novelraw Chapter 213 : The World Within the Sword
Chapter 213 : The World Within the Sword
Chapter 213: The World Within the Sword
“Cindy.”
“Little Cindy.”
“Cindy Soderbell.”
Remember the first posting site domain name 𝕥𝕨𝕜𝕒𝕟.𝕔𝕠𝕞
Voices—near and far—echoed through the gray and misty world.
The next moment, Cindy’s eyes snapped open.
【Don’t forget who you are.】
I am Cindy Yam Soderbell!
Cindy spoke to herself within her heart.
“Cindy Yam Soderbell.”
“My Cindy.”
“Little Cindy.”
Those drifting voices called out once again.
But this time, the words seemed slightly different.
Not intense.
Not stimulating.
Yet quietly soft.
However, Cindy paid no attention to them.
She kept firmly in mind the first voice she had heard upon entering this place.
It was a beautiful voice, one that carried a bright and gentle warmth—something that the old Cindy had not understood. But now she knew; that must have been “tenderness.”
Cindy’s gaze grew firm. She pressed on tirelessly through the gray world before her.
No hesitation.
No pause.
After what seemed both like an eternity and an instant, the fog-wrapped gray world completely vanished.
Before Cindy’s eyes appeared a vast—
Ruined city.
The city, filled with the weight of history and desolation, had walls built from massive stones taller than Cindy herself. The stones were gray-blue in color, with a strange metallic sheen. Yet, upon the towering walls that stretched skyward—so high that even when Cindy craned her neck she couldn’t see the top—were countless scars of war.
Of the two gigantic gates, one had already collapsed with a thunderous crash.
Weeds and vines almost completely covered the fallen gate.
The other half still stood, though barely—it trembled on the verge of collapse. Each time Cindy passed through, she couldn’t help but worry whether, if it fell by accident, it would crush her flat.
Beyond the gate stretched a long corridor.
Cindy didn’t know what lay at the end of that corridor, for she had never once reached its end.
Halfway through, her vision blurred—and then she found herself inside a magnificent palace.
This was an enormous palace built mainly in black and red.
Inside stood eight colossal pillars arranged in eight directions.
The upper halves of the pillars were black; the lower halves, connected to the foundation, were crimson.
At the center of those pillars stood an enormous blood-red statue.
But that statue was now broken and incomplete.
Its head was missing, and both forearms were severed. From the remaining upper arms, one could no longer tell what form it once had. The body, however, remained intact. It sat upon a massive chair—
a single statue already towering over twenty meters high, and its chair was equally gigantic, though its shape could no longer be discerned.
Beside the statue lay a huge stone sword, broken halfway.
The upper part was missing; the lower part appeared to be driven into the ground.
Yet Cindy had examined it carefully the first time she came here—
the sword was not truly embedded in the floor. The sculptor had skillfully carved the base to make it look so, when in fact the pedestal was flat.
“War.”
That was the word that surfaced in Cindy’s mind the first time she saw the statue.
Unfortunately, she could only read and understand the first character.
The second seemed to have been erased by some mysterious power—she couldn’t read it, pronounce it, or even comprehend it.
The palace had no walls on any side, leaving the surroundings entirely visible. Standing there, Cindy could clearly see that similar great palace halls surrounded this one—eight in total, arranged just like the pillars. She had the distinct feeling that each contained a statue as grand as this one.
Yet she couldn’t see what those statues looked like.
Other than the one in the hall she was in now, the rest appeared colorless and gray, as if all pigment had been drained away.
Cindy had once tried to step into those other halls,
but she could never cross the doorway.
Just as she could never walk to the end of that corridor beyond the city gate,
each time she stepped halfway through, she would find herself back inside this hall—
and whenever she tried to leave, she would end up at the gate of the ruined city once more.
Cindy hurried to the statue and patted its enormous toe.
“I’m back, big guy.”
“I’m back, big guy.”
Robin heard Cindy’s voice echo beside his ear.
A faint smile crossed his face.
Cindy was, since his awakening, the most talented one he had ever encountered.
This talent wasn’t referring to her bloodline strength.
In truth, Cindy’s bloodline aptitude wasn’t particularly great at first—only slightly better than Yam’s. According to the Hall of Spirits’ bloodline grading, Cindy would likely be able to advance up to the Fourth Tier, but that was about it.
What truly drew Robin’s attention was the purity of Cindy’s bloodline.
He hadn’t understood this before, but after absorbing so many bloodline powers, he had come to grasp its meaning.
Simply put—it was compatibility, affinity.
Cindy’s bloodline, the Bloodthirsty Beast, wasn’t chosen at random by Robin.
It was because this power matched her more perfectly than any other.
So perfectly that, even without his intervention,
Cindy could, by her own aptitude alone, ascend naturally to the Fifth Tier—perhaps even attempt the Sixth.
And most remarkably, the usual side effects of the Bloodthirsty Beast bloodline did not affect her.
As if she were born immune to them.
But in truth, it wasn’t complete immunity.
Her emotional detachment—the calm indifference she often displayed—was precisely a sign of the bloodline’s subtle influence.
The Bloodthirsty Beast bloodline would not drive her to madness or blind violence in battle, but it would gradually alter her thinking and temperament, dyeing her nature with a shade of crimson. That was why she had felt little remorse when Liam was injured, and why she took such keen interest in scenes of bloodshed and violence.
Robin hadn’t understood this side effect before.
But after absorbing the blood of that Invisible One, he realized the truth.
The Bloodthirsty Beast was a branch of the Demon Bloodline!
In other words, even if Cindy hadn’t chosen the Bloodthirsty Beast,
any branch within the Demon Bloodline would still resonate powerfully with her—
allowing her to accomplish feats others could not.
That led Robin to wonder—
could the Bole Family, to which Lily Bole belonged, once have been part of the People of the Abyss?
Or perhaps Yam’s ancestors were?
Either way, to have birthed a child like Cindy—whose blood harmonized so deeply with the Demon Bloodline—one of her parents’ bloodlines must have descended from the People of the Abyss.
Otherwise, even with the Forest Witches’ pureblood refinement, Cindy’s bloodline power could never have manifested so vividly.
According to Robin’s understanding, the essence of the Forest Witches was a kind of “Reversion”—a return to ancestral strength.
In this world, “Reversion” wasn’t a curse, but rather a phenomenon all bloodline users longed for. For over generations, bloodlines became diluted, so the return to an ancient, purer form meant regaining lost might.
No bloodline user could resist that temptation.
“Big guy?”
Cindy’s voice sounded again.
Robin had never truly met her in person,
but he had guided her several times and offered “suggestions.”
Thus Cindy had always believed she was speaking to the massive statue.
Each time she called out,
Robin would grant her a little “help.”
This time was no different.
He transferred the information about the Invisible One’s bloodline to her,
hinting that she, too, could use that power.
But if she chose that bloodline, she could no longer keep the Bloodthirsty Beast.
A choice between two.
A matter of trade-off.
“She’s awake! Cindy’s awake!”
Akar’s voice rang through the small study.
Although Ion had confidence in Cindy, her strange state earlier had still left him uneasy.
Only now, when Cindy fully awoke, did Ion truly breathe a sigh of relief.
“Cindy, are you feeling unwell anywhere?”
At the sound of concern from her dearest family,
Cindy’s dazed expression quickly cleared.
“I’m fine,” Cindy replied.
Then, glancing at her third uncle Akar—who looked anxious yet hesitant to speak—
she told them about the information she’d received from Robin regarding the Invisible One’s bloodline,
adding that she, too, could use it.
“It won’t conflict with your current Bloodthirsty Beast bloodline?” Ion asked.
“It will.” Cindy nodded. “So I can only choose one. The other must be returned.”
“Returned?” Akar blinked. “Returned to whom?”
“To it.” Cindy pointed at the Demonic Sword.
Ion and Akar exchanged looks.
In terms of raw power, it was hard to say which bloodline was stronger.
But in terms of value, the Phantom Demon Bloodline was clearly superior,
since Cindy had explained that only those with special bloodlines could even activate it—
ordinary people couldn’t succeed even if they tried.
On the other hand, the Bloodthirsty Beast bloodline could be used by anyone,
so long as they weren’t afraid of its terrible side effects—
and so far, only Molly and Cindy had ever shown any resistance to it.
Even so, neither was completely unaffected—merely not driven mad like the others.
Additionally, the Phantom Demon Bloodline had another advantage—
its advancement route from the First to the Sixth Tier was already established,
allowing smooth progression through cultivation.
The Bloodthirsty Beast bloodline, however, had routes only up to the Third Tier;
the Fourth through Sixth remained mysteries.
Even Yam had never heard of anyone reaching the Fourth Tier with the Bloodthirsty Beast as their primary bloodline.
After all, that bloodline was typically used to breed warriors willing to die with their enemies.
Ion also knew that if they chose the Phantom Demon Bloodline,
they’d have to obtain materials and formulas for its potions from the Aust Empire,
since the Tyrella Kingdom focused on Wind, Fire, and Ice bloodlines.
Though not openly hostile toward Demons or Calamities, their attitude was far from friendly.
Especially now, while they were still at war with the Aust Empire.
“What do you think, little Cindy?” Ion asked.
“I want the Bloodthirsty Beast.”
“Why?” Ion asked.
“I don’t know.” Cindy thought for a moment, but nothing came to mind.
“I just… want it.”
Ion glanced at her shadow, then finally nodded.
“I see. Then we’ll keep it as is.
——But, little Cindy, you could’ve chosen not to tell us about being able to inherit the Phantom Demon Bloodline.
Why did you choose to say it?”
Cindy looked at Ion, her young face filled with seriousness.
“Because, Grandfather, you said—we are members of the core family.”