novelraw Chapter 369: Shackles of Malice, Extreme Evil Subconscious
Chapter 369: Shackles of Malice, Extreme Evil Subconscious
[Flanda and Kim also see Asad in the distance, that black fungal growth-like figure.]
[The collateral offspring of the Wet Nurse from days past has become something neither human nor ghost.]
[Strangely, Asad does not attack the Valkyrie or any of you. It only stares straight at you, full of malice. That gaze makes your skin crawl and your back turn cold.]
[Flanda’s expression grows solemn. It closes its eyes and silently senses for a moment, then tells you that the malice consciousness within the sleeping palace is gathering in immense quantities, and its source is the already mutated and twisted Asad.]
[This mass of malice corrodes the wills of countless beings across the web of consciousness and has already birthed the most basic form of a subconscious.]
[Although it is not clear why, the subconscious formed from gathered malice is at this moment entrusted to Asad’s body.]
[Judging from the state of the web of consciousness, this malice subconscious is still in the growth phase after its birth and is rapidly swelling in strength at a terrifying pace…]
[If it is not stopped, it will most likely become an extremely terrifying main god, a main god that can erode all consciousness in existence!]
“I really was right.”
The Librarian’s true body had used the Guidance Bookmark as a reward to lead him here. Its intention was not for Asad, but for this malice subconscious that was secretly developing.If the endless malice was likened to soldiers, then this countless mass of soldiers still lacked a true commander to lead them.
Lin Xun’s plan was to find a demigod body and seize control of the malice ahead of the Wet Nurse.
If the malice subconscious secretly finished developing and became a true commander before he or the Wet Nurse did, then all the effort he and the Wet Nurse had put in would end up as a wedding dress for someone else.
[You ask Flanda whether killing Asad’s physical body will destroy the malice subconscious.]
[Flanda thinks for a long time, then shakes its head and says that it does not know.]
[It does not understand why the malice subconscious is currently entrusted to Asad’s body, nor what form that entrustment takes, so it cannot judge the outcome.]
[However, for the moment there is no other method and you can only try.]
[Kim scratches its head with one huge scorpion pincer and interjects that although it has no idea what you are talking about, it sounds very impressive.]
[You are trying to kill that mutated monster in the sleeping palace, right? Have you forgotten that right now there is no way to enter the sleeping palace at all?]
[It seems that the only one who can enter the sleeping palace is the battle servant of the Oath bearer.]
“Heh, are you looking down on the Valkyrie?”
The Valkyrie was a Refined Copper construct, able to ignore malice corrosion and practically a natural nemesis for this sort of monster.
He issued a command for the Valkyrie to go all out in attacking.
[After receiving your command, Battle Angel – Valkyrie immediately takes down the golden longbow on its back and draws a thick Arrow of Dragon-Slaying.]
[It sets the arrow, draws the bow. The bowstring arcs like a full moon, and dazzling sunlight gradually gathers at the arrowhead.]
[Asad suddenly twists its head to glare viciously at the Valkyrie. Even a subconscious with only basic thought can feel the intent of an enemy’s attack and mount a counterattack.]
[In an instant, immense malice aura erupts like a black waterfall. Endless malice surges at the Valkyrie…]
[However, this malice aura passes straight through the Valkyrie’s body, unable to merge into it and even less able to affect it.]
[The golden sunlight at the arrowhead grows ever more brilliant and blinding…]
[Seeing this, Kim hurriedly snaps his mouth shut and raises a scorpion pincer to give you a thumbs-up, if that open pincer can be called a thumbs-up…]
[Flanda reminds you from the side that the malice subconscious’s attack cannot affect your doll because it has not yet reached the power of the god realm.]
[Once it grows into a god, then even the weakest god can ignore the constraints of rules and inflict damage on your doll.]
[Unreasonable as it sounds, that is the special divine authority that only a god possesses.]
“Spiritual attacks can even hurt a robot?”
Lin Xun only felt that this was extremely unscientific, but if the opponent was a god that surpassed mortals, then unscientific things suddenly seemed somewhat reasonable.
“The divine authority of a god is power that can break free of the constraints of rules…”
“No wonder even a top demi-god like Dan could easily overpower two Solar Heroes one against two, yet was instantly slain by the King’s Sword Itan with no ability to resist.”
“So it was not a difference in strength, but a difference in the dimension of power.”
[…]
[Once the golden sunlight on the Valkyrie’s bowstring finishes gathering, the string is released. Radiant sunlight explodes forth, illuminating the entire sleeping palace.]
[When the dazzling light fades, Asad’s malice-plant form is still firmly rooted in place, with no sign of injury at all…]
[Seeing this, Kim silently lowers its raised thumbs-up. Flanda, standing beside it, thinks for a moment and then explains to you…]
[The malice subconscious by itself might not be very powerful, but as a collateral offspring Asad already possesses basic transcendent strength. Judging by this, your doll is probably unable to deal damage to it.]
Seeing that the Valkyrie’s attack was ineffective, Lin Xun began trying other approaches.
He tried summoning the Nine-Tailed Fox to unleash Divine Thunder from long range or using the Purgatory Angel to fire off Cruel Thorn Bone Spikes from afar.
However, these long-range attack methods could not pass through the dark space to reach the sleeping palace at all. When he used the Greedy Wolf Star Lord’s sword control to attack, the flying sword lost control and dropped to the floor as soon as it crossed the boundary of the dark space.
If the Valkyrie had not retrieved the sword and thrown it back, Lin Xun would have lost a Legendary-grade weapon.
[…]
[Flanda explains to you that strictly speaking, all of your attacks are guided by consciousness, and thus cannot resist the interference and erosion of malice.]
[Unless you wield sufficiently powerful transcendent energy or transcendent weapons, you will not be able to pass through the dark space and harm Asad.]
[Although it and Kim have enough strength to kill Asad, the two of them cannot set foot in the dark space…]
“Tsk, you should have said so earlier.”
An idea flashed in Lin Xun’s mind, and he immediately came up with a cheeky move.
He opened the Inventory and clicked on the Scarlet King’s Sword, gifting it to Flanda.
[Flanda receives the blood-colored greatsword, and its eyes light up. It immediately understands what you have in mind and cannot help praising that this is a fine idea worth trying.]
[Kim is completely confused and has no idea what kind of riddle the two of you are speaking in.]
[At your command, the Valkyrie retreats far away. Flanda grips the blood-colored greatsword in both hands and spins in place with the giant sword held out.]
[Scarlet aura swirls and gathers around it. The blood-colored vortex raises a wild, howling gale, and from afar, the figure and sword together resemble a tornado of blood.]
[Flanda twists its slender waist and flings the sword with a sharp movement. The greatsword shoots toward the monster in the sleeping palace like an arrow loosed from the bow…]
[Wrapped in scarlet aura, the greatsword turns into a shrill red streak that pierces through the dark boundary in an instant…]
[Endless malice aura rushes toward the greatsword, trying to interfere with its trajectory, but is blocked by the blood-red radiance surrounding the sword.]
[In the blink of an eye, the greatsword plunges into the sleeping palace and blood light erupts.]
[For an instant, you see Asad glare at you with vicious, venomous eyes, and the strange smile on its face even takes on a ferocious cast.]
[Then it is swallowed by the surging blood light…]
[The vast sleeping palace collapses in an instant with a world-shaking boom.]
[When the dust settles, there is not a single living thing left in the dark space aside from the Valkyrie, which had flown far off to one side long ago.]
[All that can be seen is a blood-lit scarlet greatsword thrust into the rubble.]
[Your friendly Oath bearer character Flanda has defeated Extreme Evil Asad!]
[At your command, the Valkyrie descends into the ruins and grips the sword hilt with both hands, trying to pull the sword free…]
[However, the greatsword that had been light as a feather in Flanda’s hands weighs ten thousand pounds in the Valkyrie’s hands.]
[It is utterly unable to lift the sword and can only drag it along, beating its wings with all its might as added leverage, barely able to move the sword as it slowly drags it toward you…]
“Wait, something is wrong.”
“Why is there no drop at all after Asad dies? The game text already prompted its death, so how come nothing dropped?”
Lin Xun had a very bad feeling.
[…]
[Endless malice aura seeps from the rubble and gathers in the air into a monstrous face, a face whose eyes are filled with pure malice.]
[The face’s form is unstable, with black aura rippling along the edges of its features and constantly trembling.]
[However, the pitch-black aura seeping up from the rubble seems inexhaustible, causing the face to grow larger and its shape to stabilize.]
[The dark space trembles along with it. The entire space shudders violently, as if it is about to be annihilated.]
[Flanda suddenly speaks, fear in its voice as it hurriedly declares that it has realized Soren’s intention.]
[Only this can explain why the Divine Kingdom is filled with beings fallen into Extreme Evil, yet the malice subconscious has still not grown into a god…]
[Only this can explain why the malice subconscious, which clearly has no need of Asad, still remained within its body.]
[It is because Asad was not a parasitic vessel for the malice subconscious, but the shackles imprisoning the malice subconscious.]
[The Wet Nurse had long known of the birth of the malice subconscious and used Asad’s body as a prison vessel to confine and hide it here.]
[Now, killing Asad is equivalent to letting the malice subconscious break free of its shackles.]
[If a new prison cannot be found, this subconscious will break its bonds and, using endless malice as nourishment, rapidly advance into a god.]
[Soren, knowing it could not oppose the Wet Nurse, wanted to use the imprisoned malice consciousness against the Wet Nurse.]
Lin Xun’s first reaction was: ‘Crap, my sword.’
His second reaction was: ‘I am not saving the world at all, I am about to speed up its destruction again.’
In critical moments, when some people are about to be hit by a speeding car for instance, they can fall into a shock state, limbs numb and thoughts frozen.
Yet others can, at the critical moment, burst forth with a powerful reaction in both mind and body, displaying a state far beyond normal, like the well-known stories of a grandmother lifting a car to save her grandchild.
As one sword master once said, a focused will can pierce stone.
And Lin Xun just happened to be the latter.
He swiftly dealt with the problem of his first reaction, commanding the Valkyrie to put away the Scarlet King’s Sword.
Yes, put away.
The Valkyrie had the Crimson Candle Sword Case and could store weapons in its Special Equipment slot without consuming carry weight.
[After receiving your command, the greatsword the Valkyrie had been dragging suddenly vanishes and is stored in the Crimson Candle Sword Case on its back.]
[As you quickly retreat and once again take out the Refined Copper Sand Maraca to shake it, the Valkyrie’s figure disappears from the dark space…]
Lin Xun let out a long breath. The divine-grade artifact had already returned with the Valkyrie.
In an instant, he resolved the problem of his first reaction.
[Flanda and Kim retreat quickly along with you. They can only watch as the pitch-black aura swells and are powerless to stop it.]
[Because the dark space is about to collapse, some of the malice aura can now seep through the unstable barrier of the dark space and reach the outside world.]
[And that vicious monstrous face seems able to follow the surging black aura and emerge as well…]
[Only now do you realize that the dark space was likewise a method the Wet Nurse used to prevent the malice subconscious from escaping.]
[If Asad’s body is compared to shackles, then the dark space is the prison.]
[But as the malice breaks its restraints and its power surges at high speed, this space can no longer serve its former function.]
[Or perhaps it is due to some other reason, such as the space lacking follow-up power to sustain it and thus being unable to contain the ever-strengthening malice subconscious…]
Lin Xun’s adrenaline pumped rapidly. Faced with a world-ending crisis, his mind was clearer than ever.
Why did the Librarian lead him here?
It could not have been to make him destroy the world, right? That would go against the original purpose of The Book of Salvation, and as a defender of the rules, the administrator’s true body would never do such a thing.
There was only one possible explanation, the administrator’s true body wanted him to accomplish an unprecedented feat of salvation and had led him here for that reason.
Although he did not know why the administrator had never intervened in previous instances but chose to interfere with an Apostle here, for Lin Xun it was enough to know its goal.
Since the administrator’s true body believed he could save the world, or had seen that he had the potential to save it, it would not guide him into a dead end of world destruction.
That he lacked the ability to stop the expansion of the malice subconscious did not mean he could not borrow other power.
The only thing in Lin Xun’s hands that was related to Extreme Evil and contained a power not belonging to him was the Mature Fruit of Evil.
He immediately opened the Inventory and clicked the item.
[…]
[The monstrous face formed of malice has already followed the seeping black aura and emerged beyond the dark space.]
[The smile on its face grows more and more twisted, and the eyes filled with malice stare straight at you, completely ignoring Flanda and Kim…]
[You are about to fall into Extreme Evil…]
[A plump, robust fruit suddenly appears in your hand, its surface as pitch-black as surging malice.]
[The monstrous face’s gaze suddenly shifts. It stares at the Mature Fruit of Evil in your hand, and its entire face instantly breaks apart into several streams of pitch-black energy that dart into the fruit…]
[The surging malice that had filled the surroundings is drawn into the Fruit of Evil along with the monstrous face.]
[In an instant, the dark space collapses and vanishes. The malice aura wafting inside the tower disappears without a trace…]
[All that remains is the Fruit of Evil in your hand, its shape even more full and its color even more black.]