Chapter 512: Eternal Darkness
Fear, indeed, was the best way to cultivate faith.
People were immersed in joy. Although the vast majority didn’t know Qin Chu’s identity, they still regarded him as an emissary sent by the gods to save the world.
People embraced each other passionately, venting the long-suppressed despair and fear in their hearts.
Cheers and laughter, mixed with hymns to the gods, echoed throughout the city.
Osvid and Heidi were equally excited. When Qin Chu first appeared, they saw hope, but no one expected Qin Chu could achieve such a feat.
The snow in the royal city was several meters thick, the dark clouds heavy and churning incessantly.
The blizzard raged, and the bitter cold intensified.
The entire Duchy seemed to have completely lost any hope of survival. Who could have imagined that the powerful Hero not only dispelled the blizzard, but even swept away the meters-thick snow in the city, filling the entire city with smiles once again.
At this moment, Osvid’s eyes reddened.
The prolonged perseverance, the pressure and fear his body endured, all seemed to burst forth at this moment. Hot tears almost rolled down Osvid’s face.
A king’s dignity was completely forgotten.
But compared to the excitement of the kingdom’s residents, Big and Little Shaye, and even Anthea, all frowned tightly.
They knew very well the danger hadn’t disappeared.
In the sky, Qin Chu had the same reaction. His expression was somewhat gloomy, showing no excitement at having solved the Duchy’s crisis. Perhaps because he was high in the air, Qin Chu could see farther.
He clearly saw that further north of the Ice Duchy, where it was originally a clear, transparent glacier without the slightest impurity…
Now, above the glacier, large amounts of ice-white material, driven by the fierce wind, were sweeping towards the royal city like a sandstorm.
Sure enough, the disaster deliberately arranged by the Goddess of Fate wouldn’t end so easily.
Unless Qin Chu swallowed the remains of the Evil God deep within the glacier, no matter what Qin Chu did, the crisis wouldn’t end.
Osvid was just about to express his gratitude, but quickly noticed the suppressed expressions on Shaye, Anthea, and the others’ faces. His heart instantly skipped a beat, a bad premonition welling up in his heart.
Immediately after, both Osvid and Heidi felt a shiver run down their spines. They felt it; the terrifying chill had emerged once again.
The blizzard hadn’t arrived yet, but the bone-chilling coldness came first.
The familiar feeling made both their faces turn deathly pale.
Before long, the entire Duchy would be covered in ice and snow again.
Could it be, even the Hero can’t change the Duchy’s disaster?
Could it be, the Duchy’s fate of destruction cannot be changed no matter what?
Why must the Ice Duchy suffer such a calamity?
Osvid’s fists couldn’t help but clench tightly. His body even trembled slightly from fear and anger.
Just then, a figure stepped forward. It was Little Shaye.
Little Shaye’s expression was also solemn. What would become of the Duchy, Little Shaye didn’t care. Comparatively, she wanted to leave this terrible, icy country and return to the Imperial City sooner.
But, since this was something Qin Chu was doing, Little Shaye would naturally do her best to help.
Of course, this absolutely wasn’t for Qin Chu. What became of Qin Chu had nothing to do with her, not even half a Mana coin’s worth. She just didn’t want to freeze here. Including assisting Qin Chu in fighting the Demon King earlier, that was purely because she didn’t like the Demon King. After all… after all… right, after all, Demon King Nagath had deceived her before. It definitely wasn’t because of Qin Chu.
Little Shaye’s strength was extremely formidable. She was currently one of the strongest existences in the entire Heavenly Continent. For Little Shaye to reveal such a solemn expression, one could imagine what was about to happen must be extraordinary.
It was a power capable of instantly engulfing a city of two million. Even Little Shaye had to face it cautiously.
Her right hand extended, and a magic staff, entirely black with a crimson gem embedded at its tip, appeared in her palm.
Anthea, Heloise, and the others’ hearts skipped a beat.
Because Little Shaye’s strength was simply too exaggerated. It hadn’t been short since Little Shaye stayed by Qin Chu’s side. During this time, Little Shaye also acted many times.
But no matter what enemy she faced, with Little Shaye’s strength, she could handle it easily.
This was the first time they saw Little Shaye even take out her weapon.
As for Little Shaye, she completely ignored everyone’s gazes, just took a deep breath and raised the staff high in her hand towards the night sky.
Her cherry lips parted, the air exhaled from her mouth quickly condensing into a white mist.
Her crimson eyes swept over the surroundings, as if admiring the scenery under the moonlight.
At this moment, the cheers within the city gradually subsided. The chill hadn’t yet reached where the citizens were, but an inexplicable sense of oppression had already shrouded everyone’s hearts. The previously vanished fear appeared once again, even thicker than before.
People subconsciously gulped, not knowing what would happen next.
They instinctively hunched their shoulders, an inexplicable coldness sending goosebumps across their bodies.
Little Shaye’s calmness didn’t last long. Her blood-red eyes glanced at the bright moon in the night sky. The next instant, the moon disappeared!
No, to be precise, the moon still existed.
Still hanging high in the night sky. What disappeared wasn’t the moon, but the moonlight.
The world, having lost the moonlight, was shrouded in gloomy darkness. One couldn’t see their own hand in front of their face.
It was eternal, the purest darkness, seemingly unbreakable forever.
From bright to pitch black, the change occurred in an instant.
The drastic contrast even made many people’s brains unable to react. Panic spread through the city; no one knew what was happening.
Some people screamed in terror, some fled in all directions.
Some fumbled, wanting to return to their rooms, some wanted to escape from the city.
Various sounds mixed together, becoming even more chaotic and noisy. The royal city of the Ice Duchy had completely fallen into disarray.
Even within the royal palace, there was a rustling commotion. The people here also panicked. But compared to ordinary citizens in the city, these people had higher status, greater strength, and more resilience.
Although fearful in their hearts, they ultimately didn’t scream like ordinary commoners.
Faint Holy Light flickered on Angelica’s body, slightly dispelling the surrounding darkness. Actually, with Angelica’s strength, if she fully unleashed the Holy Light, while not enough to illuminate the entire city, illuminating the royal palace wouldn’t be a problem.
But at this moment, the dense darkness seemed to have completely transformed into viscous liquid, enveloping the surroundings, suppressing the Holy Light on Angelica’s body. The gentle light seemed like it might be swallowed at any moment.
Anastasia’s face also showed some panic. She subconsciously opened her mouth and asked: “Sister Shaye, may I ask, this is…”
“Shh, be quiet,” Big Shaye reminded from the side.
“She’s preparing a large-scale magic spell. Don’t interrupt her,” Big Shaye warned. “Your Majesty, the situation in the Duchy is very dire. You should also have sensed, although Qin Chu dispelled the blizzard and the snow in the city, the Duchy’s crisis isn’t over yet.”
“Perhaps in less than half an hour, the cold wave will engulf this city again, and the previously vanished blizzard will reappear.”
Osvid displayed the composure of a king. He nodded slightly; he also felt that terrifying sensation.
“The root of the Duchy’s disaster lies in the depths of the glacier. Unless the danger deep within the glacier is eliminated, the crisis will never disappear.”
“Therefore, my sister is preparing to use a large-scale magic spell to temporarily shield the royal city, to buy enough time to resolve the trouble in the depths of the glacier.”
Osvid took a deep breath; he had long anticipated this situation.
But he couldn’t help but feel curious and fearful in his heart. He originally thought the Hero’s strength was already exaggerated enough, but he hadn’t expected this stunningly beautiful woman to be even more terrifying. Just a glance, and the moonlight disappeared.
What kind of power is this?
He, the king, had lived for half his life and had never seen such bizarre and powerful force.
“Miss Shaye, may I ask, what magic is your sister using exactly?” He was very curious.
“Clearly you’re His Majesty the King, yet do you have such poor judgment that you can’t even tell I’m the older sister? I have doubts about your intelligence.” Little Shaye, currently casting the spell and unable to be interrupted, couldn’t help but retort upon hearing this.
Osvid’s face was full of embarrassment… How could he know which of these two was the older or younger sister? Wasn’t he just following Big Shaye’s words? Speaking of which, wasn’t this spell supposed to be uninterrupted? Your family’s internal drama, please don’t affect the Duchy.
Big Shaye, however, smiled: “Dark-type, Super-Tier… well, the power has completely surpassed Super-Tier magic, but it doesn’t seem to have reached the level of divine arts yet.”
“It should be magic between divine arts and Super-Tier magic.”
Divine arts? What is that? Osvid hadn’t even heard of it.
“As for the name of this magic… you can call it… Eternal Darkness.”
Eternal Darkness?
Osvid’s heart skipped a beat. Why does it sound… not so good?
Just then, Little Shaye’s magic was finally ready. She knelt on one knee.
Her right hand tightly grasped the magic staff. With a bang, one end of the staff slammed directly onto the stone slab beneath her feet. The stone slab instantly cracked, the staff sinking in slightly.
With Little Shaye’s body as the center, magic power surged outwards.
Like the most terrifying tsunami, it almost instantly engulfed the entire city.
The next instant, a bizarre scene appeared.
The city, originally submerged in darkness, its overhead and surrounding dark night sky seemed to have turned into a pitch-black water curtain. The images within the fluctuating water light were changing.
Like a giant black mirror.
A gloomy light, tinged with darkness, gradually bloomed from around the city.
Like a giant shield, gradually rising in an arc, finally converging above the city.
Not like, it had become a genuine black protective shield, enveloping the entire city within. A protective shield large enough to cover an entire city, one could imagine how exaggerated it was.
Everything within the city, whether residents or buildings, was under the protection of the black shield.
A gloomy, bizarre, terrifying, hair-raising aura permeated the city.
That wasn’t all. On the protective shield, one could clearly see strange marks, resembling humans, writhing their limbs freely.
These were movements normal humans absolutely couldn’t make, like ghosts.
Faintly, one seemed to be able to hear strange, hoarse wails filled with pain and despair.
Although it was meant to protect this city… wasn’t this a terrible hell?
The atmosphere in the city now felt even more terrifying than when it was submerged by the blizzard before.
Not a peep could be heard in the city.
Everyone was completely shocked by this scene.
They didn’t know what they should do, just staring blankly at everything happening overhead. Gradually, a different kind of light began to emerge on the black protective shield.
It was crimson, the color of blood.
A faint smell of blood seemed to be in the air.
Just as this transformation was complete, the blizzard, carrying ice and snow, pressed in from the distance.
Whoosh!
Accompanied by a terrifying sound, the blizzard slammed onto Eternal Darkness, producing rumbling sounds like muffled thunder.
Rumble…
The royal city seemed to be trembling.
Ripples began to appear on Eternal Darkness.
The seemingly thin protective shield looked like it might shatter at any moment, but this shield was far tougher than imagined. Despite the howling wind, it remained unmoving.
The blizzard continued. The outer layer of the protective shield was instantly covered in layers of snow. But whether ice and snow or the cold wind, nothing could enter the shield from beginning to end. Even the bone-chilling coldness was completely blocked.
Just then, Qin Chu’s figure also descended from the sky.
“Little Shaye, how long can you maintain this?”
“Seven days,” Little Shaye calmly gave a number.
Her magic power was extraordinary. Even such a large-scale magic could be maintained for seven days.
“Your Majesty Osvid, please inform the citizens in the city not to panic. Seven days should be enough,” Qin Chu took a deep breath and said.
His face was somewhat pale.
Dispelling the dark clouds and blizzard, blowing away all the ice and snow in the city earlier, also consumed quite a bit of Qin Chu’s strength.
What was even more frustrating was, perhaps because the Holy See had annexed the Church of the Earth Mother Goddess, the little sapling within his body, the Earth Mother Goddess O’nibena’s incarnation, was currently sulking, unwilling to provide him with magic power.
Consequently, Qin Chu looked somewhat weak now.
After a pause, Qin Chu continued: “I will depart immediately, to the depths of the glacier.”
“Your Excellency Hero, you should still rest properly. The depths of the glacier are probably even more dangerous. At the very least, you should refresh your spirit. Departing tomorrow morning is also fine,” Heidi said quietly.
Although the situation in the Ice Duchy was dire, as a mother-in-law, she still felt heartache for her son-in-law.
Moreover, going to the depths of the glacier in a tired and weakened state might lead to danger. Not only would the Ice Duchy not be saved, but they would also lose their good son-in-law.
