Master the Abyss, starting from an apprentice priest.

Chapter 568 "Blood Witch" Indis
Inside the still-maintained golden barrier, the explosions of the dead dragon cocoon continued to bombard the light screen.

But with each impact, the surge of dissipated, chaotic energy diminished, until Luo Xiu finally no longer felt a significant sense of oppression, and then gently lowered the scepter he was holding.

Luo Xiu's plan was to annihilate the misty shadows differentiated from the "Eye of Lunar Eclipse" in the foggy night, thereby triggering a chain explosion of the remaining dark erosion spirituality within the cocoon of the dead dragon embryo.

The surging and bursting Dark Erosion Spirituality was mostly the spirituality of the Dead Dragon Embryo Cocoon itself, while the spirituality of the Mist Night was extremely weak in comparison, and after a round of annihilation, it was difficult to detect.

"..."

Luo Xiu stared at the spirituality still surging, rising and sinking within the golden barrier's light screen, then looked towards Daveld, Prandell, and Royce—the faces of the Sun Knights were all adorned with rather wary and serious expressions, their blazing golden eyes never leaving the cocoon of the dead dragon embryo for even a moment.

As Luo Xiu lowered the scepter [Divine Grip] in his hand, Daveld, Prandell, and Royce continued to reinforce the seal of the Radiant Gold Barrier until the surging and trembling profound spirituality within was completely dissipated and purified.

Only when the world finally returned to calm, with only mottled flame marks remaining on the surface of the cocoon of the dead dragon, did Daveld put down his holy sword, a trace of weariness showing on his face.

"……call."

He breathed a long sigh of relief.

For him, the spiritual energy required to maintain the golden barrier constructed by "Archbishop" Rosius Carlos was far greater than normal.

Moreover, he had just finished cleaning up the battlefield on the outskirts of the Dragonbone Plains outside Fafnir City, and was already feeling somewhat weak. Fortunately, he had also successfully resolved the dangers and troubles of the Dead Dragon Cocoon, and his two other "Sun Knights," Prandell and Royce, also stopped fighting.

What now appears before the several [Radiant] Saints is the tattered cocoon of the dead dragon embryo, barely recognizable as it once was.

"……when?"

"Sun Knight" Prandell gazed into the golden barrier and was the first to ask a question.

He actually sensed that this explosion of the "Dead Dragon Embryo Cocoon" was extraordinary. Now that the Devouring Dragon had been sealed by Monine with the Pillar of Divine Punishment, its explosion seemed too precise.

"..."

"It should have been when we entered this enormous room."

Beside Prandell, another vice-commander of the "Godhunter" Templar Knights, Royce, spoke up:
“You must have felt it too, Prandell. Before we entered this great chamber—when we passed through that black curtain of water—we felt the deep, enveloping presence of the ‘Devouring Dragon’.”

"Perhaps it was at that time that we—Lord Rosh, Lord Daveld, you, me, and Elias—felt dizzy as we passed through, and heard indistinct whispers in our ears. That must have been the Devouring Dragon's previous arrangement."

“We must have triggered some of His arrangements, but we were unaware of them beforehand.”

"Furthermore, when our Archbishop, Lord Rosh Carlos, last came here, the phantom of the 'Devouring Dragon' possessed him. Even though that phantom has been purified, it may have activated something, affecting the inner workings of the Dead Dragon Cocoon..."

"..."

"Sun Knight" Royce spoke these words with a solemn expression.

He hadn't said much before, giving the impression of being quite serious and reserved, but he had been observing and pondering these things.

……

"..."

As Reus was saying these things.

Luo Xiu stood behind Royce, quietly watching him.

"..."

Absolutely right! Bro, absolutely right!
—You're absolutely right! .jpg
Luo Xiu originally wanted to explain himself—before Daveld, Prandell, and Royce fell into a cycle of doubt, leading them to an unfavorable conclusion, he wanted to personally "dispel" this doubt and nip the seeds of harm in the bud.

But there's no need for that now. After mentioning earlier that it might be part of the "Devouring Dragon's" plan, and with Royce's current analysis, Daveld, Prandel, Royce, and Elias all believe that this must be close to the "truth."

Luo Xiu also noticed that while Royce was saying these things, everyone else was nodding solemnly.

Luo Xiu nodded solemnly, a look of deep agreement on his face.

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"...Yes, that's certainly possible."

After thinking for a moment, Daveld nodded and said.

Beside him stood Prandell, the vice-commander of the "Godhunter" Templar Knights. He felt that something was still amiss, but he couldn't pinpoint what it was.

The spiritual energy emanating from him, penetrating the radiant gold barrier and sensing the spiritual surge within the cocoon of the dead dragon, was mostly indeed that of the "devouring dragon" or a spiritual entity of the same origin. However, some other things were mixed in, though they were quite faint.

That seemed to be of a different origin from the spirit of the dead dragon, and even more intense. Prandell didn't know what it was, but he was certain that the profound spirit also came from the Abyss.

...Perhaps it's another demon? Or maybe an abyssal beast. After all, the "scars" on the outskirts of Fafnir City have just erupted, and it's normal for this forbidden area, which is dedicated to the 'Demon Cocoon,' to be tainted with a little bit of the dark, corrosive spiritual energy.

Prandell thought to himself that he had convinced himself and stopped thinking about it.

Luo Xiu observed the changes in the expressions on the faces of Daveld, Prandell, and Royce in front of him.

What they were thinking was more or less written on their faces. After all, they wouldn't be wary of each other as fellow [Radiant] Saints, and now, they had gradually lowered their guard against the anomalies that had erupted from the dead dragon cocoon.

This is a positive development, and it's something Luo Xiu is happy to see.

Luo Xiu then said:

"...I can sense that the profound spirituality of the dead dragon within the Radiant Gold Barrier seems to have returned to stability."

"The concentration of spiritual energy it has accumulated is no longer high. At least it is not enough to support an explosion like the one before, so I want to break the golden barrier."

The multiple layers of radiant gold barriers placed around the Blood Sacrifice Altar and the cocoon of the dead dragon were originally intended to protect and isolate them. Their purpose in descending to the bottom of the Blood Cave and arriving at this giant chamber was precisely to conduct an in-depth investigation of this cocoon of the dead dragon.

Personal contact is still necessary, but now, the spirituality of the misty shadows belonging to the "Eye of the Lunar Eclipse" has dissipated to an extremely thin concentration. Even if Monigne were to return after recovering, it would be difficult to detect anything.

"..."

“We do need to conduct further investigation into this cocoon of the dead dragon fetus.”

Daveld nodded in agreement. The other two Templar Knights vice-commanders of the "Godhunter," Prandell and Royce, also agreed. Rosh then stood still, grasped the [Holy Grip] with both hands, and began to chant a sacred prayer.

As he chanted and hymned, all the golden barriers surrounding the blood altar and the cocoon of the dead dragon's womb were peeled away and dissolved layer by layer from the outside in.

Each layer of the radiant gold barrier disintegrated, shining with an extremely bright and dazzling light, like a crystal. The brief burst of light was so dazzling that it made Elias, the "Radiant Knight" who had been watching closely beside Luo Xiu, squint his eyes.

Until all the golden barriers placed here are lifted.

This "cocoon of the dead dragon's embryo" was finally fully revealed before all the saints.

Prandell and Royce were the first to step forward, followed by Rosh and Daveld. They soon arrived at the altar set up by the cocoon of the dead dragon.

Following the procedures of the "Holy Court," they began their routine investigation of the "dead dragon cocoon." Luo Xiu participated in the entire process, including drawing blood samples, analyzing its spiritual properties, and applying a seal, which took approximately two hours.

……

Fafnir.

When Luo Xiu returned to the surface from the bottom of the Blood Cave, it was already night.

The azure moon now hangs high among the clouds. The flowing azure moonlight, like silk, gently sprinkles onto the staggered eaves of the houses, then cascades down to the ground like a waterfall.

Luo Xiu finally breathed in the fresh air above ground again.

The overwhelming stench of blood at the bottom of the Blood Cave made Luo Xiu uncomfortable, even though he had ventured there many times. If he could, he wouldn't want to go any deeper. And now, he had done everything he needed to do at the bottom of the Blood Cave.

Just as he had predicted—Prandel and Royce, the vice-commanders of the "Godhunter" Knights Templar, who were mainly responsible for investigating and collecting information about the "Dead Dragon Embryo Cocoon," did indeed extract a faint trace of spirituality from the Dead Dragon Embryo Cocoon that was not of the same origin as Him.

However, they also understood the devouring nature of the Abyss, especially since Fafnir Ramzanx, the "Devourer Dragon," was the progenitor of "devouring." It was normal for such alien spirituality to exist within his cocoon of dead dragon embryos, so Prandell recorded it without delving too deeply into it.

In fact, for these two vice-leaders of the "God Hunt," investigating the characteristics of the Dead Dragon Cocoon as a "Demon Cocoon" was far more crucial than investigating the faint alien spirituality within it.

Meanwhile, another "Dead Dragon Embryo Cocoon" of the Devouring Dragon is sealed within Val Fortress. Through the analysis of these two Dead Dragon Embryo Cocoons, Royce is optimistic that the information they brought back to the "Holy Court" from Fafnir will definitely help them learn more about the characteristics of the Abyss and "Demons".

But they will never... perhaps never will know that within this "cocoon of the dead dragon" in Fafnir, a "demigod" and a "goddess" of the Abyss were once conceived.

On the bright side, they no longer need to face such extreme danger as "the Dragon God's Child" Helmond... From Luo Xiu's perspective, everyone got what they wanted, which is the best outcome.

Thinking this, he, along with Daveld, Prandell, and Reuss, walked out of the main street.

Elias remained on guard at the entrance to the well, while Daveld returned to the church compound to make some arrangements for the Holy Court. Roshu, along with Prandell and Royce of the "Godhunter," headed to the manor where "Supreme Sword" Monigne and "Saintess" Frania were recuperating.

This was a routine visit. Monigne and Frania did not appear to be awake yet, but if they did, Prandell and Royce would report to them first on the preliminary results of their investigation into the Devouring Dragon's "Dead Dragon Embryo Cocoon" at the bottom of the Blood Cave.

Prandell believed that both the captain Monigne and the saintess Frania would be pleased with this.

This is an exploration of the Abyss, and even more so, of the "Demons," a landmark step taken by them on behalf of the "Holy Court."

This is enough to be recorded in the glorious annals of history.

……

The Nolan Empire.

In Songyuan Territory—within the main city of Songyuan, in a dimly lit manor on its border.

This was originally the estate of a wealthy merchant from the Golden Kingdom. Because the merchant had no children, after his death, it was left to his third wife, whom he married in his later years, after paying a 30% inheritance tax.

She was a devout woman from the "Holy Tower Theocracy," who worshipped the deity of the "Primal Sect," the state religion of the theocracy, and believed in the "Primal Mother."

She was incredibly devout. Even though the path of [Lost] represented by the "Primal Mother" was an illegal one in the Empire, she still secretly made offerings, sacrifices, and prayers to the "Primal Mother" day after day, guided by a cultist who claimed to be the "messenger of the Mother Goddess."

But the Mother Goddess did not protect him—about six months ago, this woman, who was deeply devout to the "Mother Goddess," died suddenly in the manor. The church branch that managed the neighborhood came to investigate but found no unusual traces, and the manor was thus left unused.

Because the lady has an elder brother who is an imperial citizen but spends most of his time trading in the Golden Kingdom, according to imperial law, the manor will be left to her brother as her estate after a second 30% inheritance tax is paid.

However, this second inheritance tax has yet to be paid—instead, the abandoned manor has been transformed into the Assassin's Guild—a stronghold of the "Assassin's Guild."

And now.

It was in the manor—in the study on the third floor of the top floor—that a corpse, cloaked and whose face was obscured, lay slumped against the wall.

That was the corpse of the leader of this stronghold—[Bitter Tea] Fivefold Fate, "Skull Piercer" Moon Westbrook.

His blood was still gushing out from the sixteen fatal wounds on his body.

Its surface was radiating a bright, scarlet light, and the flowing blood was gradually rising, lifting the other figure that had killed him, slowly ascending.

It was a figure that was equally thin, but even more unpredictable and mysterious.

Her deep green eyes gleamed, and fresh, boiling blood flowed from her hands, gradually transforming into slender, bright red blood thorns that coiled around her like docile snakes.

Index gazed at the now lifeless Moon Westbrook, a smile playing on her lips.

In the dead of night, she hunted down her long-sought target.

She has already used the Obsidian Key, which she obtained when she received the Blood Sacrifice Lord's "legacy," to open her "Obsidian Gate."

She fulfilled her "Lord's" expectations and entrustment to her.

The current Intis.

—She is now the "Blood Witch".

……

(End of this chapter)