Chapter 356: The Hollow Heart of the Evil God
Shaye’s words made Qin Chu wary.
She had more experience with Evil Gods and their blood, her senses more attuned to their presence.
Seeing the increasingly dense crimson mist, he knew they were heading in the right direction, but the closer they got to the heart, the greater the danger.
He didn’t want to end up like those fuzzy monstrosities.
“Be careful. We’re almost there,” he said, his voice low and serious.
Anthea, who had been scouting ahead, returned to his side, and Heloise and Iyeta also moved closer.
Unlike those foolish horror movie protagonists, he wasn’t about to split up his team in a dangerous place. Staying together was safer.
As Shaye had predicted, the number of grotesque assassins increased as they ventured deeper into the mist-shrouded area, their strength also growing.
Arrows and spells flew at them from the shadows.
Their senses were suppressed by some unseen force, but they managed to deflect the attacks.
The thickening mist obscured the sunlight, making it difficult to track the passage of time.
They continued forward, and through the red mist, a crimson pillar of light, connecting the earth and the sky, appeared in the distance.
The metallic scent of blood intensified.
The oppressive atmosphere was almost unbearable.
While Qin Chu and Anthea could still endure it, Heloise and Iyeta were clearly struggling, their faces pale, their hands gripping their weapons tightly.
Even Grand Mage level beings found this place difficult to navigate.
No wonder so many powerful humans had perished here.
Crimson lightning flashed across the sky, momentarily dispelling the mist.
But there was no thunder, only an eerie silence.
The entire forest felt like a desolate graveyard.
Crunch, crunch, crunch…
A strange chewing sound echoed through the stillness.
The sound made their skin crawl.
Iyeta, walking on the left flank, suddenly turned her head, her gaze fixed on something ahead.
A withered tree trunk, wrapped in green vines, bearing bright red, glistening fruits.
They looked like cherry tomatoes.
Iyeta’s throat felt dry, her stomach rumbling. She felt a sudden pang of hunger and thirst.
As if drawn by an unseen force, she walked towards the fruits, her throat working, swallowing repeatedly.
Her long, pale neck looked strangely alluring.
Her body moved like a puppet’s.
Suddenly, something sharp pierced her shoulder.
Blood spurted.
She cried out in pain, turning to see Qin Chu, his fingers embedded in her shoulder.
She was shocked. Why had he attacked her?
He had become her new master after taking the control ring from Diabolique.
She knew her place as a Demon Beast. To earn his protection, she had to prove her worth. She had been diligent, even devoted, fulfilling his every request to the best of her ability.
Why would he attack her now?
Confusion filled her mind.
Then, she saw him raise his arm, a flash of light, and something was severed.
But not her body.
She looked down and saw a crimson tentacle, one end wrapped around her, the other extending towards the fruits.
She looked again, and the green vines were gone, replaced by a tall, grotesque figure covered in red fur, its limbs twisted at unnatural angles.
And there were no fruits.
The monstrous figure stood over a corpse, similar to the monkey-like creatures that had attacked them earlier, tearing off a limb and chewing on it, its crunching the source of the strange sound they had heard.
Iyeta shuddered, her scalp tingling, her stomach churning.
If not for Qin Chu’s intervention, she would have been its next meal.
“Thank you, Master,” she said, her voice trembling.
This place was terrifying. Even she, a level 80+ Demon Beast, had succumbed to its illusions.
Qin Chu nodded, then shook his head: “You’re welcome, but I apologize. Holy Light would have been more effective, but…”
Holy Light was anathema to Demon Beasts.
As Iyeta treated her wound, the monstrous figure turned its head, its furry face covered in a reddish-brown liquid.
It wore sturdy armor, likely a powerful warrior in its past life, a War God level being, perhaps. A large battle-axe, its surface etched with patterns similar to the ancient Storm Church, lay beside it.
It grabbed the axe, its large eyes rolling, its voice a distorted imitation of human speech:
“Intruders…”
“Intruders!”
“Intruders!”
Suddenly, something writhed beneath its armor, a scraping sound, as if countless snakes were slithering within.
Then, crimson tentacles erupted from the gaps in its armor, like a grotesque Medusa.
Along with the tentacle Qin Chu had severed earlier, they surged towards the four of them.
Seeing this, Qin Chu recognized the corruption, similar to Wadsworth’s.
But this creature was far weaker.
As the tentacles approached, he drew the sword he had obtained from Lex, its traps disabled by Shaye. He could have handled them unarmed, but they were too disgusting to touch.
Swoosh!
The blade flashed, severing several tentacles, which fell to the ground.
But more came, like a crimson tide.
He frowned, his right hand crackling with dark purple lightning.
Seeing this, Heloise and Iyeta’s faces paled. Heloise extended her hands: “Ice Shield…”
Several thick ice shields materialized, protecting them.
Not from the tentacles, but from Qin Chu’s attack.
He raised his hand.
A thin bolt of lightning shot towards the sky, then… BOOM! CRACK!
A deafening thunderclap, their ears ringing, a blinding flash of light that momentarily dispelled the red mist.
Annihilation Lightning, a Super-tier spell.
But this one was far more powerful than any Grand Mage could produce.
Qin Chu didn’t want to waste time on this… trash.
For him, casting Super-tier magic was now as easy as breathing.
The lightning struck the creature’s head, shattering it like a watermelon.
Despite its destroyed head, it still screamed, its tentacles twitching and writhing on the ground, charred black.
Then, silence.
The residual electricity crackled across the ground, striking the ice shields, creating cracks on their surface.
Heloise and Iyeta exchanged glances, their eyes wide with surprise. They could also use Super-tier magic, but not with such devastating power.
As expected of their master.
Behind the creature lay a deep chasm, the source of the crimson light.
“Iyeta, Heloise, are you staying here?” Qin Chu asked.
They both shook their heads instantly. They felt safer with him.
He didn’t hesitate, stepping into the chasm, his body falling.
He didn’t know how deep it was.
A thousand meters? Two thousand? More?
The wind whistled past his ears as he fell. After almost a minute, he finally saw the bottom.
He waved his hand, summoning a gust of wind that slowed their descent, landing safely.
He looked up, and his breath hitched.
There was no mist here.
A massive, crimson, heart-shaped crystal, glowing with an intense red light, stood before him.
The Evil God’s heart. They had found it.
It pulsed with a dark red light, as if blood still flowed within it.
But what truly startled him was the large, gaping hole in its center…
The heart… was hollow?
Chapter 357: The Sapling’s Miscalculation
A hole in the heart?
What was this?
Who could have done this?
Countless thoughts raced through his mind.
The soul fragment hadn’t mentioned this. Had it been intact when the Second Jie Luo encountered it, or had the First Jie Luo simply not recorded it?
Not just Qin Chu, but also Heloise, Iyeta, and Anthea, stared at the massive heart in stunned silence.
It was enormous, hundreds of meters tall, their gazes unable to take in its entirety.
If the heart was this large, how massive must its owner have been? When had such a creature existed in the Heavenly Continent?
Shaye, perched on Qin Chu’s shoulder, her face grim, also stared at it. Anyone seeing this monstrous heart for the first time would be awestruck.
Even in this state, it was like a mountain, its oppressive aura a palpable force.
The chasm was shrouded in darkness, the heart’s crimson glow its only illumination, drawing their gazes, everything else fading into blackness.
Their breathing quickened.
Their throats worked, swallowing nonexistent saliva. Even Anthea’s eyes held a strange, almost yearning look.
The heart emanated a powerful allure, drawing them closer, despite the oppressive pressure.
A primal urge, a desire to destroy and consume it, surged within them.
Even Qin Chu felt a flicker of that strange desire. Then, a burning sensation on his wrist, the holy light dispelling the darkness.
He shuddered, snapping out of it.
He took a deep breath, glancing at the three women, then roared, his voice like thunder, snapping them out of their trance.
Heloise and Iyeta’s faces were filled with fear. This place was insidious, its corrupting influence almost inescapable.
Anthea blushed, ashamed of her momentary lapse in focus. As his protector, she shouldn’t be so easily distracted.
He didn’t blame them. He himself had felt the heart’s allure.
It was a strange, almost hypnotic power, emanating from a dead organ.
He felt the Goddess’s Hair on his wrist and the sapling within him stirring, even the divinity fragment pulsing faintly.
These… parasites seemed eager for him to approach the heart.
He sighed inwardly, shaking his head: “Stay here… no, move back. You might not be able to withstand it.”
“I’ll go alone.”
Heloise and Iyeta obediently retreated. They knew their limits. Following him would only be a burden.
Anthea, however, gritted her teeth and stayed by his side.
He glanced at her, surprised, seeing the determination in her eyes. After a moment of hesitation, he didn’t object.
With each step, the pressure increased.
The gravity here was distorted, far greater than normal, his footsteps leaving deep imprints in the ground.
Anthea’s chains, no longer swirling, dragged along the ground, their scraping a constant reminder of the oppressive atmosphere.
They both felt a strange sensation, their souls and consciousnesses restless, as if trying to escape their bodies.
As they drew closer, they saw more clearly.
The heart’s crimson light formed a swirling vortex above it, like a vast maze of light and shadow, or a grand palace adorned with celestial bodies.
Was this… where the heart’s owner had once resided?
Now, less than a hundred meters away, Qin Chu felt as if a mountain was pressing down on him, his legs trembling under the immense weight.
Each step was a struggle, his bones creaking, threatening to shatter.
But a powerful yearning also grew within him.
He had initially assumed it was a desire for the heart, its blood and energy, but… it felt different.
It was a yearning for something… else, something he couldn’t comprehend.
Anthea also struggled, her small hands clenched, her muscles tense, sweat beading on her forehead.
But they both persevered, refusing to yield, their legs trembling but their backs straight.
They drew closer, seeing the hole in the heart more clearly. It didn’t look like it had been cut or carved, but rather… as if something had… emerged from it?
The hole was perfectly round, its edges smooth, located at the heart’s very core.
A thick, dark liquid dripped from its edges, staining the ground beneath a deep black.
It seemed like blood, but darker than normal blood.
Suddenly, he felt the sapling within him, unable to contain its excitement any longer, bursting forth from his body.
Seemingly unaffected by the heart’s pressure, it flew towards the heart, like a child seeing a new toy.
Qin Chu tried to stop it, but he couldn’t. He even felt a twinge of envy.
The sapling reached the heart, its roots touching its surface, its branches and leaves swaying gently. Then, its roots spread, enveloping the heart, the sapling growing rapidly into a towering tree. Its trunk contracted, then expanded, beginning to absorb the heart’s energy.
But…
The heart’s energy wasn’t so easily absorbed.
A crimson light flared, and a faint cry echoed through the air.
The sapling’s roots recoiled as if burned, retracting rapidly.
It retreated from the heart, returning to Qin Chu, its leaves now withered and drooping, many of its roots shattered by the crimson light, scattering like dust.
It had been too careless, overconfident.
It seemed… slightly aggrieved, one of its branches wrapping around his wrist, its leaves brushing against his hand, seeking comfort.
But he merely scoffed: “Serves you right for being so reckless.”
The sapling, sulking, withdrew its branch and leaves, turning its back to him.
He almost heard it say: Hmph, I’m not talking to you.
Qin Chu was speechless.
It was a sapling, a plant… He almost thought it was a child throwing a tantrum.
Despite its sulking, it remained by his side, its roots intertwining, mimicking his movements, walking awkwardly beside him.
Its childish behavior somehow eased his tension, and his pace quickened.
Despite the immense pressure, he finally reached the giant heart.
Up close, its power was even more overwhelming, as if it were the very sky above, the embodiment of everything.
He gasped for breath, the strange yearning intensifying.
What was he yearning for?
The heart?
Its blood and energy?
No… it was something else.
He realized he was yearning for something… behind the heart!
