Shadow of the Evil God

Four blood-stained lips bit and licked, tasting the blood that just belonged to Sevra. For a moment, Cesar felt that they were both a bit like wild beasts.

......

After resolving the issue of the remnant memory, Cesar watched as Ajeh approached Firiels, seemingly wanting to say something, but unable to. Ultimately, she simply stared at the ancient river in her remnant memory, contemplating the dark forest that stretched to the end of her vision.

Ajeh had always harbored resentment towards Ferriers, her feelings inherently complex and difficult to understand. This wasn't difficult to understand, as Ferriers's soul had already been severely corrupted. Not only were her emotions strange and unpredictable, her actions were also unpredictable. The previous year, she had meticulously trained a regiment of nomadic cavalry in the Milava Empire, demanding Ajeh work alongside them. The following year, she had defected to the Kasar Empire and demanded that Ajeh personally murder her former colleagues.

Whether she cares or not, she will definitely have some emotions.

Many eras later, Ajeh not only insulted Grandmaster Firilth, but also rarely treated Firth beside him. Most of the time, they ignored each other.

Originally, Ajehe might have said a few words to Ferriers of Milava's era to express her unnecessary emotions, but after she accepted the testimony of little Ajehe along the way, she was speechless.

Cesar helped Milava to his feet, but seeing he was still unconscious, he had to lean him against the rock wall. Unsure if the prophet was watching, he couldn't confirm whether Milava was a man or a woman. He then seized the longsword that Firiel had just sealed, and curiously stroked the cold blade. Once the matter of the Tomb of the Wise was resolved, he could give the sword to Diana and Firiel to study and see if it could solve the problem of the winter night.

"I seem to have entrusted you with a heavy responsibility, Ajiehe." Ferriers suddenly spoke.

Ajeh looked at her with her bloodstained human face. Unlike the wolf face, her face was easily revealed, a mixture of emotions. Cesar saw that she stood there silently, without moving, so he wrapped the sword in a thick cloth, stuffed it into his bag, and then walked towards the two men.

Of course, Ajiehe herself was completely unaware of the conversation that she heard in her residual memories.

"In this era," Ferriers continued, "although I haven't yet gone to the Kasar Empire, I have decided to go. I should probably apologize in advance for some things, such as asking you to kill your former colleagues. You originally still had a glimmer of hope to establish connections with people, but after that, apart from these two, there will be no one else who can."

Chapter 452: Go hug her

"This matter has nothing to do with you," Ajeh said simply. "It was the soul behind you... that empty perceiver who made me who I am today. There's no need for you to delve into the guilt or grudges involved, Firiels."

Cesar opened his mouth to say something, but Ajeh merely glanced at him, saying she still had one last stretch of the path to the Tomb of the Wise, and then she withdrew. Her figure shrank in the blink of an eye, transforming from the Ajeh of the future back into the little creature in her memories. It didn't look like she planned to stay in those memories for much longer.

Although he can handle his own relationships properly, he sometimes finds it difficult to judge the grudges between other people.

An uneasy silence followed. Ferriers seemed to want to say something to break the silence, or at least to lighten the mood, but she froze in her tracks, as if unable to breathe.

"Is the one she longs for the one who has reached the highest point of awareness?" she finally asked.

"Maybe she just thinks so," Cesar said softly, "She once insulted the Grand Master, accusing her of throwing away too many things."

“It seems she doesn’t always mean what she says,” Ferriers said.

"Perhaps what she desires is an illusion," he said, "some incredible being who combines your humanity with the Grand Master's divinity. Such a being doesn't actually exist. I suppose it's precisely because she longs for an illusion that her emotions are so complex and unpredictable. With the Grand Master, she accuses her of lacking humanity, and with you, she says you're not in her sight."

"Does she think so?"

"I think, at least, she still loves you," Cesar said.

Ferrieres looked at Ajeh, unconscious on the ground, unsure how to respond. Ultimately, she sighed with relief. She turned to look at Cesar, tiptoeing slightly, as if to compare their heights. In this frozen plain, she seemed an illusion made of falling snow and shadows. "I can already see your face," she said.

"Last time you were only on my chest," Cesar replied.

"You seem to want to see me as a child, but the more you see me, the older I seem to be," Ferriers said again.

He coughed, trying to ease the subtle awkwardness. Her eyes were still sad. She raised her hand, touched his injured chest, and then put it down again.

"It's almost the last moment, so don't dwell on these things anymore," she whispered. "I'll take you down the path I once walked, Cesar. The Tomb of the Wise Man of Remnant Memory will overlap with the Tomb of the Wise Man of Reality, and the past and the future will intersect. This may be the best time to move on."

......

Cesar held Mirava in his left arm, the longsword that had sealed Arlante in his right hand, and with the half-awakened little Ajeh lying on his back, he followed Firiels toward the familiar cave in the mountainside. They would enter the Tomb of the Wise through the passage carved by the Frank Empire, but this time, through the remnants of memory.

In his time, the caves were inhabited by numerous cursed knights transformed into evil monsters. Even now, knights patrolled the excavated passages, each knight's armor adorned with ornate carvings. He took a quick look and realized that these armors more closely resembled the statues in Solaire. In his previous memories, they had been crude, but now they were like statues from the great city, walking the earth.

To people of that era, the increasingly exquisite patterns might symbolize the glorious culture of the empire, but in his eyes, it only meant that the destruction of the Frankish Empire was getting closer.

Some of the knights were discussing the Queen's madness, turning the forest and river valley into a frozen plain. Others were debating how much longer His Majesty would remain in the Kuna cemetery, and how much longer they would have to wait. From their accounts alone, Cesar couldn't tell if old Milava still existed in the memories, or if he had been replaced by the younger Milava beside him, or if he still lingered in these memories. Of course, even if old Milava was still there, he didn't want to face him now.

Now, Milava on his side has just broken free from some of his restraints and gotten rid of his future queen. However, if he wants this guy to recover from his dying breath, he will probably have to wait for some time.

Cesar, disguised as a servant carrying groceries, followed Firiel as the knights watched. Passing through a narrow corridor, they found the familiar burial chamber again. This time, the sarcophagus had only recently been opened, and within it lay the still-uncorrupted remains of the Kuna. Firiel led him through the burial chamber, passing several branching paths. Along the way, he discovered the location where the ancient Sevra had first appeared, and he couldn't help but recall the brief moment their lips touched.

This guy's murderous intent was even worse than his lust. If killing others could alleviate this, it would be fine, but she only recognized her other self. By now, so many terrible Cesars had died at so many terrible forks in time.

Another serious question was whether this guy would draw out the madness of this era's Sevra. She was the accumulated Sevra of countless times. At every fork in the road, she experienced the pleasure of taking his life, a pleasure even more intense than the pleasure he felt from intertwining his body with another's. He had heard her breathing, seen her mumbling like a maniac, smiling as she lost herself in the satisfaction of death, her eyes blurry, her lips bloodstained.

Sefera here relies on Ajeh

She had finally satisfied some of her emptiness, and, relying on the teachings of the Kuna people to exercise self-restraint, she maintained a barely stable mental state. However, with the layers of longing that had accumulated in ancient Sefera, could Ajeh alone still fill it?

"A lot has happened to you guys, too," Ferriers said. "Are you still worried about Sephora?"

"I've lost my memories of this era. It seems they were completely lost after I walked through that door," Cesar said. "But I know what happened to Sevra... As her remnants accumulate, she becomes increasingly dangerous. If it weren't for the Tomb of the Wise, she would have only killed me a dozen or so times. But now, if I could find all my corpses, I could fill the entire valley."

And, of course, her body.

His fingers twitched slightly. "The fork in the road where she died, the fork in the road where I died, the fork in the road where we both perished. All these crazy feelings are piling up in her heart. What will eventually come of it? Who knows? The beastmen who are advancing step by step will eventually reunite with her. One wants to reach the deepest part of the tomb before us, and the other wants to cut off every path I can take to reach the deepest part of the tomb..."

"I think Sephora needs a main body to stabilize her mind." Ferris shook his hand. "Although you have brought so many of Ferris's memories and experiences, I can bear them. I am their main body, so I think she needs one too. If she keeps cycling between life and death, she will no longer be an ordinary individual will."

"I know," Cesar said, "she can no longer accept the normal boundaries between life and death. Whether I die or she dies, or we die together, it will only be a brief pause in the fork in time, and we will soon move on to the next one. As long as she and I are still in the Tomb of the Wise, she can perform this bloody drama forever and ever."

"In fact, she might not be expressing a unique kind of love. After all, she never killed you when you would have died completely. It's just that the person you love is still waiting for you outside, right?"

Cesar paused for a moment, "I don't know how to answer you."

"to be honest."

“There are a lot of people.”

"It's not surprising." Ferris seemed to want to laugh. "In my first remnant of memory, just by listening to you speak, I felt that you had signs of doing this. Don't you think that your longing is like that of Sevra, empty, endless, a void that cannot be filled?"

"Empty? How is that possible? I'm satisfied if you just hold my hand."

Ferriers actually smiled now. Her breasts trembled and swayed beneath the robe, revealing a full, rounded outline before finally settling down heavily. She hugged his neck and the back of his head, forcing him to lean his head against her breasts. His cheeks could feel their full elasticity and softness. Pressed against the silk and soft flesh, it felt like he was wrapped in two warm velvet cushions. The fleshiness and heft were so astonishing, it would have made one sink into them all night.

Although her mood was not as dark as it was in the past, her skin still smelled of sweat, and her plump breasts were stained with sweat. The swaying and squeezing of her breasts gave off a strong and greasy fragrance that filled his nostrils.

"You look like you want to hug me," said Ferriers, "but I have to say, not here. After the previous remnant memory ended, Ferriers is Ferriers, composed of her soul and herself. You can let me hug you, but you can't let the Grand Master of the Northern Empire hug you, so you can't hug her in any of the remnants that come after that. So, you have to go back to your own era to hug her."

Cesar raised his eyes and said, "You are being a bit unreasonable, Master."

"You have all sorts of incredible ideas and can accomplish all sorts of incredible things. How can this request be so unreasonable? Well, perhaps I'm trying to teach you a lesson. Even a residual memory has its own emotions and dissatisfactions."

"Yes," he whispered.

Ferriers sighed and said, "Just like I thought, you will have lost all your memories by then, so I should also send myself, a person with nothing, to lead the way for you and take care of you like a sister."

“There are always things that happen that we can’t anticipate.”

"Who would have thought that you would find something so extraordinary, and then you would kidnap a girl named Phils who knew nothing about you..."

He swallowed. "Yes."

"Consider it my revenge," she said softly, hugging him tighter. "I've come all this way, longing for some kind of simple, focused love, but you dragged me, then an ignorant person, into such a confusing world of emotions. The resentment in my heart is about to overflow. You are a much worse guy than I imagined. Even my ancestors had to cautiously test the waters with you..."

"Is there still a chance I can recover you, my Lord?"

Cesar felt his forehead wet, and saw tears falling from her closed eyes, dripping onto his forehead. Of course, he knew she always wanted to cry, but she rarely had the chance. For many years, she had endured pain far greater than he could understand.

"Go and get back that Grandmaster Ferriers, Cesar." She whispered, "I don't know how to do this, but if you can do it, maybe you can

I see a hint of myself in Ruth. I don't think it means anything, but if you want to look, maybe you can see something. I'm already very tired, even in the residual memory, I don't want to go on.

"I just wanted to..." Cesar pursed his lips, "to get to know you and your life better."

"If you can do it, the Grand Master will tell you." Ferriers shook her head and helped him to his feet. "In the real world, I saw you off for the last time, from my time to yours. In this vestigial memory, I only have the strength to see you off for the last time. Once we reach the deepest part of the tomb, I'll leave the curse of Sevra to you. Is that okay?"

"If I don't do it, you can come after me and curse me," said Cesar.

She poked his face. The touch was the same as always, but the look in his eyes was completely different. "No," she said, "you are the one who is cursing yourself."

Chapter 453: Blade, Death, Kiss, and the Smell of Blood

......

The dark tomb, the swollen corpses all over the ground, and the corpses on the road rotted quickly, but they sprouted even faster.

From what Sevra could see, the cycle of life had intensified to absurd proportions. A moment ago, it was just a severed arm, but with a moment's hesitation, it had transformed into a pile of arm growths like a sunflower. A moment ago, it was just half a head, but when he cut into the next group of evil creatures, the head had turned into a scarlet tree full of human heads, as if this place were a scarlet realm.

As new flesh and blood continued to be born everywhere they looked, Sevra and the others had given up on dealing with the afterlife and simply pressed on. Even if the priests sealed the stone gates along the way, they could only temporarily block the threat, because new flesh and blood would still be born in new tomb passages, and the center of this birthplace was the source of this remnant of memory - the head stitched together by Allanti and Milava.

She tightened her grip on the blade, then continued forward across the tomb floor. As the blade fell, thirteen more bodies were found, both beasts and humans. As if sensing the rapid death of new flesh and blood, the beastmen hiding in other timeways had completely lost all sense of their identities. Whether it was the remnants of the Franks or the remnants of the beastmen, they dragged whatever they could into the tomb.

Due to the influence of the Thought Plague, these creatures were unable to communicate, only repeating strange mumblings. They also harbored an inexplicable hostility towards those who had not yet accepted the Thought Plague. At this point, if these creatures weren't constantly blocking the road, Sevra would no longer want to bother killing them. Taking their lives was no different from chopping off branches blocking the road in the forest; it was meaningless except for slowing people down.

"Maybe you want to kill some different people?" Ajiehe looked at her. "Are you curious?" She grabbed another beast and tore it in half.

"I don't care about that." Sephora said, looking at Cesar who was carrying Aya.

"Ha!" Ajiehe was still so surprised. "You will know soon. I am looking forward to it."

Sephora disagreed, but she didn't argue. She simply guarded Aya as they continued toward the next burial passage. The chamber was a vast pit, its soil dark and soft, dotted with shrubs and weeds. Halfway through, she came across several empty altars. Jiralo said these were the coffins in the burial chamber. Some schools of the Guna feed themselves to wild beasts after death, embracing the cycle of life. These altars were more like feeding troughs for wild animals than coffins.

Over the ages, countless schools of thought and thought have risen and fallen among the Guna, and Sevra didn't want to delve into them. It was just that she hadn't slept in a while, and while she hadn't slept at all, splitting through the fleshy branches that blocked her path was easy, she felt a little irritated. If you don't sleep for too long, you lose consciousness, and if you can't sleep, you become even more irritated.

She knew they were nearing their destination, but the distance that reached the end was actually the longest. When she was still conscious, Jiralo had said they were nearing the end. Now that she was unconscious, Jiralo still said they were nearing the end. Apart from the road getting longer and longer, the evil creatures emerging from her memories increasing in number, and the road conditions becoming increasingly worse, she could say she had no real experience.

Besides, Sephora herself was already tired, not to mention Aya. Although fatigue wouldn't affect her ability to cut through the branches blocking her way, nor would it affect Aya's ability to carry the dead sleeper all the way, they couldn't just take a nap to replenish their energy when they reached the destination.

If they continue like this, will they have to face the unknown in the shadows in the most half-dead state?

From the darkness, the sound of iron boots trampling bricks and dirt gradually rose, along with the clash of weapons and harnesses, and the curses and exchanges of the ancient Frankish tongue, which went from being almost indistinguishable to being as clear as if right next to her ears. Sevra was somewhat surprised, for the moment she emerged from the tomb, she saw torches illuminating the dark corridor, revealing a group of black-armored knights.

Ancient? These were indeed ancient armor designs worn by knights from the days of the Frankish Empire. But they weren't ancient either, for they lacked any ancient aura. They seemed to be living in the very moment Sevra was there. An entire team of ancient Frankish knights, linked in a single line, were excavating the chambers of the Tomb of the Wise, like fish floating in the darkness. Further behind them, the even more majestic and powerful Knight Commander was overseeing the battle, charging towards their desired destination.

Sevra frowned, and as she approached, she realized the procession was a blur, shadowy, sometimes real, sometimes not. Most of the knights ignored her, as if she didn't exist. Only one exceptionally tall man, perched on his horse, bent toward her, his thin profile shrouded in shadow.

They stared at each other for a moment, the other seemingly trying to process her presence.

"You are a being from the future..." he said in a deep voice. "It's incredible that I can actually see you. Do you know that your existence is engraved all over this cemetery, written on almost every fork in time, and even reversely influenced the past era I am in?"

"I don't understand what you're saying," Sevra said. "Who are you?"

"Old Milava, you are about to die," sighed Emperor Fran. "I have many things I cannot let go of, and many things I want to know. Once I have done all of them, I will go to the Holy Father's City to find my own grave."

Now and To

Did the two eras overlap in the Tomb of the Wise? No, it didn't seem to overlap completely, just incredibly close, frighteningly close. Yet the maze of time branches endlessly. Was there something connecting these two paths? Sephora looked at the stitched head in Jiralo's bundle.

She thought she had guessed what old Milawa was up to, but it wasn't her place to think about these things. "What does it mean that my existence is engraved all over this cemetery?" she asked.

"Don't worry, you just have a long way to go." Old Milava straightened up and took hold of the horse's reins. "The Tomb of the Wise is already confusing, so any unimaginable occurrences are not worth panicking about."

"Let it be so..." said Sevra.

"Have you not noticed?" said Milawa, with a thin face, "there is a misty cloud around you that is closely related to you. Is that your fellow traveler over there? I can't see it, but I think it must be hiding something extraordinary."

Sephora glanced at Ajeh. Admittedly, the smile on his face was a bit dangerous. "Can you see him?" she asked Ajeh.

Ajeh didn't care. "Just some faint shadows, remnants of a previous era," she said. "Have you seen enough? We must keep moving forward."

"Did you bring anything out of your memories?"

"Remnant memories? What did you bring out?" Ajiehe tilted her head. "That's really interesting, Sefera. I haven't figured out how to approach you yet, and you approach me first?"

"Is it something troublesome?"

She smiled. "You ask me that? Can't you answer this question yourself?"

Sevra glared at her. "You don't take anything that's not troublesome, Ajeh."

"If you understand, then get out of the way." Ajiehe smiled.

"Bring that thing out," Sevra said to her. "I want to know what it is."

"You're a little anxious." Her smile grew wider. "But that's good. I'm anxious too. If Cesar were here, he might use some clever rhetoric to get away with it, but I won't. Do you know why? Because I feel some things are destined to happen."

"Stop rambling on, I just want to take a look."

"What a coincidence. I just wanted to show you."

"Do you have to exaggerate some big emotions about everything you encounter? Every time you say something big is going to happen, nothing actually happens."

Ajiehe didn't seem to care, pulling something carefully wrapped in paper from her pocket. It looked like a sweet treat from some royal palace. This girl often took things from some unknown table and stuffed them into her pockets, eating them when she wanted to and throwing them away when she didn't. But this thing... was it really that close to her?

Sefera tore open the paper and saw a blood-red bead, like a ruby, emitting a strange bloody smell.

"This little souvenir I got from Cesar might help relieve your fatigue," Ajeh said. "Want to try it?"

"Your statement is truly suspicious," said Sephora.

Ajiehe raised her voice. "Just because I led your brother to kill his own father? You really hold a grudge. Isn't it Musali himself who harbors hatred and wants to find a way to face his own heart? I never try to mislead anyone, I only ask them to face themselves."

She tutted, tossed the crumpled paper in her hand, and dropped the blood droplet directly into her mouth. She didn't like the taste of blood, or rather, she found it bland. However, this thing was sweeter, not knowing whether it was because of the sugar or the breath of the true dragon in Cesar's soul.

Ajiehe studied her for a while and said, "I thought you would just throw this thing away."

"I'm very tired. I don't want to argue with you about this anymore." Sephora bit the blood and felt it gradually dissolve in his mouth. "Besides, if this thing can really..."

Seeing that she was silent, Ajiehe smiled again, "If what?"