Elvin asked, “Aren't the royal tombs supposed to be in Mount Sol? Why are they here?”
Ning Busan shrugged. “How should I know?”
In any case, the layout map Novalia had drawn marked this exact location as the tombs.
Elvin asked, “How are we going to get out?”
Ning Busan frowned. “I'm afraid all the exits are heavily surrounded right now, just waiting for us to walk straight into their trap.”
The soles of boots clicking against the ground echoed sharply in the silent tombs with every step.
Ning Busan cursed his bad luck.
How had that Grand Swordsman caught up so quickly?
Ning Busan slammed his wand onto the ground. The moment its tip made contact with the stone floor, an intricate magic array rapidly expanded from beneath his feet.
“Hold on tight,” Ning Busan whispered.
Before Elvin could react, the magic array transformed into a massive golden door. Their figures were instantly pulled by an invisible force, vanishing into the doorway.
By the time Elion rushed over, he only saw a brilliant flash of light and two blurry silhouettes.
Once the light faded, both of them were gone, leaving behind only a crystal-clear bottle on the ground.
Elion picked up the crystal bottle and muttered, “The holy water...”
A loud crash of snapping chains echoed from behind the stone door, accompanied by the faint, eerie sound of fingernails scratching against a stone slab.
Elion's expression changed dramatically. “I wonder how much longer the seal of the Shackle of the Sacred Remains can hold. These are truly troubled times...”
...
On the other side, Ning Busan and Elvin had already returned to Roman Lane through the teleportation array.
The courtyard was piled high with the corpses of assassins, and a thick stench of blood hung in the air.
Before even entering the house, he heard Baphomet's seductive yet fanatical voice:
“Why does the light always demand your sacrifice, while the darkness allows you to take? Because the light is a shackle, and the darkness is true freedom.”
“Anger, jealousy, desire... these are who you truly are. The light forces you to suppress yourself, but Lord Satan will accept everything about you, including your darkness.”
“Have faith in Lord Satan, and you will obtain unimaginably powerful strength and possess everything you desire.”
Ning Busan pushed open the door and walked in, only to find that Isabella was also in the room alongside Baphomet.
As expected of a demon!
Whenever they encountered a believer of the God of Light, they always tried to tempt them into changing their faith.
Ning Busan couldn't help but ask, “Does Hell have performance targets too?”
Baphomet didn't understand what he meant, but his eyes lit up the moment he saw Elvin standing next to Ning Busan. He blurted out immediately:
“Are you interested in believing in Lord Satan?”
Luring a believer of the God of Light into the darkness was a highly challenging feat for any demon.
Yet, they absolutely loved doing it, never tiring of the pursuit.
Ning Busan massaged his temples. “Baphomet, throw all the corpses outside.”
“Throw them where?”
“In front of the palace gates.”
“You got it!” Baphomet shouted right before leaving. “Think it over, you two! As long as you believe in Lord Satan, there will be massive benefits!”
Isabella and Elvin: “...”
Ning Busan felt like spitting up blood.
What on earth?
Is this really how demons spread faith in Satan?
No wonder Satan barely has any believers!
Ning Busan asked Isabella, “Why are you here?”
“After you and Sister Novalia left, I saw a lot of assassins tailing you, so I came to check if you were dead.”
Isabella paused, then clung to Elvin's arm and asked unhappily,
“Why are you with this guy?”
Elvin hadn't told Isabella at all that he was going to steal holy water from the palace's secret vault; he had acted entirely on his own.
He was a bit troubled now. If Isabella found out he had gone to steal holy water behind her back, she would definitely be angry, yet he didn't want to lie to her either.
Ning Busan said indifferently, “We just ran into each other on the way. It was a coincidence.”
Isabella let out a soft huff. “Since you're not dead, I'll be leaving now.”
Before leaving, she quietly warned, “Keep keeping company with demons, and you'd better watch out, or you won't even have any bones left when they're done with you.”
Ning Busan opened his mouth but ultimately closed it.
Was Hell's reputation really that bad?
Believing in the God of Light meant advocating truth, goodness, and beauty, where one only reaped what they sowed. If you accumulated enough good deeds, you might enter Heaven after death.
Believing in Satan meant following the principle of equivalent exchange; as long as you were willing to pay the corresponding price, you could obtain anything.
Heaven was the idealization of light, while Hell was the materialization of darkness. Only by maintaining the balance between the two would the system of the magic world avoid collapsing.
...
The next morning.
The screams of a maidservant echoed through the palace.
The King was startled awake. He dressed and came out, only to find his palace piled high with corpses.
Blood pooled and flowed across the floor, forming a glaring, massive word—DEATH.
The King cried out in a panic, “Elion! Elion!”
Elion walked in. Without bowing, he asked calmly, “What is the matter, Your Majesty?”
The King pointed at the corpses and the bloody word on the floor, asking with a trembling voice, “This... what... what on earth is going on here?”
Elion said, “A demon delivered them.”
The King roared, “How could you let a demon break into the palace?”
Elion replied coldly, “He left right after delivering the bodies. He had no intention of killing anyone.”
“Furthermore, Your Majesty seems to have forgotten that this demon was provoked by Prince William in the first place.”
When William had previously ordered Baphomet to assassinate Novalia, Elion had already become aware of Baphomet's existence.
“No, that's not right!” Recognizing the corpses as the assassins he and the nobles had sent to kill Ning Busan, the King couldn't help but swallow hard.
“Is that demon actually working for Ning Busan? Could he order that demon to assassinate me next?”
Elion frowned. He had absolutely no respect for this foolish King, but his duty was to protect the royal family's safety.
Elion said, “Your Majesty, if that demon truly threatens your safety, I will stop him. But right now, I have a far more important matter to report.”
“What is it?”
Elion recounted everything that had happened the previous night in full detail.
The King's face turned pale. “How could the seal of the Shackle of the Sacred Remains loosen?”
“Some time ago, I sensed the aura of a powerful demon, but it vanished shortly after appearing,” Elion said. “Your Majesty, we might as well reopen the Holy Spirit Altar.”
The King looked troubled. “But Heaven hasn't sent an angel to deliver an oracle from the God of Light for a thousand years.”
“Even if we reopen the Holy Spirit Altar, I'm afraid it will be to no avail.”
Elion said, “The theft of the holy water is highly likely related to Hell. The seal of the Shackle of the Sacred Remains is loosening, and once that being breaks free, they will also belong to the darkness.”
“If Hell is planning a major move to run rampant in the human world, I believe the God of Light will not sit idly by.”
That was the God of Light, after all. How could he allow the darkness to overshadow the light?
The King pondered for a moment, then said, “Then we shall do as you say. Reopen the Holy Spirit Altar.”
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