Chapter 35: What is a World-Class Divine Arts User?
“Flora, do you know the Repentance Light spell?”
Ignoring Empress Siana’s wails and struggles within the bone cage, Abyss turned to Flora. It was a rhetorical question. Of course, Flora knew the spell. Repentance Light was a staple in the Church’s arsenal, a skill every priest had to master.
The spell’s name was self-explanatory: a light that induced repentance in the target, amplifying their guilt and anxieties. The Church often used it to interrogate uncooperative criminals. The greater the crime, the more susceptible the criminal was to the spell’s effects. However, sometimes they encountered psychopaths who felt no remorse, in which case the spell was useless. It worked well against common thieves, murderers, and the like, but against hardened criminals with strong mental fortitude, it was less effective.
A mentally unstable person like Empress Siana wouldn’t feel any repentance even if a high-ranking priest cast the spell on her. Her earlier justification for killing Leona had been clear—she felt no guilt, only pride.
“First tell me why you want to sleep with me!” Leona shouted, her face flushed.
“I’ll explain later. You won’t lose anything,” Abyss hushed Leona, gesturing for her to be quiet.
Leona grumbled, stepping aside. “This… This is a matter of a lady’s honor… Spending the night with a kidney-deficient man…”
“I know the Repentance Light spell, but will it work on her?” Flora approached. Empress Siana was still a terrifying sight, but knowing the bone cage was secure and she couldn’t move, Flora mustered her courage.
“Oh, wait a moment,” Abyss bent down and plucked the Eye of Envy from the Empress’s eye socket.
The gemstone hadn’t fused with her socket, so removing it was effortless. The Empress tried to dodge his hand, but a wave of cold from Abyss immobilized her briefly.
“It’s safe now. Try it. I’ve cast an illusion spell, so don’t worry about the light from your Divine Arts being seen,” he said.
“Okay, I’ll give it a try,” Flora said, pursing her lips and pointing her index finger at Empress Siana.
Deprived of the Eye of Envy, the Empress writhed within the bone cage, her withered body contorting in anger and despair. She cursed loudly, even though her frail throat could barely handle the strain. “Aah! Curse you! You’ll all dissolve into pus and blood under the glory of the Lord of Submergence! I’ll kill you! Rip your throats out! Devour your flesh! Leona! My Leona! Why are you just watching?! Have you truly abandoned our master?!”
“Repent, Siana,” Flora said softly, completing her prayer. A bright light erupted from her fingertip, then a dazzling radiance, ten times brighter than the midday sun, engulfed Abyss and Leona, turning their vision white.
“ABC! I’m blind! I’m blind! Help me!” Leona’s panicked voice came from the blinding light.
“Calm down, Flora’s spell isn’t finished yet!”
“You never told me Flora’s Repentance Light was this powerful!”
“Didn’t I tell you she’s a super genius, just like you?”
“Abyss, I’m sorry! When you said you wanted to sleep with me, I was thinking of castrating you!”
“Why are you repenting for that?! Repentance Light is a single-target spell!”
“I just suddenly felt very sorry for you!”
As Leona continued repenting for her violent thoughts, Flora’s spell ended. She maintained her elegant crouching position, her slender, white index finger still pointed at Empress Siana.
The Empress, who had been cursing moments ago, was now silent. Her remaining eye stared blankly at Flora’s face, her mouth hanging open foolishly.
“Is it over?” Leona asked, rubbing her eyes, finding her vision unharmed.
“Leona… Leona…” the Empress suddenly burst into tears. “I shouldn’t have killed you for power… They promised that if I used the Tongue of Greed to kill you, they would help me eliminate the other heirs and put my son on the throne… I was jealous of their claim, jealous that they were more capable than my son, but I ended up dragging you into this…”
Her wrinkled face contorted in grief, tears streaming from her single eye, her voice trembling, devoid of her previous madness and malice.
“It’s so effective…” Leona murmured, impressed by Flora’s Divine Arts, but she didn’t accept the Empress’s apology.
“You were an illegitimate daughter with no claim to the throne. You could have lived a happy life as an unassuming princess, grown into a beautiful young woman, found a loving husband, and lived peacefully,” the Empress sobbed, her voice choked with tears, but her words continued to pour out like beans from a bamboo tube. “It was I who stopped your growth at the age of twelve, I who ended your happy life… It was me… It was me…”
“I don’t want to forgive you, but I want you to listen to me,” Leona said.
The Empress clutched the bone cage, her hands bleeding from the sharp barbs. “I will! I’ll do anything!”
“I don’t want to overcomplicate things. You have three things to do,” Leona said, crouching down and holding up three fingers. “First, tell your confidant to stop inspecting my tomb and set those tomb guardians free. Second, transfer all the money you’ve embezzled over the years to the national treasury. Third, reveal the location of those fools who worship this ‘Lord of Submergence’ that you’ve been harboring in the city. I’ll personally eliminate them all.”
“I can do the first two, but I can’t do the third,” the Empress said, not agreeing immediately.
“Flora? Your Repentance Light wasn’t thorough enough?” Leona asked, surprised.
“…I’ve completely repented, but I didn’t create the Submergence priests in the city. Someone else is responsible… I… I don’t know the details,” the Empress said, trembling with fear.
“Tsk, forget it then. Summon your confidant tonight and give them the new orders. Figure out the details yourself, and make sure there are no mistakes. And about the second task, how much money have you embezzled over the years?”
“Thirty million imperial coins… not including jewelry and other valuables…”
“You’re quite audacious,” Leona said, grimacing. “I don’t want to talk to you anymore. Just get to work.”
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