[Vol. 8] Chapter 241: The Lord of Flesh and Decay
As soon as the holy artifact appeared, the divine light burst forth intensely. The terrifying, endlessly spreading flesh all around suddenly recoiled as if it had encountered its greatest enemy. It even seemed to have a mind of its own, retreating along its original path. At the same time, the area beneath Elunie’s feet was slowly purified and temporarily returned to its normal state.
The girl quickly took this chance to pull her foot free. As she felt the warm energy flowing from the [Staff of Eternal Radiance], much of the fear and panic she had been unable to suppress began to fade.
“Huff… Huff… I’m a chosen hero, a heavenly warrior. I can’t be afraid. I have to be brave. Elunie, you have to stay strong, think clearly, and face this calmly.”
Muttering to herself to gather courage, the blind girl of the Lightborn race, who was essentially just a young woman in her early twenties, took a deep breath and calmed herself. She then turned and looked around again, quickly confirming her suspicions.
There was no mistake, this was…
Saint Laos City.
A reflection of it, at least. A scene that hadn't happened yet, but might become real.
Ever since she had separated from Violet, her Hero Mentor, and entered the city alone, Elunie and the rest of her hero team had sensed something was wrong. They immediately began investigating.
Each of the five members of the team had their own abilities. With all their efforts combined, they quickly followed clue after clue and discovered something strange hidden within Saint Laos City. By connecting the dots, they managed to track it to its source.
Eventually, Elunie and her team focused on a group called the Red Mastiff Society. They found out that this gang was actually the real power behind all the underground forces in the city, no one dared to challenge them.
But the strangest part was that, according to those in the know, this group had been just a low-level, third-rate gang only six months ago. Then suddenly, out of nowhere, they had skyrocketed to power.
Something that odd had to mean trouble. So, after preparing carefully, the hero team secretly infiltrated the gang. What they discovered shocked them.
The gang's actual combat strength was ridiculously high. Every single member they encountered was at least Blacksteel rank, and some core members even gave off an aura close to Legendary level. It was completely unbelievable.
And at the very end, when the Vice Leader of the gang discovered their presence and attacked without warning, he revealed strength that was even beyond Legendary, comparable to a Transcendent!
Luckily, it seemed that his power came from some kind of external force, so it wasn’t as stable or refined as a true Transcendent’s. His combat instincts and techniques were also fairly simple. Thanks to the team’s perfect coordination, their unique abilities, and the power of the divine artifact, they managed to defeat him after a hard-fought battle.
Finally, deep within the gang’s hideout, behind the door the Vice Leader had been guarding, they found what looked like a ritual site. A blood-red magic circle gave off an aura that made Elunie’s heart race in terror.
As the Heavenly Hero, Elunie was born blind. But she had an incredibly sharp sense for perceiving the true nature of things, almost as if she could see through reality itself. No matter how complex something was, as long as she could get close and feel its aura, she could naturally understand how it worked. This was her gift, and it was the foundation of her role as a chosen hero.
Ever since a few days ago, when an intense, unexplainable anxiety first rose in her chest, right after the news spread that the unknown ruins in the city had suddenly closed, Elunie had felt a growing sense of dread. Something terrible was coming. She could feel it, even if she didn’t know what it was, and it made her uneasy day and night.
Until she saw that blood-red ritual circle.
In that instant, she knew.
This was the source of the coming disaster.
Or at least… it was deeply connected to it.
Even though her teammates strongly disagreed, Elunie still insisted on taking the risk. She needed to get closer and feel the magic circle, or more accurately, the power and essence hidden behind it, so she could truly understand what was going to happen.
That’s why she came here.
There was no doubt that what she saw in front of her was just an illusion. It was a scene created by her thoughts after entering the red magic circle, something born from resonating with its energy. It wasn’t real.
But… that didn’t mean it was meaningless.
“Could this be… what Saint Laos City will look like once the power behind the circle fully arrives?”
It was terrifying.
Elunie had an extraordinary ability to sense things, and because of that, whenever she connected with something, she could clearly see images and gather information, as if she were actually there. Sometimes the strong feedback could even hurt her.
Everything in front of her had turned into pure flesh. Not only living creatures, but even the plants, buildings, and even the magical energy in the air had all been strangely turned into meat-like matter in this twisted version of Saint Laos City.
Elunie even had the strange feeling that she wasn’t standing in a city anymore, but inside the body of a huge, terrifying creature, so huge that she couldn’t see the whole thing. The world itself seemed alive, and the spreading flesh was proof of that.
The invisible corruption in the air made her instinctively uncomfortable. She and that massive lifeform were just too different. Even with the power of the holy weapon protecting her, she still felt like a small boat drifting in a huge storm, ready to sink at any time.
“!?”
Suddenly, the Hero felt something. She quickly turned her gaze far into the distance.
She saw a huge shadow slowly falling from the sky. The blood and flesh covering the whole city, and even the world, seemed to be pulled up into the air as if by a strong force. In that moment, the uneasiness in Elunie’s heart reached its peak!
She felt as if something terrifying was staring right at her. Before she could clearly see what the shadow truly was...
The light from the [Staff of Eternal Radiance] completely faded, and her body was instantly twisted and torn into a pile of blurry flesh by the “summoning” force.
“Ah!!!”
It was like waking up suddenly from a terrifying nightmare. The blind girl’s small hand snapped away from the glowing pattern as if shocked by electricity, and her body swayed weakly, about to collapse.
Thankfully, the fox Mevis reacted quickly. She immediately moved behind Elunie and supported her before she could fall. The other three, who had been watching on alert, also rushed forward.
“Elunie, are you okay?”
“Hero, are you hurt?!”
“Haah… haah… I’m… I’m okay…”
After taking several deep breaths and resting for a while, Elunie slowly recovered from the illusion’s effects. Some color returned to her pale face, and she weakly shook her head.
“I… I’m fine. I just used up too much energy. I’ll be okay after a bit of rest.”
“Everyone, I have something very important to tell you.”