Chapter 103: Another Soul Reaper

When Miss Vilyric arrived at the sky prison, the battle here was nearing its conclusion.

It was not the kingdom’s army suppressing the chaos; on the contrary, the guards of the sky prison had been completely annihilated, with black-armored soldiers’ corpses scattered everywhere outside, yet no living souls in sight.

Although they were also the urban defense army, this particular force was seemingly responsible for guarding the outer perimeter of the sky prison, numbering about a battalion, not directly under Liliya’s command, but they were still considered part of the same camp in this military coup.

The attackers were a motley group of odd-looking individuals, their attire flamboyant, and from the few corpses left behind, they appeared to be part of the underground forces or civilians who had made some deal to infiltrate during the chaos in the royal capital, mentioned by Liliya, to help seize the throne.

The large gate of the sky prison was wide open, and inside was dark and hollow; it was assumed those guys must have rushed in.

Without rushing in directly, Vilyric descended with Xiao Guang, retracting her wings, and walked forward across the battlefield littered with corpses, observing carefully.

Before long, she noticed something unusual.

The Priestess was crouching down, using her weapon to flip over a corpse of a black-armored urban defense soldier.

“It’s a bit strange. There aren’t any obvious external injuries, nor did he bleed, yet he’s dead.”

How did he die?

As she continued, stopping intermittently, Vilyric discovered that the vast majority of the dead black-armored soldiers shared similar fates, with only a few having actually fallen during the skirmishes with the oddball invaders.

It seemed to be the same culprit, and their power was quite considerable.

This manner of death reminded Vilyric of the children at the Iris Flower Orphanage, whose souls had been drained… it was too similar.

Is this another remnant of the Throne of Immortality, or perhaps the work of others with similar abilities?

From what she’d seen while flying in, there were two forces currently launching the coup.

One being the corrupted portion of the urban defense army, and the other being those oddly dressed eclectic folks.

The latter’s average strength was evidently much stronger; where they appeared, the fighting would be particularly fierce, while the urban soldiers were closer to feints and support, suppressing relatively weaker defensive areas.

In other words, the sky prison was indeed one of the main targets for the enemy.

In fact, their target was Ban Meikailande.

“Master, it seems there are still a few humans here who haven’t kicked the bucket yet?”

Xiao Guang glanced around, and even though she spoke this way, her tone did not display any obvious fluctuations, like stating a rather mundane fact.

Indeed, Vilyric noticed that aside from those whose souls had been drained and were completely dead, there were indeed a few still clinging to life, having suffered severe injuries in battle.

However, they were clearly on the brink of death, obviously not waiting for any rescue.

“Don’t worry about it, besides…”

Just as she casually spoke a few words, Vilyric suddenly felt a jolt in her heart, recalling recently noticing that she was becoming increasingly indifferent… about this matter.

……

What would the old her have done?

Letting the dead go was one thing; the mass resurrection process would indeed be very troublesome. But what about those who could be saved? Is ignoring them and letting them die truly the right choice?

“Ugh… fine, fine, it’s just a simple gesture anyway. Hmph, consider yourselves lucky.”

Having made up her mind, the Priestess raised her holy staff, pointing it high towards the sky.

“Angel’s Gospel.”

This was merely a level 6 mass healing spell; aside from its large area, it didn’t possess any special effects, but it was sufficient to heal all the not-yet-dead kingdom soldiers, who generally ranged between level 5 to level 15.

The golden light rising from the exquisite gem atop the Eternal Staff – Heart of the World turned into the ethereal figure of a winged angel in the dark night sky, whose wings fluttered, showering down countless tiny specks of light.

For the soldiers who had lost their lives, those light particles had no reaction; instead, they would immediately merge into living bodies, rapidly healing all their wounds.

The angelic figure only maintained its presence in the air for less than ten seconds before gracefully dissipating after sprinkling the golden powder.

Meanwhile, Vilyric and Little Dragon Daughter had already entered the sky prison in advance, avoiding any trouble before the surviving kingdom soldiers could awaken.

……

This prison, holding countless death row inmates and serious offenders, had existed for over three hundred years, completely underground. It was said to have been personally supervised by a world-renowned master of mechanisms and architecture, with strict defenses.

The entire dungeon had three levels. The first level housed those with relatively minor offenses, typically thieves who would be released after a few years and was guarded by prison guards dispatched by the kingdom.

The second level housed those who committed heinous crimes, unredeemable felons, with the lightest having at least blood on their hands.

Basically, if someone ended up in this layer, they wouldn’t be released for decades; exceptions were made only for those situations that warranted immediate death sentences.

Those locked up below the second level were dangerous individuals, well-equipped, manageable by regular guards.

Thus, the group responsible for overseeing this place was a specialized group from the United Kingdom, trained from a young age, known as “Crime Wardens.” Their average strength was quite formidable; even the elite shadow guards meticulously chosen by Liliya might not win easily in a one-on-one.

This elite force would not engage in any political struggles, only responsible for maintaining the law. Sometimes, they would also be responsible for capturing those extremely malicious individuals that ordinary folks couldn’t handle.

The third level was truly a place labeled “Once Entered, Never Exited,” an absolutely perilous dead zone where only individuals of special status who committed true heinous crimes would be imprisoned.

Apart from the Crime Wardens, no one had ever come out from inside, and naturally, no one knew what the third level of the sky prison was like.

These were things the Princess had once told Vilyric, claiming that even she couldn’t afford to treat the Crime Wardens lightly until truly inheriting the throne; despite their strength, they wouldn’t be mastered by anyone.

And Ban Meikailande was imprisoned in the deepest third level due to a ruling from the High Spirit.

“Wow, it looks pretty brutal…”

As soon as Vilyric entered the first level of the sky prison, she saw many prison guard corpses lying on the ground, some of whom hadn’t even had the chance to draw their weapons before being killed, blood everywhere.

It appeared that the outside battle had ended too quickly, with news not yet fully reaching the sky prison, leaving them caught completely off guard.

Of course, even if these guards had been better prepared, they didn’t stand a chance against the invaders, given their average strength and equipment was inferior to that of the urban defense army.

The real strength and purpose of the sky prison primarily resided with the Crime Wardens concentrated on the second level and below.

“Master, the criminals being held here are all dead, the cause of death… was also soul draining.”

Glancing at the eerily silent rows of cells, the Little Dragon Daughter quickly made the above judgment.

“Is that so…”

They should have been killed by the same entity as the majority of the outside urban defense army, but… why did that guy need to go so far as to kill these criminals too?

Purely for bloodlust?

That didn’t seem likely. If it were that kind of violent and deranged person, they would have used far more brutal methods to kill.

Hmm…

Not seeing those guys on the first level, could they have breached deeper already?

Hopefully, the Crime Wardens can hold out for a bit longer… the ones Liliya praised so highly wouldn’t be wiped out right off the bat, would they?

   

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