Chapter 47: The Lord’s Conspiracy Unveiled

“Oh? King of the Sinful Race, has your brain, still underdeveloped after a millennium, led you to seek guidance from an enemy?”

Despite the wizened man’s taciturn demeanor, his first words unleashed a torrent of scathing remarks, showing not an ounce of mercy or respect to the person before him.

His words, devoid of any pleasure and clearly repressing intense resentment and emotion, only amplified the mockery.

Letitia mused for a moment, and pale spirit flames ignited within her dark red eyes.

“Uwaaaahhh!!!”

For a fleeting moment, pale spirit flames were reflected in the eyes of ‘Silent’ Julius. The next instant, as if unable to bear the immense agony, his eyes bulged, and the chains binding him rattled violently, emitting a heavy clangor.

Alas, all his movable joints were securely bound, and thus, even as he endured the searing agony of spirit flames calcining his soul, he could not move his limbs an inch.

“Uwaa… ugh!”

The man’s face contorted grotesquely, his already dreadful countenance twisting even further, as the spirit flames, disregarding the body’s resilience, directly assaulted the very essence of his soul.

The bone-chilling cold striking his most vulnerable points, coupled with an inexplicable burning sensation following the frostbite, rendered Julius, long accustomed to arduous asceticism, utterly disoriented.

Physical and external pain, once experienced, tends to dull, thus necessitating the pursuit of even greater agony. However, the torment of the soul was different; no matter how many times it was endured, the agony remained equally intense.

The calcined soul would grow a new layer, only to be calcined once more. In this relentless cycle of destruction and regeneration, though there were no visible external wounds, Julius’s screams grew progressively weaker, eventually fading into barely audible gasps.

In less than ten minutes, Bishop ‘Silent’ fell into complete silence.

“I, the King, ask you, what conspiracy are you truly orchestrating within the Empire’s territory?”

Letitia’s slender fingers toyed with the black seed, her peripheral vision catching sight of the now delirious Julius, as she spoke, seemingly to herself:

“You are holding a ritual in Dunwich Town, on the border, attempting to summon the Lord of the Abyss. However, for Him to manifest in reality, a necessary conduit is indispensable.”

“You refer to the demon race as ‘the sinful race that has forgotten its origins.’ Furthermore, the ‘Eye of Darkness’ that Silvya used yesterday was an ability gained from the Dark Pilgrimage…”

“Since yesterday, I’ve been perplexed as to why Silvya’s secret demonic art was so similar in nature to the Abyss, to the point where an Abyssal Wedge could be found within her body.”

“For nearly a century, you have corrupted the ancient dark caverns required for the Dark Pilgrimage, and this is the conduit you have prepared for the Lord of the Abyss.”

“To sacrifice the entire future and fate of the demon race, to summon forth the Lord of the Abyss—that is your intention, is it not?”

“!”

The tremor in his soul lasted but a single instant, yet that momentary waver revealed the answer to Letitia.

Had it been the normally strong-willed and robust ‘Silent’ Julius, he would never have been so easily tricked into revealing information by Letitia. Alas, his spirit, after enduring such severe torment, was now utterly languishing.

‘Indeed, as long as the Lord could descend upon this world, the loss of any number of bishops would be deemed worthwhile.’

‘This was a century-long scheme they had meticulously orchestrated, a conduit opened only after sacrificing dozens of high-ranking individuals and generations of believers.’

“Thank you for the enlightenment.”

A viperous smile bloomed on Letitia’s languid face. She effortlessly crushed the Abyssal Wedge in her hand, speaking as if flicking a forked tongue.

“Rest assured, your Lord will never descend upon this place. Even if He were to come, the future of the demon race would not end here.”

“For I am still here, and the Demon King is still here.”

***

Dunwich Town, shrouded in heavy, ominous clouds, was permeated by an unholy and malevolent aura.

The crucifixes that once bore the remnants of monsters in the central square had been utterly demolished by great axes. In their place stood a heavy altar, housing a colossal heart.

After Clennina transformed into a blood coffin, the waiting knights swiftly re-established order, continuing their purge of demonic creatures within the town under the vice-captain’s leadership.

But as ‘Corrupted’ Ariana seized control of the central square, the previously dormant monsters suddenly erupted in a frenzy, systematically dismantling the knights’ defensive lines and strongholds one by one.

The knights, facing a significantly intensified monster assault, were steadily forced to retreat.

Though their training allowed them to still mount efficient counter-attacks, without being able to breach the central square, it was likely that casualties would begin to mount within hours due to exhaustion.

“Oh, Great Lord, through this century-long scheme, we shall offer the hearts and blood of sacrifices, to welcome Your grand descent.”

Ariana’s eyes gleamed with fervent zeal. Before her lay a small mountain of crimson hearts, while silver chalices on the altar brimmed with defiled blood.

The heart and blood of the ‘Mountain’ Beast, and the demonic fortune contained within the ancient dark caverns! All of this, everything, was for this very moment!

‘Soon, it will be soon. Once the ritual commences, no one will be able to enter this town; the entire landscape will transform into a colossal altar.’

‘With the earth and stars as our foundation, during the three-day ritual casting, we shall forge a body and a soul for the Lord, allowing Him to devour the entire world!’

‘By then, the old world will be utterly annihilated. We shall stand upon the scorched earth of destruction, to become the masters of the new world!’

Ariana’s eyes were alight with fervent zeal and yearning for the future. She observed the thick clouds, awaiting the opportune moment of nightfall.

Suddenly, a rift appeared in the clouds, and a beam of light pierced through. Ariana’s eyes narrowed as a minuscule object rapidly expanded in her vision.

‘Was it a bird? Was it a plane? Was it a knight?’

‘No! It was Noah, the White Dragon!’

“Boom!”

Before she could react, a gaping hole was blasted through the clouds. With the force of a thunderbolt, something struck the central square from above.

The altar, ablaze with wicked flames, instantly disintegrated into nothingness, leaving behind a massive crater as if struck by a meteor.

“What happened!?”

The struggling knights suddenly noticed the monsters before them falter and pause. They swiftly seized the opportunity to counterattack. Stripped of their enhancements, the monsters were as fragile as paper before the knights’ blades, and in mere moments, they were cut down and scattered.

“Hmph~, seeing this sinister formation from above, I knew something was amiss. If I destroy the central point, things here should return to normal, right~.”

Noah, standing at the center, was utterly unharmed. She paid no mind to the massive destruction she had caused; instead, she casually brushed off her traveling dress, checking if her clothes had gotten dirty.

Her round, fair bosom, a double-layered petticoat covering her upper thighs, and a maiden’s dress interwoven with sky blue and pure white, all accentuated Noah’s voluptuous figure.

Her cinched, slender waist and white garter stockings that seemed to gently squeeze her flesh created a captivating contrast, rendering Noah’s body even more alluring and enchanting, like a plump flower in full, luxurious bloom.

Anyone who beheld her would surely be tempted to gently caress and pluck her.

“I think I hit someone just now. They should be alright, right?”

Recalling the girl who had stood, stunned, before the altar just as she was about to land, she couldn’t help but voice her concern.