Shadow of the Evil God

Despite his beastly appearance, Diana could still tell that Cesar's temperament was different from usual. After all, she was used to his beastly appearance and could detect even the slightest change. She quickly sorted out all the possibilities, and then she remembered a scene she had experienced in the wilderness.

At that time, Cesar's soul had departed, and a soul she had never met had taken possession of his body. Cesar had spoken little of the experience later, but she remembered it vividly. Even in the same body, different souls exhibited distinct characteristics. A single glance revealed the difference between them, and she used this to speculate on the possibility of Cesar's conflation of personality and memory.

At the time, Diana noticed that the spirit had a hint of Ajeh's presence, making it hard not to believe that this spirit and the wolf girl Ajeh were two aspects of the same person. Furthermore, Cesar had told her that the wolf girl Ajeh needed this person to be complete. Because of this, she misunderstood that she and Cesar were unrelated.

However, considering that the wolf girl Ajiehe was not originally a descendant of the Sasoulai people, but was reborn through the body of a pregnant Sasoulai woman, what about the other human Ajiehe? Could this person have a similar origin?

It is not uncommon for cursed ancient souls to regain life through pregnancy and grow up from babies. One characteristic of this is that the original embryos are often unable to compete with the ancient souls that have regained life, and are often strangled before they are formed, becoming the latter's nutrients.

But what if both souls share extraordinary origins? Within the womb of a Sasoulai woman, neither can smother the other's embryo. Instead, their conflict causes their souls to intertwine, each imbued with the other's aura. They can even grow together during embryonic development, becoming one, and growing up as a single person. Not only do their flesh and blood fuse during embryonic development, but their souls also absorb parts of each other, gradually taking on the characteristics of the other as they grow.

That's why the beastman Ajeh looks completely human.

Ultimately, the curse Analik had placed on the Kuna people was certain. There was no reason why a cursed royal family member could suddenly break the curse and give birth to a living baby after spending a few ridiculous nights with the wife of the Sasule chief. That baby would definitely be a cursed dead baby and would definitely not survive, but for two people who were already...

The wolf-girl Ajeh was a firstborn, a failed ancestor of the beastmen. Given her existence, it wasn't surprising that she could endure the curse. However, Diana couldn't understand how another person could endure Analik's curse. This curse was so intense that even ancient souls seeking to regain life couldn't withstand it, let alone those primordial embryos. Conceiving that she might be a part of Cesar's detachment, Diana could only come to one conclusion.

From the time Cesar's consciousness was severed in the foreign mountain village to the time Cesar woke up on the altar, something unimaginable must have happened during this blank period of consciousness.

Who could be the insider? Grandmaster Ferriers? Or the wolf girl Ajeh? Or even the memory-destroying Brother Mira?

Diana blinked, feeling a strange longing to explore the unknown.

A dark tidal wave erupted from the dragon's maw. Cesar, his beastly form, retreated, almost reaching the edge of the lair. He paused for breath, surveying the area ahead. Then, bending his knees, he stepped onto the crumbling tower and leaped forward. He roared past the ruins, and with a single bound, he was in front of the evil creature.

Diana had seen him fight like a beast, but back then, his actions had been far more savage and frantic, a beast tearing at its prey. Now, he seemed methodical, moving with much more careful observation, delivering the killing blow at the most crucial moment.

The evil dragon spread its wings and flew backward as if startled, but Cesar followed its flight. He first landed on a nearby tower, then bent his knees again, arched his back, and leaped into the dragon's path as if launching himself. His leap shattered the leaning tower beneath his feet, sending a cloud of rubble and dust billowing in all directions, nearly dispersing the profound darkness.

A crimson mist shrouded his blade, unstoppable like slicing through grease, slicing through the black, floating mass in front of the evil dragon, a tidal wave obstructing its progress. The path of the Crimson Realm truly had a strange effect on the erosion of the Abyss. Considering that the world's wounds were wrought by Analik, if the Abyss truly permeated the mortal world, those cultists who worshipped it and drew power from its curse might be the best off.

Even Soleil had to worry about his knights and subjects severing the city halfway, leaving the upper floors suspended in the sky, connected only by winding roads to the lower floors. Those who worshipped Analik, however, only needed to treat them like rats, guarding against their bites, and they could live in peace.

Diana now knew that Cesar, pursued by darkness at the edge of the Sanctuary, was no different from someone fleeing a pack of rats. Anyone else would have crumbled and disintegrated at the slightest touch.

Trisius gathered the violently swirling abyssal matter in his chest, intending to fight back, to use a mighty waterfall to knock the leaping beast to the ground. However, he used the tip of his sword to block the oncoming torrent, hitting its fatal weakness, causing it to fall along the

The blades separated, transforming into multiple skewed streams of energy that surged in all directions. Diana saw that they all deviated from their original trajectory, some hitting the ruins in the distance, some even falling outside the corpse-eater's lair, and then continued to fall, shattering the already devastated battlefield.

The tremendous energy shook the earth, blew the rocks along the way into the air, tore apart and razed the fortifications built by the empire. The loud noise reached the inner city of the fortress, making many people feel uneasy.

Can this thing actually be cut?

The blood-soaked blade slashed through the evil dragon Trisius, causing it to fall, wounded and spilling black blood from its chest. A mass of black slime gathered in the ruins along with the dripping blood, transforming into mimic dragons resembling it with an unholy aura, and pounced upon the fallen Cesar.

It was clear they were invigorated by the blood imbued with the aura of a true dragon. Though inanimate, these abyssal entities reacted differently to various entities. They yearned for true dragons, loathed Analik, rejected deities like Sagaros, and naturally assimilated ordinary creatures without reason. The surrounding mimic black dragons obscured everything, charging and tearing at the beasts entrenched in the rubble.

Diana instinctively tried to observe through her third vision, only to find it even more chaotic. The scene resembled a swirling maelstrom of pigments and colors, swirling and blending, abstracted beyond comprehension. Cesar's sword danced, slicing through these seemingly unrealistic mimics in endless, disjointed strokes. All the demons disintegrated into vast fragments that scatter to the ground, transforming back into mindless goo that drifted about.

She saw a few drops of blood on his blade, and the intermittent trajectory just now was to pick them out. Although that was a complete Cesar, she had to say that it was absolutely impossible for Cesar on her side to accomplish this alone.

Trisius had a moment to catch his breath, and soon the scene that had befallen Artinia was repeated, even more violent and magnificent. A torrent of darkness poured down, and she saw the entire sky transformed into countless swirling vortexes, casting cascading torrents of energy onto the ground. The corpse-eater's lair had endured a horrific blow, its entire surface structure shattered, becoming visibly more dilapidated and lower, until the lower passages were finally revealed.

Diana realized that it was being supported by the material eroded from the abyss. While mages relied on the wasteland to cast spells, it only needed to absorb the amorphous darkness from its surroundings. Once it was allowed to distance itself and levitate in the unreachable sky, it could turn everything in its sight into a pitiful target.

The roar became more and more intense, and even the inner city where they were was shaking. People began to waver, speculating and discussing what kind of terrible disaster had occurred in the darkness, and whether it would sweep here and kill everyone in the fortress.

Diana pressed her knuckles to her lips and switched to a third-person perspective. Only then did she see Cesar's figure skittering across the ground, a hazy, almost blood-red trail. Ahead of the trail were some of the spells she and Fils had cast, but sadly, the corpse-eaters, using their lair to crush everything, hadn't been able to do anything.

She realized that it was Cesar on her side who was asking for her help - yes, Cesar was watching when they were setting up the formation spell.

Diana sat down and asked Firth to help her outline a series of spell symbols. Then, lighting them one by one, she formed an intricate magic circle, making it echo the spell Cesar was heading for. She guided the spell upward from the surface, approaching Trisius, which hung high in the dark sky. Amid the swirling tide, this weak spell was completely undetectable. Perhaps Grandmaster Firth could detect it, but it certainly couldn't.

As Cesar stepped onto the magic circle, she immediately cast a teleportation spell for him.

A blinding flash of light flashed, and a blood-red beast instantly appeared behind the evil dragon. It first grasped one of its wings with its sharp claws, then, with a flash of blood, stabbed its back with its blade. It then slashed upward, bisecting its entire body from the waist up, severing the unholy dragon's head as well. The fracture was stained with a glaring blood mist. Diana let out a long breath, subconsciously wanting to collapse to the ground, but her gaze followed Altinia's figure.

There is still one person to subdue.

Chapter 339: This is inappropriate, Your Highness

.....

Altinya didn't remember much, but after falling to the ground, she continued to struggle along the abyss, her blood spilling onto the ground, burning with a pitch-black flame. She felt hope lay ahead, and she needed the amorphous darkness to nourish her soul and flesh. With bloodshot eyes, she stalked closer, using her claws to cling to the rocks and climb over the hill, which felt like a low slope of earth.

She heard voices calling out, and she felt that the people of the empire were calling out for her presence. Those were the souls of those who died on the battlefield, and they needed her...

Yes, she remembered, anything old had to be praised, even down to the rot and hair. And in the Empire, old things like Heanria and Clefas were deeply rooted. The whole dilapidated house had to be torn down, every piece of wood had to be examined, and all the ancient decay had to be removed. To do this, she had to struggle forward, using whatever she could.

If she didn't go, the old man would throw her back into the palace where she would learn nothing but court etiquette and dressing, and her mother would send someone to take her out of the library. She wanted to cry when she thought about how her first display of her abilities had resulted in this, but before they stained the palace with their blood, these were all irrelevant matters.

She had to move on.

But something held her back, preventing her from moving any further, and no matter how hard she struggled, she felt her tail being grasped tightly, entangled in a steel-clad claw, and she felt herself being dragged by the blood-red beast away from the dark hope.

The people of the empire still called out to her, but she could not respond. She only saw the blood she had spilled along the way returning to her vision. What did that blazing blood mean? Was it her curse?

Altinya could smell blood. Someone's fingers rested on her fangs, allowing her to bite down. Someone's blood seeped from her mouth into her throat. It burned the darkness within her, causing her intense pain. She tried to struggle, but another hand pressed down on the back of her neck, forcing her to the ground, unable to move.

More and more blood rushed into her throat. She caught a glimpse of a face clad in steel, its shattered armor peeling away, revealing a face covered in a patchwork beard. Broken black hair clung to a bloodstained forehead, and within them were a pair of dark eyes that looked down upon her. She watched as he and she grew smaller together, while the previously low slope of earth grew ever larger, eventually transforming into a towering mountain.

"You did single-handedly save the battlefield, Aya," he said. "However, you seem incapable of handling the situation you created."

"I hesitated, Sensei."

"You could get closer to the essence of it," Cesar said with a frown.

"I should have realized what I should do sooner and accepted the Abyssal Matter sooner. In this way, at least the fortress would not have faced the threat of Trisius."

"What about other threats?"

"For everything else, I will..."

"You can't handle it." Cesar shook his head and said, "You know, I've always been reluctant to use my path. One very important reason is that I can't handle the catastrophic situation I would cause. There are too many unknown horrors and unknown threats."

"I can handle it. I just hesitated and didn't get the upper hand."

"Did you argue with Heanria like this when you were little?" Cesar asked her.

"No," she said. "I was always cautious at court until later... maybe I was cautious for too long and wanted to be free. After that exposure, I became even more cautious."

"Your answer really puts me in a difficult position, Aya."

"My pride and confidence may not come from you, but your example has definitely deepened it, teacher."

"So what's the upshot? How do we take responsibility for our mistakes? How do we apologize for the mistakes we made?"

She shook her head. "There's no room for apologies for life and death on the battlefield. How's the fortress... the fortress?"

Artinia remembered distant scenes, the beasts tangled with Trisius beneath the dark sky. A swirling hurricane roared around them, and the dark clouds swirled into terrifying whirlpools, from which cascading torrents of water cascaded, shaking the earth and shattering it, turning everything into scattered shadows. The hurricane's impact shrouded everything, obscuring her form as well, allowing her to break free from Trisius's clutches and soar through the air towards the abyss.

It's strange...the shame came so quickly. Was it because I realized he was the one who handled everything that happened?

"The temple staff are working with the mages of the Yestren School to clean up the mess," Cesar told her. "Diana is also very busy dealing with the receding abyssal matter according to the method prescribed by Legosius. You know, she originally wanted to watch from the side, but out of consideration for your dignity, she handed the matter over to me. You should know what you are accepting, my princess."

"You handled the situation that got out of control and saved everything from disaster. You can decide how to punish me. Compared to what I should have borne, all this is nothing. I..."

As the sound echoed, Altinya drew a long breath. She could barely remember the feeling of the slap on her butt. Now, she felt only numbness and a sharp, stabbing pain. Seeing him trying to raise his hand, she instinctively reached back and grabbed his arm—a hand covered in iron.

Altinya's grip was so tight that she felt her fingers clamped around his wrist, but she couldn't turn away from her prone position because her bottom was still throbbing and the slightest touch of the ground would cause her unbearable pain.

"I'm not ready yet," she said, taking a breath. "You should at least..."

“I don’t think it makes any difference,” Cesar denied. “And you were the one who said it didn’t matter.”

Artinya practically shouted, "I'm not prepared for a slap harder than a royal caning!"

"Maybe it's because you just experienced the baptism of the abyss and transformed into a black dragon, breathing fire," he added. "I can't treat you with the force I use to hit a child. That's disrespectful, isn't it? And it won't leave a lasting impression on you."

She lowered her voice, "My memory is already vivid enough. I think we should go back to Gular..."

"It's not over yet," Cesar interrupted her, "I've been taking care of you here for more than a day. You might think we both turned back into human form quickly, but in fact, I fed you blood here that could turn a living person into a mummified corpse. During this time, I asked Diana to sort out the situation and list the series of mistakes you made. I want to use my hand to remember them one by one in your mind."

"Does it have to be this way?" she asked.

"At least this is between you and me, so you won't lose face," Cesar said.

"Well, could you please take off these gloves, sir?"

"No," Cesar denied, "without this gauntlet, the force of the slap wouldn't be able to penetrate your pants and hurt you."

"I don't want to see this iron glove," she said as gently as possible. "At court, slaves are punished with wooden sticks, but you use an iron one."

"The slaves of the palace will not spill a field of burning blood."

Altinya gripped his wrist more firmly, pushed herself up a little, and stared at him. "If you take off your pants, then this gauntlet won't matter, right?"

"This is inappropriate, Your Highness."

"I don't believe I'll still be wearing clothes when I return to adulthood. If you put these clothes on me when I was naked, teacher, then there's nothing inappropriate about it."

Chapter 340 I Want to Bite Something

"Diana put it on," Cesar shook his head. "You were in a terrible state back then, so she brought you clean water and washed you carefully, then helped you get dressed. Because there were still some inhuman marks on your face, she told me to wait until you were fully recovered before taking you back."

Altinya was silent for a moment. "I never thought that I would have to accept her care one day."

"Maybe there will be a time in the future when she will need your care," he said.

"After you get pregnant?" she asked.

"It's more than that. She might get hurt, and mages' research often goes wrong. Many years from now, if you don't want your past relationship to deteriorate because of power, it's essential that you two always look out for each other. When you look back on the past, each of these events will have its own weight, and will help you decide what to do and what not to do."

"Do you think a lot of things have changed, Master?" she continued to ask him as usual.

"Maybe not, maybe yes. But either way, if you want to keep sitting around the fire and keep warm, you have to keep dusting it and putting more wood in it."

"In other words, you believe that nothing lasts forever. Fires die out, and people forget each other."

"You can understand it that way," Cesar replied, "but what we're doing about it is more important. I'm here to teach you a lesson for no other reason, nor do I want you to think I have unquestionable authority. I just want you to remember that when you make a decision, you should remember not only the grand vision, but also the people you know around the fire. If you have the chance later, you can teach me a lesson, but now of course I'm the one teaching you a lesson. I hope this has nothing to do with anything, it's just..."

"I understand, Sensei. But I'd like to chew on something, if that's okay... could you give me your hand like you did not long ago?"

"I hope you don't bite too hard," Cesar said.

Altinya felt the hand brush against her cheek, a subtle rustling sound. She realized the scales on her face hadn't completely faded. When she opened her mouth to bite his finger, she felt her teeth were sharp and pointed, as if they would take time to fully heal. Did she have horns? She wasn't sure, but she couldn't help but prick his index finger a little deeper, feeling the blood between her teeth, with a mind-numbing taste.

When a sharp pain throbbed from behind her, she almost wanted to bite his fingers off. A hot, boiling breath surged from her throat. Focusing all her attention on the taste of blood between her teeth made her ignore many things. She couldn't help but bite deeper, and then she rested her face on his palm, feeling his hand as rough as the scales on her cheek.

She couldn't remember how she'd managed to survive those blows. As Cesar helped her struggle to her feet, she felt dizzy and her mouth soaked in blood. She didn't want to let go of the bleeding finger, nor did she want to let go of the hand. It wasn't just the blood that was intoxicating; the tingling sensation of that hand caressing the scales on her face was enough to make her forget everything, even the intense pain in her back.

"Do you think that's too much biting, Aya?" Cesar asked her.

Altinya stared at him for a while, then placed her index finger on her fangs, making a long cut, and reached over with her own blood.

"I'm not sure how this is excessive, but I think we can take turns asking this question," she said, placing her fingertips on his lips and gently pushing them apart, touching his teeth. "I'm not good at expressing apologies, so you can bite it down, teacher. Since you probably won't bite it too hard, I'll bite it open for you first."

Cesar also stared at her for a long time.

Altinya said, "This experience was unforgettable, but I think what I remember most is not the childish lesson, but the fact that after all this, we can still sit by the fire and talk as usual. I can't say for sure if something like this will happen again, but I will do my best not to hide it."

"Just because I'm not hiding it doesn't mean I won't do it again?" Cesar asked her. "You look like that kind of person. If I hadn't grabbed your tail and dragged you back, there would have been no way I could have made you turn back just by shouting. It would have been like bumping into someone..."

She pressed her finger against his tongue. "We can...discuss this later," she said. "Also, Teacher, if something like this happens again, please let me bite your finger first."

"If I got hit, I wouldn't start imagining the next time," Cesar said.

......

After causing such a devastating disaster, the waves of the abyss began to recede, giving the impression of escaping, returning to their proper place. In reality, the ebb and flow of the ocean's tides are like this; both are unconscious and natural phenomena. However, compared to the ocean, the ebb and flow of the abyss carries many more catastrophic omens.

Cesar helped Altinya walk through the devastated mountains and saw those dark veins following her will and avoiding her steps. Although Diana had come here many times and had expelled many abyssal substances for her, she was still a person with the breath of the abyss. Her dark dragon horns and dragon scales were

It shrank back, but not out of sight. As long as you brush aside her long silver hair and touch behind her ear, you can vaguely feel some outlines.

Though her features hadn't completely faded, the abyss's invasion had ended. They must, as survivors, cross the battlefield and return to Gural Fortress. There was no more fitting explanation. The truth involved too many taboos, so they decided not to reveal any truth. As long as they emerged from the darkness in silence, others would naturally speculate and interpret everything. No matter what, no one could possibly guess the complex and obscure truth itself.

Altinia paused numerous times on the battlefield. The first time, she picked up a sword beside the crumbling tents of the Empire, declaring it Brother Keith's sword, the blade of the Templar, and now hers. The second time, she lit a fire and burned Trisius's head, buried in the dirt, to ash, while Cesar watched silently beside her. The third time, she rummaged through the ruins of the corpse-eater's lair, finally uncovering a white cat from a pile of cloth stained with her blood. It resembled a young Ajeh, though of a different species.

It seemed that she had shed a lot of blood before being eroded by the abyss, staining the clothes, just to protect this beastman.

"It bears some traces of Zaburon," said Cesar.

"The child is innocent," she said. "Let's go find Diana and Sister Mira to remove those marks. Then it can grow up to be a formidable swordsman. Perhaps it will even defeat you in swordplay, teacher."

Chapter 341 Comfort and Support

In front of the fortress's outer wall covered with molten embers, Altinya stopped for a long time, first looking towards the east gate where she led her troops out of the city, then turned around and gazed intently.

Cesar knew that was where she would meet the enemy. She should have trusted her own judgment and coordinated the corpse-eaters' offensive to change the course of the battlefield. However, she trusted Zavulon's words more than her own, and believed that the tides of the Abyss would allow her to take a shortcut and easily win. In the end, the soldiers she led were either wavering members of the siege or internal enemies, and even Brother Caius, a fanatical admirer of Clefas.

Perhaps this is what happens when you go into battle with the intention of eliminating traitors. Even if you realize you can win, it will be too late.

As they neared the edge of the abyssal tide, Altinia stood before Cesar and studied him for a moment. She took out her water bag and used her wet fingers to brush back his hair. She stroked his dark eyes, wiping away the smoke and ash from his eyelids. She also wiped the long-accumulated beard from his jaw, removing any dust that clung to it. She also used her own blood to trace a flame-like symbol on his forehead, a blessing or some other symbol, unknown.

When everything was over, the princess adjusted his knight's armor and placed the cat in his arms. Then, with a gentle smile, she nodded to him and asked him to stand by her side as they walked toward the fortress.

Across the gradually thinning darkness, Cesar suddenly saw brilliant sunlight pouring down, almost forcing him to cover his eyes with his hands. It felt as if he had crossed the gap between two worlds.