weren’t all the gods in the sky dead?

Chapter 101: The Gods Are Dead

Violet’s eyes flickered with a strange and ferocious light. It took a long time for her twisted expression to gradually return to normal.

She had to obtain the Seed of Life, no matter the cost.

Only the power of the Seed of Life could soothe her tormented soul, otherwise, she would truly go mad.

The sounds from upstairs had disappeared. It seemed that Qin Chu and Ekaterina were done. She had made careful preparations, using Moonflower pollen, even revealing the First Hero’s soul fragment, and humbling herself to beg Qin Chu to stay, all for this moment.

There was no other way. In order to maintain the existence of the Temple of Storms and suppress the pollution brought by divine knowledge, the Storm Witch’s strength was no longer what it used to be. Just as Qin Chu had speculated, she didn’t have enough capital to fight against four powerful enemies at the same time.

Especially since one of them was Shaye, the Dark Witch. Although she looked frail, she was still the Dark Witch, the strongest among the Witches.

Four Witches who had accepted divine authority had already been killed by Shaye. Such a terrifying existence, even if her strength had declined for some reason, who could guarantee that Shaye didn’t have any hidden trump cards?

So she could only put on a gentle appearance and lower Qin Chu’s guard.

But as long as she seized the Seed of Life, no one in the Heavenly Continent would be her opponent.

She even wanted to mock Anthea. This woman was still as foolish as she was a thousand years ago. There was such a treasure right beside her, yet she didn’t know how to obtain it.

But before she could make a move, Ekaterina had taken the lead.

This greatly annoyed the Storm Witch. She had deliberately separated Qin Chu and Ekaterina by floors, but this woman had actually run upstairs on her own.

She couldn’t just barge in and join them.

But now that it was finally over upstairs, she wondered if Qin Chu was still capable.

While pondering in her heart, the Storm Witch stood up her tall body and walked towards the door.

But just as she reached the door, a sound, slightly different from before, came from upstairs again.

Hiss…

The Storm Witch gasped.

Seriously, again?

Didn’t they know what it meant to be tired?

Even if they wanted to continue, they should at least rest for a while, right?

Although she felt increasingly irritated, the Storm Witch had no other choice. She could only stay quietly in her room, listening to the sounds from upstairs while patiently waiting.

She started to get a little worried…

If the Seed of Life was completely taken by Ekaterina, there would be nothing left for her.

…

On the other side, Qin Chu gently pushed open the door.

Listening to Ekaterina’s voice coming from the room behind him, Qin Chu’s expression was a little strange.

Honestly, Ekaterina’s acting skills were really not that good. Just listening to that voice, the tone was flat, perfunctory, without any fluctuation. Anyone with a little experience could sense something was wrong.

Be more professional, please. Couldn’t she put a little more emotion into her voice?

However, considering that the Storm Witch had lived here alone for over a thousand years, it was hard to say whether she had experienced this before. Even if she had, she would have probably forgotten about it long ago.

Presumably, the Storm Witch shouldn’t be able to tell the difference.

Humans were curious creatures.

Qin Chu was no exception.

Reason told him that his goal was only revenge, to take care of his own matters. What had happened in the Heavenly Continent in the past, the conflicts between those true rulers, the deities, had nothing to do with him. Forcing himself to get involved wouldn’t do him any good.

But curiosity killed the cat.

The more he was told not to know something, the more he wanted to explore it.

Moreover, Qin Chu vaguely felt that he had already been caught up in this huge whirlpool. Since that was the case, knowing more wouldn’t do him any harm.

Once this thought surfaced in his mind, the slight resistance he felt instantly disappeared, and he walked towards the room next door with a clear conscience.

This seemed to be an office. The Storm Lord’s emblem still hung on the damaged wall.

The desk was covered in dust, a thick layer like snow.

There were also some documents on the desk. Qin Chu walked over slowly, first cautiously sensing his surroundings. After confirming that there were no hidden mechanisms or traps, he reached out his finger towards the documents on the desk. But just as his finger touched the paper…

Silently… as if he had touched a string, the documents instantly turned into powder.

It was a fine powder, like ashes after being burned by a raging fire.

Not only the paper, but also the scrolls on the wall, the desk, everything vanished in an instant. Even the porcelain placed nearby as decoration turned into fine sand.

Qin Chu’s eyes darkened. A thousand years was enough to erode everything.

The beds in his and Ekaterina’s rooms, the doors, windows, even the floor and walls of the temple, were all prepared by Violet later. This woman stubbornly wanted to maintain the original appearance of the Temple of Storms, not wanting it to completely disappear, even though apart from its barely presentable exterior, the interior had long since decayed… Everything that originally belonged to this temple had already reached its end in the long river of time.

There was nothing left to explore in this room. Qin Chu walked to the next room, but the situation there was no different. Even the airflow caused by Qin Chu pushing open the door directly caused the remaining things in the room to turn into dust.

But Qin Chu didn’t give up. He believed that there must be something in this temple that could guide him to the truth.

He went through room after room, the scene before him almost identical.

Second floor, third floor, fourth floor, fifth floor…

Qin Chu didn’t miss a single corner.

In the end, Qin Chu even ventured to the first floor.

Far away from where Violet was, Qin Chu found a dark little room. In this small room, there was even a complete statue of the Storm Lord, seemingly a room for confession and prayer.

No one knew what the deities looked like. The statues were only depictions based on the imagination of believers.

This was a tall and sturdy man. Although a thousand years had passed, the majesty of this statue remained undiminished. This seemed to be where Violet often stayed, unlike other places that were covered in thick dust.

On the surrounding walls, messy words, patterns, and symbols were scrawled with almost frantic strokes… From the deep grooves on the walls and the stiff and distorted strokes, one could see how chaotic the person who left these marks was.

Even the statue itself had traces of repairs. Some places had even been repaired many times, the cracks showing distinct layers. The repeated damage and repairs made the statue look somewhat eerie.

On the wall above the head of the Storm Lord statue, a few distorted words seemed to have been carved with a knife.

Where is He?

At the end of the stroke, a long crack was forcefully dragged down the wall.

At the foot of the statue, there was also a dark-covered notebook with two crossed crosses on it.

Qin Chu subconsciously wanted to reach out, but he hesitated, worried that the notebook would turn to dust like before.

After a brief hesitation, Qin Chu finally extended his finger and touched the cover of the notebook with the gentlest force possible… This time, the notebook didn’t turn to ashes.

It was just a simple action, but Qin Chu felt like he had exhausted himself. He secretly wiped the sweat from his forehead and opened the notebook.

The first thing that caught his eye were a few chilling scarlet words:

The Gods are dead!

…

On the other side, Karsus the Death Knight had already left the place where Benson’s body was.

Riding his skeletal warhorse, he galloped like a ghost against the strong wind. Even the cold night wind couldn’t extinguish the flames in his heart.

Because when he was collecting Benson’s remains, he found a white stocking tightly clutched in Benson’s hand.

On the stocking, Benson had drawn two symbols with his own blood.

One symbol represented the Holy See.

One symbol represented the Church of the Earth Mother Goddess.

He had never been so angry as he was now.

The blood-stained pattern was clearly a signal Benson had left him before he died.

If Benson had simply been killed by Demon Beasts, Karsus would be sad but not to this extent, after all, humans and Demon Beasts were natural enemies.

But being killed by his own people, this made Karsus’s anger completely uncontrollable.

Karsus was the dumbest member of the Hero Squad, followed by Benson and Muse the Mad. The three of them had the best relationship and the deepest bond in the Hero Squad, and because of this, they were even jokingly called the “Three Stooges” by Jie Luo.

Karsus never felt this was an insult. On the contrary, he felt it was a sign of the Hero’s closeness to him.

In fact, Karsus wasn’t originally so stupid.

Part of the legends about Karsus were actually true. He did come from a prominent family. His father was a famous nobleman, and noble blood flowed through his veins.

He was indeed incredibly talented, his strength growing at an extremely fast pace from a young age.

He also had a fiancée who, although not a Grand Mage, was quite strong, elegant, noble, beautiful, and gentle.

However, he was also arrogant and impulsive.

His master warned him that although he was very strong and his progress was rapid, his state of mind was unstable, and he needed to slow down, to let his heart catch up with his strength.

But the arrogant Karsus didn’t listen to his master’s words at all. He continued to strive for higher levels, and this brought disaster. When he was trying to break through, because of his unstable mind, he began to hear some indescribable, incomprehensible whispers in his ears.

He didn’t know where the voice came from, but it made him feel extremely irritated.

Countless strange and distorted illusions appeared before his eyes, confusing him and driving him crazy.

In a state of extreme madness, he frantically destroyed everything around him. When he regained consciousness, he saw his father’s head in his hands and his mother’s body cut in half…

His brother’s body was split in two with a single slash.

He became a murderous demon, and his fiancée left him.

He was condemned and hunted down by countless people…

From that moment on, Karsus changed. He was no longer the handsome and elegant nobleman. He became dull, numb, and stupid.

He didn’t want anyone to see his face again, so he covered his entire body with thick black metal armor.

When he was all alone, it was the Hero who reached out to him.

He became the Hero’s companion, but because of his dullness, numbness, and stupidity, he could only follow Jie Luo’s or other Hero Squad members’ orders, never making decisions on his own.

But now, he was completely enraged.

This was the first time he had made a decision based on his own will since his change.

He wanted to avenge Benson.

He wanted to use the blood and heads of those damned priests of the Holy See to commemorate his best friend.

Chapter 100: Plundering the Seed of Life 

Of course, Qin Chu could choose to leave.

But he didn’t. It wasn’t because he was interested in a fling with a giantess.

Rather, he was very curious about the Storm Witch’s plan, and he still wanted to get his hands on Jie Luo’s soul fragment… Violet’s elaborate setup was meant to deal with him, but it also exposed a very important point.

That was that Violet’s strength had severely weakened. At the very least, she no longer had the ability to deal with Qin Chu, Ekaterina, Shaye, and Anthea simultaneously, otherwise, she wouldn’t need to go through so much trouble.

In the first playthrough, Loseweisse and the others had also collected all of Jie Luo’s soul fragments, so they must have visited the Storm Witch as well.

Thinking back carefully, Athena, Benson, Muse the Mad, and Karsus the Death Knight had left for a period of time in the first playthrough. Their destination seemed to be in this direction. They said that this area had been attacked by Demon Beasts and they were going to provide support.

Qin Chu remembered that he had offered to go personally at the time, but the four of them refused, saying that it was just a small group of Demon Beasts and didn’t require the Hero to personally take action. They could easily handle it.

He didn’t think much of it at the time. After all, they were comrades who had fought side by side for many years, his best partners. He only reminded them to be careful and to contact him immediately if anything happened, and he would rush over to support them.

Qin Chu smiled self-deprecatingly. Now that he thought about it, those four weren’t going to fight any Demon Beasts at all. They wanted to take back Jie Luo’s soul fragment from the Storm Witch. This was an important prerequisite for betraying him, so how could they let him participate?

But, since Athena, Benson, Muse, and Karsus could handle the Storm Witch, there was no reason why he, Ekaterina, Shaye, and Anthea couldn’t.

Qin Chu closed the curtains. He heard faint footsteps coming from outside the door.

With a creak, the door was pushed open.

A special fragrance wafted in, a mixture of a woman’s body scent and some kind of special incense, making it even more alluring.

Qin Chu’s eyes suddenly brightened as he turned around. What entered his sight was a woman as fiery as a flame.

It was Ekaterina.

Not Violet. Qin Chu had thought that with all the preparations Violet had made, it should have been the Witch knocking on his door.

As always, the fiery and passionate aura, the vibrant, single ponytail radiating a brilliance that overshadowed the dim candlelight in the room.

She was no longer wearing her crimson armor. Perhaps to cater to Qin Chu’s preferences, she had changed into a maid outfit… Of course, only the style was that of a maid outfit, the color was still fiery red.

Below the skirt that covered her knees were two sections of fair calves. The wide belt made Ekaterina’s athletic waist appear even more slender.

This light and airy clothing seemed to make Ekaterina feel particularly uncomfortable, as could be seen from her tightly clenched hands on the corners of her clothes. Ekaterina was very nervous now. She didn’t know if her attire would satisfy her master.

Undoubtedly, most maids were petite. Ekaterina, because of her tall and strong physique, although not as exaggerated as the Storm Witch, wasn’t really suited for a maid outfit.

However, this attire had a unique charm of its own. Coupled with the shy blush on Ekaterina’s face, it was like a powerful and proud older sister in a Japanese manga being forced to wear an outfit that made her particularly embarrassed, a valiant and heroic battle maid.

There was also a red crystal necklace on her chest, with a scarlet pendant nestled in the middle, accentuating the delicate skin on either side.

The master was a maid fanatic, which made Ekaterina feel that she was naturally at a disadvantage in her competition with Angelica.

Even if she couldn’t be a real maid, it wouldn’t be a problem to change into a maid outfit, right?

Therefore, Ekaterina went to the most upscale custom-made dress shop in the noble district and ordered one. The price of 500,000 Mana was expensive, but it was nothing to Ekaterina. As long as she could gain her master’s favor, everything was worth it.

Although the shop owner was very suspicious of her request to custom-make a maid outfit and explicitly stated that his shop was for custom-making dresses, and making a maid outfit was an insult to his century-old shop… After Ekaterina raised the price from 50,000 Mana to 500,000, the shop owner finally forgot about the glory of his century-old shop.

“Ekaterina, I’m very satisfied,” Qin Chu nodded. “The surprise you brought me is even more beautiful than I imagined.”

He wasn’t entirely a maid fanatic. He just felt that when a girl dressed up for him, he had to give her praise and action. This was in line with a gentleman’s etiquette.

Hearing this, Ekaterina finally let out a long sigh of relief.

Her careful preparations were not in vain. The 500,000 Mana was well spent, it was worth it.

A bright smile finally appeared on Ekaterina’s beautiful face, which was less resolute and more charming because of her careful dressing.

Now didn’t seem to be the time to be doing these things, after all, there was still a terrifying Witch outside. But… humans had their limits. Especially in such a bad environment, coupled with the effects of the Moonflower pollen, Qin Chu’s mind and body were under tremendous pressure. If he couldn’t find a way to relieve it, this pressure would accumulate over time, eventually reaching an unbearable point and causing him to completely collapse.

For the sake of his mental health, Qin Chu felt that he could still engage in some small entertainment, which would be beneficial to his physical and mental health.

Of course, there was another very important reason. After being affected by the Moonflower pollen, if he didn’t react at all when faced with a beautiful woman like Ekaterina, it would definitely arouse Violet’s suspicion, wouldn’t it? So all of this was to deceive the Witch.

Moreover, he also wanted to know what kind of expression Violet would have when she heard that the method she had prepared for him was actually used on Ekaterina.

“Then, come here, my cute little maid…”

…

Ekaterina was still a loser.

But she was an excellent warrior. Even though she was exhausted, the Star Flame Battle Qi in her body would quickly restore her physical strength.

Moreover, she could feel that the Battle Qi in her body seemed to have increased a bit.

Although this increase wasn’t much compared to Ekaterina’s overall strength, it was still a good improvement.

After all, her Star Flame Battle Qi had been stuck at the tenth level for many years without any breakthrough, but now she even felt that she had touched the edge of breaking through to the eleventh level.

If her master’s favor was a little more, she would definitely be able to reach a whole new level. At that time, she would be infinitely close to, or even on par with, powerhouses like Wadsworth, Saint Monique, and Augustus.

Qin Chu was also digesting his gains. His second level of Star Flame Battle Qi had increased slightly. It was still the Battle Qi refined by the little sprout, a pure, bright silver flame, gently jumping on his Battle Origin.

After a long time, Qin Chu opened his eyes, a silver light flashing through them.

He turned to glance at Ekaterina, his fingers gently sliding across her cheek, caressing it. Ekaterina actively leaned towards his palm, pressing half of her face against it like a cat.

This intimate and warm gesture deeply fascinated Ekaterina.

It made her feel warm and comfortable.

“Ekaterina, now do me another favor…”

Qin Chu whispered something in Ekaterina’s ear.

Huh?

Ekaterina was momentarily stunned. She didn’t understand why he wanted to do this.

Qin Chu didn’t explain, “Don’t ask so many questions, just do as I say.”

Violet, the Storm Witch, whether she was crazy or not now, one thing remained unchanged: she was extremely sensitive to Mana fluctuations.

Although Qin Chu possessed abilities like Shapeshifting and Invisibility, he couldn’t hide from Violet.

Since that was the case, he might as well use the most primitive method to deceive her.

…

Downstairs, in the quiet room, Violet, the Storm Witch, frowned.

It was still that tall body, still that beautiful face, but the aura on her face had undergone a drastic change. If it was gentle and warm like a spring breeze before, now it was sinister and ghostly.

The corners of her fair eyes drooped slightly, her blue-gray eyes turning completely dark. She was no longer wearing the holy-looking long dress from before, but an outfit that would even make a Succubus feel ashamed.

The black gauze was like a second skin, clinging to Violet’s body.

A hint of irritability could be clearly seen on her face.

She wanted to plunder the Seed of Life from Qin Chu’s body.

Only the power of the Seed of Life could suppress the pollution brought by divine power.

She would never give the Seed of Storms to Qin Chu, absolutely not.

It was hers.

She had nurtured the Seed of Storms for over a thousand years and would never give it to anyone.

Her fair face suddenly became a little crazed, her blue-gray eyes emitting a chilling light. But then a struggle appeared on that crazed face, making her beautiful face look even more distorted.

Chapter 99: She Craves My Body

The thought that suddenly surfaced made her heart skip a beat.

Athena suppressed the terrifying thought in her heart, her face still carrying a lazy and charming smile, “By the way, what do you think of Miss Angelica? The Hero seems to dote on her quite a bit…”

Hearing Angelica’s name, the guards curled their lips in disdain.

“She’s just a lowly maid. If it weren’t for the Hero’s favor, even if Angelica greeted us with a smile every day, we wouldn’t bother with her.”

“After all, her status doesn’t warrant us talking to her.”

Listening to the guards’ replies, Athena smiled, but her voluptuous body slowly rose from the ground. She stretched her arms languidly, her beautiful and toned figure appearing before the guards, whose eyes went straight.

“Well, I’ve had a bit too much to drink. I’m going out for some fresh air. You guys continue drinking.”

Waving her hand gently at the soldiers, Athena turned and left. She was going to find the owner of the bar where Ekaterina had gotten drunk to continue investigating Qin Chu. The more she knew, the better.

She hoped she was just being overly suspicious, otherwise, this would be a formidable opponent.

“Miss Athena is such a good woman.”

“Beautiful, with a great figure, and such a gentle personality. Even though she’s a member of the Hero Squad and a Grand Mage, she’s so nice to us guards, without any arrogance. She’s truly perfect.”

“If only she could be my wife…”

“Dream on, how could it be your turn… I think Miss Athena will probably become the Hero’s woman, just like Miss Ekaterina…”

“Please, no…”

…

On the quiet street, Athena walked slowly.

Tap, tap, tap!

Her high heels clicked crisply on the stone slabs.

Suddenly, Athena’s eyes narrowed slightly, the corners of her slender eyes lifting into a slight arc. Someone was following her.

It wasn’t Qin Chu’s cute little maid. Although the maid had been watching her drink with the guards, she hadn’t followed her out of the residence.

Who could it be? Athena was a little curious. Was it Wadsworth’s people, the Holy See, or even a spy from the Church of the Earth Mother Goddess?

Should she teach him a lesson and let him know that tailing someone was very impolite?

Athena faced forward, but her eyes clearly saw the figure hidden in the shadows behind her. The smile on her lips grew colder, and she snapped her fingers with a snap.

A ball of flame instantly erupted from the shadows behind her.

A twisted figure writhed violently, its movements unlike anything a normal human could do, strange and distorted.

Its entire body was engulfed in flames, which seemed to cause it great pain. It let out a strange wail, its voice incredibly sharp, as if it could pierce eardrums.

As the flames danced, Athena finally saw what it looked like.

It had a human-like body, but its back was hunched high, covered in dense scales. Its head was like a disgusting toad, its mouth like an ugly catfish. Its two large eyes bulged out of their sockets. Its limbs were thick, its hands and feet webbed like a frog’s. Its skin was covered in tumor-like bumps, filled with red and yellow mucus. Its body was rotting as if it had been eroded by a virus, and foul-smelling mucus was rolling down its skin from the broken bumps…

What a disgusting thing.

A Demon Beast?

Athena frowned.

Why was a Demon Beast tailing her?

Benson seemed to have been attacked as well. Could it be that the Demon Beasts were planning a large-scale assassination of the Hero Squad members?

This was a bold plan, but to assassinate her, they sent such a weak Demon Beast? Were they looking down on her?

Athena took a step with her long, toned legs, her graceful body swaying as she walked towards the Demon Beast in the flames.

What kind of Demon Beast was this? She had never seen it before.

As a member of the Hero Squad who had fought Demon Beasts for many years, Athena considered herself to have a thorough understanding of them. She knew how many types of Demon Beasts there were in the world, their strengths, their weaknesses, almost everything.

But this strange creature in front of her was completely beyond Athena’s knowledge.

“What are you? Why are you following me?” Athena asked coldly.

She knew this Demon Beast could understand her words.

But the Demon Beast in front of her didn’t answer. It only stared at her with its frog-like eyes, struggling in the flames until its entire body was burned to ashes.

Looking at the ashes on the ground, Athena frowned and turned to leave.

But at this moment, a gust of night wind blew, and the powder on the ground formed whirlpools in the wind, seemingly moving according to some strange rule.

Athena subconsciously stopped and stared at the strange scene on the ground. A few seconds later, the night wind suddenly disappeared, and the ashes that had been swept up by the wind scattered on the ground, forming a few words:

The Hero Must Die!

Athena’s face instantly turned pale, her chestnut pupils trembling as if an earthquake had occurred. Her gaze darted around, even to the boundless starry sky above.

Although Athena was very powerful, she knew that in the boundless starry sky, there were some mysterious and strange existences that she couldn’t understand or even glimpse.

Jie Luo had told her this. He had told her not to explore the Void.

Was this a signal from some powerful being, wanting to use her hand to kill the Hero?

But was this powerful being’s brain a little… off? It wanted her to kill the Hero, but it only sent a signal without offering any benefits?

These days, who would do anything for you without any benefits?

Not to mention, the target was the Hero.

Which Hero was this referring to? The First Hero? The Second Hero? Or both?

She wanted to kill Qin Chu, but her keen senses told her not to get involved in this strange incident. Athena retreated step by step, disappearing into the night.

From the boundless Void, a few muffled roars seemed to echo faintly.

In the depths of the Void, a massive monster with countless tentacle-like limbs was writhing frantically. Its body, which looked more like a huge, swollen, and rotting piece of flesh, was pulsating, as if it was angry…

…

On the other side, Qin Chu walked into the bedroom on the second floor of the Temple of Storms. He took off his slightly damaged coat and casually tossed it on the bed. He walked to the window, pulled back the tattered curtains, and peered out the cracked window at the scene outside.

He ultimately didn’t leave. No one could resist the law of “it smells good.”

The First Hero’s soul fragment was too tempting for Qin Chu.

Outside the window, it was dark and gloomy, the howling night wind seeming to carry an ominous aura.

“Shaye, do you think Violet… is crazy?”

Shaye gave her answer, “Between sanity and madness!”

Between sanity and madness, meaning she was on the verge of going crazy?

Violet was full of strangeness, a kind of unnatural distortion. Although she seemed quite normal when they first met, Qin Chu gradually felt something was wrong during their subsequent interactions.

Violet had repeatedly changed the subject abruptly and never gave a direct answer to his questions. It seemed she wanted to convey some information to him, but something was preventing her from fully expressing what she wanted to say. In the end, she ended the conversation very abruptly.

Violet had existed for over a thousand years. It was quite impressive that she hadn’t completely gone mad after enduring the erosion of divine knowledge for so long.

But no matter how exceptional Violet was, a thousand years was almost her limit.

During their previous conversation, the sudden change in Violet’s attitude and temperament still made Qin Chu’s hair stand on end even now when he recalled it.

And that small crystal, was it really a crystal condensed from the First Hero Jie Luo’s soul fragment? Why did this Witch insist on keeping him here for the night?

Could it be that she craved his body?

The reason was… the tea Violet had given him and Ekaterina.

There were no magic potions added to it. Qin Chu’s Mana level was very high, and Shaye was a top Witch in this aspect. If there were any magic potions, they would have definitely detected them.

However, something else had been added to the tea.

Qin Chu could feel a certain impulse stirring in his chest, a kind of longing, a longing for a soft and beautiful woman in his arms to extinguish the fire in his heart.

It wasn’t poison and hadn’t caused any harm to his body. Holy Healing hadn’t taken effect.

“It’s Moonflower pollen…” Shaye clearly knew what Qin Chu was thinking. “Moonflower pollen is a raw material used to refine magic potions. Even without magical refinement, it has some good effects. Many years ago, farmers often collected Moonflowers to feed to pigs, cattle, and sheep to accelerate their reproduction…”

“Of course, some nobles also liked this stuff because Moonflowers could also enhance male vitality to a certain extent, and the effect could last for several hours.”

“It’s said that taking it multiple times can even permanently improve length and girth.”

As expected of a Witch, she knew a lot.

If this thing were in his hometown, it would have been extinct long ago.

Of course, Qin Chu naturally didn’t need this kind of thing. He was quite confident in himself. But he could occasionally collect some Moonflowers, as they really tasted good when brewed into tea.

Violet was also a Witch. It was impossible for her not to know the effects of Moonflower pollen. So why did she specifically add it to his tea? Judging from the smell, apart from his and Violet’s tea, no Moonflower pollen had been added to the other teas.

She even arranged for him to stay upstairs and Ekaterina downstairs?

Could it be that Violet had lived alone in this dilapidated Temple of the Lord of Storms for too long and felt lonely, wanting to have a passionate encounter with him?

Qin Chu’s expression was a little strange. It wasn’t that Violet wasn’t beautiful, it was just… Violet was three meters tall, and he was only 1.8 meters tall. Qin Chu seriously doubted whether he met Violet’s standards.

Imagining that scene, he inexplicably felt like he was driving a truck.

Chapter 98: A Troublesome Woman

Athena had a rather tragic past. She was the daughter of a Baron, and because she was born beautiful, her parents treated her as a tool for social climbing.

Her family wasn’t wealthy, but her parents placed great importance on the appearance of nobility. They would even borrow money to furnish their home with expensive furniture, paintings, and porcelain that they never used, even though her parents knew nothing about these things. Their tableware had to be exquisite silver plates, forks, and spoons. Even though their family’s finances were already stretched thin, they still hired a large number of maids and servants. In her parents’ words, only in this way could they be worthy of the dignity of nobles, otherwise, they would be ridiculed.

She also had a younger brother. For a poor Baron in a remote area, the family heir would often choose a suitable woman from the knight families in their territory as a wife. But her parents believed that a knight’s daughter was not worthy of their Baron son. They wanted a marriage of equal social standing, to marry their son to a Baron’s daughter, in order to maintain the purity of their bloodline. They even dreamed of marrying their son to the third or even the second daughter of a Viscount’s family… This would bring even more glory to the family.

And this required a large sum of money!

When she was seven years old, her parents had already found a sixty-year-old Earl for her, waiting for her to marry him as his seventeenth concubine after she turned sixteen. This Earl had given 200,000 Mana as a betrothal gift.

It was a purely transactional arrangement.

This was probably the fate of the daughters of minor nobles.

Athena didn’t struggle. She knew struggling was useless.

Her pure and delicate body would be tortured at will by that old geezer. It was said that the old man was a pervert, and several young and beautiful girls had already died at his hands.

After the Earl died, she would be inherited by the Earl’s son; or she might be driven out of the house by the Earl’s wife and then traded as a commodity by her own parents to a wealthy merchant. After all, she would have been married, and her value would have greatly decreased. However, some wealthy merchants, hoping to add a touch of noble blood to their families, would still engage in such transactions.

But her fate changed on the day she was to marry the old man. The Earl had a powerful mage retainer who saw Athena for the first time at the wedding ceremony. This powerful mage recognized Athena’s talent

***

The mage requested the Earl to give Athena to him, and he would protect the Earl’s family for free for a hundred years… But this request was refused by the Earl.

This Earl would not let go of any delicious morsel that came to his mouth.

That night, the Earl’s family was massacred.

The mage took Athena away.

In the mage’s words, her existence itself was the finest magic potion. Athena’s body was extremely sensitive to Mana. She was equivalent to a human-shaped Mana storage device, able to quickly absorb, purify, and store Mana. When her Mana storage reached its limit, the first person to “harvest” Athena would gain tremendous benefits. As for Athena, she might become depleted, age rapidly, or even die.

Even if she didn’t die directly, Athena, who had lost her value, her beauty, and her figure, would be killed by the mage.

The mage used extremely brutal methods, force-feeding Athena to increase her Mana level. Whether it was magic potions, magic stones, or Demon Cores, he used them all on Athena. In a very short period of time, he forcibly raised Athena’s Mana level to that of a Grand Sage, but he never taught Athena a single spell.

Finally, when Athena was twenty-three years old, the mage was ready to enjoy the fruits of his labor. By absorbing the pure Mana within Athena’s body, he would break through the Grand Sage barrier and become one of the most powerful beings in the world.

Athena faced her doom in despair. She knew that after today, she would die.

She wanted to resist, but she had no power.

Just when Athena was in despair, the First Hero, Jie Luo, appeared. He killed the powerful mage and rescued her from the abyss. From that moment on, Athena knew that Jie Luo would be an irreplaceable existence in her life.

Jie Luo taught Athena magic.

She originally wanted to give her body and all her Mana to Jie Luo, but Jie Luo said, “How can one have a family when the Demon Beasts are not yet eradicated?”

The Hero must have been considerate of her feelings and that’s why he didn’t do it. What a gentle and considerate person.

“How can one have a family when the Demon Beasts are not yet eradicated?” What a noble sentiment.

Athena couldn’t forget the way Jie Luo gently patted her head and called her “Little Athena” in private when they were alone.

The title of Hero belonged only to Jie Luo. No one could replace him.

But, since the life of the Second Hero could be used to resurrect Jie Luo, things were different. Athena felt obliged to participate. Although she had no grudge against the Second Hero, she had to sacrifice that man for Jie Luo.

To utilize the Second Hero, she had to have a thorough understanding of him, so that it would be easier to manipulate and control him.

Athena had only heard a little about Qin Chu from Loseweisse, but she judged that the credibility of the information provided by Loseweisse was not high. After all, Loseweisse was full of disgust for Qin Chu, and her judgment of Qin Chu would be strongly subjective.

To truly understand the Hero, it would be more accurate to learn from the Hero’s guards and attendants.

However, Athena didn’t expect to get such an evaluation.

He liked beautiful women with good figures and big breasts… If it was just that, it wouldn’t be a problem, as most men had such preferences.

But, a hopeless maid fanatic?

Maids in the Heavenly Continent were women of low status, only slightly better than slaves. People with a bit of status wouldn’t touch lowly maids for the sake of decency, let alone a dignified Hero?

With the noble status of a Hero, what kind of woman couldn’t he get? How could he possibly fall for a maid?

Athena couldn’t wrap her head around it for a moment. She asked in confusion, “A maid?”

Guard Von patted his chest and said, “That’s right, our Hero is truly a hopeless maid fanatic. It’s said that as soon as he arrived in the Heavenly Continent, he proposed to the Holy Maiden Loseweisse’s maid, Angelica, and publicly declared his love for maids. That same night, he took her home and slept with her.”

It had to be said that rumors always tended to become more and more outrageous.

Athena didn’t know what expression to show for a moment, “Uh… Then our Hero is really a… well, an unconventional person…”

Athena rubbed her temples. She suddenly had a headache and continued to ask, “What else…”

“Well, how should I put it? Our Hero is also a very… philanderous person.”

“Philanderous?”

“Yes, he likes maids, but he doesn’t only like maids…”

“I heard that he’s also quite ambiguous with the Holy Maiden.”

“Ah, right, I heard that the Hero also staged a four-timing drama with the Holy Maiden, Angelica, Miss Ekaterina, and Grand Mage Natia at a restaurant…” Von’s tone unknowingly turned envious, “He’s really shameless…”

That’s right, wasn’t it shameless for one person to monopolize so many high-quality resources?

Didn’t the Hero know that there were many single dogs in this world?

For every girl the Hero had by his side, there would be one more bachelor in this world.

Sigh, if only that person was him.

Athena was shocked. Was this still a Hero? In her mind, she had already labeled Qin Chu as lecherous, promiscuous, a scumbag, and various other things.

Of course, Athena wouldn’t underestimate Qin Chu because of this. On the contrary, she became even more wary of him.

This man was probably not easy to deal with.

Ekaterina and Loseweisse were fine, as they could be said to be deliberately getting close to Qin Chu for the plan to resurrect Jie Luo. Angelica was also fine, as she was a reward that Qin Chu had requested.

But… Natia?

She was a Grand Mage whose strength was no less than her own, extremely powerful. This kind of woman was definitely not some naive and ignorant girl.

She wouldn’t be fooled by a few sweet words from a man.

To gain Natia’s favor meant that Qin Chu must have something special about him, which was worth being wary of.

Athena shifted her long, beautiful legs, her delicate white feet curling slightly.

“Then… what’s going on with Ekaterina?” Athena asked.

Von was already mesmerized by Athena’s lazy and charming appearance. Without thinking, he answered directly, “That was the first day they met. That day, after the Hero finished his training, he said he wanted to go out for some fresh air. Not long after, he carried the drunken Valkyrie back. The Hero was about to leave, but the Valkyrie went crazy from the alcohol and dragged the Hero back, and then they did it…”

The story evolved again.

“Later, when the Valkyrie woke up, she thought the Hero had taken advantage of her while she was drunk. She took her weapon and went straight to the Holy See. If Pope Augustus hadn’t stopped her, the Hero would have definitely been killed…”

“Haha, that’s hilarious…”

The surrounding guards burst into laughter.

But, a sharp glint suddenly flashed in Athena’s eyes. Her vision overlapped, and various images appeared before her eyes. She saw a young girl dressed as a maid standing by the window, gazing in their direction.

“You’re saying that Ekaterina went crazy from the alcohol?”

“Yes, that’s right. Many people saw Miss Ekaterina drag the Hero back to her room.”

“Ekaterina went to the Holy See to look for the Hero when she woke up?”

“Yes, early the next morning, the Hero took his maid to the Holy See, seemingly to undo Angelica’s seal.”

Athena lowered her eyelids, covering her chestnut eyes, but a hint of coldness could be seen through the slits of her eyes.

This seemingly ordinary conversation had given Athena a lot of important information.

There was something wrong with this Hero!

Athena was intelligent, cunning, and meticulous. In the first playthrough, she had acted as Qin Chu’s military advisor, but Qin Chu didn’t know everything about her. Athena hadn’t revealed everything about herself to him.

She was like a careful observer, watching everyone around her.

She knew the members of the Hero Squad even better than they knew themselves.

First of all, it was absolutely impossible that Ekaterina would get drunk, go crazy, drag the Hero into her room, and force herself on him.

Everyone in the Hero Squad knew that Ekaterina was a heavy drinker, but… she never went crazy from alcohol. Ekaterina would only fall into a deep sleep when she got drunk.

For a warrior of Ekaterina’s level, the numbing effect of alcohol was quite limited. Even during the period after Jie Luo’s death, when Ekaterina drank herself into a stupor every day, she had never gone crazy. This woman had considerable self-control even when drunk. It was impossible for her to suddenly lose control when it came to the Second Hero.

Moreover, Ekaterina loved Jie Luo deeply. This feeling was obvious to anyone who wasn’t an idiot. Ekaterina would never do something like forcing herself on Qin Chu when there was a chance for Jie Luo to be resurrected.

Even if she was drunk, it wouldn’t be possible, unless she was influenced by some other force.

The second suspicious point was that Qin Chu immediately went to the Holy See after waking up.

In the eyes of ordinary people, Qin Chu was just going there to do something.

In Athena’s eyes, Qin Chu was going to seek refuge. He knew that Ekaterina would go berserk.

Although the outside world rumored that Ekaterina was powerful and had a carefree personality, at most, she was just a bit wild.

This level of rumor was not enough to make Qin Chu go straight to the Holy See without hesitation, unless Qin Chu knew that Ekaterina loved Jie Luo deeply, and that when she woke up and found that her chastity was gone, she would lose control and frantically attack and destroy everything around her. As the person involved, Qin Chu wouldn’t have any chance to explain himself and would be killed directly by Ekaterina.

So, how did Qin Chu know Ekaterina so well? Did he learn it from Angelica? Impossible, Angelica and Ekaterina didn’t interact much, and all she knew were those rumors.

Or was it really just a pure coincidence?

The suspicious Athena didn’t believe in so-called coincidences. Behind all coincidences, there was a hand manipulating everything in the shadows.

It had to be said that Athena was indeed a very difficult opponent to deal with.

Although she was suspicious, Athena didn’t show it at all and continued to inquire about Ekaterina.

When she heard that Ekaterina had been rejected by Qin Chu again and again, and then shamelessly pestered him again and again, Athena’s brows furrowed even more tightly.

How could Ekaterina, with her proud personality, act like a stalker? Even for the sake of resurrecting Jie Luo, Athena didn’t think Ekaterina could endure it to this extent. The Valkyrie she knew would have probably exploded and slashed Qin Chu to ashes with her sword.

Could it be…

Ekaterina had already been controlled by Qin Chu?

Chapter 97: The End of the Minotaurs

The news Violet brought was truly astonishing.

Accidentally learning too much about things unrelated to oneself in this world might not be a good thing.

Qin Chu took a deep breath, using his strong willpower and the power of forced calm to quell the shock in his heart. His expression had returned to its usual composure.

Ekaterina, however, still looked frightened, and even Shaye was filled with shock.

Only Anthea, whose memory loss was severe, didn’t understand how astonishing the news Violet revealed was.

What kind of existence was the Lord of Storms?

One of the seven auxiliary Gods serving beside the Goddess of Holy Light worshipped by the Holy See.

An extremely noble Deity.

But now, Violet actually said that the Lord of Storms was dead? Then what had the Holy See been worshipping all these years?

Violet appreciated Qin Chu’s ability to calm down so quickly, but felt that she might have revealed too much information at once, which wasn’t necessarily a good thing for him.

Everything spoken will be known!

Although, she herself didn’t know much.

“Sorry, the news is too shocking. I’m having a hard time digesting it,” Qin Chu finally spoke after a long while.

Violet smiled sadly, “It’s alright, it’s normal.”

She changed the subject, “That’s why I envy her…”

She was referring to Shaye.

“She didn’t obtain authority from the Gods, but relied on her own talent and hard work to become the strongest Witch.”

“Perhaps she occasionally prays to the Gods in the Void, but she is not a believer.”

“She is also the youngest of all Witches and doesn’t have to endure the erosion of Divine knowledge like the others.”

“Perhaps we are not worthy of the title of Witch. Only she can be called a true Witch.”

“She even has the potential to become a God.”

Qin Chu was also surprised. He didn’t expect Violet to have such a high opinion of Shaye, but becoming a God was a bit of an exaggeration, wasn’t it?

Given Shaye’s personality, she should be putting her hands on her hips and humming proudly at this point.

But perhaps because she had received too much shocking news all at once, Shaye was very quiet. She didn’t say a word.

Qin Chu took a light breath, “Miss Violet, my next question might be a bit offensive.”

“It’s alright!”

“May I ask, why haven’t you gone mad?”

Divine knowledge was the seed of hope and the root of despair.

According to Violet, every Witch who received Divine knowledge would eventually go mad because their brains couldn’t withstand the vast sea of wisdom. But Violet was clearly normal; she didn’t seem to be affected by Divine knowledge.

Violet seemed to have anticipated Qin Chu’s question. She didn’t feel offended at all. The corners of her beautiful mouth curled up into a strange arc, and her gentle temperament suddenly became cold and sinister. She murmured,

“How do you know I haven’t gone mad?”

Hiss!

As soon as Violet said this, goosebumps erupted all over Qin Chu’s body, and his hair stood on end. He instinctively leaned back, feeling a frantic urge to flee from this place deep within his heart.

The surrounding air felt heavy, and he felt spasms in many parts of his body because of Violet’s words.

His stomach ached.

Giggle… Violet’s laughter came from across the room. The coldness and darkness on her face seemed to have disappeared, and she was smiling at Qin Chu, seemingly amused by his reaction.

“Sorry, I was just joking.”

A classic curse echoed repeatedly in Qin Chu’s mind:

“Damn it, is that how you joke? You scared the shit out of me.”

This woman’s gentle and tranquil temperament had made Qin Chu forget her terrifying identity as a Witch. And when a gentle woman suddenly showed such a strange and twisted smile, it was even more terrifying.

“Miss Violet, that joke wasn’t funny at all,” Qin Chu said with a hint of resentment in his voice.

Violet abruptly changed the subject again, not answering Qin Chu’s question.

After chatting for a while longer, Violet stood up from her chair and bowed gracefully to everyone, “Everyone, it’s getting late. Please rest in this temple tonight…”

Qin Chu looked out the door. It had gotten dark without him realizing it.

Night seemed to fall earlier here.

As night fell, the desert storm seemed to become even more boisterous. The whistling of the wind echoed in his ears. He stood up, “Thank you for your kindness, but we won’t bother you.”

This place was a bit eerie, especially with the beautiful Violet. He had no interest in getting involved with her.

He strode towards the door, but just as he reached it…

“The soul fragment of the First Hero…”

Qin Chu stopped abruptly. He didn’t deny it; there was no point in denying it in front of this woman. “How did you know, Miss Witch?”

“I heard it in the wind. This is my territory, the desert, the jungle. Sounds travel with the wind to every corner,” Violet said calmly. “The First Hero’s soul fragment is in my hands. I hope you can stay here. I will give you this soul fragment tomorrow morning. Please.”

Violet’s voice was filled with pleading.

As if to prove her words, a small, dark gray crystal-like object, about the size of a fingernail, appeared in her palm.

It was… a broken fragment of the First Hero’s soul, condensed into a crystal.

Qin Chu’s pupils contracted suddenly, but he quickly calmed down and lowered his eyelids.

Once again, he had no interest in getting involved with her.

And a mere soul fragment of Jie Luo was not enough to make Qin Chu risk staying here.

“Well, esteemed Miss Witch, I suddenly realized that walking at night seems to be quite dangerous. I would be grateful if I could receive your hospitality!”

…

The Gobi Desert!

Perhaps, it was no longer a Gobi Desert, but a bloody swamp.

The dense crowd of Minotaurs no longer had their initial arrogance. Their eyes had become dim, and they couldn’t even stand upright. They crawled on the ground, their limbs frantically intertwined, running wildly while turning their heads to look at the madwoman in the sky behind them.

Oh my god, this woman was too terrifying.

Her seemingly thin and weak body erupted with energy like a natural disaster.

Even Minotauros, the Minotaur Chieftain, was battered and bruised, covered in scorch marks. His body was completely black, one of his handsome horns had been broken off at the root, and the other was twisted and crooked.

Recalling his once high-spirited appearance, seeing Loseweisse, Qin Chu, and Ekaterina fleeing one after another, Minotauros was filled with rage. He figured he had to capture the skinny woman in front of him, otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to explain himself to Lomond when he returned.

So he swung his axe and roared, “Brothers, charge! Tie up that little bitch for me. She’ll be my wife back at the stronghold… When I’m tired of her, I’ll give her to you!”

It was this sentence that enraged Natia.

Natia was furious.

She had originally planned to ignore these Minotaurs, but now she stopped in mid-air, one hand wielding wind and the other fire, and unleashed a Wind and Fire Combo that smashed down from the sky.

The wind and flames instantly spread across the ground, burning at least a thousand Minotaurs to charcoal wherever they went. For a moment, the air was filled with the aroma of steak.

That wasn’t all. The woman’s right hand reached towards the sky as if she was grabbing something. The sky suddenly changed color, dark clouds rolled, and amidst the collision of thick clouds, bolts of lightning struck down from the sky, instantly shattering countless Minotaurs.

All kinds of violent magic were at her fingertips.

Her Mana seemed endless. She had already unleashed countless powerful spells, but her Mana showed no signs of depletion.

For the Minotaur army, this was an unending nightmare.

Their battle axes couldn’t reach the woman high in the sky. They could only endure the nightmarish attacks, watching helplessly as their companions fell like wheat being harvested, dying in droves…

Their tragic deaths, struggling and screaming in the flames, being pierced by ice cones into honeycombs, being struck by lightning into fragments, being swallowed by violently swirling quicksand, and even being cut into countless tiny pieces by the raging storm, enduring the pain of being sliced into a thousand pieces.

The smell of blood, the stench of burnt flesh, the stench of excrement and urine mixed together… turning this place into a veritable hell on earth.

The sound of burning flames, the crackling of ice, the crackling of lightning, the screams of pain, the desperate cries mixed together to form a requiem of the undead.

Demon…

This woman was the real demon!

The Minotaurs’ courage and pride were mercilessly crushed under this violent magic. They dropped their weapons, no longer having the courage to face this Witch. They turned and ran, wanting only to get as far away from this skinny woman as possible.

Natia appeared very gentle on the surface, but once she was angered, her temper was even fiercer than Ekaterina’s.

She had been fighting for a day and a night, but she didn’t know what fatigue was. Looking at the Minotaurs fleeing in panic on the ground, a cruel smile appeared on her narrow face.

Natia slowly opened her hands, the expression on her face gradually becoming solemn. Her hands slowly crossed in front of her chest, as if she was praying to the boundless starry sky.

Surging Mana swirled around Natia’s body like a storm, the dense Mana almost turning into liquid.

At some point, the pitch-black night sky had turned orange-red.

The dark clouds became fire clouds.

The temperature between heaven and earth was rapidly rising. The scorching heat distorted the air, and the bloody swamp on the ground instantly evaporated. The broken corpses of the Minotaurs quickly turned into mummies.

The terrifying power made the fleeing Minotaurs stop in their tracks. They stared blankly at the sky above with wide eyes, the darkness replaced by huge, fiery fireballs.

Even in the sky, who knew how high up, the fireballs still seemed enormous, even obscuring the moonlight.

As for the number of giant fireballs, the Minotaurs’ intelligence couldn’t even begin to estimate how many there were. They only knew there were many, many, many…

The next moment, countless flames fell from the sky like hail.

As they got closer and closer, the fireballs continued to expand in size. No one could imagine the terrifying energy contained within those house-sized fireballs.

Their thick legs could only tremble in the face of this terrifying power. Countless Minotaurs couldn’t help but let out desperate cries. The surging energy suppressed their bodies, their legs. They hunched over, standing in place, waiting for the judgment of death to fall.

Super-tier magic.

Meteor Shower.

The same magic that Qin Chu taught Candice.

The most basic of the Super-tier magic, but even so, Super-tier magic was still Super-tier magic. Its power was definitely not something that ordinary Demon Beasts could contend with. It was energy that could change the color of the sky and make the earth tremble.

Crimson, reflecting off the curly manes on the Minotaurs’ faces of despair.

Their huge eyes were completely replaced by the color of flames.

The judgment of judgment had arrived.

Countless huge fireballs covered a vast area of a thousand meters. The blazing flames engulfed the Minotaurs one by one.

Boom…

A violent sound echoed around like an earthquake and thunder.

These Minotaurs didn’t even have time to let out a scream before they were instantly reduced to ashes.

The fireballs crashed into the ground, causing violent explosions. The dense explosions combined to create a shocking shockwave. A thousand meters away, boulders were instantly shattered into fragments, and yellow sand flew everywhere.

The large trees in the jungle were instantly snapped, and even the mountains further away trembled violently. Large cracks appeared on the smooth cliff faces.

The sound traveled for thousands of miles, and even the imperial city of the Auville Empire could hear the deafening roar.

When the flames subsided, there was not a single living creature left within a vast area. Only a thick layer of ash remained on the ground.

The Minotaur army had completely met its end.

Natia landed above the vast expanse of ashes, her small face finally a little pale. Super-tier magic was powerful, but it also consumed a lot of energy.

Looking at the scene around her, which was even more exaggerated than a crematorium, a smug smile appeared on Natia’s face. Although she had wasted a lot of time, she had finally dealt with all these Demon Beasts.

Suddenly, Natia’s expression became annoyed, and she lightly punched her head with her small fist.

She was so focused on fighting the Demon Beasts that she forgot something more important.

The Hero, Ekaterina, and Loseweisse, where had they all gone?

Following the direction Loseweisse had left, which she had glimpsed earlier, Natia quickly flew over.

Long after Natia flew away, a bulging pile of ash suddenly trembled. A large, charred figure slowly poked its head out of the ashes. Its last handsome horn had also been blown off.

The once-majestic Minotaur Chieftain was now in a sorry state, with not a single patch of intact skin on his body…

His eyes darted around, seemingly unable to see the woman’s figure. It seemed she had really left.

He cursed and climbed out of the ashes, casually wiping his face, which only made it dirtier. “Damn it, that damn woman, I’m not going to argue with you because I haven’t eaten my fill today. I’ll settle the score with you later…”

The night wind blew, and the whistling sound made the Minotaur Chieftain tremble. He subconsciously shrank his neck.

Forget it, forget it. I’m outta here.

That woman was too damn scary.

Compared to her, he didn’t deserve the title of demon at all. That woman was the real devil.

…

Temple of Storms.

The rumbling sound came from the horizon.

Even Violet, the Storm Witch, was a little surprised, “What’s that sound?”

“Maybe some lawbreakers are fishing with dynamite,” Qin Chu shrugged casually. “So, beautiful Miss Witch, where are our rooms?”

“There’s a spare room on the second floor. You can go to the second floor.”

“As for this beautiful lady, there’s also a room on the first floor…” Violet didn’t pay much attention to the rumbling sound, her face filled with a gentle smile as she led Ekaterina to the room she had prepared.

This Witch seemed to have unintentionally separated the two of them.

…

Auville Empire, Imperial City.

The Hero’s Residence.

Seven or eight soldiers and a voluptuous woman with wavy, sea-blue hair gathered together, the air filled with the aroma of alcohol.

The woman exuded a lazy and charming aura. Her fair and delicate face radiated mature charm, and her full figure showcased the sexiness of a mature woman, lacking the innocence of young girls but possessing an alluring quality.

She had a high-bridged nose and a pair of chestnut eyes. She could feel the drunken soldiers’ gazes involuntarily drifting towards the ample cleavage revealed by the collar of her mage robe, but she didn’t mind. She had seen this kind of gaze many times.

This woman was Athena, the Grand Mage of the Hero Squad.

In just one day, she had completely blended in with the soldiers in the residence, showing no airs of her high position, sitting on the ground with them, her long, beautiful legs appearing even more slender and straight because of the way she sat sideways.

The hem of her high-slit mage robe naturally fell along her smooth skin to the ground. Under the moonlight, a section of her fair and smooth legs seemed to radiate a jade-like luster. Her small and delicate feet were wearing a pair of light purple high-heeled sandals, and a few round, grape-like toes playfully peeked out…

She seemed to be a little drunk.

With a blush on her cheeks, Athena drained the liquid in her glass and gazed at the guards beside her with her hazy eyes. Her lotus-root-like arm rested on a guard’s shoulder:

“Von…”

She easily called out a name that even Qin Chu couldn’t remember.

“What kind of person do you think the Hero we summoned this time is?”

The next moment, all eight guards fell silent.

A few seconds later, they spoke in unison:

“A maid fanatic!”

“A hopeless maid fanatic… And he likes big breasts…”

“Beautiful…”

“With a good figure…”

Creak…

Athena’s flushed cheeks suddenly stiffened, and her cherry lips seemed to tremble slightly.

Chapter 96: The Fallen Deity

This was an invitation from a Witch.

Shaye’s small head shook like a rattle, hoping Qin Chu would flatly refuse.

But Qin Chu just smiled gently and faced Violet: “It would be my honor!”

Violet also smiled softly and led Qin Chu and the others towards the Witch’s castle… or rather, floated towards it. Throughout the entire journey, her jade feet never touched the sand on the ground, while Qin Chu and Ekaterina left four distinct trails of footprints in the dust.

The sand was soft, and their steps made no sound.

Shaye couldn’t help but open her mouth and bite Qin Chu’s ear.

Well, since Shaye was currently in a spiritual form, it didn’t hurt, just tickled a little. It felt strange.

“Why did you agree to her? She’s the Storm Witch! Have you forgotten what I told you before?” Shaye was very displeased.

Qin Chu smiled wryly: “Come on, could I have refused?”

Some things were indeed impossible to refuse, unless he wanted to fight the Storm Witch right here and now.

Naturally, Qin Chu had his own plans. Violet didn’t seem to harbor any ill intentions, and he didn’t want to completely antagonize her. Moreover, he was very interested in the Soul Fragment of the First Hero.

In that case, why not follow the Witch?

The nine tornadoes continued to rage in the desert. Violet, walking at the forefront, gently waved her hand, and the violent tornadoes parted to the sides, creating a path for them to pass through.

They walked past the bones, which looked even more eerie up close.

Among the scattered bones, they even spotted some armor.

The armor hadn’t decayed with the passage of time and still gleamed brightly.

Ekaterina’s eyes suddenly flickered. She seemed to have discovered something within the armor and tugged at Qin Chu’s sleeve.

Following the direction of Ekaterina’s finger, Qin Chu’s pupils also constricted slightly.

Although there were subtle differences, the similarities were too striking. Most importantly, they could even see the unique markings that symbolized the Holy Knights on the armor.

Could it be that the human remains scattered in this desert vortex were actually the remains of Holy Knights?

What had happened here long ago?

Could it be that the Holy See had waged war against the Witch?

Impossible.

Based on Qin Chu’s understanding of the Holy See, they wouldn’t bother to attack a Witch unless there was sufficient profit involved.

After a long while, they finally crossed the small desert, and the Witch’s castle appeared before them.

Only up close did they realize that the so-called castle was actually a church.

It was majestic and grand, and from the remaining traces, it was evident that it had once been a thriving place of worship. Now, however, it was in ruins.

Walls had collapsed from violent impacts, buildings were charred black from fire, and dark red stains, whether from blood or something else, remained after years of settling…

Standing here, it felt like being on a battlefield from centuries ago.

The sounds of slaughter, screams, clashing weapons, and the cries of the dying seemed to still echo in their ears.

The sacred church now exuded only an eerie and sinister aura.

“I apologize, my home is a bit dilapidated.” Violet seemed embarrassed, as if ashamed that she didn’t have an elegant and noble palace to entertain her guests.

The place was already quite dim, and due to the damaged roof, the interior of the church was even darker.

In the hall, they could see a long table covered with various utensils and scrolls, with a few chairs placed beside it. A half-burnt candle flickered with a dim, yellow flame. The objects on the table, illuminated by the flickering light, seemed to move eerily.

“Please, have a seat.”

Qin Chu scanned his surroundings as he pulled out a chair and sat down. Although it looked worn and tattered, the table and chairs were clean and tidy.

Deep within the church, there was a statue.

However, the statue’s head had been destroyed, leaving only half of its body, looking rather pitiful.

Qin Chu pondered silently. Compared to a witch hunt, this seemed more like a holy war sparked by differences in faith. Although the Holy See seemed to have suffered heavy casualties, they had ultimately emerged victorious.

The deity worshipped here had lost all its followers.

Waging war over different beliefs was probably the most common occurrence, wasn’t it?

Anthea and Ekaterina sat quietly on either side of Qin Chu. Neither of them spoke, but it was clear that the eerie atmosphere here had a strong impact on them.

Only Shaye frowned. She was quite old, but not as ancient as the Storm Witch. She didn’t know exactly what had happened a thousand years ago.

However, the Storm Witch’s behavior was indeed different from the other witches Shaye had encountered.

She had killed four witches: the Time Witch, the Greed Witch, the Avarice Witch, and the Wrath Witch. She hadn’t actively sought them out. Instead, whenever she encountered them, before she could even greet them, they would immediately attack.

But this Storm Witch was clearly different.

After a while, Violet emerged from the back, carrying a tray with several cups of clear tea. Dried cactus flowers, specially treated, floated on the surface of the water, emitting a faint fragrance.

Violet placed the teacups in front of them, two in front of Qin Chu, as the Witch Shaye was perched on his head.

“I apologize, I don’t have anything particularly good to offer my guests.” Violet said apologetically.

“Lady Witch, you jest. It’s already a great honor to be invited into a Witch’s home. How could we ask for more?” Qin Chu said with a gentle smile.

He picked up his teacup and took a small sip, seemingly placing complete trust in Violet.

Violet was quite pleased with Qin Chu’s demeanor and nodded slightly.

With the Holy Healing authority, Qin Chu wasn’t afraid even if the tea was poisoned.

Violet also took a small sip, then put down her teacup and looked at Qin Chu, her gaze drifting towards Shaye on his head.

Shaye couldn’t hold back any longer. She maintained her position, clinging to Qin Chu’s neck with her chin resting on his head, and asked Violet: “Storm Witch, why didn’t you attack me?”

This was the biggest question in Shaye’s mind.

Violet responded with a surprised tone: “Why would I attack you?”

Her words left Shaye speechless. After all, in Shaye’s experience, witches were always hostile towards each other, engaging in combat within three seconds of meeting.

Violet seemed to understand Shaye’s confusion and smiled sadly: “How much do you know about Witches?”

Qin Chu pondered for a moment: “Not much…”

“Witches are proficient in magic, magic formations, and potions. They possess great power, but they have eccentric personalities and are mostly bloodthirsty and cruel?”

Qin Chu described his impression of witches, and was promptly bitten by Shaye again.

Clearly, Shaye was quite unhappy with Qin Chu’s description of her as eccentric, bloodthirsty, and cruel.

She wasn’t that kind of Witch! In reality, whether in his first life or now, she hadn’t done many bad things. She had only stolen a few high-level magic spells from the Holy See’s secret collection, stolen the gem from the Pope’s crown… That’s right, the gem on Augustus’s crown was actually a fake.

She had also stolen the sacred bone relics that the Church of the Earth Mother Goddess considered sacred, ground them into powder to refine potions, severely injured the previous Pope when he tried to cause trouble for her (he died shortly after returning), driven the Saint of the Earth Mother Goddess Church from two hundred years ago into seclusion, eliminated a few thousand knights who were trying to eradicate Witches, then refined their souls and corpses into wraiths and undead, used Demon Beasts as experimental subjects for modification, causing a bit of trouble for the human army…

She really hadn’t done anything truly evil, right?

Was it too much to call her eccentric, bloodthirsty, and cruel?

Violet didn’t seem offended. She glanced at Shaye and said: “Actually, I admire you…”

“Every Witch has a deity they worship. Witches receive their authority from the blessings of their gods…”

“These authorities are far more powerful than ordinary abilities. Witches can gain near-invincible power from them. Almost every Witch is like this.”

This was another bombshell. Witches received their power from gods. Then why did the Holy See consider Witches heretics? Could it be that the deities Witches worshipped were actually Evil Gods or something similar?

“However, obtaining this power comes at a price. The knowledge of gods is not something ordinary people can digest. Witches gain immense power from the knowledge of gods, and the growth of their strength makes them overlook other risks.”

“Their consciousness and souls are unconsciously eroded, even though the gods who bestowed these authorities upon them may not have any malicious intent.”

“The stronger they become, the more severe the erosion, until finally, the Witch becomes…”

“A lunatic!”

Qin Chu felt a chill run down his spine.

Witches and lunatics.

Was this the price of power?

“The legends of Witches being eccentric, bloodthirsty, and cruel stem from this. They were once normal, but as the erosion deepens, their personalities become increasingly strange and cruel.”

“The reason why Witches attack each other on sight is also because of this. They sense a similar power within each other and want to devour it.”

“Devour?” Qin Chu raised an eyebrow.

Violet simply replied: “Literally.”

Imagining that scene sent shivers down Qin Chu’s spine.

“Witches are fortunate to be chosen by the gods and gain immense power.”

“But Witches are also pitiful creatures, destined to be consumed by this power and lose themselves.”

“The power of gods is a seed of hope and a root of despair.”

The wind outside the hall seemed to intensify, howling mournfully.

The dilapidated windows rattled under the force of the wind.

Qin Chu took a deep breath, suppressing the turmoil within him. He spoke in as calm a tone as possible: “Then, Lady Violet, which deity do you worship?”

Violet looked towards the broken statue behind her with a reverent yet complex expression.

“The Lord of the Storm!”

“A deity who has long since fallen!”

Qin Chu felt as if struck by lightning, his eyes wide with shock.

Even Forced Calm couldn’t control his emotions at this moment.

The Lord of the Storm had already fallen? Then… who was the deity worshipped in the Holy See?

Chapter 95: The Witch’s Invitation

Ekaterina, who was also preparing to attack but was a half-beat slower, finally noticed Anthea’s presence. For the first time, she realized that by her master’s side, there was another woman with such formidable strength, perhaps even stronger than herself.

Ekaterina felt her position severely threatened. This mysterious, petite, and powerful woman would undoubtedly steal a significant portion of her master’s affection.

In this fleeting moment, everyone’s thoughts were different. Perhaps in less than the blink of an eye, the spear Anthea had thrown appeared in front of the beautiful woman’s chest. In the next instant, it seemed as if the spear would pierce a hole through that perfect body.

However, the woman’s lips still held a faint smile, and her blue-gray eyes merely glanced at the spearhead before she slowly raised her right hand.

Her five slender fingers gently spread open. Her movements didn’t resemble combat at all, but rather a dance, strange yet full of beauty.

Although her fingers moved gracefully, without anyone noticing, she gently grasped the spearhead.

Hum…

The speeding spear came to an abrupt halt without any noticeable deceleration. The sharp spear tip was less than an inch away from the woman’s heart, yet it could no longer advance.

A violent shockwave erupted, instantly shattering the surrounding trees into fragments. The wood chips, mixed with yellow sand, were swept up by the hurricane and danced in the air.

The impact lifted the woman’s skirt, revealing two smooth, delicate, and firm thighs, as white as porcelain.

As the shockwave subsided, the skirt fell back down, concealing the breathtaking scenery.

The surroundings returned to a tranquil state, devoid of even the sound of breathing. Only the frantic heartbeats of Qin Chu and Ekaterina could be heard.

Anthea’s spear had been caught so easily. Although Anthea hadn’t been able to unleash her full power in that instant, the destructive force of the attack was undeniable. Qin Chu wouldn’t have been so surprised if the woman had dodged or even endured the attack head-on, but to catch it directly was simply too incredible.

Anthea probably hadn’t expected such an outcome either. Her azure eyes gradually turned icy, her eyelids lowered, and her petite figure stood firm on the ground.

As the strongest Valkyrie, the Valkyrie who protected the nation, Anthea’s strength was unquestionable. At the same time, her personality was undeniably fiery and combative.

Although much of Anthea’s strength and memories had faded, this aspect was like a brand etched deep within her soul, unchanging even after thousands of years.

Her slender right hand extended upwards, her five fingers slightly curled like claws.

With a hum, another jet-black spear materialized in Anthea’s palm. Crimson flames, burning intensely yet without radiating any heat, instead exuding a chilling aura, once again surged around her.

She resembled a witch resurrected from the flames.

The black chains that bound Anthea seemed to be pulled by some mysterious force, writhing like countless venomous snakes. Sparks flew from the friction between the metal links, accompanied by a sharp, ear-piercing sound.

Whoosh…

A crimson flame suddenly flickered in her right eye.

Her eyes were filled with fighting spirit.

Anthea hadn’t lost.

She could still fight. Powerful enemies didn’t frighten her; they only ignited her fighting spirit.

“Anthea, stop…” At that moment, Qin Chu’s voice suddenly came from the side.

Anthea’s brows furrowed immediately. Her battle intent had just been ignited, and she was extremely reluctant to stop at this point. But it was Qin Chu’s order…

Her situation was different from Angelica and Ekaterina. She had already died, leaving only her soul trapped within a cold stone sculpture, gazing blankly at the city for a thousand years.

She couldn’t move, she couldn’t speak… She was just a stone sculpture with self-awareness, existing in this world yet detached from it, witnessing countless people come and go, but never truly noticed by anyone.

It was Qin Chu who had awakened her, allowing her to finally break free from the stone sculpture. She, like Shaye, resided within Qin Chu’s body.

Qin Chu wasn’t her master, but he was the key to her freedom of movement and even her existence in this world… In that case, she had to obey his orders, right?

This was Anthea’s current way of thinking, simple and direct, without any twists and turns.

Anthea finally withdrew her spear, but her vigilant gaze remained fixed on the woman before her… Any sudden movement from the woman would immediately trigger Anthea’s relentless assault.

From the beginning, the mysterious woman merely watched everything with a smile, showing no intention of attacking.

Qin Chu also breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn’t acted rashly.

He already had a guess about the mysterious woman’s identity and didn’t intend to engage in conflict with her at this time.

Qin Chu slowly approached the woman, placed one hand on his chest, and bowed slightly. This was a standard gentlemanly gesture:

“Beautiful lady, I apologize for my companion’s impulsiveness.”

The petite Anthea puffed up her cheeks. She wasn’t impulsive!

The woman gently shook her head. Despite possessing immense power, she exuded a gentle aura, like a spring breeze, without a hint of anger. Her smile was truly beautiful.

Once again, that languid, charming, and serene demeanor, coupled with her beautiful face and figure, could easily make one overlook her extraordinary height.

The woman spoke, her voice pleasant to the ear:

“It’s alright, I don’t mind. After all, that’s just her personality…”

Her simple reply made Qin Chu’s eyelids twitch: “You know her?”

The woman didn’t answer directly, but simply glanced at Anthea. Countless images seemed to flash through her deep eyes. After a long while, she sighed softly: “A thousand years have passed, and her fiery temper hasn’t changed a bit…”

A thousand years…

Qin Chu’s heart trembled slightly.

This woman knew Anthea from a thousand years ago? Moreover, it seemed they had a close relationship. He just didn’t know whether they were friends or foes back then.

He hoped their relationship wasn’t too bad. After all, none of the old monsters who could live for a thousand years were easy to deal with…

Anthea, on the other hand, wore a bewildered expression. She couldn’t recall who the woman in front of her was. There wasn’t a single trace of recognition in her mind.

The smile on Qin Chu’s face widened: “Is that so? By the way, I still don’t know the beautiful… ahem, miss, your name?”

The woman’s expression seemed to turn slightly troubled as she fell into deep thought:

“My name?”

“I can’t quite remember… Violet? I think that was my name…”

“However, in recent years, people have called me the Storm Witch!”

Although he had already guessed it, when Violet personally admitted to being the Storm Witch, Qin Chu’s heart still skipped a beat. It was indeed this witch.

Shaye’s expression instantly became extremely tense.

After all, the relationship between witches was terrible.

After introducing herself, Violet’s blue-gray eyes turned towards Qin Chu:

“The four of you, would you like to rest in my castle?”

The four of you… She knew about Shaye’s existence.

The Witch had extended an invitation!