Chapter 244: On the Bloodshed

Behind the concealed root system of the blood tree lies a delicately crafted passage, artificially carved and strengthened by certain magical means. Every so often, luminous night pearls are embedded directly into the inner sides of the stone walls to provide illumination.

It is clear that the craftsmen who built this place paid great attention to detail; to keep the passage looking as pristine as possible, they not only smoothed and cleaned the stone walls on both sides, but also adorned them with numerous murals and carvings, likely putting in a lot of effort back then.

However, today, this place is already covered and obscured by the same blood-colored roots, with even the ground for walking being eroded by more than half.

Although those tentacles, colored like blood, don’t seem to possess any offensive capability or mobility, in this silent and deserted depth of a thousand meters underground, they could easily send chills down the spine of any being walking alone within.

Because of Eudora, who was holding hands with Miss White Fox and revealing her succubus form to resist the underground pressure, she was temporarily controlling Tilysha’s body and helping her adapt to the environment, still referring to her by the false name Vilyric.

“Xī, look at these roots and veins that extend deep into the ground. It’s remarkable; I never imagined that after thousands of years, the seeds that Xi Fu once scattered still exist in this world, only to be eroded into this state by an alien energy…”

Walking with Xi Fu Lin, who trudged ahead, upon hearing her light sigh, the White Fox Girl paused for a moment but quickly understood.

“Oh~ no wonder this tree has grown so large; so it was of the variety you planted? By that reasoning, it could be called a Divine Tree in a sense.”

Xi Fu Lin did not dispute this.

“Actually, I did not plant it; it seems that it is likely a seed of life that Xi Fu granted, which someone planted on this land, and the timing must have been… after that so-called ‘Divine Calamity’.”

“If I’m not mistaken, this soil, located in the center of the world and now known as the Holy Empire, was jointly ruled by the Sun God Mistlin and the Moon Goddess Luna, the two most powerful deities of the neutral faction. Together, their raw strength also made them the strongest in this world.”

“The affiliations and domains of gods are strictly divided; if Xi Fu’s seed of life, a symbol of order, were planted in the territory of another god’s rule, it would undoubtedly be a severe provocation. If mishandled, it could lead to enmity between the two gods, even resulting in war within the factions.”

The Goddess looked back, revealing a somewhat mischievous smile.

“Similar to the war you are secretly orchestrating between this country and the demons from another world, isn’t it?”

“Ahem, why does it sound like you’re talking about a casino boss? And I’m not secretly orchestrating anything…”

In response to the exasperated rebuttal of the White Fox Girl, Xi Fu Lin continued without further argument, following the previous topic.

“In short, this little one that sprouted from the seed of life granted by Xi Fu should only be about a thousand years old at most. And without the cultivation of divine power, it wouldn’t have grown well, and now it’s been reduced to this state…”

The Goddess redirected her gaze to the open exit ahead, and in her tone, there was a hint of barely detectable anger—something that, until now, Vilyric had never witnessed.

“…Those vile creatures, as always, incite the gods’ disdain.”

Accompanying this cold remark was a scene that appeared exceptionally strange and perplexing before the girls.

At the end of the corridor, in the central expanse of a wide hall, stood a collection of statues.

They were divided into ten, with nine shorter stone platforms arranged in a circle, each one hosting a statue of a Magical Beast kneeling in thrall, their poses lifelike; from their faces, Vilyric could even discern a devotion akin to the fervent prayers of the Church of the Goddess.

In stark contrast, at the center, atop a towering stone platform, stood a dramatically different statue.

It depicted a terrifying figure clad in blood-red armor.

It had six arms, but did not appear overly menacing; on the contrary, it exuded a certain beauty that held power. At the ends of each long, proportioned arm were fearsome weapons, yet they lacked hands or fingers, as if they grew directly from the armor itself—born for slaughter.

The robust lower body, completely shrouded in battle boots, looked similar to that of an ordinary person, yet trailing behind it was a long, thick tail with one side sharp like a guillotine, seemingly capable of turning any enemy facing away from it into two pieces with the slightest flick.

As for the head, concealed beneath the helmet, it appeared rather unremarkable—if one were to say anything, it would be about the imposing and sharp horns that seemed to sprout directly from the metal.

With just one glance, Vilyric recognized the identity of the statue—after all, she had seen corresponding descriptions and images in some secret texts.

One of the Four Lords of the Demon Realm, the King of “Killing,” Slutut.

Of course, it was just his statue.

“So blood extraction is meant to be used here? Demons cannot approach the ley lines, so they use sculptures as a substitute. What a clever idea…”

Saying this, Miss White Fox directed her gaze toward what lay beneath the statue.

Supporting those Magical Beasts and the pedestal that honored the sculpture of the King of Killing arose from a blood-red pool, and the pit containing the blood nearly engulfed more than ninety percent of this expansive hall, with a mysterious and unidentified power surging from the bottom of the blood pool, bubbling like simmering lava.

It looked like the site of some grand malevolent ritual.

…No, that “like” can probably be removed.

“Who are you?!”

By the way, within this underground hall, built around a terrifying blood pool that gathered who-knows-how-many bloods from various living beings, there were indeed some beings present.

Of course, they were definitely not real “humans.”

As a few girls stepped inside, about four or five young men and women dressed in elegant and noble outfits were seen, as they continuously fed root-like tentacles, which were exceptionally blood-red and likely filled with blood, into the blood pool as if they were water pipes; their eyes met those of the newcomers.

They seemed to be quite surprised that outsiders could appear in such a place, as they did not conceal their appearance at all. Thus, the bat-like small wings growing from their waists and their blood-red vertical pupils were all laid bare before the gaze of the White Fox Girl and her companions.

“Truly a blood clan.”

Miss White Fox shook her head helplessly.

Though she had internally speculated upon seeing that group lingering at a crime scene, resembling tame pets, and this place so intertwined with “blood,” witnessing their existence fully still gave rise to the realization in her heart—”It seems we’ve caught the real culprits now.”

No wonder when she scanned with sp earlier, she only found that obviously strange blood-colored giant tree and didn’t discover any other questionable targets; they must have been hiding a thousand meters underground.

“Enemies, prepare for battle!”

“Shing shing shing shing shing!”

Seeing that Vilyric and the others had not responded to their earlier question, the blood clan quickly realized that the newcomers were hostile and swiftly drew their weapons, assuming a defensive stance.

Likewise, the White Fox Girl had no intention of wasting words on them.

Or rather, some things surely couldn’t be properly communicated until a victor was determined.

Perfectly coincidentally, Miss Vilyric had long been curious about those who seemed to have been active in the Holy Kingdom for quite some time, closely colluding with the demons…

   

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