“So this is the difficult choice you spoke of,” Isolde said, her eyes completely cold.
“Since you believe that sacrificing the few for the peace of the many is a ‘righteousness permitted by the gods,’ then now, sacrificing you alone to let these unicorns rest in peace should also be a mercy tacitly approved by the gods, right?”
She leaned down slightly, throwing the Silver Robe's own words right back in his face.
“The weak need rules. Now, it is your turn to make this difficult sacrifice on behalf of the Holy Court.”
Panic and rage contorted the Silver Robe's face.
“...May... the Holy Radiance—”
Before he could finish, Isolde suddenly clenched her fingers.
“Strangle.”
Crack.
The Silver Robe's soul disintegrated within his flesh. His pupils slowly dilated, clouded over by the dull gray of death.
The staff, now devoid of control, clattered to the floor, the horn core at its tip gradually losing its luster.
Isolde panted heavily. With the wound on her shoulder still unhealed, coupled with the backlash of the holy light, her HP dropped by another 5 points.
She had thought that with the death of the perpetrator, the resentment she had unleashed would finally subside.
However, instead of dispersing, the black shadows swirling around her seemed to have tasted the blood of vengeance, becoming even more violent and rampant.
The ground beneath her feet began to tremble violently, and the walls of the entire Quiet Bone Prayer Room cracked all at once.
From the core of the shattered Mooncrown Lock, a dark red tide of resentment erupted like a volcano, violently smashing through the dust-laden dome of the Quiet Bone Prayer Room and surging into the sky outside.
The colossal beast, condensed from countless vengeful spirits, exploded in midair.
A portion of it lunged straight down toward the clergy on the upper levels of the Grey Dove Monastery.
An even larger portion, like a swarm of locusts taking to the night sky, burst savagely through the monastery's outer protective magic arrays in an unstoppable, terrifying surge, scattering wildly across all corners of the continent.
Meanwhile, on the upper levels of the Grey Dove Monastery.
The once sacred and solemn courtyard had already been reduced to a chaotic battlefield.
Luo Jiuge slashed open an attacking Holy Knight with her sword. Just as she was about to catch her breath and curse, a sharp, soul-shuddering wail suddenly echoed from high above.
She abruptly looked up.
A tide of dark red light cascaded from the heavens. With absolute precision, it surged directly into the bodies of the surrounding monks who were shouting praises of the light.
“W-What on earth is that?!”
The monks, who just a moment ago had been holding holy lanterns with ferocious expressions to corner Luo Jiuge and the others, instantly lost all their hostility. The moment they came into contact with the dark red currents, their faces twisted in sheer panic, and they abandoned their weapons and armor to flee in all directions.
Phantom shapes of holy beasts, radiating a freezing deathly aura, stepped out of the void. They passed cleanly through the bodies of the monks, tearing away and shredding the ancient sins hidden beneath their holy robes, inch by inch.
“Holy Radiance, save me—!”
“Stay back! Ah! My eyes!!”
Shrill, agonizing screams filled the entire monastery. The once solemn holy ground turned into a living hell in the blink of an eye.
Luo Jiuge gripped her sword tightly, her palms slick with sweat.
“What... what on earth happened down there...”
Alvin was pale from weakness, barely able to stand even while leaning against the wall.
Herwin grabbed his arm, looked at the dazed Luo Jiuge, and shouted a warning.
“Stop staring! We need to get out of here while it's in utter chaos!”
Luo Jiuge snapped out of her shock as a system notification popped up before her eyes.
【Warning: The area ahead is in a state of high-risk collapse.】
【Warning: An unknown torrent of resentment is erupting.】
【Entering this area in your current state carries an extremely high probability of accidental injury.】
Luo Jiuge stared at the crimson warnings and gasped in shock.
“My god... what kind of massive stunt did my compatriot pull down there...”
“No... I have to go in and check!”
She gripped her sword and made a move to charge in against the tide, but Herwin immediately grabbed her and spoke rapidly.
“If you go in now, you'll only die.”
Luo Jiuge snapped her head back. “So we just abandon her down there and leave on our own?!”
Herwin didn't dodge her gaze. Amidst the endless screams filling the air, he said, word by word.
“The fact that she dared to sneak in here proves she knows the dangers better than any of us. Trust her. She must have left herself an escape route.”
These words cooled Luo Jiuge's head slightly.
Her compatriot indeed didn't seem like a simple player. Perhaps right now, she should focus on completing her own quest so as not to let down the trust placed in her.
She looked deep into the corridor, where the dark red resentment was still surging like a tsunami.
A stray gust of wind swept past her, the wind blades it carried even grazing her arm.
Luo Jiuge grit her teeth and turned to support Alvin's other arm.
“Let's get out first.”
Pausing, she cast one last look back at the darkness swallowed by resentment.
“Compatriot, once I finish my quest, I'll come back for you.”
“If you're alive, I want to see you. If you're dead...”
Her voice trailed off, leaving the second half of the sentence unsaid.
In the end, she only mumbled softly.
“Compatriot, you'd better actually have an escape route.”
...
By the time silence returned to the Quiet Bone Prayer Room, the entire chamber had been reduced to ruins.
Broken bone pillars, shattered stone slabs, and the lingering scent of burning in the air all bore testament to how brutal the recent restitution of karma had been.
Isolde stood in the center of the prayer room's ruins. Her overextended physical strength and the sharp pain from her wounds left her feeling somewhat drained.
She raised her head, her dark eyes piercing through the shattered dome to gaze at the murky sky.
She closed her eyes slightly. In the freezing wind that filled the chamber, she felt as if she could sense hundreds of souls, finally freed from their chains, charging headlong toward their destination against the cold wind of freedom.
【You have obtained: Sinful Soul ×1】
A system notification lit up in her vision.
Isolde looked down. From the body of the deceased Silver Robe, a strange, pitch-black flame was trembling and floating upward.
The black flame danced in the freezing air. If one looked closely, they could faintly discern a distorted human face belonging to the Silver Robe at the center of the flame, struggling madly with the same indignant rage he had felt in life.
Isolde gently beckoned with her finger, weaving a cage out of Soul Threads to imprison the black flame within.
She vaguely recalled that when the Castle Blood Banquet verdict was completed, triggering "Home Advantage" and activating 【Verdict Synthesis】, the system had given her a prompt.
If she wanted to synthesize that attribute-limit-increasing fruit again, she apparently needed to gather three Sinful Souls.
“Even though there's only one for now, all in all, it's a decent harvest.”
Rate on N.U.
