Chapter 258: If You Lose a Son, Just Make Another One
Again, Qin Chu wasn’t a “Cao Thief.” He wasn’t interested in other men’s wives. Really.
He even found Florence repulsive, a different kind of aversion than the hatred he felt for Ekaterina, Loseweisse, and Athena. He didn’t even feel the urge for revenge against her.
She loved O’Niens.
But she was also largely responsible for his current state. Her excessive pampering had turned him into an arrogant, spoiled brat.
Looking at Florence’s self-sacrificing expression, as if she would endure anything to save her son, Qin Chu’s voice dripped with mockery, “Lady Florence, I admit, you are a beautiful woman…”
“But please, open your eyes.”
“Just look at all the beautiful women around me.”
“Angelica, Violet, Norma, Anastasia… are any of them inferior to you?”
“Please don’t overestimate yourself. Your charm isn’t that great. I’m not that desperate.”
Florence shuddered.
His words were more insulting than any physical violation.
This damned bastard dared to call her desperate?
She had always been confident in her beauty and figure. Even after her husband’s death, despite having a son, she had been pursued by countless men, all of them powerful and high-ranking. And in this man’s eyes, she was someone he would only consider if he was desperate?
She glared at him.
Qin Chu’s expression, however, was indifferent. “Tell me,” he said, “what is that ability of yours, to travel through the earth? Is it magic?”
Florence frowned, suppressing her rage. So, this Hero was after her ability.
She sneered, “Want this ability? Sorry, that’s impossible. It’s not magic, it’s my inherent power. I can’t teach it to you.”
“Perhaps you can ask for something else.”
No, nothing else about you interests me, Qin Chu thought. He was about to offer her a deal: her ability in exchange for O’Niens’s life, but before he could speak, a strange sound came from the side…
“Aaargh…”
It was a mournful cry, like a wounded beast.
Qin Chu and Florence turned their heads and saw O’Niens, his legs charred black, his body trembling, his face covered in strange, red, spiderweb-like patterns, even his eyes filled with those eerie threads.
Dark red, metallic flesh was growing over his burned skin, covered in small scales.
This transformation seemed incredibly painful, his body convulsing, his howls filled with despair.
O’Niens seemed to finally understand his fate.
He could feel a violent, bloodthirsty consciousness taking over his body and soul, transforming him into a monster.
No, no, no…
He didn’t want to become a grotesque creature like Karsus, to be purified by Holy Light. But he couldn’t stop it.
His howls were more like pleas, begging someone to kill him before he completely transformed.
Qin Chu’s face darkened. So, the corruption had finally begun.
This scene was eerily similar to Karsus’s transformation.
He didn’t immediately kill O’Niens, but stepped back.
The surrounding onlookers pointed and whispered.
Evil God.
Corruption.
Erosion.
Monster…
Their words echoed around him.
The scenes from the arena, from outside the Sykes Hotel, flashed through the minds of the clerics and knights, their faces paling.
O’Niens, the Saint Son of the Church of the Earth Mother Goddess, had also been corrupted by the Evil God?
Good heavens, this was terrifying.
Even the battle-hardened soldiers shuddered at the sight.
Only Florence seemed oblivious to her son’s transformation. Although many of his bones were broken, she suddenly found a surge of strength, and as Qin Chu stepped back, she lunged forward like a madwoman, embracing O’Niens, ignoring his bloody, mangled form, kissing him, holding him close.
She saw only her son.
After her husband’s death, he was all she had left.
She didn’t care what he became, even if he turned into a monster, he was still her son.
O’Niens’s consciousness was fading, his legs already transformed into monstrous limbs, his feet claws with sharp nails, scales covering his lower body, spreading upwards.
Perhaps because of his weak strength and talent, his transformation was slower than Karsus’s.
He still clung to a shred of sanity, his clawed hands gripping Florence’s shoulders, pushing her away.
Florence’s face was streaked with tears as she looked at her son in agony, “O’Niens, what… what’s wrong with you? It’s me…”
O’Niens gasped for breath, the scales reaching his neck, his face contorted in pain, tears streaming from his crazed eyes.
He didn’t say a word to his mother, his gaze suddenly turning to Qin Chu, a few meters away.
This once arrogant and conceited man, now showing astonishing willpower, struggling to control his transforming body, suddenly fell to his knees before Qin Chu, his head bowed to the ground.
He, who would never lower his head before Qin Chu, the man he despised most, was now kneeling, abandoning all his pride and dignity.
His voice was hoarse, each word a struggle:
“Hero…”
“Please… spare my mother…”
“She… is different… She hasn’t committed any sins…”
He had been arrogant and conceited, indifferent to the lives of others, killing them as if it were nothing. But his mother was the most important person in his life.
Florence shook her head, sobbing uncontrollably.
At this moment, she was no longer the former Holy Maiden, but just a mother watching her son’s demise.
“And then… kill me… please.”
Qin Chu, watching the man he once despised kneeling before him, begging, his body twisting and transforming, lowered his eyes, a bright Holy Light emanating from him.
Florence, seeing this, seemed to understand what was about to happen. Her hair disheveled, tears streaming down her face, she threw herself in front of her son, like a madwoman.
“No, please…”
“There must be another way…”
“There must be…”
She abandoned all dignity, all pride.
She knelt in the sand, begging Qin Chu, “Please, don’t hurt my son! He can still be saved! Please, I’ll do anything…”
But before she could finish, O’Niens’s will finally broke.
Qin Chu was almost impressed by his resilience. He had surpassed his limits.
Even Karsus, under the Evil God’s complete control, hadn’t lasted this long. He was far weaker than Karsus, yet his love for his mother had given him the strength to endure.
But even such unwavering devotion couldn’t change his fate.
The transformation was complete.
O’Niens suddenly raised his head, his face now a grotesque mask, three twisted horns sprouting from his skull, his skin covered in reptilian scales, his mouth open, revealing rows of sharp teeth like a shark’s.
His crimson eyes stared at Florence’s back.
She was the person closest to him.
And now, transformed into a monster, he would start with her, driven by the insatiable urge to kill.
Roar…
He lunged at her, his fangs sinking into her neck.
Florence’s body shuddered.
But she didn’t seem to feel the pain, a twisted smile on her face as she gently caressed his scaled cheek, letting this monstrous creature devour her flesh and blood.
But at this moment, a silver-white sword of light shot through the air.
With a thud, it pierced through O’Niens’s head.
He screamed and fell backwards.
Florence’s face turned pale, and she screamed, “No! Don’t hurt my son!”
Her crazed demeanor irritated Qin Chu, and he didn’t know why, but he felt a surge of anger.
O’Niens had brought this upon himself. He had been the one to break the seal, releasing the thread that had corrupted him.
But he was still irritated.
He stepped forward, grabbed Florence by the hair, and slapped her, hoping to bring her back to her senses.
“Shut up!” he snarled, “He’s no longer your son! Your son is your son, but what about the others he killed? Weren’t they also someone’s children?!”
“Or do you think that idiot O’Niens would want you to be devoured alive like this?”
“If you lose a son, then just make another one!”
“And this time, raise him right, damn it!”
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