Lu Mingfei, become the King of Elden!

Chapter 318 The Eternal Silent Scream

Godwin!
He had heard that name before. In the fragments of the broken war, in those ancient legends, he was the most dazzling and tragic star of the Golden Dynasty. His death was the beginning of all the chaos in the borderlands!
"This is impossible!"

Lu Mingfei subconsciously retorted:
"He's not already... and if his presence is here, that means..."

"It means his peaceful sleep has been desecrated."

Theros's voice was icy and chilling:

"His death was intertwined with the power of 'destined death,' an end that even the gods feared..."

"Making more guesses is useless."

Lu Mingfei shook his head and said:

"Let's go, we're not far from the deepest part. I can already see those dense black thorns, they're more numerous than General O'Neill's hair!"

Theros was taken aback by Lu Mingfei's interruption.

The two fell silent and continued along the path covered by layers of black thorns.

The surrounding walls, the ground, and even the ceiling were completely covered, and Lu Mingfei felt as if he were walking on the opposite side of life.

Finally, they passed through the last narrow passage and found themselves in an exceptionally spacious underground cavern.

However, the sight before them caused even the well-informed Lu Mingfei and the ancient and composed Theros to stop in their tracks.

Lu Mingfei was deeply shocked.

He felt a shiver originating from his very soul.

In the very center of the cave, there were no remains of the little golden tree, no bones, nothing they had expected.

There was only one... a face mask that was larger than anyone could imagine.

It resembles a stretched, pale carpet, deeply "rooted" in the ground.

The texture of the face looked soft yet eerie, but it also had a rock-like stiffness.

In the center of this enormous face, one can vaguely discern the outline of an empty and distorted human face—the eye sockets are bottomless black holes, and the mouth is slightly open, as if screaming in eternal silence.

This face still faintly reveals a certain nobility and perfection, but now only a chilling stillness and grotesqueness remain.

The intense aura of death emanated from this enormous face.

But within this death lies a fragmented divinity—the essence of the Golden Prince Godwin, a god and a hero.

This divinity has been corrupted.

Two diametrically opposed forces forcibly merged and twisted in this place, forming a blasphemous special energy.

It was this energy that gave birth to the curse that spread throughout the entire underground of Stoneville and even upwards.

It represents death, yet it carries a twisted quality of "endless life," as if death here has been given an alternative "life," ultimately manifesting as these countless spreading black thorns.

These thorns, like the "roots" or "tentacles" of this giant face, frantically climb and pierce the entire cave and even the rock walls, as if to drag the whole of Stoneville, and even the wider world, into this embrace of death.

".Godwin."

Theros's voice trembled noticeably:

Your Highness

Witnessing the sacred and sublime things in his heart being reduced to such a blasphemous form, Theros was filled with a mixture of grief and rage.

His hands trembled so badly that he almost dropped his weapon and shield.

Even Lu Mingfei felt a wave of nausea and a chill that went deep into his bones. He had heard of the "first dead," but he never imagined he would "witness" it in such a direct and impactful way.

"So, this is the origin of everything..."

Lu Mingfei muttered to himself, his voice hoarse:

"A golden tree that tried to purify itself was consumed by pollution, and all passages were sealed off by panicked people... all to cover up the existence of this... 'thing'."

The cave was deathly silent, with only the black thorns wriggling silently, as if mocking the insignificance and fragility of life.

They stood before the source of the curse, and before a terrifying secret that could drive anyone who knew it mad.
-
The two remained silent in front of that face for a long, long time, as if time itself had frozen.

“Theros,” Lu Mingfei’s voice was a little hoarse, “your power… originates from the ancient sanctity of the furnace, can it… purify it? Even just weaken it a little?”

This question seemed to briefly pull Theros out of his endless grief and anger.

His head turned slightly, and his gaze beneath the visor returned to the face that belonged to Godwin.

He remained silent for an even longer period, as if carefully perceiving and evaluating.

Finally, Theros calmly said:

"impossible."

His answer was firm and resolute.

"Leaving aside the fact that my own strength is far from sufficient to shake this body entangled with 'destined death' and divinity..."

Theros's voice was low and suppressed:
"The key is that the ancient sanctity originating from the furnace is essentially the chaos and possibility of 'life'. It is not the absolute opposite of 'death', much less a 'purifier'."

“This thing before us can no longer be called a simple death or curse. It’s more like a fragmented law.”

Theros raised his hand, pointing to the enormous face radiating an ominous aura and the sprawling thorns:
“You see, the golden tree’s light tried to help and purify it, but ended up being assimilated. Divine power doesn’t ‘reject’ it; it can even be used and transformed by it…”

He used a more direct metaphor:
"Just as water cannot wash away ink stains, but only makes them black, the sacred here is ineffective against this form of 'curse of death'."

Lu Mingfei's heart sank.

Even the ancient Forge Knights admitted they couldn't purify it, which means this "tumor" beneath Stoneville is probably far more troublesome than they imagined.

"Are we just going to let it stay here... continuing to grow and pollute everything?"

Looking at the black thorns that seemed to be alive as they climbed upwards, Lu Mingfei could almost see them one day piercing the ground and spreading death throughout the entire Nymgford.

Theros remained silent for a moment.

"Do not."

He said in a low voice:

"The fact that the furnace cannot purify the furnace does not mean that there are no other methods."

"Perhaps... those experts who hunt down the 'Dead Ones' have different methods. Or perhaps, they can find the culprit who caused all of this back then and solve the problem at its root..."

"An expert in hunting 'Deadborn'?"

Lu Mingfei seemed to be deep in thought:
“You’re right. I know a fanatical believer in the Golden Law fundamentalism, and Roger is also a scholar in this field.”

Thinking of this, Lu Mingfei's conviction was strengthened once again.

A soldier's creed prevented him from sitting idly by and waiting to die.

“We must leave here immediately and take this discovery with us.”

(End of this chapter)