Chapter 977: Trial's End, War's Blood Apricot |
On the way to find Delvo, Cheng Shi intentionally — and seemingly unintentionally — revealed much about Yu Xi.
Of course, he flatly denied being Yu Xi himself. No matter how Sun Miao probed, he insisted he'd merely met the person. Whether Vice President Sun believed it or not was anyone's guess.
Along the way, the battlefield's muddy terrain made travel arduous. Blood too thick to spread had so thoroughly saturated the soil that the valley had become a crimson swamp that had swallowed untold bones.
In this stinking hellscape, the war raged on for three more days. Not until the Grand Tribunal realized that the southern front — deprived of Keinlaur's command — could no longer contain the War Legion's counterattack. Not until the Tower of Logic acknowledged that the heretical scholars had "reasoned" their way to territory of their own. Only then did both nations pull back their lines and accept what could only be called a humiliating defeat.
And the followers of [War] had at last won themselves fertile ground for their faith on this continent through war.
Delvo raised the banner of war high, standing atop the Boro Highlands, gazing toward his "homeland" in the distance. With blazing spirit, he pointed to the crimson swamp behind him and declared:
"The Kingdom of [War] was founded on the sacrifice of countless war's fallen, and shall be reborn in this land of blood and fire.
From this day forth, we shall marshal every available resource to build a city of [War] beneath this valley. I name it Volbelli, to memorialize the devotion of countless sacrificed to our Lord.
Henceforth, all land south of the Abyssal Volcano belongs to our Kingdom of [War]!
One day, the blood and fire of [War] shall wash across the entire continent. We will make the world know that only [War] can bring new order to this rotting world!
Everything — for the new order!"
"How do we survive? Through blood and fire alone!"
Watching Delvo fervently shout about "new order," Cheng Shi couldn't shake the absurd feeling of sitting at a second marriage and hearing the groom accidentally recite his ex-wife's name during his speech.
'So is it old love hard to forget? Or is it just that every new face reminds you of the old one?'
'Tsk. Hard to say.'
Sun Miao was equally stirred. Having witnessed history again and again, he recalled this particular chapter and sighed deeply:
"Pity they don't know. What war brought wasn't new order, but new chaos.
The Underworld's counterattack was imminent. Surface order would ultimately be destroyed by the Afterglow Church and the Extreme Desire Brotherhood. Everything... is but an unremarkable ripple in the river of history."
"The Extreme Desire Brotherhood?" Cheng Shi blinked. "That... desire-peddling organization also played a role in the Underworld's counterattack?"
"A role?
Heh. Their contribution was far more than 'a role.' If they hadn't poured everything into spreading the Underworld faith everywhere, where would all those [Descent]-assimilated heretics have come from?
You could even say the Extreme Desire Brotherhood paved the road for the Afterglow Church to destroy everything.
I still remember what the Brotherhood's Head Chief said during the Tower of Logic's destruction:
'If [Truth] won't serve my purpose, then She isn't [Truth].'
What an unforgettable scene that must have been. Pity I never had the chance to witness it myself."
"?"
Cheng Shi paused again. If he remembered correctly, wasn't it the [Folly] believer Galusha who'd destroyed the Tower of Logic? How had it become the Extreme Desire Brotherhood's Head Chief? Had Galusha cooperated with the Brotherhood?
But the Extreme Desire Brotherhood were [Corruption] devotees. Was [Folly] interested in [Corruption]?
Cheng Shi's confusion caught Sun Miao's attention. Seeing that Cheng Shi apparently didn't know who the Brotherhood's Head Chief was, the wise man ventured: "Intelligence exchange?"
Cheng Shi pouted and casually dropped a minor piece of information:
"The shattering of the Mirror of Delusion was connected to [Corruption]."
"!!??"
This single sentence crashed Sun Miao's brain.
'I was just trying to trade casual tidbits, and you go and escalate the stakes to this level?'
"So that's the truth behind how That Dream My Nightmare can reflect the darkness in people's hearts?
A creation of [Memory] really was tainted by [Corruption]!
Everyone's suspected it, but Vice President Cheng, where did you get this information?"
'Where?'
'From Herobos's own mouth, naturally.'
'But I can't tell you that. I'd blow my cover.'
So Cheng Shi shrugged: "Forgot. Probably dreamed it. So, about the Extreme Desire Brotherhood, Vice President Sun?"
Sun Miao collected himself. He felt like he'd gotten the better end of this trade, but knowing Cheng Shi's nature... was such a bargain really free?
The wise man studied Cheng Shi repeatedly, his earlier suspicion intensifying. He was now certain that during their earlier conversation, Cheng Shi had definitely lied.
'That Yu Xi... forget it. I'll ask Zhen Xin later. Maybe she'd be interested in Yu Xi too.'
"The Extreme Desire Brotherhood's Head Chief was Galusha.
It seems you know Galusha. Indeed, most who've studied history know her name. But few know she was the Brotherhood's Head Chief.
The connection is deeply secretive, recorded only in certain believers' memoirs from the [Folly] epoch.
For unknown reasons, Galusha harbored a near-obsessive hatred of [Truth]. So in order to topple the Tower of Logic, after Keinlaur's death, she ventured into the Underworld alone in search of new allies.
How she joined the Extreme Desire Brotherhood, no outsider knows. But according to limited records, she vastly expanded the Brotherhood's sphere of influence and gradually rose to become its de facto leader behind the scenes.
The memoir's author noted that he was profoundly influenced by Galusha's will and voluntarily followed her into [Folly]. But his ancestors had been pure Brotherhood members who'd unflinchingly worshipped [Corruption].
I also found traces of his ancestor — reportedly an extraordinarily ambitious Head Chief under whose leadership the Brotherhood's influence reached its peak. It was this very person who passed the Head Chief title to Galusha.
And this charismatic woman's name was... Shi Lolin."
"..."
'The hallmarks of fate are still chasing me.'
Cheng Shi was speechless. The instant he heard Shi Lolin's name, he knew: in that trial where he hadn't yet merged with [Time], [Fate] had still been at work.
He just didn't know why the script seemed to have a slight error. He'd only encountered Shi Lolin, never the [Folly] Galusha.
'Close call. Good thing I didn't. Otherwise, this "fixed destiny" would be too terrifying.'
As the two talked, Delvo — surrounded by his followers on the battlefield — had also finished his founding declaration. In front of everyone, he drew a small bloodstained branch from his robes and planted it in the soil already mixed with countless flesh and bone.
"I plant this withered wood — embodying [War]'s warrior spirit — here at this very spot. Around it, we shall build a royal court of [War]. When this dead wood drinks enough blood to be reborn, that shall be the day [War]'s will spreads across the world!
How do we survive?"
The soldiers roared: "Through blood — and fire!"
Watching this scene, the only two players present exchanged a glance, their expressions rich and varied.
Because even though Delvo had dyed it, they both recognized it: that was unmistakably a branch of the Mother Tree of Fear — the same one Keinlaur had once shown Lid Yara. It was Lid Yara's birth gift.
So the blood apricot of [War]'s royal court... was actually a graft-reborn branch of the Mother Tree of Fear?
Did Le Le'er know about this?
As a [War] believer, what did Keinlaur's gesture mean?
Did this mean [War]'s followers lived in fear, or that this war's instigator had started the war because of fear?
Under the two stunned gazes, cheers erupted across the Boro Highlands. Though the shouts shook the heavens, this moment brought a long-absent peace to the battered land — a tranquility whose name was An Ning.
In that moment, the setting sun's afterglow was torn to shreds by the upraised lances, stubbornly casting its fading glory across the scorched earth.
Keinlaur's desires converged and poured into the sea. This former Supreme Inquisitor used a fresh devotion to absolve himself of all his sins.
【Wish Trial (Free Conviction [Corruption]) Challenge Successful】
【Evaluating performance and calculating rewards...】
【Player: Cheng Shi, Performance Rating: S】
【Item Obtained: Knowledge-Seeking Mask (S) ×1】
【Road to Ascension +20】
【Ladder of Ascent +3】
【Current Road to Ascension Score: 2,281 | Global Rank: 318,147】
【Current Ladder of Ascent Score: 187 | Path Rank: 30】
【Trial Cleared. Exiting...】
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