novelaction Chapter 117 The Fool's Puzzle, Part 7
Chapter 117 The Fool's Puzzle, Part 7
According to Beatrice's legend, a river called the River of Oblivion blocks the way to the other side of life. After crossing the River of Oblivion, one forgets the past and merges into the underworld.
In the underworld, alluring spider lilies bloom everywhere. They feed on the evil thoughts in people's hearts and take the weakness and cowardice of human nature as their fruit—blooming all over the underworld.
After spending their time in the underworld, the dead are given the opportunity to be reincarnated. At this time, they must pass through a fire that burns souls—those whose souls are pure and untainted will pass through this fire unharmed and be reincarnated.
Those with evil thoughts and impure souls will be burned and scarred, ultimately becoming nothingness.
That fire was called the Demon-Burning Fire.
Compared to the underworld, which is rumored but whose truth is unknown, in the real human world where everyone is truly alive, this fire prefers to be known as fire fueled by magic.
It burns away all flammable magic—this is considered one of the most dangerous spells by magicians. Not only is it extremely difficult to cast, but even a great witch who has dedicated her life to studying fire magic might not be able to cast it successfully.
Moreover, once released, it is uncontrollable.
"No—" The giant, his body ablaze, knelt on the ground clutching his head and roared in a human-like manner, "I don't want to lose all of this. Our revenge against humanity is not over yet. We—we will capture all of humanity."
"Lord Doll—save us—" the giant roared to the sky.
"Doll...Master?" Qin's eyes flashed with a blood-red light.
He was trying to stay clear-headed—he was swiftly resolving everything in order to identify the possible mastermind behind it all.
He wasn't sure if it was true, but if it was, he hoped to resolve the issue while he still had control over it.
But the answer he received still made him momentarily stunned.
Who is this? Why does he seem so familiar?
As if the giant's calls had been answered, a beam of light from the horizon shone upon it, extinguishing the fire that had been burning on its body, which gave the giant the strength to stand up again.
"Ah—I have been granted boundless power." The giant, now empowered, resumed his fierce attack on Jean. "Human, you must pay the price for your arrogance."
As expected... it won't be that easy...
"Jin, what are you waiting for? You can clearly draw upon much greater power," the druid said with a smile, trying to seduce you.
Jean gritted her teeth and continued to confront the giant. Should she use magic again?
However—it seems there's no other choice. Even if we don't use it now, we'll still have to confront that mastermind sooner or later.
From the moment he blasted open the city gates, it seemed that the answer to this multiple-choice question without a standard answer had already been chosen.
"That's true—as long as I'm happy—" Qin seemed to have convinced herself without realizing it. Couldn't she be kinder to herself? Why shouldn't she think more about herself? What she wanted to do—hadn't she already known that from the beginning?
“Yes—yes—that’s it—” Qin uttered a voice that did not belong to him, “You ants outside—let you be the sacrificial lambs—let the pathetic ants see what the real demon fire is.”
Qin's sword began to burn, but the fire was no longer purplish-red—it was a desolate, withered black and white. The surrounding raging purple flames turned from purple to black and white, and the whole world seemed to begin to fade into a black and white appearance.
"What is this?" The giant was incredulously struck by the lightning-fast harp. With each strike, something belonging to it would turn into a void and then disappear.
"A monster...a monster!?" The giant felt fear.
What kind of magic is this?
"Monster? I hate that name—I am a demon druid, descending upon this world once more. Please take care of me." Jean grinned, then swung her sword and sliced the giant to pieces.
The giant couldn't even utter a scream before turning into nothingness and disappearing.
"I have finally returned..." Qin stood amidst the pale flames and laughed arrogantly, "I have waited far too long for this moment."
……
(Timeline: Before Jean's escape from Beatrice)
"I'm finally back. I'm very satisfied with this body." A little boy laughed as he stepped on the charred corpse of a man, surrounded by other charred bodies. "I carefully selected the right moment to break through his defenses."
After Jean saw Alice's body, an unnamed rage completely consumed his heart.
My original rationality could no longer hold and I completely collapsed.
After that... he was no longer himself.
If one is completely corrupted by the power of the devil and can no longer control themselves, then the owner of this body will be the body of the devil.
This is a common method of possession used by demons—but the druid is quite satisfied with Jean's body because it is compatible with demonic power, and bodies that can support the casting of demonic magic are rare.
The feeling of being able to unleash your demonic magic while possessing another body and returning to the human world would be absolutely wonderful.
"Since it's this guy's little obsession, I'll kindly help him put an end to it," the druid laughed. "I'm really too kind; my fellow druids will laugh at me for this."
But the druid's smile quickly froze; he subconsciously forgot where he was.
"Looks like you're having a lot of fun," a teasing voice said.
The druid instinctively looked in the direction of the sound.
"You are..." The druid looked disdainfully at the white-haired girl with a cane before him, "I remember now, Angela..."
“While being remembered by demons isn’t exactly something to be happy about,” Angela said, “I don’t care. How about we make a deal?”
"A trade?" the druid said incredulously. "I don't see the need for a trade right now. I've already gotten what I wanted."
“What if I said I could easily destroy whatever you want?” Angela laughed. “After all, this is Beatrice, and…”
The druid felt something pressing against his neck, the cold touch sending a chill down his spine.
Who's behind me...?
What appeared to be a sickle was held to his neck.
He himself could not die, but the body he had finally obtained was very fragile. If attacked from both sides, the probability of this body being destroyed would be one hundred percent.
The druid's strength hadn't fully recovered from the recent possession, and he wasn't confident he could escape. If it were just Angela alone, there might be a chance, but now…
“Tell me about your deal, human,” the druid said.
“You must leave this body and return your consciousness to its master,” Angela laughed. “If one day you are able to possess another body again through normal means, then you have won, and you can freely use this gift I prepared.”
"Heh? Based on..."
“If you don’t agree… I can destroy him right now.” Angela laughed. “Or… why don’t you try? And you, although you won’t die, it should be easy to put you into a slumber for thousands of years, am I right, Miss Mo?”
The owner of the scythe did not respond, seemingly acknowledging Angela's words.
"Tsk... What's in it for you to do this?" the druid chuckled. "We've been at odds for hundreds of years."
“You don’t need to know that much,” Angela smiled. “Just answer whether you agree or not.”
“Alright—I’ll take the deal. Angela… Her name is ‘angela,’ but she looks more demonic than us demons…” The druid said as he withdrew from the body he had possessed.
After confirming that everything was correct, Mo released the sickle from the harp.
“I will not break my promise to your soul,” Angela said.
Mo disappeared after hearing these words.
Angela took out her wand and tapped it on Jean's head: "I hope you won't disappoint me. It's quite troublesome to find a suitable test subject again."
After altering some minor memories, Angela left.
When Qin awoke, all he remembered was making a deal with the druid, agreeing to become His servant. Although he couldn't recall many details, he knew it was time to leave.
After picking up Alice's body, he escaped Beatrice with remarkable ease.
This was, of course, with Angela's tacit approval. After all, in this kingdom where every move was under her control, it would have been impossible for Qin to escape without her permission.