[Vol. 8] Chapter 130: Phantom of the Underworld (Part 2)
“Just as you ordered, her avatar has already started testing those three people more deeply. But… do we really need to go that far? Even if they’re a bit special, they’re still just ordinary humans. If the power of the [Primordial Flame] is fully released, even I might not be able to perfectly control the strength. If we accidentally burn them to death…”
“Don’t worry~ Do you think I went to meet them in person for nothing? None of those three kids are simple. Besides, clearing away what’s unnecessary to make room for new growth, the special ability from the [Primordial Flame] can strongly awaken the special power hidden inside them. You can even see the effects clearly.”
“In the end, this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance that many people could only dream of. If they can’t even handle the benefits given to them, then how can they be worthy of being chosen heroes?”
Violet curled her lips, clearly not too concerned about what was happening on the other side.
She finished the tea in her cup in one sip and handed it back to the other Dragon God, who instinctively wrapped her tail around it and took it away. Though she was still pouting and mumbling unhappily.
“Still, I could have sent my avatar to do the same thing, right? Master, really… You even went out of your way to ask Light for help…”
“You silly thing… Don’t forget, we’ll be dealing with them again in the future. Do you really plan to have them kneel and worship you every time they see the [Dragon God]?”
Violet shook her head with a helpless smile, then sat up straight and focused her attention.
“Alright, I’m going back in. Keep an eye on things outside. Since those people have already sneaked into the Six Gates, the real world might also be making moves to cover for them. From now on… things probably won’t stay calm.”
“Understood, Master. I’ll make sure to leave a breath of life in the important ones~”
The two girls were so in sync that they didn’t need to say much to understand each other. When Xiao Guang nodded with a sweet and harmless smile, Violet didn’t hesitate any longer. She sat cross-legged once again in the middle of the magic circle, letting her mind enter the [Six-Line Array Palace].
Light and shadow shifted. Her divine sense split into thousands of parts. The darkness in front of her slowly faded, and Violet’s figure took form in a world that was half-real, half-illusion. The surrounding scene came clearly into her view.
All across the land, crimson flowers were blooming gracefully in the wind. But even more splashes of the same red color had been scattered onto the flower field and the earth in the middle of a fight, making the red petals look even more hauntingly beautiful and tragic.
A bloody battle had just broken out here, or at least, it looked that way.
The world inside the Six Gates was real. If someone died here, it meant true death.
In fact, Violet had set a very strict rule for all these spaces. At any time, as long as someone shouted “I quit!” into the sky, the power of the [Reincarnation] law would automatically remove them from the trial to keep them alive.
But just by looking at the scene, the battle here seemed to have started so suddenly. Many people hadn’t even had a chance to react before they were killed instantly in the flower field.
Only a few powerful fighters in the trial could pull off something like this.
Even fewer had entered the [Gate of the Underworld]. But the original rules of this place wouldn’t have allowed the candidates to meet each other like this. And no normal person would suddenly go crazy and start a massacre right under the goddess’s watch.
So, it was clear something here wasn’t right. The only possible explanation was that some outside force had broken into the trial space, and had created all this chaos on purpose.
This was one of the little mice that Violet had noticed. But the situation here was a bit more complicated, so it wasn’t a good idea to just let the big kitty come and squash them all at once. There was no other way, Miss Priestess had to come and handle it herself.
“Hehe, looks like this might be interesting. Alright then, I’ll play with you all~”
With a playful smile on her lips, the priestess looked around once more.
This was the [Underworld] Gate among the Six Paths.
In the [Six-Line Array Palace], the [Underworld] and [Human] paths point to the countless ordinary people in the world, full of messy fates and karma.
That’s why the number of trial takers chosen by these two gates made up the majority, nearly two-thirds of all the candidates.
[Underworld] and [Human] represent the two sides of the mortal world. One light, one dark.
Those who work hard to strengthen their will and actively fight their inner demons rise to the [Human] path, one of the three “good” paths. With the help of the Six Gates, they can move forward and let go of their past attachments.
The rest, those who just go with the flow, who don’t try to fight their desires, who are like most normal people, are placed into the [Underworld] path, one of the three “evil” paths. This path means endless cycles of karma and rebirth, where looking back, everything seems like an empty illusion.
In the laws of the Six Paths, the ideas of “good” and “evil” don’t follow normal human thinking. Being in a good path doesn’t mean someone is kind, and being in an evil path doesn’t mean someone is bad.
For example, the [Dead Soul], though he’s an awful lolicon, was still put in the [Human] Gate.
On the other hand, the other three members of the [Reaper's Scythe] team, Miss Ayla Light who the priestess favored, and even many senior priests and holy officials of the Goddess Church were placed in the [Underworld] Gate.
Good isn’t always good, and evil isn’t always evil. That’s just how the laws of the world work.
The black-haired girl looked around but ignored most of the tragic corpses. She walked straight toward one of the bodies nearby.
She crouched down, moved aside the bloodstained golden hair of the dead girl, and looked at her delicate but lifeless face, her expression thoughtful.
The girl was wearing a white holy robe, the kind only high-ranking priests wore. Her exposed skin was soft and smooth. Clearly, she had lived a comfortable life. There were no injuries on her body, except for a deep, fatal cut on her neck.
It was the kind of wound made by a dagger or short blade. A single strike that ended her life. Whoever did it was very fast and clearly showed no mercy.
The priestess picked up a golden holy symbol that had fallen into the red flowers during the fight. It had originally been hanging from the girl's neck, but the rope had been cut along with her throat. She held the symbol in her palm and quietly studied it for a moment.
It had four golden wings. This was a very high-ranking symbol in the Goddess Church, only given to priests from the inner circle. In other words, this priest girl, although still young, must have had strong holy magic skills and an important position in the church.
But even so, she was killed with one strike. Yes, it was a sneak attack, but it also showed a clear gap in power between them.
“Sigh, playing with people’s hearts~”
For some reason, the priestess gave a half-smiling sigh, then gently placed the holy symbol back between the girl's well-developed chest. She clapped the dust off her hands and stood up.
Speaking of which, this girl could be considered one of the priestess’s acquaintances. At least, Violet knew her, even if it was a one-sided thing.
Sybil Roland, daughter of the head bishop in Saint Sarnos City, the capital city of the Sarnos Province in the eastern part of the Holy Empire.