[Vol. 9] Chapter 81: Gathering Sand to Build a Tower
“Miss Violet, do you know that girl?”
“Mm… you could say we have a bit of connection.”
The priestess gave a vague answer and didn’t say more. After all, that person’s secrets weren’t exactly small, but also not something huge enough to spread around. Since the person herself didn’t talk about it, Violet naturally wouldn’t go around exposing someone else’s private matters.
The girl who suddenly appeared on the battlefield like a divine soldier descending from the sky, single-handedly turning the tide of battle, was none other than Miss Hongyan, the “Asura,” one of the Six Chosen Heroes personally selected by Violet.
After the trial for the Chosen Heroes ended in the Holy Capital, each of the six quickly found their own paths and roles. Hongyan, being a swordmaster and possessing the special hidden skill that the priestess helped her develop, was most suited to be guided by none other than Mr. “Let Me Show Off.”
Although Minchen had been a bit of a flirt in his younger days, apart from that, he didn’t have any major flaws. He valued friendship, kept his promises, and was overall someone trustworthy and reliable. After his past misfortunes, he had clearly become more restrained. Since he had also trained many students before, it only made sense for Violet to use this chance to “squeeze some value out of that transmigrator.”
The “Asura” path, fighting violence with violence, killing to stop killing, is a lonely one. That’s why Hongyan was the only one among the three publicly known heroes who didn’t pick an assistant, staying independent as always. There was no need to be overly secretive about anything.
After writing a letter with some instructions and a clear warning, “If you dare to harm this girl, I’ll break all three of your legs”. The priestess sent Hongyan north to the Ten Thousand Demons Mountains to find Minchen.
Later, she also contacted Little Blue, the slime guarding the Sethlin’s Tree of Life, and learned that Hongyan and Le Qiaoqiao had already arrived. They were currently training under the joint guidance of Minchen and Tielu, so Violet didn’t pay much more attention after that.
She didn’t expect that the next time they’d meet would be under such circumstances.
When Violet scanned the entire Icefang Island with her SP earlier, she hadn’t detected Hongyan’s presence, so it was likely that the girl had just arrived through some sort of long-distance teleportation.
Given her current status… maybe she really was some kind of reinforcement sent by another faction.
Thinking so, the priestess simply shared what little non-secret information she could, Hongyan’s public identity and background, which naturally surprised Moraya.
“One of the Six Heroes chosen by the Holy Empire’s Goddess, the Asura-path Hero? No wonder she’s so powerful… I’ve heard a bit about them. That sword sheath really does contain a high-level divine power. It must be the divine weapon [Guardian Edge] granted by the Goddess.”
“But why would a Chosen Hero of the Holy Empire come to help us settle things in the Snow Empire? And judging by how familiar you seem with her, Miss Violet…”
At that thought, Miss Snow Maiden suddenly showed a suspicious look.
“Could it be… you actually have some unspeakable relationship with that Holy Empire’s Goddess?”
“Cough, cough, cough—!”
Violet nearly choked on her own saliva when she heard that.
“Don’t—don’t spread nonsense like that! I’ve never met any so-called Holy Empire Goddess! I only know Hongyan because of some coincidences in the past, that’s all. Next time, don’t say things like that, okay? ‘Unspeakable relationship,’ seriously… Aren’t you afraid the fanatics from the Goddess Church will burn you at the stake for that?!”
Seeing that the candidate Holy Maiden didn’t reply and was just staring at her with a suspicious “I don’t believe you” look, the priestess gave an awkward cough and quickly turned her head aside, looking a little guilty.
“Cough… anyway, stop overthinking it. There’s nothing complicated between me and those chosen heroes. Let’s focus on the right thing, okay?”
“Alright, alright, whatever you say…”
Moraya shrugged, clearly wearing an expression that said, “You really expect me to believe that?” But she didn’t press the topic any further and quickly changed the subject.
“So, should we step in and help? I mean, this was something we were supposed to handle in the first place, right?”
“Hmm…”
When it came to serious matters, the priestess didn’t answer right away. She fell silent, still watching the swordswoman charging through the enemy ranks below. After a few moments, she frowned slightly.
“If you don’t remove the roots, the weeds will grow again when the spring wind blows. That girl’s being a bit careless… or maybe she still lacks experience at this level of real combat.”
Moraya, though capable herself, clearly didn’t have the same level of insight as the priestess. Hearing those meaningful words, she couldn’t help asking curiously,
“What do you mean? Is there a problem?”
“Of course. And you’ll see it for yourself soon.”
As if to prove the black-haired priestess’s prediction right, the battle situation at the [Endless Corridor] suddenly changed again!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
A chain of deafening explosions erupted across the battlefield, rumbling like endless waves crashing one after another!
A wave of dark hatred and crushing pressure spread through the area, making Hongyan, who had just slain her last enemy, freeze for a moment. Almost by instinct, she turned around, and her pupils instantly shrank in shock!
She saw black flames rolling like a raging sea. Aside from the enemies who had been completely turned to ash by her ultimate sword strike, the bodies of all the others she had cut down now had black shadows gathering beneath them once more!
Those shadows had been hiding quietly all along, waiting like cunning hunters. And as Hongyan killed more and more enemies, the black fire that seemed to have disappeared was actually building up, growing stronger with every life she took.
Now that the time had come, it all burst out at once. Within a single instant, the entire [Endless Corridor] was engulfed in that overwhelming sea of darkness!
From the blazing black fire rose a monstrous shape, built entirely from the dark flames themselves. It stood up from the stone bridge like a massive tree reaching for the sky—
But it wasn’t a tree, nor any creature known to this world. Its form was like a pile of mud clumsily molded by a child. Limbs, eyes, ears, mouth, and nose were all there, but twisted and placed in strange, unnatural positions. It was a true monster.
Countless blurred faces drifted across the surface of its dark, flickering body. Faces full of rage, agony, and despair, as if crying out all their suffering at once.
And if one looked closely, they could see that those were the very faces of the prisoners Hongyan had slain earlier. Their souls, their final emotions and thoughts at the moment of death, had all been devoured by the black flames, feeding and merging into this horrific creature, molded by invisible hands out of pure malice and chaos.
On the city wall, Count Barton’s excitement over the arrival of reinforcements instantly turned into despair. The soldiers below, even just looking at the towering, sky-darkening shadow of black fire, felt their hands and feet turn cold, their bodies trembling uncontrollably. Even breathing became difficult.