Chapter Forty-Two: Fallen Shadow Potion
“Give me back the Great Blood… Please…”
The Dwarf’s eyes were filled with longing and pleading.
“That does not belong to you, Jotes,” Moria replied calmly, his tone devoid of pity.
“No, it is mine…” the Dwarf begged, “Please… I’ve given so much, I’ve endured so much… Cough… I…”
Jotes reached out his still-existing left hand towards Moria, about to say something more, but ultimately nothing came out. The Dwarf’s left hand fell powerlessly, his eyes filled with resentment—he was dead.
A gold coin, stained red with blood, rolled out of Jotes’ hand, stopping only when it hit Moria’s shoe. The coin was covered in bloodstains, but the crown-shaped sun emblem on it continuously flashed with a radiant glow.
Moria sighed, picked up the coin, and held it to his forehead, murmuring a few words of prayer. Then, he placed the coin back into Jotes’ hand.
A warm fire slowly rose from the coin, enveloping the Dwarf’s entire body.
“Rest in peace, Jotes.”
The Knight offered the final prayer for the unfortunate Dwarf.
When it was all over, Moria surveyed the place that had once been a laboratory. The flesh monster created by the Great Blood had destroyed everything, leaving nothing behind but the blood-stained ground, not even a single piece of a corpse.
Moria walked up to the others and said to the Wild Mage Nasha, “Give it to me. It will be placed in Sanctorum of the Holy See, where no one will be able to touch it.”
Nasha, who was unwilling to hold the strange gem, quickly manipulated her Invisible Grip to hand it over to Moria.
At this moment, Harik finally let out a sigh of relief. He had nearly wet himself when facing the flesh dragon and had been stunned when Nasha had snatched the Great Blood with her Invisible Grip, fearing his companion might do something foolish.
“Oh well, since the monster has been punished, shouldn’t we be heading back?” Harik said with a forced smile. To be honest, he had forgotten why they had come to this wretched place.
“And what about you, Miss Mephistopheles?”
Moria turned his head to look at Li Wen.
“Everything was eaten by that monster. The clues for the Fallen Shadow Potion are likely gone as well,” Li Wen said, giving the Knight a deep look. “Since that is the case, there’s no harm in leaving here.”
Hearing this, Moria shook his head.
“I wasn’t asking about that, Miss Mephistopheles… I mean, what are your plans from now on?”
Li Wen frowned, instinctively taking a step back.
Seeing that Li Wen remained silent, Moria continued, unsurprised.
“The Holy See will take in anyone who wishes to serve Glor. Regardless of their past or their origins, as long as they have passion for Glor and are willing to repent, the Holy See will give them that chance. Do you understand what I mean, Miss Mephistopheles?”
These words…
Li Wen’s brow furrowed. Had she revealed a weakness somewhere? No, in this life, she had only just begun her game. What could possibly cause the Eldest Son of the Holy See to say such a thing? After much thought, Li Wen could only come up with one possibility…
“Path of Light Chasing?”
Moria did not confirm. He simply continued, “Jotes was a pitiable man. Perhaps due to his past experiences, he lost faith in humanity and in Glor, thus taking the wrong path. But you are different, Miss Mephistopheles. Since you can tread this path, it means you also yearn for Glor. Therefore… Glor will also have mercy on you.”
He extended his hand towards Li Wen, but Li Wen only retreated. She had long known that the tempting offers from the Dark Dawn were not always sweet, but she hadn’t expected the consequences to catch up so quickly.
“What if I refuse?”
Li Wen drew the Bone-Corroding Short Sword. She still needed to obtain the Original Text of the End, and had no time to go to the Holy See with Moria.
“The Path of Light Chasing is not an allowed path, and the Holy See will not allow those on the Path of Light Chasing to wander the Mortal Realm. Since you have made up your mind…” Moria pointed his longsword at Li Wen, and a blazing flame began to burn. Within that flame, a pure white lamb slowly emerged, as if about to step out of the fire. “I will try not to harm you, but merely incapacitate you.”
In that instant, Li Wen felt a flame burning within her, its heat threatening to dry her blood and boil her soul.
Amidst this scorching heat, Li Wen focused her remaining consciousness on the Transcendent’s Eye in her hand, simultaneously whispering “Eternal City.”
An unseen and mystical power descended instantly in a way Li Wen could not comprehend. Everything within her field of vision began to peel away and shatter, like the modeling blocks of a game slowly disappearing.
The intense heat within Li Wen subsided, but she felt a more terrifying sense of unease, like walking in a silent forest when suddenly there’s movement in the bushes behind you, birds take flight, as if some terrifying beast is silently approaching.
She covered her ears. A sound imperceptible to life entered her ears, and from there into her brain, then began to churn her mind like a blender, filling Li Wen’s thoughts with nauseating desire and pain.
When the pain subsided and Li Wen regained consciousness, she found herself in a silent city under the twilight.
Amber City. She had returned here less than a day after leaving it.
On the towering Bell Tower, the solitary Giant still stood guard. It looked down at Li Wen, its voice like thunder.
“Oh, it’s you. I didn’t expect you back so soon. So, are you going to use the ‘promise’? I warned you, if you don’t fulfill my request first, I won’t agree to anything you ask.”
Li Wen rubbed her throbbing temples and shook her head. “No, I’m here to retrieve the Original Text of the End.”
Saying this, Li Wen took out a long, slender test tube. Within the tube flowed a liquid of pitch black and colorless hue, like liquid shadow.
This was the Fallen Shadow Potion.
As soon as she entered the laboratory through the secret passage, Li Wen had noticed this potion, which she desperately needed, lying quietly on the floor. While everyone else’s attention was focused on the monster that had leaped from the ceiling to attack, Li Wen had silently pocketed the potion and had kept it until now.
With this potion, Li Wen would not have to exert too much effort, at least when facing the Daughters of Amber.
However, the Giant’s Twilight Bell warned her as it saw the Fallen Shadow Potion, “This potion has a terrifying side effect, it might even cause you to fall into darkness, never to be reborn. Are you sure you want to drink it?”
Even the Giant, the Long-lived one, described it as “terrifying,” so it must have been a truly dreadful side effect.
But it was precisely this side effect that Li Wen needed.
