novelraw Chapter 387: Goddess of Anxiety, Seizing the Shell
Chapter 387: Goddess of Anxiety, Seizing the Shell
Lin Xun controlled the Shell and tried to fly toward the island where the next middle-seat Disciple was located.
According to the usual rules of the Disciple war, once the number of eliminated Disciples in a given region hit the required count, leaving only the specified number of winners, either a Resting Page that allowed teleportation would be generated, or the remaining Disciples would be teleported away directly.
Vishnu had not told him what would happen if a lower-seat Disciple actively went to a higher-tier region.
Perhaps even Vishnu had never seen anyone so bold.
Take Agabus for example. If not for an unexpected factor like Lin Xun, he would have been able to slaughter his way through the lower-seat Disciple region like bullying weaklings.
But if he went to the region where the middle-seat Disciples were, while he might not be crushed one-sidedly, with his strength he was destined never to be among the winners.
[…]
[You have barely flown beyond the boundary of the island beneath your feet and reached the surface of the sea when you suddenly come to a halt.]
[You sense something and turn your head to look…]
[You see a beautiful mature lady quietly standing right behind you. Her figure is extremely tall, half a person taller than you. She stands parallel to you, and you have to tilt your head slightly up to look straight into her eyes.][In the lady’s scarlet eyes burns a raging flame called Vengeance. On her back are wings like those of a giant eagle, and in her hand she holds a bloodstained serpent whip.]
[Just meeting her gaze for a brief moment makes you feel an extremely heavy pressure, and you understand with absolute clarity that you have no way to contend against her.]
[You have discovered Anxiety of the Three Goddesses of Vengeance.]
[Goddess of Anxiety gives her serpent whip a light flick. It cracks with a sharp snap as she sneers. Lowly mortal, your performance in slaughter has let her savor the pleasure of vengeance and made her very satisfied.]
[But that is absolutely not a reason for you to overstep the rules of the game. If you dare to take even one more step forward and attempt to escape this game of vengeance and slaughter…]
[Then you will taste hellish torment and pain.]
[Reckless and arrogant Apostle, will you immediately return, or will you make your intention clear to Goddess of Anxiety that you wish to go to the next island?]
Lin Xun narrowed his eyes and immediately chose the latter.
[You tell Goddess of Anxiety that, this great god, you are not trying to escape this game; you are going deeper into this game.]
[The only person left on this island is far too weak in your eyes, unable to satisfy your thirst for vengeance, and even less able to bring the god the most extreme pleasure.]
[You want to challenge a stronger existence and present the god with an unprecedented grand performance.]
[Goddess of Anxiety is taken aback, then dazzling light bursts forth in her eyes. She throws her head back in wild, unrestrained laughter. Good, good, good.]
[With a snap, she flicks her bloodstained serpent whip and binds you tightly, dragging you before her as she lowers her head to gaze into your eyes.]
[The bewitching face of Goddess of Anxiety is extremely close to you. Her hot, sweet breath pours onto your face, stirring in you an indescribable restlessness.]
[She extends a scarlet tongue and lightly licks your cheek. The sharp barbs upon it tear your skin and draw streams of blood. Tasting your blood, she sighs from the heart…]
[As expected, difficult to suppress killing urges. As expected, vengeance about to erupt. It has been so long since she met such an interesting mortal.]
[Goddess of Anxiety loosens the coils of the serpent whip and says to you with meaningful emphasis that you should be glad you did not lie to her…]
[The island ahead is her elder sister Envy’s hunting ground. The prey that fight and kill there are far stronger than those here…]
[She will no longer block your path, but you must keep your promise and bring her an unprecedented grand performance.]
[She looks forward to your performance…]
[As soon as her words fall, Goddess of Anxiety beats the wings on her back once. A violent gale sweeps out and she vanishes from before your eyes.]
At the same time, a large glowing book page suddenly appeared beside Amos, who was still lingering on the island.
Amos froze, then was overjoyed.
It was a Resting Page.
He reached out to touch the page and indeed saw a teleportation option to leave the chapter and return to the Library.
Amos fell into thought. Right now, with a single light tap on ‘Yes’, he could escape the Disciple war.
“Do I slip away without a word, or ask Cain first?”
Cain’s powerful strength had already been fully displayed. Even if he went to the region of the middle-seat Disciples to fight, he would, with high probability, be one of the winners.
Unless Cain decided to court death and actively went to the region of the upper-seat Disciples, then after this Disciple war, this Twelfth Disciple ought to become the Second Disciple.
And what about his current direct superior, the Third Disciple Lord Vishnu?
To tell the truth, Amos did not have much confidence in Vishnu now.
If this Disciple war were like the previous one, with each region eliminating only one Disciple, Vishnu would undoubtedly survive.
Even if two were eliminated, Vishnu would still have a fair chance of becoming one of the winners.
But now?
The region of the upper-seat Disciples could have only one winner. The odds of the Third Disciple Vishnu becoming the final victor were truly minuscule.
Although Cain’s strength was likely inferior to Vishnu’s, at this moment, choosing to cling to Cain’s thigh was the most correct decision.
Amos weighed it over for a long time before finally making up his mind.
He pressed his earpiece and said in a deep voice, “Lord Cain, a Resting Page has appeared here. I can teleport back to the Library.”
“How should I act next? Please give me your orders.”
At this moment Lin Xun was preparing to fly toward the middle-seat Disciple island. Hearing this, he thought for a moment and immediately understood Amos’s intent.
He could not help but shake his head. The New World raised Apostles with the law of the jungle, the weak being prey to the strong. People trained like this had no loyalty at all.
They were traitors who had already betrayed the human camp. How could there be any truly steadfast among them?
Even if there had been, they would have long since been filtered out.
“A Resting Page… if that’s the case, then I can use that little trick.”
Lin Xun narrowed his eyes as a plan formed in his mind.
He turned back toward the original island and came to stand before Amos.
Yet there was nothing visible in front of Amos. Lin Xun could not see any Resting Page at all.
“It must have been when I left the island’s boundary earlier that the game judged Amos to be the only Apostle remaining in this region, satisfying the victory condition and thus generating the Resting Page.”
This Resting Page could only be seen by the winner, to prevent players from exploiting loopholes and cheating.
Although Lin Xun could not see the Resting Page, it did not affect his next plan.
“Little Amos, I know you are trying to show your determination and choose a side, so I will give you a chance. Whether you can grasp it is entirely up to you.”
Amos’s heart trembled at these words and he immediately replied, “Lord Cain, I will wholeheartedly obey your orders.”
“Good. Then keep using that charging skill of yours.”
Amos did not understand, but still followed the order and summoned the Underworld Gate.
After the Underworld Gate appeared, undead poured out one after another, yet strangely Cain did not swing his greatsword again to reap their lives and charge his weapon.
Cain did not even draw that crimson greatsword. He simply stood to the side, watching the undead emerge one by one until the duration of the temporary summons ended and the first batch of undead began to vanish.
Amos was puzzled, but since Cain showed no sign of telling him to stop, he did not dare ask too many questions.
As time passed, Amos’s mana gradually ran low.
Maintaining the existence of the Underworld Gate did not cost much mana, but that was only compared to other skills. No matter how long your mana bar was, it could not withstand a skill being kept active forever.
When Amos finally saw the game prompt ‘You feel very tired’, he could not help himself and said, “Lord Cain, I am almost out of mana.”
Lin Xun had been watching the number of survivors under the Soul-Annihilation Bookmark option. At this moment, without even looking up, he said, “If I haven’t told you to stop, then stop talking.”
Amos froze and finally realized what Lord Cain wanted to do.
When an ordinary Apostle exhausted a Shell’s stamina and fainted, the soul would automatically leave the body.
If you exhausted your stamina in the wild and your soul left the body, as long as the soul could flee back to a safe area, there would be no major problem. Once the Shell recovered stamina, it could still be reshaped.
But it was different near a Resting Page.
If the soul left the body beside a Resting Page, it was akin to dropping an item on the ground. The ownership of the Shell would no longer belong to the Apostle.
It was precisely because of this that Apostles could, at the starting point, use that little trick of possessing gifted Shells to obtain memory data.
This was a hidden perk the game gave to players.
Of course, high-level Apostles rarely used such time-consuming methods anymore.
“Lord Cain wants to take my Shell?”
Amos could not help but have this thought, but he shook his head and cast that unreasonable idea aside.
His Corrupted Calamity Lich Shell was indeed powerful, but compared to Cain’s Shell, the Calamity Lich was just trash.
Cain was not about to abandon his higher-grade Shell to steal his Corrupted Calamity Lich.
“Who would ever think their own Shell is too strong…”
After thinking for a long time, Amos finally came up with a somewhat reasonable explanation.
He had heard Lord Vishnu mention that the Master possessed a power called a ‘spiritual brand.’
Every Apostle who entered the New World organization would undergo the baptism of the brand, gradually becoming loyal to the organization and firm in their faith.
But this spiritual brand had no effect on Apostles whose soul talents were too strong. Only Apostles who were unaffected by the spiritual brand had the qualifications to become Disciples.
Amos already knew that the relationship between Cain and the Master was rather delicate, and he suspected that the Master had passed the spiritual brand ability on to Cain.
Cain understood that using the spiritual brand directly would have no effect on him, so he was letting him exhaust his Shell’s stamina, manifest his soul, and then brand the soul directly.
That way he could obtain his eternal loyalty…
Amos suddenly saw the light. So that was Cain’s intention.
“I have already decided to serve under Cain. Although I only made this decision because Vishnu has no chance of winning, with Cain’s potential and his relationship with the Master, he will definitely become the First Disciple given time.”
“Alas, but that would mean I’m locked under Cain’s banner and can’t hop back and forth anymore.”
Compared to his life, to offer up a bit of loyalty was a very small price. Amos knew he had to choose a side thoroughly today if he wanted to dispel Cain’s suspicions.
“Lord Cain, I understand what you mean. Is it not just a spiritual brand? As long as it is your command, I will obey.”
As he spoke, Amos began channeling and cast several of his most mana-consuming skills.
“What nonsense did this guy cook up in his head?”
Lin Xun was dumbfounded. He had initially thought that if Amos saw through his plan, he would, even if he had to force it with threats and take his life hostage, make Amos hand over the Shell.
Yet this guy, for reasons unknown, was cooperating so enthusiastically that it was a little hard to wrap his head around.
As Amos maintained the Underworld Gate while also unleashing massive mana-draining ultimates, his mana bar finally hit zero and his wandering soul floated free of his body.
Amos closed his eyes and declared resolutely, “My lord, I am ready. Do it.”
Lin Xun’s lips twitched. Since the other party was this cooperative, there was no reason for him to be polite.
“Back up a bit.”
“Farther.”
“Tsk, so fussy. Hurry up and get farther away.”
Amos followed the instructions. It should be that using the spiritual brand directly on the soul would cause considerable damage, and being farther away would lessen the pain.
“It seems my display of loyalty has moved Lord Cain…”
[…]
[You hurriedly retreat, backing away more than a hundred meters before finally stopping.]
[From afar, you see a blurry figure in robes appear behind the Twelfth Disciple Cain.]
[The figure raises a staff and silently chants an intricate and lengthy incantation…]
Amos knew this was the sign of the spiritual brand being activated, so he did not resist. He relaxed his mental defenses and let Cain act as he pleased.
[…]
[The last syllable of the incantation falls…]
[In an instant, endless starlight bursts forth…]
[An immensely powerful spell erupts like a supernova, unleashing the limitless destructive force of Falling Starlight.]
[All at once, your field of view is filled with dazzling starlight, and you can no longer see anything else.]
[Your feeble soul trembles uncontrollably. You turn and flee with all your might, terrified of being caught in the terrifying spell.]
[When the blinding starlight fades, you look back again and see that in front of the Twelfth Disciple Cain, nothing remains.]
[The Corrupted Calamity Lich Shell you had possessed before has also vanished under the evaporation of starlight…]
Amos stared wide-eyed in disbelief. “Lord Cain, what are you…”
“This is your punishment and also your trial. Under me, Cain, I do not take in treacherous traitors, nor do I take in useless trash.”
“Your actions have proven your loyalty, but you have yet to prove that you are an Apostle with potential and talent.”
“This is my trial for you. If you can, in your state as a wandering soul, regain your former strength, then you will have proven you are not trash and that you are exactly the person I, Cain, truly need.”
“I have said all I need to say. Work hard, Little Amos…”
Cain’s voice through the earpiece was incomparably solemn. As soon as he finished speaking, Amos saw Cain take to the sky and fly toward another island.
Amos, meanwhile, fell into a long stupor.
Lin Xun removed the earpiece and looked at the new Shell in his Shell Slots, the Corrupted Calamity Lich.
“A portable battery pack is definitely most convenient when you keep it on you…”