[Vol. 8] Chapter 242: Eye Contact
“Oh? She really said that?”
In a room inside an inn in Saint Laos City, the young priestess, who was still trying various ways to recreate the characters she remembered, the [Forbidden Words], finally stopped what she was doing and turned to look back after hearing the news the little dragon girl had just brought.
Xiao Guang nodded. Her expression remained calm like still water, but deep within her flame-like golden eyes, a faint glimmer of excitement, of eagerness for battle, began to shine.
“Yeah, actually, I’ve felt it too. Ever since we arrived in the Theo Province, there’s been this old, sticky kind of power lingering over the land. It clings to living things, waiting for a chance to corrupt their bodies, just like that so-called [Serpent Blood] infection. Master, you’ve seen it several times already.”
“At first, that power wasn’t very strong. It seemed like it was still hiding and preparing for something. But ever since that event three days ago, the energy and signs have gotten much stronger, like they’ve been triggered, and they’re still growing stronger by the day.”
“Elunie knows you’re watching her, and she asked me to pass on a message—[That is the master of flesh and matter. It has a terrifying power that can corrupt the very essence of the world. If it truly descends, it might only need to raise its hand to bring destruction to millions. Please, Sister Violet and the Sword Saint, make your preparations early.]”
“The master of flesh and matter… Sounds kind of interesting. I’m impressed she managed to investigate this far~”
Violet thoughtfully rubbed the still-blank page in her hand as she pondered Elunie’s words. After a while, she asked again.
“So what are they doing now?”
Without hesitation, the Dragon God replied.
“They said that after investigating over the past few days, they discovered the true identity of someone in the city who is a direct follower of that terrifying master. That person is planning something dangerous, and as the Hero team, they’ll do everything they can to stop it.”
“Recently, the acting bishop of Saint Laos, who is also the daughter of the previous bishop, came to see them. I couldn’t hear what they discussed because of a divine artifact blocking the sound, but I’m pretty sure that little priestess now knows their true identities as Heroes. So what they do next will likely involve her.”
“Oh, and by the way, you’ve actually seen that little priestess before.”
“~”
The priestess nodded slightly and smiled.
“Even though they were thrown into such high-level trials right away, these kids are starting to show what Heroes should be capable of. It really does save us a lot of trouble. Any especially powerful people trying to secretly mess with or target them?”
“Yes. Most of the normal enemies have been taken care of by them. That includes one somewhat weak sky-level opponent. There was also someone else, a nearly legendary-level enemy who had been hiding and waiting to strike with a sneak attack. I think he was the leader of some group called the Red Mastiff Society. Since he was way too strong for them to handle, I personally stepped in and took care of him. Don’t worry, they didn’t notice a thing.”
Listening to the dragon girl’s calm report, Violet looked a little surprised.
“Oh? In such a short time, they were already able to take down someone above the normal level? Even if it was someone forcibly boosted to that level, they’re still tough to deal with. The fact that they handled it without too much trouble… I guess I underestimated them a little~”
“By the way, Xiao Guang, did that guy drop anything useful?”
As if she had already expected her master to ask this, the dragon girl, now much more mature and composed, nodded and pulled something out from her personal storage space.
“That guy was super poor. He had no solid foundation or proper cultivation. He was probably just an ordinary native of this world. I think it was by swallowing this thing that he managed to get power way beyond his actual level.”
As she spoke, the Dragon God curled her lips in disapproval.
“This thing really doesn’t know its place. It even tried to sneak into my body and take over. If I hadn’t thought you might need it, Master, I would’ve burned it to ashes right then and there.”
“Aww, my Xiao Guang knows how to be patient now~ So good, so good~”
With a bright smile, Violet nodded and took the item handed to her by her dragon, who was wagging her big tail proudly.
Just as she expected, it was a chunk of flesh glowing with a dark red light.
But unlike the piece they found before on that Andre guy, this one clearly came from a higher-up in that Red Mastiff Society. Its color was deeper and darker, and there were strange vein-like patterns running through it. It didn’t look like just a lump of meat that had been cut off. It felt alive, like it was still part of something living.
However, even now, there was no sign of any law-based power in it.
At that moment, the strange flesh was being wrapped in a soft golden flame. The flame completely surrounded the meat, yet didn’t burn it at all. This kind of fine and delicate control was clearly a special sealing technique placed by a certain Dragon God.
“Remove the Primordial Flame.”
“Okay.”
Xiao Guang nodded and snapped her fingers lightly. The golden fire covering the meat faded away. In the very next second, as soon as the seal was gone, the chunk of flesh instantly lit up with a bright glow, sensing the presence of living beings nearby.
It began to squirm, and sharp little meat tendrils started growing out, wriggling toward the closest hand, that of the young girl!
Like some creepy creature trying to bite its prey, the moment the flesh touched Violet’s skin, it got even more excited and active. Several vein-like threads quickly shot out from within, trying to pierce her wrist and fuse more closely with her!
But—
“Heh~”
“SKREEEEE!!!”
There was no need for Violet to even fight back. The moment the flesh made that bold move, it suddenly screamed in pain like a real creature. Brilliant gold light surged through the veins it had extended, quickly rushing back into the main body, and in just a blink, it had invaded deep inside it.
In that instant, the whole chunk of meat lit up like a golden lantern, flooding the room with its glow. It twisted in agony, struggling wildly and letting out eerie cries as if trying to escape from her hand.
But the next moment—
BOOM!!!
The corrupted flesh, now filled with terrifying divine light energy, exploded like a balloon popped from the inside.
Even without needing a word from her master, Xiao Guang waved her hand again, and the scattered bits of flesh immediately burst into flame midair. Before they could even hit the ground, they were already turning to ash under the burning power of the Primordial Flame.
And this was exactly what Violet had been waiting for.
At the very moment when the two forces, the golden divine light and the flesh's own corruption, were most closely intertwined, something invisible was formed between them… a connection of cause and effect.
Violet suddenly turned her head, and her star-bright golden eyes pierced through the fabric of space. In that brief second, she reached across a vast distance and locked eyes with a hidden existence on the other side of that cause-and-effect chain.
She saw another world.
A world of flesh.
In that world, the ground wasn’t made of rocks or soil, it was covered in carpets of red meat. Eggs and embryos grew straight out of the flesh-covered floor, hatching into hordes of twisted, strange creatures. Thick, living blood vessels, as big as towers, rose from the earth and all joined together into the massive shadow floating high in the sky.
But that shadow wasn’t a creature. It was a ball.
A massive ball made of blood and flesh. An enormous living lump that had absorbed the life force of nearly the entire world to grow to such a terrifying size.